After seeing Will Smith spend more than ten days out with the MLB concussion protocol, it got me wondering why anyone in their right mind would make catching their profession. But many have answered that call. And over the years, the Dodgers have had some very talented ones. Mike Piazza may have been the best-hitting catcher they have ever produced. Campanella was a great defender and so far, the only…
Joeseph Benjamin Pignatano was born in Brooklyn NY on August 4, 1929. He would end up spending 38 years with baseball as his profession, 27 of those as a player or a coach in the Major Leagues. He was a member of two World Series Champions, the 1959 Dodgers as a player, and the 1969 Miracle Mets as a coach on Gil Hodge’s staff. Never a star, he was to…
Alfred Bluford “Rube” Walker was born on May 16, 1926, in Lenoir North Carolina. He was the son of Alfred and Buelah Walker, the oldest of three boys. He was raised in a typical middle-class family of the era. His father was a semi-pro catcher in his younger days. He would bring string home from his job at the cotton mill to wrap around golf balls until they were as…
It starts when you are young. For some, it is your first program, for others baseball cards, and some an autograph. Mine started with cards. I got my first pack when I was 7. 1955 Topps. I was living in Minnesota with my mom and we moved back to California that fall. I went to an Angels game with my uncle. And the next day I got a pack of…
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,…
I’m going to come right out and say that I believe that Gil Hodges should be in the Hall of Fame. Much has been written about the subject and nothing that I offer here is unique or original to me. I will just say this, if a player can be voted in for being a tremendous person, then Gill Hodges would be a unanimous first ballot selection. I was too…
If you were asked who is the oldest living Dodger, who would you guess? It is easy to guess Tommy Lasorda, Don Newcombe and Carl Erskine for us oldtimers and probably Tommy and Newk for the younger set. It turns out there are 18 players living who put on a Brooklyn Dodger uniform so most of us would be stumped in trying to pinpoint the oldest living Dodger. I…