Dodger Art

Please check out this great painting recently completed by local artist Roderick Smith. He was kind enough to allow me to share it with all of you.

The painting began in late July. Many sketches and photographs were taken from the surrounding hills in its preparation. The feeling I tried to convey was the sense of timelessness. A place familiar yet oddly strange. Like a dream land. A stage were actors play their parts with improvised scripts. A circus tent from the sixties still barking cotton candy and side show delights. One of the last great arenas of the game still standing. In the late afternoon it flickers in an impressionist light. There is roar as the sun sets in the west. The players are in motion.

It's like an Elysian Field.

Go check out his website.

October Baseball!!!!!

Ohhh Yheaaaa!!!


YouTube Link: pugger0:

Pop the Champagne!!

All of the sudden I love the Cardinals.

As I write this it is the bottom of the 8th inning in this afternoons game between the Diamondback and Cardinals. St. Louis has a comfortable 10 to 3 lead. Check out the box score here.

Pic Link: Sock Pockets from Hell:

Minor League Players of the Year

Here are two more guys to watch for in the future. The Dodgers recently announced the winners of their annual player of the year awards for the minor leagues.

Below is the Dodgers winner of the Minor League Pitcher of the Year James McDonald.

McDonald’s 3.19 ERA with Jacksonville ranked second in the Southern League, and his 113 strikeouts ranked ninth. He struck out 141 batters in 141.0 innings overall with Jacksonville and Las Vegas . The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder struck out 10 in both of his first two Triple-A starts. He allowed three runs or less in 22 of his 26 starts overall. The Long Beach Poly High School grad was recently voted as having the best changeup in the SL in Baseball America’s annual “Best Tools” survey of league managers and coaches.

McDonald earned SL Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of May 5-11, when he went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA (2 ER/13.0 IP) in two starts. He also posted stellar numbers in June, going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA (7 ER/35.0 IP) in six starts. In his final three starts of June, he allowed only one run in 18.0 innings. McDonald also went 2-1 with a 3.82 ERA (14 ER/33.0 IP) in six starts in May to share Jacksonville ’s Dodger Pride Award for the month with right-hander Jesus Castillo.

Winner of the Minor League Player of the Year is Ivan DeJesus, Jr.

The 21-year-old DeJesus, making his Double-A debut, led the Southern League with a .419 on-base percentage and ranked fifth with a .324 batting average. He finished second in the circuit with 76 walks and tied for third with 150 hits. DeJesus was named to the SL’s South Division All-Star team, but did not appear because he was selected to play in the XM Radio All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He was the lone Dodger farmhand to be selected to the annual exhibition featuring the game’s top prospects. He was recently named as the second baseman on Baseball America’s Minor League All-Star Second Team.

DeJesus, who was selected by Los Angeles in the second round of the 2005 draft, ended the year with a 23-game hitting streak, batting .420 (37-for-88) with 27 runs scored to raise his average from .301. He hit .438 (46-for-105) with five homers, 16 RBI, and 31 runs scored in 27 games in August.

DeJesus earned Jacksonville ’s Dodger Pride Award for May, when he hit .299 (29-for-97) with 18 walks, 24 runs, and a .412 on-base percentage.

Baseball in England in 1755?

Last year Major League Baseball went to England to film an upcoming documentary about origins of the game. They ended up finding something unexpected.

Julian Pooley, the manager of the Surrey History Centre, said Thursday he has authenticated a reference to baseball in a diary by English lawyer William Bray dating back to 1755 -- about 50 years before what was previously believed to have been the first known reference to what became the American pastime.

The Diary entry is as follows.

"Went to Stoke Ch. This morning. After Dinner Went to Miss Jeale's to play at Base Ball with her, the 3 Miss Whiteheads, Miss Billinghurst, Miss Molly Flutter, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Ford & H. Parsons & Jelly. Drank Tea and stayed till 8."

This is fascinating stuff. Although, it shouldn't be surprising since Baseball is believed to have been developed from several English childrens games.

The film, called "Base Ball Discovered" is to be premiered at the 3rd Annual Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown next week.

Hat Tip: VBCF:

Collection: 1981 Albuquerque Dukes

Its been awhile since I've posted anything from my collection. So, please check out my favorite Dodger Minor League Baseball card set. Below are cards from the 1981 Albuquerque Dukes. What makes this set so notable is the inclusion of the Sandy Koufax. I believe this is the only minor league set with a card of the Dodger Hall of Fame lefty.The Dukes that season was a phenomenal team.

They won the first half of the season by 13 games (48-16) and the second half by 10 games (46-22) and won the Pacific Coast League playoff by beating Tacoma (Oakland) three games to one.

You will also recognize many other former Dodgers. Above is "Mr. Slow Windup" Alejandro Pena and below is triple crown winner Mike Marshall. He hit 34 homeruns, recorded 137 RBI's and batted .373 that year.

Other notables are Ron Roenicke, Brian Holton, Jack Perconte, Rudy Law and Candy Maldonado. Check out a scan of the complete set here in my photoalbum.