LOS ANGELES_That was quite a team the Los Angeles Dodgers assembled in 1953. They had Hall of Famers everywhere _ at catcher (Roy Campanella), shortstop (Pee Wee Reese), left field (Jackie Robinson), center field (Duke Snider) and in the broadcast booth (Vin Scully, Red Barber and Jaime Jarrin).
They were Brooklyn's finest, immortalized by author Roger Kahn as the Boys of Summer. Perhaps the Dodgers of 2017 will be immortalized with their own timeless nickname, or with a classic work of nonfiction.
For now, these Dodgers stand with the Boys of Summer in the standings. For the first time since that 1953 club _ and for the first time in Los Angeles history _ the Dodgers are 50 games over .500.
By scoring five times with two out in the eighth inning, the Dodgers (84-34) beat the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, 6-1.
As a measure of their resourcefulness, Joc Pederson drove in the winning run by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Dodgers poured it on from there: three consecutive hits, including two-run singles from Austin Barnes and Corey Seager.
The Dodgers have been so dominant that they have registered 84 victories with more than six weeks left to play. Two National League teams qualified for the playoffs last season by winning 87 games.
The Dodgers remain on pace to win 115 games, one shy of the major league record. They have won 49 of their last 57 games _ the first major league team in 105 years to do so _ and 29 of their last 33 home games.
The Dodgers did not score over the first five innings, but they rallied for a run in the sixth, in a rather enjoyable and mostly smart way.
With one out, Cody Bellinger hit a chopper toward first base. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu charged and fielded the ball, but his flip to pitcher Miguel Gonzalez was high, and Bellinger had an infield single.
Yasmani Grandal then volleyed a fastball into left field, foiling the shift that had left one man between second base and third. Yasiel Puig took four pitches, all for balls, but none so wild that the old Puig would assuredly have taken them.
The Dodgers thus had the bases loaded and one out. Logan Forsythe hit a sacrifice fly into center field, driving in Bellinger to tie the score, 1-1. However, the White Sox caught Grandal too far off second base, and the sacrifice fly became an inning-ending double play.
Alex Wood got no decision for a fine effort. He gave up one run over seven innings _ yielding three hits to the first five batters he faced and three more to the final 22 _ and lowered his earned-run average to 2.30.
He should qualify for the league leaderboard after his next start. If he were qualified now, his ERA would rank third in the majors, behind teammate Clayton Kershaw (2.04) and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals (2.25).
The marine layer made a rare summer appearance at Dodger Stadium, making the evening more pleasant for the paying customers but more frustrating for the home team. Pederson, who has one hit in his last 38 at-bats, drove a fly ball to the warning track in each of his first two at-bats. Puig drove one to the track too, and Grandal very nearly did. But what might have been three or four home runs on a steamy Sunday afternoon or a warm weekday evening went for naught.
One ball did leave the park, the first ball pitched in the game. Wood threw it, Tim Anderson hit it, and the Dodgers trailed in the game for (gasp!) almost two hours.
