Joc Pederson hit 36 HR’s in 2019. That’s a lot. In fact, it was the most of any player not named Bellinger for the Dodgers. Joc has 123 HR in his short career. Duke Snider, of course, holds the Los Angeles All-Time Home Run Record at 389, but in a season and a half, Joc should be in the Top 10 in LA Dodger All-Time Home Runs. That’s pretty dang…
I was 8 or 9 when my neighbor, Tony Silva, took me to my first-ever Dodger baseball game at the L. A. Coliseum. I can still conjure up in my mind, the images of the bright lights, the smell of the Dodger dogs, and the sound of Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett traveling throughout the stadium over the ever-present transistor radios. My most vivid memory, however, was that of a…
Last Wednesday, I wrote an article on Rube Walker – the Father of the Five-Man Rotation – which drew some comments for which I was grateful. Presently, I am not in mourning over the Dodgers untimely exit from post-season play. It happened, it is over, and life goes on. With my ninth decade now staring me in the face each year without one more WS victory is a bit problematic,…
As a youngster growing up on the east coast of Canada in the golden years of baseball in the 1950s, I fell into the Vin Scully trap on radio and became a lifer with the Dodgers even when they abandoned me for the far west coast in California. The memories of Duke, Pee Wee, Jackie, Campy and so many other stars still remain fresh in my mind. At the same…
I first tuned in to a Dodger game on the radio – solely by accident – on April 19, 1952. I know the date as all three outfielders – Andy Pafko, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo – hit home runs which was the only time they did so in 1952. Also, as a youngster, I did know of the Bobby Thompson home run in 1951. I turned the radio dial looking…
Since I began following the Dodgers in 1952, there have been many ups and downs and quite a few,“ Wait until next year”, times. Generally speaking in life I tend to look at the good times and not dwell on those that are not so good. The good times can’t be erased and the bad times cannot be made any better by lamenting and dwelling on the what-ifs. I expect…
I’m very grateful to Mark T. for covering for me yesterday. I spent the last 4 days in Las Vegas at a Trial Lawyers Conference, attended by approximately 3,500 attorneys. Some people might think that being surrounded by this many attorneys is as close as you can possibly get to hell on earth but, alas, it’s my profession and I survived unscathed. As Willie Nelson sang in “Me and Paul”…
For those of us old enough to remember the 1959 World Series – it conjures up memories of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, and John Roseboro. We remember the WS MVP, Larry Sherry with his remarkable 2 wins and 2 saves (By the way there was nothing in the 1959 season that would have indicated that he would have done what he did). …
This past week there has been a renewal of negative comments about Dodger manager, Dave Roberts. Some warranted, but most not. AC provided a wonderful up close and personal synopsis yesterday when he shared his son’s feelings about DR being “one of the most genuine people he ever met. He could talk you up and fill you with positive thought all day long.” This seems to be the consensus industry-wide. …
Mark uses “Rants and Raves” so I will use “Bites and Bits” to avoid any copyright infringement with Mark or Bits and Bites Snack Mix. Actually I have little to rant and rave about but have some small pieces of somewhat innocuous “stuff” that I will post. Some things that just popped into my head during the past few days or that I stumbled upon. Some of it might be…