Brooklyn Dodgers: An Alternate History

[DonnieBaseball]

Big June for the Dodgers on a few fronts....

First off the Dodgers went 19 - 7 in june and Pulled away from the Pirates who went 10 - 16.

The Dodgers lead the NL by 7 games now.

No less then 8 Dodgers were in the All Star Game as well......

Roy Campanella
Jackie Robinson
Duke Snider
Carl Furillo
Hal Gregg
Kirby Higbe
Rex Barney
Hugh Casey

The Draft was a nice one for Brooklyn as well...

First round pick......

OF Wally Moon



Moon will start in A ball and will figure into what is becoming a deep Minor League System.

A trade was also made.....

3 minor league prospects were sent to the Boston Braves for reliever Chi Chi-Olivo.

Chi-Chi is a middle reliever with a 2.93 ERA and relies on his fastball heavily.

With injuries to Hugh Casey and Rube Melton....GM Walt Jacobs felt that a minor move needed to be made.

Stay tuned fans as July can be a big month for the Dodgers !!!

[DonnieBaseball]

July was a solid one for the Dodgers going 19-10 for a record of 76-36 overall.

With a 9 game lead over the second place Pirates, the Dodgers are in good position if they can have a good August.

The AL race ....The Tigers are in first with a 6 game lead on the St. Louis Browns.

The Brooklyn Scouting report finds the Tigers are potentially deadly with a 4 man rotation of :

Hal Newhouser 94 rated
Allie Reynolds 90 rated
Dizzy Trout 90 rated
Virgil Trucks 89 rated

The Dodgers have some hot spots too :

Campanella - .315 38 102
Snider - .337 39 123
Furillo - .353 23 76
Hodges - .288 28 93
Hal Gregg - 13 - 1 1.54

We still have some games to go but this is the potential post season setting..

Two contract extensionswere granted as well....

23 year old Rex Barney was given a 5 Years / $ 75,000 deal...at $15,000 a season GM Jacobs felt that it was a low risk/high reward deal...Barney is 10-11 with a 5.52 ERA carrer.

26 year old Hal Gregg was also given a deal at 4 Years / $ 180,000 to make him at $45,000 a year the highest paid Dodger on the roster.



The Dodgers look to be trying to tie up as many of the younger stars as possible. With the Dodgers looking as good as they have the past 2 seasons....thats a wise move.

[DonnieBaseball]

August sees ups and downs for Dodgers !!!

17-11 in August brings the Dodgers to a 93-47 record on the year with a 9 game lead with 14 games to play !

It appears the Dodgers are on the way to another World Series if they can hold on !!

The Bad News....Roy Campanella is on the DL for 15 days and may miss some games in the World Series if Brooklyn makes it there.

In the AL Detroit and the Cleveland are in a dog fight! The Indians are 4 games back with 6 games against the Tigers head to head....

Next report will be the September wrap up and the World Series preview !!

[DonnieBaseball]

Your World Series is the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Detroit Tigers !!!

Game 1 will see Hal Gregg 14-2 2.17 ERA take on Hal Newhouser in Detroit.



Newhouser is 22-8 2.70 ERA.

Ralph Kiner was the talk of the town !!

After 57 Homeruns last season, the 25 year old hit 65 Homeruns this season and breaks the Babes record !!



This young man will be a force for years to come !!

Carl Furillo was also resigned before the post season at 4 year $144,000 or $36,000 a year.

Furillo hit .330 24 100 this season and he is 26 years old



So stay tuned fans as a great Dodger season will hopefully have 4 more wins

[DonnieBaseball]

Game 1 in Detroit

Hal Newhouser takes the mound for the Tigers but gives up a run right away



Jackie Robinson gets a basehit and later in the inning Duke Snider drives him in.

Hal Gregg in the bottom of the second gives up a solo homerun to Hoot Evers



Newhouser and Gregg dont get scored on again untill the 6th.

George Kell drives a run in and The Tigers take the lead 2-1.

In the top of the 8th Jackie Robinson gets a basehit and steals second to be drove in by Duke Snider to tie the game 2-2.

In the top of the Ninth however the Tigers touch closer Hank Behrman for 2 more runs when George Kell drives in the go ahead run



The Tigers bring in thier closer Hal Erickson and get the Dodgers 1-2-3- in the ninth.

The Tigers lead the series 1 game to none.

[DonnieBaseball]

Game 2 Allie Reynolds battled aging Brooklyn pitcher Kirby Higbe.



....and no score untill the top of the third when PeeWee Reese drove in Pete Reiser.

1-0 Dodgers.

Top 7 :

Duke Snider hit an infield single to second.
Carl Furillo singled through the left side.
Pete Reiser singled to right, scoring a run.
....later in the inning....
Carl Furillo tagged up and reached home, scoring a Reiser.

3-0 Dodgers

.............but for the second game in a row the bullpen would fail Brooklyn.

Bottom 7 :

Sam Chapman walked.
George Kell singled to center.
Johnny Van Cuyk came in to pitch for the Dodgers.
Vic Wertz doubled to center, scoring a run.
Hoot Evers grounded to the second baseman, scoring a run.
John McHale doubled down the third base line, scoring a run.

and it is 3-3 that fast !!

Top 8 and Jackie Robinson walks...steals second....steals third....and comes hom on a Pesky single.



4-3 Dodgers.

The Dodgers would hit hard in the top of the 9th as well....Carl Furillo and back-up Catcher Bruce Edwards both hit home runs...Furillo a solo and Edwards a 2 run to make it 7-3 Brooklyn.

Hank Behrman came back in the ninth after a bad performance in game 1 to stop the Tigers and tie this series at 1 game each !!!

[DonnieBaseball]

Game 3 back in Brooklyn and we see the Tigers put



Dizzy Trout

Up against



Dodger Curt Simmons.

Curt Simmons was acquired last season by Dodgers GM Walter Jacobs.

Game 3 was a gem.

0-0 bottom of the fourth and Carl Furillo takes 1 deep.



1-0 Dodgers.

Bottom of the fifth and Jackie Robinson takes one yard

2-0 Dodgers.

Top of the 8th and George Kell finally touches Curt Simmons for an RBI for a 2-1 score.

Johnny Van Cuyk



Comes in and redeems himself with a quick out and a 1-2-3 ninth !!!

The Dodgers win in Brooklyn and take a 2 games to 1 lead on the Tigers.

Hal Newhouser will get the call in game 4 to try and tie things back up.....his opponent will be Ralph Branca !

[EarlSWhite]

Now, HERE is the Dodgers team I like! None of this moving to LA junk and screwing over the fans in Brooklyn. (Sounds weird coming from an A's fan when they left Philly, but I think from what I've read that was a different situation, like when the Braves left Boston).

Keep up the good work, and keep em in Brooklyn where they still should be!

I wish Astroland could have survived, I've never gotten to visit NYC yet and would have loved to have gone there.

[German AllStar]

A very nice thread,

Greetings from Germany

[Walter Johnson]

Now, HERE is the Dodgers team I like! None of this moving to LA junk and screwing over the fans in Brooklyn. (Sounds weird coming from an A's fan when they left Philly, but I think from what I've read that was a different situation, like when the Braves left Boston).

Keep up the good work, and keep em in Brooklyn where they still should be!

I wish Astroland could have survived, I've never gotten to visit NYC yet and would have loved to have gone there.

I agree. Muggsy McGraw must have put some sort of curse on us when we moved from NY to SF ... (yep, I'm a long-suffering Giants fan)

Being from Australia, I'd love to get to NYC some day - last time I came to the States, I only got as far as Chicago.