ACME Dodgers Trivia

Dodgers Trivia

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William Aloysius "Bill" Bergen, probably the worst hitter ever in the majors, played 8 years for the Brooklyn Superbas. His 11-year (1901-1911) career batting average was .170, the all-time lowest for any position player who was a legitimate regular. Bergen also holds the record for the longest consecutive hitless streak, 46 at bats between June 29, 1909 and July 17, 1909. How did he manage to accumulate over 3,000 career major league at bats with such poor offense? He was one of the all-time greatest defensive catchers to play the game. Once, in a minor league game, with no outs and the bases loaded, Bergen picked off all three runners to end the inning. He had a rifle for an arm — in 1909 he had 202 assists in only 112 games. He had more than 100 assists nine times (seven times with Brooklyn). Paul LoDuca had exactly 100 assists in 2003, something no other Dodgers catcher had done since "Zach" Taylor had 102 in 1925. Campanella, Roseboro, Scioscia and Piazza never reached 100 assists in a year. And Bergen accomplished this while averaging only 90 games a season over his career.In each of the two years he didn't have 100 assists, he played less than 60 games.
Casey Stengel, in his own unique way, mentioned the Dodgers once in 1962, while managing the Mets in their first season, "They brought me up to the Brooklyn Dodgers (in 1912), which at the time was in Brooklyn."
It was in 1937 that Willard Mullin, perhaps the finest cartoonist the sporting press has ever known, fixed the Dodgers forever with the loveable nickname of Dem Bums - when, after hearing his cab driver ask "So how did those bums do today?" Mullin decided to sketch an exaggerated version of famed circus clown Emmett R. Kelly, Jr to represent the Dodgers in his much-praised cartoons in the New York World-Telegram. Both the image and the nickname caught on, so much so that many a Dodger yearbook cover featured a Willard Mullin illustration with the Brooklyn Bum.
The first Major League Baseball game ever broadcast on television was a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds on August 26, 1939. The broadcast was aired by W2XBS, an experimental station owned by NBC. The teams split the televised doubleheader.
On 10-01-1951, the first coast-to-coast televised game hits the airwaves and the Dodgers beat the Giants 3-1.
The 1941 Dodgers were the first team to wear plastic batting helmets.
The last Dodger pitcher to start both games of a doubleheader was right-hander Don Newcombe, September 6, 1950 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Newcombe shut out the Phillies 2-0 in the first game and got a no-decision in the second, going seven innings. The Dodgers went on to win the second game 3-2.
The Brooklyn Dodgers won 1,125 games and lost 656 from 1946 through 1956. During this 11 year period they finished first or second every year except 1948 when they ended up in third place. Their six pennants and one World Series win typified their .631 winning percentage during this time frame.
Three players have hit home runs out of Dodger Stadium: Willie Stargell (twice), Mike Piazza and Mark McGwire. The longest was the first: Stargell's 506½ foot blast on August 5, 1969.
Since 1950, 23 different pitchers have posted an ERA below 2.00 while working a minimum of 200 innings. Sandy Koufax is the only pitcher to do it three times -- 1963 (1.88), 1964 (1.74) and 1966 (1.73).
Six Dodgers hit home runs in their first major league at-bats: Clise Dudley (1929), Gordon Slade (1930), Ernie Koy (1938), Dan Bankhead (1947), Jose Offerman (1990) and Garey Ingram (1994).
Dodger right-hander Mike Marshall was the first relief pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award. (1974)
The first night game at Ebbets Field was played June 15, 1938. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer beat the Dodgers that night, tossing his second consecutive no hitter.
In 1939 Larry MacPhail ended an agreement among the three New York teams prohibiting radio broadcasts of their games. He hired Red Barber away from the Cincinnati Reds to come to Brooklyn, where he stayed for fourteen seasons.
Seven Dodgers have hit for the cycle: Tom Burns (1890), James Johnston (1922), Babe Herman (1931 - twice), Dixie Walker (1944), Jackie Robinson (1948), Gil Hodges (1949) and Wes Parker (1970). Babe Herman also accomplished the feat once with the Cubs (1933), making him one of only three major leagers to hit for the cycle three times.
The Batter's Triple Crown means leading the league in Batting Average, Home Runs and RBI's in a given season. The Pitching Triple Crown is when a pitcher leads his league in Wins, ERA and Strikeouts in a given season. Sandy Koufax, even with his career cut short with retirement at age thirty, still managed to win the National League Pitching Triple Crown three times: 1963, 1965 and 1966. The only other Major League pitchers to win three Triple Crowns were Walter Johnson and Grover Alexander.
Only fifteen Major League players have hit four home runs in a game. Babe Ruth never did it. Mantle never did it. Neither did Aaron, Bonds, Sosa or McGwire. But two Dodgers have done it: Gil Hodges (8-31-1950) and Shawn Green (5-23-2002).
Don Sutton never pitched a no-hitter in his major league career, but he did throw five one-hitters. He only won 20 or more games once (21 in 1976) but finished his career with 324 wins (233 as a Dodger), putting him 12th on the all-time list, tied with Nolan Ryan. In 23 seasons, Don Sutton never missed is turn in the starting rotation. He holds lifetime Dodger pitching marks for most games (550), innings (3814), games started (533), wins (233), losses (181), strikeouts (2696), walks (996) and shutouts (52).
Steve Garvey won the 1974 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award after being voted to the team as a write-in candidate.
On May 22, 2003, Darren Dreifort became the third Dodgers pitcher to strike out four batters in one inning, the first since Don Drysdale on April 17, 1965. Pete Richert also did it in 1962.
The only unassisted triple play in World Series history was performed against the Dodgers in the fifth game of the 1920 Series by Cleveland's Billy Wambsganss.
The spit ball was offically banned from baseball in 1920 after Carl Mays threw a spit ball which hit Ray Chapman on the head and killed him. Pitchers who relied on that pitch were allowed to legally use it for the remainder of their careers. The last of those pitchers to retire was the Dodgers' Burleigh Grimes, in 1934, making him the last major league pitcher to legally throw the spitter.
Eight former Dodgers players have managed a team to a World Series title. They are Mike Scioscia (Angels), Tom Lasorda (Dodgers), Dick Williams (Athletics), Gil Hodges (Mets), Leo Durocher (Giants), Casey Stengel (Yankees), George Stallings (Braves) and Fielder Jones (White Sox)
In February, 1934, New York Giant's manager Bill Terry was asked what he thought about Brooklyn's chances in the pennant race that year. His response, "Brooklyn? Haven't heard much about them lately. Is Brooklyn still in the league?" would come back to haunt him at the end of the season. With two games left to play in the season, the Giants were tied with the St Louis Cardinals. They then lost their last two games to the Dodgers, as the Cardinals won the National League Pennant by two games.
Game 4 of the 1941 World Series is one that people still remember. Thanks to Pete Reiser's two-run homer and pinch-hitter Jimmy Wasdell's two-run double, the Dodgers clung to a 4-3 lead after eight innings. And after relief pitcher Hugh Casey retired the first two Yankees in the ninth, the Dodgers were just one out away from evening the Series at two wins apiece. Casey then struck out Tommy Henrich. But the ball got by catcher Mickey Owen (who was charged with a passed ball), and Henrich scampered to first base. That opened the floodgates, as Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon eventually rapped two-run doubles, propelling the Yankees to an improbable 7-4 victory. The Yankees then had a 3-1 advantage, and went on to win game five and the World Series.
Game 4 of the 1947 World Series was, at the time, a true sensation. After eight innings, Yankee starter Bill Bevens was working on a no-hitter, though the Yanks led just 2-1 because the Dodgers scored once in the fifth on two walks and an RBI fielder's choice. In the bottom of the ninth, Bevens retired Bruce Edwards on a long fly, walked Carl Furillo, and got Spider Jorgensen to foul out. One out left for the no-hitter. After pinch-runner Al Gionfriddo stole second base, Pete Reiser was intentionally walked. And then Cookie Lavagetto, pinch-hitting for Eddie Stanky, collected Brooklyn's first hit of the game -- a double off the right-field wall that scored both Gionfriddo and Reiser, thus ending not only Bevens' no-hit bid, but also the game.
In Game 7 of the 1952 World Series the Yankees owned a 4-2 lead in the seventh. Vic Raschi, working in relief, allowed a single and two walks to load the bases with one out. Bob Kuzava replaced Raschi, and retired Duke Snider on a pop to third. Jackie Robinson then lifted a short pop to the right side of the infield, but first baseman Joe Collins lost the ball in the sun. At the last instant, second baseman Billy Martin rushed over and made a shoe-string catch, saving at least one run, and, ultimately, the series.
Jackie Robinson, in addition to all his other historic deeds, was the first major league player to win both the Rookie of the Year Award (1947) and Most Valuable Player honors (1949). Of the sixteen other Dodger Rookies of the Year, Don Newcombe (1949) is the only other one to also win the MVP (1956).
Don Newcombe is the only player ever to win all three major awards: Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and a Cy Young (1956).
Who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers for 15 years and never got a hit or scored a run? Gladys Gooding played the organ at Ebbets Field from 1942 (she was hired by team President Larry MacPhail after he heard her play at a NY Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden) through the last game played there in 1957. In addition to the Dodgers and Rangers, she also played for the New York Knicks of the NBA, making her the only person in history to "play" for professional teams in three different sports.
Dodger Stadium’s original design included a huge fountain in center field, like that in right-center at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.
When the foul poles were installed in 1962, it was discovered that they were positioned completely foul. So a special dispensation was received from the National League so that they were recognized as fair.
When the city of Los Angeles went looking for land to build the stadium, they claimed Chavez Ravine through eminent domain and told the residents that the land would be used for low-income housing, and that they would get first choice of the homes. Oops, just a little fib.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1963 National League pennant thanks in part to the dominance displayed by Sandy Koufax throughout the year. Sandy finished with a 1.88 earned run average, twenty-five wins, and two World Series wins in a four-game sweep versus the New York Yankees. Yogi Berra commented, "I can see how he won twenty-five games. What I don't understand is how he lost five!"
You probably remember that Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon starred in director Ron Shelton's classic 1988 movie Bull Durham. What you might not remember is who was a technical adviser (credited as a "baseball trainer") for the movie. It was manager Grady Little. The Los Angeles Times reports that when the movie was filmed, Little was the first-year manager of the real Durham Bulls. Shelton's impression of Little: "He is way smarter than he wants you to think he is."
On September 18, 2006, the Dodgers became the fourth team in MLB history to hit four consecutive home runs. The batters were Jeff Kent, J D Drew, Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson. The last three homers were hit on three consecutive pitches thrown by Padres pitchers John Atkins and Trevor Hoffman. The other three teams to hit four-in-a-row were the 1961 Braves, 1963 Indians and 1964 Twins. This was the first time back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers had tied a game.
The 2006 season was the franchise’s 45th season at Dodger Stadium, the same number of seasons that the club spent at its long-time Brooklyn home, Ebbets Field (1913-1957).
At the August 24, 2002, memorial service for catcher John Roseboro, Sandy Koufax recalled pitching to Mickey Mantle in the fourth game of the 1963 World Series. In the ninth inning, after two strikes, Koufax said Roseboro signaled to throw both a curveball and a slowball. Even though Koufax had been warned not to pitch slow curveballs to Mantle, he did so anyway, not understanding Roseboro's signals, and struck out Mantle. The Dodgers went on to win the game and the World Series. Afterward, "I asked, 'What was that sign?'" Koufax said. "John said with his grin, 'Well, I wanted you to throw a slow curveball, but if he hit it out I wanted it to be your idea.'"