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…
For two seasons, you could argue that Tommy Davis was the best young player in the National League. In 1962, at age 23, he finished third in MVP voting (behind teammate Maury Wills and Willie Mays of the Giants). What did he do that year? Nothing much, but lead the NL with a .346 batting average, 240 hits, and 153 RBI. The RBI are still a team record. The 240…
The Twins’ No. 1 prospect was named the league’s MVP and finished among the league leaders in several offensive categories. “It’s pretty special,” Lewis said prior to Saturday’s championship game. “I’m just glad my family and friends are able to come out today and celebrate with me.” For his efforts, Lewis was presented with the Joe Black Most Valuable Player Award. The award was first presented in 2002 and is…
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…
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…
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). …
Sunday was an off-day in the Dodgers pursuit of a World Series championship. Among other things I took a few moments to see what I could remember from each of the Dodgers 12 appearances in the World Series during my time as a Dodger fanatic. For some I don’t recall much, but for all I have a moment or two that I do. I became a Dodger fan on April…
Has another vulture emerged? It is not the same way Phil Regan used to do it, but in the Rancho Cucumonga Quakes first 8 games, Alex Hermeling has a 3-0 record with all three wins coming in relief. A lot of attention has been directed to Mitchell White and Walker Buehler, and deservedly so. But on April 7, it was Alex Hermeling that pitched the final three innings in the RC…