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Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers, Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
June 19, 1959

Introduction

My series of random game stories goes next to Los Angeles in 1959. Major League Baseball had just reached the West Coast one year earlier. The Dodgers had struggled in their first season in Los Angeles, finishing in seventh place with a record of 71-83. But things were looking a little better in 1959. The Dodgers entered play in fourth place, only 3-1/2 games out of first place, with a record of 34-32. Their opponent on June 19th was the 6th-place Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds' starting pitcher was Brooks Lawrence, who entered play with a record of 3-7 with a 4.88 ERA. Lawrence had been one of the first generation of African-Americans in Major League Baseball. The Negro League veteran debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954 at the age of 29 and had won 35 games in his first two seasons with the Reds in 1956 and 1957. He'd struggled in 1958 (8-13, 4.13 ERA) and the struggles had continued into 1959. A nice biography of Lawrence by Ron Rembert is available online as part of SABR's BioProject.

Lawrence's opponent was 29-year-old right-hander Roger Craig, who was making his first start of the 1959 season. Craig had pitched for the Dodgers while they were in Brooklyn, winning 12 games in 1956. But he hurt his arm and spent most of the the 1958 season and the early 1959 season in the minor leagues.

First Inning

Roger Craig retired the first batter he faced in 1959 on a pop-up to shortstop Don Zimmer (I can't be the only person who has trouble picturing "The Gerbil" as a major-league shortstop; of course, I have trouble picturing Zim as a 28-year-old, which he was in 1959). The next batter, Vada Pinson beat out a bunt single, however. But Jerry Lynch hit into a force play and Frank Robinson flied to center field for the third out.

Brooks Lawrence's day began the same as Craig's had: a quick first out followed by a single (this one by Charlie Neal). The similarity ended there.

• Wally Moon singled to left field.


• Duke Snider hit a three-run home run to left filed.


• Gil Hodges doubled to left-center field, taking third base on an error by Pinson.


• Don Demeter doubled to left field, scoring Hodges.


• Willard Schmidt replaced Brooks Lawrence on the mound for the Reds


• Johnny Roseboro singled to center field, scoring Demeter.

Schmidt retired the next two batters (the eighth and ninth batters in the inning) but the Dodgers had a commanding 5-0 lead after one inning.

Second - Third Innings

The five-run lead agreed with Roger Craig who pitched 1-2-3 innings in both the second and third innings with three strikeouts across the two innings.

Schmidt also looked good, though, working around a one-out single by Charlie Neal in the second inning, which he ended by striking out Duke Snider. Schmidt then matched Craig with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the bottom of the third inning.

Fourth Inning

Through three innings, Roger Craig had allowed a single (bunt) hit and had retired eight straight batters. The Reds got their leadoff batter on base for the first time in the fourth inning, however, as Vada Pinson, the only Red to reach base the first time through the lineup, walked.

Jerry Lynch lined out to center field. But Frank Robinson singled and Pinson raced home all the way from first base with the Reds' first run of the game. Robinson took second on the throw home. But the next two batters were retired on a strikeout and a foul-out to the catcher and the Dodgers lead was 5-1.

Schmidt made sure it stayed that way working a scoreless bottom of the fourth inning following a two-out walk to Gilliam by striking out Charlie Neal.

Fifth - Sixth Innings

Unfortunately for the Reds, they were unable to build on their fourth-inning run as Craig pitched a pair of 1-2-3 innings, each of which included a strikeout.

Roseboro got a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth inning and got to third base as new shortstop Maury Wills (who'd entered the game in the top of the sixth) grounded out. Craig managed to draw a walk, but Jim Gilliam popped out to the shortstop leaving Roseboro stranded on third base.

Seventh Inning

The Reds managed to pick up their second run of the game on a one-out home run by Frank Thomas - no, not that one! Unfortunately for the Reds, the next two batters were easy outs on ground outs to first base.

Duke Snider decided that 5-2 was a little too close for comfort. So he hit a two-out solo home run, his second of the game, to bump the Dodgers lead back up to four runs.

Eighth Inning

The top of the eighth inning opened with an interesting strategic move by the Reds. Former Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe pinch hit for starting shortstop Eddie Kasko. In 1959, Newcombe actually had more pinch-hitting appearances (31) than pitching appearances (30) and batted .305/.402/.410 with 3 home runs and 21 RBI in 121 plate appearances. This particular appearance did not add to any of those numbers: he grounded out to first base.

Jim Pendleton pinch hit for Schmidt, whose day ended with 6-2/3 innings of relief in which he allowed only one run (four hits, two walks) with seven strikeouts. Pendleton didn't do any better than Newcombe, flying out to center field. Johnny Temple singled to left field, but Vada Pinson left him there with a routine ground ball to second baseman Neal.

New Reds pitcher Luis Arroyo pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning. But the Dodgers went into the ninth inning leading 6-2.

Ninth Inning

The Reds had their 3-4-5 hitters due up, but needed four runs to even tie the game. Jerry Lynch grounded out to second base. Frank Robinson grounded out to shortstop. As in the eighth inning, the Reds got a two-out single, this one by Frank Thomas. But as in the eight inning, the next batter, Gus Bell in this case, was an easy third out.

And the Dodgers won the game, 6 to 2.

Game Summary

This game knocked Brooks Lawrence's record to 3-8 while his ERA ballooned over 5 (5.42). It also ended up being the last start of Brooks Lawrence's major-league career. He finished up the 1959 season with 28 games in relief - over which he picked up 10 saves (ten years before that became an official statistic) and then added 7 more relief appearances (and one save) in 1960, ending his 7-year major-league career with a record of 69-62, a 4.25 ERA, and the sense of "what-if" shared by many of his African-American contemporaries.

Roger Craig, on the other hand, built on his complete-game victory with a fine 1959 campaign: 11-5, 2.06 ERA (which would have led the league had he pitched 1-1/3 more innings), and a league-leading four shutouts. Three years later, Craig would return to New York where he started the first game in New York Mets history. Craig was the "ace" of the first two Mets teams, leading the National League in losses in 1962 (10-24, 4.51 ERA) and 1963 (5-22, 3.78). After he retired as a player, Craig gained some fame as a pitching coach for the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, and Detroit Tigers and a manager for the Padres and San Francisco Giants (with whom he won two division titles).

Meanwhile, back to June 19, 1959, as measured by net Player wins, this game was the fifth-most valuable in the long, celebrated career of Hall-of-Famer Duke Snider. The Dodgers split their next two games (both against the Reds) but then ran off seven straight wins pulling into second place only one game behind the Milwaukee Braves on June 28th. The Braves and Dodgers remained close throughout the summer and fall, ending the regularly-scheduled 1959 season tied for first place with identical 86-68 records.

The Dodgers won the best-of-three playoff series with the Braves with a pair of one-run victories and won the first World Series played on the West Coast, 4 games to 2 over the Chicago White Sox.

Details of the game are shown below. First, I show Player won-lost records for all of the players who participated in the game. Baseball Player won-lost records are constructed so that the players on the winning team earn two pWins and one pLoss in the game while the players on the losing team earn one pWin and two pLosses. I also show expected wins and losses, eWins and eLosses, which are context-neutral. Full play by play details of the game are shown below the won-lost tables. My Player won-lost records are described in more detail in this article and throughout my website.

Retrosheet Box Score and Play-by-Play