Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros on winning their respective league pennants. For those looking to follow along, here’s how the 2017 World Series is scheduled to take place:
Game 1: Tuesday, October 24th @ 8:00 PM ET – Astros @ Dodgers
Game 2: Wednesday, October 25th @ 8:00 PM ET – Astros @ Dodgers
Game 3: Friday, October 27th @ 8:00 PM ET – Dodgers @ Astros
Game 4: Saturday, October 28th @ 8:00 PM ET – Dodgers @ Astros
*Game 5: Sunday, October 29th @ 8:00 PM ET – Dodgers @ Astros
*Game 6: Tuesday, October 31st @ 8:00 PM ET – Astros @ Dodgers
*Game 7: Wednesday, November 1st @ 8:00 PM ET – Astros @ Dodgers
*if necessary
If you’re keeping track, the Astros last appeared in the World Series in 2005 (as the NL team), losing to the Chicago White Sox in a four-game sweep. The Astros have never won the World Series. The Dodgers last appeared in the Series in 1988, when they defeated the Oakland Athletics in five games.
On December 12, 1998, Kevin Brown signed a contract with the Dodgers that made him baseball’s first $100 million man. The $105 million, seven-year contract included a $5 million signing bonus and a $10 million salary in 1999, and salaries of $15 million annually for the remainder of the contract.
As you probably know, Dodgers announcer Vin Scully received the Medal of Freedom just a couple weeks ago from President Barack Obama. This man has been calling Dodgers games since 1950, and he’s seen a lot in his time. Putting that incredible career in perspective, MLB.com created this infographic to give us a visualization of just how much he’s had the opportunity to cover.
This song had me laughing, but it is impressive all the same. The lyrics of this song are essentially a play-by-play based loosely on the 1962 pennant race. The Dodgers didn’t win the pennant that year, but they did get this high-energy song full of entertaining theatrics as a consolation prize.
Growing up, I never paid much attention to The Simpsons. Tragic, yes. I saw an episode here and there over the years, and always enjoyed the ones that I watched, but never made a habit of consistently watching the show. It’s not something that I went out of my way to avoid, so much as I simply did not go out of my way to make the time for it.
Recently, I’ve decided to try to rectify this transgression, and I am currently about halfway through season two of this entertaining series. As with many forms of American pop culture, baseball was bound to find a way to make an appearance, and I didn’t have to wait long for it. The episode “Dancin’ Homer” features the time that Homer Simpson, drunk at a minor league ballgame, started dancing like a fool for the crowd, and thus earned himself a position as the team mascot.
What I did not realize is that the team for which Homer was hired to make a fool of himself, the Springfield Isotopes, became the inspiration for a real life minor league team’s name. The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, having been previously affiliated with the Florida Marlins (2003-2008) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2009-2014).
The real world Isotopes play at Isotopes Park, cleverly nicknamed “The Lab,” which seats 11,124. The stadium stands in the same spot as where historic Albuquerque Sports Stadium once stood, until it was almost completely razed in 2002. Some remnants of the old stadium were incorporated into Isotopes Park. The stadium also serves as home to the University of New Mexico baseball team.
Wikipedia
The Albuquerque team does not have a real-life Homer Simpson to serve as their mascot, but rather features a yellow, orange, and red alien/dog/bear creature named Orbit.
In 2016, Forbes named the Isotopes the fourteenth most valuable team in Minor League Baseball. They finished the 2016 season with a 71-72 record, which, interestingly, was good enough for second place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific Southern division.
Manager Tommy Lasorda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976-1996, and spent more than sixty years as part of the Dodgers organization. I particularly enjoy the story about John McNamara.
Sandy Koufax pitched a complete game on June 22, 1959 to defeat Philadelphia at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, 6-2. The Dodger left-hander struck out sixteen Phillies to set, at that time, a new record for strikeouts in a night game.
The first officially-recorded save took place on April 7, 1969 by Bill Singer as the Dodgers defeated Cincinnati, 3-2, in the season opener at Crosley Field. The game had started with Don Drysdale giving up two back-to-back home runs on the first two pitches he threw for the season to Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan. Drysdale managed to calm down enough for the Dodgers to make a comeback, and Singer did not give up a hit in the final three innings to close out the game.
On February 7, 1987, Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser signed for $800,000, a twenty-percent pay-cut from the year before. It was the second time since the practice of arbitration has been implemented that a player was forced to take less. After winning the Cy Young Award and leading the team to a World Series championship in 1988, however, the Hershiser became the highest-paid player in the big leagues.
On October 30, 1956, the Dodgers sold Ebbets Field to a real estate developer, Marvin Kratter. The sale of the ballpark was one of the early indications that it was nearing the end of its life, and some speculate that this move served as an early catalyst for the sale of the Dodgers to Los Angeles. As part of the deal for the sale, club owner Walter O’Malley is given a three-year lease, with an option to stay two more years, until 1961.
