I was thinking about how many players have played for the Dodgers over the years who are now forgotten. The stars you always remember, but the fringe guys, the players who come up for a short time and are gone or the player who spends a few years with the team, but never has a starting role.
Sometimes you will think back and say, wow, I forgot that guy ever played for the Dodgers. Some of us do not remember the Brooklyn teams that well. But since I read a lot of the team’s history, I will look a guy up just to see what kind of impact he might have made.
One name that popped up to me the other day because I was thinking about the 1959 team, was Chuck Churn. Churn was signed by the Pirates in 1949. By most standards, he was a baseball nomad. But he made it to the majors in 1957 with the Pirates and got into 5 games. He had no record and a 4.32 ERA. Must have felt really good to finally get there after 8 seasons in the minors.
The Red Sox took him in the Rule 5 draft and then sent him to the Indians. He got into 6 games for the Tribe, again having no decisions and his ERA was 6.23.
He was on the move again in the spring of 1958 when the Reds bought him from Cleveland. He did not appear in a game for the Reds. Then in May of 1959, the Reds traded him to the Dodgers for pitcher Dick Hanlon.
Churn was assigned to the Dodgers AAA team at Spokane. He got into 29 games, all as a reliever and he was called up to LA in August. He pitched in 5 games in August and did fairly well.
Then in September, on the 2nd, he got his first big league win with 4 2/3 innings of relief as the Dodgers beat the Cardinals. On the 11th of the month, he won his second as he came in to relieve Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers down 4-2 to the Pirates. LA scored their third run in the 8th, and then scored 2 in the bottom of the 9th to win, 5-4. The loss was the only one of the season for Pirates ace Roy Face who went 18-1.
He would win one more and lose two the rest of the way, he also had his only major league save. His wins were crucial as the Dodgers were locked in a tight pennant race with the Braves and Giants.
He pitched in the second playoff game, coming in to relieve Johnny Podres with the Dodgers down 4-2. He would give up a run, and the Braves led 5-2. But the Dodgers scored 3 in the 9th, and won the game on a Furillo single in the bottom of the 12th.
Churn pitched in game one of the 59 series and gave up 6 runs, 2 were earned. It was his last game ever in the majors. He pitched at Spokane for the Dodgers in 1960 with a 13-7 record. He would pitch until 1967. Churn died in 2017.
Cal Abrams was signed by the Dodgers out of high school in 1942. He went to the minors where he spent several seasons before he made his big league debut in April of 1949.
He played in 8 games that year and got 2 hits in 24 at bats. He broke in wearing #32. The next season he switched to #18. 18 means a lot, he said. The number 18 stands for the Hebrew word for life. He wore 18 a majority of his career.
Abrams was strictly a substitute, he often pinch ran for the slower guys. On October 1st, 1950, the Dodgers, trailing by one game for the NL lead with the Phillies, were at Ebbets Field, playing the last game of the year. If they won, there would be a playoff.
The game was tied, 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning. Both team’s aces were locked in this duel. Roberts for the Phillies and Don Newcombe for the Dodgers.
Newcombe, hitting for himself, made an out. Abrams walked and went to second on an infield out by Pee Wee Reese, who had 3 hits off of Roberts including a homer for the only run.
Duke Snider came to the plate and laced a single to center field. Third base coach Milt Stock waved him home and he was gunned down at the plate on a perfect throw by CF Richie Ashburn who caught the ball on one hop. Inning over. Jackie Robinson was on deck. It was probably Abrams defining moment as a Dodger.
In the bottom of the inning, Dick Sisler, yep, George’s boy, hit a three-run homer to win the pennant for the Phillies. They weren’t called the Whiz kids for nothing.
Abrams had a .419 OBP in 1951. He hit .280 for the year in 67 games. Charlie Dressen, the Dodger manager at the time, who was known to be cruel sometimes, did not play him when the fans had a Cal Abrams Day at Ebbets Field. The next season he was traded in June to the Reds for Rudy Rufer. After the season, he was part of the package the Red Sent to Pittsburgh for Gus Bell.
Cal would be in the majors until 1956. He played for Baltimore and the White Sox too. He passed away in 1997 at 72 years old.
The last guy I would like to profile is Dick Gray. Gray. When he was 18, Gray attended a tryout camp for the Dodgers at Vero Beach. He was signed and played two years in the system before his career was interrupted by military service for the Korean War.
He did not go to Korea. He contracted Pneumonia and spent his entire time at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He played on the ball team there. One of his teammates was Whitey Herzog.
Upon his discharge, Gray joined Fort Worth of the Texas League for two years. In 1957 he went to St Paul of the American Association and posted career bests with a .297 average, 16 homers and 111 RBIs.
The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to LA over the winter. Gray went to spring training with the team and made the roster out of spring training.
The now Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season in San Francisco at Seals Stadium against the newly transplanted Giants.
Batting 6th, and playing third was Dick Gray, a rookie nestled among the famous Boys of Summer. Snider, Reese, Hodges, and Furillo were in the lineup along with Campy’s back up, Rube Walker.
The Giants pounded the Dodgers 8-0 behind Ruben Gomez. But Gray had 2 hits in 4 at bats. A nice start to his career.
The next day, the Dodgers would return the favor. In the second inning, Gray hit the first home run in Los Angeles Dodgers history off of Ramon Monzant. And the rout was on. LA won 13-1. Gray had three hits and drove in 3. Duke Snider hit the second Dodger homer later in the game, and Podres cruised to the win.
The Dodgers lost the third game of the series, and the teams headed south to the Coliseum to play the Dodgers first home game on the 18th of April.
Brooklyn legend, Carl Erskine was the Dodger starter against Al Worthington of the Giants. 78,682 fans were in attendance to watch their new baseball team play its first game.
The Giants scored single runs in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th innings. The Dodgers scored 2 in the 3rd and 3 in the 5th. They were up 5-3 when Gray came to bat in the 7th.
There was one out and a 3-0 count on Gray when Johnny Antonelli missed with a pitch and Gray drove it over the fence to left-center field for the first LA Dodger homer at the coliseum. It did not go over the screen in left, but the chain link fence just to the left of the screen. LA won the game, 6-5. Clem Labine got the save, and Erskine the win.
Erskine would win only 3 more the rest of the year. His arm was in bad shape, and he would retire after the 59 season. For the Dodgers, 58 was not a very good year.
For Gray, he would end up playing only 58 games. He finished with a .249 average and 9 homers. The next season, he played 21 games and then was sent to the Cardinals for Lloyd Merritt and outfielder Chuck Essegian. The trade would make an impact on the Dodgers championship run as Essegian would be Alston’s go to pinch-hitter. And he would hit two pinch-hit homers in the World Series.
As for Gray, he played parts of two seasons with the Cardinals. He then played two years with the Pirates organization at AAA Columbus, then retired.
After his retirement, Gray lived in Anaheim with his wife and three daughters. He worked for the Buena Park School District maintenance department for many years retiring in 1993. He would attend card shows signing autographs. He passed away in 2013 3 days before his 82nd birthday.
Three players, all who had a hand in some historical moments in Dodger history, and mostly forgotten by the fans of the team.
I included a photo of the model I built of my dad’s ship, the USS Nevada. He was on her when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place.
Who knows who the player pictured in the lead is?
The Athletic ranks the Phillies defeat 5th on the franchise most devastating defeat list. I wonder where the Dodgers defeat lands on their most devastating defeat list. They’ve had two in a row on that list.
Very interesting article in the Times on Trevor Bauer. He wants to pitch in MLB again, most likely won’t, and has considered suing, but most likely won’t. He was never charged, the woman has basically admitted it was a setup, but, that won’t matter. He could be forgiven out west, but across conservative America the blow back wouldn’t be worth it to MLB. We sure could have used him.
Been thinking about what Jeff said at the end of the previous thread. The dbacks year. In May they were 11 games over .500. Still trailed the Dodgers. They finished 2 games over .500, playing sub .500 all summer, had a pythWL% of less than their record all year, were in a competitive WC race at the end of the year, and came into the playoffs hot. The Dodgers were 24-4 in August and coasted pretty much all of September. They fell asleep in October. Not sure how Texas played late but it might be similar.
The “best” teams aren’t there. The hottest teams from mid September to late October are. Texas will no doubt open as favorites. And a World Series starting a few days before November? It all seems nuts to me.
If anyone watching these playoffs doesn’t realize it’s a total crapshoot and indicative of almost nothing but luck and opportunity, good luck to you in life
Problem: Playoffs are a crapshoot and often the best team doesn’t win.
Question: In the Olympics, does the winner of the 100m get a gold medal and the winner of a long distance race get only a handshake or fist bump?
Question 2: Why is the post season given so much more importance than the actual season? (I’m guessing Badger will let me know the truth, that being “money is always the answer”)
Statement: The best team in baseball this year may actually be the one with the most wins during the regular season (Atl) rather than the one who got hot for a few games after the season (Az or Tex).
Proposed Solution: Why not give an award (trophy, money) to the team with the best record in the distance race (162 game schedule) as well as the award given to the team who wins a short post season sprint (tournament).
Why must I be told I should have tremendous admiration for the team who got into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and then played very well for a short period of time, while having total disdain for a team who battled through a very long schedule and proved themselves to be the best before having a short term slump?
One analyst on yard barker thinks the Dodgers are leaning towards bringing back Lance Lynn. Only if he drops 50 pounds.
Found this gem from Jack Harris. Add David Peralta to the long list of LAD players/pitchers playing through injuries.
https://twitter.com/ByJackHarris/status/1717237946330632249?s=20
Then I found this response.
https://twitter.com/JerseyShoreScre/status/1717238851909898515?s=20
This information does NOT lend itself that it is all a crapshoot. Peralta should not have been on the postseason roster, and Ryan Pepiot should have started one of the games. Instead, it was their best and HOTTEST pitcher who did not throw one pitch. That is not on the stars not being aligned, but due to negligence of Dave Roberts. Waiting for Game 4???? If getting hot at the time of the playoffs is a criteria for winning, then why did Ryan Pepiot not only not start Game 3, but did not throw one pitch. Why have an injured David Peralta when there was a healthy Amed Rosario and healthy Michael Busch sitting home? And for those that say it was AF who left them off, why didn’t Roberts speak up and demand Rosario instead of an injured Peralta? Or maybe they like a manager who will not speak up. Just speculating, not accusing.
I am not blaming Peralta, just like I did not blame Gonsolin or Kershaw. Injured players at the MLB level are not going to come out unless they come out screaming and kicking.
Dusty Baker is retiring. There will be a press conference on Thursday to announce his retirement.
He is the 12th manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins and the first Black man to do it. Ten of the 11 other managers who have accumulated at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame — Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (2,093 wins), who isn’t yet eligible, is the only exception. He is now #7 on the all-time win list.
Baker’s 57 postseason wins — over 13 postseason appearances — rank fourth all-time, just ahead of Bochy (53).
Baker still wants to be involved in baseball. I love this quote from him:
“I’ve still got a lot to offer; baseball has been my life,” Baker said. “I have a lifetime of knowledge, much more than those who have never played the game.”
Craig Counsell will be interviewing with NYM. Is there any doubt as to who the NYM manager will be next season? David Stearns loves Counsell. The only question is does he want to leave his hometown to go to NY. He went to high school in Milwaukee. Born in South Bend and went to college in South Bend. He has never played or managed in a big city, save a half year with LAD in 1999.
Signed 4 free agent contracts with Milwaukee to finish his career (2007-2011).
I am sure Steve Cohen will entice him with a healthy contract. NYM will be better with Craig Counsell than they were with Buck Showalter, who is a candidate for the LAA job.
Awesome model Jeff.
Here is a photo of the Nevada after repairs. She was the only battleship to actually get underway during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Dylan Hernandez with an interesting look at the “out of touch” owner Mark Walter this morning. “The Dodgers won’t do anything significant unless a bargain is involved” says Hernandez.
ok, here comes the off season excitement. Hope there’s a bargain available.