Today's column is in honor of the masterful outing by "rookie" Hiroki Kuroda, who took a perfecto into the 8th, and who although he lost the perfect game was able to nail down a one-hit shutout and get the boys in blue back into a first place tie.  For now we can forget about the fact that they are still a game under .500, first place is first place, and as I will write about soon, just getting into the playoff tournament gives you a heck of a shot at the pennant, as the numerous wild card pennant winners in the last decade can attest.  As the Rockies showed last year, a team that gets hot at the right time can do some damage come October.  But more on that in a later posting, the topic for today is masterful pitching performances by a franchise that historically has had one of the best staffs in the game.

Going back before my time and based on the stories told to me by my dad, who grew up a Dodger fan in Southern California in the 50's and 60's, you would have to put in any of the four no-hitters logged by legendary lefty Sandy Koufax.  I have also heard countless stories of matchups between the Big D, Don Drysdale and hated Giant Willie McCovey.  My first great Dodger pitching memory would be Bobby Welch coming out of the bullpen and striking out Reggie in the '78 Series, which had my neighborhood in Torrance, a suburb of LA, buzzing for days, although unfotunately the pin-stripers would go on to win the series.  There was also a game that I happened to be in attendance at a few years later where Welch threw a masterful one-hitter against the Braves, Chris Chambliss getting the only hit on a single in the fourth inning, or at least that's how I remember it.

While not a single performance, what Dodger fan over the age of 35 can forget Fernando-mania in the magical 1981 season.  For one wonderful spring and summer, every time Fernando pitched was a special occasion, I remember playing in Little League games on such nights with Vinny calling the game on the radio and the parents in the stands listening and giving us updates in between innings.  Speaking of runs, the great run of Bulldog, Orel Hersheiser in 1988, the other championship season of my lifetime, was something to behold.  The scoreless innings streak to end the season, chasing down the magic number of 59 set by Drysdale, and having to go 10 innings in a 0-0 game against the Padres to get to 60.  Then the incredible run continued as the Dodgers upset first the mighty Mets in the NLCS, or simply the playoffs as they were known back then, and then the vaunted Oakland A's in the Series.  Most people remember Gibson's home run off lock down closer Dennis Eckersley, but just as instrumental was the role of the Dodgers bench players, the stunt men as they were known, led by Mickey Hatcher, and the pitching of Bulldog.

Another performance that I had the good fortune of attending in person at Chavez Ravine was Ramon Martinez striking out 18 against the Braves, and there was the Fernando no-hitter long after he had passed his prime, one last hurrah for a Dodger legend.  So Kuroda's performance is one of many great Dodger pitching performances over the years, and hopefully will get the squad going for the stretch run.  Pitching and defense, with just enough timely hitting have always been the Dodgers calling card, and with Joe Torre at the helm and a good young squad, this might just be the year that the Boys of Summer get back to the promised land, which would be a great way to mark the 20 year anniversary of their last championship season.  20 years may not be quite up to the 100 years that Cubs fans have had to wait, but for a Dodger fan who came up in the 70's and 80's it is longer than we ever thought we'd have to wait in between titles, let alone a single playoff series victory.  Here's hoping that this latest pitching performance is the start of yet another magical summer.