Al Lopez Had Florida Ballpark Named For Him
PLUS: PROPOSED GONDOLA LINE COULD BRING FANS INTO DODGER STADIUM
Readers React to Rob Manfred Column
Whoa, Dan. "Not a Manfred Fan?"
Not much of a fan myself. You have some legitimate issues, but I believe you missed one very important issue!
Why announce your departure in 2029 now? Can you create a greater "lame duck" situation than right now and for five years down the road?
I found the announcement of his intention to retire very strange. How do we as fans now look at his power? Not much power going forward. How do the owners and players look at his position? How do the agents look at him?
Rob's going to be sitting by himself often at the hotel bar.
— Tom (Pat) Mahady, Hewitt, NJ
Agreed on Manfred, ESPECIALLY on making players salaries public
knowledge! Great job!
— Bob Muscatell, NH
Great newsletter, especially the piece on Rob (the Turkey) Manfred!
— Bob & Deana Luchs, Franklin Lakes, NJ
Excellent piece about Commissioner Pepperwinkle! You may remember I published a talk I gave to the Las Vegas SABR chapter last summer addressing that very thing!
— Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Pregame Pepper
Back after healing from Tommy John elbow surgery, Atlanta set-up southpaw Tyler Matzek has a magnificent 1.48 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 20 playoff appearances across 2020 and 2021 and was instrumental in the 2021 Braves world championship . . .
Starter Ian Anderson, due back in mid-season after recovering from his own Tommy John operation, has a 1.26 ERA with a K/9 north of 10 in eight post-season starts . . .
Carlos Mendoza is the fifth Mets manager in the last eight years . . .
The Yankees still owe fading former MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a career-low .191 last year, $98 million over the next four years . . .
Roberto Cano, who played for both New York teams, was once the favorite player of Dominican countryman Juan Soto . . .
Trying to establish himself as the Don Quixote of the big leagues, 37-year-old Pablo Sandoval is in camp with his old team, the San Francisco Giants . . .
Whit Merrifield’s deal with the Phillies has a $1 million buyout for 2025 — or renews at $8 million . . .
The Rays are relying on a pair of injury-prone veterans (Aaron Civale, Zach Eflin), converted reliever Zack Littell, and two talented but unproven prospects (Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot) to open the season in their rotation . . .
Casey Stengel’s 1964 All-Star ballot listed Roberto Clemente as his choice to start in right field even after Hank Aaron had one of his biggest years in 1963 . . .
The Lerner family now says the Nationals are not for sale after all — if potential buyers were even pounding on their office doors.
Leading Off
Remembering Al Lopez Stadium
By Thomas Holmes
Al Lopez was born in a section of Tampa called Ybor City in 1908. That district, populated by poor immigrants from Cuba, Spain, and Italy, was known for two things: cigars and baseball.
Dubbed Cigar City for its numerous cigar factories, each one had its own baseball team. However, Alfonso Ramon Lopez did not want to roll cigars. He wanted to play baseball and his dream came true in 1928.
Lopez made his debut for the Brooklyn Robins (modern-day Dodgers). Lopez was a fresh face on an aging team.
After missing the 1929 season, Lopez returned to the Robins in 1930 as their starting catcher. In 1935, the Dodgers traded Lopez to the Boston Bees (modern-day Braves).
Five years later, Lopez was traded again, this time to the Pirates. Lopez was traded for the final time in 1946. At the age of 38, Lopez played his final season for the Cleveland Indians (modern-day Guardians).
Lopez began his career playing with Hall of Famers Dave Bancroft, Max Carey, and Dazzy Vance with the Robins. He ended his career playing with Hall of Famers Joe Gordon, Larry Doby, and Bob Feller on the Indians. Lopez’ career statistics were less than mediocre. With only 1547 hits, 51 home runs, and a batting average of .261, Cooperstown seemed light years away.
Four years into retirement as a player, Lopez was hired by the Indians as manager. Success was almost instant.
The Indians finished the 1951, 1952, and 1953 seasons with over 90 wins. The juggernaut NY Yankees dominated the division and baseball during those years. The Indians had no choice but to settle for second place.
In the following season, the Indians turned the tables on the mighty Yankees. In 1954, the Yankees finish the season with 103 wins only to watch the Indians surpass them with an astonishing 111-win season. At the time, 111 wins in a season was second only to the 1906 Chicago Cubs’ 116-win season, the most in baseball history.
Lopez and the Indians would be swept by Willie Mays and the New York Giants during the World Series. For the next two seasons, Lopez continued to produce winning seasons in Cleveland. Second-place finishes behind those pesky Yankees became commonplace and cost Lopez his job in 1956.
Lopez brought his winning ways to Chicago as manager of the White Sox in 1957. Although the scenery was different, the winning seasons continued — but so did finishing second behind the Yankees.
Baseball in the American League changed in 1959. The Yankees stumbled and the Indians were a threat.
Cleveland began the 1959 season 6-0 as Chicago began 4-0. The teams battled it out until late July, when the White Sox took first place and did not relinquish it.
The AL pennant eventually went to the White Sox. It was their first pennant since 1919. But Lopez and his Go-Go Sox — so named for their speed and base-running ability that allowed them to manufacture runs — lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the franchise that gave Lopez his start in baseball. It was also the last time he reached the World Series. For the next six seasons, the Sox finished over .500 but never reached the playoffs under Lopez. His tenure with the Sox ended in 1968.
The City of Tampa swelled with pride over Lopez’s accomplishments in professional baseball and erected a ballpark in his name. The construction of the ballpark began in 1954 and hosted its first game on March 10, 1955. Al Lopez Field became the premier location for baseball in Tampa, replacing Plant Field.
Lopez and his White Sox would occupy the field baring his name as their spring training facility from 1955 to 1959. The Cincinnati Reds moved in the next year and remained there until 1987. The first version of the Tampa Tarpons, in the Florida State League, would seize the field once the Reds migrated north for the regular season.
The last game played at Al Lopez Field was in 1989 and it was destroyed. Before its destruction, it was the training site for such Hall of Famers as Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver, Joe Morgan, and Barry Larkin. They all played on Al Lopez Field.
When Lopez was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a manager in 1977, he was the first Hall of Famer from Tampa. Al Lopez Park was established on the original site in 1992. A statue and plaque were dedicated to Al Lopez, also called El Senor, Tampa’s favorite son. Lopez died in 2005 at the age of 97.
During one spring training game in 1957, Lopez was ejected after arguing with an umpire. Following the game, Lopez was quoted as saying: “The umpire threw me out of my own ballpark!”
By Paul Dunder
Al Lopez Field: Remembering Tampa’s Favorite Son
References
https://tbbwmag.com/2021/09/01/museum-tells-the-story-of-tampas-rich-baseball-history-photos/
https://www.tampabaseballmuseum.org/about/al-lopez-house
https://tampasportshistory.blogspot.com/2008/03/remembering-al-lopez-field.html
https://tampahistorical.org/items/show/15
https://www.baseball-reference.com/
https://tampahistorical.org/items/show/15
Cleaning Up
Dodger Stadium Is a Funny Place For a Gondola
By Dan Schlossberg
Gondolas belong in Venice, where boatmen serenade tourists as they slice through historic waters they make up most of the Italian city.
But gondolas are about to become part of major-league baseball.
Credit the creative Los Angeles Dodgers, who are planning to build a aerial gondola line that will transport 5,000 fans per day from Union Station to Dodger Stadium.
The route will cost $500 million — trump change for a team that just spent twice as much to sign two free agents — and run for 1.2 miles. But it is likely to reduce the ridiculous traffic at and near the Southern California ballpark.
Expected to be ready by 2028, in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the line was first proposed 10 years earlier. The idea is to bring residents of nearby Chinatown into the ballpark — the second oldest in the National League — plus residents of the William Mead Homes projects, which has 415 units.
Ironically, the man behind the gondola project is former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who lost the team in his divorce settlement.
There is opposition to the project but so far the light remains a bright green. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and several supervisors on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority are all in.
The Authority approved the environmental analysts of the developers by a vote of 11-0 with one abstention.
Yet to give their approval are the Los Angeles City Council, California Department of Transportation, and California Department of State Parks.
“The fight is far from over,” insists Jon Christensen, founding member of a group called LA Parks Alliance.
Critics contend installation of the gondola line will trigger a hotel, retail, and entertainment complex on land that is now occupied by Dodger Stadium parking lots, which McCourt still owns.
Gondola opponents have already made their presence felt at the MTA meeting where the idea was approved.
Should it be built, a creative enterpreneur could sell T-shirts that read, “I got high at Dodger Stadium.”
They wouldn’t be the only ones.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, MLBReport.com, and many other outlets. He’s now planning a speaking tour to promote his forthcoming Hank Aaron biography. Dan’s e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
“It’s a little bit more disruptive to add at this point. And, you know, anybody who’s a free agent, we’ve theoretically had 3 1/2 months to figure out a deal and if it hasn’t happened yet, at some point organizationally, you just need to turn the page and focus on the players you have.”
— Giants baseball operations chief Farhan Zaidi
Speaking of free agents, the Minnesota Twins face the daunting task of replacing Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle, and Emilio Pagan, plus traded infielder Jorge Polanco . . .
The Braves have eight position players aged 23-29 . . .
Milwaukee rookie Jackson Chourio turns 20 this month but still could break camp with the club . . .
In its Spring Training Preview issue, USA TODAY Sports Weekly picks the Braves as the best club in a photo finish over the Dodgers.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Nice tribute to Al Lopez. Just to clarify, my understanding is that Lopez resigned to become the White Sox manager. He wasn't fired by Cleveland. And of course, "playoffs" didn't begin until 1969.