Los Angeles Dodgers

51 Pages·2014·7.131 MB·English

by  Marty Gitlin

LOS ANGELES
DODGERS
by Marty Gitlin
An Imprint of Abdo Publishing
www.abdopublishing.com
www.abdopublishing.com
Published by Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166,
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group,
Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
SportsZone™ is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing.
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota
052014
092014
Editor: Chrös McDougall
Copy Editor: Nicholas Cafarelli
Interior Design and Production: Kazuko Collins
Cover Design: Craig Hinton
Photo Credits: Al Behrman/AP Images, cover; AP Images, 1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 15,
16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31, 42 (middle, bottom), 43 (top); Bain News Service, 10,
42 (top); Hulton Archive/Getty Images, 23; Yarnold /AP Images, 32; Michael
Caulfield/AP Images, 34, 43 (middle); Rusty Kennedy/AP Images, 36, 43
(bottom); Lenny Ignelzi /AP Images, 39; David J. Phillip/AP Images, 41; David
Zalubowski /AP Images, 44; Mark J. Terrill/AP Images, 47
Library of Congress Control Number 2014933056
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gitlin, Marty.
Los Angeles Dodgers / by Marty Gitlin.
p. cm. — (Inside MLB)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62403-474-9
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball team)—History—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
GV875.L6G58 2015
796.357’640979494—dc23
2014933056
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Chapter .............Finally! 4
2
Chapter .............The First Dodgers, 10
3
Chapter .............Coming Up Short, 16
4
Chapter .............Bye, Bye, Brooklyn, 24
5
Chapter .............From Garvey to Manny, 32
Timeline, 42
Quick Stats, 44
Quotes and Anecdotes, 45
Glossary, 46
For More Information, 47
Index, 48
About the Author, 48
1
CHAPTER
FINALLY!
I
t did not seem to matter when the Brook-
lyn Dodgers won 98 games and the 1955
National League (NL) pennant. It did not
seem to matter that pitcher Don New-
combe compiled a brilliant 20–5 record
that year. It did not seem to matter that
outfielder Duke Snider smashed 42 home
runs or that the team led the NL in every
important offensive statistical category.
The Dodgers were bound to
HHHHooootttt,,,, HHHHooootttt,,,, HHHHooootttt
lose to the New York Yankees
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in the World Series. They had
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always lost to the Yankees in the
ooff tthhee rreegguullaarr sseeaassoonn.. TThheeyy wwoonn
World Series. They had fallen tthheeiirr ffiirrsstt 1100ggaammeess aanndd ssoooonn hhaadd aa
2222222–––222 rrreeecccooorrrddd... BBByyy JJJuuunnneee 222333,,, ttthhheee DDDooodddgggeeerrsss
to the mighty American League
ooowwwnnneeeddd aaa 444999–––111666 mmmaaarrrkkk... TTThhheeeyyy cccoooaaasssttteeeddd
(AL) champions in 1941, 1947, ttthhheee rrreeesssttt ooofff ttthhheee wwwaaayyy aaannnddd wwwooonnn ttthhheee tttiiitttllleee
bbbyyyy aaa wwwhhhoooppppppppiiinnngggg 111333///////////¹¹¹¹ ggggaaaammmmeeeessss....
1949, 1952, and 1953. So when ²²²²²²
the 1955 World Series began,
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11995555 WWoorrlldd SSeerriieess aaggaaiinnsstt tthhee NNeeww YYoorrkk YYaannkkeeeess..
5
FINALLY!
the Dodgers fans in Brooklyn,
RRRiiiggghhhttt MMMooovvveee,,,
New York, awaited the inevi-
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table. When their beloved team
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lost the first two games of the
iiiinnnnsssseeeerrrrtttteeeedddd SSSSaaaannnnddddyyyy AAAAmmmmoooorrrroooossss iiiinnnnttttoooo GGGGaaaammmmeeee 7777
Series at Yankee Stadium, that ooofff ttthhheee 111999555555 WWWooorrrlllddd SSSeeerrriiieeesss aaattt ttthhheee iiidddeeeaaalll
mmoommeenntt.. AAmmoorroossddiidd nnoott ssttaarrtt tthhee
fear only grew.
gggaaammmeee bbbeeecccaaauuussseee ttthhheee YYYaaannnkkkeeeeeesss ssstttaaarrrttteeeddd
But suddenly the Dodg- aa lleefftt--hhaannddeedd ppiittcchheerr.. HHoowweevveerr,, hhee
rreeppllaacceedd JJiimm GGiilllliiaamm iinn lleefftt ffiieelldd iinn
ers came to life. They won
tthhee ssiixxtthh iinnnniinngg.. TThhaatt wwaass jjuusstt iinn
their next three games at home tttiiimmmeee tttooo cccaaatttccchhh ttthhheee llliiinnneee dddrrriiivvveee oooffffff ttthhheee
bbbaaattt ooofff ttthhheee YYYaaannnkkkeeeeeesss''' YYYooogggiii BBBeeerrrrrraaa aaannnddd
at Ebbets Field. Snider and
ssaavvee ttwwoo rruunnss ffrroomm ssccoorriinngg.. IItt iiss
catcher Roy Campanella com-
ggggeeeennnneeeerrrraaaallllllllyyyy aaaacccccccceeeepppptttteeeedddd tttthhhhaaaatttt tttthhhheeee rrrriiiigggghhhhtttt----
bined for five home runs. The hhhaaanndddeedddGGGiilllllliiaaammm wwwooouuullldddhhhaaavvveee nnneeevvveeerrr
cccaaauuuggghhhttt uuuppp tttooo ttthhhaaattt bbbaaallllll...
Yankees rebounded to win
Game 6. But the Dodgers had a
Sandy Amoros sprinted 150
chance to make up for all their
feet into the corner and made
losses to the Yankees by win-
a spectacular catch. He then
ning the do-or-die Game 7 at
turned and fired the ball back
Yankee Stadium.
into the infield. Shortstop Pee
The Dodgers entered the
Wee Reese caught the ball and
bottom of the sixth inning with
caught the runner off first base
a 2–0 lead. They were led by the
for a double play. The rally was
brilliant pitching of left-hander
squelched.
Johnny Podres. Then the Yan-
That was all Podres needed.
kees put two runners on base
He completed the 2–0 shutout
with nobody out. Yogi Berra
to give the Dodgers their World
sliced a long line drive down
Series title.
the line. Dodgers left fielder
6
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Pitcher Johnny Podres gets a lift from catcher Roy Campanella after the
Dodgers won Game 7 of the 1955 World Series.
The win set off hysteria in bowed, but victorious after so
the New York borough in which many long years.”
the Dodgers resided. Wrote The celebration in Brook-
one Brooklyn fan after the tri- lyn lasted well into the night.
umph, “It was our national It was a moment captured by
pastime (as the phrase goes) Sports Illustrated writer Robert
at its best. And the underdog, Creamer.
Brooklyn—beloved, bedraggled, “[O]n the night of October 4
un-glamorous Brooklyn, always in the year 1955, there really
the also-ran, the runner-up, the was dancing in the streets of
butt of jokes—emerging bloody, Brooklyn, and weeping for
7
FINALLY!
DUKE SNIDER pure joy, too,” he wrote. “For
that was the day the Dodg-
New York baseball teams
ers at long, long last brought
featured some of the greatest center
the baseball championship of
fielders in baseball history during the
the world home. . . . Hundreds
1940s and 1950s. The Dodgers were
crammed into the ancient
no exception. Duke Snider starred for
Hotel Bossert on Montague
the Dodgers from 1949 to 1962.
During that time, Snider both Street to help the Dodgers
scored more than 100 runs and celebrate. Thousands more
racked up more than 100 runs batted milled around outside, cheer-
in (RBIs) six times. He led the NL in ing, yelling, dancing.”
runs scored three times, hit 40 or The Dodgers were great
more home runs every year between again in 1956. Newcombe won
1953 and 1957, and earned spots
a career-high 27 games that
on the NL All-Star team in seven
season. Meanwhile, Snider
straight seasons. Snider was also a
hit a career-high 43 home
top fielder with a strong and accu-
runs. The Dodgers swept a
rate arm.
three-game series with the
“No player contributed more
Pittsburgh Pirates to clinch
to our team both offensively and
the hotly contested NL pen-
defensively,” wrote Dodgers pitcher
nant. That set up a rematch
Carl Erskine. “No player agonized
against a Yankees team seek-
more when he didn't perform well.
ing revenge.
Could he have been better? Some say
The World Series proved
yes. I say they didn't know him the
to be a mirror image of the one
way I did.” Snider was inducted into
played a year earlier. This time
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.
it was Brooklyn winning the
8
LOS ANGELES DODGERS