On May 5, 1955, Tommy Lasoria made his first Major League start for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the southpaw tied a record he would have preferred to avoid.
Lasorda threw three wild pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Ebbets Field during the first inning. He did strike out Stan Musical, which is an accomplishment in its own right, but Lasorda’s day came to an end early due to an injury.
On his third wild pitch, Lasorda went to black home plate in an effort to prevent Wally Moon from scoring, but he was unsuccessful. As Moon was sliding into home, he cut open Lasorda’s knee with his spikes. Lasorda was able to finish the inning but had to leave the game after that.
Lasorda allowed one run while walking two batters and striking out two before he was replaced by Clem Labine. The Dodgers went on to win the game 4-3.
Tommy Lasorda named Team USA manager
Also on this day in Los Angeles Dodgers history but in 2000, Lasorda was named the manager of the United States Olympic baseball team. The 72-year-old was no longer managing at the Major League level, but he was well accomplished with four National League pennants and two World Series titles.
Lasorda added one more accolade to his resume, winning a Gold Medal with Team USA after upsetting the heavily-favored Team Cuba with a 4-0 victory.
Team USA was made up of Minor League prospects and journeyman players due to scheduling conflicts with Major League Baseball. Their opponents had won the previous two Olympic Tournaments in 1992 and 1996 without losing a single game.
The game became known as the Miracle on Grass.
Dodgers tie MLB home win record to open season
On May 5, 2009, the Dodgers tied the Major League record with 12 consecutive wins at home to start their season with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The record was previously set by the Detroit Tigers in 1911.
This came one day after they broke the National League record with 11 consecutive wins at Dodger Stadium to begin a season, and on May 3 they set the franchise best home winning streak to start the year. The Dodgers’ 11-0 start surpassed the NL mark shared by the 1918 San Francisco Giants, 1970 Chicago Cubs, and 1983 Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers finished the 2009 season going 95-67, good enough to win the NL West. They ended up winning 14 straight games at home, and finished the season going 50-31 (.617) at Chavez Ravine.
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