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This Day In Dodgers History: Duke Snider, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, Home Run Record & Jaime Jarrín

Staff Writer
3 Min Read
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

September 22 is a notable date in Los Angeles Dodgers franchise history for multiple reasons, and also for the 1957 Brooklyn team because of Duke Snider.

On the final day of the regular season that year, Snider slugged two home runs in a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. That gave Snider a fifth consecutive season with at least 40 homers, which tied Ralph Kiner’s National League record.

That wound up being Snider’s last prolific power season as he never surpassed 23 homers for the remainder of his career, which ended with the San Francisco Giants in 1964.

Beginning with Brooklyn in 1947, Snider played 16 seasons with the Dodgers organization. He earned seven consecutive All-Star Game selections during that span and finished in the top-10 in NL MVP voting in five of those seasons.

Sutton reaches 20 wins

On Sept. 22, 1976, Don Sutton threw a complete game against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park to earn his 20th win of the season. He tacked on another victory that year but it wound up being the Hall of Famer’s first and only season reaching 20 wins.

Sutton passed away in January 2021 and was among those honored during the Hall of Fame ceremony this year.

Valenzuela makes history as Mexican pitcher

Ten years after Sutton reached 20 wins, Fernando Valenzuela accomplished the same feat by holding the Houston Astros to just two hits in a Dodgers’ 9-2 victory at the Astrodome. Valenzuela became the first Mexican pitcher to win 20 games in a single season.

Dodgers franchise home run record

After setting a franchise record with 221 home runs during the 2017 season, the Dodgers broke that mark on Sept. 22, 2018, when Yasmani Grandal slugged the team’s 222nd long ball in the sixth inning of a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers finished with 235 home runs that season, then shattered it to set a new franchise high and NL record with 279 in 2019.

Jarrín immortalized at Dodger Stadium

On Sept. 22, 2019, the Dodgers held a pregame ceremony to induct Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín into the Dodger Stadium Ring of Honor.

Pepe Yñiguez, Fernando Valenzuela and Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Vin Scully were among those to speak during the festivities.

Jarrí became the 12th person inducted into the Ring of Honor, joining Scully, Pee Wee Reese, Tommy Lasorda, Snider, Jim Gilliam, Sutton, Walter Alston, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson and Don Drysdale.

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