As you no doubt heard, the Dodgers held their annual "rookie hazing" spectacle on Sunday evening - after their shutout loss to the Marlins. Above is one of many pics of the guys that are circulating around the 'net. In years past this event was held during their roadtrip to San Francisco. This time, however, they decided to have fun with the rookies during their trip to New York.
Photo above via @Dodgers on twitter. You can go here, here, here, here, here or here to see even more pics. Best yet, Yasiel's charm came back in classic style. He borrowed someone's Dodgers cheerleader outfit and did a little dance for the Dodgers and LA's newest team the Rams. Heck, he even tweeted the gif to Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff. To the right is a screengrab, and you can go here to see the gif. Below are more links to check out:
This Day in Dodgers Baseball: In 1930 Dodger catcher Al Lopez hit the Major Leagues last bounced home run. Before this day "ground-rule doubles" were recorded as home runs. In 2000 Dave Hanson broke former Dodger Johnny Frederick's record for pinch-hit home runs during a season with his seventh homer of the year against Curt Schilling of the Diamondbacks. BTW, Johnny Frederick set his record of six homers on this exact same date in 1932.
Above is Joc Pederson with his big brother Champ. As you a may know, Champ Pederson has Down Syndrome. As a part of an initiative that will give 31% of all proceeds to Best Buddies, the Dodgers will exclusively sell unique and limited caps made by New Era that you can see above. It says "Live Like a Champ." Below is a closer view. They are available only at Dodger Stadium. BTW, Joc wears #31 and he apparently designed the cap.
“It’s exciting that the Dodgers and New Era are supporting my family
and Best Buddies as well. It’s something I’m passionate about and it
brings us together as a family,” Joc said.
Champ also had plenty to say about his younger brother, Joc.
“Well to see my brother in my hat well I think it’s good if he likes
it. I just want him to like it, because it’s something my mom and I
created together. But I think it’s great”, Champ said.
Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015. BTW, the Dodgers "Magic Number is now at 8. Go here to see more pics from the press conference. Below are more links to check out:
Here's a fun and adorable original cartoon featuring Zack Greinke drawn by Kawaii Baseball Cards: "Underneath the Cap." (hat tip: r/istarnie on reddit)
On adjusting to the Majors so rapidly: “Luck,” Seager said. “I don’t know. There’s always an adjustment. There’s so much more information up here, you can kind of shorten that adjustment period, because you kind of have an idea what’s coming.”
Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Dodgers' Jharel Cotton, Ralston Cash, Rob Rogers, Matt West to pitch in Arizona Fall League."
This isn't good news. Via David Seideman at Forbes, "Signs Of A Baseball Card And Memorabilia Market Crash." Frankly, I'm fearful of the same thing.
This sale and many others I saw in Chicago left me wondering if the
industry had reached a shoe-shine boy tipping point. Is this easy money
a sign of irrational exuberance for a market about to crash or a
textbook case of Adam Smith’s free-market based on supply and demand? My
conclusion is that it is a bit of both and that before you liquidate
your 401K to buy Babe Ruth cards, you had better weigh the long-term
risks and rewards.
Above is a 1963 UPI telephoto of Dodger starting pitchers Johnny Podres and Sandy Koufax that I found on eBay. Per the caption:
Yanlee Stadium: Johnny Podres (L), Dodgers' starting pitcher, gets some good advice from Sandy Koufax before the second World Series game here 10/3. Sandy knows his way around the Yankee batting order. He set a new Series record by striking out 15 as the Dodgers won the opener, 5-2.
Below are some more links to check out:
ICYMI: Paco Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day DL with an elbow strain. Matt West was called up from AAA. Per Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider:
Paco Rodriguez has had trouble finishing pitches, manager Don Mattingly
told reporters this morning, so he has been placed on the disabled list
and is heading to Los Angeles for examination on his left elbow.
Jon Weisman also provides a peek at the June issue of Dodger Insider Magazine, here. Check it out on the right. Joc Pederson is on the cover.
"He actually showed me how to draft," Campanis told MLB.com's Ken
Gurnick in a 1988 story for Baseball America. "He explained the
difference between drafting the best athlete or going for need. He
showed us how to rank players on a scale of 100 based on fundamental
skills. He took a neophyte and taught me how to approach a draft, and I
think this helped us."
“It’s about manipulating a hitter’s body sometimes based on how they’re reacting to certain pitches,” Ellis said.
The
Dodgers have known for years that Ellis is a skilled pitch-caller. He
prepares his own scouting reports based on video work and works with
pitching coach Rick Honeycutt throughout the game to adjust the plan of
attack.
“I just love a guy who takes a lot of pride in what he
does,” Honeycutt said. “When you get the uniformity we’ve had the last
four years or so, I think you have to give him some of the credit for
that.”
Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA writes about first baseman prospect Cody Bellinger: "Dodgers may have AGon’s replacement in their grasp."
Last night was another tough day for our ace. Don't get me wrong, he pitched really well and certainly deserved to win his 100th career victory. Unfortunately, Baseball is more than the sum of its parts. It's a battle that includes skill and some chance, and last night Clayton was stung by the latter. Via Andrew Wagner at ESPN.com:
“He was just being Kershaw,” said catcher Yasmani Grandal. “Just pounding guys in, breaking bats, getting ground balls, getting ahead of guys. Other than that, he was just being him.”
For seven innings Kershaw was brilliant. He had out-dueled Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse but ran into some trouble in the eighth inning. Kershaw yielded a home run to rookie shortstop Hector Gomez and a double thereafter to Adam Lind to put the tying run in scoring position.
“I felt fine,” said Kershaw, who threw 91 pitches. “Gomez hit a good
pitch. The ball was in, he was just ready to ambush and did a good job,
and Lind, I just threw a slider right down the middle, overthrew it and
he hit it hard.”
A couple of pitches here and there, and all of the sudden it's a different game. Chris Hatcher came into the game in relief and proceeded to give up the winning run. Oh, well. At least Clayton Kershaw is showing improvement with every outing, and I'm far from believing that there is anything wrong with him. On a side note, Clayton is clearly frustrated with the end results; via David Schoenfield at SweetSpot ESPN:
"I don't feel like answering questions right now. I don't want to analyze it right now. Thanks."
Below are some more links to check out:
The times sure are changing for the better. Via Samer Kalaf at Deadspin, "Two Dudes Smooch On Dodgers' Kiss Cam, To Hearty Applause." It wasn't too long ago when two women were thrown out for doing the same thing.
That guy who's riding his bike to every MLB stadium made it to LA on Sunday. Check out his blog post that tells you all about it. Via Matt Stolz at Biking for Baseball, "Welcome to LA."
I did stumble upon Nomar Garciaparra and Orel Herscheiser. I actually
overheard them talking with a Dodgers player and discussing different
techniques they would use to gain an advantage. Orel spoke of purposely
batting without batting gloves so he could claim the pine tar on his
hands came from his previous at bat. Nomar spoke of how players would
wear fake fingernails so they could better grip a baseball. It was
pretty unbelievable, I felt like I was right in the clubhouse with the
guys.
They picked up another reliever in a minor trade yesterday. Via a Dodger press release:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired right-handed pitcher Matt West from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations and moved left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu to the 60-day disabled list.
West, 26, has allowed just one unearned run in 12.1 scoreless innings for the Blue Jays’ Double-A New Hampshire affiliate in the Eastern League this season. The Houston native also has one save and 17 strikeouts against just four walks in his seven appearances.
“We have a great training staff here, they were able to get me healthy,”
Grandal said. “It wasn’t a huge injury, it was just an injury where it
just bothered me here and there. It’s not that I couldn’t catch or I
couldn’t really hit, but there were certain movements that I did that
bothered it a lot and we just needed to get it over with.”
Some very special honors for a couple of Dodger players, via @Dodgers on twitter:
Congrats to April NL Player of the Month Adrian Gonzalez and NL Rookie of the Month Alex Guerrero!
Photo above via @Dodgers on twitter. You can go here, here, here, here, here or here to see even more pics. Best yet, Yasiel's charm came back in classic style. He borrowed someone's Dodgers cheerleader outfit and did a little dance for the Dodgers and LA's newest team the Rams. Heck, he even tweeted the gif to Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff. To the right is a screengrab, and you can go here to see the gif. Below are more links to check out:
