Until the Dodgers moved west in 1958, Los Angeles was home to two AAA PCL minor league teams. The Los Angeles Angels, and the Hollywood Stars. The PCL formed in 1903. The first six teams were the Angels, Portland Beavers, San Francisco Seals, Oakland Oaks, Sacramento Solons and the Seattle Indians.
The Angels played in those days at what was known as Washington Park. It was also known as Chutes Park. This would be their home from 1903-1925. The Angels were also known at times as the Looloos, and Seraphs. They were pretty successful winning pennants in 03-05-07-08-1916 and 1918. From 1915 to 1921 they were owned by John Powers who was a Los Angeles socialite. They were managed by HOFer, Frank Chance of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame.
In 1921 the team was purchased by William Wrigley Jr, who as we all know was the owner of Wrigley Gum, and the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley could not convince the city to make the improvements he wanted to Washington Park, so he started construction on his own 21,000 seat stadium in what now is South East Los Angeles at Avalon and 42nd Place.
The first real cross town rival of the Angels was the Vernon Tigers. The Tigers played in the PCL from 1909 to 1925. They won back to back pennants in 1919 and 1920. There was a little quirk with the PCL that allowed them to play more than 170 games, and some seasons as many as 200. The Angels first year in the league, 1903 they won 133 and lost 78 as the league’s first champions.
One of the attractions of the Tigers playing in Vernon was that it was one of only two cities in Los Angeles county where the sale of alcohol was legal. So up until prohibition Vernon was a popular destination for fans. In 1919 the team was purchased by silent screen star, Roscoe, (Fatty) Arbuckle. On opening day in 1919, there was a preliminary game in which Arbuckle, Tom Mix, and Buster Keaton all participated. I would bet that was fun to watch.
But with attendance dropping, the team was sold to SF interests there in 1926, and began play as the Mission Reds. That move prompted the owner of the Salt Lake City Bees to move his team to L.A. and become the Hollywood Stars. They initially played in Wrigley Field.
The rent at Wrigley was doubled and the team moved again in 1938, this time to San Diego where they became the Padres. So, the Mission Reds moved back to LA, and became the Hollywood Stars. Confusing isn’t it? In 1939 the stars were sold to Robert Cobb, who owned the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood and for whom the Cobb salad is named.
Cobb solicited many Hollywood names to become stockholders in his team. One of which fans would recognize easily, one William Frawley, of I Love Lucy fame. He also built his team a park of their own. Gilmore Field, which was in the Fairfax district of L.A. close to Hollywood. It would be just east of where the CBS studios now stand.
The Stars were fairly successful, and were sometimes referred to as the “Twinks”. The rivalry itself with the Angels was sometimes heated. In fact, a full blown brawl broke out at Gilmore Field between the two teams in August of 1953 and lasted more than 30 minutes. It was only stopped when Police Chief, William Parker sent 50 riot police to the park. He had been watching the game on TV. The Stars in their history won 3 PCL titles. 1929, 1930, and 1949.
The teams and the league had continued popularity, but not too many titles to add to their total. In 1956 the Angels, behind their star, Steve Bilko won what would turn out to be their last PCL title. Bringing them to a total of 11.
After the 56 season, Wrigley’s son, Phil, sold the team and the Ft. Worth Panthers to Walter O’Malley for 3,000,000.00 $. Unheard of in those days. O’Malley promised the PCL owners that he intended to run the Angels as a AAA franchise, and he kept his promise……for one year. The motive now as we all know was to claim the Los Angeles area for himself yso he could move the Dodgers west.
When the Dodgers announced they were moving west, a long rumored move, the Angels uprooted and moved to Spokane, Wash and became the Spokane Indians. The Stars left Hollywood and moved back to Salt Lake City to once again become Bees. The Dodgers adopted the interlocking LA for their caps, but kept Dodger blue and white over adding the red the Angels wore.
The Indians played in Spokane until 1972 as the Dodgers top farm team and then moved to Albuquerque N.M. and became the Dukes. They continued to be the Dodgers top farm team until 2000 when they were sold again and moved to Portland to become the Beavers. In 2010, sold once again, they moved to Tucson, and played there for a couple of years before moving to their home since 2014, El Paso Texas, where they are now the El Paso Chihuahuas of the PCL. A Padres affiliate. The PCL has changed a lot since those early days and now is not really just a west coast league.
They have affiliates as far east as Nashville (Sounds). As far north as Seattle (Rainier’s) and as far south as San Antonio (Missions). 16 teams. Sacramento is the only city of the original 6 still having a franchise. PCL teams also played the first night game on June 10, 1930 at Sacramento’s home ballpark. 5 years before it happened at Crosley Field in Cincinnati in 1935.
Many players from the Angels had some MLB time, including Steve Bilko, Sam Crawford, Gavvy Cravath, Gene Mauch, Jimmy Reese, who also was the Babe’s roomie, Andy Pafko, Jigger Statz, one of the best baseball names ever, Dixie Upright….and a couple of really familiar names, Chuck Connors and Tom Lasorda.
Stars who made it to the bigs, Gus Bell, Bobby Bragan, Bobby Doerr, Gene Freese, Babe Herman holder of the highest BA in Dodger history, Dale Long, Bill Mazeroski, Bob Muesel, member of the 27 Yanks, Lefty O’Doul, won a batting title with the Dodgers in 1931. Mel Queen, Dick (Dr. Strangeglove) Stuart, Lee Walls, also a former Dodger, and Gus Zernial.
The PCL itself has some stellar alumni in the hall, Ted Williams, SD Padres, and Joe DiMaggio, former SF Seal. Tony Lazzeri and Ernie Lombardi also are alumni. One of the better former PCL players today is some guy named Trout who plies his trade for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Someone mentioned this guy before. Seems he might turn out to be pretty good if he keeps it up. Of course all of the home grown Dodgers on the roster today are PCL graduates. One other thing, the 1934 Angels who went 137-50 are considered the # 1 minor league team of all time.
Discussion (92)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I’m starting to think Doc’s best asset being a manager is his patience and confidence in his players. Maybe that’s obvious to a lot of people but the beginning of this season really made it clear to me.
That is why his players love him because he supports them in difficult moments and the manager who does that the players will always be grateful and they will play hard for him.
Couch managers always want to trade the player who is having a bad time, they would need 100 players to finish a season.
It’s got to mess with Joc’s mind a little bit to be in Anaheim. But I noticed that when he’s on the bench and someone else hits a home run he’s very enthusiastic about cheering . I wanted to trade him three years ago and then he goes on to hit 36 home runs so, there you go. This 60 game schedule is much less forgiving of streaks than a normal schedule.
Yes he was. But that should translate to the field. Show a little fire there Joc. He has shown his frustration and I understand that. Lackadaisical play, I do not. I have not seen much hustle out of him lately. And I am not the only one who has noticed it.
First they brought Mookie, they even said that that money should have been used in an Ace, then Barnes, Kiké, Pollock, Belli, Muncy, Beaty and now they bring Joc, stop inventing, Joc just like everyone goes through stages cold and hot and Joc is no exception, remember that Joc was hot in SD and then he was seated for two consecutive games against SF and since then he is about 1 to 20 approximately, stop inventing, Joc will be fine, he has done it in the past and will do it again.
Who is inventing? Joc has always been a hot and cold hitter, and they have been facing some lefty’s so he sat. But, that does not excuse the lack of hustle. He has not been running out ground balls, and that looks bad when you have guys like Taylor, Seager and Pollock busting down the line. I do not care if the ball is routine or not, get your butt to first. And the strikeouts are climbing again. He was not doing that last year.
Lol
No snappy retort? Or simply no way to prove that inane post? All you have to do is watch the videos. Maybe you just have blinders on. I have always defended Joc before, but there is no defense for the way he is playing now. If he is busting it the next game he plays, which will most likely be tomorrow since they are facing a RH pitcher. then maybe he can change some minds. They tried signing Cole, but he went to the Yankees for more money than they were willing to pay, and Strasburg went back to DC on a big contract. Betts was not signed long term until just before the restart. And which pitcher do you suggest they should have signed? Wheeler? He got a lot more money than anyone expected, and with the young arms the Dodger have in the system, why block them with a long term pitcher who is not even an ace. Porcello has stunk up the place. Their pitching is doing just fine than you. It is the offense that has been sputtering now and then All 3 of their leading home run hitters are hitting under the Mendoza line. Even Barnes has woken up some. You should stick to tiddly winks, you obviously do not know a damn thing about baseball.
Stupid post? control your mouth, be respectful and you will get respect
I give respect where it is due. And I did not say stupid, I said inane simply because it makes no sense. And you have no argument. And remember that the Dodgers tried to trade Joc in the winter to the Angels, had Moreno approved that deal Joc would have been wearing red and Rengifo would have been in blue today. And you offered no name as far as any pitcher they should have signed. I will worry about my mouth, you worry about sticking to facts. If I was being disrespectful, I would have said something a lot stronger than inane. I do not see the word stupid used anywhere in that post. Or maybe you object to the suggestion you stick to tiddly winks.
I thought maybe Taylor had called for that ball and Joc didnt want to collide with him.
Barnes looking better though, .091 up to .250
I’ve never seen Joc this lost. He swinging at everything out of the zone. Especially off speed. Joc, if it’s spinning don’t swing and wait on a fastball in the zone! Please
He looks like he does not care at all. He has been swinging at pitches he cannot hit with a big pole. I have always defended the kid when he went into slumps, but this is ridiculous. I think it is time he made some other team his home. Unfortunately for LA, his trade value has got to be at an all time low.
Talk about perseverance, Alex Smith, Redskins, er excuse me, Washington Football team QB has been cleared to play. The guy has had 17 surgeries on his leg since it was broke, and was almost amputated. As nice as today’s win was, it could have been better played. There was some sloppiness and lackadaisical play. Joc Pederson has finally gotten me mad at him. HUSTLE! You are getting paid to play, so act like you enjoy it. And enough with all the expletives simply because you do not know the strike zone from your own arse. Taylor was picked off by a great move, but he was leaning the wrong way. Dave leaving Rios in when it was obvious to everyone watching that he was not 100% was DUMB. It cost them a run as did Beaty’s not paying attention to where Rios was. He should have gotten in a run down or at least slid. Rocks and Padres won, Giants got crushed. Standings still the same. Home with the Mariners for 2 days, on the road for 2 and back home on Friday to face the second place Rockettes.
Padres took an “L” today.
My bad, they were winning when I last checked. D-Backs move into 3rd and are now at .500.
The dodgers are going to fix that real soon.
What a difference a week makes. All is well in Dodgersville after sweeping the Angels and finding our bats again. Of course, not everyone feels that way, but I think the vibes are better as of today. Could be turned upside down again by next Sunday. Man, Mookie Betts is fun to watch just because he gives you a little of everything. He was taking some Vince Coleman leads today. So, much fun!
I think the Kaybear debut has to be considered a success, but I thought he was supposed to have a great eye? Looking at his minor league stats it appears he walks more than strikeout, at least more recently. He chased some junk. Oh well, look forward to seeing more of him.
I’m not sure which is prettier? A Bellinger pulled upper decker or a Seager rope to the gap for a standup double. I figured Seager had three objectives this year: stay healthy, hit elite pitchers breaking stuff better, and get to 2nd in the order. A little iffy on the health. Hasn’t really been tested yet on the second. Mission accomplished on the third.
Wasn’t it just a week ago we fired Roberts and traded Muncy and Belly and the Dodgers just weren’t fun to watch.
I’m not a big fan of Roberts, but he’s shown a lot of patience with Muncy, and that patience is finally starting to pay off. Bear talked about it above, how you could see the joy on Muncy’s face last night after the hit and
solid sac fly. It was like you could see a weight being lifted off him. I jump Roberts when he makes a bad decision, but he also deserves credit when he makes the right move and it pays off.
This team is good even without Bellinger Muncy Joc and the catcher position not hitting much. And without Buehler pitching to his capability. I wish I had confidence in the manager when it comes to playoff time.
I’m very glad Beaty had a good day at the plate and glad Ruiz got off to a good start with that home run.
This is a very good team. I just wish I had confidence in the manager.
There are a few guys on this team that could ruin things and it’s Doc’s responsibility to figure that out.
Ruin things in the playoffs is what I meant.
Joc acts like he does not care. Trade him or send him to USC.
Pederson looks like he does not care. He needs to be traded or sent to USC.
I have to say, that might’ve been the most impressive inning I’ve seen May throw.
He had strike 3 on Rendon, and the ump blew that one. Then after the home run, he gives up 2 seeing eye hits. Doesn’t lose his cool. Gets a double play ball, only to have his 3rd baseman forget how many outs there are. Then he battles former Dodger Rengifo and gets him out!
That was a veteran’s poise on the mound. GREAT to see.
You’re right. He didn’t get miffed and lose focus after muncy’s foul up. He just made a May fan out of me.
Muncy. Wake up dude.
Needed a change, so I am watching the game on TBS rather than the Dodger station. Darling and Simpson, former Dodger, doing the broadcast. Needed at least a day away from Orel.
3 more HR’s today, Over 40 for the year, they have a shot at hitting close to 100 in a 60 game season. Seager, Ruiz and the Muncinator go deep.
No offense to Barnes but I’m looking forward to the Dodgers possibly having 2 good hitting catchers in Smith and Ruiz.
Having that is an advantage that most teams don’t have.
All right Muncy is back.
Ruiz has such a smooth swing.
And where was Joc on that run scoring fly ball to left? He must have been playing on the warning track.
Enough with this guy.
Welcome to the bigs Ruiz.
The average age of today’s Dodgers lineup is a little over
26 1/2 years old , all in their twenties. This has to be among the youngest line ups fielded for today’s game. Bodes well for the future!
Wow!!
Just me or did it seem Joc was taking a very casual route to the hit by Stassi that scored Ohtani from 2B?
I thought the same thing initially
No, that was a true tweener. But he definitely is not running hard on grounders.
Shortstop went a long way for that one and Joc was quite late. I re-ran it twice. Hard to know where he started but he wasn’t running hard when he finally showed up.
That is true. He has not run hard all year…striking out more again. Just looks totally disinterested
Wow, some bad base running early. First Taylor and then Beaty costs us a run (as did leaving in rios with a gimpy hamstring)
THAT nonsense is what takes the fun out of watching the Dodgers. I don’t fault Rios for wanting to stay in, but Doc for leaving him in.
Come on Doc. Anytime you see a player grab his hamstring like that you need to take him out. Dodgers lost 2 runs that inning with base running blunders.
I agree. I don’t know why Doc left him in;
You are right about Joc not hustling last night. Doc rewards him by starting him today. No discipline.
Dodgers News: Walker Buehler Feels Need To Shift Philosophy
https://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-news-walker-buehler-feels-need-to-shift-philosophy/2020/08/16/
Line up for today’s game
All Betts on Mookie RF
Seager Smooth DH
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer 2B
Belly Shots CF
Mr. Versatility SS
Joc-ness Monster LF
Big Stick Rios 3B
Ooooh Beaty Beaty… Beaty Beaty 1B
Next Good Dodgers Rookie C
MayDay P
Do any of you remember little Albie Pearson . He played for SF Seals, but he was one of my favorites. He later became a minister and always had a good testimony when he was a player.
I remember Albie well. Played for the Senators and then was picked by the Angels in the expansion draft. When I went to see the Angels play the Tigers in 61, he was playing center field for them Leon, Daddy Wags, Wagner was playing right. Albie was 5’5″. He is now 85 years old.
Buehler,another bad game, Pederson,time he moved on, no excuse for not running hard to first.Today we get May and the first look at Ruiz, let’s see what happens.
I think Cleveland is still desperate for outfielders. Maybe they’d be interested in Joc although I’m not sure what his trade value is right now. Let’s see, this is the last year of his contract, he’s hitting .164 and he’s not hustling. I think we should ask for Bieber.
Sure, but it might be Justin Bieber they send back?
And as a music lover, I’d be down with that!
Your taste in music is questionable….Joc might flourish in the AL< but Cleveland clubbed 5 homers today. They are pissed at Clevenger, so maybe we could pry him away.
2 exe Dodgers DFA’d today. Jharel Cotton by the Cubs, and Brian Dozier by the Mets. Yanks put LeMahieu on the IL. # 25 of course last worn by David Freeze. Also was Tommy John and Big Frank Howard’s number. Have a great MLB debut Kaybear.
The MLB players I remember that played with Hollywood in 1956 are Gene Freese, Luis Arroyo, Bob Purkey, Ben Wade, Danny Kravitz and Dick Smith.
Really enjoyed the column Bear.
Thank you Harold. I remember Gene Freese. Played with the Phillies at one time. Had probably his best year in 61 with that powerful Reds team. If I remember right, Wade was the scouting director for the Dodgers for years. Arroyo pitched for the Yankees for a while.
You have a good memory on all three accounts.
I had profiled Wade a while back.
Gene Freese had a brother, George, who was also a pro baseball player.
When Gene played for the Stars in 1956, George was playing for the Angels. A real inter-family rivalry.
Do either of you guys remember Carlos Bernier with the Stars? He’s in the photo and he was a fleet footed outfielder, probably the most exciting guy on the team when he played here.
Very interesting Bear, even to a Jersey guy. I was fortunate to have many MLB base ball teams in my area. I never followed minor league teams much at all. I always wondered who older fans in the L.A. area in the 40’s and 50’s would follow. I guess many would follow a minor league team and also the MLB team that they were affiliated with.
BTW I mentioned yesterday that I was uncomfortable with Muncy playing 3B. He sure gave me more confidence after making a couple of really nice plays. And maybe, just maybe, he’s going to start hitting better now. Let’s hope so.
One of my best friends was born and raised in Brooklyn. He used to tell me about him and his dad going to Ebbets, and I told him how lucky he was to have a team there in his youth, and then he would rant at me and say, yeah, but U an that O’Malley creep stole em from us! He now hates the Dodgers and no longer watches baseball. Sour grapes……LOL….his sports and teams are football, NY Giants and the Rangers in the NHL>. he lives in Lancaster now. I went to a few games when I was very young with my uncle. My dad was not into baseball. And I saw the LA Angels of MLB play at Wrigley once. They played the Tigers. Vic Wertz, most will remember him as the guy who hit the ball Mays ran down in the 54 series, hit a homer that cleared the stadium by plenty. It was great because I got to see Kaline play.
I was right there with you on Muncy playing 3rd hodges. As a matter of fact, I was even more against it than you were. Mea culpa!
I still don’t like it on a regular basis but I’m happy to see he proved us wrong last night.
I don’t think we’ll see him there too often. JT needs a break now and then. He may have slowed slowed down a little but he still plays an excellent 3B.
Today’s line up
Betts RF
Seager DH
Muncy 2B
Bellinger CF
Taylor SS
Pederson LF
Rios 3B
Beaty 1B
Ruiz C
Teheran is 0-6 lifetime vs LA with an ERA over 5.
Ruiz will wear #25
As to Badgers comment about Joc. I was thinking the same thing. For a guy in his free agent season he looks like he really would rather be home with the wife and kiddie. No hustle, no fire. I play Beaty over him even as bad as Beaty has looked so far. He at least hustle’s. The Angels want him, they can have him. I want someone out there who at least looks like he cares.
I’m looking forward to Kaybear’s debut today. May and Ruiz, should be fun.
Ditto. I believe Ruiz will be a special player for the Dodgers.
I hope you kids are right!
Great writeup Bear. Brought back lots of great memories for me. I grew up in Hollywood and spent many great afternoons at Gilmore Field. Took a look at the photo and remembered everyone except for 2 guys. Feeling pretty good about those cognitive skills today.
When you listed the ex-Stars who made it to the big show, you forgot Bob Purkey who had a long career in the majors, mostly with the Reds, where he was an All Star multiple times. He did get his start with the Pirates, which is why he was with the Stars who, for the most part when I was a fan, were a Pirates farm club.
Great win last night. Those are exactly the kind of games we normally wind up losing to the Angels.
I got the list of former Stars off of their Wikipedia web site, and Purkey wasn’t on the list, so my bad. At one time Bing Crosby was a part owner of the Pirates. Michael Keaton and Regis Philbin also have been part owners. I remember Purkey well. He was a big part of the Reds pennant winning team in 61.
Great story Bear! Enjoyable morning read. The PCL was before my time, but I do remember reading about Steve Bilko. He was a legendary figure for the PCL and West Coast baseball. I also remember that he had a short stint as a first baseman with the Cubs. The announcer would call any double play as “Bingo, to Bango to Bilko”. Ernie Banks was the shortstop and I forget the 2nd baseman.
Thanks 2D2. It was one of those random ideas that just popped into my head. Bilko played parts of 10 seasons in the majors. He had 20 plus homers twice, 53 with the Cardinals, (only year he played an entire season), and with the Angels in 61. He played in 47 games for the Dodgers in 58 and had 7 homers. He hit 50 plus back to back in 56-57. Over a 3 year stretch 55-67 he belted 148 homers as a Angel in the PCL. Overall he hit 313 in the minors. He was only 49 when he passed away in 1978. The reason I posted the old newspaper clipping was because not only did it show Bilko hitting # 50, they lost by the way, but if you check the stories next to it, you see the Dodgers lost to Bob Buhl,.an old nemesis from the Braves, and the Angels won the 2nd game on a homer by Gene Mauch. Bilko cards are fairly easy to find. I have one of him as a Dodger in 1959. I also have one of him as a Cardinal. I like to embrace history instead of trying to rewrite it.
Thanks for pointing out the other articles. I hadn’t thought of Bob Buhl for a long long time. He was definitely a Dodger nemesis. I’m sure they did, but I do t remember the Dodgers ever beating him. He pitched well, but he couldn’t hit a lick.
I just checked his career record against the Dodgers. He pitched in 88 games against them in his career and his record was 30-21. He also won 30 against the Phillies. So of his career 166 wins, he got 60 of those from 2 teams! He also was a much better pitcher at home than on the road where he was only 1 game over .500. He was 14-11 against the Dodgers on their home turf, Dodger stadium, coliseum, and Ebbets. And you are right about his hitting, he was a career .089 hitter. Koufax was a career .097 hitter. But he did something Buhl never did, he homered..twice….
I thought Buehller’s command looked better last night and he got squeezed on a lot of calls. He hung one to Trout and got hurt but every pitcher makes mistakes. I think Buehler takes off in his next start and becomes the pitcher we saw at the end of last year. He’ll be fine! His stuff is just too good. Looking forward to see if May can keep it going today
KJ’s last two outings have been great. He got out of a bases loaded no out jam the other night and last night he shut down the top of the order with two Ks. Right now he is looking like the KJ of old. H
Love those kind of historical posts Bear. Love the photos too. Very enjoyable.
Some thoughts on the game:
* Mookie is so entertaining to watch. He is just unbelievable and plays the game the right way. He is so smooth an unhurried in the outfield. He gets to everything with ease whether its shallow or at the wall. His instincts are off the charts. I’m more impressed every game I watch. I also couldn’t believe the stat that on the 150 swings he’s made on pitches in the strike zone he has one swing and miss. ONE. Some bat to ball skills.
* Bellinger and Betts are terrific in the outfield and Belli covers ground with those long strides. But he really is the best first baseman in the league. He made 2 plays last night on poor throws that others don’t make. One was when he shifted into the foul side up the line to make a crappy throw up the line look easy. Anybody else goes into the runner and has a sweep tag try or the ball is missed completely. Amazing feet on that play. The other was the pick on a ball way wide to the right field side. He is so long with that stretch. Tough play he makes look simple. I know he vacated first base so he wouldn’t drive for balls with a bad shoulder and to let Joc play there during that ill-fated experiment but it’s a treat to watch him there.
* I’m amazed how replay has changed the game in so many ways. Being an old shortstop, I’m amazed how the “Utley Rule” has changed footwork around second. Players grow up now never having to learn different turns and footwork on the double play. Now the are protected and stand right in the baseline on the pivot. You used to have to vary your pivots so the runner couldn’t target you in one spot. The dance that got you space out of the baseline to throw to first and get up and above the sliding runner, is a lost art. And it was a beautiful, athletic skill. With the rule change I didn’t even bother to teach a shin to shin “take-out” slide anymore either. Tags are different now as well, which in my mind can be unsafe when an infielder has to leave his exposed glove hand and arm to be spiked.
* replay has also changed the bang-bang plays at first. Back in the day, the call went to the play. A great play would get the benefit of any doubt on close plays. The runner got the benefit if the infielder bobbled the ball or made a poor throw. If I made a great backhand play in the 6 hole and a perfect long throw to first, I absolutely expected to get the call on a close play. Now it’s out or safe base on the video.
* Don’t get me started on the neighborhood play. and review of that.
* Classic match up bottom 10th. KJ and Trout with the game on the line. I like the extra inning rule.
Looking forward to May and hopefully K-Bear today. And Doc sticking with the same batting order 1 – 6.
Good stuff, Phil. Thank you.
Turner is out of the lineup, so Muncy slides into the 3 hole, and Belli back to 4th. 7 LH hitters in the lineup today.
Good thing Roberts gave Belly and Muncy some time off against the two Angel lefties. Oops he didn’t! We would have. And I think I saw Belly bending his knees more in his stance.
I think one of the best things I took from last night’s game was the genuine look of joy on Muncy’s face when he hit that ball down the left field line to score the two runs. Same thing in the 10th when he hit the sac fly. Muncy might relax a bit more now getting that big hit and driving in the winning run. Pederson looks bored. It is time for Joc to move on. Betts is growing on me more and more every day. He looks like he is having a lot of fun out there. Too bad this pandemic has robbed the Dodger fans the joy of watching this guy in person. He is going to be huge for this team. I think Buehler is probably beating himself up more than we are. You could hear him curse after a pitch he really wanted missed the zone. He was also getting pinched on some of those pitches. A high fastball to Trout was called a ball, and the exact same pitch later in the game was a strike.
Enjoyed it Bear. Always love your writing. So many good stories in the history of a team.
Exciting finish last night. Taylor, so dependable, and he made a smart decision stealing 3rd base and setting up the go-ahead and eventual winning run for Muncy.
Looking forward to today’s game, but it will be a hot one on the field.
I agree DBM. Loved the aggressive play by CT3 (however a good throw would have had him). Our other extra inning game was “bash ball” all 13 innings with no strategy. Being at 3rd with less than 2 outs is such an advantage. Muncy got it done.
Ya Badger I think your right and the numbers reflect this. I may have rose colored glasses on but Buehler I think typically get off to slow starts and will be improving each start.
I hope so. But the fact he looks detached is concerning to me. Not being ready for your start is inexcusable for a Major League starter. He’s supposed to be our ace and he’s hanging curve balls early to the opposition’s best hitter and gone before 5. He has a look about him that appears he’s got an assitude. You don’t want to be here? It can be arranged.
I hope I’m reading this wrong.
But I know I’m not reading Pederson wrong. He loafed down the baseline on that check swing comebacker. That is never acceptable. You’re hitting .160 a third of the way in the season buddy. Start caring or start packing.
Great article (and photos), Bear. Thank you.
Loved doing the research. History is one of my things.
I like good history and that Bear was great! I will have to read that a few times to absorb it.
Last night’s game was a good win. The teams you play when you don’t bring your A game you have to find way to sqeek out a win. Buehler didn’t have his A game last night but you never felt like we couldn’t win this in the end. Buehler will be fine as long as he keeps getting a little better each outing and firing on all cylinders by the playoffs. Muncy is coming around.Belli is showing signs of grooving his swing.
A few walks, a sac fly, and a stolen bag. Some games, great teams find ways to win. When this team gels watch out.
Looking forward to the May-Ruiz battery today.
A little better each time? He gave up 4 earned in 4.2 innings to an Angel team that is 7 games under .500. In 4 games he’s gone 19 innings with an ERA over 5. He kinda sucks.
For those of you who missed this (myself included):
Twins placed LHP Rich Hill on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder soreness.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli announced on Monday that Hill would not make his scheduled start Tuesday afternoon against the Pirates due to “mild fatigue and back soreness,” but the veteran southpaw is clearly dealing with something a little more serious than that. Shoulder issues are scary, especially for a guy who has logged just 63 2/3 regular-season innings since September 2018 due to a variety of physical ailments.
Aug 3, 2020, 11:52 PM ET
He’s only pitched once this season and shortly after the outing, he went on the 10 day IL. Sounds like a familiar story to us.
To bad for Hill. His career has been torpedoed far to many times by injury.
We’re now about two weeks away from the trading deadline. While the Dodgers have had inconsistent hitting at the catcher position, I don’t see them making any upgrade there or any place else.
Walker Buehler often looks like he’d rather be somewhere else.
And Joc Pederson doesn’t run it out to first base. I’ve seen him do it more than once. As far as I’m concerned he’s gone and it can’t happen soon enough. He’s hitting .164 and not running out ground balls? Give him to the Angels for a stiff to be named later.
We’ve still got 5 guys not hitting their weight and no starting pitcher anywhere near the top in innings pitched. Our ace Buehler is 67th. And we are in first place.
I have no memory of any of those early LA teams. When I left here in ‘51 I was 3, when I came back in late ‘58 I was 10 and the Dodgers were here. My grandfather knew a lot of those guys, I met some but don’t remember them. A few were at his funeral but I couldn’t name them. I know I played Legion ball on a few of the fields that many HOF players played on. That was cool. Amerige Park was one. La Palma Park was another one. That’s the field on which I faced Dick Baney. A lot of baseball history here in Orange County.
Gosh, Rich Hill is one of my favorites.
Watching him pitch was just great.
Hope he’s OK and will return to the mound soon…