R.I.P Johnny Podres

It's truly a sad day for Dodger fans--and God knows they've had more than their share. (Just HOW did Walter O'Malley--aka Satan--get elected to the Hall of Fame, for example?)

Yep, Johnny Podres is dead. For those of you who don't know, Podres shut out the Yankees 2-0 on eight hits to win the deciding game of the 1955 World Series, the one and only time that Brooklyn ever conquered their nemesis.

"Just get me one hit and I'll beat 'em," Podres supposedly said. The Dodgers got him two, and for one year, joy finally reigned in Mudville as the long-suffering Brooklynites finally had their championship. But it was to be short-lived, as the aforementioned O'Malley would soon set plans in motion that would result in the team moving to--EEEK--Los Angeles.

The day Ebbetts Field was torn down was one of the saddest in the history of baseball, for it signaled the end of an era when teams lived in the towns they played in, when you could walk down the street and bump into Duke Snider or live next door to Pee Wee Reese. The players were not only your heroes, they were your neighbors. The unique relationship they had with the citizens of Brooklyn will never be duplicated, and the loss to baseball was incalculable.

So R.I.P. Johnny. And as for Walter O'Malley, well, let's just say it's pretty hot where he is...