May 13, 1975

Burt Hooton, who had had two bad starts since being acquired in a trade from the Cubs, threw a 2-hit, 5-0 shutout in St. Louis before a crowd of 18,519 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Backup shortstop Rick Auerbach, filling in for the injured Bill Russell, drove in 2 runs and center fielder Jim Wynn drove in 3. The win put the Dodgers, the defending National League champs, 4 ½ games in front of second place Cincinnati.

But come June the season would go south on the Dodgers while the Reds took off. The key contributors of 1974, Wynn and reliever Mike Marshall could not match their efforts from the previous year as they were plagued by injuries like the rest of the Dodgers in 1975. The Dodgers ended up 88-74 while Cincinnati rolled up a 108-54 record which would eventually earn them a World Series title.

Hooton was one of the two bright spots for the Dodgers in 1975. Acquired on May 2 from Chicago in exchange for Geoff Zahn and Eddie Solomon, Hooton finished with an 18-7 record and a 2.82 ERA. Hooton won 12 straight decisions to finish out the year. Steve Garvey hit a 2-run game-ending home run off of J.R. Richard on September 26 to give Hooton his last win. In his career, Richard was 15-4 against the Dodgers with a 1.86 ERA.

The other highlight for the Dodgers in 1975 was the performance of second baseman Davey Lopes. Lopes stole 77 bases to become the Dodger to lead the league in steals since Maury Wills in 1965.

The most important player on the 1975 Dodgers however was Andy Messersmith. Messersmith put up a 19-14 record and a 2.29 ERA. But more importantly, Messersmith played the 1975 season without signing a contract. Messersmith, along with Dave McNally, decided that they would test out the legality of baseball's reserve clause at the end of the season.

In 1976, Messersmith was on the Braves. And baseball was much different.

Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

A fine test of mettle. Is a homestand "split" of 4 wins and 5 losses considered a victory, given who is (and isn't) on the roster?

On the upside: Weaver at home, coming off a pair of good starts.

On the downside: the Braves starter (Ramirez) is a lefty, so no Starting Choi tonight.

I can't see the Astros scoring 3 runs or not allowing anymore. And Garner is batting Orlando Palmeiro in the #3 slot.

i voted for aybar, but i hope it doesn't come to that.

More from my source in Korea who refuses to be named, thus forever annoying yours truly...

I asked my source about Choi's Mountain Dew episode. For those who don't know, Choi did the Dew so much before one game he got dehydrated and had to be taken to the hospital for IV treatment. My source was less than shocked. Choi had a very rural upbringing and wasn't exposed to sodas, popular entertainment and other aspects of American life that we take oh-so-much pride in.

And the large appetite? According to the source, it ain't a myth. He really can--and does--eat ten eggs and three steaks in the same day.

FOOTNOTE: Some of you e-mailed to say you enjoyed the 'fact of Choi' on Wayne Belardi. Thanks for that; I was deeply concerned it would be too long. I'll try a few more but again, let me know if those long posts are annoying. If so, I'll create some kind of link.

2-1 Giants with 2 outs. Everett singled in a run and then Chavez bounced into a 1-2-3 DP.

Great tag by Timmerman!

*LAST CALL by the way on the TEAM DEPO Second Edition T's. *
I have around 10 ordered but the cost goes down significantly if I get to 15. So now or never! http://tinyurl.com/8ez6z

A poll! We need a poll!

Jason Lane got tagged out at home trying to score on a pitch in the dirt.

It must stink to be an Astros fan now.

Shawn Green gets a night off in COL. They'll miss his .694 OPS, no doubt, against The Lefty Jeff Francis.

Not to dwell in the past, but somehow Tom Glavine and his now-5.77 ERA have held Eckstein, Walker, Pujols, Edmonds, Sanders, and Grudzielanek to just one hit in 15 ABs. What gives? I wonder if our pitching was really bad, or they just hit a ton of line drives...

Jose Lima gave up 5 runs in 5.1 innings last night to run his season ERA to 6.85. He struck out 4, walked 4, and didn't allow a HR for only the third time this season. He is my best player in BP's 'Hacking Mass' league among other such luminaries as Scott Podsednik and Brad Ausmus.

I don't know which one is luckier.

Last 8 Astros against Rueter.

1 run scored.

Thanks again for the daily Dodger retrospectives. I very much enjoy reading them.

Stan from Tacoma

Crystal: Who's pitching today?

Stengel: You are, kid; suit up.

It will be a while before we get to a World Championship year.

Anyway, thanks a lot for going to the effort to post our daily dose of nostalgia.

Sure. Knew that was gonna happen, didn't we?

Instead Cox is starting Pancreas Man in right field, Ryan Langerhans.

"Old Friend" Brian Jordan in left field.

Alou is going for his third pitcher of the inning. And it's not like these guys are getting hit either.

At this pace, he will have between 96-97 games pitched.

What's the over/under for innings Weaver will pitch tonight?

In the ninth inning, she caught as foul ball by...Chipper Jones. No, she didn't throw it back.

And two fly-outs on the second pitch in a row...come on, show a little patience, guys.

20 pitches in 2 innings, so far very, very good for him...

Does anyone think Oswalt will be available for trade? He's small and tends to get nagging injuries, but I've always liked his stuff.

And he's gotten everyone out.

But I don't think there's a hospital in Carson. Harbor-UCLA is considered Torrance (by the Post Office).

So where was Horacio born? In a refinery?

That'll kill the ol' Pythag.

Not that the As are even hitting many of those this season...

Speaking of the As, Rich Harden just went out with an injury.

I wondered why Harden left that game, he'd gotten knocked around but it seemed early to pull a guy like Harden.

(the A's are my other favorite team)

Harden has had high pitch counts all season, that may have caused strain...

It's not known yet what kind of injury it is. Naturally, the Athletics Nation peeps are freaking out...

vr

Xeifrank

Hey! Sesame Street's Bert is my little ones favorite SS character. She loves it when Ernie blows his book away so they can go play ball!

vr

Xei

vr

Xei

yeah, i peeked over at AN but nobody said exactly what it was. oh now i see: left oblique strain, a la tim hudson.

i don't think his pitch pitch counts have been insanely high... i doubt that's what caused it.

I'm currently able to pitch home games. I'm sure DT could pitch in with bullpen by committee and do better than DJ.

vr

Xei

Those DPs really kill you don't they!

Way to go Milton.

vr

Xei

vr

Xei

What's the deal with poker on every single night? And it's the same guys playing every time. I would much rather prefer watching a good game of "Go Fish" or "War"

vr

Xei

vr

Xei

Poker is cheap for networks to produce - set down three cameras, pay an editor, a couple "announcers" making union scale. It doesn't need good ratings to turn a profit, which is what will eventually kill "The West Wing" - high production costs with an expensive ensemble cast.

And they can replay it over and over because, like the inside of a casino, there are no 'clocks' to tell you when or where it was produced.

I hate it, too.