Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?
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
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.
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Discussion (121)
Disagree, not disagreeable
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
Bear,
Many of the younger folks don’t even remember Mr. Coffee Joe, let alone The Yankee Clipper. 😉
Uceta added to the roster for today’s game, Graterol optioned to Oklahoma City.
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!!!!!!!!!!
US Water has better flavor than Budweiser.
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.
I like this. Pitching Cleavinger with Alexander due to replace him on the roster. Smart.
We’ll also see Uceta & Price.
LGD!
Hey! Today is the 4th of July. Have a wonderful day and God bless America.
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
This is Roberts’ favorite kind of game. A built-in excuse to overmanage.
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.
Pujols has been a great pick up.
What a godsend Albert Pujols is
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:
Albert has RBI’s in 4 straight games and has driven in 20 since he joined the Dodgers. Catman can scat man.
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.
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! 😉
Mookie. Pukie can’t even get a sac fly
That was scary I thought Turner got hit in the face.
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.
Nice game credit to all, especially the Bull pen.
Goodwill to all enjoy our countries day of independence go Dodgers go Dodgers!!!
The greatest country in the history of civilization!!!!!!
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….
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.