Opponents I Admired
Ever have a player from another team that you wished was a Dodger? I have. Some ended up playing a year or two in LA. Some never did. But the list is fairly long going back to when the Dodgers first came to LA. The Sey Hey Kid Willie Mays: Willie was simply the best player I…
Ever have a player from another team that you wished was a Dodger? I have. Some ended up playing a year or two in LA. Some never did. But the list is fairly long going back to when the Dodgers first came to LA.
Willie Mays: Willie was simply the best player I ever saw play the game. He could do it all, and he made it look so easy. And he was pretty good against the Dodgers. But I cannot remember ever seeing him make a mistake. He probably did, but I don’t remember it. He was respected and he was one of those guys who would just come to beat you. Sad that he never got to play more games in the World Series.
Willie was and has always been a class act. He was the one who played peacemaker when Marichal attacked Roseboro. He was the Sey-Hey Kid. I marveled at his basket catches and his speed on the basepaths. I also was taken by the way it seemed that he just glided after fly balls. He was just one of those players who you could not take your eyes off of.
Eddie Mathews: One of the better third basemen to ever play the game, and next to Mike Schmidt, the best power hitter. He and Aaron formed a deadly combination. He finished his career with 512 long balls. 493 of those came as a Brave. Exactly the same number as Lou Gehrig hit for the Yankees. Though no Brooks Robinson with the glove, he was more than adequate.
Roberto Clemente: Sad part of this is that if the Dodgers had been a little smarter, he would have been a career, Dodger. Losing him in the rule 5 draft has to be one of the more humiliating mistakes in Dodger history. They tried to hide him in the minors and paid the price.
Roberto was one of those guys you just could not take your eyes off of when he was involved in the play. Whether at bat, or fielding a ball, he was so much fun to watch. He was overshadowed by the stars of Mays and Aaron, but he was probably one of the best right fielders the game has ever seen. And he had a cannon for an arm. There is a push to retire #21 across the league in his memory. He was the first really great Latin player in the majors. I was in Germany when he died on his mercy flight.
Hank Aaron: Hammering Hank. Every move he made on a ballfield looked graceful. He was slightly built, but most of his power came from his wrists. He was lightning quick to the ball and it would jump off of his bat. I saw him hit a homer over the center field fence at the coliseum that I swear never got more than 15 feet in the air. He just was not one of those guys hitting majestic arcing homers. His were cannon shots.
He and Eddie Mathews combined to be the second-best home run hitting duo in major league history. Only Ruth and Gehrig combined for more during their time as teammates. Hank Aaron was not flashy, he just went out and beat you. 755 career homers. Second only to Barry Bonds, and one of only four players to reach those lofty heights. Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and Albert Pujols.
Johnny Bench: I hated the Big Red Machine. I sincerely despised those guys. But I respected the talent many of them had, and Bench was one of them. He was the best catcher of his era. Oh, there were some other good ones, but Bench combined a great bat with superior defense. He was an All-Star 13 times and won 2 MVP awards. He moved to 3rd base later in his career. He also played 1st base and a little outfield.
He won 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards. And how many times has a rookie catcher won a Gold Glove? He also won ROY that year. Bench would finish with 389 homers. He was just one of those guys you had to admire. He hit .255 against the Dodgers with 31 homers and 131 driven in.
Bob Gibson: I was just plain scared of Gibby. He was as intimidating a pitcher as I ever saw throw a baseball. Randy Johnson was that way too, but Gibson, well, he was just plain mean. He came to stuff the ball down your throat. But if you can believe this, the Dodgers actually had the highest BA against Gibson .249, and they beat him 23 times to his 17 wins. He shut the Dodgers out just 3 times. By comparison, he shut out the Cubs 11 times.
He broke Sandy’s World Series K record against the Tigers in game 1 in the 68 Series. He had a 1.12 ERA that year. Definitely the year of the pitcher. McLain won 31 for Detroit that year. The last pitcher to do that. He wasn’t a bad hitter either socking 24 homers and driving in 144 in his career.
There were others. Juan Marichal, Willie Stargell, guys we saw most of the time. I had a great respect and a huge dislike of all things Yankees. But guys like Mantle, Berra, Ford, those guys who went out and just beat you commanded your respect. Ken Boyer, a solid third baseman for the Cardinals comes to mind. He always played well against the Dodgers and for two years was a Dodger.
Dave Parker when he was with the Pirates seemed like he would run over everyone on the bases. He was a monster. Willie McCovey, who owned Big D. I really respected Pete Rose as a player. He played about as hard as I have ever seen anyone play the game. And all Pete wanted to do was beat you. Yes, for his career he belongs in the Hall. But Pete screwed that up himself. I am sure there are more, and somewhere down the road I will probably include more current players. But these guys, well they just commanded respect.
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Discussion (138)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Hi Mark, I’m wondering if my final post yesterday got through to you. The main point I wanted to make clear to you and you alone is that my critical attacks on you are because you treat your contributors like shit. I feel like your overwrought insensitivity deserves karmic retribution. The fact that you’re a hack writer and often times present fraudulent spin isn’t my concern but only works as a means to make fun of you. Yes, “The Book of Moron” (which appears to be your literary legacy) barely scratches the surface of your narcissism. Look up Simon Legree (a character in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) for a more complete understanding of how I see you. You’re just a mean SOB who thinks he’s General Patton. That’s it. I’ve made my point. Happy 4th.
Mike Trout has a broken hand. 6 to 8 weeks. Angels have been on a bad run with Trout.
Let the Ohtani trade rumors begin, once again.
Happy 4th to everyone and your families. Happy Birthday America.
Who’s noticed what our 4 veteran reclamation projects are doing? Peralta looks like the Freight Train again, hitting.290, Heyward .257, JDM .255 and even Rojas with a respectable .236 considering his glove. Now if we could get those rookies going.
I’m now in the camp that wants to see Vargas make a visit to OKC for a reboot. He’s under the Uecker Line now and has no confidence at the plate. Back in my day, he would have been fined for taking the fastball strike 3 in the bottom on the 2nd in the middle of a rally. Swing the frickin bat, kid. I don’t think they fine guys anymore for stuff like that. Maybe they should.
Grove needs to like his fastball more and Will needs to stop calling all the breaking balls that gets him behind in so many counts. Causes way too many 20 pitch innings.
Now 3 players I never wanted to don dodger blue. Barry Bonds, A-Rod and Sammy sosa! Although I’ll admit the first two are natural hall of fame players. The word natural * being stressed. I would have taken sa break from baseball if any of those 3 had been a dodger ! I wonder if bonds doesn’t like tv or no one will give him a job because of his sparkling personality. AssRod, I puke when I see him! And soda ain’t worth mentioning. McGuire could also be added to that list ! Good win last night, but sure would be nice to have 9 productive players in starting lineup
Thanks for the great article Bear.
Good to see the Dodgers get a win. Grove pitched through a lot of traffic but managed to hold them to one run in four innings. And the bullpen looks much better with Hudson healthy. With Kershaw on the IL, now the top seven starters at the beginning of the year have all been injured, and Buehler was already injured coming in. It is tough to overcome so many injuries to your starting pitching, but the Dodgers are hanging in there.
Peralta has been great the last two months and along with Heyward they are two great additions by Friedman this offseason. The lineup last night was pretty solid, especially the top seven hitters: Betts, Freeman, Smith, Muncy, JDM, Peralta, Heyward. The 8 and 9 holes just need help along with RH hitting. Between Vargas, Rojas, Outman, Taylor, and Deluca it would be nice to find two more consistent bats. I was surprised to see the Dodgers lose Jahmai Jones this week from OKC. He is a 25 yr old RHB who can play 2B and OF who was hitting 293 with 970 OPS in OKC. After opting out with LAD, the Brewers picked him up and put him on their MLB roster. In his first game yesterday, he hit a 3 run double to help win the game for the Brewers.
Happy Independence Day and thanks to our Founding fathers for creating a great country and sacrificing for future generations!
I’m going to once again get on the Dave Roberts band wagon. Today, the team has the 7th best record in baseball, the 4th best record in the NL, are a wild card team, and only 2 1/2 games out in the division lead. This in spite of being decimated with injuries and playing rookies all over the field. Most teams would take this, but not a bunch of spoiled Dodger fans.
And yet many of you want to fire the Manager. Dodgerram wants Joe Madden. All Madden brings to the table is a .532 winning percentage as a Manager, or roughly 10 wins out of every 100 games less than Roberts. Oh yeah, let’s combine that with a .478 winning percentage in the post season across 8 trips. 2 pennants and 1 WS win, all numbers worse than Roberts. A couple of years ago lots of you were calling for the Dodgers to hire Bob Melvin. He doesn’t look so good now. Both Maddon & Melvin are/were good Managers but all you want to do is change for change’s sake.
The Dodgers over their last 70 year history have had a philosophy of consistency in the guy leading the team on the field. Walter Alston was Manager of 23 years and Tommy for 21 years. That consistency of leadership has led to unprecedented success and didn’t give in to the temptation to give in to making long term decisions based on short term information.
All I’ve heard in the past is anyone could be successful with the roster Roberts had. The record of this year absolutely refutes that argument. I honestly don’t know what it would take to make some of you happy but I, for one (although admittedly frustrated at times) am thrilled to be rooting for this team, this front office, and this Manager.
I first saw the Beach Boys in 1972 in Columbus, Ohio. The only original one touring this year is Mike Love. Dennis and Carl Wilson both died, and Brian Wilson (who was the genius behind them) walks the fine line between genius and insanity. If you think they are good now, you should have seen them when all the originals were there. Even Al Jardine, who is still alive, does not tour with them, but occasionally you will see Brian and Al together. Brian hates Mike Love (who is not lovable). This is one of the few concerts with all of them (Brian was in the throes of mental illness):
To all the old folks on this board (which I think is everyone):
last night I went to the Hollywood Bowl to watch the Beach Boys; my first time ever seeing them and they were fantastic!
If you’re free tonight, they’re playing tonight as well, and it’s a really fun show!
One I remember was Drysdale killer–Willie McCovey. I think once they showed at an Allstar game when McCovey was batting Drysdale was watching from the bullpen. Like maybe he was trying to learn something
DODGERS RECALL MICHAEL GROVE & GAVIN STONE
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers recalled right-handed pitchers Michael Grove and Gavin Stone, optioned left-handed pitcher Victor González and placed left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder soreness, backdated to June 30.
Grove, 26, will make the start tonight against the Pirates and he is 0-2 with a 7.54 ERA (31 ER/37.0 IP) and 34 strikeouts this season with the Boys in Blue. He has been with the Dodgers two seasons, and he is a combined 1-2 with a 6.24 ERA (46 ER/66.1 IP) and 58 strikeouts. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 First Year Player Draft out of West Virginia University.
Stone, 24, returns for his second stint with the Dodgers. He made three starts for the Dodgers, allowing 16 runs in 10.0 innings with five strikeouts. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he is 2-4 with a 6.71 ERA (40 ER/53.2 IP) and 64 strikeouts against 30 walks in 12 starts. Last season, he was named the 2022 Dodgers Branch Rickey Pitcher of the Year after going a combined 9-6 with a 1.48 ERA (20 ER/121.2 IP) and 168 strikeouts between High-A Great Lakes, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Arkansas native has been in the Dodger system since being drafted in the 5th round of the 2020 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas and he is a combined 13-12 with a 3.31 ERA (98 ER/266.1 IP) and 370 strikeouts.
Kershaw, 35, heads to the injured for the first time this season and he is 10-4 in 16 starts and holds an ERA of 2.55 (27 ER/95.1 IP) with 105 strikeouts against 24 walks on the campaign. The Texas native was named to his second consecutive and 10th overall trip to the All-Star game last night, which is now tied with Pee Wee Reese for most appearances in franchise history. The lefty became the 74th player in Major League Baseball history with double digit nods to the All-Star Game and the ninth pitcher ever, joining Warren Spahn (17), Mariano Rivera (13), Tom Seaver (12), Roger Clemons (11), Steve Carlton (10), Whitey Ford (10), Randy Johnson (10) and Juan Marichal (10). In 16 seasons with Los Angeles, the left-hander has a record of 207-91 with an ERA of 2.48 (738 ER/2676.1 IP), 2,912 strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP.
González, 27, appeared in 25 games (one start) for the Dodgers, allowing 14 runs in 23.1 innings with 22 strikeouts against seven walks. In three seasons with the Dodgers, he is a combined 8-4 with a 3.52 ERA (31 ER/79.1 IP) and 78 strikeouts against 28 walks in 84 games (three starts). The Mexico native was signed by the Dodgers on July 2, 2012 as an international free agent out of Tuxpan, Nayarit, Mexico.
Jim Edmonds
Thx Bear. Loved Eddie Matthew’s. Hometown boy from Santa Barbara. With the emergence of Heyward and Peralta (nice call Mark) it’s getting pretty tough to give Vargas (oops call Mark) any AB’s against RH pitchers. Can’t just leave him languishing on the bench. AF has to send him back to OKC and reset.
You can move guys all over the field, but no matter where you put a .200 hitter he’s still a .200 hitter! Awhile back someone suggested using Barnes at 2nd base,why? He’s still awful at the plate! I was wrong on Vargas, I thought he would end up around.260, but it looks more like.160 now! Maybe a trip down is necessary. His confidence at the plate couldn’t be hurt much more. This team needs some help. A starter& a big right handed bat. And maybe Muncy finally hits over 200. He ain’t going nowhere. If you have noticed every time he strikes out, he goes and stands beside doc, maybe he should look at some video with RsvOr maybe rsv is the problem !
Hey Bear, another great article…..but what about Mickey Mantle? Imagine what he could have become without injury or alcohol….
I did not expect to wake up and see a victory this morning. Very pleased though. I thought for sure the pitching matchup favored those guys that we would lose another 8-7 game. But looky here….Grove pitched 4 great innings allowing only one run. THANK YOU LORD!
And my man, Marvelous Max gets two hits, including a HR. “That’s the way, ah, huh, ah huh, I like it, ah huh, ah huh!”
The bullpen all of a sudden looks better with the addition of Hudson. Fergy has been pitching lights out, Phillips is still butter, and Grat, even though frustrating, has still been pretty solid overall.
I wasn’t going to go here- why spoil the good times- but is there a reason why Busch can’t replace Vargas at 2B or even Mookie on 2B and insert DeLuca or Outman? It’s so painful to see him struggling. I bet even he doesn’t enjoy being out there looking this bad. His confidence has to be very low. Maybe AAA is what he needs to regroup. I know, I know, “progress isn’t just linear…”
Solid 4 innings from Grove yesterday. Badly needed . For him and the team.
Orel yesterday hinted on what I said in a post too: Hudson helps the team shorten a game even if the starter can not give you 6-7 innings. He slipped right in there and takes down high leverage situations, enabling Ferguson and Graterol deployed earlier.
That is why a bona fide closer would help on multiple aspects .
I am all for going after the Pitt closer Bednar. Relatively young, sign longterm and cheap. Would not only help now but in the future as well.
Get to work, AF! And while you at it maybe the pirates expand the deal a bit for old friend Hill to eat some innings until Clayton, May and Buehler hopefully get back.
Vargas is painful to watch at the dish these days. Just can not catch up to a fastball, swinging at balls and looking at strikes.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I actually forgot a guy I should have mentioned. As much as Maury Wills did to revolutionize the game with his speed, Lou Brock took it one step further. Lou was one of the most fun players to watch on the field.