I Love the Dodgers

It has been a 67-year love affair. I was 5 when baseball first entered my life. I was not very good at it back then. I threw right-handed until I shattered my wrist on a teeter-totter in my aunt’s backyard. After that throwing with the right hand was odd to me, so I became a lefty. Hitting lefty came naturally too. \I went to a few Angel games at old Wrigley in LA, but do not remember who they were playing. I do remember that first ballpark hot dog. Nothing tasted better.

Then we left the state for a while and I did not return until I was 8. Me and my mom lived in Hawthorne on 132nd Avenue. I went to Jane Adams Elementary. We played some softball there and the guys introduced me to over the line and 3 flies up. If you caught 3 fly balls, you got to hit. If I remember right, one of the kids showed me that I was hitting cross-handed. Once I figured out that my right hand belonged on the bottom of the bat, I started to hit a lot better.

In 58, the Dodgers came to town, and I was sent to live in a home for kids in Highland Park. One thing about living there, you always had plenty of kids to play with, and playing baseball on our little dirt field was an everyday thing most of the time. The home got free tickets in the knothole section at the coliseum to see Dodger games.

My first Dodger game was sometime in July 1958. All I remember was the players looked like ants because they were so far away, and I met John Russell, who played the lead role in the Lawman series. I also remember hearing Vin’s voice echo through the stadium blaring from thousands of transistor radios. I guess they could not see the action either. We went to 3 games that year.

In 59 I remember going to at least 5 games. But we had a lot of other activities. Sunday was movie day and they would load us into the station wagons and we would go see some movie that was more of a kids movie. I remember us going to see the Alamo when it opened in 1960, and also going to see The Magnificent 7. Then they covered the baseball field with a new building in 1961.

Larry and Norm Sherry and Tommy Davis came to the opening. Heady stuff for a kid who loved the game and the team. I have told the story before that we kids used to shag balls for the Sherry brothers before they would head to Vero. I really wish I would have had a chance to go see spring training there. We also would go to special events they would have for us underprivileged kids.

We once went to the Moulin Rouge in Hollywood for a Christmas show starring Soupy Sales. What a whack job he was. We would go to the coliseum every 4th of July for the circus and the fireworks. And we would go to about 4 Dodger games a year, Once we went to see the Angels play the Tigers at Wrigley their first season in existence. I remember Daddy Wags and Albie Pearson. Vic Wertz hit one over the right-field fence and Detroit won 9-3.

The first game I went to at Dodger Stadium was the last game I went to with the home and it was an Angel game in April of 62. In May I was placed in a foster home in Redondo Beach. And while there, we did not attend a single game. My foster father was not a baseball fan. So I followed them on the radio and watched when they played the Giants on KTTV. I remember the heartbreak while listening to the 3rd game of the playoffs and them losing by giving up 4 runs in the 9th. I still dislike the decision Alston made to use Williams instead of Drysdale to close it out. And he left Roebuck in too long.

After I went into the Army, it was hard to follow the team other than in the paper and the Sporting News. And especially when I went to Korea. Stars and Stripes was usually a couple of days or more behind in the scores. When I came home, and later got married, we would go to games whenever I came back to Cali on leave. Or we would go to the AA games in El Paso.

Today it is so much easier to follow the blue. I have the internet and MLB.TV. Once in a while, I can go up to Denver to see them play the Rockies. So far my record is untarnished. I have been to 5 Dodger-Rockie games at Coors and they have not lost one yet. So, on Tuesday, I will be heading back to Cali until the end of May. One big difference from other trips is that I will not be going to Dodger Stadium. The cost of going is way above my pay grade. We might head out to Rancho Cucamonga and see the kids play once their season starts.

I am also taking a train trip up to Oregon to see my oldest daughter, who is a loyal Dodger fan. I taught her well. Here is hoping they have continued success and win another title. That would be awesome. — Bear

Rants & Raves on Friday’s Game by MT

It was a wild and crazy game, full of errors, bad pitching, bench-clearing, and clutch hitting. Potential closers, Knebel and Jansen coughed up hairballs. although Kenley’s stuff looked pretty dang good. The Padres are a good team… make no mistake about it. However, in the 12th inning, the Dodger’s Released the Kracken started by a 2-run homer by Seager. By the time the top of the 12th inning was over, the Dodgers had scored 5 runs and the Padres were beat like rented mules! A few takeaways:

• The Price was righter! David Price closed out the game with two strong innings, showing he can pitch on back-to-back days. On Thursday, he threw 14 pitches (12 for strikes), and last night, in his 2 innings, he threw 18 pitches (16 for strikes). That’s efficiency! He could be that “Andrew Miller-Type Weapon” in the bullpen.
• Knebel really struggled. There was nothing good I saw there.
• I like Dennis Santana’s spunk and stuff. He might just be a keeper, over Scott Alexander.
• I really like Luke Raley. Matt Beaty’s job is in danger.
• This never gets old: Zach McKinstry is a ballplayer!
• Kershaw and Darvish go at it tonight. Let’s teach these boys a lesson!