By the Numbers Part 2

We left part one with Mike Piazza. Mike should have been a lifetime Dodger, but FOX ruined that. Catchers are not supposed to hit for average, but Mike did. Especially when they combine the kind of power he had. His last full year in LA he hit .362, with 40 homers and 124 RBI’s. Trading him was the dumbest move ever.  He hit .331 as a Dodger and hit 177 HR’s. Driving in 563 runs. He was a career .308 hitter even though over his last 6 seasons he never hit over .286.

So now, onward to part two.

32…anyone want to guess who? Sandy Koufax, simply in my opinion, the best pitcher I have ever seen. On any day you felt you were going to see something special when Sandy pitched. And a no hitter was always in the back of your mind. Over his last 6 seasons, no one was as dominant. Kersh may own some impressive records, and is one of the best of this era, but never have I felt I was watching the best in the game. 4 no hitters, 3 Cy Youngs, and ERA wins 5 straight years. Simply put, the BEST. Billy Antonello wore it before Sandy.

33. Max Carey, Grimes, Campy for a year, Joe Becker, and Danny Ozark, the coaches, Bilko, Davalillo, Eddie Murray, Eric Davis, Jordan, DeWitt, and Van Slyke. Murray was the best I saw in that number. Tony Watson was the last to wear it.

34. Well, 34 has not been worn by any player since Fernando left. That was 30 years ago. My own opinion is that while Fernando does not have HOF creds, he is iconic to the organization, and Fernando mania was directly because of him. So, when he retires from broadcasting on the Spanish language station, I have a feeling his # 34 will be retired with him.  Making only him and Gilliam as players not in the hall given that honor.

35. The Babe, Klippstein, Maglie, Welch, Gott, Anderson, and Bellinger. Cody is the best position player to wear this, and he should only get better, but I also loved Bob Welch.

36. Stengel, Connors, Newk, Gleason, Robinson, F. Rhoden,  Benzinger, Daal, Maddux, Weaver and Liberatore. Nod has to go to Newk.

37. Roebuck, Kekich, Castillo, Dreifort. Culberson wore it last. Roebuck was a solid reliever. Dreifort never really reached the heights most thought he would.

38. Did not start getting much use until the 40’s. Loes, Dick Williams, Craig, Moeller, Zahn, Goltz, Zachry, Worrell, Osteen, as a coach, Gagne, and McCarthy. Gagne the easy choice.

39. Campy. HOF catcher and one of the greatest personalities ever. Effervescent, and filled with love and enthusiasm for the game and life. Two players wore it before it was retired, Howie Reed, and Ken Rowe.

40. Another of those numbers that went to a lot of players. Some of the more notable would be Craig, Williams S., Roenicke, Singer, Honeycutt, Honey gets the nod on longevity.

41.  Labine, Johnson, Sizemore, Reuss, Shaw, Penny, Hatcher. I go with Ruess who threw a no hitter, and was smart enough to be injured so Fernando could start for him.

42. Everyone knows this is Jackie. Pioneer, HOFer, leader, and one hell of a ballplayer. After he retired, it was worn by Ray Lamb in 1969.

43, Neal, Crawford, Hoak, Sutcliffe, Mondesi, Ashby, League and Avilan. Raul Mondesi is easily the best to wear it.

44. Tracewski, Foster, Downing, Landreaux, Strawberry, Saito, Padilla, Harang and Hill. Downing had the longest tenure, Straw was a disappointment, but Hill was by far the most entertaining.

45. Podres, Fowler, Richert, Wall, Cedeno, Mulholland, Perez, Dessens, Hillman, and Woodward. Podres gets the nod since this is the number he was wearing when he beat the Yanks in game 7.

46. Wade, Bessent, Marichal, Hooten, Gott, Gross, Bolsinger, and Fields. No real stars in that bunch. But Hooten was solid and spent a lot of years with that number. It belongs to Gonsolin now.

47. Hard to believe it did not get much use until Romo got it in 68, Messersmith, Maldonado, Brock, Orosco, Goodwin, Nolasco, Kendrick, and Thompson. Messersmith and Kendrick the best for me.

48. Usually given to pitchers. Spooner, Alexander, Powell, Ramon Martinez, Gagne, Guerra, and Stewart. Ramon was a solid starter.

49. Another pitchers number, Black, Hough, Niedenfuer, Belcher, Candiotti, Herges, Hyers, wore it last. Hough wore it the longest. And he was one of my favorites. But Belcher gets the nod as the best.

50. No real standouts, but Howell pitched as well as a Dodger. Solomon, Borbon, Sanchez, Eovaldi, and Choate. Little note, the last guy to wear it was Brett Eibner, who has become a pitcher now. Eibner hit one HR as a Dodger. It was the longest one hit that year by a Dodger player….naturally, he hit it at Coors. Now it belongs to Mookie. I have no doubt he will do it proud over his tenure as a Dodger.

51. Larry Sherry, Broxton, Bellisario, Ruiz.  I go with Sherry, the 59 series MVP.

52. Lasorda, as a coach, Madlock, Crews, Sherrill, Lindblom, Fed-ex, and Baez. Baez for longevity and performance.

53. Big D. No one compares to this guy. He was as nasty as they come. Big and intimidating with that sidearm delivery of his. Held the consecutive scoreless innings streak until Orel broke it. HOFer, retired because of a rotator cuff injury, which today, could be fixed with surgery not available then. Long time broadcaster. Tom Paciorek wore it for one season after Big D retired. Only 2 players ever wear it.

54. Leary, Mike Maddux, Candelaria, Kershaw, Guerra, Cingrani, Romo. Leary spent the most time and was a very effective starter.

55. Fairly, Hershiser, Carrara, Schumaker, Latos, Blanton, and Russell Martin. Orel as a pitcher, and Martin as a position player.

56. Campy his rookie year, Astacio, Fetters, Kuo, Blanton and JP Howell. Astacio had pretty decent numbers. But did not play long for LA.

57. Guerrero P, rookie year. Howe, Pederson  (Joc’s dad Stu), Wetteland, Seanez, Elbert, and Wood. Howe helped win the 81 series, what a tragic life he led, and died way too young.

58. Pignatano, Cresse, Jackson, and Billingsley. Bills an easy choice. Injury cut his career short.

59. Searage, Guillermo Mota, Fife, Castillo. Not a very scintillating group. Searage is now a pitching coach.

60. Castro, Hu, Coffey, Dominguez, and Toles. Hu finally made Abbot and Costello’s bit a reality when he walked in spring, and Steiner finally got to say, Hu’s on first! Toles was a very talented guy, and the Dodgers could really use a player like him. Sad ending.

61. Park, Beckett, and Verdugo. Park had some great moments, save giving up two granny’s in one inning to Tatis’s dad. Beckett and Verdugo were not here long enough.

62. Peralta, and Font. Again not much to choose from.

63. Yimi Garcia. nuff said.

64. Buehler, LoDuca, Columbe, and Ferguson.

65. Joc Pederson, Kyle Farmer, and Austin Barnes.

66. The Wild Horse. Mike MacDougal, Todd Williams, and Paul Konerko. Well, Puig is still an enigma, and a very talented baseball player. It is really a shame he never put it all together in a Dodger uni. But he was by a longshot one of the most exciting and exasperating players to ever play in LA.

67. Brunson, Jeff Kubenka, Louis Coleman, and O’Koyea Dickson.

68. Ross Stripling.

70. Damon Hollins and Tim Locastro.

71. Josh Ravin.

72. Miguel Rojas and Travis d’Arnaud.

74. Jansen. Kenley coming down to the end of it. I tend to remember his good days rather than the bad ones.

75. Alan Mills, Rodriguez, Dayton, and Alexander. Paco Rodriguez had some good outings as did Grant Dayton. Scott Alexander when his sinker is working is pretty good. When not, he is batting practice.

76. Josh Sborz and Matt West. Neither did much. Medwick, Dressen, Frias, and Santana, who the book is still out on. Most of the other numbers are used by rookies right now.

81. Victor Gonzalez.

85. Dustin May. We will see how he works out.

87.  Jose De Leon.

88. John Axford and Mike Ramsey.

97. Joe Beimel.

99. Ryu, and Manny. Ryu has a much longer resume, and when healthy he was almost unhittable at times. Manny, he had the best 2 month stretch of any Dodger I can remember, and that includes Cody’s start last year. But he faded fast, and the PED suspension did not help at all.

Well, that is by the numbers. Some will still have stories to tell down the road.

Two players wore numbers you usually do not see. Brian Wilson wore 00 his two years as a Dodger, and Al Oliver wore 0 his only year in LA.

In high school, I wore 1 my first year, and 32 my second. Pretty cool in my mind.

Dodgers have retired, 1. Reese, 2 Lasorda, 4 Snider, 19, Gilliam, 20, Sutton, 32, Koufax, 39, Campy, 42, Jackie, and 53 for Big D, Who’s next?