wreck your life and old 97

if it weren't for manny ramirez, joe beimel would hold the distinction of having the highest jersey number in dodger history.  he wore 97, not because he was a fan of the old 97s (whose album 'wreck your life' is fantastic) but because that was the year his first child was born.

beimel certainly hasn't wrecked his life (he's with the pirates now), but he did wreck his 2006 postseason while with the dodgers by cutting his hand on the eve of the nlds against the mets.  he originally claimed he cut it on a glass in his hotel room, but it was later revealed that he had been out at a bar when it happened.  the dodgers used mark hendrickson as their lefty out of the bullpen in the series instead of beimel, and he appeared in all three games.  he pitched pretty well, although he did let a couple of inherited runners score in game 2, but that was only because brett tomko loaded the bases with nobody out before hendrickson was called upon.

here is one of the very few joe beimel cards i own (and the only one made by topps as far as i know)

it comes from the 2008 topps dodger premium team set, and it celebrates beimel having appeared in more games than any other dodger lefty in a single season - he appeared in 83 games in 2007.  as you can see in the card, beimel had to cut his hair when joe torre arrived in 2008, but at least his long locks were commemorated with a bobblehead giveaway early in the season. 

i was happy to have beimel on the dodgers because he knew how to get barry bonds out.  in his career, bonds was just 1 for 16 against beimel, with 3 walks, 4 strikeouts and a solo home run, but that long ball came when beimel was a rookie in 2001 pitching for the pirates.

here's to you joe beimel (and here's to the old 97s as well)!