Blog Kiosk: 12/8/2015 - Dodger Links - Chapman, Scavuzzo and a Couple New Players

Above is another vintage Charles Conlon photograph from the 1920 World Series at RMY Auctions.  This time I feature a pic of Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers right fielder Tommy Griffith.  He played  seven season for us, slashing .285/.333/.394/.727 in Blue. 

His 1920 season was a strange one.   Griffith had actually retired and was thus a no-show that Spring.  Nelson 'Chip' Greene at the SABR Biography Project shares more details:

Earlier, Griffith had become a stock salesman. During the just-completed season, in fact, he had sold stocks while traveling with the team and had been doing well, reportedly making enough money to make the venture a “pleasant and profitable pastime.” (His decision to retire was also undoubtedly due to lingering resentment over his trade the previous year, as it was reported that “intimate friends say he is peeved because he was traded off the Cincinnati club.”) When Brooklyn opened spring training camp in Jacksonville, Florida, in March 1920, Griffith was a no-show. He wasn’t going to stay away for long, however. In 1920, after hovering around .500 for most of the first month, the team climbed into pennant contention and stayed there all season long. In May, manager Wilbert Robinson and team owner Charles Ebbets got Griffith’s new employer to guarantee that Griffith would not lose his chance for advancement or seniority if the ballplayer returned to the club. Griffith, who’d been playing with a local semipro team to stay in shape, agreed to come back. When he returned on May 27, Brooklyn’s record was 16-13. Over the remainder of the season the team played .616 ball (77-48) and finished with a record of 93-61, to win the National League flag.

It's funny to think that he chose working 9-5 over Baseball, but such was the time.  Ballplayers didn't make as much as other professions (let alone what they make today), and if other opportunities arose it was likely to make the professional game an afterthought.

Below are more links to check out:

• I hate to lead with this.  Via Tim Brown and Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports: "Police report: Aroldis Chapman allegedly fired gunshots, 'choked' girlfriend in domestic incident."  This is terrible - not only for the individuals involved in the incident described in the story, but also for us fans.  I'll have my thoughts on the matter shortly.  In the meantime, below is an excerpt:

The incident started, Chapman’s girlfriend told police, after she went into a bathroom of Chapman’s 10,000-square-foot-plus house and “found something in his phone that she did not like,” according to the report. Chapman, his girlfriend told police, then took the phone from her, the report said. They went to the movie theater inside of Chapman’s home, where “he had pushed her against the wall,” according to the report, and “that Chapman had ‘choked’ her by placing his hands around her neck, but did not prevent her from breathing at any time.” Police did not observe “injuries or even redness anywhere on her neck or chest,” the report said.

• Ah, crap!  Via Jayson Stark on twitter:

Even if the Dodgers don't trade for Chapman, they have issues. Talked to someone who spoke with Kenley Jansen. Described him as "crushed"

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 8, 2015

• Dave Roberts spoke with the media at the Winter Meetings yesterday, and you can check out a complete unfiltered transcript of the interview here.  Furthermore, Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider wrote a bit about it: "Dave Roberts discusses Kershaw, Greinke." 
• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Jacob Scavuzzo named to Arizona Fall League top prospect team."

Scavuzzo hit .377/.389/.623 with four home runs and five doubles in 16 games, and ranked third in slugging percentage and at-bats per home run (17.25), mostly playing left field but also seeing time at first base. Scavuzzo played in the AFL Fall Stars Game, and won the National League portion of the Bowman Hitting Challenge in the AFL on Oct. 17.

• Busy.  Busy!  The Dodgers added a couple more players for their minor league teams.  First they Danny Reynolds from the Angels.  Then claimed outfielder Daniel Fields from the Brewers.  Via a Dodgers press release:

Danny Reynolds, 24, went 2-3 with 10 saves and a 4.57 ERA in 43 relief appearances last year for the Angels’ Double-A Arkansas, limiting opposing hitters to a .213 batting average with 50 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. A 2014 Double-A Texas League All-Star, Reynolds has a 22-23 career record with 21 saves and a 4.39 ERA in 152 games (42 starts) in six minor league seasons after being selected by the Angels in the sixth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Daniel Fields, 24, made his Major League debut last year for the Tigers, going 1-for-3 in his only big league game on June 4 against the Athletics, and has a .244 batting average with 86 stolen bases, 42 home runs and 260 RBI in 649 minor league games in six minor league seasons in the Detroit organization. In addition to seeing his first big league action last season, he appeared in 122 games for the Tigers’ Triple-A Toledo, batting .228 with 17 steals, seven home runs and 41 RBI prior to being claimed by the Brewers on Sept. 10. During the course of his minor league career, Fields has primarily appeared in center field (570 games), while also playing 53 games in left field. 

• BTW, AJ Ellis had a great reaction to the Aroldis Chapman trade on twitter.  Given what we know know, it's not so funny... Well, it's still a little funny.  Check it out below:

Wonder if @wilsonballglove can make me this model. pic.twitter.com/GGVEn869wb

— AJ Ellis (@AJEllis17) December 7, 2015

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Blog Kiosk: 9/12/2015 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends

Check out this fantastic vintage 1920 International press photo from game 2 of the World Series.  Hall of Fame pitcher Burleigh Grimes is shown scoring the second run in the game on a double by Tommy Griffith.  As you can see, Cleveland Indians catcher Steve O'Neil is unable to make the tag on a sliding Grimes.  Although the Dodgers didn't win the crown this season there were plenty of highlights.  For instance, Burleigh Grimes would go on to pitch a seven hit shutout to bring the Robins (Dodgers) to a series tie of one game apiece.  The above photo is via RMY Auctions and is currently on auction there.  Check out the listing here.

Below are more links to check out:

• Via Brandon Lennox at True Blue LA, "OKC Dodgers eliminated from PCL playoffs."
• Listen to Vin Scully speak with Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports talk about Sandy Koufax here.

When I walked in the clubhouse I saw the fella who was going to try out, and my first thought was, ‘he’s got a big back’ and my second thought was, ‘he’s all tan, fully tan. So he’s probably spent the summer on the beach, I can’t imagine he’s that good of a ballplayer.’ So, I failed as a scout. I went down to the bullpen at Ebbets Field and I stood along with maybe two or three other people and watched this kid throw. He threw hard, bounced his curveball. I had just finished playing ball for college the previous summer, so he was like I thought, a lot of the pitchers that I saw in college; threw hard and was wild. And of course the next thing I know, he is a magnificent pitcher, awesome, and inspiring and every adjective and participle you can think of. He was really special.”

• Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Seager growing into a major role with Dodgers."

"He's very process-driven and you see that here, too, just the way he plays the game. He doesn't show much emotion when he plays, similar to his brother," said Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis. "He just goes out and competes and tries to make the right baseball play."

• Via Maren Angus at MLB.com, "Five questions with the Dodgers' top prospect and September callup Corey Seager."

Q: What was the conversation like when you got "the call?"
A: Our [Oklahoma City] manager D.B. [Damon Berryhill] called me around 1:00 and just said, "Congratulations, you're going." I freaked out a little, I almost hung up on him and called my parents. It was fun. I called [my brother] Kyle about an hour after I talked to my parents.

• I got a chuckle out of this.  Via Tom Ley at Deadspin, "Good Dodgers Fan Flips Off The Whole World." 
• Jusr being mindful appears to be the key.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "What's behind the Dodgers' better baserunning?"

Two things happened when the Dodgers got to Oakland for a quick two-game series Aug. 18 and 19. First, Ron Roenicke was brought in to replace Lorenzo Bundy as the third-base coach. Second, the coaches convened the players for a team meeting and showed them the metrics the front office compiled.
...
“We’re leading the way, stealing more bases. That probably made Jimmy [Rollins] want to steal more bases because he hadn’t been doing it before,” Crawford said. “I’d like to say we helped it. That’s what we’re trying to do, make guys more aggressive and run the bases better.”

• I thought I'd pass along photos of a new piece by noted Baseball artist Sean Kane who uses vintage gloves as his canvas.  He recently completed is a fantastic drawing commemorating the poem "Casey at the Bat" using three old catchers mitts side-by-side.  Check out a pic below.  He also shares a video on his website featuring a "making of" collage of the painted gloves.  Watch the video here.  You can also check out an interview I did with the artist a few years ago here.

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