Dodgers Dugout: Ask Peter O’Malley

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and why do they call them the stands when we sit in them?

We are going to talk about Dustin May and his Tommy John surgery more below, but first, a very important announcement.

Ask Peter O’Malley

Every season we do a feature here where readers of this newsletter can send in questions for Dodgers of the past. We’ve done “Ask Orel Hershiser” and “Ask Jerry Reuss” and “Ask Tom Niedenfuer” and “Ask Fred Claire” among others.

Now we move on to perhaps the biggest name so far: Peter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1979-98 and was team president from 1970-98.

Many Dodger fans still wax nostalgic for the days when O’Malley owned the team. It seemed more like visiting your local family store when going to games back then, instead of visiting one of those megamarts when you visit today. Not a knock on how things are currently, just a different feeling.

O’Malley has agreed to answer selected questions from Dodgers Dugout readers. So, start thinking of your questions and send them to me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. I will select the best and the ones most frequently asked and send them to him, and get his answers. Then those will be printed in a future newsletter.

I have literally thought of a dozen questions to ask while writing this, and I am sure you all will come up with questions I haven’t considered. So, what are you waiting for, here’s your chance to connect with a Dodger legend. Start sending in those questions. And please put “Ask Peter O’Malley” in the subject line of your email.

Dustin May

The Dodgers announced on Monday that Dustin May, injured in his last start, will have to undergo Tommy John surgery on May 11. That means he will be out all of this season. He could possibly return late next season, but it will be a long journey for him between now and then, so there is no precise timetable for his return. It typically takes 12-18 months.

“That’s a significant loss for us,” Justin Turner said. “That’s a significant arm that we’ve relied on and we were planning on relying on. Just feel terrible for Dustin.”

So what do the Dodgers do to replace him? They have several options. They have three days off in the next two weeks, so they could just work around his spot for now. They could have Trevor Bauer pitch every fourth day like he wants. They could do a combination of those things until Tony Gonsolin is ready to return, hopefully by the end of the month. They could give their top prospect, Josiah Gray, the spot, though they say they aren’t considering that. They could put Jimmy Nelson in the rotation. The guess is they skip May’s starts, give Bauer an extra start or two and hope Gonsolin is back soon. But that’s just a guess.

Strange how baseball works. The Dodgers began the season with too many starters. Who is getting the fifth spot? May? Gonsolin? David Price? What happens to the other two? And now, a month into the season, they don’t have enough starters.

Championship teams get tested, and the Dodgers are certainly being tested now.

Makeup game today

Because of Monday’s rainout, the Dodgers will play two games today.

Game 1: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 4-2, 2.09 ERA) at Chicago Cubs (Kyle Hendricks, 1-3, 7.54 ERA), 11:15 a.m. PDT, Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Game 2: Dodgers (Trevor Bauer, 3-1, 2.48 ERA) at Chicago Cubs (TBD), 4:30 p.m. PDT, Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Each game will be seven innings long, unless it is tied after seven, then it will continue.

*-left-handed.

And finally

Hideo Nomo presents Peter O’Malley with flowers. Watch it here.