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…
First of all, I received multiple emails wishing me good health and prayers, and for that I will be forever grateful. I do not get sick very often, but when I do, I do it right. The illness occurs once every 5-6 years, and lasts a couple of weeks. And it is almost always the same. I start out with a head cold, with a severe sore throat, and it…
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…
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 had the privilege and joy of watching last night’s game with a new friend. I will call him DR (not Dodger Rick). DR is a long time reader, but does not post. DR reached out to me before I assumed responsibility for LADT and offered to assist with some IT to form a new blog. Because Mark allowed me to assume LADT, DR’s services were not necessary, but I…
With the passing in the last week or so of Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, and now Joe Morgan, I got to thinking about players who always seem to be at their best against the Dodgers. It has always seemed to me like some players just have another team’s number. Take for example, Willie McCovey. His BA against the Dodgers in 297 games was .241. He hit 45 HR’s and had…
A few days ago the Dodger family lost Ron Perranoski. And Mark asked about his leaving on bad terms. So I did some research to check on that simply because I could not remember the circumstances of his leaving. Perry was born on April 1st, 1936 in Patterson, New Jersey. There is not much information on his Wikipedia page, but he grew up in the town of Fair Lawn, N.J….