Connect with us

Dodger Baseball

Sandlot Baseball: A History

                                           No one can really pinpoint when sandlot baseball started. The term sandlot, traces its origins to the 1870’s. This emerged from San Francisco as an in-town park and empty lot that could be used as a versatile venue for various sports. It refers to a makeshift field which could be nothing more than an empty piece of land composed of grass, dirt or sand that is big enough to host a game. Objects used in playing the game can be improvised to take the place of bases, balls, or even bats if they are unavailable. 

                                           Despite the evolving culture surrounding sandlot baseball over the years, the tradition has persisted into the 2020’s. Sandlot baseball teams, a nostalgic relic of the past, continue to exist, with at least 110 teams since 2006, and notably 21 teams formed as recently as 2022. 

                                         Rules may be changed on a game-to-game basis. These rules are agreed upon prior to the game by all the participants. As of 2024, there is evidence that sandlot ball continues to be played in places like, Minneapolis, Corry PA, Clearfield PA, Ringold GA, and Southern Pines, NC. 

                                         When I was young, we would play on empty lots when we could not use the school playground. There was a huge field across the street from the house where I lived in Redondo Beach. We would go over there and play 3-flies up and other games that did not require 9 players. Sometimes we would play over the line or 500. The next street down from the field there was a trailer park. About 350 feet away. We always tried to keep from hitting balls into the street or the court. One time, I just really got a hold of one and hit it on one of the trailers roofs. We did not hang around to go get the ball. 

                                       Most of the school playgrounds we played on back then were all dirt. Very few of us had gloves. We were lucky to have a real bat and ball. The first time I ever played 3-flies up, I had no glove to catch the ball with. But it was fun, and we would usually play until it was too dark to see the ball.

                                       But back in the day, sandlot ball was the way many players began their baseball journey. Now, they have little league, pony league, Babe Ruth baseball. There are traveling teams that young players can join. Bryce Harper is one of those who made it all the way from that environment. 

                                      When Babe Ruth was playing the game at St. Mary’s, it was basically sandlot baseball. Many turn of the century players got their starts playing on fields that were empty lots, or in the case of many rural players, empty crop fields. Dizzy Dean played under those conditions in his home state of Arkansas. 

                                       Sandlot baseball gave many youngsters their introduction to baseball. Some balls were made out of tape. Sticks would be used for bats. Some just used their bare hands to catch fly balls, grounders and line drives. One of the better baseball movies ever made was The Sandlot. It followed a group of kids in the Los Angeles area who played on an empty lot. They would pool their money to get a 1.00 baseball. They would use that ball until the cover would come off or it was lost. 

                                      Real life was not much different. I remember us kids going into the brush at Arroyo Seco Park looking for baseballs that had been lost during the games played there by adult and high school teams. We could usually find a couple. One time I even found a box of baseball cards that had been opened. All the Dodgers were gone. 1959 Topps cards. 

                                       Sandlot ball kept the game alive in the rural areas. In the big cities they would play stickball. Not all that many open lots in a city like New York. In stick ball the ball was a red rubber ball called a spaldeen. Willie Mays one time after he was already with the Giants, played a game of stickball with some kids in New York city. I remember seeing a photo of that. Babe Ruth was also one to stop and watch kids when they were playing sandlot ball. 

                                         With so many other options coming along in the last 30 years, kids are more likely to play in an organized league. The popularity of sandlot ball has faded because of that. The factory teams and teams formed by small towns have disappeared. But sandlot ball will always be a part of the history of the game. Baseball is much richer because of the players who participated in those pickup games. 

                                                                             Al Kaline accepts a trophy for his sandlot team. 

                                                                                                 Around The League

                                        Houston gave the Dodgers a hand by beating Arizona 8-0. San Diego beat the Giants, 5-1 in San Diego. The Phillies won and are the #1 seed in the NL. That could be a good thing. The Dodgers now sit 4 games in front of the Padres and remain 5.5 in front of Arizona. The Padres have 19 games remaining, the D-Backs 20, and the Dodgers, 21. The Dodger offense only scored 1 run for the second game in a row. A judge dismissed the legal challenge to the A’s stadium funding opening the door for the A’s to move there in 2027. Teoscar Hernandez left the game after being hit on the ankle in his first at bat. It was called a contusion. Still waiting to see if he will need imaging on the ankle. Wrobleski is going to start Saturday’s game. Looks like Teo might have to go on the IL. On yesterday’s post someone was talking about the rash of injuries to starting pitchers. In the pregame show, Andrew Freidman spoke about the Dodgers putting together a team to find solutions to this problem. 

                                                                                                 Minor League Report.

                                               OKC beat Sugar Land, 1-0. Alex Gamboa got the win going 6 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 5. The OKC run was scored in the second inning and was unearned. Outman, Rushing and Ward had the only hits with Outman scoring the only run. Dodson, Graterol and Little finished up with Little getting his 1st save. 

                                                San Antonio beat Tulsa 9-3. Ferris started and got the loss, his 3rd. He went 5 innings allowing 6 hits, 2 runs, walking 1 and striking out 5. Keith, 16, and Ramos, 15, hit homers. Keith and Fernandez had 2 hits. Harris and Sublette gave up 6 of the 9 runs between them.

                                                Great Lakes lost to Dayton, 4-1. Romero went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run, 3 hits and a walk and struck out 10. Ramirez pitched 2/3rds of an inning and gave up 3 runs. DePaula and McLain had 2 hits apiece. That was the total the entire team had. 

                                               Rancho lost to Visalia 7-0. They had only 5 hits. Quintero had 2 of them. Hope was 0-3. 

 

 

Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear

88 Comments
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
88 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Bumsrap

Crochet was not the answer as he has not been getting the job done in his last 7 starts.

Duke Not Snider

Dodgers did well in landing Flaherty, Kopech, Edman and Keirmaier.
Whether or not the Dodgers will be involved, it will be interesting to see if the White Sox do a fire sale this winter.

Michael Norris

If they do, Robert Jr would probably be a Dodger target.

dodgerram

Yes, good thing the Dodgers stayed away from him at the deadline.
Will be interesting how much the WS can get for him over the winter now. Same for Robert jun.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duke Not Snider

Best thing about today’s game is Knack once again proving that he belongs on the major league roster.
He may not look the part, but he continues to out-pitch guys like Buehler and Miller. With Stone joining the walking wounded, perhaps Knack will stay in the rotation.
The way things are going, Knack could end up starting in the playoffs. But maybe he’s a two-times-thru-the-lineup kind of pitcher.
Second-best was Shohei’s 45th HR and 100th RBI. Dodgers battled back, but then Taylor grounded into the dreaded DP. Oof.
Worst thing was Teo’s injury that put Taylor into the game….
But he should be back before too long…. right?

dodgerram

CT is batting .214 over his last 30 games. That is about what he is hitting for the last 3 seasons ! Yes, he had a good short run since his return from the IL recently but the overall picture just says the man does not hit well. If you bank on him during clutch situations it is more sentimental than based on facts and stats.
Personally I would call up Rushing and have a platoon in LF with him and Pages. when Teo comes back (IL stint all but sure according to Doc) make a decision who to keep: CT or Kike. You can not go into postseason play with both of them plus Barnes plus KK. That is 4 weak to dead bats on your roster. Can not survive vs top notch playoff pitching with that.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

Rushing is not going to be called up. If anyone is called up it is going to be Outman. They are not sticking a kid with less than 30 games in the outfield out there even in a platoon situation.

dodgerram

Well, your opinion. It is not mine.
Sometime you got to roll the dice. Dodgers are in a bad spot with Teo out and the bench already weak to begin with.
You do not need Outman, you already got KK for that role. What you need is a good bat who can play sometimes in LF and in addition gives you a C and a good bat off the bench.
Have to be creative. If you continue to go with that bench (CT3, Kike, KK, Barnes, Pages) Good luck. You will need it. And lots of it.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

The Dodgers are not the dice rolling kind of team. Who are you going to DFA to get Rushing on the 40-man roster? Rushings good bat has never faced MLB pitching. You have no clue how he would fare. And doubtful he would play a game as a catcher who has little experience at the MLB level. No, it will be Outman if they call up anyone at all.

dodgerram

Maybe that is the problem that the Dodgers do not roll the dice and instead keep the Kikes, Ct3 and Barnes of the world.
Man, what can you lose if you put Rushing into the lineup and let him play some LF and C ? Will he hit less than CT3 and Kike? Less than KK ? Less than Pages vs RHP ?

About the 40 men roster spot: If I heard it right on Dogers Blue they said the Dodgers have one spot open. And if not there certainly is a way to create that roster spot.
Hey, one easy way: Finally decide between CT3 and Kike.
Oh yes, I know, the Dodgers never will DFA either one of them. They have done so well in former postseasons.

And so we will go into the stretch run with that amazing, potent bench of Barnes, CT3, Kike,KK.
And when they do not produce-again-fans like you will say that the Dodgers had no other options.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

You’re dreaming. They will make the Kike-Taylor decision this winter and it will be Taylor they keep. Simply because he has a contract, and there is no buyout on next year’s deal. You might be right about the 40-man though. I counted 39, so yes, they could call him up, but very doubtful that happens. They could also put one of the players on the 15-day and move him to the 60. But the big snag in your theory is that they are saving that 40-man spot for Yamamoto, who comes off of the 60-day on Tuesday to pitch against the Cubs. That is why it is open. If anyone gets called up, it is going to be Outman simply because he is on the 40-man.

Bumsrap

….”Who are you going to DFA to get Rushing on the 40-man roster?”…

Taylor comes to mind unless he can be traded if the Dodgers eat most of his contract.

Michael Norris

Can’t be traded after the trade deadline. Only could DFA or just release him, and they are not doing that.

Michael Norris

Roberts said last night post-game that he would probably have to go on the IL. It was a foot contusion. No broken bones seen last night, but they will do some more imaging today. If he has to go on the IL, he most likely would no be back before the playoffs. Putting Taylor in the game instead of Pages against a LHP should tell you just how much faith they have in Pages.

dodgerram

Or what a disburbing man crush Roberts has on Taylor.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OhioDodger

I think it is more an AF man crush and not wanting to admit he made a huge mistake.

Rodgerdodger

I’m sorry because I love all of our Dodgers, but putting Taylor in there leading to two strikeouts and essentially a game ending double play was not intelligent baseball. I am tired of watching him strike out 40 plus percent of the time. His at-bats are the least productive on the team consistently.

OhioDodger

If AF had not screwed the pooch and signed him to that ridiculous contract, he would have been gone long ago.

OhioDodger

It was a dumb move. He would have signed for half of what he got.

Michael Norris

Are you sure? Were you in the room when the contract was negotiated? You have no clue what the price was.

OhioDodger

You are right. I was not there. If I was, he would not have been offered more than 5 years/$30M.

Michael Norris

Sorry, did not happen.

Duke Not Snider

I think the evolution from “rounders” to baseball is pretty interesting. I’ve read that English settlers brought rounders to the New World in the 1700s.

Michael Norris

Supposedly they did.

Phil Jones

Yeah Duke. In Rounders, I think you got runners out by hitting them with the ball. I’d kinda like that defensively, against the Padres.

dodgerram

A black Friday for the Dodgers.
Lose the game, lose Stone, lose Teo. 🙁 
Knack showed how to pitch with stuff a lot worse than Bobby Miller. Hope he took note because with Stone now out too Miller got to step up. Same for Buehler. Team needs them desperately.

Will be interesting who the Dodgers call up if Teo has to go on the IL.
Rushing?Outman?

DePaula just tearing it up at GL.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last edited 28 days ago by dodgerram
SandyAmoros

Friedman just wont admit his stupidity for signing and keeping Taylor. sad

dodgerram

D-Backs ate Madbums 34 million albatross contract last season and went to the WS. Dodgers finally should cut ties with CT3.

Go Dodgers”””””””””””””””””

Cassidy

Or his stupidity in signing Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Teo, Muncy, Turner, and on and on. The guy just can’t get anything right!

TennisMenace (TM)

If I didn’t know better I would think this year was just not meant to be. Just about everyone who can throw a baseball gets injured and now even the everyday players are in street clothes.

As a result, we get to see more of Chris Taylor and more broken down pitchers who just can’t stay healthy or recover.

Just not our year, I guess.

Badger

Well that sucked.

Knack. Nobody hates the guy. He’s a minor league pitcher that has helped support this oft injured starting staff. Last night he got 6 for the first time since April. Way to go Landon. But the team is 4-7 in games he has pitched. Why is that? I did a deep dive on that question and figured the problem can be explained by examining the following:

lgERA – (((13*lgHR)+(3*(lgBB+lgHBP))-(2*lgK))/lgIP).

I’ll let Bear explain how that is relevant as I know how much he loves analytics.

Chris Taylor hit a 104 mph into a double play. I recall a phrase I first heard in the 60s – “I’d rather lucky than good.” Keep hacking Chris. I’m pulling for you.

21 games to go with a Bugs Bunny (Who’s up Doc?) starting staff. This is going to be fun. The offense better show up.

Wasn’t there an NFL game on last night? In Brazil? On Peacock?

Big 10 with 18 teams coast to coast. No Pac 8-10-12-2. NFL games in Brazil on Peacock. A disagreement between DirectTV and Disney (who owns ESPN?) leaving many with no ABC and ESPN for the opening of the college football season. Let’s hear it for the worship of money!

Something feels wrong. Actually a lot does. Where I come from is disappearing. Oh well. I’m in a position to just watch as normal fades away.

Last edited 28 days ago by Badger
Bluto

Eagles – Packers game was great. Field sucked though.

Badger

So, they don’t have NFL grade turf in Brazil?

Shocking.

I don’t have Peacock, I don’t have ESPN at the moment and there wasn’t a word written about it in this morning’s paper. That game and everything about it was initially unavailable
to me. And so are many of today’s college football games, though St Francis at Kent State doesn’t interest me all that much.

I do get the BTN channel so I’ll be able to watch USC, starting at 8 o’clock tonight. Sigh.

You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched… It’s the end of the world as we know it… do I feel fine?

Make Mine Blue

It was actually a terrible game, there was almost a flag on every play, or so it seemed. If this was supposed to be a game to attract a S. America audience, it was a total failure. Really bad game, got hard to watch.

dodgerram

CT3 put up a good AB in that specific situation but hte point is: He should not have been in that situation to begin with. Dodgers had Pages, Barnes and KK available to pinch hit for him but obviously had not enough confidecne in either on of them. And THAT is the problem. The bench has too many weak bats on it.
Pages is great vs LHP but equally as bad vs RHP, KK is under the Mendoza line period (still I would have rather seen him than CP3 in that AB) and Barnes is simply Barnes.
That is why I would call up Rushing if Teo has to go to the IL. See what he got. If he hits that would go a long way for the immediate future and next season.
Smith will catch all games in the postseason anyway with the off days between games so you do not need a regular backup C anyway. Rushing can provide that AND be a pinch hitter off the bench (if he hits).
Call him up now and platoon him in LF with Pages. If he hits ,he sticks.
Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures. Dodgers have to be creative.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

Last edited 28 days ago by dodgerram
Michael Norris

OK Ram, who would you have had hit in Taylors place? Just asking. Pages sucks against RHP, and Kiermaier is not that great either. That leaves Barnes. Taylor hit the ball hard, he had a good at bat against an excellent bullpen pitcher. BA against that guy was under .200 by the league. Doc did not have any other options.

dodgerram

As I wrote : This specific ab by CT was not the problem. It was a rather good at bat with him making good contact. The problem is he should not have been the one to take the ab in the first place. Dodgers bench has too many weak bats. Barnes , Pages and KK were available yesterday and all three are not impressive hitters. At least Pages is not vs RHP.
Personally I would have gone to KK , maybe try to bunt for a hit early in the count. What this situation showed too: It was a mistake to DFA Heyward and keep both Kike and CT3 on the roster. Many, including myself have said it over and over again: You do not need both Kike and CT3 on the roster. Both fulfill the same role and both are bad hitters from the right side.If you do not trust KK in a situation like that you need another LH bat.

I hope they finally now have learned this lesson and try to improve that bench. Call up Rushing and see what he got.If he hits you can kill two birds with one stone: It enables you to make him the backup to Smith for the playoffs and you get a potent LH bat for your bench.

Michael Norris

Well, they should have fixed that at the trade deadline, a little late to make that kind of roster adjustment now. If you are going to call up someone with some pop in their bat, how about Ward? 29 homers and 91 driven in. Calling up a kid with less than 100 ABs at AAA probably not going to happen. Especially when they would have to DFA someone on the 40-man roster. They would have to do the same with anyone on the OKC roster except Cartaya, Feduccia and Outman. So, who gets DFAd that is on the 40-man right now so they can call up Rushing? They are not going to DFA guys like Kiermaier, Kike or Taylor. Why? Because they have the one thing Rushing lacks. EXPERIENCE>

dodgerram

Talent trumps experience. And how much more experience do you want for your own good ? This roster is one of the if not the oldest in entire MLB.
Man, we have seen that script before with all those veteran hitters. What good has it done for us in postseason play since 2020 ?
For me this roster construction is a classical Einstein situation. Doing the same over and over again and expecting different results.

Okay, enough with ranting and criticising. Time to mow the lawn and then some BBQ. It is 6 pm here in Souther Bavaria and it has been really hot today, Maybe time for me to cool down.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

Eat some sauerkraut and have a beer. By the time you wake up, Outman will be back on the roster barring a miracle with Teo’s imaging.

Rodgerdodger

Michael I’m sorry I don’t agree with this one. The bat boy? Taylor is not good at baseball anymore. Yes he hit the ball hard. But he is always one centimeter away from whiffing and it’s getting old.

Michael Norris

Not the point. They did not really have another option. Pages? Kid can’t hit RHP worth a damn. Barnes? Actually, Barnes might have been a better option. He is 4-8 as a pinch hitter this year. Kiermaier? Have about as much faith in him as I do Pages. And remember, Cleveland has the best bullpen in the majors. That guy, Gaddis, has a .170 BA against the league. Taylor scorched that ball; he was just unlucky that it was hit at someone. That is baseball, a few inches to the left, and they score two. It tells me a lot about how they view Pages that they sent Taylor into the game when Teo went down. Taylor is still an experienced hitter. He has been clutch more times than most Dodger fans can count. Had Muncy still been available, then he most likely would have hit for Taylor, but he wasn’t.

Wally Moonshot

Don’t really want to get into the middle of your discussion but watching the game, I knew Taylor was either going to whiff or hit into a double play. Maybe the right play in that circumstance would have been to try a suicide squeeze or at least a safety squeeze. I think Taylor is a better bunter than a hitter, right? Dodgers sit back and wait for the big hit, but realistically when you’ve got a guy hitting .174 at the plate the chances are not great.

Michael Norris

Again, they had no other options. And he scorched that ball. Unfortunately, it was right at the SS. Thats baseball. Kiermaier, Pages or Barnes were his only other options, none of them really strike fear in the opposition. And Taylor had a great at bat fouling off several pitches that were high velocity. None of us could have done any better.

OhioDodger

And who’s fault is that. The Chess master AF.

OhioDodger

I did not say he was bad. I just don’t think he is the baseball savant boy wonder everyone thinks he is.
I see you are back on LADT. Didn’t take long to get over your tiff with the narcissist.

Michael Norris

I have never thought that about him. I also question some of his moves, or lack thereof. As far as Mark is concerned, he and I are still friends. I had an email conversation with Mark and explained why I was upset. We worked it out. What we said is none of your damn business. I can post there and be polite or not post at all, if the subject piques my interest I post on it. Mind your own business and I will mind mine.

OhioDodger

Fair enough. Making an observation about your posting on a public forum is anyones business. I was disappointed.

Last edited 28 days ago by OhioDodger
Michael Norris

I was talking about our emails Ohio.

OhioDodger

😥

Last edited 27 days ago by OhioDodger
Bluto

Just out of curiosity, is there any POBO that you would rather have than Friedman?

Last edited 27 days ago by Bluto
OhioDodger

I am not advocating to replace AF. I think he is doing a good job. I just don’t believe he is the boy wonder baseball savant some people do.

Michael Norris

Most of the people who say that are in baseball, some fans feel that way, but many do not. Personally, I think he has made some astute moves, and I also think on more than one occasion that he has screwed the pooch. That is why he has a GM now, Gomes, so he doesn’t have to have all the criticism.

Therealten

Ok last nights game was shades of what’s to come. Everyone keeps talking about we are in a division race which will help come playoff time. We sure didn’t act like we were in a division race.That looked like a team just going through the motions. Throw a lefty out there and u basically stop freeman and lux while slowing down Ohtani. Yeah I know Ohtani hit a homer n freeman got a dribbler through the infield but they also strikeout at a higher rate. Last night is an example of what our offense has looked like lately in the postseason. I know losing teo might have changed the game. But we may have lost him the way it looked. With smith being nearly non existent and where was Muncy? Is he back on the dl? He should have pinch hit for Taylor. Never mind, I am going to root for the Dodgers but we are approaching the post season with an injured pitching staff and an anemic offense. Btw Knack has pitched better than any of our current starters not named Flaherty.

dodgerram

Muncy pinch hit for Kike in the same inning when CT3 grounded into the DP.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Therealten

Sorry I just checked the box. I went to bed after Taylor hit into the dp.

Badger

What you won’t read in the box is that Taylor put an Ohtani-like velocity reading on that ball. 104 mph off the bat, one hop right at the shortstop. 12’ either direction and the game is tied. That’s baseball.

Last edited 28 days ago by Badger
dodgerram

CT3 is a .217 batter for his last THREE YEARS!
He had an okay run when he returned from the IL recently .
Same with Kike: They have a good week or two and with that they have their roster spot secured with Roberts. But the bigger sample size tells the story about CT3.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

Finally, someone who gets it.

Therealten

Bear, Muncy could have pinch hit for Taylor. U said he didn’t have any options if I understood you. First off Ohtani should have scored on the Betts double. With the base’s loaded push your chips in. I guess Roberts either wanted Taylor to hit or he was waiting for Muncy to hit for kike. Well he did hit for kike but it was an inning too late. I really expected Taylor to strike out but he hit the ball hard. I would have hit Muncy lefty vs righty but I don’t remember they might have had a lefty ready.

Dionysus

Yamamoto
Flaherty
Buehler
Knack

Lots of pressure on Buehler. Bullpen would have to be nails. Glasnow changes things if back.

dodgerram

Dodgers need both Glasnow and Yamamoto at the top of the rotation to make a deep playoff run. There is no way around it unless all of a sudden Miller and Buehler finding something special. Or CK reverting to the CK of 10 years ago. Not likely.

.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Norris

Both were throwing on the field today. CK does not need to be the CK of ten years ago. If he can be the guy who won 25 games and lost 8 over the 22-23 seasons and had an ERA over those two years around, 2.36, that would be more than good enough. He has proved, when he is on, you do not need a lot of velocity, you need command and control of your pitches.

Michael Norris

Another pitcher goes down with an arm injury. Giants placed Harrison on the IL and he is expected to miss the rest of the year.

Phil Jones

Another one bites the dust? The Baseball Gods are Cruel. It is amazingly frustrating to have Gavin Stone on the IL, our latest starting pitcher to go on the IL.  
More on this at another time, but the injuries are staggering. We have 2 quality starting staffs on the IL.

Really good baseball game last night. The Guardians are a really nice team.
I’m penciling in Knack in as much needed rotation piece. We were looking for 2 guys? Well for me Knack is one; for now, ahead of Miller. With Buehler.
He looked great.
His command of the zone was superior, all night long. He hit his quadrants, changed speeds, landed secondary pitches, worked ahead and had a quality fastball. 

I see game after game where fat pitches are missed. Pitchers get away with mistakes. Then last night nobody got away with any mistake. Knack made ONE mistake. No shit! It was his worst pitch of the outing and he didn’t get away with it. He grooved one fastball and Gimenez, hit it out.
Same with Matthew Boyd. He was nails as well and stayed on the fringes all night. He grooved one fastball to Ohtani and, see ya.
Moving forward, guess where Banda’s fastball was that Rocchio hit out? You guessed it; Center-cut.
If you want to get into the Guardians bullpen, good luck. Clase doesn’t appear to be someone you want to face when you need a couple of runs.
11 hits combined for the game. 6 by the Dodgers with 5 coming from Ohtani, Betts and Freeman. 1 hit by Rojas from the bottom 6. That won’t cut it but credit great pitching.

I have the most clever way to avoid Dodger broadcasts that involves Jessica Mendoza , Erik Karros, Mr. Whoopy-Doopy curveball man, and the moderately less irritating, Stephen WTF’s His Name.
Here’s my trick – The first game of a series between the Dodgers and whomever, I record both broadcasts. One from each town. When I turn on the recorded Dodger broadcast, I quickly see who’s on the opener. If it’s any of the aforementioned, I immediately switch to the opponent’s broadcast. I then record that channel for the remainder of the series.
How brilliant is that! Properly played, I may never have to listen to Jessica Mendoza. ever again. 

Michael Norris

Nelson is really bad. I would take Tim Neverett over him any day. LA does not need so many color analysts and Mendoza is at the bottom of my list. She giggles too damn much and brings nothing to the game. Neverett is busy covering for Charlie Steiner on the radio side. To tell you the truth, I am not a big Joe Davis fan, especially when he is paired with Orel. Just too much inane chatter. I would much prefer a one-man booth. Except for Nomar, most of them bring little to the broadcast. Nomar at least knows when to shut up.

Phil Jones

Totally agree on the announcers. Joe Davis just stats me to death.

Phil Jones

Bear – Great stuff on the Sandlot history. I was lucky to have a dad who was also a player, and a good one. He coached my youth teams; Little League, Pony League. Colt League and helped with Legion Ball.
I just had a reunion and received a number of comments remembering things my dad had said and done for them in baseball. Things I never knew like buying cleats or a glove for kids who didn’t have any money.
We all had gloves and a ball for our over-the-line games played daily, all summer. Half field with usually 3 guys per side. If you were a guy short, you pitched to your own team. We learned to run and catch and basic baseball skills from these games, way more than the organized practices. The only thing we didn’t learn was to NOT pull everything.
Bats were obviously all white ash in those days and they were always repaired for our sandlot games. The process involved Elmer’s Glue to repair the crack, then little nails and wrapped with electrical tape. Without any instructional video, that technique seemed to somehow become a universal repair technique.
I remember one year, the league tried to limit the expense of broken bats and outfitted all the bats with some fiberglass sleeve on the handles. It may have saved some bats but I hated the weight, texture and everything about them. It was probably more because I didn’t see Mickey or Willie playing with a fiberglass sleeve on their bats.
Good stuff Bear that brings back memories.

Michael Norris

Thanks Phil. We had those fiberglass sleeves in high school. I hated them. I thought they made my hands sore. I used medical tape on mine. Did the same thing when I was playing softball. Medical tape would better absorb the moisture in my hands when I hit. Electrical tape made the grip slippery. I got my first glove when I was at Hathaway Home in Highland Park. We could get one big gift at Christman, I got a 15.00 Jim Gentile first baseman’s mitt. My coach had an outfielders glove I could use when I played out there in little league. When I was playing high school ball, I got a six-fingered Spaulding. It was a great glove.

Bumsrap

Yep, I played hours and hours of over the line and home run derby.

Rodgerdodger

Michael I appreciate the baseball history articles you and others post here. Very entertaining.

I played shortstop for the first time as a 7 year old and stayed there for 40 years. Grew up in southern Indiana and the first non-baseball field thing we played was cup ball. Do you guys remember the 70s Coca-Cola cups they used in concession stands? They were coated with a thin layer of wax. We would crumple them up and hit with our hands. Typically behind the concession stand and the stand itself was a homer.

As we got older we would play tennis ball in the street. Basically every thing baseball but use a tennis ball that has limited flight and damage. We painted bases on the street. The road wasn’t real busy but we had to clear it a few times a game.

That is how we grew up. Finding new ways to play the game without the uniforms and umps when we were not playing an organized game.

Baseball junkies. Have a great weekend.

Michael Norris

Thanks Roger, I really try to entertain as much as possible.

OhioDodger

Awesome article Bear. Thanks for all you do.

Michael Norris

Thanks Ohio. I am just holding the door until Jeff can return. Sometimes it is hard to come up with subject matter. But I try. Tomorrow it will only be summaries of tonight’s game and the minors.

Michael Norris

Looks like no callups for either Outman or Rushing. Teo said he was feeling a lot better and that he should be back in the lineup Monday or Tuesday. Pages gets the start tonight in left, hitting 8th. Barnes is catching. Smith caught his 30th runner stealing last night. Best in the majors. Hope his bat awakes from its slumber soon. Philly lost, so a Dodger win ties them again for the best record in baseball, but Philly still owns the tiebreaker, which would be a good thing. They would have to play the winner of the Padres-D-Backs. LA would play the winner of Mil-and either Atlanta or the Mets. Houston beat Az again.

Michael Norris

Vassagh reporting that Graterol will be activated within the next two days. Yamamoto will be activated on Tuesday, likely why they have an opening on the 40-man.

Therealten

Looks like Cleveland threw their version of Bobby Miller out there tonight. 37 pitches upper 90’s fastball absolutely no command!! We will take it. Now Pages unloads!!

hopefully the pitching staff can hold. Darn for ohtani just hitting first pitch foul. I would like to c Muncy get hot.

Therealten

Grove needs to go wherever Kelly went. Graterol for grove tomorrow hopefully.

Cassidy

Can we please score some runs in the middle innings and add on to a lead?

Therealten

Thank u!
u need to quit trying to take a night off lol we need runs.

Cassidy

If only my wife responded as well when I complain about her

Michael Norris

Cavan Biggio is now a Brave. Traded to Atlanta from the Giants. Angles put Adell and Pillar on the IL.

Last edited 27 days ago by Michael Norris
Michael Norris

Giants beat Padres, 6-3, Dodgers can pick up a full game on each. Lead would be 6.5 over Az and 5 over SD. They only have 18 games left.

Therealten

Dodgers post the w!!

Michael Norris

Nice win gained a game on both SD and Az. USC 10, Utah State 0 first quarter.

Must See

More in Dodger Baseball

88
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x