By The Numbers: Best Ever Part 2

                          We are back with part 2 of by the numbers. We left off with #35. Agree or disagree, that is what the list is for. Just to let you know, I do not necessarily agree with all the choices made either. Some I will just put my choice. 

                                    #36. Gaylord Perry. The notorious spit baller won 314 games, pitched 22 years in the majors and won two Cy Young awards, one when he was 35 and the next when he was 39. He won 20 or more games five times, the last when he was 39. He had a career 3.19 ERA. He pitched for eight different teams spending 13 years in the NL and 9 in the AL. He was with the Giants the longest, 10 years. He only got to pitch 2 postseason games, both in 1971 with the Giants. He went 1-1 against the Pirates in the series loss. Baseball players have always cheated, might as well have fun while you are doing it.  Checked dozens of times, they never figured out how he loaded it up. 

                                    #37. Dave Steib. One of the more under rated pitchers of all time. He actually had a higher WAR and stats than Hall of Famer, Jack Morris. Difference was Morris played on three World Series champs. Steib was a mainstay of the Jays rotation, he also came very close to several no-hitters, always seeming to give up that one late hit. He finally pitched on in September of 1990. 

                                    #38. Curt Schilling. A player I never liked but always respected his talent. Schilling pitched for 20 years in the majors for five teams. He spent 9 years with the Phillies but is more well known for the 8 years he spent with the D-Backs and Red Sox. He was 4-0 in the playoffs and World Series for Arizona in 2001. Overshadowed by teammate Randy Johnson. He moved on to Boston in 2004, winning 21 games and finishing second to Johan Santana in the Cy Young race. He helped Boston win the World Series and did that again in 2007. In 2004 in the ALCS, he pitched with a bloody sock in game six, keeping the Sox alive. Schilling went 11-2 in postseason play. So far, he has not been elected to the Hall.

                                   #39. Roy Campanella. The CBS guy chose Hoyt Wilhelm, who had an amazing career, but my choice is Campy. Won 3 MVP awards and was Brooklyn’s catcher for 10 years before his tragic accident. Campy was a steadying influence on the Dodger pitchers. He was good friends with Don Newcomb and helped him develop into a good pitcher.  One of the Boys of Summer, he was a member of the Dodger family and a part-time coach even after he was paralyzed. 

                                   #40. No real choice here. I will just insert Bill Singer in this spot, although Bill had a losing record in his career, he also tossed a no-hitter, won 20 games for the 1969 team, and recorded the first statistical save in MLB history the same year. 

                                   #41. No contest, Tom Seaver. Tom Terrific was terrific in 1969. There would be no Miracle Mets had he not went 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA. Seaver spent 20 years in the majors, 11 with the Mets. In his 10 times on the Cy Young ballot, he never finished out of the top 10 and brought home 3 awards. He finished with 311 wins, and a career 2.86 ERA. He won just the one ring and played in the Mets loss to the A’s in 1973. He pitched in just 1 post season for the Reds. Among pitchers who started their careers in 1900 or later, only Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Roger Clemens and Pete Alexander top Seaver in Wins Above Replacement. 

                                   #42. Jackie Robinson. Breaking the color barrier and leading the Dodgers to six pennants and one World Series win, put Jackie ahead of guys like Mo Vaughn. But right there with Jackie should be all-time saves leader, Mariano Rivera. Rivera had an amazing career. 652 saves, 42 more in the postseason, 11 of those in World Series play plus he was on 5 championship teams. 

                                    #43. Dennis Eckersley. Began as a starter and finished his career as a closer. Pitched for 24 seasons finishing with 197 wins and 390 saves. Cy Young won 511 games, Eckersley took part in 587 wins, an active part. Only Rivera took part in more wins. Eck had 15 more saves in postseason play, and one spectacular blown save in 1988. At least that is what Dodger fans choose to remember.

                                    #44. Hank Aaron. Another no-brainer. In my eyes and the eyes of many other fans, the true career HR leader. What is amazing is that Aaron never hit more than 47 homers, which he did just once when he was 37 years old. He hit 44 four times. He was an excellent outfielder, and he holds the career RBI total with 2,297. He also has the total bases crown, 6,856. Even though he was not very Aaron like his last three seasons, he still managed a .305 BA. Another amazing stat to me is that Aaron received MVP votes in 19 consecutive seasons. Truly one of the greatest. 

                                    #45. Bob Gibson. Some might choose Pedro Martinez.  Pedro had 3 Cy Young awards and was on the 04 Sox team that won it all. Gibby was on 2 World Champion teams, has a lower career ERA than Pedro, 2 Cy Youngs plus an MVP award, a better ERA and more wins in the postseason than Pedro in less games. Pedro pitched in 16 postseason games winning 6. Gibson pitched in 9 and won 7 of them, two of them helped win the Series. He has the record for the most Ks in a single series game, 17. And he recorded a 1.12 ERA in 1968. His career WAR and ERA are better than Martinez. Plus, I saw this guy pitch, outside of Drysdale, I never saw anyone as intense on the mound. 

                                    #46. Andy Petitte. Andy was an excellent left-handed pitcher. He still has four tries to make the Hall of Fame. His percentage has climbed a little the last couple of years, so he still could get voted in. This guy pitched a season’s worth of work in the postseason, 44 games. His record is 19-11. He has five rings. He wasn’t a strikeout pitcher, but he would finesse you to death. 256 career wins. Andy was pretty good. 

                                    #47. Tom Glavine. Another crafty left-hander. Glavine will most likely be one of the last two players to reach the 300-win mark. He was the 23rd, reaching 300 in August of 2007. Two years later, Randy Johnson became #24. With the advent of 5-man rotations, and now openers, pitch counts, and on some teams soon, six-man rotations, the opportunities for pitchers to get to even 20 wins in a season have been reduced drastically. Glavine spent 17 years with the Braves, winning 244 games. HIs other 61 wins came with the Mets. He was 14-16 in postseason play, winning a ring in 1995 with the Braves. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer. 

                                     #48. Lee Smith. Hall of Fame reliever with 478 saves. recorded almost 1 strikeout per inning in his career. Pitched for 8 teams, spent the bulk of his career, 8 years, with the Cubs. Led the league in saves 4 times. Seven time All-Star. 

                                     #49. Ron Guidry. Louisiana Lightning. His 1978 season one of the better seasons by a pitcher in MLB history. 25-3 record, 1.74 ERA, Cy Young award, his ERA+ was 208. He finished 2nd in the MVP voting that year. Just like 1977, he won his only World Series start against the Dodgers. Dodgers got revenge in 81 beating him in one of his two starts. 

                                     #50. Mookie Betts. Mookie is still active, but his numbers are approaching Hall of Fame status. MVP with Boston in 2018. Six gold gloves, eight silver slugger awards, eight All-Star appearances. And he has played on three championship teams.  Transitioning to SS full time this season. Mookie’s defense has improved since the beginning of the season. One of the best athletes in the game. Mookie could probably bowl professionally. 

                                    # 51 tie. Randy Johnson. The Big Unit, last pitcher to record 300 wins. Finished with 303 wins, 5 Cy Young awards, four of them in a row when he pitched for Arizona. 4,875 strikeouts. Unfortunately, Johnson was not as dominant in the post season. He got a ring with Arizona in 2001, but his record in the postseason was 7-9. Elected to the Hall as a first ballot electee with 97.3% of the vote.  The other # 51 is Ichiro.  Won the ROY and MVP his very first season in the majors. Holds the record for most hits in a season with 262 in 2004. Elected to the Hall in 2025, he missed being unanimous by 1 vote.

                                   #52. CC Sabathia. Another first ballot Hall of Famer, he won a ring with the Yankees in 2009 and was the MVP in the ALCS that year. Winner of 251 games over a 19-year career. Won the Cy Young award in 2007 with the Indians.  Won 21 games with the Yankees in 2010. 

                                   #53. Don Drysdale. Forced to retire at the age of 32, Big D had a very nice career. He won the Cy Young award in 1962 when there was just one award for both leagues. Part of one of the best 1-2 tandems in MLB history. Big D finished with 209 wins. He was part of 3 championship teams, 59-63-65. Held the record for consecutive scoreless innings at 58.2 until he was passed by Orel Hershiser. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984. 

                                   #54. Goose Gossage. A dominant closer, he finished his career with 310 saves. He also won 124 games.  Gossage got a ring with the 78 Yankee team. He pitched well in the postseason getting 8 saves. Gossage usually went multiple innings in a large number of his saves. He was elected to the Hall in 2008.

                                  #55. Orel Hershiser. Hershiser owns the consecutive scoreless inning record with 59 scoreless innings in a row. He was the Cy Young winner in 1988 and was the NLCS and World Series MVP that year also. Hershiser finished with 204 wins. He won 23 games just once, 1988 in his Cy Young year. He was on the writer’s ballot for the Hall for two seasons and was removed after receiving just 4% of the vote in 2007. He has been on the Veteran’s ballot twice and not received a single vote. He currently works for the Dodgers as a color analyst on their TV broadcasts. 

                                  The rest of the numbers do not have any really great players. But there are a couple of note. #72, worn by Carlton Fisk when he played for the White Sox. Pudge played for the White Sox for 13 years. He played with Boston for 11. He slugged 376 homers and had a career .279 BA. He is most remembered for his game winning homer in the 1975 World Series. Elected to the Hall in 2000. #66. Yasiel Puig. Puig gets the nod simply because his debut was so spectacular. Dubbed The Wild Horse by Vin Scully, Puig brought a combination of speed and power to the game. Unfortunately for Puig, and for the Dodgers, he had an attitude problem. But he also had one of the best arms of any RF ever. 

                                 #99. Manny Ramirez. Manny had one of the most incredible stretches in Dodger history. When he arrived after the big trade, Manny in 53 games, hit 17 homers, drove in 57 runs and batted .396. He was also one of the only Dodgers who kept hitting during the playoffs. Mannywood became a thing, and dreadlocks could be seen all around Dodger Stadium. Well, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into players and the numbers they wore. There will probably be some of you with your own choices. Feel free to list who you think was better.  

                                 Some of the very good players who wore numbers above 55. Johan Santana, excellent pitcher for Mets and Twins, 57, Jonathan Papelbon, very talented reliever, 58. Livian Hernandez who pitched for Miami and the Yankees, 61. James Paxton wore #65 he authored a no-hitter. Kenley Jansen will most likely take his #74 into the Hall of Fame, Barry Zito wore 75. For 2 years in Brooklyn, Hall of Famer Joe “Ducky” Medwick wore #77. Former White Sox slugger, Jose Abreau wore 79. Albert Belle wore 88 for two years when he was with the Orioles. And Dodgers reliever Joe Biemel wore 97. 

                                                                                                                         Minor League Scores

                                  El Paso 4 OKC 2 After winning three straight, the Comets lost tonight’s game when reliever allowed 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning. OKC mustered just 4 hits but drew 6 walks. The Comets scored first in the bottom of the third. Dean singled and stole second, he moved to third on a throwing error. Ruiz struck out. Rushing hit into a force play scoring Dean. El Paso tied the score in the top of the 5th on a double by Locastro, a walk and a sac-fly. In the bottom of the 5th, with 2 outs, Ruiz singled. He stole second and scored on a single by Freeland. That ended the scoring for OKC. Broussard homered in the top of the 6th off of Wrobleski to tie the game. Wrobleski went 6 full innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. 

                                  Tulsa 4 Arkansas 3:  Tulsa got a walk off win in extra innings on a wild pitch. Young started the 10th as the ghost runner. He moved to third on an infield out by Jose Ramos and then scored on a wild pitch by Brandyn Garcia. Tulsa scored 2 runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Arkansas scored single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings. Bracho hit his 5th homer in the 7th inning to tie it. 

                                  Great Lakes lost both games of their double header with Quad Cities. First game was a 8-1 loss and they were shut out 4-0 in the second game. 

                                Rancho 5 Stockton 0 Rancho scored 2 runs in the first and never looked back. Four Quakes pitchers threw a combined 2 hit, 11 K shutout. There was only one walk. The quakes had 8 hits, one of them being an RBI triple in the 5th inning by Sirota. Jang went 4.1 innings allowing 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 5. Makarewich relieved him, pitched 2 thirds of an inning and got the win, his 3rd of the year. 

                                                                                                                           Dodger Game Summary

                                    The Dodgers and Braves had a three-hour rain delay before their game started. Ohtani singled to lead off the game, but Betts, Freeman and Hernandez could not get him home. Sasaki allowed a single and a walk in the bottom of the 1st but got out of it. In the top of the 2nd, Smith doubled and Muncy was hit by a pitch. Pages flew out to center and Smith moved to third. Conforto hit into a force play and Smith scored. In the Braves half of the inning, Albies singled, then stole second. White tripled driving in Albies and tying the score. 

                                    Ohtani homered to lead off the third, Betts then went to second on Freeman’s ground out. Mookie then scored on a single by Teo. In the 4th inning, Ohtani singled and then scored on Mookie’s double. Freeman singled and Betts scored with Freeman taking second on the throw home. Hernandez then hit a slow grounder to Bummer who made a bad throw home and Freeman scored. Hernandez moving to second on the error. Smith singled scoring Teo. LA up 7-1. Albies homered to make it 7-2. White singled and Allen doubled to make it 7-3. 

                                   Sasaki got out of that inning and then pitched a 1-2-3 5th. Banda went an inning and a third, then Yates came in to pitch 2/3rds of an inning. In the top of the 8th, Blewett relieved De Los Santos. Taylor struck out, Ohtani and Betts walked, and Freeman hit a 3-run homer to right center to make it 10-3. Vesia came in to relieve in the 8th inning.  Kike came in to replace Freeman at first. Vesia allowed just a harmless single to Albies in the 8th. The good news is that the top 5 in the lineup had 12 hits, including 3 each by Ohtani and Freeman. They scored all 10 of the teams runs. The bad news is that the bottom 4 in the lineup went 0-18 with 8 strikeouts. 3 each by Conforto and Taylor. Pages had 2. Muncy was the only one who got on base with 2 walks. Kim went in as a defensive replacement at 2nd in the 9th. Garcia came in to pitch the 9th. After getting the first hitter out, Atlanta loaded the bases on singles by Verdugo and Riley. Garcia then walked Ozuna. 

                                  Garcia then struck out Olson and Murphy to end the game. Sasaki got his first MLB win. Dodgers win their seventh in a row.