Blog Kiosk: 10/14/2016 - Dodgers Links - WooHoo! Dodgers Win

Wow!

That game was epic.  Maybe the best ever.  And I'm not saying that 'cause the Dodgers won... Okay, maybe I'm far more enthusiastic about it 'cause my guys won, but really... Wasn't it the best ever!

• "One of the best games in history," said Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. (Link Here)
• "That's probably one of the craziest, if not the craziest, games I've ever been a part of in my career," Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer said. "Man, this is a tough one to be on the wrong side of."  (Link Here)
• "I'm like, wait a minute, am I dreaming right now?" Jansen said, exhausted on the floor of the visiting clubhouse. "It's an awesome feeling to know the best pitcher in the game has your back."  (Link Here) 
• “It was crazy,” Pederson, who finished this NLDS 5 for 15 with two walks, a double and the homer, said on the field after the game in a televised interview. “I’m kind of at a loss for words right now. Washington played great. They fought us to the end, but it just shows what kind of team we are. We stuck together, we believed in each other, we came back.”  (Link Here)
• “I came to [Roberts], you know, once Kenley went out there in the seventh,” Kershaw said. “I was just kind of doing the math. I don't think Kenley's ever done a six-out save, let alone a nine-out save. He threw 20 pitches in that seventh inning, and I just said, 'I'm going to go get loose, see how I feel and I'll let you know, but I might be able to do this.' That's kind of what happened.  (Link Here)
• “I thank God for being able to be at his side,” Urias said through an interpreter. “When I saw him come in the clubhouse and put on his spikes, I knew he was ready to go and I learned a lot about him at that moment. He’s about winning and all that goes through his mind is winning, winning, winning. I’m so glad that everything worked out.”  (Link Here)
• "This encapsulated our season, yeah," manager Dave Roberts said. "It takes 25 guys to win a game [and] that’s what we did [in Game 5]."  (Link Here)

Dave Roberts managed the gutsiest game of Baseball I've ever witnessed... Bar none!  And as a viewer, I am exhausted.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon from yesterdays game and celebration.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1965 Sandy Koufax, on just two days rest, masterfully pitched a 2-0 complete game shutout to defeat the Twins in Game 7 of the World Series to win their fourth championship.  He was named MVP of the series.
• Happy Birthday, Hugh Casey and Ivy Olson!  

A Look Back at Former Brooklyn Dodger Ivy Olson

I was recently cruising around eBay to do some online window shopping when I came across a vintage 1930 press photo from the AP of former Brooklyn Dodger infielder turned coach Ivy Olson.  Check it out above, or check out the eBay auction here.  Since we are in the midst of a Dodger winter and it's likely most of you know nothing about Ivy, I figured I would take a moment to introduce you to him.  Heck, I can't claim to know much about him either, so this post also helps me know a little more about this former Dodger fave.

A childhood friend of Casey Stengel, Ivy Olson was average sized, average skilled and a larger than life ballplayer who both endeared himself to fans and was the cause of great consternation.  He played Baseball during a time called the 'Deadball Era' - when men treated the game (to borrow a phrase from Ty Cobb) like it's something like a war. 

(eBay Auction Link)

Ivy was hard-charging, hard-playing and took no prisoners on the field.  You would often see him in the middle of a scuffle with fist being thrown to and fro, sliding into second base with his spikes coming in high or screaming expletives like a drunken sailor out on leave.  His heart and hustle was obvious, and Brooklyn fans, seeing a little bit of themselves in the man, were immediately smitten.  Of course, this was Brooklyn, so that love often turned to jeers.  After all, Ivy Olson was just an average ballplayer with a propensity for errors at the most inopportune times.

For instance, during the 1916 World Series against the Boston Red Sox Ivy Olson placed himself in the Baseball record books for the wrong reason.  In the third inning of Game 5 (the final game of the series) Olson made two fielding errors on a single fielding chance; thereby being the first of only two players to have ever done that during a World Series game.  Hilariously, the other man to do it was also a Dodger - Willie Davis in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series.

Oy Vie!  A play like that would cause twitter to blow up in todays world.

Ivy Olson played ten season in Brooklyn; from 1915 to 1924.  He was a key component of two pennant winning Dodger teams (1916 and 1920) and currently holds the Dodger franchise single season record for at-bats per strikeout (55.1 in 1922) and is the Dodgers all-time at-bats per strikeout leader (26.8).  In 4,212 Brooklyn at-bats he struck out only 157 times.  Wow!

If you are looking for a strange tale about Ivy Olson check out the SABR biography by Brian Stevens: 

It is said that Olson carried a rulebook in the back pocket of his uniform in each of his 1,574 games. During an umpire's oration, he would take out the book and riffle the pages with a flourish. But he would often get the thumb before he could reach the appropriate reference to the rule in question.

You should definitely check out Brian Stevens phenomenal biography on Olson to learn even more about him.  Also, in preparing this post I ran into several other Ivy Olson press photographs on eBay and have included them here for you to see.  Links to those auctions are attached to the pics caption. 

(eBay Auction Link)

Below are Ivy Olson's career statistics, via Baseball Reference:

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