Results tagged “dondrysdale”

Even the most casual of Dodgers fans knows that we are fortunate enough to have here, in our beloved City of Angels, one of the most storied franchises in all the sporting world. In the new DVD from MLB Productions, Dodger Blue – The Championship Years, we are treated to a 60-minute retrospective that includes colorful-yet-concise vignettes on the world championship teams of 1955 (the famous “Boys of Summer” and the only Brooklyn team to win it all), ’59, ’63, ’65, ’81 and ’88, as well as a look at the National League Champion teams of 1974, ’77 and ’78. The Special Features section includes the Hall Of Fame acceptance speeches of Tommy Lasorda, Don Drysdale and Duke Snider.

Even their secondary announcers, guys like Jerry Doggett, Don Drysdale, Ross Porter, and Rick Monday, were all in the top-tier of baseball announcers. We all bemoaned the firing of Ross Porter, but that pill was made slightly easier to swallow when a quality announcer in Charley Steiner took his place.

It is absolutely stunning that Blyleven is left off. He retired third all-time in strikeouts (now he's fifth), and he is sixth all-time in shutouts. Blyleven was an important pitcher on two World Series championship teams, and pitched well in the postseason. He finished in the top-five in ERA seven times in his career, 10 times in the top-10. He was an excellent pitcher for 22 seasons, in the Don Sutton or even Don Drysdale mode. So why isn't Blyleven in Cooperstown?