Blog Kiosk: 2/15/2017 - Dodger Links - Pitchers and Catchers Report Day!

With today being the official start of Dodger Spring Baseball I figured the above Associated Press photo, dated February 27, 1949, would be appropriate to share.  Featured are a group of Brooklyn Dodgers at Penn Station in New York as they head on their way towards Vero Beach, Florida.  (eBay Auction Link) Per the descriptor on the reverse:

Members of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Manager of the bluc's farm system, Branch Rickey, Jr. (at right, front row), leave Pennsylvania Station, New York, Deb. 27, enroute to Vero Beach, Fla., to open spring training on March 1.  From left (front) are: Coach Jake Pitler, Roy Campanella, Buddy Hicks, Rex Barney, and Rickey, Jr.  In back (left to right) are: Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges and Gene Hermanski.

Below are more links to check out:

• Happy Birthday, Charlie Irwin, George Earnshaw, Joe Moeller, Ron Cey, Rick Auerbach, Russell Martin & Russ Mitchell!
  

Blog Kiosk: 9/9/2016 - Dodgers Links - Minor League Playoff Updates and Clayton Kershaw Day

It is now officially Kershaw Day.  He'll be stepping back on the mound for the first time since going down on the DL over two months ago.  I'd like to think Clayton would return just as good as when he left, but let's get real.  We should not expect him to be a Cy Young pitcher right out of the gate.  Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com: 

"To be off two months and not be in a competitive situation, everybody has to be conscious that he's not in midseason form," said Honeycutt. "He wouldn't be going out there unless he felt well enough to do it. At the same time, he still has not been in a competitive situation at the big league level, using all of his pitches. At that time in '14, it was the curveball that was not as good as it can be. That's not only a control pitch, it's a feel pitch and a release point."

For purposes of managing expectations, recall that Kershaw threw seven scoreless innings in his first start off the disabled list in 2014, but he then lost three of his next four starts -- including a seven-run, 1 2/3-inning disaster in Arizona -- before rewriting the record books.

I'm just happy to have him back.

Photo above was tweeted by Kiké Hernández.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers starting pitcher Rex Barney throws a no-hitter against the Gaints at the Polo Grounds, 2-0.  In 1965 Sandy Koufax threw his perfect game at Dodger Stadium against the Cubs, 1-0.  You can listen to Vin Scully's call of the ninth inning here. 
• Happy Birthday, Kaz Ishii!

Original Brooklyn Dodger Portraits by Susan Rini

I knew I recognized these from somewhere.

The other day I ran into these gouache on cardboard paintings at an Clean Sweep auction and couldn't help but think that they looked familiar.  Then it hit me.

These are some of the original drawings for those postcard and cachet sets made in the 1980's to early 1990's.  Collectors especially liked to have them autographed by these old timers - much like the Perez Steele postcards from the same time period.  Check out what a couple of the Rini postcards look like on the right. 

As I dug around a bit I found out they were created by artist Suan Rini as a part of a commission for Historic Limited Editions.  Check out the auction here.  They did not sell.

Featured original paintings include Rex Barney, Joe Black, Ralph Branca, Roger Craig, Carl Erskine, Al Gionfriddo, Gene Hermanski, Spider Jorgensen, Clyde King (2 diff.), Billy Loes, Podres/Throneberry, George Shuba and Chris Van Cuyk. 

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