Blog Kiosk: 9/8/2014 - Dodger Links - Dodgers Expand Lead in West to Three Games

Adrian Gonzalez was a lightening rod yesterday afternoon.  He rocketed two three-run home runs to power the Dodgers over the Diamondbacks.  Above is a photo of AGon's first home run swing from yesterday, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.  Go here for more pics from the day; including a sampling of the breakfast created by Chef Joyce Simonds that the Boys in Blue enjoy in the clubhouse.

Of note, in the seventh inning both Don Mattingly and Clayton Kershaw got thrown out of the game.  Mattingly got thrown out for arguing with an umpire's warning on a hit-by-pitch, and Kershaw was tossed for being unruly from the dugout during the ensuing argument.  Eric Stephen at True Blue LA has a good rundown of the events (go here). 

"It was a slider, man," said Kemp. "They were just jumping the gun a little too much. It's a pitch that doesn't really hurt too much."

"Dre got hit with a slider, they weren't trying to hit him," said Gonzalez.

BTW, AGon now has 100 RBI's; his fifth straight season.  The Dodgers expanded their lead over the Giants to 3.0 games.  Now, below are some more links to check out:

• Via the Dodgers on tumblr, check out this bubble celebration in the stands.
• Via Michael Lananna at MLB.com, "Mattingly: Unfair to hold Kemp to 2011 standard."

"I don't think we should be trying to compare and go back three years," Mattingly said Sunday. "I think it's better off staying right where we're at. Matt's been swinging the bat good, been driving the ball, been driving in runs. As much as anything, he's doing the job now. ... Hopefully this is glimpses of things to come."

• Via Mike Petriello at Dodgers Digest, "Juan Uribe Leading Some Fabulous Dodger Third Base Defense."
• Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA writes, "The intangibles."

It is commonly referred to in a variety of ways: getting into their head, rattling their cage or simply psyching them out. It is the affect that an individual or a specific incident has on an opposing player, usually a pitcher, in high stress situations and it is a game-changer – and Dee Gordon is the Jedi Master at it.

• Via Mike Petriello at FanGraphs, "Matt Kemp’s Great and Terrible Year."
• Via Scott Lindholm at Beyond the Boxscore, "Clayton Kershaw's stunning year."
• Dodger Penguin shares his day getting Joc Pederson's autograph at Frank & Sons on Saturday.

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Sunday Dodger Videos: Prospect Interviews with Urias, Walker and Windle

Here are this Sunday's Dodger videos.

Prospect Julio Urias spoke with Brian Tabije of http://www.ieprosports.com/ about his season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and what helped him to accelerate his strikeout count.

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This is great.  The Dodgers 2014 5th round draft pick Jared Walker recently went back to his elementary school to visit an old teacher of his, Mrs. Harris.  He was interviewed by one of the students and speaks about his first year as a professional.

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Dodgers prospect Tom Windle of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes talks about life in the minors, favorite movies, batting as a pitcher, and what he's learning at this stage of his career.

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Blog Kiosk: 9/7/2014 - Dodger Links - Another Dodger Victory

Thank goodness for some good pitching and clutch hitting.  Hyun-Jin Ryu went a strong 6.2 innings last night; giving up just four hits and striking out six.  He also tossed a career high 114 pitches.  Unfortunately, two late runs in the seventh inning caused him to leave the game with a no-decision. No worries, though, the Dodger bats found a way to take home a victory.

After a first inning two-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers offense remained quiet until the eighth inning.  That's when they were able to string together a few hits to score three runs.  Of note, the recently called up Roger Bernadina came in as a pinch-runner and scored the eventual winning run on Dee Gordon's single.  In the photo above Dee is seen celebrating his run-driving hit, pic via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.  Go here to see more photos from the day from Jon.  BTW, Dee went 3 for 4 on the evening; driving in a run and scoring twice.  Hanley Ramirez also drove in two runs in the eighth inning with a double to left field.

The Dodgers held on for a 5 to 2 victory over the Diamondbacks, and hold on to a 2.0 game lead over the Giants.  This division is going down to the wire.  Now, below are some links to check out.

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Josh Beckett's last hurrah."

Beckett hasn't pitched for the Dodgers since Aug. 3, sidelined with a hip injury that will require surgery. The 34-year-old right-hander confirmed to reporters on Friday that his 2014 season was done, and that he is mulling retirement.

• Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Selig laments 'regrettable' Dodger TV impasse."

“I’m always an optimist,” said Selig, who will step down as commissioner this winter. “This is in no one’s best interest obviously. I have to hope and believe some way, some day, somehow we will get this done.

• Via Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest, "Brian Wilson Is Losing Velocity."

Yikes. Wilson’s velocity has been on a steep downward trend for most of the season. In April, Wilson’s four seam fastball was averaging 94.2 mph. He hasn’t thrown the pitch in September, but in August it was averaging 91. His sinker has gone from 93.2 mph average to 89.3 mph average. His cutter, which he throws more than half of the time, has gone from 90.6 mph to 86.7 mph. Wilson has lost four miles per hour velocity average across all of his hard stuff this season alone.

• Sarah at We're Born Again, there's New Grass on the Field tells us about the time Dodger Stadium got flooded.
• Blue Skinny Fan shares his day at Frank & Sons on Saturday getting Joc Pederson's autograph.
• Via Derek Thompson at The Atlantic, "The Simple Technology That Accidentally Ruined Baseball."

The irony is that MLB did everything that an economist or corporate guru would have advised. Baseball embraced emerging technology rather than banish it. It used analytics to improve the work of its elite employees. It used reviews to encourage exceptional performance among umpires. And the league got exactly what they wanted: a more-perfect strike zone.

But is that really baseball's highest goal? A perfect strike zone, at the expense of steadily evaporating offense?

• Watch Mo'ne Davis pitch against Jimmy Fallon.

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Welcome to the Blue, Roger Bernadina!

The Dodgers added another outfielder to their roster.  This afternoon they called up Roger Bernadina from the Albuquerque Isotopes.  He will wear a Dodger uniform for the first time.

Back in early July, the Dodgers signed the recently released veteran outfielder to a minor league contract and assigned him to Albuquerque.  He slashed .246/.380/.351 while there.  In seven Major League season with the Nationals, Reds and Phillies he slashed .236/.306/.352; while stealing 59 bases in 71 attempts.  So, the Dodgers hope Bernadina provides some outfield depth and speed on the basepaths.

Per a Dodger press release:

(pic via @NumbersMLB on twitter)

The Los Angeles Dodgers today selected the contract of outfielder Roger Bernadina (#18) from Triple-A Albuquerque and transferred right-hander Josh Beckett to the 60-day disabled list. Los Angeles now has 34 players on its active roster.

Bernadina, 30, opened the season with Cincinnati and was signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on July 8, batting .246 with two doubles, two triples and two RBI in 23 games with the Isotopes. He has a .236 career batting average with 59 steals, 27 home runs and 117 RBI in 539 games in seven big league seasons with the Nationals (2008-13), Phillies (2013) and Reds (2014).

BTW, Bernardino is from Curacao, like Kenley Jansen, and played for the Dutch National Team during the recent World Baseball Classic.  He is 30-years old and bats left-handed.

In celebration of Roger Bernadina's promotion to the Dodgers I made the above fantasy card for him.  I used a photograph grabbed from Wikimedia Commons/UCinternational (along with some photoshopped images from around the web) and the 1964 Topps Baseball card design.

Below are his career statistics, via Baseball Reference:


Below, watch Bernadina drive in the winning run on a sacrifice fly this past Sunday, August 31st, to help the Isotopes defeat the Las Vegas 51's, 12 to 11.

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Wow!  Bernadina has quite a glove.  Watch this fantastic catch from 2011 for the Nationals.  (And here's another from last year, here)

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Blog Kiosk: 9/6/2014 - Dodger Links - Some Dodger Odds and Ends

Here is the 2014 Dodger organization team photograph, via Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers 2014.  Go here to check out more photos from Jill, Jon SooHoo and Juan Ocampo from yesterday.

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Kenley Jansen 4th Dodgers pitcher with 40 saves in a season."
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Kershaw shows he's a better ace off the field."  It's all about his Ping Pong 4 Purpose charity event held on Thursday.

(via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014)

"And soon Clayton is teaching these kids how to throw and catch a ball, without communicating with words. And that was the moment he realized that God gave him the ability to throw a baseball and it can make a difference to a kid in Africa. And he realized he could do this, even if it was my calling and not his. It was an amazing moment."

You can check out a bunch of great photos taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo here.  The photo on the right is of Andre Ethier with his own paddle.  LOL!

• Congrats, Scott Van Slyke!  Via @Dodgers on twitter, he has a new son.

Elijah, that is! RT @Dodgers: Congratulations to Audrey and @ScottVanSlick on the birth of their second son, Eli, who arrived early Thursday
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 5, 2014

• Via Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs, "Clayton Kershaw, Right Down the Pipe."

What you don’t think of ace pitchers as doing is hurling the ball down the middle very often. That’s the danger zone, the area where you find the bulk of the meatballs. Turns out Kershaw’s not afraid of going down the pipe. Turns out Kershaw doesn’t really get hurt there very much.

• Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest shares, "My 2014 Dodgers’ Minor League Players of the Year."

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Vin Scully Honored with the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is at Dodger Stadium this afternoon, in a sort of Jeter-esque kinda tour of MLB stadiums, to meet with the the club and the press.  While here he presented Vin Scully with the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award.

Congrats, Vin!

Per a Dodgers press release:

Scully is the 14th recipient of the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award, which was created in 1998 to recognize accomplishments and contributions of historical significance.  The most recent recipient was New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who was honored during the 2013 World Series. Scully is only the second non-player to be recognized, joining a fellow member of the Dodgers family, Rachel Robinson, who was honored in 2007 for advancing the legacy of her husband, Jackie Robinson.

Selig had this to say:

“Vin Scully is a treasure of the National Pastime. From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, from Jackie Robinson through Henry Aaron and from Sandy Koufax through Clayton Kershaw, Vin has depicted the history of the Dodgers and the timeless beauty of our game with class and grace. Major League Baseball is honored to commend Vin Scully’s 65 years of excellence.”

BTW, the Dodgers also presented Selig with four original Dodger Stadium seats autographed by Vin Scully, Sandy Koufax, Don Newcombe and Fernando Valenzuela.  They also presented a $50,000.00 check for Stand Up to Cancer.

Pic at the very top via @Dodgers on twitter.

(pic via @MLB on twitter)

UPDATE:  Watch the presentation of the award below.

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