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1980s  Los Angeles Dodgers 1980s Los Angeles Dodgers

Pedro Guerrero, Mike Marshall, Orel Hershiser, Mike Scioscia, Don Sutton

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The Famous "Green Box"

What's a green box and why is it so famous? Well, just like a baseball dugout, that's where the stories are told. The "Green Box" appeared on the Baseball Historian web site during our inception back in 1999 and has been holding kangaroo court ever since. Enjoy the stories...

Pedro Guerrero's Home Runs - June 1985
In June of 1985, Pedro Guerrero slammed 15 home runs, his total ranked among the highest one-month numbers ever. Guerrero's 15 home runs in June equaled the Dodgers' record for that month set by Duke Snider back in 1953; when the Dodgers still played in Brooklyn. Guerrero finished the 1985 season with 33 home runs and a .320 batting mark.

Guerrero said, " I've always had confidence in my hitting. I've had times before when I went to the plate and felt nobody could get me out. But I never had the kind of month when I hit the long ball like I did in June."

 
 
Mike Marshall Mike Marshall

Outfielder and First Baseman, LH, Los Angeles Dodgers 1981-1989, New York Mets 1990, Boston Red Sox 1991
A solid hitter, Mike Marshall hit over 15 homers six times for the Los Angeles Dodgers, including a career-high 28 home runs in 1985. He debuted with the West Coast team in 1981 and in his first full season (1983) hit .284 with 17 doubles, 17 homers, 65 RBIs.

A popular player with Dodgers fans, in 1985 Mike Marshall went on a season-long slugfest, blasting 27 two-base hits, 28 home runs, drove in a career-best 95 runs while batting .293, however, he did strikeout 137 times in 135 games.

In 1988 when the Dodgers won the NL West title, he hit .283, with 27 doubles, 20 Hrs and had 82 RBIs. In slightly over 1,000 major league games, Mike Marshall had a career batting average of .270, a .351 on-base-pct, and a .446 slugging pct.

 

For a short time one of the top pitchers in baseball history
Orel Hershiser, RH, LA Dodgers ? 1988 World Champions

Hershiser rates as the best pitcher in baseball in 1988 .... recorded 23-8 record, a stingy 2.26 earned run average .... Hershiser received all 24 first place votes in the balloting for the Cy Young Award to become the NL ninth unanimous winner .... led league in innings (267), complete games (15) and shutouts (8) .... finished the year by hurling 59 consecutive scoreless innings.

Orel Hershiser's performances in the post-season games ranks in the top five in baseball?s long history .... He almost single-handedly shut down the New York Mets in the NLChampionship Series .... posting a mere 1.09 ERA, while pitching in a record-setting 24 2/3 innings. Hershiser started Games 1 and 3, save Game 4 and came back to shut out the Mets in Game 7 giving the Dodgers the pennant ... was voted the MVP of the NLCS.

Hershiser carried his remarkable success into the World Series against the power-hitting Oakland A's .... He pitched two complete games in the 5-game World Series .... won both games, including a three-hit shut out in Game 2 .... was voted the MVP of the World Series .... 2-0 record, 1.00 ERA

 

 
 
Pedro Guerrero Pedro Guerrero

3B, OF, 1B, - Right-handed, Los Angeles, 1978-1988, St. Louis Cardinals 1989-1992
Pedro Guerrero was a feared hitter during the 1980's. Three times he hit over 30 homers in a season, had a .300 career batting average, however he was often injured and he played only 4 full seasons in a 13 year career. He was one of the heroes in the 1981 World Series. He connected for 2 homers, drove in 7 runs, with 5 coming in the final game, helping the Dodgers win the World Title.

Guerrero's injuries started in 1977 while playing for Albuquerque in Class AAA. He was hitting .403 in 32 games, then broke his ankle and missed the rest of the season. Playing for the Dodgers in 1980, Guerrero was hitting .322, injured his knee in mid-season and spent the remainder of the year on the disabled list.

Guerrero's best 2-seasons were 1982-1983. In 1982 he hit .304, 32 HRs, 100 RBIs. In 1983 he batted .298, 32 HRs and 103 RBIs. However the next year he played with a sore shoulder for most of the year and his hitting slipped to 16 HRs, 72 RBIs.

In the month of June 1985, he hit 15 home runs, then missed 25 games with a back injury but still hit .325 with 33 homers and led the NL in slg/pct .577. Guerrero ruptured a tendon in his knee and missed most of 1986.

He was injury-free in 1987 and hit .338, 27 homers. After spending most of 1988 on the DL with a pinched nerve he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Guerrero put up big numbers in his first year with the Cardinals. He had 117 RBIs and led the NL with 42 doubles. He played only part time for the next 3 years, being plagued by nagging injuries.

Pedro Guerrero's lifetime stats: .300 BA, 267 doubles, 215 HRs, 898 RBI's, .480 slg/pct, stole 97 career bases. Baseballhistorian.com

 

 
 
Dodgers' Scioscia Scorecard 1986 Dodgers' Scioscia Scorecard 1986

Los Angeles Dodgers' 1986 Scorecard; Catcher Mike Scioscia
Catcher Mike Scioscia is highlighted on the cover of the 1986 issue of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 80 page scorecard. The cover features the Dodger blue background with a large photo of Scioscia strapping on a pair of catchers shin-guards while leaning on the dugout steps. Inside the scorecard magazine on page 54-55 is a large photo of the catcher kneeling and blocking home plate.

An adjacent article written by Liz Shanov, 'ABC Radio Sports' contains interesting tidbits about Scioscia.

The article contains quotes from the Dodgers' top pitching guns. Orel Hershiser states, "He catches the ball in towards his body, so the umpire thinks it is closer to the plate. He doesn't jab at it. When a catcher jabs at it the umpire thinks the ball is away from the plate.

He frames pitches by the way he can shift his body out towards the corners." Pitcher Rick Honeycutt said, "After you throw to him, one or two times, you have a lot of confidence in him. When you've got a guy who just is right so much, it takes a lot of pressure off you having to call your own game."

The article goes on to read, "Scioscia's real passion, is strumming the blues on his guitar. "In 1984, I was up pinch-hitting against Jesse Orosco," a top reliever for the Mets, Scioscia recalls, "I had a chance to tie the game and I ended up striking out. So I went home and wrote "The Jesse Orosco Blues" and played it for about two hours that night and drove my wife crazy."

Later in the article it states, "It's the opposing base runners who sing the blues when they collide with Scioscia at home plate. Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, who has described a lot good plate-blocking catchers, once praised Scioscia as the best he's ever seen. "I don't know if you'd call it an instinct," Scioscia says about his willingness to sacrifice his body. "When I was growing up in Philadelphia everyone that I played against, every catcher, blocked the plate just as aggressively as I did. I just thought it was part of the job. I never really noticed the difference until I got into pro ball and noticed some catchers shy away."

 

Don Sutton - Made in the U. S. of A.
Right handed pitcher Don Sutton, who starred for the Dodgers, Angels and Brewers, collected over 300 career wins and is one of only 9 pitchers to win 300 games without pitching a no-hitter. Sutton is a member of the Hall of Fame.

Throughout his' career, Sutton was accused of putting foreign material on the baseball. Near the end of his' pitching days, he was asked if he ever put 'a foreign substance' on the ball. Sutton declared, "Not true at all. Vaseline is manufactured right here in the United States of America. Baseballhistorian.com (Rotating Green Boxes)

 

 

 





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