Comfortably Zoned with Ralph Zig Tyko

The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers

November 29, 2007 at 6:21 pm (Baseball)

Someone on the Baseball Fever [a great site] message board asked whether or not Jim Gilliam might have been better qualified to take over managing from Walter Alston, than Tom Lasorda [whose success can’t be questioned]. This was my response:

“Jim Gilliam may or may not have been qualified. He may, or may not, have not gotten the job for all the wrong reasons.
My guess is, were it not for Mr. Rickey, the first black Dodger player would have been Von Joshua… First black manager? We’re still waiting for that to happen. Ask Jerry Royster… or Davey Lopes, or the late Bill Robinson [were that we could], or a myriad of other well qualified candidates. Some of those candidates couldn’t even get interviews.
I’m an old New York Giants fan, and the older I get the more I love the Brooklyn Dodgers and hate Los Angeles “Dodgers.”
With good reason, I might add… and I might subtract. Long division? A possibility.”

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