OTDIB – May 15th – Piazza goes fishing
May 15th, 2015 – King Felix strikes out 2,000th hitter
Mariner right-hander Felix Hernandez becomes the fourth-youngest hurler to record his 2,000th career strikeout when he whiffs Sam Fuld in fifth inning of the team’s 4-3 victory against Oakland at Safeco Field. Bert Blyleven, Walter Johnson, and Sam McDowell are the only three pitchers to reach the milestone faster than King Felix.
Pitchers 29 and younger with 2,000 strikeouts in major league history:
Player SO From To Age G W L W-L% IP ERA+ Walter Johnson 2305 1907 1917 19-29 466 254 164 .608 3474.1 166 Sam McDowell 2281 1961 1972 18-29 364 132 117 .530 2274.0 115 Bert Blyleven 2250 1970 1980 19-29 387 156 141 .525 2841.1 126 Felix Hernandez 2142 2005 2015 19-29 334 143 101 .586 2262.1 128 Don Drysdale 2111 1956 1966 19-29 437 177 134 .569 2848.1 122 Nolan Ryan 2085 1966 1976 19-29 294 122 116 .513 1935.0 109 Sandy Koufax 2079 1955 1965 19-29 356 138 78 .639 2001.1 125 Bob Feller 2000 1936 1948 17-29 348 177 98 .644 2471.0 134
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Generated 5/15/2017.
May 15th, 1998 – The trade that shook the Dodger fan world
On the day the Marlins trade Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, the team hangs on to beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 8-7. In the first inning, the Fish connect for nine consecutive hits, a franchise record, and score seven runs, all without the help of their recently departed teammates.
Mike Piazza hit the ball harder than any Dodger I’ve ever seen. As with many Dodger fans of the 1990’s he was Dodger baseball.
May 15th, 1976 – Before Fernando there was the Bird
In his first major league start, rookie right-hander Mark Fidrych throws a complete game two-hitter in the Tigers’ 2–1 victory over Cleveland. ‘The Bird’, who holds the Tribe hitless for the first six innings, amuses his teammates and delights the Detroit fans with his unorthodox antics, which includes talking to the ball.
The Bird made watching baseball fun. I took to him right away. A baseball story made for Hollywood, not sure why they never took this story to the big screen.
May 15th, 1956 – the hated Barber joins the Dodgers
Sal Maglie, obtained on waivers by Cleveland last season from the Giants, is shipped to the Dodgers for a hundred dollars after impressing Brooklyn in an exhibition game. The ‘Barber’ will post a 13-5 record along with a 2.89 ERA for the eventual NL Champs, finishing second to teammate Don Newcombe in the balloting for both the Cy Young and MVP awards
OTDIB – May 14th – Chad Billingsley gets screwed
May 14th, 2011 Chad Billingsley didn’t have the best luck in his Dodger career and never was that more in play than on this day.
For the first time since 1914, the Dodgers are defeated after allowing just one hit, losing to the visiting Diamondbacks,1-0. Chad Billingsley, the hard-luck loser, gives up a leadoff double in the second to Stephen Drew, who scores the game’s only run when shortstop Jamey Carroll fails to cover the bag in an attempted pick-off play.
The game above was one the best games ever pitched by Chad who had five game scores over 80 in his Dodger career. I watched Chad lose another game 1 – 0, it was Justin Upton’s debut for the Diamondbacks at the age of 19. He didn’t do anything but a solo home run by the Diamondback catcher was his undoing.
Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc 2012-04-06 SDP W 6-0 8.1 3 0 1 11 87 2011-04-17 STL W 2-1 8.0 3 0 2 11 85 2008-07-30 SFG W 4-0 9.0 5 0 0 8 85 2011-05-14 ARI L 0-1 8.0 1 0 2 8 84 2007-07-01 SDP W 5-0 7.0 3 0 0 9 80
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Generated 5/15/2017.
May 14th, 1981 – Fernando extends FernandoMania one more game
1981 With a 3-2 win over Montreal in front of the largest Dodger Stadium crowd in seven years, rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela improves his record to 8-0. The 20 year-old southpaw, who has started the season with five shutouts and a minuscule ERA of 0.50, gets the victory when right fielder Pedro Guerrero hits a lead-off game-ending home run off Steve Ratzer in the bottom of the ninth inning at Chavez Ravine.
Fernandomania……….you simply had to be there to understand one of the greatest extended moments in LAD history
LAD Strikeout Leaderboard for AT&T Park
I think I’ll make this a regular thing. Before each series, I’ll post the top Game scores and Strikeouts for that park so we can see if anyone can crack them in the upcoming series. On Saturday, Alex Wood was able to crack the top strikeout games at Coors and jumped over Clayton Kershaw to notch 2nd place behind Ramon Martinez.
As expected Clayton dominates the AT&T strikeouts in a game by a LAD pitcher. I’m going to post three leaderboards in this column. The AT&T high K games, the Candlestick high K games, and the Pre 1958 high K games.
AT&T
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Clayton Kershaw 2016-06-10 W 3-2 8.0 5 2 0 13 77 Clayton Kershaw 2015-09-29 W 8-0 9.0 1 0 1 13 97 Clayton Kershaw 2011-07-20 W 1-0 8.0 3 0 1 12 87 Zack Greinke 2014-07-25 W 8-1 7.0 4 0 1 10 78 Odalis Perez 2004-04-16 W 3-2 8.0 2 0 1 10 87 Chan Ho Park 2001-06-25 L 2-5 7.0 4 3 1 10 66
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Generated 5/14/2017.
Candlestick:
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Fernando Valenzuela 1987-04-22 W 5-3 8.0 7 2 1 12 69 Don Sutton 1979-04-22 W 9-2 9.0 6 1 0 12 81 Don Drysdale 1965-06-28 L 0-5 8.0 5 1 2 12 70 Hideo Nomo 1995-08-05 W 3-0 9.0 1 0 3 11 93 Fernando Valenzuela 1984-08-10 L 1-4 7.0 8 4 3 11 53 Sandy Koufax 1966-06-10 W 6-1 9.0 4 1 2 11 84 Sandy Koufax 1965-05-09 L 3-6 7.0 6 5 4 11 52 Orel Hershiser 1989-04-10 W 7-4 8.0 6 3 5 10 63 Tim Leary 1988-07-27 L 1-2 9.0 5 1 3 10 78 Fernando Valenzuela 1986-04-23 W 6-4 9.0 8 3 3 10 64 Fernando Valenzuela 1984-04-30 W 1-0 9.0 4 0 3 10 86 Fernando Valenzuela 1983-04-20 L 2-3 9.0 7 3 4 10 67 Fernando Valenzuela 1981-04-14 W 7-1 9.0 4 1 2 10 83 Sandy Koufax 1965-06-29 W 9-3 9.0 8 3 1 10 68 Sandy Koufax 1964-06-25 L 1-2 9.0 6 1 5 10 76
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Generated 5/14/2017.
Wow, kind of expected Sandy to dominate this list more than Fernando.
Pre-California:
Player Date Tm Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Dazzy Vance 1923-05-02 BRO NYG L 6-7 10.0 15 6 4 15 49 Ralph Branca 1947-05-27 BRO NYG W 7-3 9.0 7 3 4 10 67
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Generated 5/14/2017.
I love those crazy old games back in the Dazzy Vance days when I was just a toddler. 10 innings, 15 hits, how many pitches do you think the poor guy threw?
I had to say Pre-California because the LAD faced the Mets at the old Polo grounds and Koufax had some huge K games against the Mets at the Polo Grounds. But in this instance, I wanted to only see games against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. Kind of shocked to see only two games where the Dodgers struck out at least ten in a game at the Polo Grounds. I guess pitch to contact was the modus operandi given the massive dimensions of the outfield.
Roberts thinks it is 1966
and the Dodgers failed to take 1st place away from the Rockies falling in the final game and ending up splitting the series.
Many things happened in this game, and I saw none of them after the 4th inning as I cut out to take my wife to an adult movie. When I say an adult movie I mean a movie where there are no zombies, superheroes, or car chases so, of course, we had to find a Laemmle theater for such an offering.
It was just as well. I thought my eyes or ears were deceiving me when I saw Chris Taylor bunt with runners on 1st / 3rd Dodgers up 2 – 0 and only one out. In Coors.
If served Dave Roberts and the Dodgers right that the bunt ended up being a double play so instead of a big inning the Dodgers bunted their way to zippily do da.
Man, not even Walter Alston in 1966 would have pulled that boner.
When the exact same scenario unfolded in the 3rd I thought this would be a great time to see how many runs the Dodgers can score with 1st/3rd, one out with the exact same hitter. The score was now tied at 3 – 3 and only two innings were in the book so I figured that since it seemed obvious that runs were going to be plentiful that the Dodgers would need to get as many as they could.
But no…………..Chris Taylor tried to bunt. Again. I was flabbergasted. Again it did not work.
At which point I turned off the TV and headed to the movie thinking to myself that Chris Taylor must be hurt because there is no other possible reason for him to be bunting in either situation. But if he’s hurt, why is he batting 6th? If he is hurt couldn’t they simply have put Hernandez at 2nd? My head started buzzing so I turned it off.
And enjoyed the hell out of the movie. Their Finest – Great flick
Johan Mieses walks away with Weekly Farm Factory Award
You know you have been fairly horrific when you have a great week in early May and still have a batting average of .130. Whatever had been ailing the power hitting Mieses was finally put to bed with Mieses hitting four home runs in three days. Well, actually that is not true. Making contact is what ails Mr. Mieses but at least this week when he made contact he hit the ball hard, something he had failed to do so far year.
Mieses slugged twenty-eight home run last year in California League but until May 7th had only hit one home run in 2017. Last year Mieses struck out 147 times in 461 at-bats. This year he has struck out 34 times in 77 at-bats. Ugh.
Alex Wood joins Ramon Martinez
as a double-digit Coors master. Before the series started I posted the LAD leaderboard in strikeouts at Coors and was surprised to find that Ramon Martinez was the only Dodger to have double-digit strikeouts in a game at Coors.
He is no longer alone after Alex Wood pitched a masterful game on Saturday night. Wood was just continuing the trend he started last Monday when he struck out eleven Pirates. I will contend that striking out ten Rockies at Coors trumps what he did against the Pirates.
I love a new leaderboard.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Ramon Martinez 1995-05-05 COL W 6-4 7.0 4 1 4 11 72 Alex Wood 2017-05-13 COL W 4-0 6.0 5 0 1 10 71 Clayton Kershaw 2014-06-08 COL W 6-1 5.0 3 1 0 9 66 Clayton Kershaw 2010-05-30 COL W 4-3 5.0 4 2 4 9 56 Hideo Nomo 1996-06-30 COL L 15-16 5.0 9 5 4 9 26
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Generated 5/14/2017.
Blue is the new pink while pink is the new blue – who knew?
Mind blown over a comment at TBLA tonight. I guess this explains why my grandfather was dressed in pink for his 1902 painting when he was two. I had always wondered.
Ladies’ Home Journal article in June 1918 said, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” Other sources said blue was flattering for blonds, pink for brunettes; or blue was for blue-eyed babies, pink for brown-eyed babies, according to Paoletti. In 1927, Time magazine printed a chart showing sex-appropriate colors for girls and boys according to leading U.S. stores. In Boston, Filene’s told parents to dress boys in pink. So did Best & Co. in New York City, Halle’s in Cleveland and Marshall Field in Chicago.
Posted by Bicoastal on May 13, 2017 | 4:45 PM up reply rec flag
Anyway all this pink is symbolically nice but I couldn’t help but wonder if all the cost of outfitting all 30 teams, 25 players, in all that pink couldn’t have been better spent on woman shelters. If you want to honor the Mom’s in your life maybe men should start treating the woman in their lives better.
Just a thought.
Masterson is masterful once again
The Dodgers rotation is so loaded they have to game the system to keep the seven legitimate rotation options on the major league roster which must leave Justin Masterson wondering how he’s going to crack the Dodger major league rotation. Masterson has done everything an NRI could do to bring attention to himself but in this numbers game, he’s the odd man out.
On Friday night, Masterson went seven more innings, gave up just three hits, two runs, walked two, and struck out six. He’s given up just three runs in his last four starts combined.
The one-time major league all-star is making his case for another chance but is anyone watching? You’d think major league teams would be seeking out the Dodgers for a chance to get Masterson onto their rotation.
Teams right and left are desperate for pitching, so much so that they are just handing the ball to relief pitchers and hoping they can put a finger into the rotational dikes that are over threatening to overflow.
Would the Dodgers listen? They probably don’t need his depth anymore, but maybe they would like him as an option for the bullpen?
Either way, all Masterson can do is keep dealing, but right now he’s starting to remind me of the reclamation project that was Wilson Alveraz back in 2003. Alvarez signed as an NRI and started out in AAA just like Masterson. Wilson was also a one-time major league all-star. Wilson was 33, Masterson is 32. Wilson made eight starts and had a 1.34 ERA. Masterson has made seven starts and has a 1.91 ERA.
Alvarez was promoted in May of 2003 and went on to be one of the Dodgers best pitchers in 2003.
I don’t think Masterson can be any better than what the current Dodger options are, but I do think he could be a better option for many other teams where they aren’t using the DL for gamesmanship, they are using it because so many of their starters are actually hurt and they could use a Masterson right about now.
Maybe the Dodgers can flip this NRI for something useful. After all, they were able to trade a useless Zach Lee for Chris Taylor.
Kershaw makes it 20 against Rockies
Joe Davis said that Kershaw with a win tonight would have the most wins against the Rockies franchise. Kershaw did notch his 20th win against the Rockies but I was left wondering who the competition was. Kind of fierce actually.
Player Split From To G W L W-L% Clayton Kershaw COL 2008 2017 35 20 6 .769 Randy Johnson COL 1997 2009 29 19 8 .704 Matt Cain COL 2005 2016 39 17 10 .630 Greg Maddux COL 1993 2008 31 16 8 .667
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Generated 5/12/2017.
It took Clayton 35 games to win his 20, while HOF Randy Johnson won his 19 in only 29.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 