Normally I am a sucker for anything involving the 1988 Dodgers. I was 12 when the Dodgers won the World Series, and it's very likely I will never love a team more than that squad. I will not pass up an opportunity to reference the 1988 Dodgers, as just thinking about that team brings me joy. However, tonight's 1988 reference does not bring me joy, as Charlie Haeger had a start the likes of which the Dodgers haven't seen in 22 years.
Haeger's outing was just the 11th in LA Dodger history in which a starter didn't record an out. The last was Shawn Hillegas on August 8, 1988:
| LA Dodger Starters Who Didn't Record An Out | |||||||
| Name | Date | Opp | BF | H | R | ER | BB |
| Charlie Haeger | tonight | Col | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Shawn Hillegas | 8/8/88 | Hou | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Dennis Powell | 4/22/86 | SF | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Jerry Reuss | 5/31/81 | Cin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Claude Osteen | 8/28/71 | NY | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Joe Moeller | 8/10/64 | Cin | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Nick Willhite | 7/16/63 | Phi | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Sandy Koufax | 4/22/60 | StL | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Don Drysdale | 8/12/59 | ChC | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Stan Williams | 9/15/58 | Mil | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Sandy Koufax | 7/23/58 | Pit | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com | |||||||
Haeger threw 22 pitches, and just eight of them for strikes. After a leadoff single by Seth Smith, Haeger walked the next three batters on 14 pitches, then ended his night by allowing a three-run triple to Carlos Gonzalez. Ramon Ortiz came in for mop up duty -- and actually pitched five innings, giving up two runs himself -- but the horse had already left the barn.
On the season, Haeger has allowed 49 baserunners in just 23 1/3 innings. At this point, in search of any type of positives, we are clinging to his first start of the year. Haeger struck out 12 in six innings that day, but also allowed three runs. The fond memories of that game are becoming more and more a distant and fleeting memory.
Entering tonight, Carlos Monasterios was the most likely Dodger to start on Tuesday, but he was brought in to pitch two innings (throwing 33 pitches) in tonight's game, making a start on two days rest highly unlikely. However, after the game, Joe Torre said Monasterios "didn't use a whole lot" tonight, and that he was still a candidate to start in three days. Don't be surprised if someone goes on the disabled list in the next few days, to facilitate John Ely being recalled to start Tuesday.
It seems that person to go on the disabled list won't be Haeger, even though the seeds were planted by Torre after the game. "My first concern right now is making sure he's alright. We'll visit that tomorrow at some point," said Torre, "he didn't look as comfortable as he did when he came in out of the bullpen [on Tuesday]." However, when asked if there was anything physically wrong with him, Haeger simply said, "No."
The Dodgers' starting rotation is officially in shambles.
WP - Jhoulys Chacin (2-0): 7 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts (current season ERA: 0.00)
LP - Charlie Haeger (0-4): 0 IP, 2 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks