32 posts
Time stops for no one. And as the Dodgers get ready to enter their 65th season in Los Angeles, they approach the 67 years the Dodgers were part of the Major Leagues in Brooklyn. The National League as we know it, was formed in 1890. The Dodgers won their first title that season…
1953 Topps Podres At the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, there is a statue of Johnny Podres releasing a ball. 60 feet 6 inches away is a statue of Roy Campanella. They commemorate the Brooklyn Dodgers winning their first World Series in 1955 over the Yankees. John…
Wally Moon. Dodgers # 9 Wallace Wade Moon, born 4/3/1930 in Bay Arkansas, was the son of Henry Albert Moon and the former Margie Leona Vernon. He was the second of their three children. Bay is a swampy hamlet by some railroad tracks. Henry was a factory worker who later became…
Charles Lenard Neal was born in Longview Texas on January 30th, 1931. After WWII the Dodger system churned out infield prospects like weeds. Many went to other teams, Chico Carrasquel, Bobby Morgan, Bob Lillis, Chico Fernandez and Billy Hunter to name a few. Robinson, Reese, and…
With little real news, I return to writing about what I love most about the Dodgers. Their history. Everyone knows the story, 1955 was a magical year for Brooklyn. And the Boys of Summer finally full filled all of the promise they had shown for years. 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers For…
Chris Taylor Jim Gilliam I got to thinking about this since I have had a couple of spirited discussions with a friend of mine on another site. Today it seems to be the definition has changed some. I am beginning to believe there is no such thing as a pure utility player anymore…
Since the deadline is just a few days away, I thought it might be fun to look back on some of the trades the Dodgers have made over the years. Some were significant in helping the team win, others, well they just were not all that good or popular. Winter: 1958 On the 4th of December, the Dodgers sent Gino Cimoli to the Cardinals for OF Wally Moon and P
Some of you posters on here are too young to remember Fresco Thompson, but those of us who were brought up with the Dodgers of the 19 50s and 1960s were treated to his handiwork for many years. And so were some fans in the 70s. When he died of cancer in late 1968, his last draft class would make a huge impact on Dodger teams for the next decade and
It might be hard for some to believe, but prior to 1977 the position of Hitting coach as such did not exist. The first hitting coach with that title was Jim Gilliam. There have been 18 since. Before that time, players did not have a specific person to go to. All of these guys had varying degrees of experience. Some, including Gilliam, Mattingly, McGwire. Wallack, Reggie Smith, Jack Clark, Mota,
As I look back in the history of the Dodgers, there have been many occasions when a player was switched from his original position to a new one, and both the player and the Dodgers were better for it. I could probably go back to the early days in Brooklyn and find some guys who did this. But I thought I would stick with the history that I have witnessed
1959, start of the season A young 11-year-old boy reads about his heroes in the daily sports page. A right of passage in those days. Games on TV were few and far between, especially Dodger games. The only televised games were those from San Francisco on KKTV channel 11. Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett did the announcing. Doggett would do the 3rd and 7th innings, Vinny the rest .
I was perusing the Dodger roster and looking for players who would be possible call ups this year, and who might impact the Dodgers season. There are some interesting kids on this team. But before we get into that discussion, I thought I would go back over the years since their arrival in Los Angeles and see which first year players made some impression on the team. Some
Last week, Joc Pederson left the Dodgers as a free agent to join the Chicago Cubs, and prior to that, Kike’ Hernandez signed with the Red Sox. Both were very popular with Dodger fans. Kike’, the Banana Man to many, and a versatile player, had enthralled fans with his energy, and his sometimes flair for the dramatic. His best day as a Dodger was in game 5 of the 2017
This season, our long drought ended, and the Dodgers brought home the trophy. What a great feeling. And over the last few years we have come close, and just fell short. But in the days before the present system was set up and league expansion, there were only 2 winners. No second chance at a title. Just two teams battling it out for MLB supremacy. Four times in their history,
Today s post is about the longest tenured Dodger manager. Walter Emmons Alston. Smokey to his friends. Alston was the manager when the team moved from Brooklyn. He was just 3 years removed from guiding them to their only World Championship in their long history. His team was a mixture of old Brooklyn stars, Reese, Hodges, Snider, Furillo, Erskine, and some new blood just beginning to make some noise on the
This is a follow up to the best that have ever played in my estimation. Some I never saw. Others I saw many times. It will consist of the starting 8, a pitching staff of 12 and the bench players. Not an easy thing to do. Starters 1st Base Easiest pick for me. Gil Hodges. 370 lifetime homers as a Dodger First to win the Gold Glove when they were
If you want a sure fire way to start an argument, just pick the best players ever for your team. Everyone has their own ideas of who are the greatest players in a team s history. And the Dodgers have a long and colorful past. 67 years in Brooklyn as a part of MLB, and 62 in LA. So, choosing the best ever is a hard task. In this case, I
One thing I have learned is that AF is tight lipped more than anyone in MLB, and so are his co-working baseball personnel. So for someone like Jim Bowden to intimate that he has spoken with Dodgers personnel who have advised him that AF has been engaged in talks with Rockies GM, Jeff Bridich, about Nolan Arenado, I have my doubts. He did not stop there. He said that Nolan
A week or two back, Jeff asked if I would be willing to write an article about Jim Lefebrve, the 1965 Rookie of the year 2nd baseman. I jumped on the idea right away, as “Frenchy” was one of my favorite players when he was with the Dodgers. I thought to myself that this should fairly easy, as there was sure to be much written about Lefebvre. Surprisingly, however, despite
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
Watching the game on Sunday against the Astros, I saw Chris Taylor lay down a bunt that went for a hit. And it took me back to a time when the bunt was an offensive weapon to be reckoned with. Over the last several years, especially with the Dodgers, the only time you saw a bunt was when the pitcher came up and attempted to move the runner over. Maeda,
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
I am old school. Never have claimed to be anything but. Baseball has been a part of my life, a big part, for over 60 years. LA was a minor league city until the Dodgers moved here in 1958. We played the game anywhere we could, usually on our school playground. Some played little league, others did not. I never really had any coaching until I played little league. Then
In 1999 Nike came out with a clever commercial featuring Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Mark McGwire and Heather Locklear. Rather than pay attention to the Cy Young award winning pitchers, Glavine and Maddux, Heather swooned over Mark McGuire and his ability to hit the ball over the fence. After a stringent work out regiment, Glavine and Maddux hit some out in batting practice and, for the first time, Heather Locklear
One of my most memorable moments as a young Dodger fan was when Chuck Essegian hit a pinch -hit homerun in game two of the 1959 World Series, to tie the game. I was only eight years old at the time, but I could tell from the excitement in Vin Scully’s voice that this home run was a very dramatic and important moment for the Dodgers. I can also remember
This is for Bear although he most likely has all of this in his data bank and more. It is a rerun of an article I posted on Think Blue LA back in December of 2012. At that time I wrote: Yesterday I spent some quality time with myself organizing and cataloging my latest Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp baseball cards. Today, I will take my Duke Snider cards out
Yesterday Evan gave us a great read on Ralph Branca the man not the unfairly maligned baseball player. With his reference to Jackie Robinson and “shot” it brought me back to another historic moment in time and an article I had written eight years ago about one more little known Dodger who too was a better man. George Shuba – now there’s a name that I suspect doesn’t
Last week I submitted a post on Joe Black indicating it was one of my two favorite articles that I have ever written. The other was on Jim Gilliam that I profiled on Think Blue LA on April 25, 2016. AC was/is a huge Jim Gilliam fan and suggested I pull this one out of the mothballs so AC this one is for you, again. As a youngster growing up
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).
Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I
