Blog Kiosk: 9/13/2016 - Dodgers Links - Potential Puig Trade Revealed and Dodger Fans Rule Yankee Stadium

What the...?

Never in my life could I ever have expected a crowd of Dodger fans to out-root, out-cheer and simply overcome the hometown crowd at Yankee Stadium.  As you may have heard, a group of over 1,300 loud Dodger fans, a contingent that came along with Dodgers fan group Pantone 294, overwhelmed Yamkee fans in their own home.  Heck, they even performed their own "roll call" of Dodger players on the field (watch the NY commentators discuss it here).  Billy Witz at the NY Times has a good rundown on the spectacle:

The longest-tenured Yankee, left fielder Brett Gardner, who was well within earshot of the Dodgers fans, said in reference to the crowd: “Even the Red Sox, they don’t have maybe as big a following or aren’t as rowdy. It’s a little bit different, but I thought it was a good atmosphere. If we’re going to play well down the stretch and get back into the postseason like we aspire to do, we’re going to have to play well in that atmosphere, whether it’s at the Stadium or on the road.”

Best yet, the folks at Pantone 294 brought some luck to the Blue Crew.  The Dodgers hammered out an impressive 8-2 victory behind an fantastic second career start by Jose De Leon.  Via Doug Padilla at ESPN:

“It was electric and everything I expected,” De Leon said of his Yankee Stadium debut. “I was a little more nervous than I was in L.A. Since I grew up a Red Sox fan, I really wanted to beat the Yankees, so it was a good one."

Photo above via @MLB on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1925 Dodger starter Dazzy Vance ho-hit the Phillies at Ebbets Field, 10-1. Check out the boxscore here.  In 1977 Dodger outfielder Dusty Baker set a franchise record by driving in five runs in one inning.  It was against the Padres at Dodger Stadium. 
• Happy Birthday, Dutch Ruether and Rick Dempsey!

Billy Sunday's Message of Temperance to a Brooklyn Dodger

If you study the game long enough you start to realize that those early days hardly provided the kind of family entertainment we come to expect today.  Instead, Baseball was a rough and tumble sport.  It was filled with ruffians and gadfly's bent on ranting like a sailor and partying like the end of the world was around the corner.  Some of the games earliest heroes were known to fight with the fans (like Ty Cobb) and imbibe in all hours of the day (like Babe Ruth, Mike Kelly and just about everybody else).  So, it's no surprise that some thought that Baseball was a game for delinquents.

Still, America embraced the sport, and not everyone was uncouth.  In fact, America's most successful evangelist was a former Baseball star himself (also known as a straight-laced church going fella during his playing days) in the late 19th century.  His name was Billy Sunday, and as the letter above shows (currently on auction at REA) he would take an interest in a talented Brooklyn player that appeared to be going astray.