Friday, August 24, 2018

Blog Kiosk: 8/24/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends


Clayton Kershaw is one very serious ping pong player. Check out his getup, complete with an accessorized fanny pack, from last night's "Ping Pong 4 Purpose" charity event at Dodger Stadium. Per Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider:
Athletes, actors and other celebrities spent the night playing Ping-Pong, eating, drinking and enjoying themselves all while helping kids in need. The Dream Center, just keep livin foundation and the International Justice Mission’s programs in the Dominican Republic were the three main beneficiaries of the event put on by Kershaw’s Challenge. 
“Every year, the beneficiaries keep getting better and better and the money raised gets more and more,” Clayton said. “The bottom line, we get to help a lot of kids and that’s pretty cool.”
Photo above of the Kershaw's and Bryan Cranston,via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2018 at Dodger Insider. Below are more links to check out:
  • This Day in Dodgers HistoryIn 1960 Vin Scully famously had fans at Dodger Stadium wish third base umpire Frank Secory a happy birthday during the game.  In 1975 Davey Lopes stole three bases against the Expos to extend his Major League record of consecutive steals to 38. Then in the 12th inning of this same game he is thrown out at second base by Gary Carter. Coincidentally, Carter had been the last catcher to throw Lopes out before starting his record streak -- on June 4th. In 2007 the Dodgers signed free agent pitcher David WellsIn 2014 Joc Pederson became only the fourth player in the history of the PCL to have a 30-30 season, and the first to do it in 80 years, when he stole a base for the Albuquerque Isotopes (a Dodgers Triple-A affiliate). He would come up to Los Angeles later that September.
  • Happy BirthdayJohn BrownKip GrossJeff KubenkaKevin Correia & Enrique "Kiké" Hernandez!
  • BTW, Ken Gurnick at MLB.com tells us a bit about an auction featuring a one-on-one pitching lesson from Clayton Kershaw:
Kershaw is offering a one-on-one pitching lesson in the offseason in his hometown of Dallas. The winning bidder will receive two round-trip tickets on American Airlines for the lesson, a two-night stay at a luxury hotel, two autographed items for each guest and one autographed Wilson authentic game model glove. Bidding runs through Sept. 2 and can be submitted to Harlan Werner at harlan@sportsplacement.com. Bidding starts at $25,000.
While Locastro’s fringe bona fides remain beyond reproach, that’s not really the impetus for his inclusion among this edition of the Five. Rather, as noted by Eric Longenhagen earlier this week, Locastro has a curious aptitude for interrupting the flight of a pitched ball by means of his body parts. The utilityman has been hit 23 times in 325 plate appearances this season, including five times over the past week alone. Does Locastro’s appearances here represent merely an excuse for the author to locate and watch and edit together all five of those hit-by-pitches? One can’t say with any authority. What one can do, however, is watch the video below, which features all five of Locastro’s hit-by-pitches from the past week, edited together by the present author.
  • Here's a late notice about a Justin Turner signing this afternoon in Santa Monica. At the T-Mobile store (424-299-8784) at 1410 3rd Street Promenade, from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM, Turner will be signing free autographs for fans. He will only be signing photos provided by T-Mobile. See the flyer on the right. (Hat Tip: u/themovietheaterguy on Reddit)
  • I do feel bad for Yu. Per Torrey Hart at Yahoo Sports; "Yu Darvish pens emotional blog post citing effects of fan criticism."
“Every morning when I woke up, I would pray, ‘I have to throw today, please let there be no pain.’ Those were very gloomy days,” Darvish writes. “Meanwhile, the atmosphere around me had become, ‘Is he faking an injury?’, ‘Is it a mental problem?’ Those words made it extremely difficult for me to stop and rest, and it really took a toll on me emotionally.”
This is why the Dodgers are where they are in the standings. They’re on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. The Dodgers have baseball’s 14th-best winning percentage. Yet, they have baseball’s second-best rest-of-season team projection. They have baseball’s fourth-best current BaseRuns winning percentage, and they have baseball’s fifth-best current run differential. By almost every indicator, the Dodgers look like the super-team they were expected to be. They’re just not there in wins, because they haven’t shown up with the game on the line. Clutch hitting and clutch pitching — or the lack thereof — might well send the Dodgers home at the end of the regular season.


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