Unless they know something about the history of the game, many younger folks would simply think Joe DiMaggio was the Mr. Coffee guy. But to more than a generation of Yankee fans, he was one of the best that ever wore the pinstripes. Players like that are few and far between in today’s game. His type of player would be a dinosaur.
He struck out only 369 times in his entire 13-year career. Some players accomplish that in 2 seasons. A career .325 hitter, graceful in the field, and he wanted to beat you every time he walked onto the field. He lost 3 seasons to the war, and he only batted under .300 twice, 1946, the year he came back from the war, and his last season, 1951.
The only thing DiMaggio did not do well was stealing bases. He stole 30 in his career. The Yankee Clipper was all class. Some of the younger talents in the league could learn a lesson in baseball etiquette from Joe. I know society is a lot different now, but sometimes I think there are players in the majors who just do not respect the game. There is way more showboating in the game today, the bat flips, beating one’s chest, all the different handshakes and high fives … and standing there and admiring a HR that travels a long way.
Players do not just drop their heads and run the bases. There always seems to be some sort of celebration. As good as Ricky Henderson was, I had a hard time liking the guy. He was one of the most self-promoting players I have ever seen. LeBron is the same way. The unwritten rules get ignored a lot. Not embarrassing the opposition is on that list, but you see it all the time.
I was too young to see DiMaggio, but I watched Koufax most of his career. Sandy was another player who had a lot of class. Sandy would never think of hitting a player on purpose, conversely, Big D would hit anyone he felt was digging in on him, and taking away the inside of the plate. And woe be unto those who plunked a Dodger player. Drysdale would send a laser their way without batting an eye.
I also think if one is doing something that might bring embarrassment or bad publicity to the organization, then usually, one is thinking about themselves and not the consequences that come with those kinds of behaviors. Back in the early ’50s, the Yankees had some players who were heavy party animals, among them Mantle and Martin. The Yankees ended up trading Martin because they felt he was a negative influence on Mickey. But in later years, tales of their nightly escapades became known, and it tarnished some reputations.
Whitey Ford was in that bunch too, and to look at him, it would be hard to believe. Whitey just always looked so respectable. Then you have players like Justin Turner and Clayton Kershaw. Both are active in the community, both have foundations that benefit the less fortunate. Kershaw has made several trips to Africa with his wife for various charitable reasons. Those kinds of activities get less press than they should. Oh, we know about Kersh’s and JT’s because events they hold get advertised on the Dodger broadcasts.
Kersh’s ping pong tournament gets a lot of hype. The Dodgers, for the most part, are pretty good at handling the negative press. When the Ramirez PED case broke, they were right on top of it. There have been other fires that needed to be put out over the years. Most were handled well. But you would never expect anything like that from Joe D. The closest thing he came to any kind of negative press was when his marriage to Marylyn Monroe broke up in less than a year.
But Joe, like many a talented person, had an ego that needed to be stroked. He insisted on being introduced as The Greatest Living New York Yankee. Mantle, notwithstanding, he probably was. He would probably marvel at how far some of these players can hit a baseball. And he would be impressed with their fielding skills. But the antics and showboating he would not like at all.
But more now than ever, baseball is entertainment. Baseball now is big business, and it needs a product that is appealing to today’s fans. The bigger-than-life players are not all that abundant. But when amazing talents come along, baseball markets them to the hilt. Tatis, Guerrero, Ohtani, are 3 of the most recognizable names in the game, and all of them are kids. Ohtani is the old man of the group, he turns 27 on Monday.
There are others of course, but those 3, well they stand out the most. Ohtani and Guerrero are in the middle of a great HR race. Ohtani added 2 more today, and now has 30 before the All-Star game, which made that much more amazing since he also is a starting pitcher.
I guess I am just getting old because I really have days when I miss the way the game was badly. Those really close pitchers duels between Marichal and Koufax, or Gibson and Big D. These Dodgers sometimes score more in a game than it seemed like the 60’s Dodgers scored in a week. Not really, but it seemed that way. I remember a story about Drysdale’s reaction when told Koufax had thrown a no-hitter. Big D’s first response was did he win?
But the game has changed, and I guess I should be more tolerant in my old age. There are posters on here who are older than I. And I respect their views a lot. But sometimes I close my eyes and I see DiMaggio gliding across the Yankee Stadium outfield to flag down a drive no one thinks he will catch. Or I even see the great Willie Mays, who I saw play several times, racing back in the Polo Grounds to catch Wertz’s drive in the series. And I think to myself, no matter how hard some of these players try, they will never be that graceful making a play.
Discussion (48)
Disagree, not disagreeable
DiMaggio was a great player, of course, and I think a decent guy (as far as we know). But I think you’re mistaken about him insisting on being introduced as “greatest living Yankee.”
He was needier than that.
He insisted on being introduced as “the greatest living PLAYER” at oldtimers games.
I remember hearing that a couple of times and thinking, “Huh?” To me he wasn’t nearly up to Mays, Aaron and Mantle–or Williams or Musial. Yeah, great hitter, great streak, supposedly a great fielder–though I rarely saw the film that proved that. We could also name a few pitchers–but of course it’s hard to compare batters and hitters.
Which brings us to Ohtani, who really might be the greatest living player, taking everything in consideration. He’s now done stuff that nobody has done since Ruth. The Babe-Shohei debate is upon us.
But enough about non-Dodgers, because I know everybody here is breathlessly awaiting my opinions and insights–even if you don’t think you are.
—The Dodgers will be fine without Bauer. I would have prefered he sign with the Angels (who still need an ace, yet now are over .500 without Trout) or even the Mets. It’s not that I worried he’d be a distraction for whatever reason, but more that he wasn’t needed. Anyway, the Dodgers are well-positioned to secure another quality starter if AF decides that’s the best course. (I do wonder whether his contract carries language that might pertain to such matters.)
–How ’bout that Gavin Lux? Two solid, productive games in a row! I’m not sure whether any of these hits came off a lefty, but he’s clearly been the weak link in lineup. (Old Man Albert pinch-hit for him just a few days ago.) Not only did he hit the ball, but he made a web-gem-worthy play at SS and stole a base. He had absurd power in the minors, but he needs to cut down on the strikeouts, make more contact, and use his Belli-class speed.
–Old Man Albert just keeps delivering. So glad he didn’t try for second on that line drive into the leftfield corner. Loved seeing Doc use Gonsolin as a pinch-runner. He played OF in college and handles the bat well.
–And Kenley keeps delivering too. A little bit more drama than in the past, but he’s been awesome. Should be an all-star again.
I know none of those Nats pitchers were intentionally throwing inside, but some of that pitching was downright dangerous. Wild is being kind.
Alex Vesia is still super hot: the last 4IP, 12 SO !!!, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 H
I continue to read here, but don’t post much anymore. I was just looking back at the June 28th post regarding Mark Washington, and noticed that he has struggled with Raynaud’s Phenomenon. Only the older Dodger fans like me would remember that Raynaud’s is what Sandy Koufax suffered with when he missed the second half of the 1962 season, and was ineffective when he tried to return during the best of three playoff series with the Giants that came about when both teams ended up in a season ending tie for first place.
Maybe Mark Washington will be the next Sandy Koufax. 🙂
And by the way, I believe that Koufax had a chance to strike out over 400 batters that year. I’m doing this from memory, but I believe that Koufax had over 200 strikeouts when he went out in July. I have always wondered what he may have done if he was able to pitch the remainder of that year.
Best bullpen in baseball including biggest all star snub ever Kenley Jansen! Muncy for MVP! Nervous time for Bellinger!
Pepiot walked the first batter in the eighth and was pulled.
Pepiot perfect through seven with 11 strikeouts.
Weather Forecast: rising batting averages in July as low pressure front of Miami, Arizona and Colorado moves in. Expect extended winning streaks with home run thunder and RBI lightning.
Pepiot dealing tonight.
The all star game is a joke that’s why it doesn’t impress me when someone has the title “all star”.
Will Smith is one of the best if not the best catcher in the game and he is not “an all star”.
Looking on the bright side, I think it will keep arbitration costs down.
Mookie has a lot of good will built up having made 4 in a row. I’m really happy for CT3. Will Smith was in toss up territory with several other NL catchers, so go ahead a give it to JTR.
If you look at this year’s stats, Muncy is the only position player that truly deserving other than JT if you’re going just by offensive stats.
You can make a great case for Walker as far as Starters go even if he misses on K rate. He’s certainly more deserving than Darvish who has a worse record, higher ERA, less quality starts, less innings total and less innings per start. Scherzer getting screwed makes that pill a little easier to swallow.
None of our relievers have better numbers than the four that were taken ahead of them. Malencon has the worst stats among the bunch, but he has the most saves which somehow means more than Wins otherwise Bueller and Urias would be in there.
I absolutely don’t understand Mookie making the team. In my mind, JT, Buehler and even Kenley deserved it more. I’m sure many here will disagree with me. What do you guys say?
First time the Dodgers don’t have a pitcher on the All Star team since 2008.
JoJo Gray off the IL and starting tonight for OKC.
Saw this on another board, it’s a great stat:
The only Dodger players of note to have not made an All-Star team in their entire career
Gavin Lux
Will Smith
Julio Urías
Those that are now or have been All-Stars include:
Betts, Bellinger, Turner, Taylor, Muncy, Pollock, Seager and Pujols
Kershaw, Buehler, Jansen and Price
Gotta imagine Smith is gonna be an All-Star soon.
Taylor, Betts and Muncy are all stars. No Dodger pitcher selected. Neither was Scherzer. Go figure.
I was hoping that Cody was ready take off after his walk off HR last Sunday but he has been disappointing since then.
He needs to make an adjustment but it’s becoming real that after his terrific first half the year he won his MVP he’s been rather pedestrian. I love his defense and his speed and his occasional long ball but .200 BA is absolutely horrible.
What to do, what to do?
Bear, a really good essay. I was telling my girlfriend about how I used to love doubleheaders on July 4 or any of the holidays, usually just sitting outside with my transistor radio, listening to Vin Scully. Or running a supermarket errand, walking down the hill, and seeing people outside watering their lawns, they would ask me what the score was. Baseball did seem better then, but part of it was of course being young with no real responsibilities, no drastic climate change to worry about, it didn’t really seem to get hot until August. And the Dodgers were great to follow; they were mostly very good, and most of the games were close, as except for 1962, they didn’t score many runs.
I never saw DiMaggio play, but I admired Stan Musial, who played and acted with class; also Al Kaline, who somehow gets ignored when people talk about the great players of that era. There was a biography written about DiMaggio which I did not read, but which apparently portrayed him in an unflattering personal light, but one should never rely on one biography to tell a full picture.
I guess what I miss is the focus on teams as opposed to individual players. Managerial strategy, making good trades, lineups which had a synchronicity which did not show in the daily box scores. The mental and strategical side of the game. Most of the announcers today in all sports, keep talking about this or that player all through the game. Tattis gets a lot of that, and he is already a very good player, may be one of the greats, but it gets pretty tiresome to hear the announcers rave about him . Baseball is a team sport, even with the pitcher against batter duels. It is not basketball, where there are five or so great players whose teams mostly dominate the sport. I like team play, and the pieces fitting together, not so much focus on stars.
Just a comment on Bellinger; he is a very likeable guy, he plays great defense, it is fun to watch him out there. But you cannot hit .200 or so every season, as he is now in danger of doing. Can’t this be fixed, or is it that the pitchers now know exactly how to pitch to him, and he cannot adjust, with that long swing? I would hate to lose him, he might go somewhere else and turn into the Bellinger of 2019. But you can’t bat someone fourth who strikes out most of the time. If it were the 1950’s, with the dreaded reserve clause, the manager would tell Bellinger to bunt toward third once a game, it is a sure hit. That might change the way he is pitched to, it would at least get his average up to .270 or so.
Great Dodgers series!! Very surprised really! The nationals had been on a hot streak. They had one of the best records in the majors the last 30 games. They had moved over .500 into second place. They r dinged up especially the bullpen but the Dodgers sure aren’t going to feel sorry for them after all their injuries, drama, etc. I hope the nats recover quickly against the pads!
Dodgers pitching just superb!! Kelly was really a workhorse in the series and labored but got it done. Clevinger still bp weak link. I know he hasn’t been scored on in… blah blah blah but in most another reliever bailed him out. But he battles. The Dodgers will burn the bullpen out if they don’t get another starter or 2. Kelly, Bickford, Gonzalez, clevinger look tired.
Hey Josiah, hurry up and rebuild your value so we can trade you 😉
We won without “What’s his name”, but we all know that too many bullpen games can get you into trouble really quick.
We emptied our bullpen and somehow managed to stay away from the one guy they brought up to give them some “length”.
Kenley finished off the game in a non-save situation appearing in his second game in a row, basically making him unavailable for tomorrow as he hasn’t pitched three in a row this season.
Nice three hit game by Lux. His stolen base early on was key at the time. Hopefully he can rub off on Belli who been taking Joc Pederson swings lately chasing out of the zone and missing in the zone. Different player, same problem. Stop yanking that front shoulder. Everything is popped or hammered into the ground.
Pujols at first after breaking the tie by driving home Lux. Mookie hits a foul ball off the wall, then Doc decides to pinch run for Pujols. Gonsolin winds up scoring in Pujols’ place on Max’s double. Pujols would have been stuck at second. It was the right move at the wrong time. The book says to wait until your slow guy gets to second, I’m glad Doc decided to go against the book.
V-Gone, Treinen and Jansen all seem to like to spot the other team a runner before eventually shutting them down.
Souza Jr. had a right to be pissed. C’mon Blue, do your job. You don’t give all the borderline calls to the pitcher. That was bush league like calling a balk with a runner at third for not coming set.
7-0 against that team that’s sponsored by Walgreens.
Such a fun game, I think I’ll watch it twice.
Forecast: baseball, wings, beer & a swim.
Happy birthday, USA
So we won without…. What was his name?
Damn MLB starting a Dodgers game that early. Missed the whole thing. Wtf. Oh well. Alls well that ends well.
Tied for first place with SF.
Dodgers weren’t to happy about the early start. Today was a heavy coffee day, for sure,” said shortstop Gavin Lux. However he also had 3 hits. Maybe the extra caffeine woke up his bat.
I wanna bitch about the bullpen… just kidding. Okay… close your eyes… Relax … You are feelling very sleepy… Now repeat after me… Our bullpen is great…. Our bullpen is fine…our bullpen is dandy… When you wake up you will have total confidence in the bullpen….
The greatest country in the history of civilization!!!!!!
Nice game credit to all, especially the Bull pen.
Goodwill to all enjoy our countries day of independence go Dodgers go Dodgers!!!
Happy 4th to everyone. I love this site and all the conversations from knowledgable baseball folks. Each individual brings a different expertise to the table and the sum total makes this an outstanding site. Thanks to Mark for all he’s done and to the great postings by the usual suspects especially Bear who’s strolls down memory lane are especially fun. A happy safe 4th to all.
That was scary I thought Turner got hit in the face.
Mookie. Pukie can’t even get a sac fly
Yesterday morning, I stopped by the office to see how everyone was doing (we had 4 people working) and a certain ex-QB from Stanford was there. Today, it occurred to me that he reminds me a lot of Gonsolin.. Both are odd! 😉
After giving all my Angels fan neighbors crap about Albert for the last 10 years, I was sceptical about this signing. I’m gladly enjoying my crow. I prefer it roasted with Garlic Flavored Peri Peri sauce.
It’s going to be really sweet if (when) he gets the ring with this club while the Angels pay for it.
Pitcher, Tony Gonsolin managed to score from first base on Muncy’s double. Thank God he didn’t injure himself since pitchers can’t hit or run without making a trip to the IL.
Albert has RBI’s in 4 straight games and has driven in 20 since he joined the Dodgers. Catman can scat man.
Before today’s game, the Dodgers were #1 in team ERA is ALL of baseball, and had moved up to #7 in Bullpen ERA… probably #6 after this game!
WHAT DID I TELL YOU?
😉
I fight other battles you may not know about, such as against companies who engage in bad business practices. You might laugh when you see me with a wig on:
What a godsend Albert Pujols is
Pujols has been a great pick up.
This kid Pujols is growing on me! Todd Frazier 2.0
Damn, Betts just missed moving him to second on a drive off the wall.
This is Roberts’ favorite kind of game. A built-in excuse to overmanage.
get over it. Every sport, not just baseball has changed. Oh for the good old days when gas was .29 and I made $6700 in 1968
Hey! Today is the 4th of July. Have a wonderful day and God bless America.
I like this. Pitching Cleavinger with Alexander due to replace him on the roster. Smart.
We’ll also see Uceta & Price.
LGD!
Mays, DiMaggio and Snyder were all in CF in NY at the same time. That must have been something to see. I’m too young to have seen those guys play, but I’m not too young to remember when players adhered to the unwritten rules of the game. I can’t stand guys like Fernando Tatis and that stupid thing he does around 3rd base during his home run trot and was appalled to see that wall clock on a security chain that the Padres players put around their necks when they hit a home run. It’s completely over the top. I don’t mind a nice bat flip though, I guess there’s a line for everyone.
Well, the Dodgers are going with their early day game lineup today and it looks like a trainwreck waiting to happen. Put that together with another bullpen game and we’ll need some good luck to complete the sweep against a team that was red hot until the Dodgers got to town.
I found Doc’s comments about the possibility of Price joining the rotation more strange than interesting. He said that the team values him to be able to be used in a variety of situations and up to four times a week out of the bullpen and has little to do with health or his ability to pitch in the rotation. He went on to say building him up to a starters workload isn’t ideal to do in season.
I want to read in-between the lines here to ponder what options they have. Is this the reaction that you would expect from a manager that only has 3 starters? Are they comfortable enough with their bullpen depth that they feel they can simply send guys up and down from the minors to cover bullpen games/short starts twice each time through the rotation?
Examining the schedule before the break, we have 8 games remaining. It lines up like this.
Bullpen Game
Bueller
Gonsolin
Urias
Kershaw
Bullpen Game
Bueller
Gonsolin
Then they can reset their rotation after the break for 3 with the Rockies and 4 with the Giants, then 3 with the Rockies again before an off day.
It looks like getting to the All-Star poses some, but not significant risk, but we’ll want to be complete by the time we get to that 4 game series against the Giants at home.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of in house options unless they reverse course with Price, which doesn’t seem all that likely considering they’re starting the game with Cleavinger today, which makes absolutely no sense. Gray hasn’t been in a game since his first outing of the season. Pepiot seems like a likely option based on talent and performance, but he really only goes 4-5 innings, has some walk problems and has only pitched in a couple of handfuls of AA games. Basically, he’s the same as Gonsolin with less experience.
Maybe plan A is that the Bauer situation will be resolved soon enough. He was placed on Administrative leave on Friday, July 2. If they give him 2 administrative leaves in a row (the max they can do and the second one has to come with Player Association Approval), he will be eligible to pitch again right in time for the first game after the break. Pepiot thew 74 pitches in 4 innings coming into the game in the 3rd inning on June 29 so he’s got time to build up over two more starts before he’ll be needed. Gray probably won’t be built up enough to start for another month which basically coincides with the trade deadline. Keep an eye on Pepiot’s next two outing to get a read on their intentions for him.
Edwin Uceta called up and Brusdar sent down. We’ll see these kinds of moves a couple more times before the All-Star break with Scott Alexander being the next logical choice.
A side note, I read an article yesterday that mentioned Bauer’s accuser didn’t decide to go to the Emergency room until being advised to do so after speaking with her AA sponsor. Trevor needs to grow the f^%$ up. What a dumbass. So many bad decisions. I hope this girl gets her life together, she obviously has some problems, at 27 it’s not too late for her to turn her life around.
I’ve read way too many articles about this subject. I’ve read many that paint a narrative and leave out a lot of information and one’s that just state facts and information without opinion. I know there’s more information that none of the writers are privy to.
One of the reason my son stopped playing High School ball was that he thought his teammates weren’t the best humans around. They did crappy things and weren’t all that nice to people due to their egos. For every Trevor there’s a Clayton to balance things out I guess. But, many athletes are spoiled and think they can do whatever they want as result. I’m not gonna pass judgement. I wasn’t there hiding, watching from the closet. I think responsibility falls on both parties. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but nothing good is gonna come out of getting two idiots together, unsupervised doing some shady shit.
Happy 4th of July. Gonna smoke Ribs and something else and blow up some fireworks. The good kind! Got a small family gathering planned.
US Water has better flavor than Budweiser.
Surprised they optioned Bazooka, just when he had two good outings. Maybe they want the fresh arm for this game and then make a switch again with Uceta going down.
Over the long haul IMHO the Dodgers can not get bye with those constant bullpen games . It will drain the pen sooner or later. Either built up Price or Nelson to be the fifth starter or look at the trade market. Now with the Bauer situation and his possible loss the Dodgers should make up their mind pretty quick.#
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Uceta added to the roster for today’s game, Graterol optioned to Oklahoma City.
Bear,
Many of the younger folks don’t even remember Mr. Coffee Joe, let alone The Yankee Clipper. 😉
Today’s early game 11:05 AM EST starting winning lineup:
RF Mookie
1B Max
LF Matt
CF Cody
2B Chris
3B Zach
SS Gavin
C Austin
P Garrett Cleavinger