One of the more detailed pieces of the state of Dodger ball, and who the off-the-field players are and may be was done by Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Roben Farzad this Thursday. The story outlines the groups and their alliances as they line up to battle over each other to see who will be the next king of Chavez Ravine.

What makes the story even more interesting is the insight of Farzad himself, (an Iranian born baseball fan who came to understand the game through following the Dodgers as a child) and how the Dodgers story is similar to many of the largest high profile business deals the world has seen in recent years.  It has international intrigue (the story talks of mysterious Saudi investors, and money from South Korea), media moguls (Fox and Disney), high profile celebrities (Larry King, Magic Johnso), and the always important silent partners with deep pockets.

Roben Farzad

“It really reminds me of the 1980’s and the battle over RJR Nabisco,” Farzad, a longtime business writer and analyst who had never done a sport story before, said this week. “You have all this feeding frenzy and multi-level alliances being built up, with one group adding more high level people to try and top the other, and at this point you don’t know whether you are bidding against other groups or bidding against yourself. It has created a huge buzz in the Los  Angeles business community and in the entrainment businesses to see who can get the Dodgers.”

The Dodgers sale process, all being looked at by current owner Frank McCourt and his designees, will also continue to alter the course of the sale of franchises and all the pieces that go with them, as Farzad pointed out as well.  “The interesting thing is now much media companies, from Disney and Newscorp to Comcast and Time Warner, are looking at the prices and what is going on for the Dodgers franchise,” he added. “You have $1.5 billion being bandied about and it really raises the question of how much the better-run franchises like the Red Sox or even the Yankees, could bring should they ever go up for sale again. Who knows what that ceiling will be?”

New York Yankees at Boston, not suprisingly, accounts for two of those, on April 22 and July 8, from Fenway Park.  The Yankees have one other Sunday Night appearance, April 15 vs. the Angels.  The two-time defending American League Champion Texas Rangers host Chicago in the April 8 SNB opener.

The World Series Champion Cardinals also have three appearances (May 20 and July 15, in addition to Opening Night April 4).

ESPN’s first seven Sunday Night games will feature at least one playoff team and several of MLB’s biggest stars will be on display, including the Angels’ Pujols; the Yankees’ Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano; Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury; Texas’ Josh Hamilton; Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria; Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard and Chase Utley; St. Louis’ Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman; Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp; Atlanta’s Chipper Jones and Brian McCann; Chicago’s Paul Konerko; and Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman.

This season will also mark the debut of analyst Terry Francona, who joins play-by-play commentator Dan Shulman and analyst Orel Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth. Sunday Night games are also available via ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and ESPN Mobile TV.

ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team will again be play-by-play commentator Jon Sciambi and analyst Chris Singleton.  ESPN Radio, entering its 15th season of MLB coverage, will also broadcast a game of the week each Saturday during the regular season, the State Farm Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, and every Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series game.

The Sunday Night Baseball schedule as selected to date follows (all telecasts begin at 8 p.m. ET).  Game selections for the remainder of the season will be made three weeks (June and July 1, 22 and 29) or two weeks (August and September) in advance.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball Schedule
Date     Teams (all telecasts at 8 p.m. ET)
April 8     Chicago White Sox at Texas
April 15     L.A. Angels at N.Y. Yankees
April 22     Yankees at Boston
April 29     Tampa Bay at Texas
May 6     Philadelphia at Washington
May 13     Angels at Texas
May 20     St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers
May 27     Washington at Atlanta
June 3-July 1     TBD
July 8     Yankees at Boston
July 15     St. Louis at Cincinnati
July 22-Sept 23     TBD

I was the first player drug-tested in baseball, and I am the one who asked for it.” – Babe Dahlgren

The recent news that 2011 MVP Ryan Braun is appealing a failed “banned substance” test wasn’t expected, but after hundreds of failed tests for recreatiional or performance-enhancing drugs for baseball players, even the fact that a reigning MVP not thought to be the strerotypical behemnoth wasn’t all that’s shocking.

Let’s face it, we live in an era where its hard to imagine people choosing integrity over the millions that can be made with the popping og a pill or the injecting of a needle. Ryan Braun may indeed be innocent, and if he is, he will have the power, resources and platform to defend himself.

Some other players never got that opportunity.

There was another player who once took a drug test, the first one in known baseball history. It was paid for by then-MLB Commisioner Judge Kenesaw Moutian Landis, and it came back clean. For some reason, Landis and several of the commisioners that followed him, refused to make the results public, or provide ther player with some level of justice.

Instead, Babe Dahlgren, once considered the best fielding first baseman in baseball, was sentenced to a life as a baseball vagabond,  and even after his playing days, plagued with the inaction of a baseball industry that turned it back on him a long time ago.

The whole story is chronicled in the book, Rumor In Town: A Grandson’s Promise to Right a Wrong, written by Dahlgren’s grandson, Matt Dahlgren.

Sadly, two of the most respected figures in baseball history played a large role in Dahglren’s misery, and it is perhaps that reality which is responsible for the lack of coverage and discussion of these events.

From Gotham Baseball’s Spring 2011 Issue, “Going Nine: The Other Babe”

“The guy can do everything, and I have a hunch that he invents plays as he goes along. If an old-timer were to swear to me on a stack of testaments that there was every a greater defensive first baseman than Ellsworth ‘Babe’ Dahlgren of the Yankees I wouldn’t believe him.” John Lardner, The New Yorker, June 13, 1940

According to Matt Dahlgren, Babe was also the victim of a vicious rumor, that he was a marijuana smoker. Mike Lynch of Seamheads.com summarized it best, stating that the rumor was “started by a Hall Of Fame manager, perpetuated by a Hall of Fame executive, and buried by a Hall Of Fame Commissioner.”

Dahlgren started his career in the Boston Red Sox system and was poised to become the team’s first baseman until the Bosox got Philadelphia A’s slugger Jimmie Foxx. Babe hoped for a trade and got one, to the Yankees, where Lou Gehrig was entrenched. Determined to prove that he belonged, Dahlgren took his game to the Yankees’ top farm team in Newark in 1937, where he hit. 340 for the Bears, one of the greatest minor league champions in baseball history.

He would make the Yankees in 1938 as a utilityman, but played in just 27 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter. In 1939, he would make the most of an opportunity he desperately wanted, he just hated the way it happened.

Replacing Gehrig, Dahlgren hit a home run, a double off the top of the fence and two drives that were caught against the fence in a 22-2 rout over Detroit. “I especially admired Gehrig because he was a first baseman like me,” Dahlgren told Newsday’s Joe Gergen in 1988. “I never dreamed one day I’d be in New York to take the man’s place.”

He would hit only .235 that year for the Yanks, but he would hit 15 home runs and drive in 89 runs batting seventh or eighth in a powerful lineup. In the World Series that year, Dahlgren would hit his only World Series home run, helping the Yankees sweep the Reds. The future looked bright for the 27-year old Dahlgren. Then he went home to San Francisco, and his life would never be the same.

Local legend Lefty O’Doul hated the fact the Joe McCarthy, and not he was the manager of the New York Yankees, telling anyone who would listen that “Ol’ Marse Joe” was a bush-button manager and that anyone could manage the Yankees. An Associated Press photographer took a picture of Dahlgren receiving batting tips from O’Doul at a off-season (the reality was that they barely talked that day). Combine the cracks that O’Doul made that day, “The Yankees have to send me their players to learn how to it.” a thin-skinned heavy drinker in McCarthy, and a now-veteran first baseman who was well-liked by his teammates and the local press, and you had the makings of a very bad situation.

Dahlgren had another solid year in 1940, hitting .263 / 12/ 73, and played a brilliant first base, but when the Yankees did not win the pennant. McCarthy seemed to blame Dahlgren, citing a key error down the stretch that cost the Yankees a ball game.

He was sent to the Boston Braves in 1941, and was dealt midway in the season to the Cubs, where he really played well, hitting .263 / 23/ 89 for the season. While he was having the best year of his career to date, McCarthy was telling the New York sportswriters – who all liked Dahlgren, thought he was a superb first baseman, and were watching Johnny Sturm hit just .235 with no power and nowhere near the glove – that Dahlgren’s arms were too short to play first base.

Really.

The longer the season wore on, the longer it looked like McCarthy had had a personal beef with Dahlgren, and the writers pressed McCarthy on the trade. Now, remember, it was the 1941 season, and Joe DiMaggio was setting his magical streak and Ted Williams was hitting .406 for the Red Sox. Dahlgren was happy in Chicago, playing well and finally getting the accolades he deserved.

Then, almost instantly, Dahlgren would spent the rest of his career, from 1942, getting traded from Chicago to St. Louis to Brooklyn (where Branch Rickey would accuse him of smoking marijuana, the first time Dahlgren would hear of the rumor) to Philadelphia (where he became an All-Star) to Pittsburgh (where he would drive in 101 runs and hit .289 in 1944) and finally back to St. Louis, where he would finally be discarded.

In the midst of the incredulous rumor, Dahlgren informed then-Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis of the rumor, and the Judge, according to the book, paid all the expenses for what would prove to be a “clean” drug test for Dahlgren. But Landis and every subsequent Commissioner – up until his death in 1996 – failed to address Babe’s cause.

Dahlgren also died not going who had started the rumor. He had always assumed that it was Rickey, because of the way the situation had played out. It wasn’t until his grandson Matt, who wanted to write the manuscript that would become “Rumor in Town” (Babe’s original manuscript, as well as a letter from Landis proving the rumor existed, were lost in a fire at Babe’s home in 1980), that the origin of the rumor surfaced.

Dahlgren was doing research for his book when someone suggested the aforementioned Marty Appel, arguably the preeminent Yankees historian, for stories about his father.

Appel told him about a conversation he had with New York Times sportswriter John Drebinger in 1973, recalling McCarthy talking to a small group of baseball insiders at the end of the 1940 season. McCarthy, Appel remembered Drebinger telling him, noted that the Yankees would have won the pennant in 1940 had it not been for an error that Dahlgren made in a late-season game against Cleveland. “Dahlgren doesn’t screw up that play if he wasn’t a marijuana smoker.”

Tired of being made a fool for suggesting that the obviously proportionally-limbed Dahlgren’s arms were more than long enough, McCarthy decided to spread a rumor so incredible, so scandalous that few would ever repeat it. But the ones that did cost a good man his career.

“Rumor in Town” might be a promise by a grandson to his grandfather to right a terrible wrong, but one would hope that it also motivate Major League Baseball to right a terrible injustice. To date, the case is one that MLB doesn’t feel needs to be reopened.. And that is a big a tragedy as was the rumor that cost Babe Dahlgren his career.

Our featured bloggers that provided us with the in depth Report Card series that has just concluded are back to give everyone an in depth look at what the off season holds for the major league teams they cover.  A look at what each team needs, what each team has already gained and lost, and some of the youth in each team’s system will be examined in these articles.  You can find all of the author’s information at the bottom of the article.

The Dodgers have looked towards new seasons with unknown expectations in the past. Before the 1947 season, it was unclear how the team would react to the arrival of Jackie Robinson. Prior to opening day, 1958, nobody knew how the Dodgerswould adjust to their new West Coast home.

But those seasons may have been as predictable as the sun rising and setting compared to the current incarnation of the Dodgers heading into 2012. The ownership situation looms over every single question about the team. It is the zit on the nose of the Dodgers; something that nobody wants to look at or talk about but can not be ignored.

While Dodger fans everywhere are thrilled that the McCourt era is over, the future remains a big unknown. (And a word of caution to Dodger fans who say “Any owner would be better than Frank.” Before he arrived the mantra was “Any owner would be better than Fox.”)

So trying to really have an outlook on the team this off season without knowing who will be in charge and signing the checks is a bizarre exercise. Sure there are free agents to sign, players in place and potential trades. But the team is also going into a bankruptcy hearing. Their TV contract is in flux.

And would new ownership mean a new front office and management with GM Ned Colletti and manager Don Mattingly out of their jobs? Would a new owner want to make a splash to win over Dodger fans and bring in a star the way Peter Magowan brought Barry Bonds to San Francisco in 1993? Or would financial realities bring the dreaded words “Fire Sale” to Chavez Ravine?

Already players are leaving the Dodgers for greener pastures. Starting catcher Rod Barajas signed with the Pirates, infielder Jamey Carroll is now with the Twins and former closer Jonathan Broxton is now with the Royals. What better illustration of what a strange financial mess the Dodgers face when Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Kansas City are greener pastures?

Oddly, with all the questions of the team swirling about, there was evidently enough money in the cushions to pay Matt Kemp $160 million to not go anywhere through 2019.

Ted Lilly, Chad Billingsley, Matt Guerrier and Mark Ellis are all signed through 2013.  Also signed through 2013 is Juan Uribe, who hit .293 last year. That’s not his average. That was his slugging percentage. He is owed $16 million over the next two years and sluggers over 30 no longer suddenly find their power anymore.

Andre Ethier is eligible for arbitration and could be a prime trade chip if the new owners need to save some money. Or he could join Juan Rivera and Matt Kemp to form the best outfield in the National League.

James Loney has been a disappointment at first base and will probably be non tendered. Hong-Chih Kuo is also a prime candidate for being non tendered after his strange and awful season.

Hiroki Kuroda, Casey Blake, Jon Garland, Vincente Padilla, Mike MacDougal and Aaron Miles are all free agents. Only Kuroda has any real value as he turns 37 but could give L.A. around 200 innings. He will probably be back as he has indicated he wants to stay in Southern California. Then again, that could lead him to the Angels or Padres.

The Dodgers are hoping that A. J. Ellis and newly signed Matt Treanor can handle the catching duties. Their infield is an absolute mess with a collection ofretreads (Uribe, Ellis) and a rookie in Dee Gordon that they pray won’t have a sophomore jinx. Assuming Loney goes, does that mean the Dodgers will bid for Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols? Once again, it goes back to ownership, whoever that would be.

If Ethier sticks around, the outfield will be remarkably deep. But that’s another ownership question. Will the combination of Rivera, Kemp and Ethier play a whole season together? Literally nobody in the universe knows the answer tothat.

The rotation headed by Cy Young winning ace Clayton Kershaw looks like a strength. Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly had uneven seasons but are talented and can bounce back. Young Nathan Eovaldi showed promise, as did Rubby De La Rosa but he’s probably lost for the year following Tommy John surgery. If Kuroda returns the rotation will be strong. But that’s another management issue.

The bullpen has the talented Javy Guerra and Kenley Jansen but they need a veteran anchor. Will they go for Heath Bell or Ryan Madson? Again, ask the boss whodoesn’t exist yet.

Whoever takes over the team will have some star power in Kemp and Kershaw and have the luxury of filling in some holes within the system. Look for relief stud Shawn Tolleson to get a shot to close out games for the Dodgers. In 83 minor league relief appearances over 97 2/3 innings, he has pitched to a 1.01 ERA, striking out 144 while walking only 23. Why have his arm rot in the minors?

So while nobody knows what will happen in 2012, the Dodgers future is harder to predict than any of the other 29 clubs. It is hard to predict where a journey will take you when nobody seems to have a map. The only thing certain is Frank McCourt will be long gone. Whether that means the Dodgers, who put a winning product on the field in 2011 despite the turmoil, will get back on path to being a pennant contender remains to be seen.

Paul Francis Sullivan
Blog: http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/
Video Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sullybaseball
Twitter: @sullybaseball

These report cards were written by twenty nine talented individuals across the internet that keep a close eye on the team they cover.  It was the first of our “Featured Blogger” series.  The second part, an Off-Season Outlook, will be brought to you the remainder of this week.  The same writers will return in the Spring to provide a 2012 Season Preview about the teams.

This year’s Featured Bloggers are listed below along with their website and the link to their Report Card:

American League East
Baltimore Orioles - Austin Gisriel, Seamheads
Boston Red Sox – Michael Lynch, Seamheads
New York Yankees – William Tasker, The Flagrant Fan
Tampa Bay Rays – Yossi Feins, The Rays Rant
Toronto Blue Jays – Peter DeMarco, Some Thoughts On Baseball

American League Central
Chicago White Sox – Terry Keshner, Planet Back
Cleveland Indians – David Henderson, Tribe Cards
Detroit Tigers – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Kansas City Royals – Todd Fertig, I-70 Baseball
Minnesota Twins – Von Hendry, Seamheads

American League West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Bryan Grosnick, Roto Hardball
Oakland As – Jason Leary, Junk Ball
Seattle Mariners – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Texas Rangers – Dan Edmonson, Chicken Fried Baseball

National League East
Atlanta Braves – Andrew Martin, Baseball Historian
Florida Marlins – Eddie Gilley, Eddie Gilley Blogspot
New York Mets – AC Wayne, Mets Public Record
Philadelphia Phillies – Matthew Buesing, Fire And Ice Sports
Washington Nationals – Aaron Somers , District On Deck

National League Central
Chicago Cubs – Robert Harris, Blue Batting Helmet
Cincinnati Reds – Gary Schatz, Full Of Schatz
Houston Astros – Michael Barr, Fan Graphs
Milwaukee Brewers – Paul Heinz, Paul Heinz.com
Pittsburgh Pirates – Ryan Sendek, Analysis Around The Horn
St. Louis Cardinals – Daniel Shoptaw , C70 At The Bat

National League West
Arizona Diamondbacks – Patrick Lagreid, Baseball On My Brain
Colorado Rockies – Michelle Hoag, Rockies Woman
Los Angeles Dodgers – Paul F Sullivan, Sully Baseball
San Diego Padres – Michael Metzger, Padres Trail
San Francisco Giants – Julian Levine, Giants Nirvana

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com and the founder of i70baseball.com, an official Baseball Digest website covering the Cardinals and Royals.

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BaseballDigest.com aims to keep up that tradition.  This season, we bring you a Report Card on each team in Major League Baseball from writers that cover that team directly.  At the bottom of each write up, you will find the writer’s name, website, and any other pertinent information.  

Nearly every aspect of the Dodgers season was a “Revolting But Can’t Keep From Watching Trainwreck.” From the Stow beating to the divorce proceedings to payroll issues and baseball taking over the team to bankruptcy and Frank McCourt’s last stand, it was an embarrassing year off the field for the Dodgers. The one place that was NOT embarrassing was on the field. Somehow Dodgers manager Don Mattingly ignored the mess around him and posted an 82-79 record. Hardly a playoff contender, but nobody would have blinked an eye if the Dodgers lost 100 games with all of the turmoil of 2011. But not only did they keep their nose above .500 but they have a nice foundation for whichever new owner buys the club for 2012.

Rotation: B+
The most positive thing to come out of the tumultuous 2011 was the emergence of Clayton Kershaw. Only 23 years old, he has 4 years under his belt and blossomed into one of the games brightest pitching stars. He won the pitching triple crown, leading the league in wins (21), ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248.) For people who like cooler new stats he was second in WAR for Pitchers (7.0), had the best WHIP (0.977) and did this while logging 233 1/3 innings and winning a Gold Glove. Not shabby.

Hiroki Kuroda posted career highs in wins and ERA. He won 7 of his final 10 decisions and logged 202 innings. Ted Lilly also won 12 games in nearly 200 innings. He overcame a rough first half to post a 2.96 ERA the second half. Chad Billingsley had a disappointing first year of his new $35 million extension. The Dodgers were hoping for more than a .500 pitcher with a 4.21 ERA. 22 year old Ruby De La Rosa pitched well in 10 starts after a call up. 21 Nathan Eovaldi also had flashes of brilliants following a recall, giving the Dodgers some confidence in their talented young staff. Veteran Jon Garland, brought in for leadership and the ability to log a lot of innings was a non factor.

Bullpen: B-
The bullpen was SUPPOSED to be anchored by Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton. But Broxton struggled in April, was on the disabled list in May and his season was done in June.  Kuo followed up his 2010 All Star performance with a strange injury plagued season that included struggling with an anxiety disorder. Mattingly cobbled together a new bullpen with young Javy Guerra compiling 21 saves with a 2.31 ERA after his May debut. Young pitchers like Kenley Jansen, Scott Elbert and Josh Lindblom contributed. So did veterans Mike MacDougal, Matt Guerreier and Vincente Padilla, who picked up 3 saves before having his season shut down. Considering they lost their two All Star relievers for most of the year, the bullpen was surprisingly deep and effective.

BD Report Cards brought to you by Seamheads

Catchers: C
Dioner Navarro returned to the Dodgers with the hope that he’d land the starting catcher job. He began the year on the disabled list and never got his season going. He was released in August. Rob Barajas fared better, playing in 98 games and hitting 16 homers along the way. A. J. Ellis went back and forth between AAA Albequerque and Los Angeles but was an effective back up when in Chavez Ravine. A knee surgery limited Hector Gimenez to four games all year.

Infield: C
At first base, James Loney’s stock has plummeted. At age 27, his power numbers are unimpressive. His OPS is merely adequate and his run production has gone down. The Dodgers need better production from first base. Second baseman Jamey Carroll batted .290 in 510 plate appearances over 146 games. And still only drove in 17 runs all year.

Rafael Furcal had an injury plagued first half as the starting shortstop. He batted .197 over 37 games. His OPS was .520 and OPS+ was at 47. He was dealt off to St. Louis to make room for 23 year old Dee Gordon. He batted .304 and stole 24 bases in 56 games and was the NL Rookie of the Month for September. Injuries to Juan Uribe and Casey Blake led to Aaron Miles playing in a career high 136 games. The switch hitting veteran collected 125 hits, 122 of them were singles.

Outfield: B-
8, count them, 8 different players started in left field for the Dodgers this year. Tony Gwynn Jr, Jamie Hoffmann, Marcus Thames, Xavier Paul, Jerry Sands, Trent Oeltjen and Jay Gibbons all patrolled what was once Mannywood. Juan Rivera came over from Toronto and provided some stability and a little bit of pop. Sands made a big splash with a double and a few homers out of the gate and played well after a September call up.

As chaotic as left field was, the Dodgers found relative stability in Center and Right Field. Center fielder Matt Kemp, like Kershaw, had his breakthrough year. A legit Triple Crown contender, he led the league in homers, was tied for the top RBI spot and had the highest OPS+ and Total Bases in the league. Throw in 40 steals, a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove and Kemp could be the most complete offensive force in the National League,

Andre Ethier started the season with a 30 game hitting streak and continued to put up terrific numbers in the first half. His production tailed off and after a quick controversy about him playing hurt, was shut down for the year.

Top Offensive Player – MATT KEMP
The complete player, there is very little that Matt Kemp didn’t do in 2011. The most total bases and runs created of any hitter in the National League, Kemp also had the highest WAR in all of baseball at 10.0. At age 26, he is budding into one of the brightest stars in baseball.

Top Pitcher – CLAYTON KERSHAW
It takes a lot to stand out as a pitcher in the National League, with the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels and Ian Kennedy putting up excellent numbers in 2011. But nobody won more, struck out more nor let fewer base runners than Kershaw. And he did so with an unstable infield and erratic bullpen behind him. The Dodgers have a history of developing dominant aces. Kershaw is the latest in that line.

Paul Francis Sullivan
Blog: http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/
Video Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sullybaseball
Twitter: @sullybaseball

Kershaw won the pitching version of the Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (tied Kennedy with 21), ERA (2.28), and strikeouts (248). Additionally, Kershaw had the lowest WHIP (0.972) and hits per nine innings (6.7), and won his first Gold Glove Award. A first time All-Star, Kershaw joined Sandy Koufax (3), Don Drysdale, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Eric Gagne (the last Dodger to win the award in 2003), Mike Marshall, and Don Newcombe (the only Dodger that was a member of the Brooklyn squad when he won) as Dodgers who have won the award.

Kershaw easily beat out second place finisher Roy Halladay, who in turn finished well ahead of teammate Cliff Lee. The key to the 23-yr old left-hander’s season was better control than he had shown in past seasons. His walks per nine innings was a career low 2.1, while he kept his strikeouts per nine innings over nine (9.6 to be exact). Kershaw made 33 starts, threw a pair of shutouts, and tossed five complete games.

The complete NL Cy Young voting:

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Epstein fired manager Mike Quade on Wednesday after just a little over one season in Chicago. The Sun-Times has the story.

Dodgers fans are ecstatic that the McCourts are selling. The LA Times has the full story.

Fans voted for the award on MLB.com, and for the second straight year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Hank Aaron joined fans in voting for the award. The Hall of Fame panel included two new members – personally selected by Hank Aaron – Roberto Alomar and Joe Morgan. They joined panelists from last year, which included Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams and Robin Yount, forming a group comprised of some of the greatest offensive players of all-time who combined for 23,536 hits, 11,445 RBI and exactly 2,800 home runs.

“I congratulate Jose Bautista and Matt Kemp on being this year’s recipients of the 2011 Hank Aaron Award, named for one of the true pillars of our game,” Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said. “Jose has repeated as the American League winner after another brilliant season at the plate, leading Major League Baseball in home runs, slugging and walks. Matt enjoyed an extraordinary year, vying for the National League Triple Crown in the season’s final days and stealing 40 bases on the year. The best is yet to come for both of these young men. I look forward to watching Jose and Matt continue to emulate Hank’s example in the years ahead.”

“It is a real privilege to have my name on the award that recognizes the most outstanding offensive performer in each League,” said Hank Aaron. “I want to congratulate Jose and Matt on their fantastic seasons and express my gratitude to the Hall of Famers and fans who helped select this year’s winners.”

Bautista batted a career-best .302 and led the Majors with 43 home runs. The 31-year-old outfielder added 103 RBI and also led the Majors with a .608 slugging percentage and 132 walks to go along with a .447 on-base percentage (second in Majors), 24 doubles, two triples, 105 runs scored (sixth in the A.L.) and 312 total bases (sixth in the A.L.). The Dominican native became just the fifth player in Major League history to record at least 40 home runs, 130 walks and nine stolen bases in the same season, becoming the first American Leaguer to do so since Babe Ruth in 1930. In addition, the two-time A.L. All-Star was the only player in the Majors to record at least 40 homers, 100 runs scored, 100 RBI and 100 walks with a .600 slugging percentage in 2011, marking the second consecutive season that he has accomplished the feat and making him the first to do so in consecutive seasons since David Ortiz in 2005-2006. The 20th round selection in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft reached base safely in 136 of his 149 games played in 2011. Dating back to September 1, 2009, Bautista leads the Majors with 107 home runs, 22 more than Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, who ranks second during that span.

Kemp, 27, batted .324 (third in the N.L.) with 39 home runs and 126 RBI in 2011, leading the National League in homers, RBI, runs scored (115) and total bases (353). The 2011 N.L. All-Star also finished among league leaders in multi-hit games (57, tied for first), hits (195, second), slugging percentage (.586, second), extra-base hits (76, second), stolen bases (40, tied for second), on-base percentage (.399, fourth) and walks (74, tied for eighth). Kemp became the seventh player in Major League history to finish the season ranked in the top three in homers, batting average, RBI and stolen bases in their respective league, joining Hall of Famers Ty Cobb (1907, 1909-11), Honus Wagner (1908), George Sisler (1920), Chuck Klein (1932), Willie Mays (1955) and Hank Aaron (1963). In addition, the sixth round selection in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft was the first Dodger to lead the N.L. in home runs and RBI since Dolph Camilli in 1941 and the first Dodger in history to lead the N.L. in homers, RBI and runs scored. Kemp, who hit .335 on the year with runners in scoring position, is one of five players all-time to eclipse 30 homers, 35 stolen bases, 100 RBI and a .310 average, joining Ken Williams (1922), Barry Bonds (1992), Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Vladimir Guerrero (2002).

Past winners of include: Jose Bautista and Joey Votto (2010); Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols (2009); Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis (2008); Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder (2007); Jeter and Ryan Howard (2006); David Ortiz and Andruw Jones (2005); Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds (2004); Rodriguez and Pujols (2003); Rodriguez and Bonds (2001-02); Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton (2000) and Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa (1999).

Baseball is a zero-sum game; for every home run hitting hero there is a pitcher who served it up.  Often, like Mike Torres, Dennis Eckersley and, yes, Ralph Branca, he is as famous for having delivered the pitch as the batter for having swung the bat.

Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” changed many lives, none more than those of the principles, who like many of the pitcher-hitter duos have become inextricably linked.  For decades, Branca kept secret the knowledge that for the latter weeks of the ’51 season, including the fateful playoff at bat, the Giants had utilized an coordinated sign-stealing system involving powerful binoculars and an electronic buzzer system to erase a huge deficit to force the extra series to decide the NL crown.

That story was first told in Josh Prager’s The Echoing Green in 2006.  But for the first time, Branca himself puts pen to paper on the subject in the newly-released A Moment In Time: An American Story of Baseball, Heartbreak and Grace (Scribner, 223 pps.), which delightfully details the New York native’s life.  While the ’51 season and sign controversy is the flash that helps draw readers to the book, the rest of Branca’s story is well worth the read.

Branca’s story is a delicious slice of the baseball world in an intriguing time in its history.  Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, changing the game forever, and he and Branca became fast, lifelong friends.  Branca’s absolute love for the game comes through page after page, and his straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is style gives his own perspective on some of the most significant figures of the time, including Leo Durocher and Branch Rickey.

Though he eventually developed a close friendship with Thomson, Branca to this day is distressed that the Giant never admitted to using the stolen sign on the winning home run.  It’s one of the few tinges of sadness that can be found in what serves as a celebration of the life of man who though many remember him primarily for it, has never allowed his life to be solely defined by a single moment in time.

The Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander was the most dominant pitcher in the game en route to 24 wins. Jose Bautista didn’t match his 54 home runs of a year ago, but had another 40+ home run season. Lance Berkman looked like his career was done in 2010, but he hit 30 home runs this season and is an NL MVP candidate. Jacoby Ellsbury was the king of the AL DL a year ago, but this season was a candidate for both the comeback player of the year and AL MVP awards.

Curtis Granderson had a bust out season, topping 40 home runs for the first time in his career. Teammate Derek Jeter picked up his 3,000th hit, while another, Mariano Rivera, broke the all-time record for career saves. Across town, Jose Reyes won his first batting title in what might be his last year as a Met.  Albert Pujols had an “off” year and still hit 35 dingers and Matt Kemp met and exceeded all expectations.  With all of that in mind, the finalists for the individual awards in each league should look something like this…

AL MVP – Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano (NY), Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Jose Bautista (TOR), Justin Verlander (DET)

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander (Det)

AL Rookie of the Year – Jeremy Hellickson (TB), Ivan Nova (NY), Eric Hosmer (KC), Mark Trumbo (LA), J.P. Arencibia (TOR)

AL Manager of the Year – Manny Acta (CLE), Jim Leyland (DET), Ron Washington (TEX), Joe Girardi (NY)

AL Comeback Player of the Year – Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Melky Cabrera (KC)

NL MVP – Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (MIL), Matt Kemp (LA), Lance Berkman (STL), Justin Upton (AZ)

NL Cy Young – Ian Kennedy (AZ), Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee (PHI), Clayton Kershaw (LA)

NL Manager of the Year – Kirk Gibson (AZ), Ron Roenicke (MIL), Clint Hurdle (PIT), Charlie Manuel (PHI)

NL Rookie of the Year – Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel (ATL), Danny Espinosa (WAS), Javy Guerra (LA)

NL Comeback Player of the Year – Carlos Beltran (NY,SF), Lance Berkman (STL)

But baseball isn’t about the individual, it’s about the teams.

Early on the Indians, Royals, and Pirates played beyond expectation. In fact the Indians held first place in the AL Central for 85 days. The three teams would eventually fade, but the Arizona Diamondbacks did just the opposite. They were six games under .500 in mid-May, but played at a torrid pace the rest of the season to win the division title. Meanwhile Boston and Atlanta entered the final month of the season as virtual locks to make the post-season only to be eliminated on the final night of the season.

The LA Dodgers and the Mets had ownership and money issues, the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds were huge disappointments, and the Baltimore Orioles, despite much promise, finished last in the AL East for the fourth straight year. In the end the Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Diamondbacks captured their divisions while the Rays and Cardinals entered the playoffs as wild card entries.

What’s that? How did the Baseball Digest team do at predicting the post-season teams? Let’s take a look.

Well it appears, ahem, one person knew what they were talking about with the AL East. Yes, that would be me. Michael Maher, likewise, was the only one of our bunch who had the insight to pick the Tigers in the AL Central. He was also the only one to pick the Rays to win the AL wild card. Four out of seven dentist, er writers, chose the Rangers correctly in the AL West, while none of us had the Diamondbacks sniffing a title in the NL West.

Bill Ivie stuck his neck out picking the Braves to win the NL East, while everyone else selected the Phillies. Needless to say, his neck hurts. Bill’s beloved Cardinals didn’t win the NL Central as he had selected, but he was brought joy on the night of Game 162 when they made the post-season. Meanwhile Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb, Kirk Verner, and Matt Wilson all correctly chose the Brewers for the Central crown, but just like the NL West, no one got the NL wild card correct either. So the finally tally of correct predictions..drum roll please…four writers with 3 right each. Meanwhile Josh Landsburg, Mark Healey, and Bill Ivie…um, better luck next year. (In fairness, Bill did get 2 playoff teams correct, just in the wrong spots)

Michael Maher 3
Drew Sarver 3
Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb 3
Matt Wilson 3
Shai Kushner 2
Kirk Verner 2
Josh Landsburg 1
Mark Healey 1
Bill Ivie 0

Please check back after the league championship series for updated standings, and be sure to bookmark Baseball Digest to view all of our post-season coverage.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

It also often helps them determine which name they’d like to put on the back of a customized jersey.

To put on a Major League uniform for the first time and make an impact is one thing. To do it in a foreign land, amid culture shock on top of the always present obstacles for rookies is another. Hideo Nomo is one of those players to accomplish the feat and was the first Japanese player to ever relocate permanently in order to play in MLB.

Aside from his ROY honors, when you hear the name Hideo Nomo, the first thing that comes to mind is his unique wind up motion. In the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Nomo was a coveted talent racking up over 1,200 strike outs from 1990-1994 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. Earning the nickname ‘The Tornado’, after media and opponents witnessed his unique back-to-the-plate delivery, early on Nomo gained national attention in his debut season with the Buffaloes striking out 287 hitters in 235 innings. His stats earned him the 1990 Pacific League MVP and Rookie of The Year honors.

Fans and members of the media were more appreciative of the results Nomo produced than the Buffaloes however. After the 1994 season, wrapping up a stretch within the first four years where he compiled 17 or 18 wins per season, Nomo demanded a multi-year contract.

What was the Buffaloes’ loss, turned out to be the Los Angeles Dodgers’ gain.

After retiring from Japanese baseball in order to get out of his contract with the Buffaloes, Nomo found a new opportunity in Los Angeles. His career in the States started off oddly enough, very similar to the way his career began in Japan. Due in large part to his unique delivery, batters were unable to solve the pitching mystery Nomo presented every five days in each start and he ended up leading the league in strike outs with 236, finished second in ERA at 2.54. Along the way, he broke Koufax’s team record of strike outs per nine innings with 11.101 to Koufax’s 10.546, started the All-Star Game and won the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Many would argue that a professional ballplayer with years of experience in Japan should not be up for MLB Rookie of The Year voting consideration. I understand that mentality, however, a player’s first year in the league is just that, no matter where their prior experience comes from. Also, it can be argued that the player coming in from Japan or some other international location is up against much more than the rookie of the year contender that is from the United States. The language, culture, nuances, and comfort are not the same as they were in their other league. The player from the international league has to figure out how to survive on the playing field as well as within their new surroundings off the field. The argument could certainly be made that an outstanding rookie campaign by an international star is much more difficult. That argument was made in 1995 and the pro-Nomo side won. Future star, Chipper Jones, finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race that year as voters gave the advantage to Nomo. Or perhaps I should say, disadvantage.

Baseball Digest’s John Kuenster highlighted Hideo Nomo’s performance as one of the bright spots of the 1995 season. An interesting read about one of the great young pitchers to wear the Dodgers’ uniform.

Like other great puzzles that are tough to figure out such as the Rubik’s Cube, Sudoku or ‘what happened to Tony Soprano at the end of ‘The Sopranos’?', eventually the answer is found and they get a little easier to figure out. (Ok, perhaps that Sopranos one is still left up in the air). NL batters finally got used to seeing an opposing pitcher’s back before the release of a pitch and Nomo’s efficiency lacked as his stats became less impressive. Despite finishing as the only other pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in each of his first three seasons, the early years of his MLB career are definitely the most impressive.

There must be something in the water at Dodger Stadium. When Nomo won the NL Rookie of the Year, he became one of 13 Dodger debuts to earn the honor, the most of any team in the National League. Dating back to 1952, the team has had a rookie win the award in back-to-back seasons three times. The most recent time coming in a stretch where Nomo was one of those rookies as the team won the award in five consecutive years (Eric Karros, 1992; Mike Piazza, 1993; Raul Mondesi, 1994; Nomo, 1995; Todd Hollandsworth, 1996). In recent years the Florida Marlins have dominated the category however, for a stretch, it was the Dodgers system producing the best young talent in the league, Nomo included.

One stand out highlight of Nomo’s latte portion of his career came on April 4, 2011. It was Nomo’s first start as a member of the Boston Red Sox and he would once again come out of the gates quickly with his new team. The Orioles were the team he would face that day and they would provide Nomo with a no-no as the team was unable to muster up a single hit against Beantown’s new star pitcher. In doing so, Nomo became the fourth pitcher in the history of the game to throw a no-hitter in both the American and National Leagues. After a couple more productive years after returning to his first major league home in America from 2002-2003, Nomo started to fade.

His career path led to signing with the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately released him on April 29, 2008. Nomo retired from MLB that same July. Nomo was both a journeyman and a pioneer in his time as a professional baseball player. In MLB, he would go on to spend time displaying his unique ‘tornado’ wind up for fans across the country, proudly wearing the uniform of the Dodgers, Mets, Brewers, Tigers, Red Sox, Devil Rays and Royals.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning of the name ‘Hideo’. Turns out it means ‘excelling man’. After analyzing Nomo’s career, you’ll realize he compiled over 3,100 strike outs in his time between the NPB and MLB competition. Excelling man? Sounds about right to me.

Hideo Nomo turns 43 today.

Also Born Today

Frank Robinson turns 76 today. Robinson’s career saw him spend time  playing with the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, Angels and Indians. He managed the Indians, Giants, Orioles and Expos/Nationals. At the end, it all added up to a plaque in Cooperstown. Robinson is the only player to win MVP honors in both the American and National Leagues and finished his career with a batting average of .294, 586 home runs, 2,943 hits and 1,812 RBI. Robinson won the World Series with the 1966 and 1970 Orioles, winning MVP honors in 1966. Other career highlights include NL Rookie of the Year (1956), 14 All-Star appearances (MVP in 1971), AL Manager of the Year (1989) and he had his number retired by both the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.

Eddie Plank was born on this day in 1875. Plank pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Terriers and the St. Louis Browns. Eight times, Plank finished a season with twenty or more wins. He has the 13th most wins in MLB history, led the American League in shutouts twice and has more career shutouts by a left-hander than anyone in MLB history (66). Plank’s win-loss record of 326-194 matched with his career ERA of 2.35 and 2,246 strike outs earned him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by vote of the Veteran’s Committee in 1946.

Ryan Maloney is a staff writer for BaseballDigest.com, author of the popular Chicago Cubs blog titled ’Prose and Ivy, and a contributing writer to MLB.com.

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After a deal for Rich Harden fell through at the last moment, the Boston Red Sox took a risk on another brittle pitcher, the Seattle Mariners Erik Bedard. To land the talented, but often disabled lefty, the Red Sox and Mariners got the Los Angeles Dodgers involved for a three team deal.

In addition to Bedard, Seattle also sent right-hander Josh Fields (the pitcher, not the former White  Sox third baseman) to Boston. The Red Sox dealt catcher Tim Federowicz, and pitchers Juan Rodriguez and Stephen Fifer to the Dodgers for outfielders Trayvon Robinson and Chih-Hsien Chiang, who Boston then spun to the Mariners. Despite some time on the DL, Bedard appeared to return to his old form this season and is a low risk move for Boston. He’ll eventually take the place of Andrew Miller in the rotation, with Clay Buchholz likely out for the season with a back injury, but for now Boston will employ a six man rotation.

San Diego Padres set up man Mike Adams and  closer Heath Bell both heard their names thrown around in numerous rumors all week. As things came down to the wire on Sunday it was first announced that Bell had been dealt to the Texas Rangers, but it turned out it was Adams that was being sent to Texas. He’ll team with another pickup, Koji Uehara, to strengthen the Rangers’ pen. In return the Padres received pitchers Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans are having the time of their lives right now. Normally the Pirates are sending veterans to other teams in July, but after acquiring Derrek Lee from Baltimore on Saturday, the Bucs picked up outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the Padres on Sunday. The Pads will get a player to be named later or cash.

The Dodgers and Cardinals finalized their deal for Rafael Furcal. The shortstop and cash went to Missouri for outfielder Alex Castellanos.

Arizona added to their bullpen by sending slugger Brandon Allen and pitcher Jordan Norberto to Oakland for reliever Brad Ziegler.

Deals can still be made as the calendar turns to August, but players must pass through waivers in order to be moved.

Done Deals

Boston – Kansas City: The Red Sox have added to their depth by picking up Mike Aviles from the Royals for infielder Yamaico Navarro and pitcher Kendal Vez. In Aviles, the Red Sox get a player who can play 2B, SS, and 3B, all positions that have seen players banged up this season. He also swings a decent stick. Aviles fell victim to the youth movement in KC and was sent to the minors at one point this season. He could face a demotion again when Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie returns from the DL.

Texas – Baltimore: The Rangers spoke with a number of teams about relievers and were hoping to land the Padres’ Heath Bell.  But the asking price was too high for the pitchers that Texas most coveted. So instead, the Rangers went a cheaper route by sending corner infielder Chris Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter to the Orioles for Koji Uehara.

It’s a low risk move for both teams. Uehera is good, but not outstanding. He’s a strikeout pitcher despite not having overpowering stuff, but also can’t be used on back-to-back days due to his tendency to get banged up. Davis has been a productive hitter in the minor leagues, but hasn’t been able to put it together in “The Show”. He strikes out way too much and can’t hit left-handed pitching. Unless the Orioles deal Derrek Lee, Davis will probably only see occassional playing time at DH and 1B.

Hunter is a #4 starter at best. He pitches to contact and isn’t going to blow anyone away.  The Rangers’ number one pick in 2007, Hunter got off to an 8-o, 2.31 start last season, but went 5-4, 5.07 in his final 14 starts plus one relief appearance. Hunter is also an injury risk and missed a good chunk of this season with a groin injury.

Detroit – Seattle: The Tigers wanted to shore up their starting rotation for the stretch run and feel they did so by picking up Doug Fister from the Mariners. Fister can’t be judged by the 3-12 record he amassed with a bad Mariners club. In 21 starts, Fister allowed less than a hit an inning and walked just two hitters per nine innings while he struck out 5.5 batters. He also allowed just four home runs and had a 2.8 WAR with the Mariners.

Reliever David Pauley accompanied Fister to give the Tigers some depth in their bullpen. In return, Seattle received pitcher Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, third baseman Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later.

Furbush is a 25-yr old left-handed strikeout pitcher that was used as both a starter and reliever by the Tigers. No word yet if he’ll replace Fister in the rotation or Pauley in the pen. Wells is a fourth outfielder that can play all three outfield spots, but doesn’t hit much.  Martinez is a highly touted third baseman, but only the second best hot corner man in the Tigers organization. The 20-yr old Venezuelan is still developing his power, but had pretty good splits (.282/.319/.405) for Single-A Erie.

Arizona – Washington: The Diamondbacks added to their rotation by sending infielder Zach Walter, a former 9th round draft pick, to the Nationals for veteran starter Jason Marquis. The soon-to-be 33-yr old joins his sixth organization after 1+ seasons in the Nation’s capital. Marquis was 8-5, 3.95 in 20 starts this season and averaged six innings each time out. With a WHIP over 1.4 and 0.8 WAR, Marquis is a shaky back-end-of-the-rotation starter. He missed most of last season with elbow surgery.

Rumors

Ubaldo Jimenez: The Rockies have reportedly lowered their demands since they have yet to make a deal.  The Red Sox, Reds, and Indians are said to be negotiating the most, while the Yankees are still in play.

Hiroku Kuroda: The Dodgers right-hander really doesn’t want to leave LA, but has reportedly told the cash-strapped team that he’d be willing to accept a trade to the Rangers, Red Sox, or Yankees.

Josh Willingham and Ryan Ludwick: The A’s and Padres outfielders are still being talked about and are expected to be moved at some point this weekend. Right now it appears A’s GM Billy Beane is asking too much for Willingham.

Heath Bell: Unless the Padres lower their demands, the team’s closer won’t be going anywhere.

Denard Span: The Nationals have been working for days to try to land the Twins’ outfielder. A rumor spread earlier this afternoon that the Twins were trying to get the Yankees involved in a possible three-team deal.

Rafael Furcal: The shell-of-himself shortstop is close to being sent from the Dodgers to the Cardinals.

Update 7:20 PM

Hiroki Kuroda has refused to waive his no-trade clause and will remain an LA Dodger. The ramifications of Kuroda off the market is that the Rockies can now boost their asking price back up for Ubaldo Jimenez.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Long before that though, the future Hall of Fame member was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890. He was a good athlete growing up and quit high school to play for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. He later played in the Northern Association and the Blue Grass League, but still studied to become a dentist.  Obviously, baseball won out and Stengel was chosen by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1911 draft. He appeared in 17 games for the Dodgers in 1912, hitting .316 with one home run and 13 RBI.

Stengel hit .284 in six seasons in Brooklyn (who were known as the Dodgers, Superbas, and Robins during that time; they didn’t become the Dodgers full time until 1931.), and helped lead them to the World Series in 1916. He was 4-11 (.364) in the Series, but the Dodgers lost to Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox in four games. His final four seasons were in the tutelage of legendary manager Wilbert Robinson.

In 1918, Stengel was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a deal for another future Hall member, pitcher Burleigh Grimes. Stengel was dealt three more times in his career, to the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, and Boston Braves. One of his best seasons with the Giants was in 1922 when he hit .368/.436/.564 with 48 RBI in only 84 games. He also went 2-5 in that year’s World Series when the Giants topped the Yankees. One year later, he was on the losing end to the Yankees, but hit .417.

During his time in Pittsburgh, Stengel’s reputation for nutty/funny behavior was best exemplified when his Pirates team visited his old Brooklyn team. The fans booed Stengel mercilessly until he stepped into the batters’ box, doffed his cap, and a bird flew out.

Learn more about “The Old Perfessor” in Milton Richman’s 1957 profile in Baseball Digest. Click here to read all about it!

Stengel retired early in the 1925 season to become player/manager of the Worcester Panthers of the Eastern League. A year later he began a six year stint at the helm of the Toledo Mud Hens of the America Association. (He saw some playing time as well in five of the six years.) Then it was back to the Major Leagues and Brooklyn as a coach for two years before Stengel was named as the Dodgers manager. Unfortunately for Stengel, the Dodgers lacked talent and didn’t finish higher than 5th place before Stengel was fired after the 1936 season.

Stengel got another chance with the Boston Bees/Braves in 1938, but the talent level was no better than in Brooklyn. Boston had four seventh place finishes in Stengel’s first five seasons, but that may not have hurt as much as the broken leg Stengel suffered when a car hit him in April, 1943.  Casey missed 46 games, but the Braves continued their losing ways when he returned, though the  team moved up a notch to sixth place. With the Braves coming under new ownership prior to the 1944 season, Stengel decided to resign, saying he did not want to “embarrass the new stockholders…”.

Stengel’s best days were ahead of him though, as were many more games to manage. After one season running the minor league Milwaukee Brewers he returned to his roots as the skipper of the Kanas City Blues in 1945. Then it was three years at the helm of the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks before Stengel got the break of a lifetime. The Yankees and manager Bucky Harris agreed to a mutual departure after the 1948 season and Stengel was hired. He would wear the Yankees’ pinstripes and road greys for 12 seasons (Kind of sounds a little like the Joe Torre story, no?).

Stengel became one of the first managers to heavily utilize platooning. He inherited an aging DiMaggio, a young  Mantle, and stalwarts like Berra and Rizzuto. Though he would sometimes clash with veterans and maybe liked the attention he got a little too much, it’s hard to argue with “The Old Perfessor’s” success. 10 pennants and seven world championships, including five straight titles from 1949-1953. He was nearly fired after losing the 1957 World Series to the Milwaukee Braves and then fell behind three games to one to the Braves in the 1958 series. But the Yankees rallied to win three straight games and the Series. Among his memorable moments as Yankees manager was his 1958 anti-trust testimony in front of Congress, in which he had everyone in stitches with his rambling style.

Yankees ownership decided to go in a new direction after the 1960 season and let Stengel go. He would be out of the Majors for one season before accepting a job across town with the expansion New York Mets. The Mets were short on talent so they knew they needed a charismatic figure to help boost attendance. The 71-yr old Stengel was the perfect fit, it didn’t really matter what the Mets did on the field. Good thing too since they lost 120 games that first year and dropped over 100 in the next two seasons as well.

In July, 1965, the 75-yr old manager broke his hip getting out of a car and, on advice from his doctor, retired in August. A year later, the Veteran’s Committee selected Stengel for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Casey is the only person to wear the uniform of all four 20th century teams in New York and both the Mets (1965) and Yankees (1970) retired Casey’s #37.

The baseball world was saddened on September 29, 1975 when Casey Stengel passed away at age 85. He was married to his beloved Edna for 51 years.

Also Born Today:

Clint Hurdle (Big Rapids, MI 1953): Clint Hurdle was a Sports Illustrated cover boy in 1978 and was predicted to be a star in Major League Baseball. Though his time with the KC Royals and three other organizations never lived up to the hype, Hurdle has made a successful career for himself in post-playing days. He’s currently in his first year as manager of the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in the running for a division title for the first time in nearly 20 years. Hurdle previously managed the Colorado Rockies from 2002-2009 and took the team to it’s sole World Series appearance in 2008.

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Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

He took a few minutes to talk to Baseball Digest about the program, his career, and life after baseball.

BBD: Tell me about the your new book, “The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH,” and what inspired you to write it?  I understand it’s not as much about baseball as it is about life.
SG:  Thanks for asking.  The book is about how I implemented my philosophy in baseball.  There are bumps along the way, and life lessons, and baseball is really a metaphor for life, applicable to what people do in their lives.

BBD: I think when fans look back now and look at your numbers, they might be surprised how consistent and how productive you were for more than a decade, right up through your last year with the Mets… Do you think you were a little overlooked as a player?
SG: I’ve always been kind of the quiet and skinny guy.  There were a lot of users of PEDs and what not; the numbers definitely skewed higher in the eara I played in.  But I’m not worried about that — I had a great time playing, and though I wasn’t partaking in PED’s, it was definitely motivating trying to keep up with those big power hitters.

BBD: What were your feelings when you were traded near home with the Dodgers, and do you think of yourself mainly as a Dodger?
SG: Probably both… I always wanted to end my career as a Dodger, but things changed, they overhauled the organization, but looking back, I enjoyed my time everywhere I played.  I was just in Toronto for the book, and the fans were still very supportive; they love their Blue Jays.  I look at my career as a mix between those two cities.

BBD:  What would you consider your career highlight moment?
SG: The pinnacle would have to be the week when I hit all those home runs [nine, setting a major league record, in May 2002], at least the peak from the perspective of all the philosophies employed.  To be able to make that last for a long time, allow it to happen, that was a week where I accepted things I never thought possible.

BBD: How did you get involved with the SUBWAY Baseball DeSIGNS program?
SG: It sounds funny, but I was excited because in Toronto, my apartment was above a Subway shop, and we used to get 10-12 foot subs in the clubhouse all the time as well.  And of course little league hold some of my fondest memories.  We were on a great team, at 12 years old we went all the way to the finals in Williamsport.  I still joke around about that time, and it makes me excited to be a part of the program.

BBD: If you had the chance to design your SUBWAY Baseball DeSIGNS ball, what would you want to put on there?
SG: Probably an ‘Enso’ line – it represents an Eastern philosophy – the circle of full attention.  I have one on the cover of my book.

On his way to coach L.A. County kids as part of the celebration, Hershiser took some time to talk about realignment, pitchers’ durability, some of his memories of 1988 and other baseball topics.

BBD: You played at at time when there was a real rivalry between the NL and AL. Do you think this new realignment plan would ruin that?  And should we care?
OH:  When I think of the general idea of the possible realignment, I don’t think NL/AL as much as competitive balance being enhanced.  Can you create new rivalries, natural rivalries, and keep existing ones?  It sounds radical, but good.  If you were going to start over again, and don’t have the history, the whole pedigree, I would say this is a good way to start a couple of leagues and put it together.  Right now, one team has to beat out three other teams and another has to beat five teams to win a division.

BBD: Last night there were three complete-game shutouts.  You played in an era, not really that long ago, when that wouldn’t have been such a surprise.  I know it’s not 1911, it’s 2011, but why do you think pitchers don’t throw complete games anymore and do you think that is gone for good?
OH: I don’t think it will completely come back.  I think it’s harder to throw a complete game than it was 10 years ago, and harder still than 10 years before that.  The newer stadiums have less foul territory, so those balls that go 6-10 rows into the stands are just a strike instead of an out.
A lot more pitches are thrown, the hitters are stronger, and it’s a little harder to get an out.  When the strike zone was bigger, hitters didn’t want to get deep into counts, there was a lot more first- and second-pitch swinging.  There’s a lot more strain on the pitcher, there’s more intensity behind every pitch.

BBD:  What do you think of how Don Mattingly has adjusted to the managerial role with the Dodgers, and do you thing they can still contend for the Wild Card?
OH:  Don is a great baseball guy.  He has a low-key personality like Joe Torre, stuff rolls off his back.  He has good people behind him, trying to do the best they can for the organization.  I don’t think being a rookie manager means someone will have a losing season; he just needs time to grown.  Look at Mike Scioscia early in his career, or the respect that Bud Black has earned as a pitcher who is now a manager.  Don will know better than anyone.  We’ll evaluate him from the outside basedon results, and he’ll know if he’s getting the most from his players.

Orel Hershiser (Casey Rodgers / AP Images for SUBWAY)

BBD: Does anything in your professional career even compare to 1988?  And of all the highlights from that year, which is the greatest for you?
OH:  I think, first, being able to hold the baseball and throw in the Major Leagues is special, you always dream about that.  Then any accolades on the field that come on top of that are also unbelievable.  That year, it all kind of came together for myself and the team.  I’d say the 59 scoreless innings, the trip to the White House, and to the Johnny Carson Show and other late-night shows, having Tommy Lasorda as manager, the O’Mally’s as the owners, they were all great thingsand the memories are huge and kind of blend together.

BBD:  I know your son Jordan has had a lot of injuries at USC, but how has it been watching him grow up playing the sport?
OH: He absolutely loves it.  He hasn’t had many competitive innings, but he’s finally healthy.  But the great thing is to watch him enjoy the game.  It’s hard not to be able to help him on a daiy basis, since I have the knowledge and I am a pitcher.  He’s in a collegiate league now, and will be graduating from USC, a great accomplishment in itself.  We’ll see what his pro prospects are and cross that bridge next year.  I can’t tell him anything about his career other than to be supportive and be a dad, cheer him on when he’s doing well and be sympathetic when he’s not.

BBD:  How did you get involved with the SUBWAY Baseball DeSIGNS program?
OH:  My first relationship was with Little League Baseball — I was always outspoken for Little League when I was active, then I’ve broadcasted the Little League World Series for five, six, seven years with ESPN.  Then when Subway came along with the eat healthy and keep active message, it was a natural for me to be a spokesperson for the program.

BBD: If you had the chance to design your SUBWAY Baseball DeSIGNS ball, what would you want to put on there?
OH:  Well, a baseball has four panels you could work with, so if it’s strictly held to baseball, there would probably be a picture of the World Series trophy with the Dodgers on there, some recognition of the 59 scoreless innings, a montage of my life from Little Leagues to Big League, and maybe just a picture of the baseball field, with the mound highlighted, just a little.

Learn more about the Subway DeSIGNS program and to see the designed baseballs on tour, fans can visit SUBWAYkids.com.

NOTE: This piece incorporates players from both before and after the franchise moved to LA from Brooklyn

Franchise Player- Jackie Robinson

This is no surprise; most Dodgers fans, pundits and commentators would choose Robinson as the Dodgers’ franchise player. They would harp on his undeniably massive contributions not just to the game of baseball, but to the civil rights movement and the course of human history. They would also, in a way, be spectacularly misguided.

Number 42’s efforts to break baseball’s color barrier and integrate our National Pastime were brave, important—and eventually—revolutionary. But sociopolitical actions aren’t why Jackie Robinson stakes claim to his rightful place atop any and all Dodgers, Brooklynites or otherwise. Robinson is the greatest player in franchise history, because, well…he’s the greatest player in franchise history.

Robinson is the rare athlete who is prevalent in the lexicon of both the baseball-crazed and the baseball-ignorant, so it’s not worth “educating” you on a topic that you’re most likely already familiar with. Jackie’s beginnings are extremely interesting, however—if only because they paint a stirring portrait of a man who, from an early age, seemed prepared to dodge the racial slurs, threats and beer bottles that would be hurled at him on a daily basis.

Often, writers and historians speak about how Branch Rickey chose the one person who would have survived an insertion into such a tumultuous environment. This isn’t hyperbole. Robinson’s early life was a microcosm of his later one; he was raised by a sharecropping single mother in an otherwise entirely white neighborhood. Dealing with discrimination and hardship from the beginning of his childhood, Robinson was desensitized to similar challenges he would eventually face at Ebbets Field and ballparks around the nation.

More important, however, Robinson was an outstanding athlete and baseball player, a testament to the rest of the country that black ballplayers could succeed and even excel in a game dominated by whites. As the first UCLA athlete to win varsity letters in four sports, an All-American on the football team and, eventually, as a Negro Leaguer, Robinson was as likely as any contemporary black player to be successful beyond the initial integration of the sport.

Of course, all of that makes him an impressive human being—but not necessarily the best player in the history of one of baseball’s most storied franchises.

Already a ripe 28-years-old, Jackie broke into the Majors in 1947. Perhaps the added maturity helped Robinson with the difficult transition, but it certainly detracted from his statistical standing amongst the all-time greats in both the Dodgers’ history and any other.

Robinson is fourth in franchise history in WAR, despite playing in nearly 1000 games less than both Pee Wee Reese and Zack Wheat, who rank second and third, respectively. He appeared in 541 fewer games and stepped to the plate 1831 fewer times than legendary (and first ranked) centerfielder Duke Snider.

Given his relatively anonymity, I don’t think many are going to make a case for Zack Wheat as the franchise’s premier player, so let’s not bother comparing him to Jackie Robinson. For the seven people out there who would try and do so:

a)     Wheat played most of his eighteen-year career for the Brooklyn Robins in the Dead-Ball-Era.

b)    Even though he was a Hall of Fame offensive player from the Dead-Ball-Era, he posted just four seasons over 5.0 WAR.

c)     You could have put Al Capone on the 1917 Phillies and he would be worth at least one win above Dead-Ball-Era replacement level.

As for the Pee Wee Reese proponents, take a look at his .269/.366/.377 career line and then see if you’re ready to disband the Pee Wee fan club.

It’s really between the Duke and Jackie—it’s that simple. Nobody in franchise history can even come close to their achievements. So why does Jackie get the nod over the Duke? It’s somewhat a matter of extrapolation. In terms of quantitative stats, it’s hard to compare the two ballplayers given the relatively brevity of Robinson’s career.

The issue with Snider is therefore complicated. He hit at least 40 HRs in five straight seasons, hit .300 seven times and had a four year WAR peak of 9.7, 9.4, 8.6 and 8.1. One could easily make the argument that his peak years were much more impressive than Robinson’s. And to an extent, they would be right.

But this is where the guesswork (or as previously mentioned, the extrapolation) comes in. No one ever wants to use the unknown as a deciding factor when evaluating athletes. NBA fans talk about how great the perennially disabled Grant Hill could have been, but they never say “I think he deserves more credit than Kobe because he might have been just as good if he didn’t sign with FILA.” Such an assertion requires far too many unsubstantiated assumptions: we can only guess how good a healthy Hill would have been; we are also assuming that nothing else would have derailed his career. But Robinson’s artificially brief career comes with a set of extenuating circumstances that must be taken into consideration.

We know how good he was. It’s just a simple matter of how long he played—a matter of a significant portion of what may very well have been his prime being ripped from him because of the color of his skin.

Yes, Jackie’s homerun, runs, RBI and hit totals are the David to Snider’s Goliath, but it’s impossible to compare the two careers in that light. Robinson started his Major League career at 28 years old. He was clearly already a viable major league star, finishing with a .297/.383/.427 and a 4.5 WAR in his rookie season. But two years later he began to move from being simply a “star” towards legendary status, posting a 16 HR, 122 R, 124 RBI, 37 SB, .342/.432/.528, 10.0 WAR line that captured him the 1947 MVP award and established him as a player with a rare combination top-flight speed and hitting ability. Over the next four years, he would post WARs of 7.1, 9.4, 8.4 and 6.8. Only once in his career would he finish a season with a WAR under 4.0, with a low of 2.3 coming in his 36-year-old ’55 season. He was also an outstanding fielder, playing both 2^nd and 3^rd base at a level far above average. Yet he would end his career at just 8.5 WAR below the Duke’s career mark.

Robinson never had a poor season. Even with the cumulative burden of Negro League-induced cross-country bus trips, cockroach motels and incessant discrimination, he didn’t show any signs of wear and tear until he was 36. The next year, he bounced back and posted a season that incited many more quips along the lines of “Look, it’s Old Jackie,” than “Damn, Jackie sure looks old.”

By contrast, Snider’s best performances came in his age 26-29 seasons. By the time he was 30, he had slowed down. By 31, he was hardly a replacement player, let alone a history-defining star.

Is it really that far-fetched to say that Robinson would be the obvious statistical choice had he not had the misfortune of being born into such a shameful environment?

After all, he posted a combined 9.7 WAR over his first two seasons, even as he dealt with everything that goes along with making such an impossible transition. With a 10.0 WAR in 1949, he topped that figure in the next season alone.

Had his career begun as an unhindered 23-year-old, it seems entirely possible he would have started his career similarly. Then that MVP season might have come earlier. His peak would have been longer. He wouldn’t have lost two to four years of his prime to the anachronistic color barrier. Perhaps his individual peak seasons become even more impressive, as he would have been able to focus solely on being a baseball player. As Jackie Robinson becomes unburdened from the pressures of serving as an impromptu civil rights icon, subsequent generations look back with reverence on his once-in-a-lifetime baseball abilities—not just his history-defining propensity for racial diplomacy.

Maybe it’s better for the history of the game that Robinson’s added experience helped him to prove his worth immediately. Maybe that instant success from a Negro League transplant was important to showing the white-dominated country the virtues of their dark-skinned counterparts. Maybe it’s better the way it was.

Maybe.

1B-Gil Hodges

In the Pantheon of Major League Baseball franchises, the Yankees obviously reign supreme. Their 27 World titles would attest to that. Many would say that the Cards, owners of 10 championship banners, would be the Hera (without the incest, of course) to the Yankees’ Zeus.

But who else is in the Pantheon? Who comes next?

The Giants, especially given their recent Blackbeard-infused title, seem to be up there for sure. But there is no doubt that the Dodgers stake a claim somewhere at the top of this Mount Olympus of sorts. They’ve won six titles—tied for fifth all-time—and the moniker “Dodgers,” for whatever reason, always seems to connote with a storied franchise.

Every single player honored in Baseball Digest’s similar piece about the Yankees is a Hall-of-Famer. Many were first-ballot inductees. Some made it through the Veteran’s Committee. A couple will make it soon after their active careers come to a close. Of course, Jason Giambi qualifies for none of these categories. Although one can only hope that his Golden Thong eventually finds display somewhere in Cooperstown.

But for one of baseball’s most historic and beloved teams (no thanks to Frank McCourt), the Dodgers’ history is tainted by a dearth of true superstars. They’ve only had two first-ballot Hall-of-Famers in the history of the franchise. One was a certain color barrier-shattering second baseman; the other, a Yom Kippur-observing lefthander. First baseman Gil Hodges never secured induction into the Hall, whether it was of the first-ballot variety or otherwise.

Hodges makes this list both by virtue of his own impressive career and the lack of any strong challenger. So instead of wasting time telling you why Steve “Don’t-Call-Me-Harvey” Garvey, Eric “Fifth-String-Color-Commentator” Karros or Dolph “Who??” Camilli aren’t entirely awesome, let’s talk about Gil Hodges’ very strong, albeit not Hall-of-Fame worthy career.

A 19-year-old Hodges debuted with the Dodgers in 1943, but was quickly brisked off by the Navy to the eastern front of World War II, where he saw battle on Tinian and Okinawa. Perhaps as a factor of his youth at the time of enlistment, Hodges was not as hindered by military service as many other stars-turned-soldiers were in the 40’s.

A career .274/.360/.488 hitter, Hodges took about a year and a half to adjust to the Majors following his return from (or depending on how you look at it, to) duty. Following an average rookie campaign, Hodges ripped off nine consecutive 3.0-plus WAR seasons, including five seasons over 5.0 and a seven-win 1954 campaign. Over that time span, he never hit less than 23 home runs, hit over 30 HR six times and topped 40 twice. He drove in over 100 runs in seven consecutive years, and scored 90 runs six times and 100 runs three times. He was easily one of the best players of the era, being selected to seven all-star teams and finishing in the top-20 of the MVP balloting eight times. From 1948 to 1957, he was the league’s ninth most-valuable offensive player.

You might have heard of the players who finished ahead of him. Featuring the likes of Musial, Mantle and teammates Snider, Robinson and Reese, every single one was a Hall of Famer. Over that span, he also finished ahead of Willie Mays and Eddie Matthews, although the two had played around roughly half the games that he had.

2B-See Robinson, Jackie

SS-Pee Wee Reese

DODGERS CAREER WAR LEADERS AMONG SS:

Pee Wee Reese: 69.7

Maury Wills 35.8

Bill “I Wish I Was The Other” Russell: 33.0

Bill Dahlen: 21.5

Rafael Furcal: 15.0

So yes, this one isn’t even anything resembling a close race. The Dodgers haven’t exactly had a plethora of all-time greats at the shortstop position. And barring Furcal and Troy Tulowitzki trading places like Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, it seems pretty clear that the man with the inherently demeaning nickname is going to hold on to the title as the Dodgers’ best shortstop for a very long time.

Pee Wee Reese was a top prospect in the Red Sox system, but his path to the Majors was blocked by longtime incumbent shortstop (and player-manager) Joe Cronin. Boston’s front office inexplicably sent Cronin to scout Pee Wee, and he came back with a report that wasn’t particularly glowing (and was likely quite biased). In another Red Sox personnel decision that had much more to do with their 86-year title drought than the vengeful nature of the corpulent ghost of Babe Ruth, they shipped Reese to Brooklyn for 18 Dodger Dogs and a bag of balls.

Actually, the terms were $35,000, Red Evans—member of the exclusive “1-Career-Win

Club”—and three Players-to-Be-Named-Later who, 60 years later, have still not been named.

(And no, that’s not a joke. I challenge you to tell me who those players were; I spent 20 minutes trying to find their names on Google. I’m convinced Tom Yawkey and Cronin simply forgot about the deal and just moved on. In retrospect, that first deal might have been more beneficial to the ballclub’s future.)

Without a viable alternative, Pee Wee Reese is by default the best shortstop in the history of the franchise. He was also a very solid player, albeit one of the more questionable inductions in the history of Cooperstown. Reese’s Hall-of-Fame candidacy benefited from a different (read: less sophisticated) era of baseball analysis. He was one of the best players on six pennant winners and one champion, and a coach on a second title-winner. He was beloved by the fans and media and was credited with easing Jackie Robinson’s transition into the shark-laden waters of the National League. Most important, writers viewed him as a wizard with the glove, easily the biggest reason that he attained status as an all-time great when the stats generally point towards something a little less laudatory.

While the merits of Reese’s HOF candidacy are debatable, he flourished with the Dodgers as a slick fielding shortstop with a decent bat. A career .269/.366/.377 hitter, Reese played in at least 140 games in 13 straight seasons. He stole more than 20 bases five times, drove in over 70 runs five times and scored 90 runs eight times. Only three times did he bat under .260 in a full season.

Again, those numbers are unspectacular, but quite solid. He was a remarkably consistent player, almost guaranteed to give you a full season of good leadership, outstanding defense and decent offensive production—especially from a 1940’s and 50’s SS. Those attributes alone seem to make him worthy of this honor, although it certainly doesn’t hurt that one of his closest competitors was much better known for his work on the hardwood than on the diamond.

3B-Ron Cey

There’s not much in the way of competition here, either. One could maybe make a case for Pedro Guerrero, but his WAR is 20 points lower than Cey’s and he also played a large portion of his Dodgers career as an outfielder. That, alone, disqualifies him.

So again, let’s just talk about Cey and not bore ourselves with the mediocrity of the other candidates.

Part of the longest tenured infield in Major League history, Cey and Davey Lopes (owners of two of the best 70’s porn mustaches in baseball history) combined with the aforementioned Steve Garvey and Bill Russell to circle the diamond for eight and a half years. Cey is best known for being honored as a co-MVP of the ’81 World Series (along with Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager), when he returned from a Goose Gossage-induced fastball to the head to play in the deciding Game 6.

Ron Cey was an early prototype of the “Three True Outcomes” player who is so prevalent in today’s game. As a six time All-Star selection who was also a top-30 MVP pick five times, Cey hit over 20 home runs ten times in his career (seven times with the Dodgers), walked at least 70 times in seven seasons and struck out at least 90 times six times. Think of him as somewhere in the middle of the “TTO” spectrum, between Jack Cust and Adam Dunn.

C-Roy Campanella

Of anyone on this list, Campy might get the strongest challenge from a fellow Dodger. Mike Piazza was only with the team for five years, but his Dodgers WAR is just 8.6 wins short of Campanella’s career mark. In that first handful of years of his career in Chavez Ravine, Piazza put up some of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of the catcher position. He clubbed at least 30 home runs in four of the five years, never batted under .318, and had four seasons over 6.0 WAR (including an insane 9.4 win 1997 season when he put up 40 HR, 121 RBI and a .362/.431/.638 line). In all five seasons, Piazza finished in the top-10 of the MVP voting, including two second place finishes.

Over those five seasons, Piazza was by far the most valuable catcher in the Majors, with a WAR that topped second place Pudge Rodriguez by 33 percent. He was the fifth most valuable player in the entire major leagues, just a half of a win behind third-place Jeff Bagwell and about ten wins short of Barry Bonds. His .331/.394/.572 Dodgers line sums up a few thousand words that aren’t worth taking the time to write. Moreover, his skills as a receiver had yet to deteriorate. Fangraphs has him at around defensive replacement level for four of his five years in Dodger blue. In fact, he was actually well above average in his rookie campaign.

By contrast, Campanella was the second ranked Major League catcher over his career. He was also the 12^th ranked batter. His defense was likely not as good as everyone perceived it to be; he only had one season that ranked well above replacement level in this regard. Although it’s worth noting that defensive metrics for catchers are decidedly inconclusive.

So why does the Major’s first black catcher get the nod over it’s first rumored-to-be-gay catcher to marry the Playmate of the Millennium?

Let’s take a look at the names that were ahead of Campanella. The one catcher who finished ahead of Campy in WAR was Yogi Berra, who, according to Bill James’ Win Share stat, is the most valuable player in the history of the position. Of the 11 batters who finished ahead of him, only teammate Gil Hodges was not a Hall of Famer. The catching position has generally been one where any substantial hitting ability is viewed as a godsend. Hodges played Bizarro Catcher (also known as first base), a position where offensive production is an expectation rather than a bonus.

Campanella, along with contemporary peer Berra, was a revolutionary of the position. For the first time, teams began to try to extend their futile pursuit away from primarily defensive receivers and towards backstops who could provide some pop. Realizing that an offensively capable catcher would give their prospective team a massive advantage over other teams and their anemic backstops, front offices began to place emphasis on coaxing production out of the latter half of their batteries.

Campanella, with a .276/.360/.500 career line and four seasons over 30 home runs contributed to this trend as much as anyone. Executives around the league saw Campy’s Dodgers and Yogi’s Yanks in the World Series on a yearly basis. You better bet they took notice.

From the beginning of professional baseball to when Campanella retired in 1957, just five catchers had a higher WAR than Roy’s career mark of 43.1. All five are Hall of Famers.

But from 1958 to the present day, 14 different backstops have reached that mark. Only Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Gary Carter are Hall of Famers. Thanks to his disastrously non-committal response to questions about the possible presence of his name on the anonymous list of 2003 positive steroid tests(“Only God knows”), Pudge may or may not join that club.

Given the mind-blowing statistics Piazza put up both during and after his Dodgers tenure, he would have likely gotten the nod had he stayed with LA for his entire career. But even so, he played in an era where those stats were far from aberrational. It’s simply hard to be that wowed by his achievements given the fact that he played in the era of bloated biceps, cap sizes and statistics, an era when even a player as marginal as Brady Anderson could be confused with Babe Ruth.

If that’s not enough to lend a grain of salt to Piazza’s achievements, consider the fact that Jason Kendall finished his career just half of a win shy of Roy Campanella’s career mark.

Yes, that Jason Kendall.

LF-Zack Wheat

You may very well have no idea who Zack Wheat is. And that’s not a problem. After all, he played 16 of his 19 Major League seasons with Brooklyn teams that weren’t officially named the Dodgers. From the team’s inception in the 1880s to when they finally accepted their trolley dodging-derived nickname in 1933, the Dodgers changed names more times than Sean “Puff Daddy/Puffy/P.Diddy/Diddy” Combs.

Originally the Brooklyn Grays, the team was also known as the Atlantics, Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Infants and Robins before they were once-and-for-all described as the Dodgers by Charles Ebbets, their apparently ADHD-afflicted owner.

Convoluted history lesson aside, there’s a bit of guesswork here. Mickey Mantle didn’t make the All-Time Yankees because he was primarily a centerfielder, and Joe DiMaggio got the honor over him. Before 1919, Wheat’s particular outfield position is not specified, as historians list him simply under “OF.” But we’re going to give him the benefit-of-the-leftfielding-doubt, considering in the next 10 years he only played a combined six games in right and centerfield.

Assuming that Wheat was a leftfielder, there are absolutely no competitors in the history of the franchise. Wheat’s career 69.3 is more than double anyone else’s, finishing 39 wins ahead of the immortal Jimmy Sheckard.

One of the more anonymous Hall-of-Famers, Zachariah Davis “Buck” Wheat was a typical dead-ball-era star. Only four times did he hit more than ten home runs, and all of those seasons came well after Babe Ruth’s popularity spawned a new era that saw the end of incessant 1-0 ballgames thanks to the institution of “undead” baseballs.  Wheat still managed a very nice .317/.367/.450 career line, batting over .300 13 times in his career.

In somewhat of an aside, if one needs any definitive proof that the life of individual athletes has changed over the last century, look no further than Wheat. Let’s let Wikipedia explain:

“After Wheat retired from baseball, he moved back to his farm in Polo, Missouri, until the Great Depression forced him to sell it in 1932.  He moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he operated a bowling alley and later became a police officer. It was during his duties as an officer in 1936, that he was chasing a fleeing felon in his vehicle, when he crashed and nearly died. Wheat spent five months in the hospital after the accident, and after he was discharged, he moved his family to Sunrise Beach, Missouri, a resort town on the Lake of the Ozarks, to recuperate. It was here that he opened a 46-acre hunting and fishing resort.”

In today’s game, a Hall-of-Fame athlete would only have to sell their property if they committed tax fraud or murder. They would only be part of a bowling alley opening if they were paid to sponsor it. They would never become a police officer (unless, of course, they’re name is Shaquille O’Neal). They’d certainly be much more likely to be a felon than to be chasing one. And the only people with whom they would share their 46-acre mansion would be their entourage and their mistresses.

Sorry, Mr. Wheat. Looks like you were born about a century too early.

RF-Dixie Walker

You may ask yourself, “Who the hell is Dixie Walker?” You may quip, “The only All-Time list I’d put Dixie Walker on would be the list of athletes whose names most remind me of a Confederate Army general.” And you wouldn’t be alone.

Walker’s dubious victory in this rightfielding category best exhibits the relative dearth of lasting talent over the franchise history of the Dodgers. There is simply no player whose stats pop out, no player who merits spirited defense or instantaneous choice for this honor.

The top-five WAR leaders in the history of the Dodgers at the position don’t exactly constitute the most impressive group: First-ranked Carl Furillo is just as anonymous as Walker and only posted two four-plus win seasons; Babe Herman played two of his five Dodgers seasons at first base, thereby eliminating himself from contention; Third-slotted Walker is followed by Shawn Green, who is probably the runner-up for the honor, but falls short thanks to posting just two stellar seasons in LA. It’s a shame he wasn’t with the team longer, as the Dodgers would almost certainly be the only team with two All-Time Jewish players.

Green spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Blue Jays before being swapped with Raul Mondesi in a trade with the Dodgers. That’s the same Raul Mondesi who was jettisoned from all six of the teams he played for over his career because of “surly” behavior. The same Raul Mondesi who, after returning to the Dominican Republic upon leaving baseball, was fined for stealing electricity—and then became a Dominican elected politician just a few months later. Yes, the same Raul Mondesi who falls in just behind Green in WAR as the fifth most valuable rightfielder in Dodgers team history.

This isn’t exactly the easiest decision to make given the mediocrity at hand. But Dixie Walker’s candidacy certainly has some virtuous qualities, most important of which may be his anonymity. In fact, Walker may even have been a relative unknown to his contemporaries, an underappreciated gem along the lines of Mila Kunis or. That’s probably a bit more laudatory of a comparison than he deserves, but the comparison stands.

Unbalanced analogies aside, Dixie Walker was a stellar player, if not one of the best players of his era. After being traded and put on waivers three times before his 30^th birthday, Walker found himself reinvigorated with the Dodgers. Over 10 years with the club he would finish in the top-10 for the MVP in five different seasons, but he was only voted into the All-Star game by the fans in two of those years. So, in other words, Walker was one of the 10 best players in the National League five times, but couldn’t manage to secure a bench spot on the All-Star team in three of those instances. This happened in the 70 years ago. It’s about time we took the All-Star voting away from the fans. If only so this doesn’t happen again.

A bit of a dead-ball-era type throwback player (as much as an athlete from the 40’s can be considered a “throwback”), Walker never hit for power, only once reaching double digits in homers for the Dodgers. However, he drove in more than 90 runs four times with the team, had a .311/.386/.411 line during his decade in Brooklyn and—get this—never struck out more than 30 times in a season. In his five best seasons (‘41, ’44-47) with the Dodgers, he was worth 5.5, 6.3, 5.6, 4.8 and 4.7 wins, respectively.

Unfortunately, Walker is probably best known for his questionable actions upon Jackie Robinson’s integration and addition to the team. After learning of the move, he immediately wrote a letter to Branch Rickey requesting a trade. He claimed that he never mentioned Robinson in the letter, but that friends and family in Alabama were pressuring him to distance himself from the situation. After seeing Robinson refuse to shake his hand, Walker came to admire his resolve at the hardships the second baseman faced, and publicly came out in support of his teammate. As somewhat of a heart-warming example of evolution, Walker called Robinson the “greatest athlete he ever saw.” Later, he would go on to manage several integrated minor league teams, working for the Dodgers organization well until the ‘70’s.

CF-Duke Snider

If you want details on Snider’s exceptional career, read the in depth comparison between him and Jackie Robinson that you can see in the “Franchise Player” section. Otherwise, this is a no-brainer. Despite Duke’s massive fall off after his 30^th birthday, his 71.2 career WAR puts him ahead of all other Dodgers centerfielders. Willie Davis, at 56.7, is second. Mike Griffin, who played in the late 1800s for the Grooms and Bridegrooms (predecessors to the Dodgers), is third at 32.2.

RHSP-Don Dysdale

This is likely the most competitive race on the entire list, with Drysdale narrowly beating out Orel Hershiser and Dodgers’ All-Time Win leader Don Sutton. Hershiser put together several outstanding seasons (at the beginning of the steroids-era, no less), but it would be slightly remiss to put him over the two Dons.  He only won 15 games four times with the Dodgers, and was truly dominant only for three separate seasons. Sutton had some stellar seasons as well, including a run from ’71 to ’77 where he never posted an era higher than 3.25, and finished under 3.00 three times (including a 19-9, 2.08 ERA ’72 season).

Drysdale gets the nod because his success and dominance was lasting, a feat of consistency that is almost impossible to come by over the course of baseball history and even harder to find among starters of the last two decades.

As something more than a Robin to Koufax’s Batman, Drysdale reigned supreme over the National League for the better part of 12 consecutive seasons, making nine All-Star teams, winning three World Series and winning the ’62 Cy Young. From 1957 until 1968, Drysdale posted eight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA, five with a sub-2.80 and two under 2.20 seasons that were four years apart. After Drysdale became a full-time starter, he would only once finish with an ERA over 3.50—and that was a 3.69 mark in ’61.

Unfortunately, Drysdale had the same issues that Koufax did. After thoroughly dominating in that 2.15 ERA ’68 season, he tore his rotator cuff in the middle of the next season and was forced to retire. He would finish his one-team career with over 200 wins, a 2.95 career ERA and nearly 2500 strikeouts. But as Drysdale himself said, “A torn rotator cuff is a cancer for a pitcher, and if a pitcher gets a badly torn one, he has to face the facts: It’s all over baby.”

LHSP-Sandy Koufax

As the definitive example of the understated value of brief, but historically dominating success, Sandy Koufax is the clear choice as the premier southpaw in team history. As the Judaic Jesus, a man whose talents are revered as godlike by an entire generation of baseball fans, Koufax is a necessary pick, if only not to solicit civil unrest from thousands of nostalgic septuagenarians.

It’s worth noting that the great Fernando Valenzuela spent a sizeable part of his career as a Dodger. But Koufax, owner of perhaps the five greatest consecutive pitching seasons in the history of the game, blows him away in almost every respect. Because Valenzuela was only with the Dodgers for a limited portion of his career, Koufax’s 165 career wins top Valenzuela’s Dodger mark of 141. His career winning percentage of .655 is higher than Valenzuela’s career mark—and that of any other NL pitcher who has tossed more than a fistful of innings in the last nine decades.

But Koufax’s pitching legacy was built much more on those five particular seasons than longevity. From 1962 to 1966, he averaged 22 wins a season, thrice threw over 300 innings and never finished with an ERA higher than 2.55. In three of those years, he finished with a sub-1.90 ERA. In four of the five he was under a 1.00 WHIP, with a “highwater mark” of 1.04. Holy Moses.

His K:9 ratio was above 8.80 for all five seasons, and over 10.00 twice. Even more incredibly, his K:BB rate was better than 4.00 in the final four years. In the final 10 years of his career, opposing batters “hit” at an anemic.203/.271/.215 clip against Sandy. His accolades and accomplishments are almost too many to list: All-Star in six separate seasons; first three time Cy Young winner; 1963 MVP of the National League; four time World Series Champ; two time World Series MVP; pitched four no hitters and one perfect game. Perhaps most impressive, he won the National League pitching Triple Crown in three seasons. In each of those years, his totals would have led the American League as well.

Even as the train appeared to be hurtling off the tracks after the 1964, Koufax managed to hang on. He jammed his left arm sliding headfirst into second base at the end of ‘64, and was later diagnosed by the team physician with severe arthritis. During Spring Training in 1965, Koufax’s arm turned entirely black and blue after a start, but he was able to shoulder (no pun intended) the pain for the rest of the season thanks to an entire pharmacy’s worth of drugs, some of which would be considered narcotics or opiates today. He managed to pitch over 650 combined innings with a sub-2.00 ERA over his final two seasons before he retired after 1966, finally succumbing to both pain and the incessant wishes of his doctor.

Closer-Eric Gagne

Steroids or not, inexplicable post-testing swoon or otherwise, Gagne is far and away the best closer in the history of the franchise. And as it’s been said before, we’re not going to exclude players from contention because of steroid use.

Out of the dozens of outstanding candidates, Gagne would likely make the best spokesman in a Before/After ad for BALCO Laboratories. In his first two full seasons, he posted ERAs of 5.15 and 4.75 (albeit as a starter). In 2002, he took hold of the closer role and put together three of the most dominating seasons in the short history of the closer position.

Over those three seasons, Gagne saved 152 games. He posted ERAs of 1.97, 1.20 and 2.19. Then steroid testing was instituted in 2004, and from 2005 on, Gagne would save just 25 games and never throw more than 55 innings in any particular season.

Besides his record-setting 63 consecutive saves, Gagne finished in the top 12 of the MVP voting in all three seasons—even though he appeared in less than half of his team’s games. He won a Cy Young in 2003, thanks to his own spectacular accomplishments and the crappy competition that National League starters were bringing to the table. Russ Ortiz won a National League-leading 21 games in 2003. If you told someone that Russ Ortiz was the premier pitcher in a baseball league in 2003, than asked them to guess which league that he was pitching in, these would be their four most likely responses:

a)     Nippon League

b)    Beer League

c)     Little League

d)    National League

As the age-old proverb goes,  “Russ Ortiz was once the best starting pitcher in the National League. Enough said.” Or perhaps I’m paraphrasing.

Manager-Tommy Lasorda

The reasons for choosing Lasorda over four-time World Series (and seven-time pennant) winning manager Walter Alston are quite similar to those for choosing Joe Torre over Casey Stengel. Alston managed the team for 23 seasons, was responsible for two-thirds of the World Series banners that fly in Chavez Ravine and finished his career more than 400 games over .500.

But like Stengel, Alston did so in an era when success of any kind—whether fleeting or dynastic—was much easier to come by. Without unbalanced schedules or interleague play, teams played the same seven teams from their league 22 times each. For a good team, this meant that a significant part of their schedule would be appropriated towards “gimme” wins. For the expansion Mets, it meant their entire schedule was appropriated towards losses. But that would have probably happened anyway.

In Alston’s first World Series winning campaign of 1955, the Dodgers won 98 games in the regular season and finished atop the National League. But they played 87 of their games against the combined 277-338 Pirates, Cardinals, Cubs and Phillies. They finished those games at 58-29 with a scoring differential of +160. It didn’t hurt that Alston’s lineup was stocked with four Hall-of-Famers.

Lasorda appeared in four games for that 1955 team, but his results (13.50 ERA) were decidedly less Hall-worthy. That recognition would come more than two decades later, when Tommy took over as skipper and navigated the much more treacherous waters of the contemporary National League. In his first full season as manager, he brought a Dodgers team devoid of a single Hall-of-Fame offensive player to the NL Pennant. In 1981, he took a similarly Hall-challenged team to the title.

Known for his affable personality and his player-friendly demeanor, Lasorda helmed the Dodgers for more than two decades. Under his watch, the Dodgers finished under .500 only six times in 21 seasons. Only once did they win less than 70 games. Lasorda is almost forgotten in this regard, known more by an entire generation for this, then he is for his lasting resume.

Jesse Golomb researches and writes for BaseballDigest.com. He is also the creator and writer of SoapBoxSportsByte, a blog that incorporates statistical analysis as well as fan perspective into daily pieces on the MLB, NFL and NBA. He can be followed on Twitter @SoapBxSprtsByte, or contacted by email at golombjesse@gmail.com.

Manny Ramirez was born on this day in 1972 in the Dominican Republic. Ramirez grew up in New York City and became on the baseball diamond what it would be like to live as the most respected basketball player in the city, the most respected player of the day at Rucker Park. Selected to the All-City team three times in his four years of high school, Ramirez is a member of the New York City Public School Athletic Hall of Fame. He was named Player of the Year in 1991 after hitting for a .650 average, 14 home runs in 22 total games.

Ramirez’s success carried over into the major league system where he developed skills early on that would earn him a call up to the big leagues. After being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1991, Ramirez was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America after hitting .333 with 31 home runs and 115 RBI in 129 games, splitting time between AA and AAA ball. His major league debut came on September 2nd that same year and he went on to help the Indians reach to World Series in 1995 and 1997. Ramirez left the Indians and joined the Red Sox in 2000.

Baseball Digest ran a feature on Manny Ramirez’s early success in the big leagues in their April 1999 issue in an article titled ‘Manny Ramirez: Maturing of a Big League Star. Again, the irony. You can read it by clicking here.

Ramirez’s time with the Red Sox however is what most baseball fans associate with when it comes to his contributions to the sport.

In his time playing in front of the fans in Beantown, Ramirez was an All-Star each season (2001-2008), a World Series champion twice (2004, 2007), a nine time Silver Slugger Award winner and a World Series MVP (2004). Manny Ramirez was one of the key faces of the world champion Boston team of destiny in 2004 that called themselves ‘Idiots’ along with teammates Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz and Johnny Damon. Ramirez and friends were responsible for bringing happiness to an entire nation of fans that thought that type of happiness was never to be seen in their lifetime. The Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series since 1918 and finally, the trophy would reside in Boston. Finally, the chants of NINE-TEEN, EIGHT-TEEN would come to an end, greatly, due to the contributions made by Ramirez.

His legacy would become tainted a few years later, after he brought a second championship to the city of Boston. Once it became known that he had failed a drug test and was caught by the league using performance enhancing drugs in May of 2009, people started to have a different opinion of Ramirez, myself included. The drug that he tested positive for was human chorionic gonadotropin (hCg). It is a women’s fertility drug that athletes use to help rebuild a testosterone cycle after coming off of a steroid cycle.

Instead of the phrase ‘Manny Being Manny’ remaining a definition of Ramirez simply loving the game of baseball, acting like an ‘idiot’, hitting home runs at will alongside teammate David Ortiz and leading the championship starved Boston Red Sox to multiple titles, the phrase became somewhat of a punchline. It became a reason to doubt Ramirez’s talents and his contributions to the game. It made me want to list him in the same vein of players who deserve an asterisk next to their career stats due to the performance enhancing drugs the numerous failed drug tests say they took while playing the game.

‘Manny Being Manny’ became a cute catch phrase that I became tired of hearing tossed around by people as if it were an excuse for a friend or family member that allows you to laugh off a well known, but unspoken need for help with a serious problem, ultimately enabling him to compete unfairly in a sport I have grown to love.

In 2011, his failing of a drug test in Spring Training, followed by a second test that also resulted in a positive result. pushed Ramirez into retirement. As opposed to serving the 100 game suspension that would have been enforced, Ramirez decided it was time to call it a career.

I am sure there are many that believe there is no reason to take from Ramirez’s accomplishments. That because he played in the ‘steroid era’, this somehow releases him from ownership of his actions because ‘everyone was doing it’. I am not one of these people. To look at his numbers without a name attached, one may think ‘yes, guaranteed hall of famer’. As soon as you add the name ‘Manny Ramirez’ to the otherwise impressive numbers, along with failed drug tests, it is hard to think of anything other than, ‘what an idiot’.

Also Born Today:

Tony Campana turns 25 today. Campana is currently a center fielder with the Chicago Cubs. Due to injuries to Marlon Byrd and Reed Johnson, Campana has been called up to the major league team and is contributing in his rookie season. After 15 at-bats, he is currently hitting .267 for the club and brings a great amount of speed to the line up. Campana was drafted by the Cubs in the thirteenth round of the 2008 amateur draft.

Scott Eyre turns 39 today. Eyre was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the ninth round of the 1991 amateur draft. He has pitched for the White Sox, Blue Jays, Giants, Cubs and Phillies. In 2002, he led the National League in fielding percentage for pitchers.

Ryan Maloney is a Staff Writer for BaseballDigest.com, the author of popular Chicago Cubs blog Prose and Ivy and contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

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Baseball Digest.Com: Where were you born and raised?

Ellen Harrigan: I was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. My family emigrated to Toronto, Canada when I was a young child, in the mid sixties. Baseball was not something familiar to the Harrigan Clan. In fact, growing up a Torontonian we did not talk baseball until 1977 when Toronto was awarded an expansion team. Even then, baseball was a once a year school trip and that was about it for me.

BD.com: What College did you attend and what where your plans upon graduating?

Harrigan: I attended Senator O’Connor College School, located in Don Mill, Ontario, Canada. As High School graduation approached I knew with all my heart that I wanted to be a Police Woman. I wanted to follow in dad’s steps. It was always something I thought would be rewarding, challenging and suited to my personality.

At seventeen my father was concerned about my joining the Police Force at so young an age. He asked me to wait until I was twenty-one. If I still wanted to join, he would support and help me. I did not want to pursue college and thought I’d bide my time and get a job until I reached the agreed upon age. I took a summer job and then decided to look for something more permanent. I applied to a number of companies, some stating their company name and others simply a description of a job.

BD.com: How did you wind up working for the Toronto Blue Jays? Did you know who they were and what they did?

Harrigan: The Toronto Blue Jays were one of those companies that just outlined a job so I did not know the company name or who they were or what they did until after I submitted my resume. I received a call to come in for an interview. I interviewed with several people and the following week they offered a job to me.

I found out later that after interviewing a great number of applicants, the fact that I was six feet tall had some influence as I would be able to reach the top of the player board and change the player names as the rosters were juggled. Points for being young, naive and tall and so began my baseball career in November of 1981.

BD.com: Where you still interested in becoming a Police Officer?

Harrigan: Needless to say the desire to become a Police Woman was still strong. Without my father’s knowledge, I went to Police Headquarters and made an application during my first few months with the Blue Jays. I was interviewed, tested, and sent to their Police College for some additional physical and psychological testing. I was at the point where a decision to join the Police Force was imminent.

Then the Blue Jays asked me to go to Spring Training in Dunedin, Florida for six weeks. You can guess which route I took and it has been a great ride ever since. Tommy Lasorda always says that doing something you love is not work at all and I can honestly say I know what he means. So many people go thru life waiting for Friday, disliking their job. I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy the roller-coaster ride for twenty-eight seasons now.

BD.com: What did you do for the Blue Jays?

Harrigan: I worked under Pat Gillick for over fourteen years with the Blue Jays (and then another three years with the Baltimore Orioles), the first seven in the Toronto office in Player Development and Scouting. We did not call it Baseball Operations then, but basically that is what it is called now.

We did not have computers then so we communicated with the Commissioner’s Office by Twix Machine and tracked scouts down in airports by paging them or leaving messages with the airlines, posing as family members with important news. My next seven years were operating a minor league club that was owned by the Toronto Blue Jays. After my first year there I became the General Manager. At that time there were very few women in that role.

That was the most fun and creative time in my career. This also gave me a true understanding of the player development system, scouting process and the importance of a solid teaching staff (Managers, Coaches and Trainers). Toronto decided to sell the Short Season A Club (Short Season Club: St. Catharines Blue Jays of the New York Penn League.) and I assisted with the ownership transition. Then, Gillick had assumed the GM role with the Baltimore Orioles and asked me to join his staff in the Major League office.

I spent almost four seasons with the Orioles gaining great experience and widening my perspective on Baseball Operations. The greatest resources Clubs have are the people that work for them. We can learn so much from all of the great personalities baseball offers. When Gillick retired and Kevin Malone moved over to the Los Angeles Dodgers to take the General Manager role, I headed to Los Angeles to work in Baseball Operations. In my early years with the Dodgers we had a fair bit of transition in both Management and ownership. In fact, Ned Colletti is the fifth General Manager that I have worked with here and he is a keeper. I am in my eleventh season with the Dodgers and look forward to each game!

BD.com: Should baseball use instant replay? (not on balls & strikes)

Harrigan: Perhaps that is the way of the future, to have an umpire in the press box reviewing plays that are in question. However, I’m not really comfortable with it and the effect if will have on the pace of game.

Harrigan with BD.com's Norm Coleman

BD.com: What do you do during the off- season?

Harrigan: Off season is our busiest time of year, tendering contracts to staff and then players, roster management, preparing for spring training. Winters grow shorter and shorter in baseball!

BD.com: Care to name a few of your favorite Dodgers?

Harrigan: Tommy Lasorda, Maury Wills, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe. There are so many great Dodgers and I look forward to learning more about the rich history of our Organization.

BD.com: What is the most outstanding memory you have working for the Dodgers?

Harrigan: My most memorable time with the Dodgers would have to be a cumulative memory of the days spent at Dodgertown (a) during each spring training. Dodgertown was the most unique baseball venue I’ve ever seen. The compound consisted of numerous baseball diamonds, half diamonds, batting tunnels, pitching mounds and training facilities. It also had living quarters, dining room facilities, meeting rooms, and numerous recreational facilities. All specifically designed to meet the needs of housing, feeding, training and then playing baseball for roughly two hundred players and sixty staff members each spring. It was a village onto itself and promoted a “team” atmosphere that is unmatched in baseball.

BD.com: What advice would you give a young woman considering a career in baseball?

Harrigan: Work hard by listening, reading, watching and learning as much about the business of baseball as you can absorb. Find a mentor to talk with and bounce ideas off. Challenge yourself to learn something new every day about the game.

BD.com: What makes you successful at your job?

Harrigan: I thoroughly enjoy what I do. I know my limitations and I try to push myself to learn more. I thrive being part of a “team effort”.

BD.com: What was the biggest obstacle you overcame to get into baseball?

Harrigan: I fell into baseball by luck but there are obstacles in every job and persistence with focus on accuracy helped me to become good at what I do.

BD.com: What are a few of your favorite movies?

Harrigan: Bull Durham, An Affair to Remember, 2001 and A Space Odyssey.

BD.com: What is your favorite baseball book?

Harrigan: Branch Rickey’s Little Blue Book. It’s a collection of notes, letters and the philosophy of Branch Rickey. (b) His impact on the game is remarkable.

BD.com: Some teams have gone green. Has your team done so?

Harrigan: The Dodgers are working towards creating a more green environment. We have a recycling program in place and we utilize green cleaning products. Our concessions use compostable containers and servicing items.

BD.com: What is the most creative part of you?

Harrigan: Fortunately, with over twenty-eight years of experience in the game, I feel I can be creative by taking old ideas and making them fresh and relevant to today’s needs.

BD.com: Are you married? Do you have any children?

Harrigan: I am divorced with one son, Justin Charles. Justin is now twenty years old and a College Student with zero interest in baseball. Where did I go wrong!? Good thing he’s a great kid!

BD.com: What do you do for relaxation after work?

Harrigan: I like to read, go to the movies, go to the beach and take the dog to the dog park. Spending time with family is always a favorite thing to do too.

BD.com: Do you have a favorite quote or motto?

Harrigan: “Winners make things happen, losers let things happen”. I want to be a winner no matter what I do

(a) Dodgertown – Holman Stadium is a baseball stadium in Vero Beach, Florida built in 1953 to accommodate spring training for the Dodgers as part of a complex called Dodgertown.

In 2009, the Dodgers joined the Chicago White Sox sharing operations at a new facility in Glendale, Arizona. The Dodgers’ last spring training game in Vero Beach was on March 17, 2008.

(b) Branch Rickey – Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. He was known for breaking Major League’s baseball color barrier by signing the first African/American ballplayer, Jackie Robinson in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Norm Coleman is a sports writer, actor and photographer. He lives in Half Moon Bay, CA.