[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 44 (Friday, March 14, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN HONOR OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DODGERS IN LOS ANGELES

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                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 14, 2008

  Mr. BECERRA. Madam Speaker, it is with utmost pleasure and privilege 
that I rise today to congratulate the Dodgers for calling the City of 
Los Angeles its home for the last 50 years. I'm honored to be 
participating in the kick off event at the Los Angeles City Hall on 
March 28 for what will be a year-long ``Golden Anniversary'' 
celebration.
  The Los Angeles Dodgers played their first home game on April 18, 
1958, defeating the San Francisco Giants 6-5 before 78,672 fans at the 
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Since arriving in Los Angeles 50 years 
ago, the Dodgers have had its share of baseball firsts, major league 
moments, shattered records and invaluable players--making baseball 
history and achieving golden moments over and over again.
  The Dodgers led the geographic expansion of baseball to the west and 
managed to preserve the New York City cross-town rivalry by convincing 
the Giants to move to California as well. The historic and heated 
competition between the Dodgers and the Giants is more than a century 
old, and is the longest rivalry in baseball history. In 1959 the 
Dodgers, then playing their second season in Los Angeles, played the 
defending World Champion New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Roy 
Campanella's honor at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The attendance 
was 93,103--still the largest crowd ever to attend a Major League 
Baseball game. The Dodgers are set to make history again when they play 
the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game on 
March 29, 2008, at the Coliseum. The game is expected to draw the 
largest baseball crowd since the Dodgers played that historic 1959 game 
at the same venue.
  The Los Angeles Dodgers earned its reputation for success with five 
World Championships, nine National League pennants, 15 playoff 
appearances, eight Cy Young Award winners, four MVPs, an incredible 12 
Rookie of the Year recipients (five of which were handed out in five 
consecutive years--an unmatched feat), and numerous other Major League 
Baseball honors. And in addition to these impressive records and awards 
are other ``golden moments'' that stand out in the minds of Dodgers 
fans.
  The 1981 Opening Day starting pitcher was a 20-year-old rookie from 
Mexico. Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout that day and proceeded to 
win his first eight decisions with five shutouts. Later that year 
Fernando helped the Dodgers win its first World Series title since 
1965. ``Fernandomania'' swept through the baseball world, a culture-
crossing phenomenon that took Los Angeles and the world by storm when 
Valenzuela won both the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young 
awards, becoming the first player to win both in the same year.
  And all true blue Dodgers fans can close their eyes and picture the 
footage of Kirk Gibson hobbling around the bases on both hurt legs, and 
pumping his fist as he rounds second base, during his pinch-hit home 
run in game one of the 1988 ``Fall Classic.'' The Dodgers would go on 
to win a World Series upset that year, and Gibson's ``golden moment,'' 
his single swing, is considered the ninth most memorable moment in 
Major League Baseball history.
  In all likelihood only one or two fans even remember one of my 
personal favorite Dodgers ``golden moments,'' and I must admit it was 
not the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs, and the bases 
loaded. But once upon a time, a certain local congressman was invited 
to throw the first pitch of a ball game--and it was a perfect strike! 
Such are the heart pounding thrills that the Dodgers deliver time and 
again.
  Madam Speaker, after 50 years of time honored tradition in Los 
Angeles, the Dodgers truly are a community institution. An institution 
I'm proud calls Dodger Stadium in my 31 st Congressional District of 
California home. Whether you are ``thinking blue,'' ``bleeding Dodger 
blue'' or ``praying to the big Dodger in the sky,'' many Angelenos 
share an intense loyalty and kinship with their ``Boys in Blue.'' I 
look forward to many more decades of the Los Angeles Dodgers'' 
community involvement and history-making baseball accomplishments.

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