The end of an amazing era is approaching. According to my count, only twenty players that wore the Brooklyn Dodger uniform in a major league game remain alive. The youngest of the bunch is Bob Aspromonte at age 80. Sadly, father time is telling us that within the next 10-12 years, there may not be any living Brooklyn Dodger players. I can imagine that as the survivors dwindle down to the last few, there will be some publicity surrounding them, as morbid and unsettling as that seems.
Amongst the remaining of the beloved Brooklyn Bums are Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Tom Lasorda. Additionally former MVP and Cy Young winner Don Newcombe and notable All Star Carl Erskine are still with us. In the past couple of years, some beloved stars have passed. They include Don Zimmer, Ralph Branca and Ed Roebuck.
The remaining players (and their corresponding dates of birth) are:
Eddie Basinski 11/4/1922
At age 95, Eddie Basinski is the oldest living former Brooklyn Dodger. A shortstop and second baseman. Basinski payed the 1944 and 1945 season with the Dodgers as a 21 and 22 year old. He was traded to Pittsburgh in 1946 and only played one more major league season, the 1947 season with the Pirates. A player that wouldn't give up the dream, Basinski continued to play in the minor leagues until age 36 in 1959. He played the last eleven years of his career in the Pacific Coast League, primarily with the Portland Beavers, where his settled and worked in the trucking business until retirement. The PCL was a very competitive league in the 50s and many players made a living in that minor league outpost. Basinski was one of them.
Tim Thompson 3/1/1924
Tim Thompson was signed by the Dodgers in 1947, but he didn't see action with the big club until 1954, and it was a 10 day stint at the beginning of the season. He was used in mainly pinch hitting appearances. There wasn't a lot of room on the roster for catchers during the Campanella years. Thompson was dealt to the Kansas City A's in 1955 where he saw more major league action for an additional two years. Tim was a scout for the Dodgers, Cardinals and Orioles. He coached the Cardinals in the 1981 season under manager Whitey Herzog.
Wayne Terwilliger 6/27/1925
A veteran of 11 major league seasons, Wayne Terwilliger spent only the second half of the 1951 season as a Brooklyn Dodger after being acquired in a multi-player trade with the Cubs. Wayne saw action in only 25 games as a Dodger, and started only 8 of them. He went on to have a legnthy career, mainly as a utility infielder with the Washington Senators, New York Giants and Kansas City Athletics.
Chris Haughey 10/3/1925
Pitcher Chris Haughey may be the "Moonlight Graham" of the Dodgers. On the final game of the 1943 season, Manager Leo Durocher handed the ball on this 18th birthday to Chris Haughey in Cincinnati against Johnny Vandermeer and the Reds. The kid held his own, taking the loss while giving up 3 earned runs over 7 innings in a 6-1 Dodger loss. As expected, this teenager in the bigs had his jitters. Haughey walked ten in his seven innings of work. Interestingly, Al Campanis was his second baseman and Gil Hodges played third. Haughey went off to war and didn't return to organized ball until 1946. He never returned to the majors, playing in four minor league seasons before leaving the game after the 1950 season.
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| Randy Jackson and Jackie Robinson, 2 former college football stars are with the Dodgers in 1956 (AP Wire Photo) |
Randy Jackson 2/10/1926
Randy Jackson was acquired by the Dodgers from the Chicago Cubs organization in 1956. This third baseman played the final two seasons in Brooklyn and the inaugural L.A. Dodger season in 1958 before finisihing his career with the Cleveland Indians. A 2-time All Star with the Cubs, Jackson was acquired via trade with the idea that he would take over third base for an aging Jackie Robinson. Jackson injured his knee in 1957 and never played more than 64 games in a season the rest of his career. He hit the final Brooklyn Dodger home run on September 28, 1957, an 8-4 win over the Phillies. Jackson was a college football star, starting as half back for TCU and then the University of Texas in consecutive Cotton Bowl appearances (1945 and 46). A teammate of NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Bobby Lane.
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| 2010 photo, Barack Obama and Don Newcombe |
Don Newcombe was on his way to a Hall of Fame career before alcoholism derailed it. A great Dodger from 1949 to 1958 (with two years away from the game due to Military Service), Don won the Cy Young Award and MVP in 1956. A career .271 hitter, when Newcombe finished his playing days in Japan, it was as a position player in the outfield and first base, not on the mound. A key contributor in the Dodger front office in Los Angeles, Newcombe is beloved by the organization and has been instrumental in assisting the organization as the team's Director of Community Affairs and later Special Advisor to the Chairman on the Team. The respect he has gained has reached even Presidential levels. In 2010, President Obama told a national audience that because of pioneers like Don and Jackie Robinson, he was able to accomplish the feats he had reached in life.
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| Bobby Morgan, 1953 (AP Photo) |
Bobby Morgan 6/29/1926
Bobby Morgan was a utility infielder for the Dodgers in 1950, 1952 and 1953. Groomed in the Dodger system, he didn't ever really get the opportunity to play full time with them due to the log jam in the infield with Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Billy Cox/Junior Gilliam and Gil Hodges. Traded to the Phillies before the '54 season, Bobby got his chance and became their full-time shortstop while hitting .262. Morgan said the following about his Dodger debut: "We were playing in Philadelphia and I was the starting third baseman. I kind of stood on third base during the national anthem and looked around and said 'Good Lord, look at this. What a dream come true.'" A witness to world history, Morgan as a young soldier was stationed in Nuremberg, Germany where as a G.I. he was tasked with overseeing the Nuremberg war trials.
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| Carl and Jimmy Erskine with Tom Lasorda (Source: Dodger Insider, linked HERE) |
Carl Erskine 12/13/1926
A beloved Brooklyn Dodger through and through. "Oisk" pitched for Brooklyn from 1948 until their departure in '57. His feats included two no-hitters, a 20 win season and a World Series performance for the ages in '53 where he struck out 14 Yankees in a game three 3-2 victory. It was a World Series record at the time. An Anderson, Indiana naive,. Carl has lived a productive life in the insurance industry in his local community. The author of two books on his Brooklyn days, Carl forged a deep connection the the Brooklyn community. He also founded the "Jimmy Foundation," after his son Jimmy Erskine, helping Down's Syndrome children and adults. As a philanthropist, a book could be written about Carl's amazing life. From school donations, the Jimmy Foundation, to the Baseball Assistance League Board of Directors. In 1953, Erskine started the first Dodger game ever played at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach. He also closed out the Dodgers final appearance there in 2008 by playing the National Anthem on his harmonica.
Tommy Lasorda 9/22/1927
Tom Lasorda meandered through the Dodger minor league systems for most of his career, starring for the Montreal Royals in 1953-55. He had two call-ups, one in 1954 and another in 1955 with Brooklyn. In the only game Lasorda ever started as a Dodger, he walked 3, gave up a hit and had 3 wild pitches, ( a major league record). He left the game after gutting out the first inning. He suffering a gash on his leg as he was spiked covering the plate following the final wild pitch that he uncorked and he had to leave the game to get stitched up. Lasorda pitched with grit, soft tossing 80 MPH stuff and a curveball, but he couldn't get past the AAA level. The Dodgers sold him to Kansas City in 1956 where he appeared in 18 major league games without much success. Eventually Lasorda returned to the Dodger organization in 1957, where he remains to this day.
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| Tommy Brown at 17 years old was the youngest Dodger to appear in a major league game |
Tommy Brown 12/6/1927
Tommy Brown served as a vital utility player for the Dodgers from 1944 to 1951 when he was traded to the Phillies. He holds a major league record that will probably never be broken as the youngest player to homer in the majors as a 17 year old in 1945 during years when the majors were depleted of a lot of talent due to World War II. Brown was a home grown player born in the borough of Brooklyn.
Joe Landrum 12/13/1928
Joe Landrum pitched in 16 games for the Brooklynites in 1950 and 1952 between stints in the minors. Joe's son Bill also pitched in the major leagues from 86 to 93 primarilly with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
Joe Pignatano 8/4/1929
Joe Pignatano is the only remaining Brooklynite of the group, that continues to live there to this day. A backup catcher that was with the Dodgers from '57 to '61, Joe finished his career with the lackluster Mets in '64. He was a close friend of Gil Hodges who hired him as bullpen coach with the Washington Senators and eventually the Mets, where in 1969 he earned a World Series ring. Pignatano caught the last four innings at Ebbets Field in 1957 when he entered the game for Roy Campanella. Joe is the cousin of former Dodger/Red and Met John Franco.
Roger Craig 2/17/1930
As much as Roger Craig is remembered by many as the arch enemy Giants manager of the mid to late 1980s, he was a great Dodger. A World Champ with the '55 Dodgers in his rookie year. He was a key component to that championship club. By 1959 he was arguably the staff ace, again winning a World Series ring in Los Angeles' 2nd year at the coliseum. Craig was picked up by the '62 Mets in the expansion draft and was repeatedely a hard luck loser of 24 games with the worst team in baseball history. In '63 he lost 22 games, despite having an ERA of 3.78. Truth is, you have to be quite a talented pitcher to lose twenty games. Craig was that.
Ron Negray 2/26/1930
Ron Negray pitched in four games for the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers. Another player buried in the Dodger farm system, he got his chance in the majors after the Dodgers traded him to the Phillies in 1955. Negray returned to the organization in the Dodger's inaugural season in L.A. in 1958. Negray carries the distinction of being the first Los Angeles Dodger to start an exhibition game, on March 8, 1958, vs. the Phillies in Miami, Florida. In a 2016 interview Ron spoke of his reverence for Jackie robinson. When Negray was overlooked when pennant winning watches were awarded to players on the 1952 roster. Three years later, Negray was a Phillie and Jackie approached him and gave him his.
Glenn Mickens 7/26/1930
Glen Mickens had four pitching appearances in July 1953 before being scuttled back to the minors, never to return again to a major league mound. Stuck in a stacked Dodger minor league system, Mickens played the final 5 years of his career in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1959 to 1963 with much success.
Fred Kipp 10/1/1931
As a Brooklyn Dodger, Fred Kipp only pitched in one game vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He never took the mound in Ebbets Field. As a L.A. Dodger in 1958 he saw action in 40 games before his career fizzled to an end with scarce Major league appearances in 1959 and 60. Kipp is the last living person to play for Brooklyn and the NY Yankees. He wrote a book on his experiences titled "The Last Yankee Dodger," and is doing the book tour circuit as well.
Jim Gentile 6/3/1934
Six time All Star Jim Gentile played only 4 games in Brooklyn and a 12 games in the L.A. inaugural season before being traded off to the Orioles in 1959. He excelled as a fine first baseman in Baltimore where in 1961 he hit 46 homers and drove in a whopping 141 runs.
Don Demeter 6/25/1935
Don Demeter played just three games as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1956 before having a stellar 10 year career from 1958 to 1967, earning a World Series ring with the '59 Dodgers as a frequent outfield fixture. His 18 homers in '59 played a key role in the Dodgers World Series Championship run. After his career ended, Don entered the Ministry where he is currently a Pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK.
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| Rookie Sandy Koufax in 1955 (photo by George Brace) |
Sandy Koufax 12/30/1935
A bonus baby signing out of the University of Cincinnati where he was primarily a basketball player. This Brooklyn native and fireballing lefty was signed after a December, 1954 tryout to a $20,000 contract that required him to remain with the big club for two full years. This hindered the young man's career, as he obviously could have used some minor league seasoning. Koufax pitched for Brooklyn from 1955 to 57, showing glimpses of his future greatness, this included two consecutive shutouts in his rookie year, (the first with 14 strikeouts) as a 19 year old. Now known as the greatest pitcher in Dodger history, Sandy has the distinction of winning a World Series ring in Brooklyn though he never sniffed the mound on either Brooklyn team he was a part of that played in the fall classic. Of the remaining Brooklyn Dodgers still alive, Sandy is the lone Hall of Fame player remaining, (with Lasorda earning the honor as the L.A. Dodger manager).
Bob Aspromonte 6/19/1938
With a long and distinguished major league career, Bob Aspromonte had 4,799 plate appearances over 13 major league seasons. Only one was as a Brooklyn Dodger, and it was in the 8th inning of a 17-2 Dodger blow out over the St; Louis Cardinals on September 19, 1956. Bob struck out. Aspromonte eventually made it to the majors by 1960, and in '61 he was left unprotected in the expansion draft, selected by the Houston Colt 45s. Bob led off for Houston in their 1962 debut, being the first batter in their franchise history. He spent the remaining years in the majors with Houston, Atlanta and eventually closed out his career in 1971 was a New York Met. He is the last Brooklyn Dodger to play in the majors, having faced Hall of Famer Steve Carlton in his final game, on September 28, 1971 at Shea Stadium.
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