Tag Archives: Los Angeles Dodgers

A Half-century Later: Sandy Koufax versus the Chicago Cubs

I (guest-blogger Bill Van Ornum) just finished reading Jane Leavy’s bio of Sandy Koufax. He had initially told her that he didn’t like the idea of the book, and wouldn’t be interviewed; but all along the way, he helped by … Continue reading

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Vin Scully Returns

Broadcasting great Vin Scully is scheduled to cover his first game of the Los Angeles Dodgers season today, Tax Day, April 15. Scully missed Opening Day with the team for only the second time in sixty-three years. At eighty-four, Scully’s … Continue reading

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Baseball and Jazz

According to the Boston Globe, pitcher Ben Henderson may be the first individual to have used the word jazz. An April 2, 1912, headline says so. Different dictionaries, such as Webster’s Third and The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, furnish alternate … Continue reading

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Evander (Not Holyfield) Meets and Greets Baseball Players and Cricket Fans

The scene today was Fairfield, New Jersey, the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Route 46 East. I arrived with my pre-1974 Yankee Stadium seat to add some autographs and to promote Right Off the Bat. The Crowne Plaza was hosting a … Continue reading

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Yankees Trade Young Bat and Catching Prospect for Young Pitching, and Ink Innings’ Eater

Pending an official announcement, the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners, franchises with a history (A-Rod, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, plus probably the greatest five-game Division Series ever [October 1995]), have completed a swap that will … Continue reading

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Singing Like Caruso (or Torre)

Joe Torre is either going to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, not buy the Los Angeles Dodgers; act as a front man for a Caruso (not Enrico), or yield to an hidalgo named Cuba. The names are merely a sidelight. … Continue reading

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Congratulations Ryan Braun and Justin Verlander

Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers won the MVP in their respective leagues. Braun beat out Matt Kemp (not to be confused with Shakespearean jig-dancer Will Kempe, who once Boogalooed all the way … Continue reading

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Ron Washington, Interesting Manager of the Texas Rangers

Ron Washington has had an interesting career. He and I (Evander) are less than a year apart. There are few African American managers in the history of Major League Baseball, and their successes, for a variety of factors, are spotty. … Continue reading

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Clayton Kershaw

Evander doesn’t get much news from The Coast: It rarely filters in to Right Off the Bat HQ. But I have been clued in to Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw. He has won twenty games in his first year: Doc Gooden-like. … Continue reading

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Wood toward the Spherical Object

In considering the superiority of the baseball bat over its cricket counterpart as a means to quell civil unrest (an oxymoron), Exhibit A might be the August 22, 1965, incident involving Hall of Fame San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal … Continue reading

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