Public Radio channel KPCC 89.3 just aired part 1 of a 7 part series on the history of the Dodgers and has made it available on their website. It's a great listen. Part one is titled "Dodgers move to LA Wasn't Popular." Go ahead and click here for their page and link to hear it.
Overall, yesterday was a gloomy day. The sky was filled with clouds. It was chilly- unseasonable cold for a June day in Southern California. The recent weather sure seemed to foreshadow the evenings game, if not the Dodgers past couple of weeks.
I felt fortunate to have tickets. A friend received 4 choice seats from his work. They were easily the best seats I've ever had at Dodger Stadium. We were six rows back in the field section directly behind were Lasorda usually sits. I felt like reaching out to him for consolation.
The Dodgers are cold- Alaska cold. Their pitching has been terrible. Even when they get a quality start their bats turn off. They can't hit a lick, save the occasional outburst. Watching games have been as difficult as watching a political debate. You want to turn it off, but you worry that you might miss something historic. The Dodgers wasted a decent start from their struggling ace. Brad Penny twisted and turned enough to walk away with giving up only 2 runs. It was a miracle. Unfortunately, they couldn't follow up his performance with offense.
There was a bit of emotion though. As I'm sure most of you know there was a bench-clearing scuffle at the stadium last night. The crowd was forcibly awoken from it's slumber. Matt Kemp and YorvitTorrealba pushed, shoved and wrestled to the ground. Torrealba went so far as to give Kemp a little love tap on his chin while holding the ball. There is nothing like getting hit with a loaded hand. The scrum in front of the Rockies bench looked like a rugby match as players lined up on their side and pushed. I believe it was Ken Levine on Dodger Talk last night who said, "we went to a Baseball game and a hockey game broke out."
The game had a sense of hope after the brawl. The crowd was fired up and the Dodgers were only down by two runs. Three outs is more than enough time to catch up. Unfortunately, a solo homerun on the first pitch of the ninth inning by Rockies replacement catcher Chris Iannetta sealed the deal. The Dodgers followed by putting two guys on with DeWitt up to bat with two outs. He fouled out to right as the rightfield leaned over the railing to catch the last out. With that the stadium and the team deflated like a tire that had run over a pile of nails.
Below are more vintage Dodgers pics from Richard featuring the Dodgers. One of the nicest things about his photos are that a majority of them come from color slides. So, the quality tends to be very sharp and clear. When you want to zoom in on a certain spot the clarity couldn't be better. Go ahead and click the photos below for a larger view.
Below is a photo taken from September 1959 at the Coliseum in a game against the Milwaukee Braves. The photo below is from May 30, 1965 in a game against the Reds. The Dodgers won the game 12 to 5. They won the World Series that year against the Twins.Here are some great bullpen shots taken during Dodger Stadiums inaugural year in October 1962. I can spot Drysdale (with his hand at his mouth), Koufax (walking into the bullpen with his glove on) and Wills (walking past the outfield fence talking with fans). Is there anyone else there you recognize?
The Dodgers wasted a decent start from their struggling ace. Brad Penny twisted and turned enough to walk away with giving up only 2 runs. It was a miracle. Unfortunately, they couldn't follow up his performance with offense. 
Matt Kemp and Yorvit Torrealba pushed, shoved and wrestled to the ground. Torrealba went so far as to give Kemp a little love tap on his chin while holding the ball. There is nothing like getting hit with a loaded hand. The scrum in front of the Rockies bench looked like a rugby match as players lined up on their side and pushed. I believe it was Ken Levine on Dodger Talk last night who said, "we went to a Baseball game and a hockey game broke out."
The photo below is from May 30, 1965 in a game against the Reds. The Dodgers won the game 12 to 5. They won the World Series that year against the Twins.
Here are some great bullpen shots taken during Dodger Stadiums inaugural year in October 1962. I can spot Drysdale (with his hand at his mouth), Koufax (walking into the bullpen with his glove on) and Wills (walking past the outfield fence talking with fans). Is there anyone else there you recognize?
