Dad Did a Great Thing

Sandy Koufax, Claire Smith and Steve Garvey at the 1985 All-Star Game.

Garvey and Smith, 2017.

Claire Smith is the first woman recipient of the Hall of Fame's prestigious J.G. Taylor Spink Award, and Steve Garvey played a role in her career.

From "Claire Smith, a Pioneer in Sports Writing, Is Honored at Cooperstown" at the New York Times:

...her greatest challenge came from the San Diego Padres during their 1984 playoff series against the Chicago Cubs. She was ejected from the clubhouse, then rescued by an empathetic Padres player, Steve Garvey, who fed her quotes from his teammates.

But Smith was no damsel in distress; she had an unbending professionalism about her that wore down even the most stubborn resistance.

“I had a game story to write,” she said in 1984, after she had been pushed out the Padres’ door.

Other pioneers in the sport — including Sandy Koufax, the Jewish Dodgers pitcher who refused to play on Yom Kippur during the World Series; Frank Robinson, the first black manager in the major leagues; and Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson — gave her a standing ovation Saturday.

The most heartfelt moment at the ceremony arrived when Smith introduced Garvey in the audience, thanking him for his help all those years ago.

“I knew it was a very important moment,” Garvey said after the ceremony. “And I knew she was a very deep soul.”

And from her acceptance speech:

Steve Garvey, please stand, just as you did when salvaging the worst day of my career. After I was kicked out of a clubhouse during the 1984 postseason due to gender, Steve came out to the tunnel to assure I would have postgame quotes. When he saw that I was becoming emotional after having been manhandled, he uttered the most important words an athlete ever said to me: "I will stay here as long as you need me to, but remember, you have a job to do."

Beautiful stuff, and a complete surprise to me. Good job, Dad.

1: Claire Smith; 2: Willie Weinbaum, ESPN.com

Game 34 Thread: May 14 vs. Rockies, 7p

Tonight's stadium giveaway.

Brett Anderson (2-1, 3.52) vs. Chad Bettis (0-0, -.--).

Back to a normal start time, but also back to the Rockies and rain. Will we play tonight?

Who the hell is Chad Bettis? There's not much info available about him, so I'll just assume he's a hybrid between Chad Billingsley and Jerome Bettis. Which means he must have monster thighs.

Anderson should be fresh, having thrown only 63 pitches in last weeks' rain-shortened win in Colorado. The bullpen will be sans Pedro Baez, who was placed on the DL with a strained pec. When does Kenley return?

UPDATE (Sax): Despite threatening rain, it looks like the game is on, according to the TWC pre-game coverage:

Thanks to the SOSG stringer for the screengrabs!

What, No Ed Goodson?

Click here to vote in the Dodgers portion of MLB.com's "Franchise Four" vote.

Here's the ballot:

Of course, we're biased:

Legendary Dodgers at Historic Dodgertown

Vero Beach community leader Bud Holman, Tommy Lasorda and Peter O’Malley at Florida Heritage Landmark ceremony Monday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

Steve Garvey and Sandy Koufax observe Maury Wills offering instruction at Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp Monday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

photos/captions: Historic Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Fla.

Vin Scully, on Pinch-Miking for Mel Allen

We don't get TWC at SoSG Worldwide Headquarters, so we apologize for the lack of new Vin transcriptions this season. But we've dipped into the archives (OK, last year's games) to bring you some fresh transcriptions we haven't run yet.

Mel Allen and Mickey Mantle.

Vin Scully, from the fourth inning of the Yankees-Dodgers game on July 31, 2013:

I always remember the 1963 season for one reason, and I should say the World Series. Course, the season was great, too.

One ball, no strikes. One and one.

I remember going to Yankee Stadium, sitting in the dugout, talking to the manager, Ralph Houk. And he got talking about Sandy Koufax.

And Ralph said, "How good is that kid?"

Whoop, ball two.

And I said to him, "Ralph, I just hope on the national stage he can show you how good he is."

And he shook his head and said, "Okay, we'll see."

Well, Sandy struck out fifteen in that game. He beat Whitey Ford in Game Four to complete it, and the Dodgers swept the Yankees.

But I'll always remember Houk wondering, "Well, how good is he?" [small laugh] Fifteen strikeouts later.

A drive to left, Crawford reaches up to snare it, and we have one away.

People have always asked me over the years, and I tell it now, 'cause the Dodgers are playing the Yankees, about the biggest home runs I ever saw.

One of course would be Bobby Thomson's home run, the Giants beating the Dodgers way back in '51. Another one, Henry Aaron's home run that broke Babe Ruth's record. We were in Atlanta to watch that one. And then of course Kirk Gibson's home run here.

One more — and there's a line drive by the diving Uribe. So Soriano blisters one for a single. No score in the fourth, and Vernon Wells coming up.

In 1963, Dodgers and Yankees are going to meet in the World Series. Mel Allen, the great Yankee broadcaster, had a bad throat. It happens to all of us. And in September of '63, the doctors told Mel, "Whatever you do, stay subdued." You know he had that great call, "Going, going, gone," for a big home run.

And all through September, he did just that, getting ready for the World Series. And for three games — three games — he was subdued, kept his voice down.

Vernon Wells a flare...a leaping catch by Schumaker, back to first goes Soriano. Well, if the Schu fits, play it, and Schumaker comes up with a big play on that flare by Wells. Little looper heading to right field, that would have been a big play had he not made it, but he did, so the batter will be Lillibridge. Up and at 'em.

Anyway, it was the fourth game of the World Series, 1963, Dodgers are winning one to nothing, Koufax and Whitey Ford. Doesn't get much better than that. And Mel is on the air, and Mickey Mantle came up and hit a home run against Sandy Koufax to tie up the game one-one.

And when Mantle hit the ball, everything went for broke. Mel forgot all about the cautions about his voice and everything else, and he gave it a great — whoops! The pickoff. Soriano is hung out to dry.

So Kershaw, who has a great move to first, just has him exposed, Schumaker handles the tag. We'll get back to Koufax and Mantle and the '63 Series, no score.

[commercial break]

Anyway, when Mantle hit that home run, and Mel Allen gave that great call, but it was too loud and too hard for his throat, and he just came apart.

Check swing, no swing, one ball, one strike.

Tom Gallery was the head of NBC Sports in those days. Mel tried to speak after calling the home run and nothing really would come out. I was supposed to go down to the clubhouse if the Yankees lost and I would do the Dodgers' celebration. You've seen that all the time.

Gonzalez fouls it away, one and two.

However, Gallery tapped Mel on the shoulder, pointed to me as if to say, "Give the microphone to Vin."

And I felt awful.

I'm telling you my heart was broken for Mel. I thought here on the world stage in this great moment, after a big home run by Mickey Mantle, and you can't speak anymore?

That was a valuable lesson for me. There but for the grace of God go I. It could happen at any time, anywhere. So that one strikes a particular chord in my heart. Mantle's home run here.

Then again it's only fifty years ago.

Two and two the count to Gonzalez. No score, bottom of the fourth inning. Kuroda deals, and down goes Adrian. Three strikeouts for Hiroki. He'd gotten Crawford twice and Gonzalez. Ball just seems to die. That might be that shuuto, that reverse screwball.

Hanley Ramirez, with an eleven-game hitting streak, grounded out in the second inning.

And fastball, strike. Kershaw has not walked anybody. Clayton has struck out two. Kuroda has not walked out anybody until Schumaker in the third. He has struck out two. The starting pitchers tonight come in with the identical record, ten wins and six losses.

One ball and one strike. Popped in the air foul, out of play. One and two the count.

You wanted to pick up a thread of the World Series between the Yankees and the Dodgers. And you were talking about '63. 1977, Yankees win, and remember, that was the series when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one game. It was Game Six.

Look out! So Ramirez strikes out, four strikeouts for Kuroda. He is really coming back to cast a spell on the Dodgers, and at the end of four, no score.

Sandy Koufax Makes the Funnies Page...47 Years Ago

(original date of publication: April 16, 1967 (click here for entire comic))

We'd Been Hoping Ethier Would Get Better At Hitting Lefties, But Not This Way

Per Ken Gurnick:

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- As if to ease the fears of an entire organization, Sandy Koufax walked into the Dodgers clubhouse after practice Friday.

With sandwich in hand, he was upright, smiling and looking, well, like Sandy Koufax.

"I'm fine," Koufax said, about an hour after being struck on the forehead by an Andre Ethier line drive during batting practice.

After going for a precautionary CT scan to rule out internal bleeding, Koufax returned to Camelback Ranch and assured reporters that he was healthy.

[...]

Koufax was watching prospect Ross Stripling warm up and not looking at the batter when Ethier sprayed a liner that struck the iconic left-hander on the left side of his forehead, knocking off his Dodgers cap.

Was Ethier worried?

"Wouldn't you be?" he said. "Not just because of who he is, but anybody who gets hit. It's scary. I've seen it happen."

Koufax Suggests Puig Add "Funda-" To "Mental"

While being appreciative of Yasiel Puig's talent, Dodger great Sandy Koufax diplomatically added that phenom Yasiel Puig could stand to work on his basic skills, to better hone his natural talent:

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax, making his first appearance of the spring at the Los Angeles Dodgers' training facility, said he enjoyed watching Yasiel Puig energize the team last summer but would like to see the talented outfielder improve his fundamentals.

"If the showmanship doesn't involve bad decisions, it's fine," Koufax said. "I think people love it. You've got a great arm, you want to show it off, but you'd like to see it go to the right place all the time.

"He's young. He hasn't played [much]. I think the biggest thing is he hasn't played against competition as good as he is, so you're always able to have your physical ability make up for whatever else you did. He's learning. I'm sure it's going to happen. There's too much talent not to."

In discussing Puig's powerful arm, some people have compared him to Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, among others. But Koufax said he is not willing to go there. Not yet anyway.

"Clemente had a great arm. [Willie] Mays had a good arm, but Mays never missed the cutoff man, never threw to the wrong base," Koufax said. "I'm not sure Roberto did either, but there have been a lot of good arms in baseball. I'm not comparing [Puig] to Clemente after two or three months in the big leagues."

Still a lot of upside with this Puig kid. Let's see how 2014 unfolds.

UPDATE 7:09p: Dylan Hernandez of the LAT had the same Koufax interview, and got an entirely different spin (possibly because his last Koufax quote has some minor differences (underlining mine):

PHOENIX — Sandy Koufax defended Yasiel Puig’s style of play, saying he doesn’t mind Puig’s theatrics so long as they don’t result in mistakes.

“If the showmanship doesn’t involve bad decisions, yeah, it’s fine,” Koufax said. “People love it.”

But Koufax also said he would like to see the 23-year-old outfielder learn the finer points of the game.

“You have a great arm, you want to show it off, but I’d like to see him throw it to the right place all the time,” Koufax said. “He’s young. The biggest thing is he’s not played against competition as good as he is. So you’re always able to have your physical ability make up for whatever else you do. He’s learning. I’m sure it’s going to happen. He has too much talent.”

Funny how those Koufax quotes turned out quite differently!

TBS Post-Game Snaps

Post-Game 160 Thread: Boobies and Ice Cream

DODGERS 11, ROCKIES ZIP

We were way overdue to administer an ass-whuppin, and boy did we administer one. Boobies and ice cream, indeed, thanks to the offense and pitching.

Clayton Kershaw was on from the first pitch. He struck out eight and walked none. It was one of those outings where he seemed to be able to get a batter out at will, as if he were playing a video game and had the strike-this-mofo-out cheat code. Kid K moves to 16-9 with a - are you sitting down - 1.83 ERA on the season. He is the first Dodger to do so since the revered Sandy Koufax in 1966. And he became the first pitcher to lead the majors in ERA in three consecutive seasons since Greg Maddux did so from '93-'95. That's some good company, Clay.

On the offensive side, well, there was a notable lack of noffense. The bats came alive from the first inning, when the Dodgers put up four on Colorado rookie Collin McHugh thanks to a two-run double by Uribe and RBI singles by both Ellis boys. Crawford got off the home run schneid with a three-run homer in the fourth. A-Gone notably got his 100th RBI of the season with a solo shot to his favorite spot past the right field foul pole. AJEllis also got in on the red hot HR action with a two-run homer in the fifth. Honestly the Dodgers could have added several more runs, but were classy enough not to run up the score in several situations where they could have easily crossed the plate.

The only negative to the night was that Puig fouled a ball off what appeared to be his calf and had to leave the game. Subsequent x-rays were negative, thankfully, but he is likely very sore. Mattingly later noted that Puig would be day to day. But, aren't we all, Vinny?

Sandy Koufax vs. Mr. Ed

MLB.com's Cut4 did a shoutout yesterday to Sandy Koufax, and specifically how Koufax was shown up by the four-legged steed:

In 1963, Mr. Ed paid a visit to Dodger Stadium. In the show's fourth-season premiere, "Mr. Ed Meets Leo Durocher," the Los Angeles coach takes a liking to America's sweet-horse and his owner when Ed offers some clutch batting tips to the team.

The episode featured Willie Davis, Johnny Roseboro, and Moose Skowron, as well as the voice of Vin Scully. Mr. Ed even got to take some BP with Sandy Koufax, hitting one out of the park. If you enjoyed Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (and if you didn't, you're lying), you'll be equally delighted by the generally not-seen-in-nature sight of a horse at bat:

Enjoy.

It Should Be Called the Legends Game

Looking good!

Future legend meets current legend.

First Look: Sandy Koufax Bobblehead

First Look: No. 32 is at Dodger Stadium today, and we’ll celebrate him on June 27th on Sandy Koufax Bobblehead Night: twitter.com/Dodgers/status…

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 9, 2013

Photos From The Dodgers Archives

Dodger Stadium is filled with awesome memorabilia and photographs from the archives. Here's two more that a SoSG stringer recently found:

Fernando Valenzuela with his 1981 Cy Young Award. Oh, what a year!

Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Sandy Koufax as their uniform numbers are retired.

Post-Game 1 Thread: A Day for Lefties

"How about you and I rule the world five years from now?"

DODGERS 4, GIANTS 0

First off, kudos to the Dodgers organization for the classy and thrilling pre-game ceremonies on Opening Day. There was an impressive star-studded video played on the new Dodger Stadium screens, but the highlight was Sandy Koufax throwing out the first pitch to Orel Hershiser (below). Chills? Chills. SoSG AC, SoSG Dusty and SoSG Sax were in attendance and let's hope we hear from them what the buzz at the stadium was like.

The Dodgers got off to a great start in the first inning off Matt Cain, making him throw a lot of pitches and getting two men on with no out. But Carl Crawford tried to play hero by stealing third and was thrown out easily by Buster Posey, and the inning fell apart after that. Despite making Cain throw 29 pitches, the Dodgers went scoreless in the first.

Clayton Kershaw and Cain proceeded to lock everything down by throwing up matching zeroes for seven and a half innings. Cain ended up with eight Ks, Kershaw seven.

Then came the bottom of the eighth. Bruce Bochy had already pulled Cain after 92 pitches. First up to face reliever Goerge Kontos is Kershaw, who crushes the first pitch to deep center for his first major-league home run. The Dodgers went on to score three more, but of course Kershaw's home run was the game-winner. According to the post-game interview, Kershaw is the first pitcher to throw a complete game and hit a home run on Opening Day since Bob Lemon in 1953.

So, pay the man already. 2013 just got off to a pretty damn fine start.

photo, from 2008, by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

Vin Scully Interviews Sandy Koufax

Behold the greatness:

Stalking Sandy

Sandy Koufax was at Camelback Ranch and there is this neat little area between the two major practice fields that have about five pitching mounds in a row.  And of course the lefty specialist was there imparting his wisdom to pitchers young (Jansen and Kershaw) and old (Lilly).  So I took a lot of pictures.  I MEAN A LOT.  So many that if the police break down my door (again) and go through this computer, the amount of Sandy Koufax pictures would raise some serious suspicion.  If I printed them all out, placed them on the wall with some candles under them, it would be straight out of a bad movie.  So, here are some of the many Koufax pictures.

Look Who's Back in Dodger Blue

SANDY KOUFAX!

4: via @camelbackranch

Sandy Koufax Back in the Fold

From "Dodgers to be joined by Koufax at Spring Training" by Ken Gurnick at Dodgers.com:

The Dodgers, who will take eight starting pitchers to Spring Training next month, will also take the greatest pitcher in franchise history.

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax has returned to the club as special advisor to chairman Mark Walter. Koufax will spend a portion of Spring Training working with the club's pitchers at Camelback Ranch-Glendale and consult during the season.

"I'm delighted to be back with the Dodgers," Koufax said. "I'm looking forward to spending time with the team during Spring Training and to contributing in any way I can to help make the team a success for the fans of Los Angeles. Some of my most cherished memories came at Dodger Stadium."

Koufax's return is another in a string of fan-friendly decisions by new ownership.

"The Dodgers are thrilled to have Sandy back with the organization," president and CEO Stan Kasten said. "Sandy's experience and perspective will be invaluable as we endeavor to do everything in our power to bring the city of Los Angeles a World Series champion."

Chalk up another victory for the Guggenbros. Welcome back, Sandy!

photo: @TommyLasorda

As If Today Couldn't Get Any Better: Vin to Return

Maybe we can take this picture again next year.

From "Vin Scully will be back in the booth next season" by Bill Shaikin at the LA Times:

In a year that has been so improbable, the incredible has happened.

Not Magic. Not Hanley Ramirez. Not Adrian Gonzalez. Better than all of that.

Vin Scully is coming back. The Dodgers are expected to announce Sunday that Scully will return to the Dodgers' broadcast booth next season.

Scully has been the sound of summer in Southern California for more than half a century, from transistor radios to Twitter. We are blessed to be able to pull up a chair and spend part of another year with him.

He will call it a career after one of these summers, and a city will lose its voice.

It could have been this summer. He is 84, after all. The travel gets old. The grandchildren get older.

But Scully is healthy, and he is energized by the Dodgers' new ownership group. The Dodgers just might win again soon. He would hate to miss out, and we would hate for him to miss out. [...]

One of the blessings of technology is that Scully's stories need not vanish into thin air. The Sons of Steve Garvey website maintains a "Vin Scully Repository," with transcripts of his best stories over the last five years.

Twitter is at your service too, to collect Scully's best one-liners. Check out @vinscullytweet.

I constantly struggle to find perspective and gratitude, so I'm going to take today as a nice reality check. Life is good. Thanks for coming back, Vin. We're already looking forward to it.

Almost exactly a year ago at SoSG: Life Just Got a Little Brighter: Vin Back in 2012