Today I'm adding two pretty solid players, Johnny Podres and Vada Pinson. A few people used to pull for Pinson to get in the HOF, but it never happened. Podres did get in, sort of. He, of course, shut out the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series, thus ending the drought in Brooklyn in their fight for supremacy over the Bronx. If you haven't been to the HOF, there is a statue to commemorate that event, or two statues, I guess. I borrowed this photo of somebody's travel blog, so you can see it. It's Podres pitching to Campanella, so Johnny did get in:
When the Dodgers went west, Podres pitched the first night game in the LA Coliseum, and also threw the first shutout. The fact that he recorded the first shutout is actually pretty amazing, considering not just his competition in Koufax and Drysdale, but mostly because he was a lefty, facing right handers. If you don't appreciate that fact, look at this picture of the Coliseum:
I'm pretty sure there's people on this forum that could homer to left field there...it's only 250 feet! So good on ya, Johnny, for mowing down the Reds that day!