22 posts
I was watching “The Pride of the Yankees the other day. Outside of the star, Gary Cooper, there were small parts in the movie played by the real ballplayers themselves. Of course, the most recognizable player was Babe Ruth. Babe had several scenes with Cooper in the movie. Maybe…
Joseph Floyd Vaughn: Born March 9th, 1912, in the town of Clifty, Arkansas. His parents, Robert and Laura Vaughn, moved the family to Mendocino, California, when Vaughn was about 7 months old. They would later move to Fullerton, where his father found work in the oilfields. His…
Fred ” Dixie” Walker Fred ” Dixie ” Walker won a batting title, played in two world series, and won an RBI title, and yet he is most remembered by fans for being charged as the man who tried to keep Jackie Robinson off of the Dodgers. He was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on…
Max Muncy’s year has been about as nightmarish as one that a player of his caliber can experience. We can all speculate on the cause of it, but I’ll peg it on the severe season-ending injury from last year. That elbow dislocation injury was gruesome and as ugly as any injury I…
Owens passed ball in1941 World Series, Game 4 Mickey Owen was a very good defensive catcher. In his best season, 1941, he made four errors. Three during the regular season and one in the World Series that labeled him a GOAT for the rest of his days. Mickey Owen was born Arnold…
#41 Jerry Reuss Jerry Reuss was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 19, 1949. His father worked for RC Cola and drove a truck. His mom worked in real estate and also as an interior decorator. The big baseball fan in the family was his grandfather on his mom’s side, Alfred…
It is time to go down the list of Dodger managers over the years and see how they stack up against each other. We will start in the 1900’s since none of the managers before then were with the team for extended periods of time. First up is Hall of Famer, Wilbert Robinson. Wilbert…
The 27th of July was the birthday of one of the most successful Dodger managers. Leo the Lip Durocher. Leo Ernest Durocher was born on July 27th, 1905 in West Springfield Massachusetts. His parents had immigrated to the US from Quebec Canada. His mother was a hotel maid and his father worked as a railroad engineer. He died not long after Durocher was born. His family only spoke French, so
In the 9th, Edwards flew out to left, but Furillo drew the 9th walk. Gionfriddo ran for Furillo and Jorgensen fouled out. Reiser was pinch hitting for Casey, and Gionfriddo stole second. That changed Mngr Bucky Harris s strategy and even though Reiser was injured, he decided to walk him. Eddie Miksis went in to run for Reiser, and Lavegetto, a 34 year old veteran was sent up to hit for Eddie Stanky.
Born in the small town of Washington Maine on November 30. 1901, Clyde Leroy Sukeforth, or Sukey as he was known in baseball circles, was a typical small town boy. He began playing when he was young and grew as youngsters did in those days to love the game. Over his career he would catch, coach, manage and scout for major league teams. He is forever tied to the Dodgers
From 1950 to 1998 there was one constant with the Dodgers. Ownership. Walter Francis O Malley took control of the team as it s primary stockholder and owner in 1950. Branch Rickey s contract was expiring in October of that year. He had purchased a 25% ownership of the team in 1944. Rickey and John L. Smith were also part owners as were the heirs of McKeever who had owned the team with
Today my topic is Johnny Roseboro. One of the things I often wished was that I had been able to see Campy play when he was at his peak. Even one year in LA would have been nice, but it was not to be. So for my formative years watching the game, our catcher most of the time was John Junior Roseboro. He was born in Ashland, Ohio on May
Well I am back. Hope you are all basking in the glow of the Dodgers World Series win. I know for me it will always be a great memory. So, my tale today is about the men who umpire our great game. Specifically 5 of the 10 men who are in the hall. The second half will be in the next installment. Think about that. Over 130 years of professional
I have been redoing all my music on my computer. I could not download files onto my MP-3 player because they were corrupted. So I deleted them all and am re ripping them to the computer. While doing so, I was listening to a tune by Little Texas. You guessed it, the title is What Might Have Been . And I took that to apply to ball players whose careers
Harold Peter Henry Reese was born on July 23rd 1918 in Ekron, Kentucky. He lived there until he was almost 8 when his family then moved to Louisville. He got his nickname, Pee Wee, playing marbles. A Pee Wee is a small marble. Reese was so small that he did not play baseball until his senior year in high school. At that time he only weighed 120 pounds and played
I never saw him play. He died 2 months and 2 days after I was born. But from the time I first knew about his exploits on a ballfield, he was who I wanted to be like. In many ways we had the same type of youth. I was put in foster care at 10. He went to a home at age 7. Only difference was he was considered incorrigible,
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
Growing up, Pete Reiser excelled at any sport he tried. Besides baseball, he earned $50 a game playing soccer against professional players and was a talented football player with a dream of becoming a star player with Notre Dame. He was a skillful bowler and proficient at ice skating. Perhaps his greatest strength was that he was truly ambidextrous.
A Word from Mark Timmons: Dodger Fans need a break from all the scandals, charlatans and cheating. Evan Blade is the man with a plan. Enjoy! In 1976, upon hearing that the Japanese Pacific League Saitama Seibu Lions had hired Leo Durocher to manage their ball club, the reserved Vin Scully who rarely said anything negative about anyone said it best. “It took the U.S. 35 years to get revenge
It has been widely published that the Dodgers are 31 years between World Series Championships. All Dodger fans want to forget that, but what if…I know it sounds like the Kratt Brothers. For those with small children or grandchildren you probably know Wild Kratts. Brooklyn was nine World Series and lost their first seven: 1916 and 1920 (as The Robins – managed by Wilbert Robinson) and did not return for
I was doing some research for a post I was trying to put together when I encountered one of my All-Time favorite Dodger pitchers, Burt “Happy” Hooten. I have no idea why, but I seem to favor pitchers from University of Texas, and pitchers from Texas in general. Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Ross Stripling, Howie Reed, Huston Street, Brooks Kieschnick, Ryan Pressly, Greg Swindell, Shawn Tolleson,
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
