Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Pee Wee Reese

Visiting the Hall of Fame
Part 1: Brooklyn memories

By

On July 17, 2019

In Dodgers, Hall of Fame, History

It was a Cooperstown Surprise.

Last weekend brought me to the wilds of New York for family reasons, on a trip that had been planned for months but near the last minute unexpectedly left me with a free day. Staying only 90 minutes from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, I rose at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, on four hours sleep after having traveled all Saturday from home, and made the drive to a little slice of baseball heaven. 

At age 51, this was my second trip to the Hall — my first came when I was 14. People have asked me if the Hall seemed different, but so much time has passed that the biggest compare and contrast I can make is doing the trip with my dad vs. doing it solo. 

That said, another major difference was having a cellphone, as opposed to only memories that would fade over time. I took more than 200 photos, and with this year’s annual induction ceremony only days away, there seems to be no better time for me to share some of them with you (with apologies for the quality). I’m going to divide them into multiple posts, starting with this one centered on the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

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Bridges to history: Last links to retired numbers

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On February 18, 2016

In History

Reese Fairly

By Jon Weisman

With the Dodgers celebrating their 10 retired numbers in a pin series this year, I was curious who was the last active player to take the field with each of these legends. Here’s what I found:

1 Pee Wee Reese
Ron Fairly, who was 19 when making his debut with the 40-year-old Reese as a teammate on the 1958 “Welcome to Los Angeles” Dodgers, was 40 himself when he played his last big-league game in 1978. Years between Reese’s first game and Fairly’s last: 38

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Who was the Dodgers’ Kobe?

By

On November 30, 2015

In Other sports

Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant at Dodger Stadium, July 31, 2013. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant at Dodger Stadium, July 31, 2013. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

It’s hard to be a sports fan in Los Angeles and not be affected by the end of Kobe Bryant’s career. Twenty seasons in a Los Angeles uniform? For one attempt at perspective, here’s the Dodger starting lineup on June 26, 1996, the day the 17-year-old Bryant was drafted.

Delino DeShields, 2B
Roger Cedeno, LF
Mike Piazza, C
Eric Karros, 1B
Raul Mondesi, RF
Mike Blowers, 3B
Todd Hollandsworth, CF
Greg Gagne, SS
Tom Candiotti, P

Candiotti, the starting pitcher that day, is now 58 years old.

On the way to work this morning, I asked myself who would be the Dodgers’ closest equivalent to Bryant, a spectacular, championship-winning (future) Hall of Famer who wore only one team’s uniform (albeit with two numbers). It won’t surprise you that there’s no exact match, but I do think there’s a closer one than you might realize.

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Who were the last Dodgers born in each decade?

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On May 26, 2015

In History

Mota head shot

Manny Mota

By Jon Weisman

Something in the news today made me notice that Joel Peralta, Jimmy Rollins and Juan Uribe are the only active Dodgers remaining who were born in the 1970s.

Naturally (or, upon reflection, perversely), I became curious about who held that honor in past years. Here’s the honor roll of players who were the last Dodgers born in each previous decade:

  • 1960s: Brad Ausmus, b. 1969 (2010, age 41)
  • 1950s: Rickey Henderson, b. 1958 (2002, age 44)
  • 1940s: Rick Dempsey, b. 1949 (1990, age 41)
  • 1930s: Manny Mota, b. 1938 (1982, age 44)
  • 1920s: Hoyt Wilhelm, b. 1922 (1972, age 49)
  • 1910s: Pee Wee Reese, b. 1918 (1958, age 40)
  • 1900s: Curt Davis, b. 1903 (1946, age 42)
  • 1890s: Kiki Cuyler, b. 1898 (1938, age 40)
  • 1880s: Jack Quinn, b. 1883 (1932, age 49)
  • 1870s: Kid Elberfield, b. 1875 (1914, age 39)
  • 1860s: Patsy Donovan, b. 1865 (1907, age 42)
  • 1850s: George Shoch, b. 1859 (1897, age 38)

Sutton was the last Dodger born before the end of World War II, Reese the last before the end of World War I and Donovan the last born before the end of the Civil War.

The oldest recorded birth year for any player associated with the Dodger franchise is 1851, for outfielder Jack Remsen, who finished his career with the 1884 Brooklyn Atlantics of the American Association. For the National League years, you can go all the way back to infielder Jack Burdock (b. 1852), who got the 1,231st and final hit of his career with the 1891 Brooklyn Grooms.

Video: Dodgers and the wars

By

On May 27, 2014

In History

[mlbvideo id=”33204293″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

On Memorial Day, the Dodgers premiered this video connecting Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Gleason with the team and their military service. A day later, it still is worth viewing.

— Jon Weisman

Video: ‘Dodgers Roadshow’ highlights rare goodies

By

On May 21, 2014

In History, Publications

Dodgers Roadshow

By Jon Weisman

The centerpiece of the May issue of Dodger Insider magazine is our Dodgers Roadshow (excerpted above, click to enlarge). Team historian Mark Langill discussed the history behind 20 pieces of Dodger memorabilia, few if any of which you’ve ever seen before.

In the videos that follow, Langill devotes even more time to these strange and wonderful artifacts. Enjoy!

[mlbvideo id=”33008893″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

[mlbvideo id=”33008913″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Roy Campanella-Pee Wee Reese bobblehead, July 12

By

On May 8, 2014

In History, Promotions

For the July 12 Dodgers-Padres game featuring this bobblehead giveaway, get your tickets here.

Here’s a statistical salute to Roy Campanella, from Lee Sinins for Gammons Daily.

— Jon Weisman

In case you missed it: Donnie Baseball extends his run

By

On January 8, 2014

In History

LOS ANGELES DODGERS AT ST.LOUIS CARDINALS

By Jon Weisman

It’s been a Hall of a day …

  • As anticipated, Don Mattingly’s contract extension through the 2016 season as manager of the Dodgers became official today. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has the details from Mattingly and Ned Colletti.
  • Greg Maddux’s 3.94 ERA in 19 games with the Dodgers — as well as his 3.14 ERA in 4,894 innings with some other major-league teams — allowed him to sneak into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. (Craig Biggio missed election by a mere two votes out of 571.)
  • Clayton Kershaw’s potential for the Hall of Fame, summed up by Dan Szymborski for ESPN Insider: “Only an injury or a severe case of writer myopia can derail Kershaw’s Hall of Fame run. A 79.7 WAR puts Kershaw just below Bob Gibson and Curt Schilling and just above Tom Glavine and Old Hoss Radbourn.”
  • Here are some scouting reports of recently elected and would-be Hall of Famers, courtesy of Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus.  The take on Mike Piazza in 1986, offered by scout Brad Kohler:
    PiazzaScouting
  • At the Hardball Times, Frank Johnson writes about the improbability of Pee Wee Reese playing in seven World Series and having them all be against the New York Yankees. “Even given the Dodgers’ and Yankees’ proclivity for winning pennants in the ’40s and ’50s, that defies the odds,” Jackson says. “And there could have been three more matchups.”
  • I continue to be fascinated by the story of Chris Cotillo, the high school senior who has been breaking major baseball transaction stories. He writes about the experience for MLB Daily Dish.

Some Dodger Hall of Fame trivia

By

On January 7, 2014

In History

80 cey sutton

By Jon Weisman

Ahead of Wednesday’s announcement of the National Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, some Dodger-related trivia from the past three decades …

In the past 10 years, only one man has been elected to the the Hall of Fame who played in a Dodger uniform: Rickey Henderson in 2009. Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Fred McGriff, Jeff Kent, Luis Gonzalez, Paul Lo Duca, Hideo Nomo and Eric Gagne are eligible to end that drought. (Joe Torre, whom the Expansion Era Committee elected to the Hall in December, will be the first Dodger manager entering the Hall since Tommy Lasorda.)

There were more ex-Dodger players entering the Hall of Fame in 2003 then the past 10 years combined: Eddie Murray and Gary Carter.

The last player to have a Dodger cap on his Hall of Fame plaque was Don Sutton, elected in 1998. You then have to go back to Don Drysdale in 1984 to find another longtime Dodger joining the Hall via election by the Baseball Writers Association of America, the same year that the Veterans Committee tapped Pee Wee Reese.

One late cup-of-coffee Dodger who made the Hall was Jim Bunning, chosen by the Veterans Committee in 1996. Bunning had a 3.36 ERA in nine games for the Dodgers in 1969 at age 37.

Hoyt Wilhelm, elected to the Hall in 1985, finished his career as a Dodger in 1972, 16 days shy of his 50th birthday. He was preceded by short-time Dodgers Juan Marichal in 1983 and Frank Robinson in 1982.

Swinging back to managers, the Veterans’ Committee put Walter Alston in the Hall in 1983, Leo Durocher in 1994, Ned Hanlon in 1996 and Lasorda in 1997. The Hall doors opened for former Dodger owner Walter O’Malley in 2008.

The results of this year’s BBWAA Hall of Fame balloting will be announced on MLB Network and MLB.com on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

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Attendance

1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended

2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)

Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret. 

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