Random Dodger game callback

July 25, 1889

It was Ladies Day at Washington Park in Brooklyn and the home team struggled a bit, but still managed to defeat the visitors from Kansas City, 7-5. Brooklyn improved to 49-27 and was 3 ½ games behind the St. Louis Browns in the American Association.

Brooklyn manager Bill McGunnigle decided to have his team bat first in this game (such an option remained on the books for the home team until 1950) because he wanted to bat against the new ball. However, Brooklyn failed to score in the first, so this strategy may not have been the wisest. Kansas City scored in the bottom of the first off of Brooklyn pitcher Bob Caruthers when Billy Hamilton (perhaps better known as Sliding Billy Hamilton, because he owned a children's playground equipment company) hit an inside-the-park home run. OK maybe Hamilton got his nickname for another reason. He did steal over 100 bases in three seasons, but that was in an era when runners were credited with stolen bases for taking an extra base on a hit.

In the third, Brooklyn got a single, three walks and a passed ball and failed to score. Kansas City made it 2-0 in the fourth when pitcher Jim Conway got an RBI single off of the umpire's leg.

Brooklyn went ahead in the sixth when two hits, a walk and a sacrifice produced three runs. But Kansas City went back ahead in the seventh on a pair of unearned runs.

But the game seesawed back in Brooklyn's favor in the 8th when catcher Joe Visner hit a 2-run home run. But Kansas City tied it up again in the bottom of the 8th without a hit as a series of errors brought in a run.

In the 9th, third baseman George Pinckney led off with a triple for Brooklyn and came home on a single by center fielder Pop Corkhill. Corkhill was somehow retired on the bases (news reports are unclear), but Caruthers hit a home run to provide an insurance run. Caruthers retired Kansas City in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.

1889 was Caruthers' career year. He went 40-11 with a 3.13 ERA and helped Brooklyn to its first (and only) American Association pennant. Brooklyn and St. Louis dueled all season and Brooklyn ended up winning with a 93-44 record, 2 games better than St. Louis. A forfeit by St. Louis to Brooklyn on September 8 proved to be crucial. St. Louis player manager Charlie Comiskey refused to bring his team to the game because he believed there was inadequate police protection at the game.

The Brooklyn offense was formidable, scoring 995 runs. Left fielder Darby O'Brien batted .300 and scored 170 runs. Right fielder Oyster Burns batted .304 and scored 153 runs.

1889 also marked the beginning of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. However, it started in the postseason. The Giants had won the National League and the teams agreed to meet in a postseason exhibition series. The Giants won the series six games to three. The two teams pretty much just played until it got too cold and people stopped showing up for the games.

When the year was over, the players union of the day, the Brotherhood, formed its own league, called the Playes League. And the American Association champions decided to switch to the National League. The Dodgers-Giants rivalry would become a regular season affair.

Thanks to Brooklyn Eagle, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

Great stuff Bob! I especially love the 19th century games... 40-11! What did they have? 2 to 3 man rotations? Was the ball lighter? I can't imagine the toll on the arm. I guess the pitcher's mound was closer to homeplate then so that probably helped. May be the starting pitcher was responsible for the game outcome no matter how long he went, i.e. no such thing as a no-decision?

I didn't know the home team got to choose first up or not... until 1950 no less! I learn something new everyday.

I think pitchers were 45-50 feet away in 1889. I don't know if they were throwing overhand yet. They weren't throwing as hard as they do no. And yes the pitchers pretty much finished every game unless they were badly hurt or the game was well out of hand.

Of Brooklyn's 140 games, the starter went the distance 120 times. The team used just five pitchers all season and two of the pitchers worked in just 12 games.

Caruthers' 40 wins are the franchise record. The Dodgers NL record is 30 set by Tom Lovett in 1890. After the pitching distance moved back to 60'6", the franchise high has been 28 wins in a season, done three times, the last time by Dazzy Vance in 1924. The Los Angeles record is 27 by Sandy Koufax in 1966.

A well-spring of knowledge Bob Timmerman is!
Thanks.

Let's start a Jason Repko analysis...

I do not believe he is capable of even being the 5th outfielder strong gun and LoDuca look-alike qualities not withstanding.

However, he might suffice if we can get Drew back shortly. Werth as the 4th is perfect I think with Ledee in LF. I don't think experiments with Valentin and Perez as OFs is wise this season if we are intent on making a run at the division. I would rather platoon Valentin/Robles at 3rd which I guess leaves Perez starved for playing time (I'm assuming Izzy will continue to be the starting SS because all the arm angles he faces are correct).

So I will backpedal a little and say try Perez in LF some late inning not close games and see how he does... maybe even a spot start in LF or RF. If he seems comfortable I would promote him to 5th OF/backup IF and send Repko down. Bring up one of the young arms for some BP help which we desperately need.

Just my 2 cents.

Call up Broxton and Kuo, NOW. They will help out the pen immediatley.

Random National Anthem incident callback

July 25, 1990

Fifteen years ago a chubby Rosanne Barr was asked to sing the national anthem before a San Dieog Padres game. Mrs Barr of TV fame and fortune proceeded to screech out the anthem, truly disgracing herself. The fans booed her off the field when she reached for her crotch and spit on the field after belting out her last note. Rosanne was never seen again near a baseball stadium, instead hired by WWF and changing her name to the Crow Bar.

I expect that when Drew comes back, the outfield will be Werth-Bradley-Drew with Ledee getting occasional starts against tougher righthanders. Unless Werth continues to circle the drain. But Tracy says he won't start Ledee consecutive games.

I think Repko will get to stay up the rest of the year because I just don't think Drew will be ready before September 1 because:
1) he's JD Drew
2) that's just the way the season is going.

Repko does provide some good defense and Bradley looked really rusty in center field Sunday.

7. Ok, but who are we going to send down? Erickson is untouchable... except to opposing batters.
vr, Xei

I wonder if Jose Valentin's 114 Rate2 is for real. If it is, that offers us even more flexibility. Let's see what happens in the next week...

9. What about the Valentin in LF experiment? Is that still no the back burner? Was gone most of the weekend, didn't hear much on this story.
vr, Xei

Any thoughts on the latest rumor of A. Perez and E. Jackson heading to Cincy for Dunn?

#11,
The 114 Rate2 is in CF in like 14 games or something. 100 being average.

#9,
Perhaps a Werth/Ledee platoon. That way Werth only gets to see LH pitching. Well, maybe not a traditional platoon. A Choi/Saenz platoon. So Ledee doesn't play too much.

#13,
Where did you hear that rumor from? I'm just wondering how big it is.

From the most reliable of sources: the Riverside Press Enterprise ;)

"Antonio Perez could become lucrative trade bait as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches, and the Cincinnati Reds may be one of the teams interested.

Perez is batting .327 but has been relegated to spot starts due to Oscar Robles' emergence as a hot-hitting third baseman and Jeff Kent's reluctance to move to first. The Dodgers are 10 games under .500, but they trail the Padres by only 5½ games in the National League West with 64 games to go.

The Reds could be interested in Perez and pitcher Edwin Jackson in exchange for Adam Dunn, an outfielder who hit 46 home runs last year."

Caught some Dodger talk on the radio yesterday. Mark Gooby was the host and some lady called up and made some good points about the Dodgers lack of being able to throw out any baserunners and how it killed them in the Mets series and has killed them on and off for most of the year. She wanted the Dodgers to trade for a better catcher. Didn't take Gooby more than 3 seconds to mention the LoDuca trade and how things have never been the same. Of course, no mention about our two good catchers in the minors. One probably making the team next year, then the better of the two the year after that. No consideration about consequences of blocking a position, and who would you trade for, and no mention of LuDuca's numbers since he's left the Dodgers and while he was on the Dodgers. Next guy that called also made some good points. Talked about how stolen bases in the overall scheme of things are an overrated stat and that OBP and SLG was more important. I still think that Jon should have his own Dodger radio show.
vr, Xei

If the Reds were to give up Dunn for just Jackson and Antonio Perez, I would have a very hearty laugh at the expense of the Reds.

Perez/Jackson for Dunn would be a steal. Perez has no position to play and Jackson is to pitching what a full gas can is to a fire. Any trade for Dunn not involving ANY of our BEST prospects is a steal imvho.
vr, Xei

Did I miss some time period when Paul Lo Duca was good at throwing out runners?

Perez/Jackson for Dunn would be a coup d'etat.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not.

13 - Drool,drool! If DePo could pull that off he's a freakin' genius! I like Perez, but he's expendable at this point. I don't Jackson is ever going to realize his "potential".

10 - Exactly! Bring up the young arms and send at least Repko down, maybe even Edwards (who is Edwards up here for anyway: Drew, Bradley? Maybe he all ready got sent down, I don't know). MB may be rusty, but that is to expected... he'll regain form if his finger is truly healed.

I agree Drew is problematic; however, if he ends up on the DL again, bring a 5th OF back up.

Of course, getting Dunn solves alot of these issues.

19. Maybe the next random Dodger callback should remember a game in which the Dodgers threw out two attempted base stealers in one game. Might have to really go back in time for that one. :)
vr, Xei

I always assumed that Perez was going to be a utility guy at least until the end of this year, have him take over 3rd next year, then become our second baseman the year after that.

His emergence could be a reason to sell high on him, but he has the potential to be a very productive middle infielder.

I don't think Dunn comes that cheaply now that the Cardinals have so many outfield problems/injuries. I know that Larussa probably doesn't like a big home run, lots of strike out person in the middle of his lineup unless his name is Mark, but Dunn could be on their shopping list too.
vr, Xei

17, 18, 20 - SHHHHHH!!!

[Speaking Loudly in the general direction of southern Ohio]:

Wow, I hope DePodesta doesn't give the Reds Antonio Perez and Edwin Jackson for Adam Dunn. Those are two great young future All-Stars. We should only give up one or the other, but not both. They're just too good. The Reds would be fleecing us just like the Marlins did last year!

Hasn't the statute of limitations run out on "see-I-told-you-so"s in regards to LoDuca? Not that they are correct to begin with.

What is LoDuca's scrappiness factor? He must make Eckstein look like an amateur... I cannot believe how important he is perceived as to a ballclub's ability to win.

#25,
No worries. They wouldn't believe us if we tried convincing them we were robbing them.

Even ESPN cannot get over Lo Duca being traded:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6032

Notice he's still in a Dogers uniform.

#1

Bob, do you happen know when was the last time a home team decided to bat first? that is wild that it was still an option in 1950.

Uh, that's "Dodgers".

29,
People have been looking into that and I don't think anyone has found a case of a home team batting first since the early part of the 20th Century.

It didn't even happen all that often in the 19th century and I had to doublecheck the boxscore because until the 1920s, it was common practice for newspapers to run linescores of games with the winning team listed on top regardless of whether or not it was the road team.

31

makes sense. I thought maybe casey or leo might have tried it once. interesting stuff.

Tony La Russa would be a manager who would try something like that now just because he found out he could.

It really makes no sense to do it today obviously.

13 - Where did you hear that rumor?

The last thing I've heard was from latimes.com:

"We're continuing to be consistent," Red General Manager Dan O'Brien told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "The young players are the nucleus of our team. We want to retain them.

Since keeping a player who is up for arbi next year and a FA after that as part of a "nucleus" is obviously BS, the Reds GM is obviously indicating that he wants a whole hell of a lot for Dunn.

34 - Obviously.

The Jackson/Perez trade for Dunn has to be someone's wishful thinking. If it happens, and if the Padres really do trade Nevin for Ponson, then I'm going to apply to become the next GM for Cincinnati or San Diego.

Perez either needs to go back down to AAA to learn a position (second base would the most practical since we only have Kent one more year, and no obvious successor), or we need to trade him to an AL team where he could DH. Perez and somebody else for Aubrey Huff, perhaps.

Re 34 - Oops... Didn't catch post 15.

Chuck LaMar would probably ask for Guzman, La Roche, and Broxton, plus cash for Huff.

If we did get him for Perez, LaMar would have effectively traded Jason Romano for Aubrey Huff.

I heard someone (from ESPN) mention that the reds were asking for four players for Dunn. One Major league ready position player,one major league ready pitcher and two top prospects (a pitcher and a pos. player). Jackson and perez would probably be part of the deal. We would probably have to throw in a pitcher (please let it be duaner) and one more prospect.

39. If I am the Reds. Billingsley, Broxton or Tiffanee or no deal.
vr, Xei

#40,
Good thing you're not the Reds.

39 - Edwin, APerez, Duaner, and Navarro?

And if you really pushed, we could swap Yhency for Duaner?

There's no way Perez and Jackson alone for Dunn... If we could give up one more decent prospect and Duaner I'd be ok with that. I'm not sure I'd give up a top shelf pitching prospect though.

BTW: how is are OF minor league depth? If it's non-existent then we may have to bite the bullet.

Could there really be so many teams looking at Dunn to where they'd want 2+ top pitching prospects from the Dodgers?

What contender interested in Dunn has a farm system even close to ours?

I'll be at tonight's game, so we'll see if Mr. Dunn is all he's cracked up to be :)

Again, it's better to wait until the offseason, when the Reds have less leverage and will be on the hook for a $10M player if they can't unload him. The pressure on the owner's pocketbook should be enough to help drive the price down, in addition to the fact that be a FA after 2006 (right?).

44 - I think the tougher part is to extend his contract. A Sexson/Glaus type deal should get it done.

I don't think we need Dunn this year. Next year, he could be a nice piece on an offensive juggernaut. This year, is seems kind of silly to give up very much for him.

For Jackson and A Perez = yes. But that's unlikely, as has been discussed.

46. I thought the whole point of the deal was to finish 6 games under .500 and win the NL West this year!
vr, Xei

48 wasn't clear enough. If we're trading for him THIS year with the expectation that he'll be more valuable in 2006, then why waay overpay now when he'll cost less to acquire next year if 2006 is the real goal, anyway.

50 isn't in response to you directly, Xei. I'm just being really post-inefficient this morning and keep having to re-clarify myself.

Price for 8 Months of Dunn (2005-2006) = 2 prospects, 2 MLB-ready players, $10M 2006 salary
Price for 6 months of Dunn (2006 only) = say, 1 or 2 players plus $10M salary; no "A" prospects.

Time to take a break.

Off topic, but has Jon said when he'd be able to resume his normal blogging duties? My internet connection at home is not working and I'm wondering if there was an update over the weekend.

I haven't been keeping up the last few days... is everyone pretty much resigned to '06?

Jon will be booting his in-laws out of his house in the middle of the week.

#38--

Chuck LaMar would probably ask for Guzman, La Roche, and Broxton, plus cash for Huff.

If LaMar is such a tough bargainer, why are the Devil Rays so terrible?

It would more than Perez to get Huff, but not Guzman, LaRoche and Broxton.

Your post does suggest what DePo's problem is, however. Any GM who makes a deal with DePo for an impact player who fails to get Guzman, LaRoche, Broxton, Billingsley or Tiffany will be seen as a eunuch. Our second line prospects are better than most team's first-line, but the perception will be that DePo wins the trade if he manages to keep all his best future players.

50 - I think he's more valuable this year if the Dodgers are serious about winning the NL West. He's making $4.6M this year. He's still in arb. after this year right? Would he really get a raise of over %100 ($10M) next year. There must be a max. he can get? Suppose it's 50%. Then he's making $6.9M next year... not bad for either side.

51 - If you thought that the price would drop so dramatically, then I would be inclined to agree. If its Edwin, APerez, Duaner, and Navarro now, or we wait until this offseason and do just Edwin? I'm not sure it would be such a discount.

It also depends on how much hope you hold out for this year.

53,
We vary between Denial and Acceptance. But I can repeat my paradox about how no one can accurately say that they are in Denial.

But all this talk of Adam Dunn makes me think we are in Bargaining.

We seem to have gotten out of Depression. That was the big feeling right before the break. I think Kelly Wunsch's injury set most of us on a downward spiral.

55 - I think the post you are citing is regarding the Rays laughable demands for their borderline available players (Huff, Baez, etc). Boston said the Rays wanted top prospect Henri Stanley for Baez, who would be a 7th inning guy for them.

I was in ACCEPTANCE, but if sub-.500 is good enough to win the west then count me in the BARGAINING/DENIAL categories!

55 - LaMar has gone crazy since he pulled off one of the Kazmir trade.

Figuring that every GM is as stupid as Jim Duquette, he is asking the world for everyone. After all, if one person is dumb enough to give up their top prospect for a mediocre pitcher, everyone must be,.

Reportedly, he wanted Hanley Ramirez for Danys Baez.

#58,
That about sums it up for me.

#59,
I'm guessing that was a typo and you meant Hanley Ramirez, not Henri Stanley, who we acquired from Boston for Dave Roberts.

Dunn is not going to come cheap:

• Ranks 3rd in NL in HR (28)
• Ranks 4th in NL in R (70)
• Ranks 3rd in NL in BB (71)
• Ranks 7th in NL in SLG (.586)
• Ranks 5th in NL in OPS (.979)

His OBP is .393! Amazing for a guy who strikes out so much.

In a year when everyone in the division is racing from the pennant, I'm just not all that excited about going all-out to be the team that is the least terrible. I'm rooting for us to put together a good August/September (which is totally possible), but giving up one of our top AA pitching studs for an extra 2 months of Dunn in the hopes that he'll get us back to .500 seems like a net loss.

This team should be peaking in 2007-2008. I don't want to leverage those seasons for a slightly better 2005.

You forget that the Reds have the second worst GM in baseball. That could prove to be a big factor.

63 - Oops. That's the one.

64. Shhhhhhh! Remember, mums the word.
vr, Xei

Home teams batting first --

Retrosheet says they have a documented case of it happening in 1903 (I couldn't find out who). There is a story that the Cubs did it once in 1908.

The 20th Century cases were not because of a team wanting to face a clean baseball, but apparently more of a football reason. Teams would think of batting first because they felt that they had a good offense, they were facing a weak pitcher and they could demoralize the other team by putting up a bunch of runs early and making the other team play catchup.

I suppose that idea might make a little sense in the Deadball Era if you thought your team's starter was significantly better, but it still seems risky.

Last night on Baseball Tonight or one of those reality shows, Harold Reynolds when talking about the nose dive the Padres and the NL West was taking, started to say how the division was opening up and the first team he mentioned as contenders was the SF Giants. He said if Bonds gets healthy the Giants could win the division. I guess mathematically they could, but...
vr, Xei

65 - Work with me here, as I'm putting on my "Best Case Scenario" hat for a second:

The Wild Card comes from the NL East. Let's the Braves win the division, and Washington gets the WC. The Dodgers squeak into the West, and the Cards steamroll through the Central.

The Dodgers could open against the Braves, fielding this lineup:

Izturis/Robles - SS
Drew - RF
Kent - 2B
Dunn - LF
Bradley - CF
Choi - 1B
Valentin - 3B
Phillips - C

(or some combo of that)

and field a 3 man rotation of Penny, Lowe, and Weaver.

Bullpen still stinks and, unless some young'ns come up and make an impact, will be our downfall.

I do like our chances with that lineup and rotation against Atlanta.

70 - It is SOP for ESPN to toot the Gnats horn when possible. I think Joe Morgan made it a condition in his contract.

Speaking of the bullpen, does anyone know when Wunsch is expected back?

I believe Wunsch isn't supposed to come back until spring training.

73 - Next year

71 - The bullpen would be a weakness, however, between Sept callups and Perez as LR I think we will be better than we are now. Assuming Depo isn't insane our bullpen won't have Erickson in it if we made the playoffs. Maybe Broxton or Kou will be in the pen a la Yhency last year.

73, 74.

Yes. I beleive that Wunsch's injury was similar to Schilling's bloody sock deal. Spring Training is the earliest we could expect him back.

58

The Wunsch Incident nearly broke me.

74, 75 - Thanks... I guess I didn't follow THAT one closely enough... He must have really tore-up his ankle.

Really, do we have any middle/long relief worth a dime? I still have faith in Yhency, but have lost it in Duaner/Erickson/Gio. These three could be moved to no ill effect.

Oops, I mean two CAN be moved, three with no ill effect.

Isn't it great that some of us are talking about the Dodgers playoff batting order, rotation and bullpen. How many other teams this far under .500 can think the same thing? Looks like the USS Denial has set sail on a three hour tour with Captain Erickson at the helm nonetheless.
vr, Xei

Does that make DePo Gilligan?

75 - Bring up Kuo, and maybe make a trade if you really want to go for it (Urbina?). Ditch Carrara and Erickson.

There was a Urbina/Padilla for Odalis (+$$$) mentioned in the NYPost last week.

79 - Stay within 5-7 games back until the unbalanced schedule kicks in. Then its time to get hot.

Tracy would be The Professor carving a radio out of driftwood.

71,75.

I am pretty confident that Depo will get us an undervalued releiverTM before the trade deadline. Like he did last year with dessens and scott stewart, also see Duaner before last season and Wusch before this season. He seems to be able to pull these guys out of nowhere.

79 - Ha Yeah. I have to say I love this division this year. Normally I would be despondant (see two weeks ago) but now we see the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel. If we manage to win 4 or 5 of the games before the trading deadline (big if considering we are playing the two best offenses in the NL) then we could be within 4 of the Fathers.

... and of course we all know Thurston Howell III and "Lovie" are.

so everyone here appears to believe we can go 38-26 the rest of the way and win the west with an 82-80 record?

no one is more of a die hard than I, but I can't see us going at a .594 clip the rest of the way, given we are currently (since 12-2) playing at a .381 pace

... and Tommy Lasorda would be the guy who arrives at the island with a speed boat, but Depodesta would trade it away for 3 innertubes because they cost less and have a higher VORP.
vr, Xei

88 - LOL :)

88 - Yeah. 1 for him , 1 for Ginger, and 1 for Maryann.

I'm going on record and saying the NL West will be won with a losing record.

87 - It is possible that a sub 500 record will win the West. Depending on how we do against the Padres and the Snakes, we might be able to win with less than 80 wins.

91 - won't happen, the Padres or D'backs will somehow win 85

93

Ok it's a friendly bet (because if it was for money I'd need odds)

Howard Fox,
I think we're all being very hopeful. That somehow the hitting comes together with Bradley and Valentin back (and a possible deal), the starting pitching starts getting consistent and stays healthy (Penny, Weaver, Lowe, Perez, Houlton), and we get some much needed bullpen help.

Then we beat up on the NL West so we don't have to get THAT many wins.

RE: 91

Our division stinks, but I don't think it's that bad. Regression to the mean should dictate that the Padres will come out of their tailspin to some extent.

We still have a chance this season, but I still have no enthusiasm for giving up any strong minor-leaguers. Call up Kuo and Broxton for the pen and hope for the best. If we ca