Text of the 9th inning Vin Scully call
Our consignor’s accompanying handwritten LOA reads, “Here is the Koufax perfect game ticket. Holes in ticket designate that the tickets were complimentary, which makes sense. My father was given the tickets by his company. Needless to say my Dad’s new boss was sorry he gave tickets away to what is considered the greatest game pitched between two pitchers!”
Wiki recount
I did not know this:
Koufax had not won a game in three weeks; not since Juan Marichal hit Koufax’s catcher, John Roseboro, in the head with a baseball bat. The Dodgers were playing at home against the eighth-place Chicago Cubs. Bob Hendley, the pitcher for the Cubs, was just up from the minor leagues and had a 2–2 record.
Wins have gone out of style, but when your ace of aces is putting up a record of 18 – 3, you can’t help but wonder how he stacks up historically against some of the greatest winning percentages since the Dodgers moved West. Clayton would need one more win to match Orel with the best winning percentage of any Los Angeles Dodgers ( maybe he can do that his weekend), but as it stands now, Clayton is tied with six other pitchers for the eleventh best winning percentage of any starter who has made at least 20 starts since 1958.
With eighteen wins in only twenty four starts, Kershaw is winning three out of every four games he starts. Win stats may not be the winning flower in the botanical competition anymore, but how can you not love that stat?
It does seem that every game Clayton starts he is making history.
Rk Player W-L% GS Year Age Lg W L IP SO ERA FIP ERA+ 1 Greg Maddux .905 28 1995 29 NL 19 2 209.2 181 1.63 2.26 260 2 Randy Johnson .900 30 1995 31 AL 18 2 214.1 294 2.48 2.08 193 3 Ron Guidry .893 35 1978 27 AL 25 3 273.2 248 1.74 2.19 208 4 Cliff Lee .880 31 2008 29 AL 22 3 223.1 170 2.54 2.83 167 5 Max Scherzer .875 32 2013 28 AL 21 3 214.1 240 2.90 2.74 145 6 Tom Seaver .875 23 1981 36 NL 14 2 166.1 87 2.54 3.58 140 7 Roger Clemens .870 33 2001 38 AL 20 3 220.1 213 3.51 3.29 128 8 David Cone .870 28 1988 25 NL 20 3 231.1 213 2.22 2.58 145 9 Orel Hershiser .864 34 1985 26 NL 19 3 239.2 157 2.03 2.73 171 10 Whitey Ford .862 39 1961 32 AL 25 4 283.0 209 3.21 3.14 115 11 Clayton Kershaw .857 24 2014 26 NL 18 3 177.1 210 1.67 1.88 213 12 Daisuke Matsuzaka .857 29 2008 27 AL 18 3 167.2 154 2.90 4.03 160 13 Jason Bere .857 24 1994 23 AL 12 2 141.2 127 3.81 4.61 123 14 Roger Clemens .857 33 1986 23 AL 24 4 254.0 238 2.48 2.81 169 15 Dwight Gooden .857 35 1985 20 NL 24 4 276.2 268 1.53 2.13 229 16 Mike Nagy .857 28 1969 21 AL 12 2 196.2 84 3.11 4.10 124
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Generated 9/9/2014.
As for how Clayton stands against LA Dodger starters:
Rk Player W-L% GS Year Age Tm W L IP ERA FIP ERA+ 1 Orel Hershiser .864 34 1985 26 LAD 19 3 239.2 2.03 2.73 171 2 Clayton Kershaw .857 24 2014 26 LAD 18 3 177.1 1.67 1.88 213 3 Sandy Koufax .833 40 1963 27 LAD 25 5 311.0 1.88 1.85 159 4 Tommy John .813 22 1974 31 LAD 13 3 153.0 2.59 2.74 132 5 Clayton Kershaw .808 33 2011 23 LAD 21 5 233.1 2.28 2.47 161 6 Brad Penny .800 33 2007 29 LAD 16 4 208.0 3.03 3.63 147 7 Rick Rhoden .800 26 1976 23 LAD 12 3 181.0 2.98 3.90 113
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Generated 9/9/2014.
The most recent season on that list that does not belong to Clayton belongs to Penny, and I’ll be honest, I simply don’t remember the hair as having that kind of record. I can remember seasons 20 – 40 years ago better than I can remember a season that happened just seven years ago.
With only 18 games left, time is running out to make a significant move, but last night the trio of Kershaw / Kemp / Uribe added 25 points to the team, popping the NFBC Moustachball team entry from 10th to 7th in a matter of three hours.
Needing to make a move in WHIP and ERA, Salazar/Fister/Niese/Kershaw all took the mound, and all delivered except Salazar. Right now Matt Kemp is the best producing outfielder on the team, while Juan Uribe replaced Chris Johnson at 3rd base.
| Rank | Team | Batting Pts | Pitching Pts | Overall Pts | ||
| 1 | Greg Morgan, Dale Morgan | 2,020.5 | 1,508.0 | 3,528.5 | ||
| 2 | Stephen Fiore | 1,701.0 | 1,746.5 | 3,447.5 | ||
| 3 | Kieran Lalonde, Lindy Hinkelman | 1,607.0 | 1,807.0 | 3,414.0 | ||
| 4 | Michael Makula | 1,809.5 | 1,599.5 | 3,409.0 | ||
| 5 | Chas Nelson | 1,756.5 | 1,649.0 | 3,405.5 | ||
| 6 | Nickolaus Sackett, Brian Slack | 1,593.0 | 1,805.5 | 3,398.5 | ||
| 7 | Meercat john | 1,749.5 | 1,618.0 | 3,367.5 | ||
| 8 | Rob Silver | 1,731.5 | 1,633.5 | 3,365.0 | ||
| 9 | Neal Moses, Charlie Casey | 1,690.0 | 1,669.5 | 3,359.5 | ||
| 10 | Alan Greenberg | 1,759.0 | 1,599.0 | 3,358.0 |
MLB Standings snapshot on Sept 8th, 2014
- Orioles cruising to AL East pennant with 9. 5 game lead
- Royals continue to hold off the Tigers with a 1.5 game lead. The new Indian rotation is keeping the Indians within shouting distance of both the AL Central and the wild card. Everyone knows what Corey Kluber is doing but how many realize that the Indians are now sporting a big three? With Kluber/Carrasco/Salazar the Indian rotation has been brilliant ever since Carlos Carrasco was inserted into the rotation, after a stellar season in the bullpen. Might surprise most folk to know that since Aug 10th, Carrasco has been the best pitcher in the AL. If not I dare you to find someone better. Six starts, thirty-eight innings, forty-two strikeouts, four walks, three earned runs. Danny Salazar is not having a Carrasco run, but with each start he seems to be finding his 2013 mojo. His last start was a complete game shutout, giving him eighteen scoreless innings over his last three starts.
- The Angels have obliterated the AL West with a 42 – 20 record since July 1st, leaving Oakland / Seattle battling for the wild card play in-game. Dustin Ackley has yet to break a 100 OPS+, but those who pay attention can note that Ackley has an .800 OPS since July 1st. Which in today’s world is purty good.
- The Brewers collapsed at the wrong time losing eleven of their last twelve, and three of four to the Cardinals, leaving the Cardinals atop the NL Central. The Pirates appear to be coming alive at just the right moment as they swept their weekend series with the Cubs putting them into the lead for the 2nd team for the wild card play in-game.
- NL East is all about the Nationals, with the Braves hoping to break into the wild card play in-game.
- The Dodgers felt some heat from the Giants in the past week, but luckily played their patsies this past weekend, sweeping the series, and keeping the Giants at arm’s length. This week the two rivals will get to go at each other as the Dodgers search for a knockout series. Adrian Gonzales is trying to match Buster Posey but it simply can’t be done. Posey since Aug 12th, has ninety nine plate appearances and:39 hits, 15 XBH, .415 BA, .745 slug%. If the Giants take down the Dodgers, it would hard not to point to Posey as the NL MVP because he’s the guy carrying that club. Blanco be dammed.
MLB Standings on Sept 8th, 1955
The only Brooklyn Dodger World Championship team did things in style in 1955, with a 10 – 2 thumping of the Braves, clinching the NL Pennant on Sept 8th. This was the earliest a NL pennant had ever been clinched. The game featured three hits by Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges. Future 1955 MVP Roy Campanella would get hit be a pitch in the first inning, and be removed from the game but the rest of the lineup picked him up. The Dodgers put up four runs in the 1st and never looked back. Roger Craig started the game but it was Karl Spooner who finished it with five shutout innings.
Karl Spooner had one of the most interesting and short-lived careers you will ever hear about.
Southpaw pitcher Karl Spooner exploded onto the Major League Baseball scene with two record-setting games at the end of the 1954 season. His flame quickly faded following a shoulder injury during spring training 1955, and he struggled through that season. A member of the only Brooklyn Dodger team to win a World Series, his major league career came to a humiliating end in Game Six of the 1955 Fall Classic.
Spooner had just thrown two complete game victories before winning this game with five relief innings giving him three victories in a row and a 8 – 5 record. Karl would never win another MLB game.
The 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers continue to be one of the most interesting and written about teams in baseball history and Karl Spooner deserves his own spot. Not many have ever started a career so brightly and left so quickly. Karl did not even have a long life, dying at the age of 52 in Vero Beach.
Seems like just yesterday the Diamondbacks and Dodgers were squaring off so I covered them, and their all rookie outfield at that time. Not much has changed since then, so let’s take a look at who the Dodgers will face on the mound.
The Diamondback rotation has had a woeful year with eleven different starters taking the mound. The original rotation of Wiley , McCarthy, Arroyo, Cahill, and Delgado has seen it’s share of movement. Miley is the only original rotation piece who was able to stay in the rotation all year. McCarthy was traded to the Yankees. Arroyo went down with a season ending injury. Cahill was removed from the rotation in April, removed from the bullpen in May, sent to the minors, and is now back in the rotation not because he’s earned it, but simply because everyone else sucks harder. Delgado suffered a similar fate, and is also back in the rotation.
Hard to give much hope to the Diamondbacks when you look at the names they have used this year. With McCarthy gone, the only real viable rotation piece you could count on for 2015 would be Miley. Nuno has done well since coming from the Yankees for McCarthy but if Nuno is going to be a major piece of the Diamondback rotation, I suspect he does not last a full year.
The Diamondbacks have two glimmers of hope. Daniel Hudson pitched his first major league game in two years when he pitched an inning of relief this week. Maybe he can get back to being the ace of the Diamondback staff by the time 2015 rolls around. Two surgeries removed from his breakout season in 2011, he has made only nine starts in the last three years, so counting on anything from him would not be wise. The other glimmer of hope is Archie Bradley, but the Diamondbacks have to hope that 2014 was an outlier because the highly touted prospect did nothing to suggest he was ready to be the foundation of the new Diamondback rotation.
Player GS Year Age ERA FIP ERA+ Wade Miley 29 2014 27 4.18 4.04 91 Josh Collmenter 24 2014 28 3.81 3.96 100 Brandon McCarthy 18 2014 30 5.01 3.81 76 Chase Anderson 18 2014 26 3.75 4.30 101 Bronson Arroyo 14 2014 37 4.08 4.31 93 Trevor Cahill 13 2014 26 5.06 3.78 75 Vidal Nuno 10 2014 26 3.23 3.70 118 Mike Bolsinger 9 2014 26 5.50 4.00 69 Randall Delgado 2 2014 24 5.85 3.84 65 Andrew Chafin 1 2014 24 0.00 3.13 Zeke Spruill 1 2014 24 4.82 2.59 82
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Generated 9/5/2014.
The Dodgers get to see Nuno, Chase Anderson, and Trevor Cahill. Miley was originally going to pitch on Sunday but Kirk Gibson realized that Scott Van Slyke was going to be back from paternity leave and wisely moved Miley into the next week.
This is a trio of pitchers the Dodgers should pound. Will they?
No!!!
But if you throw out Beltre’s super year, Pedro’s 1983, and all the years of the greatest Dodger 3rd baseman (Ron Cey), he is:) Kind of interesting the possible future HOF Adrian Beltre only had one OPS+ season above 120 in which he had at least 250 plate appearances. Beltre has had five of them since leaving LA.
Rk Player OPS+PA Year HR BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Adrian Beltre 163 657 2004 48 .334 .388 .629 1.017 *5/H6 2 Pedro Guerrero 150 664 1983 32 .298 .373 .531 .904 *5/H3 3 Ron Cey 143 359 1981 13 .288 .372 .474 .846 *5/H 4 Ron Cey 143 600 1976 23 .277 .386 .462 .848 *5/H 5 Ron Cey 142 579 1979 28 .281 .389 .499 .888 *5/H 6 Justin Turner 140 282 2014 5 .327 .394 .458 .852 *5H64/3 7 Ron Cey 139 662 1975 25 .283 .372 .473 .845 *5 8 Ron Cey 134 667 1978 23 .270 .380 .452 .833 *5/H 9 Billy Grabarkewitz 134 640 1970 17 .289 .399 .454 .852 *564/H 10 Pedro Guerrero 131 594 1984 16 .303 .358 .462 .819 *5983/H7 11 Tim Wallach 127 466 1994 23 .280 .356 .502 .859 *5/H 12 Mike Sharperson 124 372 1992 3 .300 .387 .394 .781 45H/6 13 Casey Blake 123 565 2009 18 .280 .363 .468 .832 *5/H37 14 Todd Zeile 121 672 1997 31 .268 .365 .459 .824 *5/H 15 Ron Cey 121 630 1980 28 .254 .342 .452 .794 *5 16 Jim Gilliam 121 432 1965 4 .280 .374 .384 .758 *57H/49
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Generated 9/4/2014.
I doubt this has ever been done before. I did some research and could not find any year where three players associated with the Dodgers led their respective league in home runs. In this case each of these players are at a minimum age appropriate for their league, so not a case of 29-year-old Brock Peterson leading the PCL in home runs in 2013 with 25.
Joc Pederson led the PCL AAA league with his 33 home runs.
Rk Name Age Tm Aff PA HR BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Joc Pederson* 22 ABQ LAD 553 33 100 149 .303 .435 .582 1.017 2 Adam Duvall 25 FRE SFG 394 27 30 82 .298 .360 .599 .959 3 Brennan Boesch* 29 SLK LAA 407 25 29 86 .332 .381 .636 1.017 4 Kris Bryant 22 IWA CHC 297 21 43 85 .295 .418 .619 1.036 5 Luis Jimenez 26 SLK LAA 501 21 24 75 .286 .321 .505 .826 6 Xavier Scruggs 26 MEM STL 538 21 53 114 .286 .370 .494 .864 7 Andrew Brown 29 LVG NYM 446 21 52 87 .283 .372 .519 .892 8 Mark Canha 25 NOR MIA 537 20 57 112 .303 .384 .505 .889 9 Ben Paulsen 26 CSP COL 497 20 58 119 .294 .378 .533 .912
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/4/2014.
Scott Schebler led the Southern AA League with his 28 home runs. Darnell Sweeney known more for his speed than power shows up on the leaderboard with 14, which is the same amount as the new MLB Diamondback starting 3rd baseman Jake Lamb hit.
Rk Name Age Tm Aff PA HR BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB 1 Scott Schebler 23 CNG LAD 560 28 45 110 .280 .365 .556 .921 272 2 Kris Bryant 22 KNX CHC 297 22 43 77 .355 .458 .702 1.160 174 3 OKoyea Dickson 24 CNG LAD 520 17 38 67 .269 .340 .471 .810 217 4 Juan Duran 22 PEN CIN 364 17 23 130 .243 .297 .464 .761 157 5 Taylor Motter 24 MTG TBR 506 16 34 71 .274 .326 .436 .762 197 6 Jake Lamb 23 MOB ARI 439 14 50 99 .318 .399 .551 .949 206 7 Cedric Hunter* 26 MSS ATL 470 14 56 52 .295 .386 .495 .881 198 8 Darnell Sweeney 23 CNG LAD 586 14 77 117 .288 .387 .463 .850 227 9 Cameron Seitzer 24 MTG TBR 519 14 53 89 .242 .328 .396 .723 178
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Generated 9/4/2014.
Justin Chigbogu led the Pioneer Rookie League with his 20 home runs. Yet, Julian Leon probably had the much more impressive season. Leon only hit 12 home runs but he also only struck out 53 times while putting up a robust .987 OPS. Chigbogu was pretty much home run or strike out with 101 K’s in only 287 plate appearances.
Rk Name Age Tm Aff PA HR BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Justin Chigbogu* 19 OGD LAD 287 20 26 101 .248 .321 .520 .840 2 Aristides Aquino 20 BIL CIN 307 16 15 66 .292 .342 .577 .919 3 Ryan OHearn* 20 IDF KCR 293 13 39 59 .361 .444 .590 1.034 4 Julian Leon 18 OGD LAD 262 12 30 53 .333 .420 .568 .987 5 Trevor Mitsui 21 MSO ARI 290 12 16 60 .330 .386 .545 .932 6 Stewart Ijames 25 MSO ARI 125 12 22 26 .327 .448 .713 1.161 7 Argenis Aldazoro* 21 BIL CIN 228 11 11 39 .325 .356 .575 .931 8 Patrick Palmeiro 24 GRF CHW 221 10 15 62 .263 .312 .463 .776
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/4/2014.
With the Giants closing in fast, Don Mattingly put the club in to the hands of a guy who might have been voted least likely to be pitching in the major leagues last March, but Carlos Frias was more than up to the task, hurling six shutout innings against the Nationals.
Kenley Jansen undid all the great work that Carlos Frias put into the give away game when he gave up three runs in the top of the 9th. Most of the damage came on a two run bomb by Adam LaRoche. KJ was saved the loss by a sun fly ball off the bat of Justin Turner as the Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the 9th. Playing right field during day games has turned many right fielders into little leaguers so it was not surprising when Werth misplayed the deep fly by Turner. What was surprising was that Andre Ethier was actually on base when it happened so the Dodgers were able to tie the game. Turner had earlier blasted a two run home run to give the Dodgers a 2 – 0 lead entering the 9th. I guess it does not matter who is playing 3rd, Turner or Uribe, someone is going to hit a home run.
Joc Pederson struck out looking against Soriano once again in a key spot in the 9th inning to keep the game tied after regulation.
In a strange twist, it was Pedro Baez getting the last out in the 9th. You had a catcher turned pitcher, being replaced by a 3rd baseman turned pitcher. Baez stayed on for the 10th and retired the big three Werth / Desmond / Harper with the latter two coming on strike outs. It just might be Baez who starts to get more leveraged innings since the Dodgers came up empty in their pursuit of bullpen help.
With Clayton recording his fifth straight 200 K season, his cumulative strikeout total has now reached 1408. Still just twenty-six years old, this is a staggering number only accomplished by the games best pitchers.
Player SO From To Age W L IP H ER BB ERA+ Bert Blyleven 1728 1970 1977 19-26 122 113 2143.2 1880 664 553 134 Walter Johnson 1686 1907 1914 19-26 179 115 2442.0 1873 439 491 174 Sam McDowell 1663 1961 1969 18-26 89 80 1590.0 1207 522 788 117 Dwight Gooden 1541 1984 1991 19-26 132 53 1713.2 1467 554 505 122 Felix Hernandez 1487 2005 2012 19-26 98 76 1620.1 1484 579 480 128 Don Drysdale 1487 1956 1963 19-26 123 90 1945.0 1752 673 547 124 Fernando Valenzuela 1464 1980 1987 19-26 113 82 1805.2 1549 618 664 116 Clayton Kershaw 1408 2008 2014 20-26 94 49 1349.1 1011 373 418 152 Christy Mathewson 1376 1901 1907 20-26 174 92 2275.0 1925 538 546 136 Hal Newhouser 1296 1939 1947 18-26 131 96 1894.0 1604 577 862 139 Bob Feller 1292 1936 1945 17-26 112 57 1520.1 1199 532 850 136 Catfish Hunter 1253 1965 1972 19-26 115 96 1881.2 1589 670 572 101
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Generated 9/3/2014.
Kind of cool that Drysdale / Fernando / Clayton sit in a row. Probably going to end 2014 in the same spot. Also a reminder of just how great his counterpart Felix Hernandez has been in the AL.
Phil Gurnee
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 