Blog Kiosk: 12/12/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

With both Spring Training on the horizon and the Winter Meetings currently ongoing in Orlando, I thought this vintage, dated March 2, 1946, International News press photo of several old-tyme Dodgers at Daytona Beach would be perfect. (eBay auction link) Per descriptor attached to the reverse:

PITY POOR DODGERS IN BLEAK FLORIDA.  Daytona Beach, Fla.......It's all right for the fortunate people up North.  They can warm be shoveling snow.  But the poor Brooklyn Dodgers, who are spring training down in Daytona Beach have to light a fire to get the chill out of their bones.  Billy Herman is playing fireman here to get a blaze going for Vic Lombardi, Hal Gregg and Lew Riggs.  Cold weather caused postponement of practice called for yesterday."

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1941 the Dodgers traded for soon to be Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan from the Pirates in exchange for Pete Coscarart, Luke Hamlin, Babe Phelps and Jimmy Wasdell. In 1998 the Dodgers signed free agent starting pitcher Kevin Brown to a seven year $105 million contract -- thus becoming the first $100 million man in Baseball. In 2012 the Dodgers received Skip Schumaker in a trade with the Cardinals -- sending Jake Lemmerman to St. Louis in return.
• Happy Birthday, Buzzie Bavasi, Peter O'Malley, Phenomenal Smith, Derrell Griffith & Orlando Hudson! 

Blog Kiosk: 5/1/2015 - Dodger Links - McCarthy, Seager and Julio Urias

I came across the above Associated Press photo while drifting through eBay and thought I would share it here.  It is date stamped August 2, 1941 and features Babe Phelps (left), Lew Riggs (right) and a bloodied Pee Wee Reese (center) walking off the field.  (Click on the pic to embiggen)  If you look closely there is a stream of blood coming off Reese's right eyebrow and down his face.  Unfortunately, the caption typically attached to the reverse is missing, so we don't know what exactly had transpired, and the little bit of research I did turned up nothing.

Maybe the injury was a result of scoring sacrifice fly that resulting in a violent crash at the plate (Reese did score that way on this day), or maybe an equally haphazard collision happened while turning a double play.  I dunno.  If you happen to have any knowledge please pass that along.

Below are some links to check out:

• Below is Brandon McCarthy's first tweet after Tommy John surgery yesterday:

thles pani pills are'nt havin any eff=ect at al;/ claer th*inking is me and motoor sskils is very greats

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) April 30, 2015

• The Dodgers continue to pick up players off the waiver wire, here and there.  Via J.P. Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers, "Dodgers claim left-handed pitcher Eury De La Rosa, assign him to Triple-A."
• Via Carson Cistulli at Fan Graphs, "Julio Urias, the Dodgers, and the History of Teenage Pitchers."

Urias remains still in the midst of his age-18 season. So, while he might possess a lot of the physical tools one finds among major-league pitchers, he doesn’t possess an age that has been seen in the majors for a long time. And that’s very likely not lost on Andrew Friedman and the his colleagues in the Dodgers front office.

• Via Gabe Kapler at Kaplifestyle, "Baseball is Life: Rejection and Failure."
• Via GCRL, "Los Angeles Dodger commemorative patches through the years."
• Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Dodgers promote blue-chip prospect Corey Seager to Triple-A."  We might just find him in LA sooner than we thought. 
• Via Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest, "Yimi Garcia, Up the Ladder."

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Blog Kiosk: 1/2/2015 - Dodger Links - They are Confident in Anderson and Confident with the Current Rotation

It has been so cold.  So, when I saw the above photo on eBay the other day I certainly could sympathize.  It features four Brooklyn Dodgers huddled around a soon-to-be raging fire at their spring home in Daytona Beach.  The photo is dated 3/2/1946 and is from International News. Check out the auction here.  From the caption written on the reverse:

PITY POOR DODGERS IN BLEAK FLORIDA.  Daytona Beach, Fla.......It's all right for the fortunate people up North.  They can warm be shoveling snow.  But the poor Brooklyn Dodgers, who are spring training down in Daytona Beach have to light a fire to get the chill out of their bones.  Billy Herman is playing fireman here to get a blaze going for Vic Lombardi, Hal Gregg and Lew Riggs.  Cold weather caused postponement of practice called for yesterday."

Below are some links to check out:

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "With ultimate goal in reach, 10 questions for Dodgers."
• Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "2014 highs and lows both involve Kershaw."
• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Dodgers confident in Brett Anderson's health."

"He's a young guy. He was terrific when he pitched last year for Colorado. From a health standpoint, we feel very good about him being a regular guy from the start of the season on," Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said on a conference call on Wednesday. "We're certainly hoping he stays healthy and takes the ball every fifth day."

• Via Bill Shaikin on twitter, Dodger GM Farhan Zaidi said they are not looking to add another frontline starting pitcher.

Zaidi: Bolsinger and Wieland are the extra pitchers to protect against injury to Anderson or others. No plans to pursue more.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 31, 2014

Zaidi: "Our focus on the SP side is going to be depth options." He won't say no Scherzer or Shields, but that's what he means.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 31, 2014

• Via Tim Brown at Yahoo Sports, "Dodgers exploring an intriguing gamble with Chin-hui Tsao."

A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported the Dodgers were “close” to signing Tsao to a minor-league deal and suggested the club had received clearance from MLB to do so. Both are true. The Dodgers contacted MLB prior to engaging with Tsao, a baseball source with knowledge of those conversations told Yahoo Sports. The league looked into the circumstances surrounding Tsao’s expulsion, found some “ambiguities” in the case, and cleared the way for the signing, the source said.

This much seems clear, ambiguities notwithstanding: A guy banned from playing baseball somewhere else (or, in this case, two somewhere elses) for at least entertaining the idea of throwing games probably should not be rewarded with a second chance here. Not with a major league club. Not on a minor-league deal. Not with MLB’s already very rigid stance on such activities, not with the flaming contradiction it would appear to be, not with the precedent it would set. (Rose, for one, might be inspired to launch another reality TV show, and nobody wants that.)

• Via Bernie Pleskoff at MLB.com, "Versatile infield prospect Sweeney impresses with speed."

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