There has been a lot of speculation as to why the Dodgers have not appointed a General Manager to take the place of their last GM – Farhan Zaidi. Some have speculated that it is because Andrew Friedman is an ego-manic who wants all the power. That explanation is too absurd to even warrant a response. I have also wondered why Friedman has not appointed a GM to take Zaidi’s…
When you think about the great outfielders who played the game, many come to mind, Mantle, Ruth, Aaron, Mays, Trout, Robinson, Griffey Jr., and Clemente. When you talk about great outfield arms, the list narrows some especially from the RF position. But some players are known for those cannons they possess. And the Dodgers had two of the best, and almost a third, Furillo, Mondesi, and then Clemente. Yep, he…
Back in the early ’60s, the Dodgers had brothers on the team at the same time. Larry Sherry was a star reliever and World Series, 1959, MVP. His brother Norm was Roseboro’s light-hitting backup when Pignatano was not available. Norm had a good grasp of the game and later managed in the minors, and the Angels for a 147 game stretch in 77-78. Norm passed away earlier this year in…
NOTE: THIS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE HOF ANNOUNCEMENT. With voting on the early days and golden age baseball taking place this weekend, I thought I would look back on some players who had careers that were on a Hall of Fame path derailed by injuries. There will always be debates about players who are in, and those who so far have not been elected. For years I have bemoaned the…
At first blush, you might think I am talking about the lockout and that certainly is what appears to be the biggest problem, but if you look deeper, you will find that baseball popularity is on the wane – that is the Deep Trouble that MLB is in. Jeff Dominique wrote about it yesterday in a masterful article. I also have a few thoughts about it. Look at this: Baseball…
In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by becoming the first person of color to play in the major leagues. But it almost happened in 1901. John McGraw wanted to sign a light-skinned Negro named Charlie Grant to play for the Giants. Now baseball back before the 1900s was filled with white players who had a deep-seated prejudice against blacks. And for years there had been a so-called, gentleman’s…
One of the quickest ways to start a baseball argument is to simply say, this guy was the greatest of all time. Football and basketball fans make that debate all of the time. And the opinions vary so much from state to state. Most pundits hand the crown to Michael Jordan, his six titles, and numerous MVP awards. Football is a little trickier since you need to add not only…
I thought I would go back and see who had the best individual seasons in the history of the team. Won’t do all of the categories. That would be an incredibly long post. So I will try to stick to the main stats. WAR This is a relatively new way to gauge a player’s worth. WAR, or wins above replacement. Gives you an idea of how many wins a player…
Hello, baseball fans and welcome to the 1890 edition of your Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Coming off of a very successful 1889 campaign where they won 93 games under Bill McGunnigle to lead the American Association. The team moves out of the American Association to the newly formed National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The Brooklyn team will be playing this season in Washington Park II. This is the second season the…
In no way do I think I have all the answers but do get lucky a lot. I think that it is because I do not think in the box or outside of the box. I prefer to think that there is no box! Three weeks ago, I fired our COO and VP of Operations. They were nice guys and I liked them, but they had no vision. Every day…