VaDodger's Blog

August 2nd in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:51:39 GMT

Last night's Dodger debut of Manny Rameriz ended in disappointment for Dodgers fans as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Dodgers by a 2-1 score. With a chance to be the hero in the bottom of the ninth, Rameriz grounded into a double play on a great pitch by Brandon Lyon and Rameriz' opportunity to make his first night in Los Angeles a special one went out the window.

On this day in 1995 another Dodger trade deadline acquisition made his debut, but with much less fanfare that the Cooperstown-bound Rameriz. A July 31st trade with the Minnesota Twins brought veteran righthander Kevin Tapani to Los Angeles for his first assignment, he'd go up against the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field.

Things were looking up for Tapani when Eric Karros' three run homer staked him to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but the good feeling quickly vanished when Colorado touched Tapani for four runs (including a two run homer by Dante Bichette and a solo homer by Vinny Castilla) in the bottom of the inning. A Mike Kingery RBI triple in the second pushed the Colorado lead to 5-3, and it appeared as though Tapani's Dodger debut would be unsuccesful.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to what looked like a very short outing for Tapani; he righted the ship. Tapani held the high-powered Rockies scoreless over the next four innings, stranding two men in the fifth in the process, and saw his team regain the lead in the fourth with four runs. Tapani was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and a Roberto Kelly homer in that frame expanded the Dodger lead to 8-5. Back to back homers by Karros and Todd Hollandsworth pushed Los Angeles' lead to 10-5 in the ninth, and gave them enough runs to withstand solo homers by Bichette in the eighth and Larry Walker in the ninth as Los Angeles won 10-7.

Tapani's first Los Angeles win was powered by the bat of Karros, who probably wished he would have played all of his games at Coors Field. On his career, Karros hit 21 homers and drove in 65 runs in 208 at bats, with a .370 batting average and a 1.160 OPS.

Tapani would go 4-2 over his tenure in Los Angeles, and would leave the team as a free agent at the end of the year. His 143 career wins included a career high 19 as a member of the Chicago Cubs in 1998, a season that featured a 5-0 Tapani complete game shutout of the Dodgers at Wrigley Field on May 20th.

July 28th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:40:20 GMT

This weekend's sweep of the Washington Nationals by the Los Angeles Dodgers was a sweep earned by the excellent pitching of Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe and Clayton Kershaw. It is clear that the 2008 team's fate is tied to whether its pitching staff can be dominant down the stretch.

The 1990 Dodgers were a rarity in the team's history in that they were better offensively than they were on the mound. The team's 4.49 runs per game placed it third in the National League, while the pitching staff's yield of 4.23 runs per contest put the Dodgers in the middle of the pack. On July 28, 1990, the Dodgers relatively explosive offense was on display in the team's dramatic comeback win over the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium.

Things certainly looked bleak for the Dodgers when they entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 7-4. When Atlanta retired two of the first three batters of the inning, a defeat seemed almost certain. But the 1990 Dodgers were a tough team to beat at home (going 47-34), and they would not go down for the count on this night.

Kirk Gibson started the two out rally with a RBI hit to score Mike Sharperson from second to pull Los Angeles within two runs. A single by Kal Daniels put the tying run on base, and a walk to Eddie Murray loaded the bases and increased the tension on Atlanta reliever Mark Grant. Veteran Hubie Brooks came through in the clutch for the Dodgers, driving a single to center to score Gibson and pinch-runner Jose Gonzalez to tie the score at 7-7. On Brooks' hit, he advanced to second on the throw home with Murray going to third. Atlanta decided to walk the left-handed hitting Mike Scioscia intentionally to bring up righthander Juan Samuel, but Samuel foiled the strategy by singling to drive in Murray with the game winner.

On the year, Murray was the primary force in the Dodgers' lineup as he hit .330 (second in the National League) with a .934 OPS (second only to Pittsburgh's Barry Bonds' .970). Daniels was third in the league with a .920 OPS, and hit a team leading 27 homers. Murray had 26 bombs with Brooks hitting 20, and Samuel and Gibson provided speed to the Dodger attack with 38 and 26 stolen bases respectively. While the Dodgers' offensive fireworks were enough to save the team eightteen years ago tonight, they weren't enough to keep the team from finishing in second place five games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

July 27th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:31:39 GMT

Almost 45,000 fans packed Dodger Stadium on Wednesday July 27, 1966 to watch a duel between future Hall of Famers Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles' ace lefty Sandy Koufax. It is fair to say that on this night, the fans got more than their money's worth.

At the end of the day the Dodgers had a thrilling 2-1 win in 12 innings, a victory earned by Sweet Lou Johnson's pinch-hit single off of Darlod Knowles that drove in Nate Oliver with the winning run. The real story in the game, however, was the performance of the two starting pitchers.

Bunning and Koufax each went 11 innings, with Bunning fanning 12 Dodgers and Koufax punchng out 16 Phillies. Koufax's total was exceeded only two times in his career (he struck out 18 Giants on August 31, 1959 and repeated that feat against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 24, 1962). Both pitchers cruised through most of the game, with Philadelphia getting its only run against Koufax on a **** Allen home run in the second and the Dodgers scoring off of Bunning in the sixth on a Jeff Torborg sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers had a chance to beat Bunning in the 11th, but some alert defense by the Phillies ended the threat. Bunning surrended back to back singles to Willie Davis and **** Stuart to start the inning. Torborg then grounded out to first, with pinch-runner Wes Parker moving to second and Davis holding at third. Phillies' manager Gene Mauch decided to pitch to Ron Fairly instead of walking him to set up a double play, and that somewhat unorthodox strategy paid off in a bizarre way. Fairly hit a hard grounder to Philadelphia's second baseman Phil Linz, who threw home to Bob Uecker to attempt to prevent Davis from scoring the winning run. Davis retreated the third, only to find that Parker had advanced to that base on the play. Uecker tagged Parker for the second out and after Mauch decided to intentionally walk Junior Gilliam, Bunning fanned Jim Lefebrve to end the threat.

Johnson's game-winning hit was his only pinch-hit base hit in three attempts in 1966 in a year when he'd drive in a career high 73 runs. Koufax's 11 inning gem resulted in a no-decision but as often occurred in the 1966 season, reliever Phil Regan (called "The Vulture") swooped in and pitched a perfect 12th to earn his eighth win of the year. The year would be a career year for the righthander, as he would win 14 of his 15 decisions, save 21 games and post a 1.62 ERA.

July 24th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:51:35 GMT

Nothing is more frustrating for a Major League team than to be shutout by its opponent. On July 24, 1966, the New York Mets experienced frustration times two as they were blanked by the Dodgers in both games of a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium.

The shutouts were two of the 20 (13 of them and one in the twinbill of the complete game variety) the Dodgers would have in their 95 win, National League championship season. For the Mets, the games were symbolic of the struggles they'd experience en route to 95 loss, ninth place season.

Doing the honors for the Dodgers in game one was Don Drysdale, who fanned ten and allowed only six hits in the first of three complete game shutouts he'd have on the season. Drysdale's day didn't start out that smoothly as he faced a no out, runners on second and third situation to start the game. The big righty worked out of that situation by fanning the next two batters and getting Cleon Jones to groundout to end the threat. The Dodgers didn't score until the third when Drysdale helped his cause by slamming a solo homer. Later in the inning, Jim Gilliam's RBI hit made the score 2-0. Drysdale's battery mate John Roseboro and infielder John Kennedy also homered, as the Dodgers won 5-0. Drysdale's dominance was typical of a career where he'd go 24-6 with 18 complete games and seven shutouts over the Metropolitans.

In the nightcap, young Joe Moeller earned his first win of the year as he threw seven innings of four hit ball. Phil Regan threw the final two for his 12th save, and the Dodgers scored four unearned runs in the seventh to break things open en route to a 6-0 win. Maury Wills and Ron Fairly drove in one run each for the Dodgers, while Sweet Lou Johnson and Tommy Davis both had two run singles in the seventh.

The Dodgers would win 12 of 18 contests against the Mets on the year, and go 48-31 over the second half of the year to get to the World Series for the third time in four years. For the Mets, it would be three more seasons before they made it to the post-season when they'd shock the Baltimore Orioles and win the 1969 World Series.

July 23rd in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:48:40 GMT

Seemingly mired in mediocrity but still very much alive in the National League West, the 2008 version of the Los Angeles Dodgers needs a hero. They need someone to make the big plays, get the big hit and will his team to victory on nights where defeat seems almost certain.

The 2004 NL West division winning Dodgers had no such problem. That team's season long success was largely due to the efforts of third baseman Adrian Beltre, and the slugger's magical campaign was on display four years ago today at Dodger Stadium.

Beltre picked a great time to have his career year, as his 48 homers and 121 RBI helped the free agent to be secure a multi-million dollar contract from the Seattle Mariners in 2005. The Dodgers had 12 walk-off wins in 2004, and Beltre was the provider of the big hit on this night when the Dodgers beat their rivals to the south, the San Diego Padres, by a 3-2 score.

The game started out as a pitcher's duel between another Dodger 2004 star, Jose Lima, and San Diego's Brian Lawrence. Lima, who came into the game with a 9-3 record overall and a 6-1 mark at Dodger Stadium, held the Padres to two runs in eight innings but trailed 2-1 as the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the eighth. Lawrence held the Dodgers to a single run and three hits in seven innings, but left after yielding a leadoff double to Juan Encarnacion to start the inning. Alex Cora was up next, and reliever Akinori Otsuka helped the Dodgers cause by throwing away Cora's sacrifice bunt allowing Encarnacion to score with Cora moving all the way to third base. Otsuka righted the ship however, retiring the next three Dodger batters and leaving Cora stranded at third with the score 2-2.

After Eric Gagne navigated through the top of the ninth the Dodgers came to bat against old rival Rod Beck, formerly with San Francisco but now with the Padres. Beck retired Paul Loduca on a fly to right, but Beltre ended the game with a towering home run that sent the Dodger fans hope happy. Beltre's homer was the only hit in four career at bats he'd have against Beck but in 2004 when everything Beltre touched turned to gold, it was par for the course.

July 17th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:42:41 GMT

Today came the not unexpected news that righthander Hideo Nomo was retiring after 12 years in the Majors. Nomo, who was the trailblazer in terms of Japanese players coming to play in the states, had a solid career with manyh of his top moments coming while he was in Dodger blue. One unforgettable game for Nomo came on July 17, 2003, with Nomo showing his not unusual prowress on the mound but some unusual skill at the plate as well.

In the first game following the 2003 All-Star break, Nomo and the Dodgers took on Garrett Stephenson and the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. Nomo held the Cards in check through the first three innings, and then helped his cause by belting a two run homer in the bottom of the third to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. The homer was one of four in his career, with all four coming at Dodger Stadium while Nomo was a member of the Dodgers. Later following the scoring of an unearned run by the Cards in the fourth, Nomo doubled home another run to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead (Adrian Beltre had homered earlier in the inning).

On the hill, Nomo went six innings, giving up only one unearned run. Guillermo Mota, Paul Shuey and Eric Gagne held down the fort the rest of the way, and the Dodgers opened the second half of the season with a 6-3 win. The win made Nomo 10-8 on the year, in a season where he'd win 16 games and post a 3.09 ERA.

As a Dodger, Nomo won 71 games, captured the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995, and led the NAtional League in strikeouts that year with 236. In 1996, Nomo won 16 games (including two shutouts) and threw the only no-hit game in the history of Coors Field in a 9-0 whitewashing of the Rockies. Nomo was traded away from Los Angeles in 1998, but returned in 2002 and had two more strong years as a Dodger. In 2002, Nomo reestablished himself as a strong starter, winning 16 of 22 decisions with a 3.39 ERA. He repeated the win total in 2003, before struggling mightily in 2004 and eventually being released.

Nomo has much to be proud of in his Major League career and when he looks back on that career, perhaps he'll recall the night at Dodger Stadium where he pitched and hit the Dodgers to victory.

July 14th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:37:07 GMT

On this day in 1995, a pitcher named Martinez threw a no-hitter against the Florida Marlins. It wasn't the legendary Pedro Martinez, who once toiled for the Dodgers before an ill-fated trade sent him to the Montreal Expos for second baseman Delino Deshields. The artist on the mound 13 years ago today was Pedro's older brother Ramon, a lanky righthander who was a stalwart in the Dodgers' rotation for most of the 1990s.

Martinez' no-hitter, which was the last by a Dodger pitcher at Dodger Stadium, was the culmination of his career as a Dodger where he won 123 games in 200 decisions. Martinez won 20 games for the Dodgers in 1990, finishing second in the Cy Young balloting that season. He also led the National League in shutouts with three in the strike shortened season of 1994, and finished fifth in the National League Cy Young vote in 1995.

The game started out as a pitcher's duel on a Friday night at Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers broke through in the third off of Florida's John Burkett with RBI singles by Jose Offerman and Mike Piazza. Todd Hollandsworth had RBI hits in the fourth and sixth, and Offerman contributed a bases loaded three run triple in the sixth to plate the Dodgers' final runs in the 7-0 victory.

Meanwhile Martinez was cruising, retiring the Marlins in order in innings one through seven. He retired the first two batters in the top of the eighth as well, before a two out walk to Tommy Gregg spoiled his dream of a perfect game. He rebounded to strike out Kurt Abbott to end the inning, and then retired the Marlins in order in the ninth to earn the no-hitter.

Martinez' no-hitter was probably his shining moment as a Dodger, but there were many other great games in his Dodger career. He made his debut in August of 1988 with 7 2/3 innings of four hit, one run ball against the hated Giants in a game the Dodgers would win 2-1. In 1990, he tied a Dodger record by striking out 18 Braves on a magical June night at Dodger Stadium. In 1991, he had back to back complete game five hit shutouts in April against division rivals San Diego and San Francisco, and he threw a three hit shutout at Florida on June 7, 1994.

We'll never know what would have happened if the Dodgers had not traded Pedro and kept the Martinez brothers on the same staff. We do know that Ramon Martinez was a very good pitcher for many years, and is certainly on the A-list of the best righthanded hurlers in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

July 13th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:21:55 GMT

Chad Billingsley's 13 strikeout, seven inning, one run effort today was just what the Dodgers needed to escape their series with the Marlins with one victory in three games. Billingsley threw 77 of his 105 pitches for strikes, as he won for the fifth time in his last six decisions.

On July 13, 1973, the Dodgers defeated the Cubs 5-0 in a game where a pitching feat much more rare that a 13 strikeout game took place. The game was one of the few in Dodgers' history where a pitcher threw a complete game shutout and did not strike out a batter. The winner on the game was lefty Tommy John, who dispatched with the Cubs in 2:03 as the Dodgers made Friday the 13th anything but unlucky for the home team and its fans.

John allowed only one extra base hit on the game (a double by Glenn Beckert) and permitted more than one Cub to reach base in only one inning. That threat came in the seventh when Ron Santo and Carmen Fanzone had two out singles, only to see the rally end when Randy Hundley grounded into a force out.

The Dodgers were much more effective at the plate, as they had eight hits (including a double and a homer) off of Cubs' ace Fergie Jenkins. The big blow in the contest was Steve Garvey's three run homer in the third inning, which gave Los Angeles a 4-0 lead.

John's win was his ninth in thirteen decisions on the season. He'd be the winner of 16 in 23 decisions by season's end, with a 3.03 ERA, four complete games and two shutouts.

July 12th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Last night's 3-1 loss to the Florida Marlins marked the 34th time in the 2008 season that the Dodgers have scored two or less runs in a game. In those contests, the Dodgers are 2-32. On the season, the Dodgers are 13th of 16 National League teams in runs per game, 15th in doubles, dead last in home runs, 15th in slugging percentage, 12th in batting average and tied for 12th in on base percentage.

The 1984 Dodger team had similar issues at the plate. That squad scored two or fewer runs in 67 of its games, losing 53 of them. The team was last in the league in runs per game, batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. The result for their lackluster effort with the bat was a 79-83 record which placed them in fourth place in the National League West, 13 games behind division leader San Diego.

On July 12, 1984, the Dodgers' hitters had a typically frustrating performance in a 3-2 ten inning loss at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. The team had ten hits, but left eight runners on base and was only 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position as it started the second half of the season (the All-Star game was on July 10th that year) on a down note.

The game started out shakily for Dodger starter Alejandro Pena, as he gave up two runs (both unearned) on a Leon Durham double in the first inning. From there, the righthander settled down as he held the Cubs scoreless from the second through the eighth, fanning six and allowing only five hits. The Dodgers chipped away to tie the score, getting a RBI single from Candy Maldonado in the fourth and a solo homer by Mike Marshall in the sixth. But when the team needed a big hit to grab control of the game, the hitters were not able to produce.

In the top of the ninth, the Dodgers put two men on with one out but did not score. In the 10th, Steve Sax led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. With the team's two big hitters (Pedro Guerrero and Marshall) coming up, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda had to feel like his chances of seeing the team score were solid. However in typical 1984 fashion, Guerrero grounded to third and Marshall popped out to first to end the threat. When Ryne Sandberg led off the bottom of the frame with a home run off of Tom Niedenfuer, the Dodgers were left with another disappointing loss in a season where ineptitute of the team's hitters caused many a heartache.

July 7th in Los Angeles Dodgers History

VaDodger — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:05:27 GMT

A visit to Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia was never a great experience for visiting teams. While playing nine innings in the humidity and heat in front of the Phllies' rabid fan base certainly wasn't a walk in the park, imagine having to play more than twice that amount. The Dodgers did that on this day in 1993, only to leave the stadium 7-6 losers to the eventualy National League champion Phillies.

When Mitch Williams took the mound in the top of the ninth with a 5-3 lead, the Dodgers looked dead. But as the Phillies faithful would find out in the 1993 World Series the talented Williams was erratic, and the Dodgers benefited from his wildness on this night. Mitch Webster lead off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a single by Brett Butler. When Williams walked Jose Offerman and Cory Snyder to force in a run, Phils' manager Jim Fregosi had seen enough and replaced Williams with veteran Larry Andersen gave up an infield hit to Eric Karros to tie the score at 5-5, but worked out of a bases loaded no out jam to keep the game tied.

Pitching dominated in the second phase of the game, as neither team scored again until the 20th inning. The Dodgers struck first, getting a run in the top of the frame off of Mike Williams on singles by Offerman and Snyder, and a throwing error on Dave Hollins. The Phils avoided further damage when Williams picked Snyder off of third base and entered the bottom of the inning facing a one run deficit. The Phils were having a magic year in 1993, and they added a chapter to their incredible tale on this night when Lenny Dykstra hit a one out, bases loaded double off of Rod Nichols to make Philadelphia 7-6 winners.

Both teams used seven pitchers on the night in the six hour and ten minute marathon. Roger McDowell was particulalry impressive for the Dodgers, throwing three hitless innings. Jim Gott threw two perfect innings, and both Martinez brothers (starter Ramon who allowed five runs in seven rocky innings, and little brother Pedro who had two strikeouts in two scoreless innings) appeared in the game for the Dodgers.

At the plate, Jose Offerman had four hits in eight at bats for the Dodgers, while Eric Davis had three. Dykstra had three hits for the Phillies, and both he and teammate John Kruk homered off of Ramon Martinez.

The grueling game was one of 22 such contests the Dodgers would play in 1993. The team won ten of those contests on its way to an 81-81 record, which left them in fourth place 23 games behind the first place Atlanta Braves.