Let’s go back…

May 31st, 1948

The Dodger legend Tommy Lasorda was on the mound for the Schenectady Blue Jays. He struck out 25 batters over the span of 15 innings, and drove in the game winning run as well. Now I know I usually tell the stories on these “This Day in Dodgers History,” but today…I figured I’d let the man, the myth, the legend…Tommy Lasorda tell it himself. In his own words…This is how he saw it.

“On this date in 1948 I was pitching for the Schenectady Blue Jays in the Canadian-American League. Pat Riley’s father, Lee Riley, was the Manager of that team. We were playing against the Amsterdam Rugmakers. None of that is out of the ordinary, but what happened that night is.

“In that game I struck out 25 batters over the course of 15 innings. And although I walked 12 and hit one batter, I drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning.

“Bobby Valentine and I tried to figure it out once and we think that I must have thrown about 300 pitches in that game. If I were following today’s rules Riley would have pulled me in the third inning.”