Brooklyn Dodgers

Elwin Charles "Preacher" Roe, the cunning left-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s and early '50s who was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams, died Sunday of colon cancer in West Plains, Mo., according to the Dodgers website. He was 92.

With a stiff grin, wavy hair and old-fangled steel-rimmed glasses, a brass image of Tom Schieffer greets fans as they stream through the front gate of Rangers Ballpark, the Texas-size cathedral to major league baseball. The wall plaque proclaims the stadium, built in the mid-1990s with ample taxpayer support, as the "lasting legacy" of the former Texas Rangers president and co-owner. A more modest monument to the solace Schieffer has always found in baseball lies a few miles west.

Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, displaying the feistiness Brooklynites hold dear, said today he had asked the city to seek a court order declaring the name "Brooklyn Dodgers" to be in the public domain. Golden asked the city corporation counsel to take the action to head off a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Dodgers against two men who are using the name "Brooklyn Dodgers" on their two restaurants in the Bay Ridge and Kensington sections of the borough. The lawsuit, filed in U.S.

Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella Neil Lanctot Simon & Schuster: 516 pp., $28 He was a three-time National League most valuable player, an eight-time All-Star, and played in five World Series, but Roy Campanella was something else when the Dodgers began playing in Los Angeles in 1958. He was a quadriplegic, his body broken in a tragic automobile accident after the 1957 season. Few Dodgers fans in Los Angeles ever had a chance to fully appreciate the Hall of Fame catcher in action, but Neil Lanctot's rich new biography, "Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella," should change that.

John "Spider" Jorgensen, 84, who played five seasons in the major leagues, three with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the final two with the New York Giants, died Nov. 6 at a hospital in Rancho Cucamonga. The cause of death was not announced. A native of Folsom, Calif., Jorgensen attended Sacramento City College before signing a pro baseball contract. He started his first major league game as a third baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers on the same day that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's racial barrier.

Gov. George E. Pataki called on leaders of New York's business community Tuesday to present a "realistic bid" for the Dodgers to return to Brooklyn. "The Dodgers belong in Brooklyn, just as the Yankees belong in the Bronx and the Mets belong in Queens," he said. "The Dodgers' temporary stay on the West Coast should come to an end."

Tony Malinosky collected hits off Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and after all these years remains a loyal Dodgers fan. Malinosky, days away from his 100th birthday, is baseball's oldest major leaguer. Malinosky played three months for the Brooklyn Dodgers as an infielder in 1937. He reminded an Associated Press reporter that in those days they wore a different color than Dodger blue and were often called the Kelly Greens. Today, Malinosky follows the Dodgers from his home in Oxnard.

Joe Hatten, Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher in the late 1940s and also for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League in the 1950s, died Friday at Redding, Calif. He was 72. Services are being arranged by Allen and Dahl Mortuary in Redding.

The Brooklyn Dodgers bought the Los Angeles Angels and Wrigley Field for an estimated $3 million. The purchase spurred hopes that Los Angeles soon would have a major league baseball team. One year later, the Dodgers defeated the Giants, 6-5, in their first home game in the Coliseum.

Cliff Dapper, 91, a former Brooklyn Dodgers catcher who was traded in 1948 for future Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell, died in his sleep Feb. 8 at an assisted-living facility in Fallbrook, Calif., said his son, Curtis. Dapper had a brief career with the Dodgers, batting .471 in eight games during the 1942 season. He was playing for the Dodgers' minor league team in Montreal in 1948 when he became part of an unusual trade with the minor league Atlanta Crackers for their broadcaster, Harwell.

Danny McDevitt, who left his imprint on baseball history by pitching the last game for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in 1957, died Saturday, two days after his 78th birthday. McDevitt, who lived in Social Circle, Ga., died at Newton Medical Center in nearby Covington, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed. The cause was not given. McDevitt was a rookie left-handed pitcher who had spent six seasons in the minor leagues for the New York Yankee and Dodger organizations before he was called up to the majors in June 1957.

Cal McLish, who pitched in the first major league baseball All-Star game played in Los Angeles, has died. He was 84. McLish died Thursday at his home in Edmond, Okla., after a long battle with leukemia, said a spokesman for the Matthews Funeral Home. His best major league season was in 1959, when the right-hander was 19-8 for the Cleveland Indians and pitched for the American League in the All-Star game at the Coliseum. The Dodgers had moved from Brooklyn the previous season.

Bobby Thomson, who hit the legendary home run dubbed "the shot heard round the world" for the New York Giants and inspired perhaps the most famous broadcasting moment in baseball history, has died. He was 86. Thomson, who had been in poor health for several years, died Monday night at his home in Savannah, Ga., according to various media reports. The Brooklyn Dodgers were two outs from the 1951 National League championship when Thomson hit his dramatic home run, sending the Giants to the World Series and sending broadcaster Russ Hodges into hysteria as he repeatedly screamed into his microphone: "The Giants win the pennant!

Billy Loes Starting pitcher for Brooklyn Dodgers Billy Loes, 80, who pitched on three pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers teams in the 1950s, died July 15 at a hospice in Tucson, said his wife, Irene. He had diabetes for several years and had open heart surgery a few years ago, she said. A right-hander from New York, Loes pitched for the Dodgers (1950, 1952-56), Baltimore Orioles (1956-59) and San Francisco Giants (1960-61). He had an 80-63 record with 645 strikeouts and a 3.89 earned-run average during his 11-season career.

Ernie Harwell , the Hall of Fame voice of the Detroit Tigers whose decision to leave the Brooklyn Dodgers' radio booth played a role in the hiring of Vin Scully , died Tuesday. He was 92. Harwell died at his home in Novi, Mich., the Tigers said. He had been diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct last year. "All of Major League Baseball is in mourning tonight upon learning of the loss of a giant of our game, Ernie Harwell," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

In 1955, as an employee of the New York Times, I was privileged to write the editorial which saluted the Brooklyn Dodgers on winning their first world championship. Being a Dodger fan made the appearance of that piece of writing a double honor. The last sentence of that editorial was: "Everest has been climbed, the four-minute mile has been run and the Brooklyn Dodgers are champions of the world." Thirty years later, as a Laker fan, it gives me pride to point out that we have put a man on the moon, a woman has run for vice president and the Lakers have beaten the Boston Celtics.

With three starts remaining, Roger Clemens is on pace to set the record for best win percentage for a pitcher in a season, minimum 15 wins. A look: *--* Pitcher Season Team W-L (Pct.) 1. Roger Clemens 2001 New York Yankees 20-1 (.952) 2. Roy Face 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates 18-1 (.947) 3. Johnny Allen 1937 Cleveland Indians 15-1 (.938) 4. Greg Maddux 1995 Atlanta Braves 19-2 (.905) 5. Randy Johnson 1995 Seattle Mariners 18-2 (.900) 6. Ron Guidry 1978 New York Yankees 25-3 (.893) 7.

Bobby Bragan, a 1940s Brooklyn Dodger who became known as a colorful manager in the big leagues and in the minors, died Thursday at his Fort Worth home. He was 92. The Alabama native spent parts of seven seasons between 1940 and 1948 with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Brooklyn Dodgers, playing mostly shortstop and catcher and batting .240 for his career. He missed the 1945 and 1946 seasons to serve in the U.S. military. In 1947, he made his only plate appearance in a World Series game, delivering a pinch-hit double for the Dodgers against the New York Yankees.

Tony Malinosky collected hits off Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and after all these years remains a loyal Dodgers fan. Malinosky, days away from his 100th birthday, is baseball's oldest major leaguer. Malinosky played three months for the Brooklyn Dodgers as an infielder in 1937. He reminded an Associated Press reporter that in those days they wore a different color than Dodger blue and were often called the Kelly Greens. Today, Malinosky follows the Dodgers from his home in Oxnard.