Well I am back. Hope you are all basking in the glow of the Dodgers World Series win. I know for me it will always be a great memory. So, my tale today is about the men who umpire our great game. Specifically 5 of the 10 men who are in the hall. The second half will be in the next installment. Think about that. Over 130 years of professional…
He was my favorite player growing up. A California boy who found fame in the borough of Brooklyn. He was a graceful outfielder, and a power hitting threat on the great Brooklyn teams of the late 40’s and 50’s. He was the only lefty threat in the lineup that featured Jackie, Gil, Campy, Pee Wee, and Scoonj. And in Brooklyn he was simply “The Dook”. I got that part from…
As fans, we all know the stars of our teams, and today with the internet and all the media coverage, we know the rookies, the scrub beanies, and just about everyone else in the organization. Growing up, and learning the game, that was not the case. We found out in box scores, and those of us lucky enough to have a subscription, in the Sporting News. But for every star player, there was…
Today – May 13 – is the 73rd anniversary of, “the embrace”, that moment when Pee Wee Reese left his spot at shortstop prior to the beginning of the inning with the Dodgers in the field and walked over to Jackie Robinson who was standing alone at first base and taking all kinds of abuse from the fans in Cincinnati. The story goes that he put his arm around Jackie,…
Every true baseball fan knows about Kershaw and nearly everybody on the planet knows about Koufax, but only the truest of true Dodger fans know that there was yet a third outstanding left-handed “K” who once pitched for the Dodgers – Karl Spooner. Karl Benjamin Spooner was born on June 23, 1931 in Oriskany Falls, a village in upstate New York about 20 minutes south of Utica. He grew up…
About a year ago I posted a column on the remaining Brooklyn Dodgers. The current list includes any player who put on a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, even for one game. In the last year, we have lost Don Newcombe, Randy Jackson, and Glenn Mickens. This is the link to the previous article. https://ladodgertalk.com/2019/01/06/the-oldest-living-dodger/ And this is the present list. Eddie Basinski (97): November 4, 1922 1944-45 Tim Thompson (96): March…
Like many baseball players of his era, Furillo answered the call and spent the next three years, 1943-45, in the army. He saw active duty in the Pacific Theater where he was wounded and received three battle stars. His war service gave the Dodgers an early glimpse that Furillo seemed to be uncomfortable in social situations and perhaps almost a lone wolf. Peter Golenbock in his book “Bums” writes that Carl Furillo turned down a Purple Heart medal for his wounds, saying that he hadn’t been sufficiently valiant.
We, as Dodger fans, are all going through different levels of anger as we cope with the sign-stealing scandals of which the Dodgers were victims. It is a travesty of justice that we lost that window of opportunity to see our team win the World Series after so many years of falling short. Frankly, I’m pretty angry about it, but there isn’t much we can do except hope that this…
I am slacking it a bit today as we have had our family with us for the better part of four days and will be away most of tomorrow and Thursday. So, I pulled up an article from exactly four years ago ( January 2, 2016). They say you never forget your first love. At least that’s what I’ve been told. As much affection as I have always had, and…
A few days ago I came across a question asked by a novice baseball fan. It was a he and he said he didn’t see a “C” on any MLB team uniforms. That is the “C” worn by the captain of a team. He asked if MLB teams had captains as in other major team sports. Once again it brought back a memory of an article I have written back…