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This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 0:

= Russell Westbrook: UCLA men’s basketball, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers
= Nick Young: Los Angeles Lakers
= Orlando Woolridge: Los Angeles Lakers

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 0:

= Kyle Kuzma: Los Angeles Lakers
= Kobe Johnson: USC and UCLA basketball
= Jamal Jarrett: USC football
= Jack Flaherty: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Al Oliver: Los Angeles Dodgers

The most interesting story for No. 0:
Russell Westbrook: UCLA guard (2006-07 to 2007-08); Los Angeles Lakers guard (2021-22 to 2022-23); Los Angeles Clippers guard (2022-23 to 2023-24) via Leuzinger High

Southern California map pinpoints:
Hawthorne (Leuzinger High); Westwood (UCLA); Los Angeles (Staples Center), Inglewood (Intuit Dome)

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Russell Westbrook III’s 6-foot-4 and 200-pound frame accommodates a wardrobe with a chest size of 42, a waist size of 32, and a shoe size of 15.

There’s how one sizes up a tried-and-true triple-double. Especially if you know what Westbrook seems to zero in on most often. Form, fashion and affirmation, Westbrook’s affinity is to score style points, on and off the court. He’s rarely off brand on when he’s trying to zhuzh up his outfits.

Gentlemen’s Quarterly has drawn and quartered his style and substance over the years:

GQ Magazine June 2015: “Russell Westbrook: Most Stylish Man Alive.”

GQ Magazine September 2016: “How To Dress Like Russell Westbrook.”

GQ Magazine October 2016: “17 Looks Only Russell Westbrook Could Pull Off.” Including the photo above.

GQ Magazine September 2017: “Why Russell Westbrook Won’t Wear Off-White Jordans On the Court.” (Because he doesn’t want to get them dirty and lower the value even if they are game-worn?)

GQ Magazine March 2018: “Russell Westbrook’s Game Day Style Look Book.“

Add to that:

Columbus Monthly Magazine 2015: “How NBA star Russell Westbrook is changing how men’s fashion works”

The New Yorker Magazine 2017: “Russell Westbrook May Not Love Talking to the Press, But His Clothes Speak Volumes“

As a regular New York Post Page Six magnet, Westbrook became someone who demanded attention. And he won’t be disrespected.

Wearing No. 0 makes a statement in itself. Zero is a much a real number as white is a real color. It’s kind of a place holder, a blank canvas. A starting point to color in the lines with flair and amazement.

Continue reading “No. 0: Russell Westbrook” →

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 67:

= Les Richter: Los Angeles Rams
= John Papadakis: USC football
= Duval Love: UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams
= Luis Sharpe: UCLA football

The most interesting story for No. 67:

Vin Scully, Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster (1950 to 2016)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles Coliseum; Dodger Stadium; Pacific Palisades; Hidden Hills

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All automobiles in the United States are required to have a Vehicle Identification Number. Car manufacturers started using them in 1966. By 1981, it was a standardized 17-character alphanumeric code.

In Southern California, the only VIN number that matters is 67.

Vin Scully retired from broadcasting Los Angeles Dodgers’ games after the 2016 season. That meant he had put in 67 seasons, going back to 1950 when, as a 22-year-old, he started doing games in the middle innings with Brooklyn’s Dodgers. He was fresh out of Fordham University, a redhead somewhat green learning the craft from Red Barber.

There is no official Vin Scully No. 67 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey. When the Dodgers gave away Scully tribute jerseys in 2023, it had no number – just a red microphone logo on the front where a number should be, and a blue mic on the back. There was a Union 76 patch on the arm — the reverse of 67, perhaps by luck. Mostly, it was because Scully had voiced the oil company’s commercials for so many decades, it seemed simpatico.

(There’s also a reason to believe that had Vin Scully not been locked in as the Dodgers’ voice, Union 76 would not have continued being a sponsor, and the completion of Dodger Stadium may have been more problematic in the early 1960s).

Online, there are dozens of variations of “Scully 67” jerseys offered. At the LADFanstore alone, there are more than a dozen choices, including “black holographic.”

Don’t do it.

An otherwise random prime number now attached in perpetuity to someone who, it has been said, made the greatest impact of any sports figure in Southern California sports history.

Uniformly, No. 67 belongs to Scully, and it fits into the parameters of our “jersey” list here, because so many have created a Dodgers uniform in his honor in so many variations.

That’s the story we’re selling. And so many keep buying.

When Los Angeles Kings’ Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller visited Scully during his final season and presented him with a No. 67 Kings jersey, Miller remarked: “Vin, when you started announcing, a high number like 67 probably meant you were a prospect, you hadn’t yet made the team.”

Scully laughed and replied: “I’m trying my best.”

Our way to honor No. 67 was pulling together “Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully” (University of Nebraska Press, 288 pages), released in May, 2024.

When we started the project of recruiting people to write essays about how Scully impacted their lives and surmising his legacy, there were 67 who signed up. We took that as a sign.

Continue reading “No. 67: Vin Scully” →

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The obvious choices for No. 73:
= Dennis Rodman: Los Angeles Lakers
= Ron Yary: Los Angeles Rams

The not-so obvious choices for No. 73:
= Charlie Cowan: Los Angeles Rams
= Tyler Toffoli: Los Angeles Kings
= George Stanich: UCLA basketball

The most interesting story for No. 73:
Dennis Rodman: Los Angeles Lakers forward (1999)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Newport Beach; Long Beach; Inglewood (Forum)

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For 50 days spanning 23 games between February 23 and April 15, 1999, Dennis “The Menace” Rodman was a Laker. The time felt much longer and more painful.

A month after the Chicago Bulls released him, and showing up the day after the Lakers fired Del Harris as their coach and handed the job to Bill Bertka, there was a perfect amount of turmoil for Rodman to come on board.

Aside from tardiness and unpredictability, Rodman’s hair was a daily guessing game as well — dyed all shades of yellow sprinkled with black dots in it, accentuating his tattoos and piercings. Straight from the heart through his head.

Fast forward to Tax Day ’99, after he had taxed everyone’s patience. He was finally audited a month after Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke jerked his knee and told the Lakers they had to cut him loose “before he returns from spring break.”

The whole experience was long enough to get him a cover story in Sports Illustrated. Someone even had enough material to put together his “10 best plays” highlight reel.

Continue reading “No. 73: Dennis Rodman” →

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 19:

= Jim Gilliam: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Butch Goring: Los Angeles Kings
= Hal Bedsole: USC football
= Fred Lynn: California Angels
= Marco Danelo: USC football

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 19:

= Mike Gillespie: USC baseball
= Jim Fox: Los Angeles Kings
= Dennis Dummit, UCLA football
= Lantz Rentzel: Los Angeles Rams
= Will Ferrell: Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels

The most interesting story for No. 19:
Louis Lapp: El Segundo Little League pitcher/first baseman (2023)
Southern California map pinpoints:
El Segundo

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Louis Lappe, at 6-foot-1 and 153 pounds, already stood head-and-shoulders above most of his El Segundo All Star teammates when they took a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during a summer vacation that focused in winning game after game in the Little League World Series tournament.

Fact is, the 12-year-old could make level eye contact with the team’s 53-year-old volunteer manager, Danny Boehle.

In one magical moment, No. 19 appeared to leap maybe 19 feet or more in the air before taking a title home with him.

On a Sunday afternoon before a national TV audience, many of whom were crammed into local restaurants in Southern California to see what might happen, Lappe took his victory lap around the bases capped off by jumping high in the air and landing on home plate at Howard J. Lamade Stadium to punctuate a game-winning home run in the 2021 Little League World Series championship game.

A 6-5 victory happened after, just an inning earlier, the contest was tied by a grand-slam gut punch delivered by the kids from Willemstad, Curacao, a team from a small island off the coast of Venezuela home to just 150,000 residents. Instead, Curacao endured its second straight title loss and third in previous last four tournaments.

Lappe’s home run was the first and only Willemstad allowed in its six World Series games.

“I was just looking for a good pitch,” Lappe told ABC after his Series-leading fifth home run in seven games. “My mentality was just get the next guy up and if we kept doing that, we would have won either way, but I’ll take the homer. When that pitch came, even before I hit it, I was like, ‘Oh!’ I was so excited and happy. When I got around to home plate, I made sure to touch it.”

Lappe’s teammates had already nicknamed him “The Natural.” Just 24 hours earlier, in the U.S. title game, Lappe hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning and struck out 10 batters in 5 1/3 innings on the mound for a 6-1 triumph against Needville, Texas. It was the fourth day in a row El Segundo won an elimination game — the same Needville sent it into the consolation bracket earlier in the week.

Lappe nearly didn’t show up for his final year of Little League eligibility. He played for a few years before, but sat out the season at age 11, deciding instead to focus on soccer, basketball and another travel baseball team. Lappe eventually asked Boehle if he would be OK to rejoin the program.

Boehle said he was fully on board – enough to want to coach the team himself.

Continue reading “No. 19: Louis Lappe” →

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 00:

= Benoit Benjamin: Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers
= Brian Wilson: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Kevin Duckworth: Los Angeles Clippers

The most interesting story for No. 00:

Benoit Benjamin: Los Angeles Clippers center (1985-86 to 1990-91); Los Angeles Lakers center (1992-93)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles (Sports Arena); Inglewood (Forum)

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Double-digit zero, and Benoit Benjamin, live together in imperfect alliterative NBA harmony. And a good dose of infamy.

The player, and the number, have become a consequential representation of Los Angeles Clippers’ existence. It’s the visual evidence that Donald T. Sterling’s decision to escape the shackles of San Diego to seek even more fame and fortune in the area already dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers has seemed like a suicide mission from the day the Clipper ship, which originally left its dock in Buffalo, decided to find another new port of entry.

Both the franchise in general, and Benjamin in particular, seem to bank on the idea one can have a decent amount of talent and just show up to the party expecting to be embraced by a major global metropolitan city that has already celebrated years of success with another transplanted dance partner from Minnesota.

It just doesn’t work that way. It lacks a certain maturity for the sophistication of a basketball-knowledgeable L.A., in the eyes of critics and even passive observers. Their struggles and eventual failures were too predictable for anyone with forward thinking and a knowledge of hoops history.

Well, take a seat. We’ll try to explain.

Continue reading “No. 00: Benoit Benjamin” →