Amends
Remember when El Slumpola was all Elmer Dessens' fault. Now he comes back, the wolf in sheepish clothing, trying to make it all right.
Another story from the past with increasing relevance to the 2005 National League West: "The Stooge Division."
The talk is that it might take only 85 victories to win the National League Western Division in 2004 (and that it might take even less to win the American League Central). Certainly, there are many of fans out there who think this is their best hope.Ultimately, this might just be talk. Given the unbalanced schedule in which teams play more games inside their division than outside, chances are still good that a 90-win team will emerge, even if that team isn't a truly great team.
Since baseball went to a three-division format, however, several teams have won divisions with fewer than 90 victories. Houston took the NL Central in 1997 with as few as 84 wins.
Furthermore, a sub-.500 champion is possible. In fact, it was only 10 years ago that we had one. ...
1. Bob Timmermann's Random Dodger game callback
June 18, 1949
Over 32,000 fans came to Wrigley Field on a Saturday afternoon to watch one of the least remembered of the "Boys of Summer", Rex Barney, shut out the Cubs 2-0. Barney held the Cubs to just five hits while striking out seven. The loss was the seventh straight for the Cubs and their eighth straight loss to Brooklyn. The Dodgers improved to 35-22 and stayed 2 games in front of second place St. Louis.
1949 would be one of the most written about seasons in baseball history. There were exciting pennant races in both leagues. The Dodgers and Cardinals would be close all season and the Dodgers would not clinch until the last day of the season. The Dodgers were 97-57. In the AL, the Yankees won two straight games from the Red Sox to end the season to win the pennant by one game also.
1949 was Jackie Robinson's MVP season. He led the league in hitting at .342 and in stolen bases with 37. Robinson also hit 16 home runs and drove in 124, a mark no second baseman in baseball would top until Jeff Kent drove in 128 in 1998.
The Dodgers also had the National League Rookie of the Year in pitcher Don Newcombe, who went 17-8 with a 3.17 ERA. Newcombe would eventually add an MVP and a Cy Young Award to his credit in 1956,
But the pitching ace on June 18 was Barney. The young right-hander had made his major league debut at age 18 in 1943. He moved into the Dodgers rotation fulltime in 1948. Barney threw hard but was plagued with wildness in his career. In 1949 Barney would go 9-8 and walk 89 batters and strike out 80 in 140 2/3 innings. His wildness would get only worse and after 1950, Barney was out of the majors. He would later go on to greater fame as the public address announcer for the Baltimore Orioles with a trademark "Thank yooouuuu!" after most announcements and also saying, "Give that fan a contract!" after a fan made a nice catch of a foul ball. Barney passed away in 1997.
The Dodgers had the best offense in the National League in 1949, scoring 879 runs, but they were only able to scratch out two against Cubs veteran Dutch Leonard. A pair of infield hits by Gil Hodges contributed to both runs.
In the second, Hodges squirted a ball that Leonard couldn't come up with cleanly and reached with a hit. Carl Furillo singled him to third and Hodges came home on a force out by backup catcher Bruce Edwards.
In the third, Pee Wee Reese led off with a single and went to second a ground out and third on a wild pitch. Duke Snider then grounded to Cub first baseman Herman Reich who threw out Reese at the plate. Robinson singled Snider to third and Snider scored when Hodges hit a bouncer that Cub third baseman Andy Pafko couldn't make a play on. After that, neither team was able to put together any sort of threat. The normally wild Barney walked only two batters.
In the World Series, the Dodgers faced the Yankees for the third time in the 1940s. The Dodgers lost Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, 1-0 on a 9th inning homer by Tommy Heinrich against Newcombe, but bounced back to win Game 2, 1-0 on a shutout from Preacher Roe. The Yankees closed out the series at Ebbets Field, winning 4-3, 6-4, and 10-6, with Barney losing the finale. It was the second World Series loss for Dodgers manager Burt Shotton in 3 years. Shotton was the last manager of the Dodgers who did not dress in a uniform while on the job.
The Dodgers were solidly established as the dominant team in the National League, but the next two years were going to end even more unhappily than 1949 did.
Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet
Posted by: Jon Weisman | June 18, 2005 at 03:16 PM
2. So far this season,
NL West vs. AL Central: 16-33
Posted by: The Cheat | June 18, 2005 at 03:32 PM
3. Halberstam wrote a good book about that season:
http://tinyurl.com/e3k4r
(Yankees-Red Sox)-centric, as usual with the literary types, but it's still a good book.
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 03:57 PM
4. This is your cat on catnip:
http://tinyurl.com/cy7d3
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:03 PM
5. The Scene: A young Philo T. Farnsworth hard at work with his young assistant, Timmy, putting the finishing touches on his brand new invention, the television:
PTF: "Timmy, what do you think of our new invention?"
T: "Golly Gee Whillikers, Mr. Farnsworth, it's neat-o, but there's only one problem."
PTF: "What's that, Timmy?"
T: "Well, sir, when I try to watch Chicago's American League baseball club, there are always these two idiots destroying my enjoyment of the game."
PTF: "What do you propose we do about it, Timmy?"
T: "Gee, sir. Wouldn't it be swell if there was a button that would allow you to watch what was going on but not have to hear the chimpanzees in the broadcasting booth?"
PTF: "By gosh, Timmy, that's a wonderful idea. We'll call it a mute button, and we will be remembered always as those who saved the public from Hawk Harrelson."
T: "Hooray!"
And so they were remembered, the beautiful saviors of eardrums and common sense that are our friends, Philo and Timmy.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:09 PM
6. Remember the other Philo Farnsworth, Steve? Hint: he was a character in two movies.
Hope the exams went well. Picked out a powdered wig yet?
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:12 PM
7. Whoops, scratch that. The character was Philo Beddoe. What an idiot.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:14 PM
8. We scored in the first. Imagine that.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:15 PM
9. Test isn't until next month. I'm taking some time off tonight because I've been wrestling with remedies all day. So what do I find out? No Extra Innings, I'm stuck with the White Sox's Cheech and Chong.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:17 PM
10. Choi walks! Stop the presses!
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:18 PM
11. My closed captioning just informed me of [crowd booing].
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:23 PM
12. This is a weird lineup. Why is Perez DH instead of 3b, I wonder?
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 04:24 PM
13. We finally take an early lead but I still feel lousy cause we shudda had much more.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:26 PM
14. And for that matter, why isn't Saenz DHing?
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 04:26 PM
15. Trying not to break Saenz.
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:26 PM
16. At least Robles is hitting ninth. Any port in a storm.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:27 PM
17. Welcome back indeed.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:28 PM
18. Is there any MLB player that commands respect and is also named Elmer?
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:28 PM
19. Anyone else watching on WGN? Is there a reason that half of the on-screen graphics have an early 1980's look to them? I'd have guessed they were going with the retro look until I saw the FOX Sports-like bar across the top of the screen. So the question is, just how low is the production budget for WGN?
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:28 PM
20. I'm not going to post what I just said about Dessens again for fear of a double post, but where DID my post go?
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:29 PM
21. If we are wearing throw back uniforms why are Elmer's pants so long.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:29 PM
22. And there it is...
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:30 PM
23. Amen to wondering why Perez is DH'ing. We should take advantage of the chance to get him in the lineup as a DH; not use it as a chance to get Robles some time at SS.
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:30 PM
24. 40 pitches in the first for Garcia? Wow. What's the WhiteSox bullpen look like, I wonder? Any of our friends from SoxTalk here yet?
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 04:30 PM
25. ADG, Your post is there. Elmer Fudd Elmer Gentry. These are the only two I know of never mind an athelete.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:31 PM
26. You can't stop Elmer, you can only hope to contain him.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:31 PM
27. Is the Steve of #26 the same Steve I keep reading about as studying for the bar?
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:32 PM
28. It is I.
Five walks for Garcia. How about we, uh, score some runs.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:34 PM
29. Will Freddy even make it out of this inning? I say a good even odds he doesn't.
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:34 PM
30. See what you mean, rageon...graphics brought to you by Commodore 64.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:35 PM
31. Cue Steve.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:36 PM
32. Steve have you started studying community property yet and realized just how screwed you are in CA.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:36 PM
33. As am I. I'm doing the BarBri review for Minnesota right now. Someone's comment to you caught my attention a few days ago because it mentioned the rule against perpetuities, which is what I had just finished studying at the time.
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:36 PM
34. Words alone cannont my display contain, Force is weak in Tracy.
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:37 PM
35. Steve is in Utah. Women can't own property there :)
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:37 PM
36. What CAN Robles do well?
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:37 PM
37. Memo to Chicago White Sox Fans:
Dear CWS Fans,
You may not keep up with the National League West, so let me just fill you in. Getting twenty straight outs against the Rockies isn't quite the feat it used to be.
Sincerely,
Steve
Also Memo To Jim Tracy:
Dear Jim Tracy,
Why in the world are you getting Oscar Robles thrown out when this guy can't throw a strike to save his life? Why are you getting him thrown out by five feet? Are you stupid? Are you drunk? And why would you give Harrelson a reason to say "He gone," which annoys me EVEN WHEN I'M ONLY READING IT ON MY CLOSED CAPTIONING!
Thank you for blowing up this inning. I still have 50 multiple choice questions to do tonight anyway.
Also Very Sincerely,
Steve
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:37 PM
38. Dismay, dismay, dismay...
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:38 PM
39. #32 I meant the second "you" as the preverbial "we"
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:39 PM
40. I haven't done Community Property yet, but let's just say I hope that doesn't become a personal issue. We did a three-day mini-lecture in class on the subject, since there are always 20-25 from every class who go to CP states -- all I remember is that what's mine is hers and what's hers is hers.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:40 PM
41. #40 You got it. Youre ready for the CP questions.
We realy are an AAA team
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:42 PM
42. Steve, is Harrelson the one who sounds like he has a cleft nasal?
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:42 PM
43. I was afraid the top of the 2nd might have unnerved Dessens... But he seems OK. If Tracy inspires anguish in us fans, imagine how the team must feel as the carpet is pulled out from under their feet.
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:42 PM
44. If Elmer Dessens keeps Harrelson from saying "Put it on the board...YES!" tonight (sorry, I know that's like fingernails on a blackboard), I will have a new favorite Dodger.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:43 PM
45. Words I thought I'd never type:
Elmer looks pretty good.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:43 PM
46. Maybe Tracy was trying to get Garcia even MORE wild by making him deal with a runner trying to steal, but unfortunately, Pierzynski is cool as ice in that department.
Posted by: adg | June 18, 2005 at 04:46 PM
47. An e-mail I just got from a friend of mine -- a Cardinal fan:
"what is robles doing? Caught stealing when freddy is walking everyone, then the next guy swings on 3-1? What the hell?"
I suspect he is watching because Freddy is pitching for his fantasy team.
The answer to your question is yes. Remember Kramer and Mary Hart's voice?
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:46 PM
48. And he refers to the White Sox as the "good guys," as in "At the end of 6, good guys 3, Braves 3." I hate that so much.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:48 PM
49. I sent this to Jon, but too late for inclusion in the game thread:
Koufax remembers 1959 WS against CWS:
http://tinyurl.com/7mcn4
It's the Mercury News, so you may have to register. What the heck is Sandy doing living in Pennsylvania?
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 04:48 PM
50. Are we trying to set a record for erasing our own runners
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:49 PM
51. Alex Cora would have made that play, then climbed up into the booth and strangled Harrelson with his bare hands.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 04:53 PM
52. Kent giveth two and taketh one away
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 04:55 PM
53. Steiner: Pickoff move!...and he picks off...Crede...but to Jeff Kent.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 04:58 PM
54. I'm listening to the CWS announcers on MLB.TV, and it's almost impossible to tolerate. These guys are such homers -- I guess we get spoiled listening to Vin.
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 04:59 PM
55. Wow, now I remember why I refuse to watch White Sox games. Everything about the presentation, from the production to the ridiculous announcers, makes it nearly unwatchable.
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 04:59 PM
56. Nice timing. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 05:00 PM
57. Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm going off of snippets from the closed captioning that appears on the screen when I mute, but were the WS announcer/cretins just arguing that Joe Crede should be stealing more bases?
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:00 PM
58. does anyone know what the batting averages for RISP for each team is. the dodgers must have one of the lowest?
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:01 PM
59. Nope, you heard correctly. They were quite adament in their belief that Crede could EASILY have stolen third, and that he should have.
Posted by: rageon | June 18, 2005 at 05:02 PM
60. Yahoo doesn't have those stats.
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:04 PM
61. Damn I missed Phillips running. Its amazing how his legs move but he doesn't go anywhere.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 05:04 PM
62. Just as a sort of science project, I actually did try to watch some of the games they were calling with the Angels.
That was true survival.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:05 PM
63. The Sox announcers were arguing that it was a great time for Crede to steal 3rd base...which didn't make sense to me, since a base hit knocks him in anyway.
They also urged Iguchi's fly ball to "stretch" to clear the wall.
They also refer to Sox players by their first names. That bugs me a lot, although I think Vin does it sometimes too.
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 05:05 PM
64. i'm worried that this game is not going too well even though we're leading. way too may runners left on base. can't any dodger get a hit with runners in scoring position without hitting a homerun. there no advancing runners other than walks and no hits except homeruns.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:06 PM
65. I take it back. Looks like Yahoo does. If I'm reading it right we're middle of the pack.
http://tinyurl.com/79c6u
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:07 PM
66. You probably wouldn't notice as much if he wasn't so bad doing everything else. He could recite the alphabet or the phone book and I'd want to gouge my eardrums out.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:07 PM
67. How do you walk Oscar Robles? Grabowski principle anyone?
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 05:07 PM
68. Stiner: "How often do you see a pitcher throw more balls than strikes in a game?"
Oh I don't know Charlie, how about every time Scotty E pitches.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 05:09 PM
69. thanks alot, linkmeister. it sure seems that dodgers are so much worse. maybe all those stats were built up early in the season. we must have the most solo homers percentage
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:10 PM
70. OMG we SUCK!!!!
Did I say AAA, make that little league.
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 05:10 PM
71. What's happening? Yahoo's stuck on Phillip's AB.
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:11 PM
72. 4 hits, 6 walks, 2 wild pitches...
= 2 runs
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 05:13 PM
73. unless we hit more homers I don't think we can hold this lead
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:16 PM
74. we can't seem to score any other way besides hitting homeruns
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:16 PM
75. Bases loaded, one out, and no runs? Aaaargh!
I just went to MLB.com; Yahoo didn't show me a bit of the top of the 4th.
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:18 PM
76. A 2-6-3 double play on Konerko's ball? Somebody please explain what happened there.
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:20 PM
77. well, Elmer is doing a nice job. would be nice if offense could pick him up a little bit.
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 05:21 PM
78. Konerko hits a chopper off the plate -- fair ball, but Konerko thinks it's foul, so he doesn't run. Phillips goes to Robles (almost throws it away), who turns it without a problem because Konerko is still standing at home plate.
Posted by: Nick Iyengar | June 18, 2005 at 05:22 PM
79. dessens is pitching a great game so far. hope he can give us 1 more inning and then Tracy better pull him out. I hope his teammates can score more for him. We're going to need few more runs.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:22 PM
80. Konerko bounced one in front of the plate...fair ball. Phillips grabbed it on the bounce and started the dbl play. Kornerko never left the batter's box.
Posted by: Jim Hitchcock | June 18, 2005 at 05:22 PM
81. perez is really struggling at bat and also on the field. he is DH today so he should do better SITUATIONAL HITTING (like advancing runners)
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:24 PM
82. Why do we continue to carry 12 pitchers? Especially since one of them (Erickson) should be pitching in Newark and another (Thompson) is, apparently, injured. What this means is that our bench today consists of Rose, Repko and Saenz. And Saenz won't play, unless they are desperate for a PH, because of a bad foot. That leaves two bench players. Shouldn't this have been remedied before we went to AL parks where we use an extra player as a DH.
Posted by: Langhorne | June 18, 2005 at 05:24 PM
83. Thanks, guys. No wonder we traded Konerko. ;)
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:24 PM
84. Did Garcia just throw a five-pitch inning? After walking six guys we swung at first pitches? Oy, Choi!
Posted by: Linkmeister | June 18, 2005 at 05:26 PM
85. #82 I AGREE. we are wasting 2 spots on our roster by carrying Erickson and Thompson (if he is injured, we should either put him on injured list or send him down). it really doesn't make any sense. can someone explain?
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:27 PM
86. maybe we've reached our limit of AAA players on our roster and can't bring up anymore bench players
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:28 PM
87. it looks like that we missed our chance to get more runs off Garcia and he is settling down. I hope we get some runs this inning.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:31 PM
88. Who is this guy doing the game with Steiner? I just moved back to LA (temporarily) and turned on the Dodger game to these sounds. I'm not big on Steiner, but PLEASE tell me this other guy isn't one of our regular announcers. PLEASE. PLEASE.
Posted by: A Slo | June 18, 2005 at 05:32 PM
89. Yo guys.
Yes, WGN is going retro today.
Our bullpen has been solid.
Solidness (from least to most)
Shingo
Vizcaino
Marte
Cotts
Hermanson
Politte
Posted by: Heads22 | June 18, 2005 at 05:34 PM
90. Antonio Perez is spelled -- O F F E R M A N
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:35 PM
91. well, it looks like our bullpen will have to hold this 1 run lead next 4 innings.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:36 PM
92. Slo-Its Al Downing of 715 fame
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 05:36 PM
93. Can we go retro to a pre-senility Harrelson too?
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:37 PM
94. #90 I agree. Perez is one of the worst baserunners, unreliable on defense, decent on offense but no power. And we were counting on him to be our savior. OFFERMAN is good comparison.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:37 PM
95. By the way, let's ask White Sox fan. Do you agree with your announcers that Joe Crede should be stealing more bases?
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:38 PM
96. Evening all - just got back from the As game, which was a nice 2-1 win over the Phillies. Unfortunately, I'm sunburned, but seeing that the Dodgers are up 2-1 helps that considerably. (Hey, if the As could pull it off, against the red-hot Phillies, I insist the Dodgers can and will tonight.) Plus, finally a game that I can watch on TV rather than following online. Yay! Try not to make me ill, Blue.
Posted by: Christina | June 18, 2005 at 05:39 PM
97. Fudd is pitching well. Too many long fly balls, but as long as they're being caught it's ok.
Posted by: mrboma | June 18, 2005 at 05:40 PM
98. 96 -- well, on mute anyway.
Posted by: Steve | June 18, 2005 at 05:40 PM
99. i think Dessens is running out of gas. he's giving up long fly balls. i hope he can make it through this inning. Tracy better not leave him in too long as has been his habit of running an excellent outing by SP by going 1 inning too long. the bullpen is well rested but PLEASE do not use Carrera.
Posted by: ddger | June 18, 2005 at 05:41 PM
100. Great pitch to get Thomas
Posted by: LAT | June 18, 2005 at 05:41 PM