Posted on 11/26/2007 11:00:05 PM PST by BurbankKarl
When people talk about baseball played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, most point to May 7, 1959, as a highlight. That was the night 93,103 fans honored Roy Campanella by lighting matches and cigarette lighters as Pee Wee Reese pushed him in his wheelchair toward home plate in the fifth inning.
"Roy was so proud of that," said his former teammate, Don Newcombe, who was in Japan that night and missed the exhibition game between the Dodgers and New York Yankees. "He talked about it.
"He was proud of it. He was my roommate. He was my buddy. Same as I miss Jackie [Robinson], I miss Roy."
On Monday, the Dodgers announced that, in honor of their 50th anniversary in Los Angeles, they will play an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at the Coliseum on March 29.
The field will be reconfigured as close as possible to the original playing dimensions, meaning there will be a 42-foot screen in left field about 250 feet from home plate that players must clear for a home run.
A host of former Dodgers greats -- including Newcombe, Maury Wills and Tommy Lasorda -- joined politicians, new Los Angeles manager Joe Torre, general manager Ned Colletti, owner Frank McCourt and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner outside the stadium's peristyle entrance to announce the game.
"We always knew the Dodgers would return to the Coliseum before the NFL," Coliseum Commission Vice president David Israel quipped.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Go see the video of Kirk Gibson’s homerun against Oakland - http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=la
GO RAIDERS !!!! ?
Didn’t you know they up and goed to Oakland.
I think the Dodgers could take em.
In a famous incident, writers Pete Hamill and Jack Newfield wrote their own list of the three worst villains of the 20th century on a piece of paper to settle a discussion they were having over lunch. They each wrote the same three names in the same order: Hitler, Stalin, Walter O’Malley.
Corporate/celebrity seats. No one wanted to take the tickets that night. In LA or New York, when it's a nationally televised game, the celebrity seats will be full.
They can have it.
Go Giants! :)
Yes sir. ;~))
Richie Ashburn... oh memories. He played center field for the Phillies in the first major league game I ever went to. It was at Forbes field back in 1955. Robin Roberts pitched for the Phillies and the big stars for the Pirates then were Ted Kluzuski and some young kid from Puerto Rico that the Pirates stole from the Dodgers. His name was Roberto Clemente.
I think Ashburn hit .350 one year. Big Klu cut off his sleeves so he could show off his guns. Clemente died in a plane crash on a relief mission to the Dominican Republic. Robin Roberts was amazing. He had six straight 20-win seasons and one year was 28-7.
I don’t remember Orel pitching in that game.
To be fair to Walter O’Malley, Flatbush was on its way to becoming a ghetto, and Robert Moses didn’t want to give him permission for a new stadium anyway. Moses later saw his grave error, and approved a stadium at the Worlds Fair site in Flushing Meadows, now home to the only REAL New York team!
I was at three straight games when Willie Davis hit in 29, 30, and 31 straight to set the Dodger record. It was either on No. 30 or 31 when hit was hitless through 8 innings. The Dodgers had a three or four run lead, and everyone thought that was the end of the streak. The Mets tied it, and it went into extra innings. I’ve look for the box score but so far can’t find it. It was possibly Sept. 2 or Sept. 3, 1969. Anyway, in extra innings the Dodgers had the winning run on third, and I think it was one out. Met manager and former Dodger great Gil Hodges did not intentionally walk Davis. Davis got a hit to win the game.
It was Nicaragua and that was a day (New Year's eve, 1972) that I will never forget. It was a shock that he could have been killed like that. Clemente was my all time favorite ball player and a hell of a good man to boot.
Auburn and Roberts were members of the Phillies 1950 'Whiz Kids' team. Both were great players.
Back than when we were playing ball on the street, we all rolled up the sleeves on our t-shirts to show our muscles -- just like 'Big Klu.'
BTW. Another guy on that Pirate team for that first game I ever attended was the shortstop, Dick Groat. Interesting story there. He never played a day in the minors, was the starting shortstop from his first day with the team, and won both the MVP and battling title with the Pirates. He was also the first 'modern' player to play on professional teams and two different sports in the same season (1953?). Groat loved basketball better than baseball, (he was the first guy to have his number retired at Duke) and was actually better at basketball, but in the 50s, pro baseball paid better and Branch Rickey told him he could not play both and to make a choice. He was from a blue collar family so he chose baseball and the money. Great memories.
I run into Groat every once and a while. He still looks like he could win a one-on-one and he's in his late 70s now.
Doh! Yes, Nicaragua.
At least two players have played both basketball and baseball in the same season, probably more. I remember Gene Conley of the Celics. Dave Debusschere was another. And I think there was pitcher named Reed who played basketball. There were probably a few more, but I don’t know if they played both sports in the same season. Danny Ainge comes to mind.
I just heard Saturday is USC’s last game at the Coliseum! They arent renewing the lease.
There is a very good book by David Maraniss on Clemente if you are interested. Aside from trying to understand Clemente, it really does show how pro sports (or really the mega money involved today) has changed not just the game, but the character of the athletes. Clemente may have been the last of a kind.
There are far too many agents and lawyers to allow a young guy to become a Roberto Clemente today.
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