One of my all-time favorite Dodger moments, perhaps the favorite between A Happier 9/11 and the 4 + 1 game, took place 20 years ago tonight — starring Pedro Astacio. Read more about it at Los Angeles Magazine’s CityThink blog.
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Jon Weisman
From Variety, October 1, 2010: “Andy Griffith: TV’s conscience” bit.ly/MGFOhJ
Terry Austin
“In all of his major work, he’s made people rethink what the South and Southernness is.”
Yes. This.
veryolddodgerfan
Very Nice
Anonymous
I turned off the game after the Reds took the lead, so I couldn’t tell whether Billz had anything left after the sixth. Could he have not gone another inning? He only threw 98 pitches?
veryolddodgerfan
no. he was pretty much done.
veryolddodgerfan
i mean he could have pitched but he was going south and needed to be taken out
veryolddodgerfan
he really pitched very well for 5 innings
veryolddodgerfan
a lot of unfair angst over coffee. he didn’t allow a run in June.
Anonymous
Coffey isn’t my cup of tea.
Jon Weisman
By the way, in game one of the doubleheader right before Astacio pitched, Bob Ojeda threw a complete game on 131 pitches.
underdog
Nice piece. For some reason it amused me that future old friend Stan Javier was the first man he faced.
I remember that game now. Astacio, the 2nd best Dodger Pedro and I wish they’d gotten to play together in LA longer than two seasons. :( Amazing how long Astacio’s career lasted, well, maybe not amazing, but kind of overlooked. His last year was only 6 years ago!
Anonymous
Would it be off base to approach this trade talk from a different angle, and be looking for an arm? I’ve heard our pockets are deep, but is it worth spending the money on an over the hill player hoping to catch lightning in a bottle for August and September? Big fan of this recruiting going on in the south.
Puig could be called up this year, perhaps before September if he does well. With Kemp and Ethier coming back to full time after the break, those three in the outfield could really solidify the lineup down the second half.
As for the infield, Mark Ellis is coming back with Ethier and Kemp. This is a massive improvement, as it means we can take someone off the infield who is currently there. It’s interesting to say, but Loney has looked solid for a week. Platooning him and Rivera at first until one outplays the other could work post all-star break. This leaves short and third, between Dee and Cruz, and whoever else on the team wants to beat out Uribe.
IF… the rotation were to include someone like Cole Hamels… could that lineup score enough runs to make some noise?
Abreau, Herrera, Harriston Jr… decent bench.
What would Hamels take to get?
Anonymous
I think you need to make the best trade you can, regardless of whether it’s a pitcher or a hitter. There don’t actually seem to be too many good hitters available, so concentrating on Cole Hamels has its merit. I can’t imagine there’s anyone the Phils want from this assortment of losers, but I’d say anyone other than Kemp, Ethier, and Kershaw is on the block.
Anonymous
The way the Phils are playing this year that “assortment of losers” would be quite at home :)
Anonymous
A case of beer says Puig never reaches the majors.
Terry Austin
I would not listen to that case of beer. Most likely, it hasn’t seen much Cuban baseball.
underdog
Heh.
At any rate, I would bet a case of beer that Puig never reaches the majors–this season. I would otherwise happily take 16883’s bet.
Anonymous
You spend that kinda money on him he would have to be downright atrocious not to get at least a cup of coffee at some point. Make it Stella, please.
veryolddodgerfan
somewhat dependent on the chances of signing him. if i’m hamels i’m not signing anything until ALL the bids are in thus making the rental very, very expensive. i think you have to play it smart and shoot your wad on hamels in the off season. he’d be crazy to tip his hand.. and it would be crazy to trade everybody for a rental. the bidding is going to be HIGH in the off season. not to mention the 6 years or so he’s going to want which is a big dose of medicine to take.
Anonymous
It would take probably Gould, Lee and Lindblom/Dee/Tolleson to get Hamels, which is a lot of lost future talent. Also, we need to be 100% sure that signing Hamels to a huge contract won’t intefere with keeping Kershaw for a very long time.
veryolddodgerfan
Dee is the only one in that group that gets me interested if i’m the phillies. Dee and Lee and I would do it. but for a rental the dodgers would be nutty to do it and Kasten isn’t trading his top young players for rentals. i think you can pretty much take that notion to the bank.
Anonymous
Is there a chance we get him to agree to a new contract as part of the deal, so he’s not a rental? If so, you would have to consider Dee and a prospect… no?
Anonymous
Dee and a prospect for Hamels would go down as the Delino DeShields of Phillies history. Unless the prospect turned out to be Mike Schmidt.
Anonymous
I am a bit confused why “Buttercup”, the story of losing Pedro Martinez, would be “one of your all-time favorite Dodger moments”?
Jon Weisman
Actually, that’s a mistake – I meant to link to the R.J. Reynolds game and got a brain cramp.
Anonymous
Ahhh, a much better memory… and a game that ” I ” watched from the Dodger dugout.
Anonymous
How ya doin’ cebollita :)
Anonymous
Onionhead is doing well thank you!
Adam Luther
Somehow Astacio won 17 games for a 5th place Colorado team. Yep – 12 wins on the road, 5 at home. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=astacpe01&year=1999&t=p
foul tip
Doris Sams, maybe the leading inspiration for A League of Their Own, has departed this earth.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/more/07/02/doris-sams-dies.ap/index.html?sct=mlb_t2_a18
Terry Pruett
1. Andy Griffith. A huge loss. Andy Griffith’s Mayberry was a place like the Springsteen song: “You’re lucky to be from this town, it’s a beautiful place to be born, it just wraps its arms around you, nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone.” And yet, the shambling Sherriff Andy Taylor was played by the same man who played Lonesome Rhodes, one of the most evil characters to ever hit the big screen, in A Face in the Crowd. I think they call that “RANGE”. He will be missed…
2. A great post on Astacio…he wasn’t a great pitcher, but he carved out a nice career. He was one of my favorites…
3. I am starting to agree with Northern Blue, who posted: “Would it be off base to approach this trade talk from a different angle, and be looking for an arm?”. It seems more and more that a true impact bat will elude our grasp, mainly because we lack adequate trade bait. Lilly is iffy for the rest of the year; Aaron Harang is a mediocre pitcher; Eovaldi, at this point is a #5 at best, and Billingsley is Billingsley. Maybe we should count on Kemp, Ethier, and Ellis coming back and hitting like it’s April, and focus on keeping the games close and relatively low-scoring. One run wins are still wins, after all.
veryolddodgerfan
fellas take any good deal you can find. there are LOTS of holes. filling any one of them makes the team better.
Terry Pruett
Like perhaps Chase Headley to play 3rd base? :)
veryolddodgerfan
I’d ship Gould for Headley right now no questions asked. looking at all the third possibilities i’m warming to the idea of headley. just stop telling me he’s real good to try and sell me. the prospects for 3b right now could hardly be any worse organizationally and trade wise. and even free agent wise. it’s spectacular.
Eric Enders
Great read. You know, I’ve never seen a no-hitter in person, but the closest I’ve ever come was a Double-A game that Pedro Astacio pitched for San Antonio, where he carried a no-no into the ninth.
veryolddodgerfan
i listened to all of koufax’s no hitters on my transistor radio and because mr. vin scully was on the mike i felt like i was there. Vin was the king of the friggin universe back then.
Terry Pruett
I remember the perfect game the most, because, at “9:26 in the City of the Angels”, I had to sneak my 8 year old butt from my bedroom to the kitchen to dig a battery for my transistor out of the kitchen drawer…WITHOUT my parents hearing me. Mission accomplished. Just in time for Chris Krug, and in plenty of time for Harvey Kuenn….
veryolddodgerfan
me too. although my battery was good. and i was under the pillow listening. we’re pretty much the same age. you’re old dude.
Anonymous
While you yougins were put to bed, I was at DS.
veryolddodgerfan
Damn!
KT
Just read on MLBTR that X. Paul is available for those XP fans
http://tinyurl.com/83e6x9m
Anonymous
Do you cheer for an opposing pitcher as he gets down to the last out or two of “no hitting” your favorite team?
…
I ask this because I was in attendance for the Kent Mercker No-No vs. the Dodgers in 1994.
…
Personally, while I can sure appreciate it for the ‘rare bird’ that it is…. I wasn’t in a mood to cheer.
I was happy for him for his personal athletic achievement, but I was bummed at the Dodgers.
Jon Weisman
I cheered Mercker. I cheered quite a bit for Dennis Martinez.
Anonymous
You’ve been to 2 No-No’s? …. Now, that’s cool….
Jon Weisman
I also saw Fernando’s, and I saw Mark Gardner’s nine no-hit innings that came two nights before Martinez.
Anonymous
My dad would call Astacio “el del calambre”….the one with the cramp….because of the way he would wiggle and shake his pitching arm while on the mound.
Terry Pruett
Question: With Matt Kemp and Mark Ellis in the starting lineup for the Quakes tonight, does this make Rancho Cucamonga the best team in the Dodger organization on this fine Tuesday? :)
Anonymous
That might be the best team in California right now.
Jon Weisman
I think tonight’s Dodgers would win with their starting pitcher, but it would be an entertaining game.
Jon Weisman
NPUT
Jason Ungar
I have a totally random question..
Do any of you know a bigger dodger fan than yourself? Someone asked me that today and he was 4 years old but it made me think. After giving it some thought for a few min while driving home my answer was my mom.
My son who turns 5 in Nov within the last few weeks has found a new obsession. The Dodgers and hitting baseballs.
Anonymous
Does anyone else have that “I don’t care whether or not they play a game today” feeling? We know who’s not in the lineup today and I can’t care who is. There is zero rumor or speculation about the team trying to trade for anybody although surely they must be. I know it’s tough on the front office but it’s just as tough for the fans.
Anonymous
Of games where there is a definitive pitch count, Danny McDevitt of the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers surpassed Astacio’s mark with 148 pitches in his first game.
Four weeks after Astacio’s debut, Tim Wakefield made his debut with 146 pitches.
Anonymous
McDevitt pitched the last game at Ebbets Field?
Anonymous
In DC today, Madison Gumbarner is having an attack of Lincecumitis, having allowed three homers, as the Nats lead the Gnats 7-4 in the fifth. Old friend Edwin Jackson strong after a rocky start.