Before the Mets made their major league debut in 1962, New York City had two National League teams, and if you lived in Brooklyn, that team was the Dodgers, one of the two teams the Mets “replaced,” a word I placed within quotation marks because the Mets have never been able to replace the Dodgers, especially the 1953 team, in the minds of Brooklyn Dodger fans.
On it were four players now in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider. Plus others who, though not in the Hall, remain as steadfastly in the minds of Bums’ fans. Two “Carls” are among them. One is Carl Furillo, an outfielder with a cannon for an arm and Carl Erskine, a stellar starter.
During his 12-year career, Erskine only played for the Dodgers, his first 10 years in Brooklyn and his last two in Los Angeles, but then he was no longer the same pitcher. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was not Ebbets Field. There, he pitched more than 200 innings three times, came close to striking out 200 batters (in 1953 he struck out 187), and beat the Bronx Bombers twice in World Series’ games.
He appeared in one All-Star game (1954), the last pitcher in the game for the National League. He faced three batters, giving up one hit and striking out one while not allowing any runs.
His 14 strikeouts in a 1953 World Series game against the Yankees set a new record.
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