I knew that when I compiled a list of the pitchers who had owned the Dodgers during their careers that I wouldn't be able to resist putting together a list of the pitchers who were tormented by the Dodgers.
It was easy to do. Just turn the result that I found through baseball-reference on its head. Voila! Pitchers whose career was one big #fail when it came to throwing against the Dodgers.
A lot of these pitchers that struggled against the Dodgers were a surprise. Unlike the last list, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about pitchers who bombed against L.A. I suppose it's just a natural part of my make-up -- or any fan's make-up -- to focus on the negative and not the positive.
Again, I based this list on career earned-run average against L.A. And I limited it to pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched against the Dodgers. Unlike the last list, I expanded it from 30 pitchers to 40 pitchers. That's because I lot of the pitchers on this list are no-names (chances are if they were lit up by the Dodgers they might have been lit up by a lot of other teams, too). I wanted to get at least some names of pitchers that people knew.
So here are the top 40 pitchers who were a train wreck against L.A.:
THE DODGERS OWNED THEM
1. Bubba Church (1950-55, Phillies, Reds Cubs): 6.92 ERA, 108 IP, 27 G, 3-10 W-L
2. Claude Willoughby (1925-31, Phillies, Pirates): 6.57 ERA, 109.2 IP, 27 G, 3-11 W-L
3. Roy Parmalee (1929-37, Giants, Cardinals, Cubs): 6.34 ERA, 149 IP, 29 G, 6-9 W-L
4. Phil Collins (1923, 1929-35, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals): 6.32 ERA, 193.2 IP, 43 G, 13-15 W-L
5. Les Sweetland (1927-31, Phillies, Cubs): 6.31 ERA, 165 IP, 34 G, 10-13 W-L
6. Bill Werle (1949-52, Pirates, Cardinals): 6.09 ERA, 112.1 IP, 29 G, 7-8 W-L
7. Howie Fox (1944-46, 1948-52, Reds, Phillies): 5.94 ERA, 163.2 IP, 35 G, 3-17 W-L
8. Wade Blasingame (1963-72, Braves, Astros): 5.64 ERA, 103.2 IP, 27 G, 5-8 W-L
9. Ken Raffensberger (1939-41, 1943-54, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Reds): 5.47 ERA, 268 IP, 54 G, 8-33 W-L
10. Jeff Fassero (1991-96, Expos, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Giants): 5.43 ERA, 104.1 IP, 37 G, 4-7 W-L
11. Max Butcher (1938-45, Phillies, Pirates): 5.35 ERA, 131.1 IP, 24 G, 3-10 W-L
12. Bob Klinger (1938-43, Pirates): 5.34 ERA, 116.1 IP, 27 G, 5-13 W-L
13. Dick Errickson (1938-42, Braves, Cubs): 5.31 ERA, 105 IP, 23 G, 5-7 W-L
14. Frank Smith (1950-56, Reds, Cardinals): 5.30 ERA, 105.1 IP, 48 G, 6-6 W-L
15. Shawn Estes (1995-2006, 2008, Giants, Mets, Reds, Cubs, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Padres): 5.26 ERA, 169.1 IP, 30 G, 6-9 W-L
16. Max Surkont (1950-57, Braves, Pirates, Cardinals, Giants): 5.26 ERA, 191.2 IP, 36 G, 8-16 W-L
17. Ray Benge (1928-32, 1936, 1938, Phillies, Braves, Reds): 5.21 ERA, 121 IP, 26 G, 6-8 W-L
18. Hugh Mulcahy (1935-40, 1945-47, Phillies): 5.16 ERA, 148.1 IP, 30 G, 4-14 W-L
19. John Denny (1974-79, 1982-86, Cardinals, Phillies, Reds): 5.14 ERA, 129.2 IP, 23 G, 4-7 W-L
20. Whitey Glazer (1920-24, Pirates, Phillies): 5.13 ERA, 124.2 IP, 20 G, 4-6 W-L
21. Al Javery (1940-46, Braves): 5.12 ERA, 165.1 IP, 34 G, 7-12 W-L
22. Jim Wilson (1951-54, Braves): 5.12 ERA, 116 IP, 19 G, 3-8 W-L
23. Jim Konstanty (1944, 1946, 1948-56, Reds, Braves, Phillies, Yankees, Cardinals): 5.10 ERA, 100.2 IP, 58 G, 5-9 W-L
24. Herm Wehmeier (1945, 1947-58, Reds, Phillies, Cardinals): 5.08 ERA, 324.1 IP, 66 G, 13-18 W-L
25. Dick Ruthven (1973-86, Phillies, Braves, Cubs): 5.04 ERA, 168 IP, 31 G, 6-15 W-L
26. Ernie Johnson (1950, 1952-58, Braves): 5.03 ERA, 111 IP, 54 G, 7-6 W-L
27. Ron Bryant (1967-75, Giants, Cardinals): 5.01 ERA, 106 IP, 26 G, 5-12 W-L
28. Russ Ortiz (1998-2009, Giants, Braves, Orioles, Astros): 4.98 ERA, 130 IP, 24 G, 9-9 W-L
29. Johnny Klippstein (1950-58, 1962-64, Cubs, Reds, Phillies): 4.97 ERA, 259 IP, 69 G, 13-16 W-L
30. Steve Renko (Expos, Cubs, 1969-77): 4.97 ERA, 108.2 IP, 18 G, 6-7 W-L
31. Warren Hacker (1948-58, Cubs, Reds, Phillies): 4.95 ERA, 234.1 IP, 49 G, 9-19 W-L
32. Don Cardwell (1957-70, Phillies, Cubs, Pirates, Mets, Braves): 4.92 ERA, 228.2 IP, 49 G, 8-24 W-L
33. Karl Drews (1951-54, Phillies, Reds): 4.91 ERA, 117.1 IP, 34 G, 6-10 W-L
34. Larry Christenson (1973-83, Phillies): 4.84 ERA, 115.1 IP, 20 G, 5-6 W-L
35. Percy Jones (1920-22, 1925-30, Cubs, Braves, Pirates): 4.84 ERA, 187.2 IP, 38 G, 8-15 W-L
36. Tony Kaufmann (1921-28, 1930-31, 1935, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals): 4.84 ERA, 128.1 IP, 26 G, 8-7 W-L
37. Bud Podbielan (1952-55, 1957, Reds): 4.82 ERA, 106.1 IP, 24 G, 4-9 W-L
38. Dock Ellis (1968-75, 1979, Pirates): 4.80 ERA, 116.1 IP, 20 G, 6-10 W-L
39. Vida Blue (1974, 1978-81, 1985-86, A's, Giants): 4.75 ERA, 119.1 IP, 21 G, 5-12 W-L
40. Murry Dickson (1939-43, 1946-57, Cardinals, Phillies, Pirates): 4.75 ERA, 413.1 IP, 81 G, 18-28 W-L
Those are the worst 40 against the Dodgers. I tip my hat to them and say "thank you".
Some quick observations:
1. I actually expanded this list out to 50 pitchers, but don't have time to add the others. Pitchers of note: Livan Hernandez and Mike Hampton.
2. You may have noticed that a lot of the pitchers had careers during the 1940s and 1950s, when the Dodgers' hitting prowess was at its height.
3. Lots and lots of pitchers with connections to the Phillies. They were so bad for so many years. And then, later, when they were good, they couldn't beat the Dodgers (until '83) in the postseason.
4. I noted how many Padres pitchers were on the previous list as owning the Dodgers. There is only one pitcher on this list with any time with the Padres (Estes) and that was at the very end of his major league career. Once again, if the Padres tried as hard as they did against the Dodgers, they would have won seven World Series by now.
5. My good buddy, Frank Smith, who I talked to several times is on this list. I knew I liked him for another reason besides being a great guy.
It's good to know the pitchers who don't do well against the Dodgers.
Now if we can get a few active pitchers on this list.
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