September 27, 1957

The Milwaukee Braves had long clinched the National League pennant and the Brooklyn Dodgers were just playing out the string as Philadelphia rookie Jack Sanford went the distance to pick up his 19th win of the season, defeating the Dodgers, 3-2, at Connie Mack Stadium. The Dodgers were 83-69 and 11 games behind the Braves. They would split their final two games to finish 84-70 and 11 games out.

Brooklyn manager Walter Alston started rookie right-hander Bill Harris. The Phillies got two runs in the second. Granny Hamner singled and Bob Bowman followed with a walk. Ted Kazanski singled in a run. Then Joe Lonnett grounded into a force play to score another run. Willie Jones homered in the sixth for the Phillies third run. Sandy Koufax pitched one inning of shutout relief.

Sanford had a shutout going with two outs in the ninth. He gave up a double to Gino Cimoli and Sandy Amoros homered to right to make it 3-2. Sanford struck out nine in the game to bring his season total to 188, most in the league. The top three strikeout pitchers in the NL in 1957 were all rookies: Sanford and Moe Drabowsky and Dick Drott of Chicago.

The newspapers in Los Angeles and New York were more interested in where the Dodgers would play in 1958. The Los Angeles Times had stories where Los Angeles city officials wondered if the necessary approvals to get the Dodgers land to build a stadium. The New York Times had stories about attempts by New York officials making last ditch efforts to get the Dodgers to stay. The City of Los Angeles announced that its float in the Rose Parade would depict a fanciful baseball scene. Walter O'Malley and Horace Stoneham floated the idea of expanding the NL to ten teams and adding a team in Seattle (and some other unnamed city.)

The 1957 Dodgers were an aging squad. 39-year old Pee Wee Reese moved from shortstop to third base. 36-year old Roy Campanella played his ninth season of over 100 games behind the plate (which tragically would be his last.) Duke Snider, who was a relatively young 31, hit 40 home runs and drove in 92. Gil Hodges hit 27 home runs and drove in 99.

Johnny Podres led the NL in ERA at 2.66 while going 12-9. 21-year old right-hander Don Drysdale went 17-9 with a 2.69 ERA. Clem Labine saved 17 games to lead the NL (although no one knew it at the time).

The wait to see what the disposition of the Dodgers for 1958 would not last long. On October 8, 1957 the Los Angeles City Council agreed to enter into a contract with O'Malley to move the team to Los Angeles. The Dodgers and Giants would soon head west. And so here we are.

Thanks to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Baseball-Reference, and Retrosheet.

That's all folks. Thank you.

Hear, hear!

[clapping]

[smile]

thanks so much for doing this bob. they were delightful :)

It's a pretty pathetic comment on the Dodgers offense that Aybar, projected to 650 PA, comes out with 214 hits, 99 walks, and yet only 99 runs scored. The 313 times on base would be 67th on the all-time MLB single season list, tied with Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

"1. SCOTT ELBERT, lhp, Columbus Catfish (Dodgers)
Age: 20 Ht: 6-2 Wt: 190 B-T: L-L Drafted/Signed: Dodgers '04 (1)

The Dodgers sent Columbus both of their 2004 first-round picks, Elbert and third baseman Blake DeWitt, and SAL observers were impressed with both. Elbert finished the season in such strong fashion—he went 5-1, 1.96 in his final 12 starts—that he earned top billing on this list as an athletic lefthander with quality pitches and enough control to dominate with them.

As the year progressed, Elbert showed increased ability to harness his 88-93 mph fastball and his power curveball with plenty of depth. His curve doesn't have 12-6 break and sometimes has more sweeping action like a slider, but it's a swing-and-miss pitch that locked up even experienced hitters.

His changeup made great strides and is average at times. One American League scout saw command issues with Elbert's secondary stuff and a mechanical breakdown that left him leaving those pitches up in the zone, but the consensus was that he has the athletic ability to refine and maintain a sound delivery.

"He made quick bats look like palm trees through peanut butter," Greenville manager Chad Epperson said. "He had velocity, mound presence and composure. Early in the year he started to open his shoulder a little, but he cleaned it up, and if he stays in his delivery he has a very bright future.""

----------------

"7. BLAKE DeWITT, 3b, Columbus Catfish (Dodgers)
Age: 20 Ht: 5-11 Wt: 170 B-T: L-R Drafted/Signed: Dodgers '04 (1)

DeWitt didn't put up flashy numbers in his first full pro season. Instead, he earned the respect of SAL managers by grinding his way through the season, never letting the game get the better of his pretty lefthanded swing.

DeWitt lets the ball get deep and trusts his hands, allowing him to sting line drives to all parts of the park, though he still needs to learn to pull the ball more. He showed the ability to make adjustments, such as better recognizing breaking balls, allowing him to bat .312 over his final 47 games before a late promotion to high Class A. His defense at third base, a new position for him as a pro, wasn't consistent, and one scout mentioned a move to second base could be in his future.

"I liked his approach and I liked his swing," an AL scout said. "He has hands that work, but the power always will be a little suspect because of his size.""

His VORP this year is -7.6 and in about 300 career at bats he has a whopping .198 batting average. .506 OPS in 120 at bats this year. Horrendous defense. I must be missing something.

You'd better copyright the concept.

For 2006, you could migrate to another site-- Random Yankee/A's/Cubs game callback. I'm sure many would follow you; while never abandoning DT of course.

Evidently he is fielding like a demon to make up for his hitting woes.

Baltimore (old NL version) 1-1
Braves (Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta) 3-9
Chicago 11-8
Cincinnati 11-3
Cleveland (NL version) 1-1
Detroit (AL) 1-0
Florida 2-0
Giants (NY and SF) 8-6
Houston 1-0
Kansas City (AA) 1-0
Louisville (AA and NL) 1-2
NY Mets 1-3
Montreal 4-0
Philadelphia 3-5
Pittsburgh 11-8
San Diego 2-3
St. Louis (AA and NL) 13-8
Washington (old NL version) 1-1

Most wins by a Dodger pitcher in RDGCs
Nap Rucker and Sandy Koufax - 4

No Dodger pitcher lost more than two.

Most home runs: 3 by Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Eric Karros and Raul Mondesi

Grand slams: Luis Olmo, Maury Wills, Gary Sheffield

Thank the Reds for being bad much of the time.

Trevor Hoffman? He's the only active opponent who has a save in a RDGC. He has two of them!

Hoffman can set up for Gagne!

Kent (626 PAs) 63 VORP
Izturis (478) 1.3
Phillips (433) 1.1
Robles (382) 5.1
Werth (382) 10.8

Those are our plate appearance leaders for the year. Chalk it up to what you will (act of God, bad GMing, bad managing) but it goes a long way to explaining/understanding why the Dodgers are where they are. A quick check showed that they were the only team in baseball whose 2-4 guys in plate appearances weren't in the top 10 on the team in VORP (and #5 Jayson Werth could still get nudged out of the ten spot by Navarro). I think the Dodgers are also the only squad with only one of its top-10 VORP guys with more than 500 PAs. (San Diego and Rockies have two, SF has three. The Yankees have eight.) A rough season, no matter how you slice it.

He's 69 right now.

This website has snapshots of ballplayers partying it up. Includes a nice shot of Orlando Cabrera with a handful and Manny being Manny.

http://itsasecretsohush.blogspot.com/2005/09/not-so-blind-items-part-iii.html

http://itsasecretsohush.blogspot.com/2005/09/not-so-blind-items-part-ii_21.html

http://itsasecretsohush.blogspot.com/2005/09/not-so-blind-items.html

Do you think he will be here next year?

1. Andy Laroche
5. Matt Kemp
8. Justin Orenduff
10. Tony Abreu
11. Chin-lung Hu
17. Chuck Tiffany

(change "sal" in the SAL rankings to "fsl" to get these)

Teams that could be eliminated tonight:
Mets (with a loss or Houston win)
Oakland (with a loss)
Arizona (with a loss and a Padres win)
Florida (with a loss or Houston win)

The Dodgers magic number to avoid fifth place is 2.

The Dodgers chances of moving into second aren't great unless they sweep Arizona since the DBacks play the Giants the final weekend.

.329/.409/.579 - .988 OPS

Gigantor gets the start for DC tonight.

(It's a story on nationals.com for the tinyurl blocked.)

Scenario A:
Dodgers sweep Arizona and San Diego (76-86)
Padres win at least 2 of 3 against Giants and then Diambondbacks sweep Giants (75-87 for both AZ and SF). If the Padres win three straight then then the Giants could conceivably finish fourth (LA 76-86, AZ 75-87, SF 74-88)

Scenario B:
Dodgers win 2 of 3 against Arizona and sweep San Diego (75-87)
Padres win next 3 against the Giants and Giants lose 2 of 3 to Arizona.

Then LA, SF, and AZ tie for second at 75-87.

I'm thinking that the best the Dodgers can hope for is third place behind the Giants.

"I feel good....For me, I want the season to start right now, but it's almost over. I'm going to keep going the last five games and improve the numbers." -- Cristian Guzman

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Bob, thanks for all the RDCBs. The ones that happened while I was kid brought back some special memories. In addition to RDCB, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for how much you have added to DT. After Jon, you clearly have the highest DT VORP. Your posts are always informative and pure class. You are one of the reasons this site is such a pleasure.

Thank you. Just don't ask me about Jim Bowden or Frank Robinson.

Then my demeanor changes.

55. Does that mean Russ Ortiz's is off your list?

I think his contract situation has too many hurdles to land him here though.

Yaiee, that's bad radio.

As for Bowden, here's what Claudio Vargas said in the 9/15/05 Arizona Republic:
"People tell me that the GM they have now, Jim Bowden, he's crazy," Vargas said. "He doesn't think before he does a lot of things."

This ran in the Washington Post in Decemebr of 2004:
Bowden's reputation with his staff, and in baseball, was that of someone who would try anything. He hired Jonathan Niednagel of an organization called the Brain Type Institute to analyze his players' tendencies, to determine who might make good coaches, something other clubs followed. Niednagel quickly respected Bowden's intellect.

"I refer to him as the Mozart of GMs," Niednagel said. "He's ahead of his time. He sees things most people do not see. He's sort of a Bill Gates type. . . .

"We could take 10 people in a room and lay out some evidence, and maybe six of us will sit around and talk about it all day, and four of us will get it in less than half a day and be able to get out and implement it. Jim, as quickly as anybody I've seen, will digest the information and see whether it's substantive. He's supremely strategic."

with Burnett's reject slam of the Marlins (and their announcement that they won't make any effort to resign him) --

(a) what does this say about the Marlins and their "Heart and Soul"? (assuming Burnett's mistake was merely telling the media and that he's not completely mistaken)

(b) do his comments hurt his FA value?

and

(c) does this increase the Dodgers' chance at making a bid for him?

(d) would McCourt risk another "bad apple" by going after Burnett?

(a) The Marlins are a happy bunch when they win and an unhappy bunch when they lose. Like nearly every team
(b) Probably not
(c) No difference
(d) I doubt Burnett is a "bad apple" as more of an injury threat and a guy who walks too many

That's still my favorite night in Dodger Thoughts history.

That was also around the time of the Marty aspargus discussion. Anther good thread.

Gotta admire their perserverance. But they could be getting some sweet tickets!

- new rivalry with the Nationals
- Raffy's finger waving at Congress
- Sosa in orange
- the hot start
- Raffy going for 3000/600
- Raffy getting busted for roids
- Mazzilli getting axed
- Burnett's near trade
- Ponson getting busted/released
- Sosa's brutal decline
- Raffy selling out Tejada and getting banished from the team

Did I miss anything?

Sammy Sosa with the Orioles (BA OBP SLG OPS):
.221 .295 .376 .671

Jerry Hairston with the Cubs:
.261 .336 .368 .704

94. Nice quick summary. And I thought we had it bad.

pre-ASG:
.345 .416 .591 1.007

post-ASG:
.274 .351 .419 .770

If he addressed Jim Tracy, I missed it.

He said Gagne is on track to be available for all of next year. But Izzy will return in July at the earliest, possibly as late as September. He said he liked and was confident in Robles, but didn't commit to him being the starter at short. Didn't hear AP's name come up as an alternative. (I think AP as a starter at any position next year for any team is a DT-land fantasy, but that's an editorial comment.)

Like chemistry

I could have been clearer also. The media seems to mock new-fangled technologies/ideas. Laptop computers and spreadsheets are hardly new.

Sometimes I think that the sports media is really out of touch with fans, but then I remember Dodger Talk callers, so maybe they're perfectly in touch with a number of them.

"I have a very good job right now," he said. "I have no interest in pursuing anything unless the out clause is exercised."

An outsider reading this would have no clue that Tracy is the one holding the out clause.

"I feel good going into next week knowing I'm in position to quit."

THanks.

Ouch!

- Venice east
- Left on Fig
- Left on 3rd

but I take 10E at 6pm 80% of the time.

Heart&Soul = available in limited quantities from April to August 15 only.

Who da thunk?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/05league20s/fsl.html

Al Leiter has come in to relieve Mike Mussina in the 2nd with Baltimore up 5-1.

I just hope he expresses his displeasure at a time other than 3 am.

Choi's OPS in September

Prior to 2005
.537

2005
.622

Washington get ready to apply the coup de grace to the Marlins, leading 6-0 in the 4th.

Mets leading the Phillies 3-0 in the 3rd. I can hear the booing from here.

I'm not sure that the game in Baltimore will finish before the Dodgers-Dbacks game does.

anyone else mad that denker didnt even make the SAL top 20 even though he hit 310/417/556 as a 19 yr old?

Good ol' Ryne Sandberg chimes in on the AL Cy Young (among other awards):

http://tinyurl.com/cxnxj

He mentions Garland (17-10) and Colon, before ultimately giving it to Buehrle. Apparently Colon hasn't been as consistent as Buehrle (who is 6-7, with an ERA around 4 since the ASB, but who's counting).

No mention of Johan Santana. You may have heard of him - defending Cy Young winner, leads the majors in strikeouts, leads the AL in QS's and OppBA, and is 2nd (for now) in ERA.

Santana against the Royals at the HHH tonight.

Colon might have one more "tune-up" start, albeit against the Rangers in Texas most likely.

Rivera doesn't look to gain any ground tonight considering 139.

It's 7-5 Yankees now after a Sheffield slam.

A vote for Santana 2nd in ERA 1st in ERC, DIPS, Quality Starts, and K's per game...

Too bad he doesn't get the run support Colon does (+1.3 R/G), or he'd probably have 20 wins too.

Joe Borchard pinch-hitting for the White Sox!

Aaron Boone singles in a run in Cleveland to put his team on the board, but they still trail Tampa Bay 5-1.

Borchard reached on an infield single to load the bases with one out in the 8th in Detroit with the Tigers ahead of Chicago 3-1.

Tampa Bay and Kazmir got out of the 6th with just 1 run scored. It's 5-1 Tampa Bay.

Jay Gibbons hit a 2-run homer off of Al Leiter to make it 8-7 Orioles.

Boston leads Toronto 5-4.

Here's the line score so far

NYY 102 4
BAL 230 3

(That was for you, Bob Timmermann)

Thanks, except I don't get it.

Orioles up 13-7 on the Yankees in the FIFTH (it's still going on.)

Did that help?:)

Braves win the NL East.

177 Comfortable with Aybar at 3B next year? Depends. What I would need to know is, first, whether Aybar will continue to be anywhere near the kind of leadoff hitter he's been this year so far. If so, that's something we haven't had in a long time. Second, how much power can we expect from others in the lineup? If Kent & Drew are joined by another 1 or 2 power hitters near their level, then it's fine to have Aybar at 3B. If not...I still wouldn't want Mueller or Randa. Mueller has less power than Aybar, and Randa is...eh. 17 home runs. If those are my choices, stick with Aybar and see if maybe he can at least equal that.

Toronto ahead of Boston 6-5.

Could be that all the top AL teams lose tonight. Which is good news only for Chicago.

The record for a 9-inning game in time is 4:27 done by our beloved Dodgers against the Hateds on October 5, 2001. Dodgers won 11-10. Some guy named Bonds hit some home runs.

I'd be comfortable with Aybar at 3b next year if we can't sign Nomar to a one year deal. His BA will regress big time but his eye is for real and his defense has been solid. I like him more as a 2nd baseman but I could live with him at 3b for one year. Funny how our unheralded prospect has just lit it up and made watching the Sept games a little more fun. D Young will be the next prospect to surprise everyone when he switches to the outfield.

http://www2.sgvtribune.com/sports/ci_3041525

The question about Aybar I think is being answered by Aybar. The guy has talent. I could see that when Vegas visited Tacoma. I would not go out and get someone to take his place. I am very much a believer in bringing along young players and giving them every chance to win a job. I don't think a job should be handed to them, but also I don't want them to be blocked at the major league level. Some of those young players will produce and some of them won't. My cystal ball is not the best. I can't be sure about Aybar, but if I was sure I think it would spoil the fun.

I really don't want the Dodgers to become the Yankees and Red Sox of the National League West. I will be happy if the young players are brought to the big leagues and given a chance to succeed. If the Dodgers take the route of bringing free agents in and trading kids for players with expensive contracts that small market teams can no longer afford, my days as a Dodger fan will be numbered. Vin in his prime could probably keep me interested a team of expensive free agents; I am sure Steiner and Monday can't. These days I am pulling for Cleveland. I would really enjoy a Indian/Dodger World Series with all the good young talent that would be on display.

Stan from Tacoma

The game took 4:16 to play.

tracy is purposely leaving weaver in to get creamed to lower his FA market value. genius tracy.. genius...

Well, well-documented by us I guess. And that's the point.

I don't think he'll make it.

hochevar?

Three swings of the bat. His first RBI was on an Olney ground out.

just another reason why we should keep both martin and navarro through their arby years.

3 teams going to the Big Dance now: St. Louis, Atlanta, L.A. of Anaheim.

Couldn't Glaus simply have stood on first base on that play, and if Kent caught the throw from Carrara with his foot on the base, been safe (while Clayton was out)?

Yes, Glaus would have been safe. However, if Kent had caught the ball and tagged Glaus first with his (Kent's) foot off the bag, he (Glaus) would have been out. Then Clayton would have been out after Kent stepped on first.

Glaus had many options. None of them were good.

In Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, Mickey Mantle was on first and did something similar. In 9-8 game, with runners on first and third and one out, Yogi Berra hit a grounder to first baseman Rocky Nelson, who stepped on first and prepared to throw to second to double off Mantle to end the game. But Mantle had dove back into first. And the tying run came across.

Which Bill Mazeroski made irrelevant.

The Dodgers magic number now to avoid last is 1.

I was all set for 18 innings of 0-0 ball. Oh well.

I hope his nice showing this year earns him a utility infielder role, but I don't see him providing much value as a starting SS next year.

The way he phrased it, it seems like DePo already has him penciled in as the utility player. I wonder if Depo has some amazing trick up his sleeve (or Nomah, whatever)

'Cesar Izturis doesn't mean to doubt the word of the finest orthopedic surgeons in sports, but he's planning to return well ahead of the their schedule.'

Ummm...yeah. Plenty of time to get him some ABs and trade him to someone desperate. That's assuming we have a SS doing something, otherwise we keep him

"The doctors are surprised," he said. "I have no pain. Some people, they come out of the cast and can barely move. I feel I can do almost anything right now."

Izturis confirmed he had been playing hurt for a while, but anti-inflammatory medication had masked the problem.

"Now I can brush my teeth and brush my hair and it doesn't hurt," he said. "It feels nice and tight, like it's supposed to feel."

He couldn't brush his hair? And no one noticed this? Well, I'm not sure how much hair he has to brush, but that's besides the point

Penny is starting the last game of the season. Yawn. And perez could only pinch run tonight

And some Tracy quotes on the status of Kuo:

"There are cases where they walk out there and throw and immediately show consistency beyond their years," said Tracy. "That's what we're seeing right now."

"You could have had a 17-year veteran, and he couldn't have made a better pitch than he made to Bonds, or a better sequence of pitches," said Tracy. "And that home run might have spearheaded him. We've seen a different guy after the Bonds thing."

Funny, but I remember 4 distinct Jeff Weaver, late inning, HR giving up games.

--VS Reds- Ryan Freel game. Jacob Cruz hits game tying HR off him in 7th.

--VS Braves-- Adam LaRoche Grand Slam in the 8th.

--vs Giants-- Mike Matheny 3run HR in the 7th

--vs Dbax-- Chad Tracy 2 GW HR in the 8th.

Sayonora Jeff Weaver.

Honestly, in 3-4 years I'll probably have forgotten that Jeff Weaver ever pitched for the Dodgers. Sort of like Dave Mlicki of the mid 90's.

"Perhaps the most damaging loss for the Dodgers last winter was Adrian Beltre, who signed with Seattle as a free agent after hitting .334 with 121 RBI and a major league-leading 48 homers. His replacements at 3B this season -- Jose Valentin, Olmedo Saenz, Mike Edwards, Robles, Antonio Perez, Manny Aybar and Norihiro Nakamura -- have hit a combined .262 with 10 homers and 59 RBI when playing third."

They do realize that had we replaced Adrian Beltre with Adrian Beltre, it still would have been our most damaging loss of the winter.

And of course, that it's Willy Aybar.

I remember that one. Our resident wife beating, redneck hating center fielder hit a GS in the bottom of the 8th to negate LaRoche's GS. I sure hope we retain him.

I caught that one Bob! Wow, our "ace" pitchers the last 3 years have been Millwood, Milton, and now Lieber, and ALL THREE have lost us Wild Cards! Time to start rooting for the Astros.

Does anyone else here pick a team to go all the way in the playoffs, just to grow out a playoff beard all October?

"Back to LA tonight. If the second half of our season has been a bit of a disappointment after our early success, what must it be like for the Dodgers, who were the reigning NL West champions? After a 12-2 start, they're now 16 games below .500 and, short of a sweep here, look likely to end the year behind Arizona, after finishing last season forty-two games in front of us."

Ouch!

Look, I'm not saying LoDuca was a great ballplayer. He was the best player at that position that the Dodgers had on their roster. They missed him all the way up until the time Navarro finally came in to his own.

LoDuca was never going to be a permanent fixture simply because he was getting up there in age playing a position that requires a lot of stamina. He played there every day except one game a week, then they even started using him at 1st base sometimes!

Catcher is a VERY hard position to play. It's a wear and tear position that requires just as much knowledge of the hitter, as a pitcher. LoDuca called a good game behind the plate for our Dodger pitchers. He made the pitchers feel comfortable on the mound. As soon as he was traded, look how many pitchers struggled with Mayne and Ross. Even Gagne struggled without him.

I think Navarro has the ability to be a much better catcher then LoDuca. Many of us also thought Edwin Jackson was the second coming. Let's hope he doesn't get traded right when he's coming into realization of the fruits of his abilities.

Steve, Insert your smart ass comment here:____________________________________________

Tommy, you're the greatest, but it does not help matters to taunt people.