Last week baseball lost another legend. Henry Aaron. Though he never played for the Dodgers, I had a deep respect for him as a man, and a ballplayer. I cannot imagine how it was for him growing up a black kid in the south. Nor can I imagine the hate directed at him when he was closing in on breaking the all-time HR mark set by Babe Ruth. He had…
Right about now, as COVID-19 rages across the country, MLB is making plans for a 162 game season. How many of those games will be played in empty stadiums remains to be seen, but It might be less than we think. The Indiana Pacers will begin allowing fans into Bankers Life Fieldhouse on January 19th. Sales will be limited to 1,000 tickets per game through Jan. 25 and gradually increase….
By now, we all know that Vin Scully, the greatest baseball broadcaster of all-time, experienced the loss of his wife, Sandi. The photo of the couple below was taken a couple of years ago: Sandra Hunt was married to Vin Scully for 48 years and at the age of 76, she was a beautiful, elegant woman, even as ALS ravaged her body. This is according to TMZ: Vin and Sandi…
I just started thinking about this the other day. And it is so true. As a kid, you are in awe of the players. The speed of the game and how it seems like they make the plays so easily. The first time in a major league ballpark is magical. The first time you come through the tunnel as I did at the Coliseum and see the colors and have…
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,…
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…
55 years ago today, perhaps my favorite non-WS game I ever watched or listened to played out on my transistor radio. It was a Thursday evening. School had just started, and we had just completed our third day of my 9th grade year. I was forbidden to be listening to my transistor radio, but I chose to ignore the rules and listen anyway. Of course that is another story that…
I have been a baseball and Dodger fan for slightly more than 60 years. My love for baseball was immediate, and with the Dodgers, it was love at first sight. In that sixty years, I have listened to or watched roughly 7,500 Dodger games. I have also watched and coached countless youth ball and high school baseball games. I have also had the pleasure of watching my sons participate in…
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…
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…