Dodgers World Series My Flashbacks over 66 Years

Sunday was an off-day in the Dodgers pursuit of a World Series championship. Among other things I took a few moments to see what I could remember from each of the Dodgers 12 appearances in the World Series during my time as a Dodger fanatic. For some I don’t recall much, but for all I have a moment or two that I do.

 

I became a Dodger fan on April 19, 1952. I know that for sure as it was not only the first time I picked up a Dodger broadcast out of Brooklyn with Vin’s voice calling the first play I ever heard on my little RCA Victor radio, but all three Dodger outfielders hit a home run against the Giants. It was the only time that Andy Pafko, Duke Snider and Carl Furillo all homered in the same game and I not only heard it but remembered it so could later confirm the date on Baseball Reference.  Duke’s was the first I heard, and I imprinted like a chicken on him.

 

Since then the Dodgers have gone 6-8 in World Series appearances and were 0-5 prior to 1952 so we have some catching up to do. Below are some remembrances of each. Although I recall the name, the play, etc. I do have to look back for some additional data.

 

1952 – Rookie pitcher, Joe Black, was the Dodgers #1 starter in the series. I expected it to be Carl Erskine or Preacher Roe, but it was the 28-year-old Black. He won one game and lost two to the Yankees, one of those losses by a 1-0 score. He had a 2.53 ERA over 21.1 innings pitched. Some Dodger faithful will not have to look this one up. Dodger first baseman Gil Hodges went 0-21 in a devastating series for him. Another memory – George “Shotgun” Shuba was the first player to hit a pinch-hit home run as a National League player in the World Series. Duke hit four home runs.

 

1953 – Carl Erskine started three games and lost two. The memory is his 14 strikeouts in one appearance, at that time a World Series record. At bat I recall Jim Gilliam, another Rookie of the Year, surprisingly hitting very well. A check of the World Series stats reveals he was tied at eight hits with Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. It was also the first season I grew an appreciation for right-hander Clem Labine, a true reliever able to do it all.

 

1955 – Need I say more. We won!!! Left-hander, 22-year-old Johnny Podres won two complete games. Clem Labine appeared in four games with a win and a save.  Jackie Robinson stole home. We listened to the games at my home with Dodger and Yankee fans alike and Mom providing food for us. My favorite player Duke Snider hit four home runs. I recall Duke and Campy laying down consecutive bunts in game seven leading to a Gil Hodges sac fly. Duke’s caught the Yankees so by surprise they threw it away.

 

1956 – My memories are still obscured by the Don Larsen perfect game. Well not totally. Everyone remembers that game but not so many that reliever Clem Labine pitched a 1-0 complete game in 10 innings the next day downing Yankee fireballer Bob Turley. I do recall that Newk’s postseason woes continued and the Dodgers got trounced in game seven and former Giant Sal Maglie pitched well for the Dodgers.

 

1959 – I recall being blown out in the first game of the series with the White Sox but coming back to win in six games. The next Clem Labine had moved in as right-hander Larry Sherry stole the show with four appearances in which he had two wins and two saves. Another youngster, infielder Charlie Neal, led the way at the plate. Second baseman Nellie Fox and left-hander Billy Pierce were two of my non-Dodgers favorites. I was OK with them doing well but not too well. Duke had his last homer in postseason play.

 

1963 – If any revenge ever felt good, this one did as we swept the Yankees. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres held the Yankees to four runs in four games. Outfielder Tommy Davis was coming into his own and former Yankee first baseman Moose Skowron had significant hits.

 

1965 – Facing Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison and Tony Oliva Sandy Koufax again dominated winning two complete game shutouts and losing a game giving up one run over six innings. Don Drysdale picked up a complete game win as did much under-appreciated Claude Osteen who turned out to be one of the better Dodger trades over the years. Sweet Lou Johnson had two home runs, one to give Sandy Koufax a 1-0 lead in the seventh game. I recall first baseman Ron Fairly hitting really well as did Maury Wills.  The reason I remember Fairly so well is that I had watched him play in Edmonton, Alberta in the summer of 1957 in the Western Canada Baseball League. I actually had the opportunity to chat with him in 1957. The next season he was with the Dodgers.

 

1966 – A painful memory indeed. The Dodgers were swept in four games scoring a total of two runs and losing two 1-0 games. My memory this time is of an Oriole, right-hander Moe Drabowsky who won a game limiting the Dodgers to one hit in 6.2 innings. I had watched him played in the Halifax and District League back in the early fifties with the Truro Bearcats before I moved to Edmonton.

 

1974 –  Also painful as the Oakland Athletics overmatched the Dodgers never allowing more than two runs in any of the five games. Don Sutton won the only game for the Dodgers. The pitching staff did quite well but lost three games by a 3-2 score. Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Russell, Buckner could not generate enough offense.

 

1977 – Tommy’s first year as the Dodgers manager. The Dodgers lost 4-2 to the hated Yankees. My most painful memory is Reggie Jackson hitting five home runs, three in the final game.

 

1978- Another try at the Yankees. The Dodgers won the first two games in the series. I can recall talking with Kevin Vickers, a Yankee fan, in front of the post office in Lunenburg. He was a bit down and I was upbeat. Next time I saw him the table had turned over. I can also recall that Davey Lopes hit with unexpected power and that rookie right-hander Bob Welch struck out Reggie Jackson to record a save. The next time they met Jackson hit a home run to hand Welch the loss.

 

1981 – Ah, the Rick Monday home run against the Montreal Expos to get us there and sweet revenge against the Yankees.  The Dodgers turned the tables, losing the first two games and then taking four straight, three of them by one run. I can recall the Yankees taking Tommy John out of a game in which he was pitching very well and bringing in George Frazier. I gave a big sigh of relief. Frazier, who lost three games, gave up two or three runs right away. The fab four hit well as did Pedro Guerrero.

 

1988 – Who can forget Kirk and Orel. I also remember Mike Scioscia who hit that decisive home run off Doc Gooden in the ninth in the fourth game against the Mets in the NLCS knotting the series at 2-2. In the WS I remember contributions by right-hander Tim Leary, Mickey Hatcher and that all important walk before Gibson to the much-maligned Mike Davis.

 

2017 – it is still too much etched on my mind to be a flashback.