Another story idea from SpokaneBob. The game had its start at Dodger Stadium in 1967. It was a softball game between celebrities and MLB baseball players. The Managers were Leo Durocher for the Stars and Milton Berle for the big league players. The MLB players included Wills, who was with the Pirates, Brooks Robinson, Clemente, Mays, Frank Howard, Killebrew, McCovey. Jim Garner started for the celebs and after giving up 3 hits and a run, Durocher brought in a guy called Billy Star. Billy was actually Eddie Feiner. The star of the king and his court. He struck out Mays, Killebrew and McCovey in order.
Big D was pitching for the MLB players. Vin Scully was announcing the game along with Jerry Lewis. Celebrities included Max Baer, Dick Shawn, Woodie Allen, Robert Loggia, John Cassavetes, Dale Robertson, Peter Falk, Ryan O’Neal. Tim McCarver also played for the MLB stars. Don Adams of Get Smart fame was in the game too. Hugh O’Brian and Bobby Darin were also there. Ron Hunt and Jim Lefevbre were also in the game, both were Dodgers at the time. Pete Rose also makes an appearance.
That was just the beginning. When I checked, there have been 46 such games at Dodger Stadium featuring all sorts of stars. Lately, they play each other, and the girls come too. But one of the first ones was hosted by the Angels in 1964.
So the Angels got the jump on the Dodgers hosting these types of games. Not sure if the tradition followed when they moved into the big A a years later. But there were some pretty decent players on that Angel team.
The Dodgers have since 1967 held many games, they have mixed movie stars with TV stars, had them play MLB players and the media. But like I earlier explained, they usually play each other now.
Some of those who have played, Billy Crystal, Jamie Farr, Michael Bolton, Tony Danza, Tom Selleck, Corbin Bernsen, Jean Claude Van Damme, Ray Romano, Larry King, Lou Ferrigno, Dean Cain, John Lovitz, Jimmy Kimmel, Daphne Zuniga, John Astin, Sean Astin, Harvey Korman, and many others. Selleck and Bernsen actually starred in a couple of baseball-related films. Selleck in Mr. Baseball, and Bernsen in all three Major League movies. Tying him with Kevin Costner for the most baseball movies in a career. I also think James Earl Jones has been in three. The Sandlot, Bingo Longs Traveling All-Stars, and Field of Dreams. Costner in Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and For Love of the Game. There have been others of course. Here are some celeb photos.
Even the ladies get in on the act. Of course when we watch Dodger games there usually are a few celebs watching the games. Before he passed away, Kobe Bryant was at several games. Lasorda was seen in his field box almost every night. Larry King was also sitting in his place in the new seats directly behind the screen. Mary Hart and Jacqulyn Smith are often there too.
The games will hopefully resume at some point. There have been over 50 of them. The results and players not readily available or easy to find. But the games allow the fans to see Hollywood personality’s in an environment that they usually would not. I met John Russell at a Dodger game in 1959. He was the star of the TV series, Lawman. They usually have the bigger stars play the infield so the fans can see them better. Hope this little trip down memory lane is enjoyable for everyone.
RIP Larry KIng. A Dodger fan from his days in Brooklyn. One of the best interviewers ever on TV. His first celebrity interview was with Bobby Darin when he was doing his show from a restaurant in Miami. He did over 50,000 interviews in his long career. He was born in Brooklyn to Orthodox Jewish parents who both had immigrated from Russia. His given name was Lawrence Harvey Zeiger. He changed it when the station manager said that Zeiger was too hard to pronounce. Scanning the Miami Herald, he spotted an ad for Kings Liquor stores, and from that night on, he was Larry King. He legally changed it a couple of years later. Larry passed away on the 23rd of January, 2021 at age 87.
Discussion (21)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I may have been a little bit optimistic a few months ago when I stated that the regular season will start in April 10th. However I still stand by that and, also, a 154 game schedule that someone( I don’t remember who) mentioned.
The players just made a package counteroffer to the owners, an offer on multiple issues, in the meeting that lasted about 15 minutes. Sides are caucusing now.
MLB is about to head back to meet with the players, starting meeting No. 2. The MLBPA proposal included moves on CBT, arbitration eligibility and revenue sharing, as @JeffPassan said
MLB cancels 3 more days of spring training games Earliest start date for spring games is March 8
A little progress! MLB, players made gains today in one area: amateur draft order/lottery. MLB made a proposal on it, players countered in same day. Not done yet, but there is optimism. Rob Manfred met with Tony Clark one on one. Manfred did not meet w/ players. They’ll meet tomm
The big money issues are all still out there: CBT, minimum salary, prearbitration bonus pool. But, it is said, you have to start somewhere. All the issues have been discussed this week — even CBT. Just because there hasn’t been a new CBT proposal doesn’t mean it’s not discussed
We need to boycott games. Hit em in the wallet. That is all they understand.
Everyone says the CBT number will be the toughest negotiation of them all and the two sides haven’t even discussed that number in weeks.
Instead of doing this stupid little dance on the “easier” issues, why not concentrate on solving the toughest one first. At that point, the feeling of compromise will have been established and maybe all the others will fall into place.
Sally Kellerman, who played Hot Lips in the MASH movie, passed away today at age 84. She was suffering from dementia.
MLBPA made proposals on service time manipulation and amateur draft. On STM: new proposal would grant service time to fewer players than before, narrows scope of it. On draft: still 7-pick lottery, but changing other elements that would penalize teams for consecutive losing years
MLB and MLBPA plan to meet again tomorrow, a 5th straight day. MLB did not react well to the players’ proposals today. Once again, like the three preceding days, today brought no substantive progress.
Prayers to the Ukrainian people under attack today.
Wars and violence have a way of putting things into perspective.
It always impressed me seeing MLB players like Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson and many others delayed careers and fought in WW2.
Maybe the current day owners and players will gain some perspective and reach a compromise to start baseball on time. Both sides are incredibly blessed to participate in MLB, and should consider those who came before them as well as others impacted by their extreme self-interest.
I tend to blame the players a little more, but both sides are at fault. And the fact that MLB players ignore the financial hardship of minor league players in order to maximize free agent dollars for the Scherzers of the world is unfortunate. I attended a college baseball game in Texas Ranger ballpark recently and it was quite enjoyable. The enthusiasm and skill of 18-22 year olds was entertaining. The pitchers were throwing from 90 mph to 98 mph, several towering HR’s were hit, great fielding plays were made, and the pace of the game was fast.
My belief is that very few MLB fans would notice a significant decline in quality of play between these players and MLB players, if the players are put in MLB uniforms, in MLB ballparks in a competitive game. Of course, most of these college players would be below average Single A players, but the point is that even MLB players are replaceable. The game is bigger than these players and these owners. Hopefully, they realize this and reach a settlement soon.
Any updates on T.B.
It’s getting better. We’re getting there. It’s a slow process, but everything’s moving as it should. We’re actually going to start swinging a bat here pretty soon. So things are looking real good. And things are looking good for the season, whenever that may end up being. – Max Muncy
Translation – Still not full strength, missed the entire offseason rehabbing the injury. Still haven’t swung a bat yet, and the season is supposed to start in a month. I’m telling myself that I’ll be ready for the season, but I probably won’t.
This reminds me of Bellinger last year and Seager in 2019. No wonder there’s Freddie Freeman rumors.
Max gets most of his offensive production from the long ball and walks. He’s a career 240 hitter with 123 Homers vs 79 Doubles. If his power is zapped from rehabbing injury instead of strength training and swinging the bat, It’s going to be a rough season. His walk totals are going to tank if he’s not a big threat for the long ball and his batting average will trend downward if what’s normally a homer only gets to the warning track.
Totally tired of both sides. Compromise is a word neither side knows or understands. Losing games will cost them fans and income. SO both sides are idiots.
As far as proposals went on Wednesday, there was again little progress. MLB made a revised offer in one area: the minimum salary. It raised the starting salary by $10,000 from its prior offer, to $640,000 from $630,000. The minimum would go up by an additional $10,000 over the five years of the CBA.
The players are asking for a minimum that starts at $775,000 and climbs by $30,000 each year.
The extreme shift is basically playing with four outfielders and three infielders. Furcal would have done well with his slap bunts.
I think I have finally decided that I prefer to eliminate the extreme shifts. Maybe make infielders stand in the “dirt” but not restrict where on the dirt they stand.
It has occured to me that nobody cares why I have stayed away for awhile so I won’t say why. It wasn’t the first time I have taken a break from here. Maybe it was the picture of the Hollywood starlet that headed Bear’s post that broke my hesitancy to return. Apparently is was a picture of Marcia taken pre hip replacement.
Now as I understand it, the players now want 80% of players to be arb eligible after 2 years with some sort of a performance stat to determine who those 80% are. They had said they would stop negotiating on arbitration and then came back and included this issue as part of issues to be negotiated. That is canceling a step forward and replaces it with a step backward in regard to coming up with a new contract.
I think a rookie pitcher who pitches 150+ innings and has 80% quality starts should get more than the minimum. They could be one of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues for two or three years, get injured, only make 2% of their worth, and be out of baseball. That is wrong!
The bonus pool should be large enough to take care of top performers in their pre-arb years. If that bonus is capped at $5MM per such player instead of a lid on the total pool, that would seem more fair. Plus, make sure it is a bonus and not a salary increase so that it has to be earned each year until arb eligible.
Minor league players, a very few got nice signing bonuses, are playing ball as young as 16 years old and they don’t need $100K a year to play 6 months. They need a scholarship that provides free decent housing, free food, free equipment, and free teachers (coaches, trainers, etc.) plus a salary/spending money that increases as they move up the ladder. How much money does an engineering student make during his 5 years of college? Zero less school debt.
I like starting the 10th inning with a runner on second.
I like the use of ABS.
I like accepting in-game commercials in exchange for shorter time between innings.
I like eliminating loss of draft picks as a penalty for signing a free agent or exceeding a specified payroll.
I like adding a CBT on individual salaries instead of overall team payroll.
Mark and Bear, thanks regarding update on officer Sipowicz.
Bear: Thanks for the reminder about the Hollywood All-Star games at Dodger Stadium. I saw one in the 1970’s when Billy Crystal was playing shorstop for the All Stars. I was impressed with the way he handled himself in the field and at bat; you could tell he had played a lot of ball in his life. Too bad Billy was a Yankee fan!
You can also tell Kevin Costner played a lot of baseball growing up in Ventura by his actions on the diamond. I even remember Ronald Reagan playing Grover Cleveland Alexander in one of his movies (with Doris Day) and handling himself well in that role. Of course, I have also seen a few that demonstrated they had never played baseball just by the way they played catch.
I did not know Jacqueline Smith attended Dodger games.
Of course, my favorite Angel was Cheryl Ladd….
As always Bear
Wonderful story and lots of information new to me.
Thank You
You have a caption
‘ late Dennis Franz ‘
Wasn’t aware of his passing, when ?
Certainly enjoyed his acting.
The two sides are meeting again today. Hopefully we have some movement in a positive direction.