Dodger legend Sandy Koufax joined Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench and Willie Mays in being introduced before tonight’s All-Star Game as MLB’s Greatest Living Players.
Koufax punctuated the honor by throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game to Bench.
— Jon Weisman
Of course, a strike right down the middle. #SandyKoufax #ASG
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 15, 2015
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Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider were announced during tonight’s All-Star pregame as the winners of MLB’s Franchise Four balloting, which basically picks the equivalent of the franchise’s Mount Rushmore from its history of players.
Among those with Dodger ties, Mike Piazza was chosen for the New York Mets, Pedro Martinez for the Boston Red Sox, Frank Robinson for the Baltimore Orioles, Paul Konerko for the Chicago White Sox, Jim Thome for the Cleveland Indians, Rickey Henderson for the Oakland A’s, Adrian Beltre for the Texas Rangers, Luis Gonzalez for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Greg Maddux for the Atlanta Braves, Gary Sheffield for the Miami Marlins and Gary Carter for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
Chin-hui Tsao’s appearance and win in Friday’s 3-2 victory over Milwaukee, after eight years away from the Major Leagues, has reminded me of two-time Dodger pitcher Vicente Romo, who made his MLB debut for the Dodgers with one inning on April 11, 1968, then didn’t throw his next inning with Los Angeles until May 28, 1982.
In between, Romo pitched for four MLB teams — but he’s really better known as a legend in Mexico. From his Baseball-Reference.com biography:
Vicente Romo had the greatest career in the history of the Mexican Pacific League. He won a record 182 games in the LMP. Additionally he is the all-time league leader in ERA (2.38), strikeouts (2,038), complete games (178) and starts (364) during 24 years there. He pitched the first LMP perfect game and had a 17-win, 1.07 ERA in 1967-1968.
Romo also did a fine job in summer games, winning another 182 games in the Mexican League and 45 more in other leagues, for 409 wins counting his performance in winter leagues. …
… Vicente retired with a 182-106 record and 2.49 ERA in the Mexican League. Despite spending nine full seasons in the US, he ranked (as of 2000) in the top 10 all-time in the Mexican League in strikeouts (1,857, 5th-best), shutouts (52, tied for third) and complete games (179, 7th). His ERA is the best among pitchers with over 2,000 innings, a solid .17 ahead of #2 George Brunet. In winning percentage his .632 is third-best among pitchers with over 2,000 innings, trailing only Rafael Garcia (.645) and Andres Ayon (.633). In addition to being the top pitcher in the history of Mexico’s winter league, Romo has a reasonable case as the best pitcher in the Mexican League as well. He was voted into the Salon de la Fama in 1992. …
As the 39-year-old teammate of 21-year-old countryman Fernando Valenzuela in 1982, Romo had a 1.38 ERA in his first 13 innings with the Dodgers. He finished his Dodger career with an ERA of 2.95, and ultimately pitched in Mexico until he was 43. He was elected to the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
By Jon Weisman
In 1968, Bob Gibson famously had a 1.12 ERA that was baseball’s lowest in more than 50 years.
Right now, adjusted for park and era factors, Zack Greinke is better.
At right, you can see where Greinke stands among the greatest adjusted ERAs (ERA+) of all time, according to Baseball-Reference.com. (Click to enlarge the chart.)
The next-closest Dodger doesn’t come until Roger Craig (205 ERA+, 1959), in 46th place. Clayton Kershaw’s best single-season ERA+ was 194 last year, and Sandy Koufax’s was 190 in 1966 (77th).
Of course, Greinke has only thrown 123 1/3 innings so far this year. Gibson threw 304 2/3 in 1968, and adjusted ERA doesn’t factor in that level of durability.
Greinke has been boosted by a career-low .235 opponents’ batting average on balls in play, and in his 17 starts, he has allowed nine hits total with runners in scoring position (.203 on-base percentage, .224 slugging percentage).
Read more about Greinke’s unbelievable exploits in 2015 in Thursday night’s post.
Getty Images
By Jon Weisman
Remarkable.
Breathtaking.
With his eight shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, extending his scoreless inning streak to 35 2/3 innings, Zack Greinke has the lowest ERA at the All-Star Break by a pitcher with at least 100 innings since 1968.
In the past 47 years, Greinke’s 1.39 ERA at the end of the so-called first half is surpassed only by Bob Gibson (1.06), Luis Tiant (1.24) and Don Drysdale (1.37). Major League Baseball lowered the pitcher’s mound the following season.
Other than those three legends, you have to go back to World War II to find a hurler with a lower first-half ERA than Greinke’s: Red Munger’s 1.34 in 1944.
Greinke’s scoreless inning streak is now the fourth-longest in Los Angeles Dodger history, behind Orel Hershiser’s MLB-record 59, Drysdale’s 58 and Clayton Kershaw’s 41 last year.
It says something that not until the seventh paragraph am I mentioning that Greinke has retired 36 of the past 37 batters he has faced, starting with the final 12 New York Mets on Independence Day.
Tonight, Ryan Howard’s leadoff single in the second inning removed the drama of a no-hitter or perfect game, which would have been considerable considering Greinke shut down every other batter, throwing a svelte 94 pitches. Greinke has now seen 125 hitters during the streak, allowing 10 singles, three doubles and three walks while striking out 31.
Only two players during the streak have reached third base — none in the past 27 2/3 innings. Greinke has pitched 12 consecutive innings without allowing a runner into scoring position.
By Jon Weisman
Dodger fans anxious about their first-place team? It’s a time-honored tradition.
By Jon Weisman
In his how-could-it-not-be-lovely feature on Vin Scully for the Washington Post, Chuck Culpepper passes along this anecdote from the legend.
… All along, he has sustained an appreciation for the skill on the field. That began in earnest his first year, 1950, in Brooklyn Dodgers days, when manager Burt Shotton had heard of Scully’s Fordham center-field days — good field, good throw, jammed too often as a hitter — and asked him to don a Gil Hodges uniform one day before an exhibition in Battle Creek, Mich.
“Gil Hodges was a marble statue,” Scully said. “And here I am, ‘Dodgers’ is down by the belt. My number is halfway down the back of my pants. But I got the uniform on, and I have a glove and all that. And I go out, and I remember, I played pepper with Carl Furillo, he was our right fielder, terrific guy. And it was just like college, playing pepper and everything. And then, I went out in the outfield, and Shotton said, ‘I want to see you shag some balls.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’
“I went out to center field, and there was a left-hand pitcher named Joe Hatten. And Joe and I were standing out there, maybe 300 feet from home plate during batting practice. And Roy Campanella got into the batting cage. And he swung, and he hit what I would call a high line drive. It just stayed straight. And I said, ‘Joe, I’ve got it.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’ And I caught it, but you know, the impact was like no impact I ever felt before. It was like maybe I was playing third base. And as soon as I caught it, I remember I turned to Joe and said, ‘Joe, I don’t belong out here.’ And you have no idea how fast that game is that they play.”
And: “And I watch them day after day and I think, ‘How good they are. Ho-oh-ly mackerel.’ And that’s what I love about it.” …
Read the entire piece here.
By Jon Weisman
Next to the World Series title, 1965 will always be remembered most by Dodger fans for Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. In fact, Los Angeles came within a hair of having four no-hitters that season — including two one-hitters that took place 50 years ago this week.
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By Jon Weisman
Tonight’s 3-2 defeat at Texas was not a typical way for the Dodgers to lose.
The last time the Dodgers tied a game in the top of the ninth …
And the last time the Dodgers tied a game in the top of the ninth by hitting a home run, before losing to a home run on the very first batter of the bottom of the ninth? Going through records on Baseball-Reference.com dating back to 1940 … never.
For hard-throwing Josh Ravin, it was a tough initiation into the vast group of Major Leaguer pitchers who have, you know, lost games.
The loss was as sudden as it was seemingly improbable. The Dodgers had only one baserunner past second base through eight innings off Rangers rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez, before Howie Kendrick walked with one out in the ninth and Justin Turner hit his game-tying shot.
It’s little consolation, but Turner’s homer kept Brett Anderson from taking a loss in his longest outing (eight innings) since May 26, 2011. On the other hand, Anderson would have had his team-leading second complete game but for that mini-Home Run Derby in the ninth.
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By Jon Weisman
Frank Finch, the Dodger beat writer for the Times 50 years ago, would frequently report in the summer of 1965 that Maury Wills was ahead of the pace of his record-setting season of 104 stolen bases in 1962. That year, Wills had 27 steals at the end of May and 42 by the end of June. In 1965, Wills had 30 steals at the end of May and 47 by the end of June.
But the thing about 1962 for Wills was his enormous finishing kick: 53 steals (in 59 attempts) after July 31. Wills didn’t come close to matching that, producing 22 stolen bases from August 1 on, to finish with 94 — still the second-best total in National League history.
Here are many more interesting Dodger tidbits from the first two weeks of June 1965. There’s a lot, but really great stuff if you’re a Dodger fan …
Jackie Robinson congratulates Willie Mays after the Giants clinched the 1954 National League pennant with a 7-1 victory over the Dodgers on September 20. (American Academy of Achievement)
By Jon Weisman
It’s often been told how the Dodgers let Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente slip through their grasp, but while it’s no secret, the tale of how Willie Mays could have been a Dodger is less well known. Here’s Jackie Robinson’s version, as written by Frank Finch in the June 6, 1965 edition of the Times:
Jackie Robinson, here to telecast the game for ABC, was telling friends about the time he first was given a “chance” to break the color barrier in baseball. “Sam Jethroe and I worked out with the Boston Red Sox in 1945 while we were with the Kansas City Monarchs. They took our names and phone numbers, but we never heard from them. I signed with Mr. (Branch) Rickey later that year.”
Jackie says the Dodgers blew a chance to land Willie Mays when he was a 16-year-old phenom with the Birmingham Black Barons. “The Dodger players were much impressed with Mays when we played an exhibition game with the Barons,” said Jackie. “The front office in Brooklyn was contracted, but Wid Mathews, Mr. Rickey’s assistant, turned down Willie because Wid said he couldn’t hit a curve ball.”
More is written about Matthews at the SABR Baseball Biography Project. The game against Mays would have taken place shortly after Robinson broke in with the Dodgers in 1947. Mays, of course, broke in with the Giants in 1951.
Below, here’s a snapshot of Mays with Tommy Lasorda while the pair were playing in Cuba.
Approximate translation:
Two new “Scorpions”
Willie Mays, outfielder who has brought the “Almendares” (old Cuban League team that represented the Almendares district of Habana) to replace Williams marching ahead. He appears with another defensive player(?) in the blue jersey, Tom Lasorda, who was left of the payroll of Marianao (another Cuban baseball team that represented the Marianao district in Habana) despite that he has four wins and two losses. His lack of control was the reason for his release from the Marianao team. In 51 2/3 innings, he’s given up 54 walks.
From the pages of the brand-new June edition of Dodger Insider magazine, a look back at Ramon Martinez’s 18-strikeout game, 25 years ago today.
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
With Joc Pederson on his latest homer spree to open June, it’s hard not to recall the exploits of the greatest month of circuit clouting in Los Angeles Dodgers history — especially since it took place exactly 30 years ago.
In 30 days from the start to the end of June in 1985, Pedro Guerrero blasted 15 home runs, a mark only previously achieved by a Dodger in any month by Duke Snider’s 15 in August 1953.
Guerrero hit his 15 home runs in only 25 games. Only Mark McGwire (July 1999) has hit more home runs in a single month while playing in 25 games or less.
Appropriately enough, Guerrero started out with a home run on the first day of June — in the 11th inning off National League saves leader Jeff Reardon of Montreal. But Guerrero’s pace over the next several days was not especially rapid. By June 9, he had a modest four homers in the month — matching his total from April and May combined.
Guerrero homered again on June 10, but thanks to some Midwestern rain, three straight days without games further slowed his progress. After that, things got serious: Four homers in three games in Houston’s spacious Astrodome put the slugger at nine for the month, and five more in the next 10 days put him within one of Snider and the MLB record for home runs in June, shared at the time by Babe Ruth, Bob Johnson and Roger Maris. (Eventually, Sammy Sosa would hit 20 homers in June 1998.)
Over the next three days, through his 29th birthday on June 29, Guerrero went homerless. One day remained in June: a rare midweek day game at Dodger Stadium against the Braves. Guerrero grounded out in his first at-bat and hit two furious but futile fly outs in his next two. He had one more trip to the plate left.
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By Jon Weisman
Though the Dodgers, with Kenley Jansen unavailable, were unable to finish off the Rockies on Wednesday, it shouldn’t be lost that Joc Pederson delivered his fifth straight game with a home run.
Pederson has tied the Dodger record for most consecutive games with a homer — and is the first rookie to do so, after veterans Roy Campanella (1950), Shawn Green (2001) and Matt Kemp (2010) and Adrian Gonzalez (2014-15).
With 109 games left in the season, Pederson is already tied for 10th place on the Dodgers’ all-time single-season home run list for rookies, with 17. He is tied with Giancarlo Stanton for second place in the NL in home runs, one behind Bryce Harper.
“@espn30 for 30: The Joc Pederson Home Runs in June Story”
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 4, 2015
The 23-year-old has raised his 2015 OPS to .998, fifth in the National League. He is sixth in the Major Leagues, third in the NL and second among NL outfielders in wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs.
And, he’s the cover story in the June issue of Dodger Insider magazine. Make sure you pick up a copy at Dodger Stadium the next time you stop by.
By Jon Weisman
One day in May, this little item appeared deep in the game notes of the Times’ Frank Finch:
Maury Wills and Willie Davis cut records with Stubby Kaye Friday afternoon as well as doing single platters. During the session Jimmy Durante made a record called ‘Dandy Sandy,’ singing the praises of Prof. Koufax. Wills said it would be a smash.
You didn’t think I would leave you hanging, did you?
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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