In 1930, the Brooklyn baseball club had not yet adopted the Dodgers nickname for good. They were the Brooklyn Robins and, oh, were their names splendid.
The Robins had guys named Dazzy, Watty, Dolf and Jumbo in the starting rotation, and a guy named Sloppy in the bullpen.
Their shortstop had a more sedate name. He was Glenn Wright, and he hit 22 home runs that year. To this day, that stands as the franchise record for a shortstop.
That record probably will not stand for too many more days. Corey Seager hit three home runs Friday, lifting the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Seager got not one but two Gatorade showers after the game, and he got his first major league curtain call during the game.
“That’s fun,” he said. “Put a smile on my face.”
The Dodgers won with five hits, the three home runs from Seager and a home run and double from Trayce Thompson.
The Braves scored two runs in the first inning. In the fourth, Seager gave the Dodgers their first run with his first home run. In the sixth, he gave the Dodgers their first lead with his second home run. In the eighth, he gave them an insurance run, with his third home run.
“It didn’t matter where it was thrown, it looked like it was on a tee,” he said. “That’s a good feeling when you’re hitting. Hopefully it will be like that tomorrow, too.”
Seager became the first Dodgers rookie to hit three home runs in a game since outfielder Don Demeter did it in 1959, against the San Francisco Giants, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“That’s cool,” he said. “It’s exciting to be part of the history here.”
Seager, a rookie, has 12 home runs, tied among National League leaders with noted sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. Seager is on pace to hit 32 home runs, which would obliterate the club’s 86-year-old record for homers from a shortstop.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said he could not believe Seager is doing all this at 22.
“I’m enjoying the ride,” Roberts said. “I’m enjoying the development, the evolution, whatever you want to call it.
“It seems like every night he’s going to do something special. He put us on his back tonight.”
For all those nights in which Dodgers fans complained that the team hoarded prospects rather than go all-in for a shot at that first World Series since 1988, this was a night to be grateful for the youth.
For all the Dodgers’ payroll power, the kids have delivered most of the bang for very few bucks. Seager, Thompson and Joc Pederson have combined for 29 – more than half_of the Dodgers’ 57 home runs.
Seager is 22 years old, Pederson 24, Thompson 25. Their combined salaries: $1.5 million.
Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda got the victory, giving up two runs – and, perhaps more importantly, pitching 6-1/3 innings. That was comforting to the Dodgers, since he had worked at least six innings in each of his first six starts but none of his subsequent four.
His earned-run average dropped to 2.98.
Seager left the ballpark all smiles, headed out to get pizza with Thompson.
“Those kinds of nights don’t come around too much,” Seager said, “so you want to enjoy them when you have one.”
He did not leave the ballpark with any of his home-run balls. They were not returned. He did not care. “That’s all right,” he said. “It was fun hitting them, I don’t need the balls.”