tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post1055886025947938242..comments2023-11-05T03:46:37.630-06:00Comments on dadlak: World Series and Remembrance - Part 3 - The Eighties - From the Phillies' First Win to Bay's Big Quakedadlakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17649657312327983721noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post-72488018589732480492007-10-30T11:23:00.000-06:002007-10-30T11:23:00.000-06:00I think that "Full Pack" came from Stanhouse's day...I think that "Full Pack" came from Stanhouse's days with the Baltimore Orioles when Earl Weaver, a smoker, was the manager. I agree--it's a great nickname--much better than the current range of A-Rods, I-Rods and other name-shortened "nicknames."dadlakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17649657312327983721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post-38316660406780727482007-10-30T09:49:00.000-06:002007-10-30T09:49:00.000-06:00>>{Don "Stan the Man Unusual" Stanhouse}Ah, yes, D...>>{Don "Stan the Man Unusual" Stanhouse}<<<BR/><BR/>Ah, yes, DON STANHOUSE. He had another nickname as well:<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure when he acquired it or by whom, but because of his tendency to pitch himself into trouble before pitching himself out of it, he was called "FULL PACK STANHOUSE." It's said that he would put his nervous manager through a full pack of cigarettes while watching his "high wire act" out there on the pitcher's mound.<BR/><BR/>There have been a lot of classic nicknames in the history of sports, but because it's so funny, this one has to be my all-time favorite.<BR/><BR/>~ Stephen<BR/><"As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." <BR/>~ Proverbs 26:11>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post-55868972988797828222007-10-29T19:31:00.000-06:002007-10-29T19:31:00.000-06:00Ah, thanks so much for the kind words, Dadlak. Aft...Ah, thanks so much for the kind words, Dadlak. After writing my 1988 Dodger recollections last night, I was inspired today to dig out a couple of old VHS World Series and season highlight tapes and revisit the "Good Old Days."<BR/><BR/>I've returned to make a correction -- after all, 19 years is a long time to remember baseball details:<BR/><BR/>The injury that Gibson suffered in making his "fabulous game-saving catch" on a very soggy New York diamond (saving the game only temporarily it seems, as the Dodgers eventually lost it) did not put him out of action until his Game One-winning home run in the '88 Series, as I stated above. He played further and contributed additional heroics at the plate during the NLCS, until his legs just could not take any more abuse and he went to the bench.<BR/><BR/>This latest in a series of leg injuries was indeed what forced the fiery Gibson to relinquish his starting position in left field, but it took another game or two before Gibson went to the bench for good. (I didn't want to inadvertently leave misinformation posted here for anyone who might find this later.)<BR/><BR/>Well, thanks again, Dadlak. I wish I had more time to Blog about baseball and other things, but unfortunately, I just don't. But I will try to find my way here again sometime in the future. Keep up the nice work, Brother.<BR/><BR/>~ Stephen (T. McCarthy)<BR/><"As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." <BR/>~ Proverbs 26:11>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post-31404110588067133692007-10-29T09:31:00.000-06:002007-10-29T09:31:00.000-06:00Wow--thanks for the wonderful recollections, Steph...Wow--thanks for the wonderful recollections, Stephen. You should blog baseball too. I'd love to read your insights on regular basis.dadlakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17649657312327983721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293585103559477433.post-84238171683924884652007-10-28T23:42:00.000-06:002007-10-28T23:42:00.000-06:00Hey, Brother Dadlak ~The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers ...Hey, Brother Dadlak ~<BR/><BR/>The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers (“The Little Team That Could”) is probably my all-time favorite baseball team. After many years of inattention to the sport, something inexplicable occurred to me in the Spring of that year, and I found myself hanging on every fastball and hanging curveball. The Dodgers were coming off back-to-back lousy seasons, but an upsetting event during Spring Training that year seemed to be an omen of magic and fire to come: Someone (later revealed to be pitcher Jesse Orosco) put eyeblack in newcomer Kirk Gibson’s cap as a practical joke. When Gibson later discovered the black stuff smeared on his forehead, he loudly criticized the team’s lackadaisical attitude, saying that it was no wonder the team had become an embarrassment in the National League, and then he stormed off the field and went home for the day.<BR/><BR/>The next day, it was a whole new Los Angeles Dodgers that took that Spring Training field and notorious tough guy, Kirk Gibson, was the indisputed team leader. As the ’88 season wore on, the miraculous comeback victories began piling up, and anyone paying the least bit of attention could see that something almost mystical was happening with this Dodger team.<BR/><BR/>They met the Mets in the NLCS (a team that beat the Dodgers 10 out of 11 times during the regular season –- one game rained out). For the media and the Mets players themselves, a Mets victory in the NLCS was a foregone conclusion, but Lasorda promised that his little team would show up for the playoff series anyway.<BR/><BR/>And this was an incredibly intense and interesting playoff series -- a real heart attack for Dodger fans, with extra inning games and tightrope situation after tightrope situation. (My girlfriend was convinced that The Boys In Blue could not escape deep trouble unless she played a certain Beach Boys song. It was her defensive version of “the rally cap.”) Meanwhile, Oakland swept Boston in the ALCS, and they were waiting and watching..... watching the Dodgers continue their comeback ways against the disbelieving Mets. <BR/><BR/>Making a fabulous game-saving catch in left field, Gibson reinjured his leg and would not see any more action until that Game One-winning World Series home run -- his only at bat in the Fall Classic. The gut-wrenching NLCS went 7 games with The Little Team That Could overcoming massive odds to beat the cocky Mets and move on to the World Series. <BR/><BR/>I am sure that the powerhouse A’s were certain that the Dodger Blue Magic could not affect them; they had The Bash Brothers and Eckersley and a Monster Mashing team that ran away with the American League. I’m positive that they were positive they were immune to miraculous Dodger comebacks. But then came Game One and team leader Kirk Gibson limping to the plate to pinch hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the tying run on first base. The rest, as they say, will be shown in highlight clips until the end of the world. I witnessed Gibson’s famous homer from the nosebleed section (“Peanut Heaven”) at Dodger Stadium; it’s something “they” can never take away from me. I’ll never forget seeing complete strangers of various races and religions hugging each other in the stands afterwards.<BR/><BR/>After Gibson parked Eckersley’s backdoor slider into the right field bleachers and the ballpark just exploded into an ovation that is still echoing through the Stadium, the cameras panned across the faces of the A’s team watching the celebration from their dugout and defeat was etched into their faces. No, not the Game One defeat, but the World Series defeat: I am fully convinced that the A’s realized right then and there that the “underDOdGers” had baseball magic and fire that even The Bash Brothers wouldn’t be able to nullify.<BR/><BR/>Gibson didn’t play again in the Series, but he didn’t need to: his home run psychologically destroyed the Oakland A’s. The team so supposedly lightweight that Bob Costas called it the weakest hitting team to ever play a World Series game, went on to beat the heavily favored Athletics 4 games to 1. The Dodgers won game 2 as well, opening up a veritable “hit parade” on the visitors. If memory serves me, Los Angeles lost game 3. There were so many injuries suffered by the Dodgers, that several bench players (they called themselves “The Stunt Men”) were forced to start, and this prompted the Costas’ remark, in which he added that if Oakland couldn’t get a win against the lineup that the Dodgers trotted out to the field to begin game 4, then the A’s should just pack it in and start thinking about next year. The Dodgers went on to win games 4 and 5. (A few days after the game 5 win, Lasorda danced on the Los Angeles City Hall steps during the victory parade –- something he had promised during Spring Training that he would do if the Dodgers won the World Championship.)<BR/><BR/>I grew up with baseball (my Mom actually worked for the Dodgers and the Angels), but if I had to select just a single team that won a world championship on almost sheer willpower, it was “The Little Team That Could.”<BR/><BR/>Nice writing, Dadlak. Thanks! It is clear that you really have a passion for the game. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree about the Designated Hitter. Good luck to you, Brother.<BR/><BR/>~ Stephen T. McCarthyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com