Roger Craig did not invent the split finger fastball, but he was probably it’s most prolific teacher. Perfected by Bruce Sutter, Craig picked the pitch up and learned how to teach it to his pitchers. Mike Scott and Jack Morris were two of his prized pupils. The splitter is held like a forkball basically but thrown like a fastball. Craig taught the pitch wherever he coached or managed. His name…
The Forgotten Man Before Justin Turner, the Dodgers had another redhead. He played 1st and the outfield and spent 12 years of his 21-year MLB career as a Dodger. And in the overall scheme of things, he is somewhat of a forgotten man. Ronald Ray Fairly was born on July 12, 1938, in Macon, Georgia. He was the son of Carl and Marjorie Fairly. Ron’s dad had a 10-year career…
Thirty years ago, the San Francisco Giants were in the midst of making their biggest free agent signing in franchise history. Barry Bonds, then 28 years old and coming off his second MVP season, would be signed to a then-massive $44 million, six-year contract that brought him to his hometown San Francisco Giants. It was a somewhat similar situation that they are going through now as they court Yankee superstar…
I thought it would be interesting and appropriate to look at the Dodger bullpens in the seasons they won the World Series. This is simply because so much of what I have read lately on our site pertains to the makeup for the post-season of our relief staff. For the record, the 1955 team used 15 pitchers during the season. Five were primarily starters, Newcombe, Erskine, Podres, Meyer, and Loes….
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 mayor of Bay. Henry would read every sports page he could get his hands on. Wally was named after Alabama football coach, Wallace Wade….
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…
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…
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…
About a year ago I posted a column on the remaining Brooklyn Dodgers. The current list includes any player who put on a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, even for one game. In the last year, we have lost Don Newcombe, Randy Jackson, and Glenn Mickens. This is the link to the previous article. https://ladodgertalk.com/2019/01/06/the-oldest-living-dodger/ And this is the present list. Eddie Basinski (97): November 4, 1922 1944-45 Tim Thompson (96): March…
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…