August 30, 1942

With World War II forcing teams to schedule more doubleheaders to decrease travel and allow more defense workers to see games, everybody in the majors played a doubleheader this day. And the Brooklyn Dodgers were at Forbes Field to play the Pittsburgh Pirates and they split the pair. The Dodgers won the first game 3-1, but lost the second one, 9-5. Brooklyn saw its once formidable lead in the National League cut to three games over the St. Louis Cardinals, although the Dodgers were 87-40, a .685 winning percentage.

In the opener, Joe Medwick drove in Brooklyn's first run on a fielder's choice that scored Pee Wee Reese in the third inning. In the sixth, Arky Vaughan singled home Medwick to put the Dodgers up 2-0. The Dodgers got their third run in the ninth on a throwing error by Pirates third baseman Bob Elliott. Vince DiMaggio drove in Pittsburgh's only run on an RBI single in the seventh. Whitlow Wyatt pitched seven innings for the win and Curt Davis pitched the final two for a save.

In the second game, the Pirates battered Brooklyn starter Larry French and drove him out of the game in the first inning. Johnny Allen, Newt Kimball and Hugh Casey didn't fare much better. DiMaggio drove in five runs. The Dodgers scored a run in the fourth and four in the eighth off of Pittsburgh starter Rip Sewell. A curfew ended the game after eight innings.

Because of World War II, many people overlook the spectacular pennant race in 1942 in the National League. The Dodgers and Cardinals both had tremendous seasons, but the Cardinals were just slightly out of this world, going 43-8 to end the season. The Cardinals won the pennant by two games with a 106-48 record. The Dodgers went 104-50. Only the 1953 Dodgers won more games (105). The Cardinals went on to win the World Series in five games over the Yankees. The Dodgers were in first place for 148 days.

The Dodgers offense was led by outfielder Pete Reiser, who batted .310, third best in the NL, and led the league in stolen bases with 20, but injuries, which would short circuit his career, limited him to just 125 games. First baseman Dolph Camilli led the team with 26 home runs and 109 RBI. He walked 97 times, third best in the National League. The Dodgers started four Hall of Famers: second baseman Billy Herman, third baseman Vaughan, shortstop Reese, and left fielder Medwick.

The pitching staff turned in a team ERA of 2.84. French had an ERA of 1.83 and went 15-4, mainly in relief. Wyatt led the team in wins with 19 and had a 2.73 ERA. Davis was 15-6 and 2.36.

When the season was over, club president Larry MacPhail, who supposedly told his team late in the year that it wasn't good enough to win the pennant, left the Dodgers to join the Army. The Dodgers looked for a replacement and found one in their rival St. Louis. Starting in 1943, Branch Rickey would be running the Dodgers front office, an event that would transform baseball.

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

(Notice that the sample size of 3ABs is, like, way way bigger than, say, a sample size of 2AB.)

But anyway...logic will not decide the lineup. Hurry up and leave already, JT.

Werth hit a solo shot shortly after the talk.

I wonder if he gives Perez or Choi that kind of nurturing.

CF Werth
SS Robles
2B Kent
LF Ledee
1B Phillips
3B Edwards
C Navarro
RF Cruz, Jr.
P Penny

and for the Cubs
CF Hairston, Jr.
SS Cedeno
1B Lee
RF Burnitz
3B Garciaparra
2B Walker
LF Murton
C Blanco
P Prior

I guess switch out Ledee for Repko. That would be worse.

"Player to watch
Jason Phillips is 2-for-6 (.333) in his career against Prior"

Ugh...

And if Ledee was hurt enough to leave the game early last night, why not rest him for real, put Edwards in LF (if he must play), and play one of Saenz, Perez, or Aybar?

OK, here's my rose-colored-glasses view. They're showcasing Phillips's supposed versatility, in anticipation of a trade for an OFer before Thursday. Any takers?

Phillips is 2-6, 2B against Prior, so Tracy just couldn't find a spot for Choi, no matter how much he wanted to.

Notice the sample size of 6ABs is TWICE as large as the 3ABs for Choi! For those of you who don't understand statistics, that means it's twice as significant.

(For those of you who do understand statistics, it means nothing of the sort, of course.)

If we win tonight, it will be because Penny pitches a great game and the top 4 do something productive

Assuming we play .500 ball, we finish the season at 76-86, which would put us in a great spot for the wildcard, assuming that no other teams played any games from this point forward.

For those interested in the Suns, Russell Martin hit another HR today (3rd this week).

I'll get my Dodger fix by reading DT comments later.

I'm having such a hard time rooting for the Dodgers to win with these lineups. I want Jim Tracy to fail but still I'm driven to watch and root. Since the drug industry has something for everyone it would be nice if they could come up with a JT pill so I could enjoy my team again. I can never remember being so appalled at the lineup choices by a manager.

The way baseball works (as a business) I don't think the success (or failure) of Jason Phillips on a day-to-day basis means the departure of Tracy -- nor that a Tracy replacement would do a better job.

All of which means, I grit my teeth at JT's decisions, but that isn't going to stop me from rooting for the team.

Yes, particularly this year, because the ends will end up justifying the means.

With Penny out there, Edwards probably won't get a ball hit to him all night anyway.

The resulting frustration drives me to other dodger related outlets - I have become a fan of the Jax Suns (I've probably listened to 25 of their games and watched 10 online this year) and hit refresh about 3,000 times a day on this website.

That said, I still watch as many Dodger games on TV as anyone. I own my own business and work from a home office quite often so have the pleasure of catching almost every day game on tv in the background as I work.

As I posted above, I'm so frustrated with these lineups that I'll start following the Suns as the primary game when they conflict (guess only a few more for the suns this season, though).

"But wait, there's more Belliard. With the Indians bringing in lefty Scott Sauerbeck to face Catalanotto, the Jays counter with righty-swinging Alexis Rios. On the first pitch, Rios does just what the Jays want him to, whacking a liner up the middle--only Belliard makes another sparkling play, snaring the liner and nearly turning an impossible 4-3 double play. The Indians then bring in Bobby Howry to face Wells. By now both the Indians announcers and the entire dugout are buzzing over Belliard's defensive display. On the second pitch, Wells lines another shot up the middle--and Belliard grabs it again, making a spinning play on a short-hopped screamer and throwing him out to end the inning. In the inning Bellliard makes dazzling plays for three different pitchers, and all three go to greet him, smiling--nearly laughing--at how their unassuming second baseman has suddenly turned into Ozzie Smith in a cameo appearance at the deuce."

If anyone is interested, just give a holler.

That's like giving a new Army recruit an atomic weapon to practice with.

Were you one of the people I gave a gmail invite to? If so, just drop me a line about it.

I'm not nearly as arcane in person. I tend to sit pretty quietly at games as Icaros can attest to.

No, it's not. But let's hope it does anyway.

Can I drop in any more foreign words?

I have a new name for Rob McMillin's blog: 8-3-5-2-6.blogspot.com. The only question I have is, where the hell was Murton on the play?

In my rooting in 47, I chose the Dodgers over justice. Dodgers 1, Justice 0.

(Trying to come up with insightful things to say on the radio is the type of job that could give Downing trouble.)

Seems like he's played for every other team in baseball by now, do the Dodgers use a different material?

Indeed.

(Actually, please don't go back and check. I wrote no such thing).

Hi, my name is Icaros, and I've been a Rams fan my whole life.

the scrubs are mocking us.

he is throwing his fb 89-92 early in the count and is dialing it up to 96 when he needs to put them away. maybe he can go deeper into this game than usual.

Going way back a few comments... I can't stand many of Tracy's decisions, but that doesn't stop me from rooting for the team (and by proxy, the players involved). Bitter though the taste may be, I don't actively root for Phillips to hit into a double play with RISP. Why assume that if he continued to do so, anything would change (particularly this year)?

Cheap whore that I am, I'd rather the Dodgers win any way they can, and then find another, better (and yes, more logical) way in the offseason for '06.

He used to be really into alliteration, but since he stopped calling Ryan Klesko "The Whiz for Westminster" I haven't heard any new ones.

I don't hate Al. I really don't. He seems like a nice man, and every now and then really does tell me something I didn't already know.

But then other times he says things that are so stupid...

"Most Wonderful Owner Ever To Grace Los Angeles With His Presence Arte Improves Team Again: Steals LOOGY Christiansen From Under DePo's Nose"

I'm really trying to work through my default setting of cynical...

Yeah, right. That will happen.

152 - Link, it wasn't any better watching it.

On the plus side, one can hope that Christiansen is in uniform against the A's tonight.

"The Angels, for example, could offer up a number of possibilities -- center fielder Steve Finley, righthander Kelvim Escobar, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, first baseman Darin Erstad. Owner Arte Moreno and other Angels officials might recoil at Bonds' diva act, but with Bonds the Angels would own L.A. "

I think many Angels would hold a celebration if they dumped Finley and Cabrera and Erstad and replaced them with Bonds.

Yeah, the Angels would attract all the Dodgers fans by acquiring our most hated enemy. Sounds right

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/050830

They keep the race alive solely out of spite.

I interviewed Scott McClain when I was in Japan nice guy. He's a very large man.

russ martin is the player of the day

1. Choi is a lefty, has more power than Saenz, and 2 lefties have just gotten hits off Dempster.

2. The wind is blowing out to RIGHT FIELD, and knocking down balls in left.

3. Ergo, Saenz has less chance of hitting the ball well, and EVEN IF HE DOES, the wind will do the job for Dempster.

There have been lots of Tracy decisions that have been dumb, some in hindsight, some at first blush. Others have been defensible IF you buy into Tracy's antiquated and/or misguided view of the game (defense matters most, go with small-sample percentages, etc).

But this was unconscionable. He gets exactly what he wants - his best LH homerun threat up with a chance to tie the game, and spits on it. Absolutely freakin' ridiculous.

What is more, if Choi had received a walk, or otherwise extended the inning without homering, then he'd still have Saenz to use! This way, had Saenz singled or doubled, he'd be out of pinch hitters. There is no way, small ball, moneyball, small samples, playing not to lose, NOTHING short of an undisclosed injury to Choi, that makes that move make sense.

OK, I'm done. For the season. I promise not to say another word about Jim Tracy's lineups or in-game "managing."

I got nothing against Saenz, he's been great this year. But a right-handed pitcher was on the mound. You're supposedly terrific LHPH is coming up to face him. And you send up a guy who:

a) is right-handed and...
b) struggles with hard stuff outside.

I won't write off that Tracy knows something about Choi that I don't. Choi might be doing things in the dugout or off the field that makes sensible baseball folk say, "We can't ever count on this guy in a big situation."

Personally, I think this is crazy. Choi should've been hitting, period.

That's Tracy's very best defense.

We've reached a verdict: Fire Jim Tracy!

I was glad to see Choi bat, but disappointed to see him pulled in the 9th.

By Scoop Jackson
Page 2

Dear Mr. Kent,

Love your game, big fan. Heard that you had a little issue with Milton Bradley the other day. Heard he said some "not so friendly" things about you. Those things happen from time to time, ya know. If I were you, I wouldn't sweat that. Teammates are like family -- you can't choose 'em.

I also heard that you can't deal with black people. I'm sorry … African-American is what was said. Now Jeff, since I'm a fan and I want to see you continue to ball at an All-Star-like level, I'm going to pass along some advice on how to deal with us, since, you know, I've been black for a long time.

The first thing you gotta understand is that sometimes we be trippin'. Now I'm not saying that Milt was wrong, I'm just telling you that we black people tend to "bug out" or "snap" at times. No reason, no excuses. Our women do it more than the men. But somehow we give them reason, they say. But that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, get used to the "snappin'" -- that's just us"

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/050826

I assumed it was. just wondering what you thought of the opinion. I'm not nor will I discuss the other issue with bradley. there's no point.

Dodgers win, sorry Nate ;)

I also wonder whether we might have mounted a comeback earlier had either Choi, Perez, or Saenz played the entire game.

The only possible explanation I can think of is that Tracy is somehow resting some players so they can be ready for tomorrow's early game. (I think Saenz probably will be at first, Phillips catching, and Edwards at third... with Lowe pitching obviously Perez can't play third. Possibly, instead, Kent at first, Perez at second, and Saenz at third).

Padres 4, DBacks 3.

I agree.

I wish Bradley the best with his new team. I've met him before and he seemed like a nice guy, though he is very quiet. I hope that he and his wife's problems have been resolved like he said in the statement issued today to the press.

(Ironically, because of a home run)

Zito has given up a couple of deepish fly balls, now he gets Guerrero...

Which means it you've got a single and a bunch of errors.

Hatteberg bunted, so the A's do in fact bunt

264 No, Penny came cheaper than he would have in the offseason, and is probably the better pitcher despite recent success

And Kielty opens it up

BTW, I hope we are still in the race when we go to the game on 9/10.

The Giants are getting some good pitching from Schmidt and Lowry so that might be able to push them in to 2nd or 3rd when the dust settles.

By the way, somebody asked yesterday about an infield homerun...conclusion was it could only happen in the little league sense (single and 3 errors). Somebody else concluded that the best you could probably get on the infield is an infield double. However, I beleive the official scoring of a player making contact with the ball with a thrown glove is "infield triple." So we know we can at least get that far.