Memorial Day
I count myself lucky that while cancer has intervened into the circle of my life, I’ve never had a friend or family member who died in battle. My dad did. Many of his West Point class of 1950 perished either in Korea or Vietnam. At 91 next month he may be one of the last men standing from that class. His brother, thirteen years his junior did two tours of Vietnam. He saw many friends die but as a Vietnam vet, he was able to put that part of his life behind him and move on as best as he could. My age group was lucky related to Vietnam, as was my family. The selective draft stopped with only my oldest brother being eligible and his number didn’t come up.
Nephews and nieces have served in the air force but they all came home. One not so safely and is on lifetime disability but at least he came home, was able to start a family.
Yes, I count myself lucky.
I should leave it at that, and I will but with one final thought. Memorial day simply makes me angry and sad, because it just reminds me how the human species will never learn. We will forever be honoring future Memorial days for future wars. The capacity for the human species to rationalize the killing of their own goes unabated as we head into the 21st century.
In the long run, no one is right, everyone is wrong.
Kershaw goes for 2,000th strikeout today
It was just nine years ago that Clayton Kershaw was making his first start for the LAD, now he’s trying to notch his 2,000th strikeout. Time flies when you are having fun.
Kershaw already owns the most strikeouts for any Dodger by age 29, but if he can wrangle ten strikeouts today, he would hit the coveted 2,000 strikeout level.
Heck of list, three HOF pitchers, one future HOF pitcher, and the most popular LAD. Won’t be long now before the historians start laying claims that Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in history before age 30.
Player SO IP From To Age W-L% ERA+ OPS+ Clayton Kershaw 1990 1831.2 2008 2017 20-29 .682 160 60 Don Drysdale 1908 2528.1 1958 1966 21-29 .564 119 84 Sandy Koufax 1897 1796.2 1958 1965 22-29 .655 129 68 Fernando Valenzuela 1759 2348.2 1980 1990 19-29 .549 107 90 Don Sutton 1738 2290.0 1966 1974 21-29 .552 109 83 Ramon Martinez 1223 1630.0 1988 1997 20-29 .611 107 91 Bob Welch 1096 1569.0 1978 1986 21-29 .565 112 89
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Generated 5/28/2017.
Dodgers versus Lackey – Lackey owns Dodgers
Line: LAD -120
O/U: 7.5 Runs
Zero homer runs against and low OPS of .526 against. Most of the poor OPS comes from Gutierrez who won’t be playing today but Chase is also a big contributor. All that came against Lackey when he was mostly a front line pitcher, he’s now the weakest link in the Cub rotation. Some think he is done? Is he? If he is, the Cubs rotation is in trouble.
Name PA H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OPS
Adrian Gonzalez 29 8 1 0 0 4 1 7 .632
Franklin Gutierrez 23 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .451
Chase Utley 20 2 0 1 0 0 2 2 .422
Yasmani Grandal 8 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .250
Yasiel Puig 8 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 .750
Logan Forsythe 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .143
Corey Seager 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .900
Enrique Hernandez 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.167
Total 107 18 2 2 0 5 10 23 .526
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Generated 5/27/2017.
How about Cubs against McCarthy? Zobrist is the only Cub with much of a sample size.
Name PA H 2B 3B HR RBI BB OPS
Ben Zobrist 26 6 1 0 1 1 2 .724
Jason Heyward 6 3 0 0 1 2 1 1.867
Anthony Rizzo 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 .750
Jon Jay 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 .400
Kris Bryant 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .667
Kyle Schwarber 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333
Willson Contreras 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Addison Russell 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total 56 12 1 0 2 3 8 .768
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Generated 5/27/2017.
Dodgers versus Arrieta
Only Grandal and Gonzalez have homered off of Arrieta. Seager has had three singles in just six plate appearances.
Name PA H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OPS Adrian Gonzalez 24 6 1 0 1 2 1 4 .726 Chase Utley 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 Yasmani Grandal 8 1 0 0 1 2 2 3 1.042 Corey Seager 6 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 1.000 Enrique Hernandez 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Yasiel Puig 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.667 Franklin Gutierrez 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Total 66 13 2 0 2 5 3 14 .585
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Generated 5/26/2017.
Cubs versus Wood, beware the MVP
Name PA H 2B 3B HR RBI BB OPS Anthony Rizzo 13 3 2 0 0 1 1 .724 Kris Bryant 9 3 1 0 1 3 1 1.556 Addison Russell 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 .667 Jon Jay 7 1 0 0 0 0 2 .629 Jason Heyward 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 .333 Ben Zobrist 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 .533 Jake Arrieta 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Javier Baez 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 .650 Willson Contreras 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .667 Miguel Montero 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .667 Kyle Schwarber 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .667 Albert Almora 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Total 72 15 3 0 1 7 8 .687
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Generated 5/26/2017.
OTDIB – May 26th – Ken Brett outshines his brother
On this date in baseball – May 26th
May 26th, 1976 – Ken Brett goes 10 ten innings to win 1 – 0
Ken Brett’s no-hit bid ends with two outs in the ninth, when White Sox third baseman Jorge Orta hopes Jerry Remy’s slow roller will go foul. The no-hitter is lost when the ball stays fair, but the southpaw, who tosses 10 innings of two-hit ball, gets the victory when the Pale Hose beat California in the 11th, 1-0.
Ken Brett was the famous brother first. Jonathan Arnold from sabr.org gives us the scoop.
The Red Sox were involved in what many consider the greatest pennant race of all time. They prevailed, and faced the St. Louis Cardinals in a rematch of their previous World Series appearance 21 years earlier. Because he was a September call-up, Brett wasn’t expected to be on the postseason roster. But one bullpen lefty (Bill Landis) went into the service, while another (Sparky Lyle) developed late-season arm trouble. So the Red Sox got approval from both Commissioner William Eckert and the Cardinals to put Brett on the roster, using the same loophole used by the California Angels for Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) 35 years later.
Brett pitched twice in the World Series, becoming, at 19 years and one month, the youngest pitcher to ever appear in the fall classic. He pitched 1⅓ innings, with no runs, one strikeout, and one walk, but even that short stint was enough for the opposing manager to praise the phenom. “Where has he been?” said Cardinals skipper Red Schoendienst after his first appearance. “With the kind of stuff he showed us, you wonder why he isn’t starting the Series. But don’t let me give the Red Sox any ideas.”
Kershaw/Koufax share the K top
Kershaw and Koufax both struck out 14 Cubs at Dodger Stadium to share the top spot on the strikeout leaderboard.
Pitchers on this list which includes every double digit strikeout game against the games that didn’t crack to top game score list (80 is the cut off point) are Kevin Gross, Burt Hooten, and Ramon Martinez.
Kevin Gross and Don Sutton were the only two who lost a game that had double digit strikeouts by the starting pitcher.
LAD who had double digit strikeouts against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Clayton Kershaw 2015-08-28 W 4-1 8.0 3 1 1 14 85 Sandy Koufax 1965-09-09 W 1-0 9.0 0 0 0 14 101 Sandy Koufax 1964-05-04 W 2-1 10.0 3 1 3 13 92 Clayton Kershaw 2010-07-08 W 3-2 8.0 7 2 0 12 72 Kevin Gross 1992-05-18 L 0-3 7.0 3 1 1 12 78 Ricky Nolasco 2013-08-28 W 4-0 8.0 3 0 1 11 86 Hiroki Kuroda 2008-06-06 W 3-0 9.0 4 0 0 11 90 Ismael Valdez 1995-08-16 W 6-1 9.0 7 0 0 11 82 Burt Hooton 1975-05-22 W 8-3 7.2 8 3 0 11 62 Don Sutton 1975-05-20 L 1-2 9.0 5 2 2 11 78 Sandy Koufax 1966-08-13 W 6-1 9.0 5 1 3 11 81 Tim Belcher 1991-08-30 W 2-0 9.0 4 0 0 10 89 Ramon Martinez 1990-04-28 W 5-4 9.0 7 3 1 10 68 Fernando Valenzuela 1981-08-27 W 6-0 9.0 4 0 2 10 87 Don Drysdale 1967-07-15 W 5-1 9.0 5 1 0 10 83 Sandy Koufax 1964-07-18 W 3-1 9.0 8 1 1 10 76 Don Drysdale 1964-07-17 W 3-2 9.0 6 1 0 10 79
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Generated 5/26/2017.
Koufax perfect game rides on top
The highest game score by a LAD pitcher against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium is, of course, the perfect game by Sandy Koufax.
I like this list because it has some names on it that had been missing in my other game score leaderboards. Like Hiroki Kuroda, Bill Singer, Tim Belcher, Ricky Nolasco, Rick Honeycut, John Purdin, Bob Miller, Vincente Padilla, Nick Willhite, Chan Ho Park, and Bob Welch.
Most of you should recognize those names but I bet you don’t recognize John Purdin, Bob Miller, or Nick Willhite?
John Purdin was one of my first ever LAD rookie baseball cards. The kind that comes with two players combined on one card. In this case Purdin was lumped in with the Bull Al Ferrera. I think he was painted. I had never seen Purdin pitch or ever saw a scouting report on him but I always wanted him to succeed. Sadly, Purdin would only make five starts and this one in 1964 would be his best by far. It was his first major league start and he shutout the Cubs in late Sept. Can you imagine the expectations for him in the winter of 1965? The blogosphere had to have been going wild.
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Sandy Koufax 1965-09-09 W 1-0 9.0 0 0 0 14 101 Sandy Koufax 1964-05-04 W 2-1 10.0 3 1 3 13 92 Hiroki Kuroda 2008-06-06 W 3-0 9.0 4 0 0 11 90 Bill Singer 1969-08-08 W 5-0 9.0 2 0 0 7 90 Tim Belcher 1991-08-30 W 2-0 9.0 4 0 0 10 89 Fernando Valenzuela 1981-08-27 W 6-0 9.0 4 0 2 10 87 Don Drysdale 1968-05-14 W 1-0 9.0 2 0 3 7 87 Ricky Nolasco 2013-08-28 W 4-0 8.0 3 0 1 11 86 Sandy Koufax 1965-07-16 W 3-0 9.0 4 0 2 9 86 Clayton Kershaw 2015-08-28 W 4-1 8.0 3 1 1 14 85 Rick Honeycutt 1987-05-12 W 7-0 9.0 4 0 1 6 84 John Purdin 1964-09-30 W 2-0 9.0 2 0 1 2 84 Bob Miller 1963-04-17 W 1-0 9.0 3 0 2 5 84 Don Drysdale 1962-09-10 W 8-1 8.0 3 0 1 9 84 Vicente Padilla 2010-07-11 W 7-0 8.0 2 0 1 6 83 Fernando Valenzuela 1990-04-27 W 5-0 9.0 4 0 0 4 83 Don Drysdale 1967-07-15 W 5-1 9.0 5 1 0 10 83 Don Drysdale 1967-05-14(1) W 2-1 10.0 5 1 1 6 83 Ismael Valdez 1995-08-16 W 6-1 9.0 7 0 0 11 82 Orel Hershiser 1989-07-18 W 4-1 9.0 4 0 0 5 82 Nick Willhite 1963-06-16(2) W 2-0 9.0 5 0 1 6 82 Chan Ho Park 1997-08-11 W 2-1 9.0 4 1 1 7 81 Andy Messersmith 1975-07-21 L 0-1 9.0 6 0 0 8 81 Don Sutton 1973-05-02 W 4-1 9.0 6 0 1 9 81 Sandy Koufax 1966-08-13 W 6-1 9.0 5 1 3 11 81 Don Drysdale 1965-07-15 W 5-0 9.0 3 0 3 3 81 Bob Welch 1986-04-30 W 4-0 9.0 6 0 1 6 80
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Generated 5/26/2017.
What an unlikely quartet
Most total bases by a Dodger at Dodger Stadium against the Cubs involves four of the most unlikely players. We had to drop down to nine total bases to even find four. Only one player has managed a double-digit total base game against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium.
Player Date Rslt PA R H 2B HR TB RBI Willie Davis 1973-05-02 W 4-1 4 2 4 1 2 11 3 A.J. Ellis 2012-08-03 W 6-1 3 2 3 0 2 9 3 Darren Dreifort 2000-08-08 W 7-5 4 2 3 0 2 9 2 Derrel Thomas 1979-08-31 W 6-4 3 3 3 0 2 9 2
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Generated 5/26/2017.
OK, Willie Davis does not surprise me, though I would have thought a big game like that would have involved a triple, but it didn’t. Just a single, double, and two home runs.
Next up is A.J. Ellis? For a minute I thought that was his season line.
Third up is a pitcher. We all knew Dreifort could hit and that he had one huge game in his career as a hitter and this was it. The surprise was that as a pitcher, Dreifort was able to get four at-bats in a game. If you think I’m being snarky I’m not. Dreifort made 113 starts and only had four plate appearances in six of them. This was one of them.
Derrel Thomas? I feel I’m being trolled. Two home runs? He hit all of twelve home runs in his five-year Dodger career.
Now we have to look at the Cub side. Greatest Total base game by a Cub at Dodger Stadium.
Player Date Rslt PA R H 2B HR TB RBI Dave Kingman 1978-05-14 W 10-7 8 3 4 0 3 13 8 Andre Dawson 1989-05-05 W 4-2 4 2 4 0 2 10 2 Jim Hickman 1969-08-09 W 4-0 4 2 3 1 2 10 2
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Generated 5/26/2017.
This was the infamous Dave Kingman game against the Dodgers where a reporter asked Lasorda what he thought of the performance by Kingman and Lasorda went on a profanity-laced tirade that has been played over and over.
Jim Hickman died last year. The ex-Dodger sucked for the Dodgers in 1967, gets traded to the Cubs and by 1970 was an all-star hitting 32 home runs and finishing 8th in MVP voting.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 