23 posts
We were discussing, actually, it was just brought up, the impact of Manny Machado when he came to LA in 2018, After the World Series in 18 he became a free agent and left for the Padres. So, I thought I would jump in my way back machine, and stick to LA Dodgers only, seeing what…
The Forgotten Man Ron Fairly #6 1B-OF Los Angeles 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…
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has given us a keyhole view towards the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, where a dazzling array of stars reside. Most of the view of our galaxy is obscured by dust. Hubble peered into the Sagittarius Star Cloud, a narrow, dust-free region…
1953 Topps Podres At the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, there is a statue of Johnny Podres releasing a ball. 60 feet 6 inches away is a statue of Roy Campanella. They commemorate the Brooklyn Dodgers winning their first World Series in 1955 over the Yankees. John…
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 Robinson This is a relatively new way to gauge a player’s worth…
Recently I was asked by a friend of mine who reads this blog if I would do a story about Willie Davis. I thought that was a good idea, but since their careers started so close together, I thought I would just add Tommy to the story too. I hope it is something you all will be…
I was 11 when the Dodgers won their first World Series in L.A. Living in Highland Park at a home for kids. I had gone to my first games at the coliseum in 1958. We went to about 5 games during the 1959 season. The Dodgers had replaced long-time retiring SS Pee Wee Reese with Don…
Since the deadline is just a few days away, I thought it might be fun to look back on some of the trades the Dodgers have made over the years. Some were significant in helping the team win, others, well they just were not all that good or popular. Winter: 1958 On the 4th of December, the Dodgers sent Gino Cimoli to the Cardinals for OF Wally Moon and P
Last week, Joc Pederson left the Dodgers as a free agent to join the Chicago Cubs, and prior to that, Kike’ Hernandez signed with the Red Sox. Both were very popular with Dodger fans. Kike’, the Banana Man to many, and a versatile player, had enthralled fans with his energy, and his sometimes flair for the dramatic. His best day as a Dodger was in game 5 of the 2017
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 am limiting this to L.A. Dodgers history simply to keep it from being more than a post long. We shall travel in our way back machine to 1958 when they traded Gino Cimoli to the Cardinals for Wally Moon. Cimoli had a nice career without being a big star. He ended up playing for 6 more teams over the last 8 seasons of his career. Moon, who became so
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
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
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
In 1999 Nike came out with a clever commercial featuring Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Mark McGwire and Heather Locklear. Rather than pay attention to the Cy Young award winning pitchers, Glavine and Maddux, Heather swooned over Mark McGuire and his ability to hit the ball over the fence. After a stringent work out regiment, Glavine and Maddux hit some out in batting practice and, for the first time, Heather Locklear
Most of us can remember where we were when important events occur in our lives. On Nov 22, 1963, I was at choir practice in our auditorium when I heard about JFK s assassination. 9-11-2001, I was in South Gate at the JB Hunt terminal when the planes hit the twin towers. But the day I fell in love with the game That actual date escapes me. And since my love
In 1961, 21 year old local boy, Willie Davis became the Dodger’s starting center fielder. He was to become the replacement for the great Duke Snider, beating out among others the legendary Don Demeter :-). I was 10 years old at the time. Being the gawky string bean kid that I was, I had no real idea of the concept of “cool.” Even though I didn’t know what “cool” was,
For two seasons, you could argue that Tommy Davis was the best young player in the National League. In 1962, at age 23, he finished third in MVP voting (behind teammate Maury Wills and Willie Mays of the Giants). What did he do that year? Nothing much, but lead the NL with a .346 batting average, 240 hits, and 153 RBI. The RBI are still a team record. The 240
• Admittedly, the constant banter about trade speculation and the wait for free agents to sign can be very wearying for me . . . Frankly, I can’t wait for the winter meetings to start. My baseball life was so slow this week, that I actually found myself spending some rather depressing time thinking about the Dodger signing Andrew Jones, Jason Schmidt, and Darryl Strawberry. Oh my! Please, please, please,
Sunday was an off-day in the Dodgers pursuit of a World Series championship. Among other things I took a few moments to see what I could remember from each of the Dodgers 12 appearances in the World Series during my time as a Dodger fanatic. For some I don’t recall much, but for all I have a moment or two that I do. I became a Dodger fan on April
