One Year Wonders

                                        When I did the Dodgers Mt. Rushmore post, I was asked about players who were not with the Dodgers long, but who contributed to a successful season or World Series win. This was asked because of the home run Kirk Gibson hit in game 1 of the 88 World Series.  Gibson had an outstanding 1988 season for the Dodgers. He won the MVP award, and had a huge homer in the playoff win against the Mets. At that time, he was playing on one bad leg. He also made a key defensive play that helped win a game. But when the World Series rolled around, Gibby was too banged up to play. He was not even announced with the rest of the players before game one. But late in that game, with the Dodgers trailing 4-3, he would be called upon to pinch hit. 

                                        Just as important as Gibby’s blast, was the walk that Mike Davis worked to get just prior to Gibson coming up. Davis, signed as a free agent from the A’s, had one of the most forgettable seasons ever for a Dodger. He batted just .196 for LA with 2 homers. This from a guy who hit .265 with 22 the year before in Oakland. Davis then stole second. So, all Gibson really needed to do was hit a single and tie the game. No doubt the Dodgers would have then hit for him. The on-deck batter was Steve Sax. Just before the 3-2 pitch, Gibby called time and backed out of the box, and he remembered what Mel Didier had said about Eckersley, that he would throw a back-door slider to a left-handed hitter on a 3-2 count. The pitch was indeed a back door slider, and Gibson hit it into the right field seats and himself into Dodger legend. 

                                     Gibson played two more years in LA but was injured most of the time. He only played 160 games over those two seasons. He never was close to the same player again, although he did hit 23 homers in his next to last season as a member of the Tigers. As for Mike Davis, 1989 was his last season, done at age 29. He hit .249 in 69 games with the Dodgers and was done. 

                                     In 1959, the Dodgers made a trade with the Cardinals for outfielder, Chuck Essegian. On June 15th, they sent Dick Gray to the Cardinals for Essegian and P Lloyd Merritt. Merritt never made it to the majors, and Essegian, used mostly as a PH, only played in 24 games for LA in 1959.  But Essegian hit 2 PH homers in the 1959 World Series, becoming the first player to ever do that. One of them, a solo shot in the 7th inning of game 2, tied the game and set the stage for Charlie Neal’s two run shot that gave the Dodgers the lead in a game they won, 4-3. His second, in game 6 was the 9th run scored by LA in their rout of Chicago to win the series. Essegian played all of 1960 with the Dodgers but only hit .215 in 52 games. He was purchased by the Orioles after the season. 

                                    1974, the Dodgers had traded over the winter for slugger, Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon from the Astros. Wynn went on to have a great season, he hit 32 homers and drove in 108 runs. He would finish 5th in the MVP vote behind Garvey, Brock, Dodger pitcher, Mike Marshall and Bench. He did not have a very good World Series or playoffs since he was injured at the time. But he was instrumental in the Dodgers charge to the pennant, their first since 1966. The next season, his stats fell off dramatically, and he was dealt to the Braves in a four for two trade after the season. 

                                                                    On June 15th, 1951, which at the time was the trade deadline, the Brooklyn Dodgers made an 8-player trade with the Chicago Cubs. Heading to the windy city were Eddie Miksis, Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten and Gene Hermanski. Coming to Brooklyn, Rube Walker, Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger and Andy Pafko. Schmitz and Terwilliger would be gone the next season, Walker would be Campy’s caddy for 7 years in Brooklyn, and play 1 year in LA. The central piece for the Dodgers was left fielder, Andy Pafko. 

                                   Left field had been a merry-go-round for several years for the Dodgers with many players manning the position. Pafko stabilized the position for the rest of the 1951 season and all of 1952. In 84 games for Brooklyn, he hit 18 homers and drove in 58 runs. Combined with his numbers in Chicago, he had 30 homers and 93 driven in. The Dodgers just missed making it to the World Series in 1951, but Pafko was a big part of the 52-pennant winning team. He played 150 games, hit a solid .287, had 19 homers and drove in 85 runs. He did not have a good World Series, getting just 4 hits in 21 at bats. Pafko would say years later that he never really felt like part of the group, the Boys of Summer. He was traded to the Braves after the season for Roy Hartsfield and 50,000 dollars. He would play for the Braves for 7 more seasons, retiring after 17 years in the majors in 1959.  

                                On November 26th, 1962, the Yankees traded first baseman, Bill Skowron to the Dodgers for Stan Williams. The Dodgers had lost both Norm Larker and Gil Hodges in the expansion draft. Hodges to the Mets, and Larker to the Colt-45s. They had 24-year-old, Ron Fairly penciled in to be their first baseman, but wanted a RH hitting counterpart. Skowron fit the bill, he was coming off of a 23/80 year with a .270 BA. Plenty of power and RBI potential. 

                                 Well, that did not happen. Skowron would play in only 89 games for LA and hit a paltry .203. He had 4 homers and 19 RBIs. One thing Skowron had always done was produce in the World Series. He had 7 series homers as a Yankee. He would play in all 4 63 World Series games. He would hit .389 for the series with a homer and 3 driven in. The homer came off of Al Downing in game 2 giving LA a 3-0 lead. Skowron was sold to the Senators following the season and played until 1967. 1963 was the worst statistical season of his career. But he shined at just the right moment for the Dodgers. 

                                 On December 12, 1941, the Dodgers traded four players, Pete Coscarart, Luke Hamlin, Babe Phelps and Jimmy Wasdell to the Pirates for SS Arky Vaughn. Vaughn had been with the Pirates as their starting SS for 10 seasons and had never hit below .300. The Dodgers did not need him to play SS, they still had Pee Wee Reese before he went into the service in 43. So, Vaughn became their primary 3rd baseman plying 119 of his 125 games there. He hit .277 and helped the team on its way to 104 wins, which was only good enough for second place behind the 106-win Cardinals. The next year he hit .305 as the Dodgers main SS. But then he was out of the game for three years. The reason was an incident during the season with the mercurial Durocher. Vaughn had been upset when Durocher suspended pitcher, Bobo Newsom after he complained about C Bobby Bragan dropping a third strike.

                                After reading Durocher’s comments about Newsom in the newspapers, Vaughn went into Durocher’s office and threw his uniform in his face. Although he finished the season, he retired to his ranch where he stayed for the next three seasons. When Durocher was suspended for the 1947 season, Vaughn decided to try a comeback. Playing mostly a utility role, he hit .325 and helped the Dodgers win the pennant. He was 35 years old. He got to play in his first World Series, and although Brooklyn lost, Vaughn was 2-3 with a double. The 48 season was his last in the majors. He finished his career with a .318 BA and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985. Vaughn died at the age of 42 on August 30, 1952, while fishing on Lost Lake near Eagleville California where his ranch was. He and a friend, Bill Wimer were both drowned when according to a witness, Wimer stood up and the boat capsized. 

                               Some players who were never stars have had a special moment in a crucial game that helped the Dodgers win. Sandy Amoros’s catch in game 7 of the 1955 World Series was one of those. Amoros was never considered a star, he was an important piece of three pennant winning Dodger teams, but 55 was his shining moment. He also hit his only World Series homer that year. 

                                   Dick Calmus pitched exactly 44 innings as a Dodger. It was 1963 and LA was locked in a pennant race with the Cardinals and Giants. Calmus picked up his first MLB win in May with a 6-5 decision over the Giants. He was used out of the pen 20 times and made 1 start. He got his second win in August, a 3-2 win over the Mets. Then on September 1st, he beat the Giants 5-3. It would be the last win in his MLB career. He would pitch only 4 more innings as a major leaguer, and those would be with the Cubs in 1967. But his 3 wins in 63 helped the Dodgers win the pennant by 6 over the Cardinals. 

                                     Dick Nen had exactly 8 at bats as a Dodger. On September 16th, the Dodgers came into St. Louis with a 1 game lead. Podres beat them that night and they were up by 2. It was Koufax against Curt Simmons in game 2. Dandy Sandy threw a 4-hit shutout to push the lead to 3 games. On the 18th, Pete Richert was pitching against Bob Gibson. The Dodgers scored a run in the second, but the Cardinals scored 2 in the bottom of the second, and 3 more in the 3rd. 4 of the runs were scored off of Richert and 1 off of Bob Miller. Miller managed to keep the Cardinals quiet, and the Dodgers scored 3 off of Gibson in the 8th to make it 5-4.  Shantz and Ron Taylor got the last 2 outs in the 8th. 

                                  With 1 out in the top of the 9th, Nen PH for Ken McMullen against the RH Taylor. He hit a long home run to right to tie the score. It was his only hit as a Dodger. It tied the game, and the Dodgers went on to win in the 13th inning, beating former Brave ace, Lew Burdette. Ron Perranoski pitched 6 shutout innings in relief to get the win. To many this might not seem like much, but instead of heading home with just a 2-game lead and 9 games to play, they returned home with a 4-game lead. They won 5 of their next 9 games and won the pennant by 6.  Nen was traded in the offseason to the Senators as the 5th player sent to them for Osteen and Kennedy.