by Mark Langill
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Or in the case of Dodger reliever Brusdar Graterol, his late start to 2024 is now on the fast track potentially to a championship finish line.
Graterol, who pitched 7 1/3 innings over seven appearances during the regular season, helped the Dodgers put the New York Yankees on the brink of extinction with a 4–2 victory on Monday in Game of the World Series.
The Dodgers hold a 3–0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series for the only the second time in franchise history. The other occurred when Los Angeles swept the Yankees in the 1963 World Series.
After starter Walker Buehler scattered two hits in five innings, manager Dave Roberts turned the 4–0 lead over to the bullpen. Graterol started the sixth. He issued a one-out walk to Juan Soto. Aaron Judge hit a comeback grounder to Graterol, who fired to shortstop Tommy Edman for the force. Giancarlo Stanton’s singled to center and lefty Alex Vesia replaced Graterol. Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
Graterol, sidelined for most of 2024 with shoulder inflammation and a right hamstring injury, joins a unique list of Brooklyn and Los Angeles players who saw limited action during the regular season before appearing in the World Series.
And if rookie pitcher Ben Casparius makes an appearance against the Yankees, he will set a franchise mark for the fewest career innings by a Dodger pitcher in a World Series. Casparius pitched 8 1/3 innings spanning three games after his September promotion from Triple-A Oklahoma City. He was added to the National League Championship Series roster against the Mets prior to Game 3 after Michael Grove went on the injured list.
Here is a look at some previous Dodgers who made it to the Fall Classic with limited playing time that particular season with the Dodgers:
1916 — Nap Rucker and Fred Merkle
Rucker, a left-handed pitcher, was in his 10th and final season with Brooklyn. The man who averaged 309 innings between 1907 and 1912, was still a favorite of team owner Charlie Ebbets.
By 1916, Rucker was only effective with two weeks rest, so he pitched 37 1/3 innings during the regular season. He When Ebbets found out Rucker was going to retire after the 1916 season, he let him pitch mop-up duty in Game 4 of the World Series against the Red Sox.
Merkle joined Brooklyn in August after a trade from the New York Giants. He filled in at first base for the injured Jake Daubert. Merkle played in 23 games down the stretch for Brooklyn, batting .232, and he appeared in three World Series games.
1941 — Augie Galan and Larry French
As the Dodgers headed toward their first National League pennant since 1920, team president Larry MacPhail padded his roster with two veterans who began the 1941 season with the Cubs.
Galan was hitting .208 in 65 games when the Cubs decided to sell his contract to the Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League. Galan refused and the Dodgers picked him up in exchange for $2,500 and pitcher Mace Brown.
Galan batted .259 in 17 games games with the Dodgers and went 0-for-2 in the World Series against the Yankees.
French was 5–14 with a 4.63 ERA with Chicago when placed on waivers in August. Manager Leo Durocher, took a chance on French, who pitched 15 2/3 innings for Brooklyn and two games in the World Series.
1947 — Bobby Bragan
The veteran began the season as the team’s bullpen catcher and backup to starter Bruce Edwards. Bragan appeared 25 games and batted .194 (7-for-36). In the World Series, he doubled in his only at-bat as a pinch-hitter against the Yankees’ Joe Page in Game 6.
1952 — Ken Lehman
The left-hander was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1946. He enlisted in the Army in 1950 and fought in the Korean War. Lehman returned to Brooklyn during the 1952 season and made his Major League debut on Sept. 5. In four games, Lehman went 1–2 with a 5.28 ERA in 15 1/3 innings. He pitched two scoreless innings aganist the Yankees in the World Series.
1956 — Dale Mitchell
Dodgers acquired the veteran left fielder off waivers from Cleveland on July 29. Mitchell batted .292 (7-for-24) in 19 games. Mitchell’s most famous moment occurred in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series at Yankee Stadium when he took a called third strike as a pinch-hitter for the final out of Don Larsen’s perfect game.
1959 — Chuck Churn
The right-handed pitcher had a 25-game career with Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Los Angeles from 1957 to 1959. Churn appeared in 14 games with the Dodgers, going 3–2 with a 4.99 ERA. He pitched one game against the White Sox in the World Series lasting 2/3 of an inning and allowing six runs (two earned).
1977 — Jerry Grote
The veteran catcher was acquired by Los Angeles from the New York Mets at the Aug. 31 trading deadline. Grote, a member of World Series teams with the Mets in 1969 and 1973, played 18 games for the Dodgers during the regular season, batting .259 (7-for-27). He played one game in the World Series.
2017 — Charlie Culberson
The infielder batted .154 (2-for-13) in 15 games, but he sparkled in the League Championship Series against the Cubs after replacing injured shortstop Corey Seager. Culberson batted .600 (3-for-5) in five games against the Astros in the World Series.
World Series: Fall Classic timing is everything was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.