The last time we saw a Dodger hit 3 Home Runs in a game was last season when Mookie went deep against the Padres 3 times at Dodger Stadium last August. And there we no fans out there to catch them. Twenty-seven times in Dodger history, a player has hit 3 or more in a game. Only two players, Shawn Green and Gil Hodges ever hit four. I saw four hit against the Dodgers once. A few years ago in a game at Dodger Stadium when J.D. Martinez was with Arizona. And I remember well Dave Kingman’s 3 HR performance against L.A. simply because of the interview with Tommy Lasorda after the game which instantly became a classic.
In Dodger history, only four players have done it twice in a Dodger uniform. Duke Snider, Shawn Green, Adrian Gonzalez, and Corey Seager. They victimized the Braves and the Padres 4 times each. They got the Braves in each of the three cities they have played in. Hodges in Boston, Snider in Milwaukee, and Seager and Turner in Atlanta. The Giants three times. The Cardinals, Reds, and Cubs all twice.
Here is the list of players who did it, Hodges, Green, Fournier, Hermanski, Snider, Campanella, Brown, Demeter, Wynn, Lopes, Snyder, Piazza, Elster, Choi, Ethier, Uribe, Gonzalez, Seager, Grandal, Puig, Turner, Pollock and Betts. I watched the game on TV when Cory Snyder did it. Same with Puig and Pollock. Puig did it in St. Louis. I hardly remember Kevin Elster ever being in a Dodger uni. I also thought the trade for He Sop Choi was a really bad one. Choi and Ethier both did it against AL teams in interleague games.
I thought Muncy might do it this season, but he fell short. The guy I have always felt has the best shot is Bellinger, if he ever gets his mojo back. I would love to see Betts do it again because if he does, he will set an MLB record for the most times hitting 3 homers in a game. He is currently one of three players who have done it six times. Pretty exclusive company.
I know Turner set the record for post-season homers at 12 last season, passing Snider who had 11. But all of Dukes were in World Series games. A lot more pressure there. And he hit four in a Series twice. Still a record. So, who are the top candidates to hit 3 again? I would say, Betts, Muncy, Bellinger, and Seager. But whether Seager does it in a Dodger uni remains to be seen. Another possible candidate is Will Smith. He does have the power. And if he gets two early in a game, he has the patience.
I was surprised Joc never did it. He hit two a few times. And one time at Dodger Stadium, missed his 3rd by () this much when his drive bounced off the top of the wall and came back into play. Grand Slams are always great to see also. And LA has hit 9 I think this year. And they had two in a game earlier this season and did that twice. Pollock and Beaty did it first in Milwaukee.
The record for the most Grand Slams for a career as a Dodger is 14. That is held by Gil Hodges. Most in MLB history is 25 by Alex Rodriguez. Most in a season is 6, with Mattingly and Travis Hafner holding that title, interestingly, those were the only 6 of Mattingly’s career. NL record of 5 held by Pujols and Ernie Banks. In World Series play, the Dodgers were on the wrong end of a Grand Slam 5 times and have never hit one in Series play. In playoffs they have given up four and hit five.
So, who will hit the next Dodger Slam? No matter who if they do it this season, it will be a record for the most in a season. Turner’s this season was the first of his career. I have seen them hit a lot of HRs in a game on TV, and once when I went to Dodger Stadium in the late ’70s, they hit 7 in a game. They crushed the Reds that day.
Discussion (31)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Winter moves. I sign Scherzer and Kersh, make a QO to Seager so they at least get a pick if he goes elsewhere. Make a 2 year offer to Jansen at a much lower salary, pick up Kelly’s option, let Taylor walk. See about a long term extension with T Turner. Just my opinion, do not go nuts.
One of the best pitching performances I have seen in years, and he got some help from his defense. Offense woke up late in the game to put the win in the refrigerator.
Heck my entire closet isn’t worth 3 grand much less what I can pack in a suitcase!
No one should conclude that the Midgets will automatically win day after day. All good things come to an end. Case in point are the 2007 Rockies. They ended the season on a 14-1 run, and then swept the first the two rounds of the NL playoffs, making them 21-1 entering the WS against the Red Sox, who promptly swept them 4-0.
In other words, anything is possible, and nothing should be taken for granted.
It’s always Marcia Marcia Marcia.
Maybe Boras with give us a two player discount?
We’ll have to make peace with Scot Boras. Failing to resign Max and Corey would be almost suicidal.
So happy for the comeback kids Gavin and Cody. Hope they’re both hot from now to November!
And go Mark! Fox will never know what hit them.
And for Carol Folt: do the right thing now. Fire Helton, for the sanity of us alums!
Good to see Cody get that hit. Hopefully this is the turning point for him.
Lux again with 3 hits plus a walk and hit batsman. Perfect at the plate today. Keep it up , kid!
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
So, as you might see, I am back from Denver.
I had my suitcase stolen from the Car Rental Shuttle and they are being … well asshats!
I have filed a Police Report and it is shocking how many dollars of stuff you can have in a suitcase.
Yes, they got the Bobbleheads. They got everything (about 3 grand).
They will not talk to me, but they do not know who they are messing with.
I will be suing the bastards. Fox Car Rental sucks.
Adams needs to get the hell beat out of him. He can’t pitch at this level.
If I were in the dugout, I would IMPLORE everyone to charge the mound and beat the living crap out of Adams. He hits WAY, WAY too many batters.
A good beating is what he needs!
Cody for MVP!!!! Ha, Ha., Ha..good swing!!!
Fuck Hosmer!!!!!
Damn, just out of Mookies reach. One hitter threw 8 for Max.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!
Well if Scherzer pitched every game we might be able to catch the Giants!
3000 K for Max Scherzer. Congrats!
Damn Giants win another won. This time a 6-5 nailbiter. Cubs had some opportunities late but the Giants slammed the door on them every time.
Amazing how they do it day after day after day in different ways.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Crismatt 82 mph pitch after pitch. I think I could still hit 82.
Snell just walked off the mound. Something in his leg they said.
What happened with Snell???? We need him versus Giants!!!!
Today’s Afternoon Lineup:
CF Mookie Betts R
1B Max Muncy L
2B Trea Turner R
3B J. Turner R
SS Corey Seager L
C Will Smith R
RF Steven Souza R
LF Gavin Lux L
P Max Scherzer R
09/12/21 Los Angeles Dodgers placed RHP Kenley Jansen on the paternity list.
09/12/21 Los Angeles Dodgers recalled RHP Mitch White from Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Just read that KJ on maternity leave. How many days is that?
If anyone is heading to Sofi Stadium tonight to watch my Bears v my Rams, let’s meet up for a drink!
I”ll be the weirdo in the Khalil Mack jersey and Rams hat/facemask.
I’ve always thought Gil Hodges should be in the Hall of Fame. What do you think, Bear?
How about the good news. AJ Pollock may return shortly. Now the bad news. Looks like Danny Duffy is done for the year after suffering a setback.
Interesting column by Bill Plaschke today how signing Trevor Bauer was an epic mistake. He wonders if the amount of money spent on Bauer will end up hurting the Dodgers chances of signing Corey Seager, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Taylor and Kenley Jansen. Will it impact a long term deal for Trea Turner.
Even for the richest team in baseball, the amount of money is considerable and could give them pause moving into 2022. That’s the basis of Plaschke’s theory. But then again they’re once again hiking the cost of season tickets and they want the money earlier than normal. What does any of this mean? No idea.
He also thinks the Dodgers had to give up two top prospect to fill in the gap left by Bauer — the trade for Scherzer and Turner.
Not sure I agree. I think the Dodgers retain Seager, Kershaw and Scherzer. I believe the Dodgers pursue Scherzer and Turner even if Bauer was still pitching.
Hey Gavin Lux had two hits. Yes they need him to produce.
In a perfect world in 2022, Lux plays second, Turner plays short and Seager moves to third, Justin Turner to DH. Just don’t see Seager agreeing to that. The Dodgers desperately need his bat. Of course, Lux could simply move around the infield, occasionally playing outfield. Maybe he puts in more time at third. Lots of options moving forward. Obviously the Dodgers believe Lux will become a star, recent comments saying as much. They believe in his talent and athletic skill.
While I don’t see the Dodgers re-signing Taylor or Jansen, I think Joe Kelly might be a possibility. Certainly been a difference maker lately.
I wonder what the Las Vegas odds are today for the Dodgers to get more than four hits?
Re: Pitch counts
I agree that since Burnes is not trained to throw too deep into games/too many pitches, it probably made sense to lift him early.
I must, however, go back to a post from a few years ago re; pitch counts and the risk of injury or loss of effectiveness and say that 115 pitches is not otherwise too many:
“I have been reading Jeff Passan’s outstanding 2016 book The Arm and it has quite the story to tell. Ask yourself – where did the idea of a pitch count of 100 come from? Is there any evidence supporting the supposition that a pitcher turns into a pumpkin after 100? What about the 5 man rotation instead of 4? It turns out there is absolutely none. From page 97 of The Arm:
“If doing something is bad, the thinking now went, doing less must be better. The widespread adoption of the five-man rotation gave starting pitchers an extra day of rest but didn’t demonstrably help keep pitcher healthier. When Russell Carleson of Baseball Prospectus studied every start from 1950 to 2012 to learn whether an extra day of rest helped a pitcher perform better the answer surprised him. “There was no indication that pitchers did better or worse based on how many days of rest they got” he wrote. “ What was significant was the number of pitches that the pitcher had thrown in his previous start.”
The magic number? 140 pitches.
It turns out that a dermatologist (skin doctor) named Rany Jazayerli wrote an article for Baseball Prospectus in 1998 called “Pitcher Abuse Points” that suggested as an hypothesis, without any study, that more than 100 pitches was abusive to pitchers’ arms. Baseball bought it without a second though. As Passan wrote
“The upper boundary on a modern pitcher is around 4,000 pitches in a season. Four thousand plus pitch season were prevalent in the 1920s and ‘30s, dipped in the 40s and ‘50s, made a comeback in the ‘60s and peaked in the ‘70s. An estimated 22 pitchers exceeded 4,000 pitches 1970 (alone). It’s almost as many as the entirety of the 1990s…Since 2000, only Randy Johnson (twice) and Livan Hernandez have thrown 4,000 pitches in a season. Nobody in baseball crack 3,500 pitches in 2015. Baseball took a well-intentioned idea- limit young pitchers’ workloads to prevent them from getting hurt because of overuse – and applied the doing less must be better philosophy to every pitcher, as though handed down on Mount Sinai by the baseball gods.”
Pasasan points out that there is little relationship between pitch counts and injury (or effectiveness), or days between starts and injury (or effectiveness), or innings pitched and injury (or effectiveness). He even notes that there is no evidence supporting the so-called Verducci effect (which suggests that young pitchers shouldn’t increase their workload by over 30 innings in a given season). In short, in the face of increasing limits on a starting pitcher’s workload, the number of injuries goes up and not down.”
Pitchers can pitch more – they just have to train for it. There is really no evidence to support the hypothesis that mature adult pitchers risk injury if they throw over 100 pitches. The real risk of injury due to overuse is primarily due to overuse as children/teens.
SC football died when we didn’t hire Meyer! And he was there for the taking!
In years past both Urias and Kersh had awesome moves to first and no one ever ran on them. Don’t know what’s up this year. My Trojans got Bellinger’d last night! Well at least Belli plays great D! This should finally put an end to the Clay Helton era! And you guys complain about Roberts!!!!
I was impressed with Bellinger changing his stance. Not only did he widen his feet, but he did not lay the bat back on his shoulder, instead it was up around his ear, pointing up. Lux and Betts had the only hits. Strange line. 5 runs on 4 hits. 4 ribbies for Mookie. Dodger pitchers did not do a very good job of holding the Padres runners.
What about Kike’s performance in the 2017 NLCS Game 5 – 3 home runs INCLUDING a grand slam!
I expect Treinen and Jansen not being available today. Both pitched two days in a row .
My nod to close the game if we get the chance is mean Joe Kelly. That was awesome last night.
Lux going oppo was a good sign. If not for that great play on Friday to rob him of extra bases he would have collected his third hit since his return already.
Though he probably will not start today vs a tough lefty in Snell I hope he sees a lot of playing time until AJ comes back .
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a sad game baseball has become. How the hell do you pull a guy who’s thrown 8 innings of no hit ball with 14 strikeouts with a 3 run lead and just 3 outs to go?
We all got to see the real Gavin Lux last night. I love his athleticism and his sweet swing. The hitting is clearly in his head.
Belli took a day off yesterday to work on his hitting. They widened his stance a little and instead of coming up with a bunch of zeros, he picked up a couple of “1’s” in his box. Baby steps I guess.
Mookie came up with the big hit a three run bomb that proved to be the difference in the game. He feels like trying to make it home after you picked up a nail in your tire. You drive steady with your fingers crossed, hoping to get to your destination before the tire blows out.
Bueller was mostly awesome, but wasn’t completely on his game. His performance was, however, good enough to get the job done.
Justin Turner and Corey Seager made more than a few really smooth plays between them last night. The defense overall has enough talent to make great plays and look like a top defensive team when it matters.
Doc did a masterful job navigating the bullpen last night. Treinen didn’t have it, at it took some balls to pull him for Kelly with the tying run at third with just one out. Kelly accepted the challenge and struck out Myers on 4 pitches and Profar on three. Smith blocked a couple of those pitches with Tatis on 3rd helping strand the tying run. Jansen made the save look routine by grounding out Caratini on two sliders, popping Nola and striking out Grisham on a sinker after 4 straight cutters. Damn, I’m beginning to trust him again.
In case you missed it, the Padres have now dropped 5 straight games to Big Brother and it’s not looking any better for them with Scherzer on the bump today. Unfortunately for Scherzer and the Dodgers, our kryptonite, Blake Snell will be on the other side. I’m anticipating a weird lineup for the Dodgers as no doubt the nerds will be looking for some kind of competitive advantage. Maybe former teammate Steven Souza Jr. will help throw Snell off his game. Maybe the Dodgers will go off script and start Will Smith who has 4 hits in 10 ABs off Snell. Will they sit Muncy who is 0-9 lifetime against him in favor of Albert? Or, will they stop with all the rest and just go with regulars?
Corey Snyder…..that’s the Snyder I thought was Snider. Got them reversed for some reason….and it’s not old age. 68 is not old! Lol
A few points from last night:
1. Joe Kelly….are you kidding me? He is the man!
2. Kenley Jansen….I apologize for having you buried. I was wrong. Please forgive me.
3. Gavin Lux….I think your dismal performance this year has hurt me more than anyone else’s because I so very much wanted you to succeed and be the man you were in the minors. I am going to go back to believing in you…and that just after one game. Yea, I’m quick to forgive and I don’t hold grudges.
4. Mookie Betts….we need many more Mookie moments like last night.
5. Buehler….nice comeback. Phew! I didn’t want to see two clunkers in a row.
Snell v Scherzer….wow, this could be a preview of you know what?
TM