Blog Kiosk: 8/24/2015 - Dodger Links - Kershaw, Pederson and Chef Dave

Longtime Dodger Chef David Pearson needs your help.  As you may know, the 51-year Dodger employee has been battling lung cancer and is currently going through his second round of chemo.  To assist him financially with this is a "Go Fund Me" page, and if you are so inclined please check it out here. Every little bit helps.  (Hat Tip: SOSG)

Once upon a time I was invited to sit in the press box, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.   I had the pleasure of watching and writing about the game from that unique perspective, and made sure to test out a meal created by Chef Dave.  I remember walking in that room, getting a plate of pork chops and eating to my hearts delight.

Anyway, you should check out Bill Plaschke's excellent story about Chef David Pearson from a couple of months ago here.

With every press-box dining room being a reflection of the person who runs it, Dave's Diner is like a big hug. It is a place where the lowliest of workers can joke with Scully, where Tom Lasorda's voice still booms with glee, where Hefley and her husband Billy occupy one corner table, where Fernando Valenzuela can be found chowing at another one, where scouts gossip and writers complain and many folks just mill about until the first pitch.

Dave Pearson created this space with a gentle, easygoing manner that matches his simple delicacies. He personally serves the broadcasters in a separate side room so Scully can at least eat in peace, yet he treats everyone as if they were a Hall of Famer, as he spends most of his time standing at the end of the food line shaking hands and telling stories.

Below are some links to check out:

• Kershaw saysm "PANIC."  Via Pedro Moura at the OC Register:

“I hope we’re panicking a little bit. I think panic’s a good thing, to a certain extent,” Kershaw said. “It’s August whatever-it-is and we have five weeks and whatever it is, too. There needs to be a sense of urgency — maybe that’s better to say than panic.

“I feel like we have to start playing like that.”

• Joc Pederson is losing his job.  Via Chris Abshire at MLB.com, "Hernandez earning at-bats over Pederson."

That's the situation Joc Pederson faces right now, as he was held out of the Dodgers' lineup for a second consecutive game on Sunday despite a right-handed pitcher taking the mound for the Astros.

Kiké Hernandez again got the start in center field, and manager Don Mattingly all but outright said that's his preferred lineup going forward.

"It's that time of year. Kiké's just been swinging the bat better, and he's a comparable defender. It's just one of those things we have to do at this point," Mattingly said.

"I'm still going to try to match up Joc [with righties] ... but Kiké's earned at-bats. We feel like he gives us a better chance to win."

• Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digests provides, "Your Annual Reminder About Postseason Eligibility."
• Phungo made note of a Dodger anniversary that had escaped my notice; "ANNIVERSARY: 40 Years ago Davey Lopes Steals 38 consecutive Bases."
• Check out a whole bunch of preview pics from Panini's 2015 Immaculate Baseball set here; including the Tommy Lasorda and Corey Seager cards below.  Of special note, that Seager card is incredible.  It's a "1 of 1" game-used leather glove relic card.  Wow!  This set officially goes live this coming Wednesday.

• I couldn't agree with Night Owl Cards more, "No-hitters are meaningless."

I noticed last night in myself a sense of resignation as Fiers pitched the no-hitter last night. While other Dodgers fans flailed around in a panic, I didn't care all that much. Yes, it sucked that the Dodgers were being no-hit (especially at the same time the devil magic Giants get HRs from their pitchers), but my overriding emotion was "Yes! I have a lead story for the cover of tonight's sports section!"

That's what happens in the middle of August, when you're staring at preseason football and little else.

I just don't feel the humiliation of a no-hitter anymore. My feelings of depression and embarrassment have faded over the years. I decided to explore that by studying the times that the Dodgers have been no-hit since I've been following baseball.

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2015 Topps Chrome - The Dodger Autograph Cards

Below is a final glance at the 2015 Topps Chrome Baseball card set.  This time I look at many of the Dodger autograph cards that are available.  Unfortunately, I have yet to see any of the "triple autograph" cards in the set, so I'll update that when they do surface.  In the meantime, check out everything else below.  Go here to check out all of my past post on this set.

As you can see there are two Dodger rookie cards available as a part of Topps rookie autograph set: Joc Pederson and Yimi Garcia.  I have included two photos for each player: the not normal base auto'd card on the left and an numbered parallel on the right.  The Pederson "purple refractor" below is numbered to /250 copies, and the Garcia "blue refractor" is numbered to /150 copies.

Of note, it's nice that Topps decided to use a brand new photo for the Joc Pederson autograph card; whereas, the Yimi Garcia card uses the same pic found in the base set.

Autographed Rookie Cards

#AR-JPN Joc Pederson

Blog Kiosk: 8/21/2015 - Dodger Links - McCarthy, Puig and Tommy Lasorda

Even at the age of 87 Tommy Lasorda sure does get around.  A couple of days ago he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys preseason workout, and even gave a Lasorda-like pep talk to the players.  Via Brandon George at the CowboysBlog:

“When I talk to them, I don’t lollipop them. I get on them good. No sir, if you want me to talk to the team they’re going to hear from me,” Lasorda said. “I said, ‘You guys from this date until next year, I will probably speak to a million people. If you’re not in the Super Bowl, I’m going to tell a million people how lousy you guys are.’”

Awesome!

Photo above via @SportsDayDFW on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• Brandon McCarthy can write too.  He pens a piece for ESPN, "Guest columnist Brandon McCarthy: Zack Greinke knew in spring training he'd be on par with Clayton Kershaw this season."

Zack's statement helped me and his other new teammates realize exactly what kind of guy he is. Small talk doesn’t interest him and he chooses his words very carefully. He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean. He’s not overly positive or cocky. Rather, he’s very down to earth, and fully self-aware -- and he is as quick to critique himself as he is to realize when he’s executed something to perfection. Those who don’t take the time to get to know him miss just how much he brings to the table when he talks. He’s realistic, measured and unflinchingly honest.

• Via Kevin Ruprecht at Beyond the Boxscore, "Let's watch Clayton Kershaw make hitters look silly."
• Via Owen Watson at FanGraphs, "The Dodgers Can’t Afford Their Bullpen Problem."
• AM570 Sports shares a whole bunch of pics from Howie Kendrick's recent appearance at a Nissan dealership, here.
• Via Harold Uhlman at Think Blue LA, "Dodgers put 4th-round draft pick Willie Calhoun on fast track." 

“His stats are impressive … the most impressive thing to me is his ability to not only recognize pitches in the strike zone but to separate pitches that are “attack” pitches and those that are “defensive” pitches,” Cougill said via email. “So many hitters work on developing the ability to recognize ball and strike but commit to strikes that they can’t attack.”

• Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Dodgers' Yasiel Puig hoping he can prove his critics wrong."

"You always have to go through these difficulties, but the people who are next to me trust me and support me," Puig said in Spanish.

• I could've said it better myself, via a tweet from Brett Anderson:

The psycho Duggar family...the gift that keeps on giving.

— Brett Anderson (@BrettAnderson35) August 20, 2015

• Via Shawn Anderson at the Hall of Very Good, "Speaking of Baseball-Related Movie Goofs."  He passes along other mistakes in Baseball movies.

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Today's Anniversary: An MLB Record Likely to Stand the Test of Time is Held by a Brooklyn Dodger

Today is a very unique anniversary.  In fact, it marks a record held by a former Brooklyn Dodger ballplayer that has stood for 70 years, and it probably will never be broken.

So, what feat was accomplished on this day?

On August 20, 1945 a fresh faced 17-year-old shortstop, who had already debuted in Dodger Blue the season prior at the age of 16-years and seven months, became the youngest MLB ballplayer to hit a home run in a game.  His name is Tommy Brown and he was 17-years and 257 days old when he did it.  BTW, he is also the second youngest when he hit home run #2 five days later.

I know you're wondering, how is it that someone so young made it up to the show?  After all, Tommy was not a top-flight prospect.  Instead, he played ball as a teen during WWII - a period when many MLB'ers were doing their duty for God and country.

In Tommy's case, Pee Wee Reese was still overseas, and he was remembered by Branch Rickey as being a mobile fielder during spring training (although he wasn't exactly sure-handed).  So need overcame experience.  The youngster got the call from the Class B Piedmont League, and played both ends of a doubleheader on August 3, 1944 for his very first experience on a Major League field.  He went on to be the regular shortstop for the Dodgers, playing in 46 games, that season.  BTW, he is only the second youngest person to ever play Major League ball.  Joe Nuxhall had pitched a game earlier that season at the ripe age of 15.

The following season he again started in the minors but came up to Brooklyn during the tail end of the 1945 season during the pennant chase.  Just over two weeks later he hit his record setting home run against Preacher Roe of the Pirates.  It was the Dodgers lone score that day.

For a fantastic biography on Tommy Brown check out C. Paul Rogers III biography at SABR, here.  Below is a short excerpt about how he came to be signed by Brooklyn:

Tommy Brown was a local kid; he was born December 6, 1927, in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. He never knew his father and was raised primarily by an aunt and uncle. He quit school at a young age to work with his uncle unloading barges on the docks of New York. Brown spent his free time playing baseball on the pavement and cobblestone streets and in the famous Brooklyn Parade Grounds. The Dodgers held open tryouts there in 1943 and a friend who played first base on Tommy’s team talked Brown into going with him. They joined about 2,500 other kids and Brown arrived without a glove or spikes, items he did not own. After three days the Dodgers told him and a handful of others that they would hear from the team. Brown was only fifteen years old. Over the winter, the club offered him a chance to attend spring training in Bear Mountain, New York. His “bonus” was the 25-cent fee for the ferry.

Below are his career statistics, via Baseball Reference:

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2015 Topps Chrome - The Dodgers' Culmination Insert Cards

Here's a quick look at the Dodger insert cards found in the 2015 Topps Chrome insert set called Chrome Culminations.  I had failed to include this in my post from yesterday.  Go here for all of my previous post on this set.

These cards are what is known in the hobby as a "case hit."  This means that there is one Chrome Culmination card per case, so they are very scarce.  As you can see it includes both a posed and action photo of the player.  Of note, there is an Adrian Beltre Dodger card available.  Also, there is an Clayton Kershaw autograph card seeded into packs, but I have yet to see one.

Chrome Culminations

#CUL-AB Adrian Beltre                     #CUL-AG Adrian Gonzalez

#CUL-CK Clayton Kershaw

Chrome Culminations Autographs

#CUL-CK Clayton Kershaw 

(redemption card)

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Blog Kiosk: 8/20/2015 - Dodger Links - Puig, Zaidi and Rollins

Jimmy Rollins seems happy to have his former teammate in LA.  Watch what he said about it in the clubhouse yesterday from SportsNet LA, here.  Photo above from @SportsNetLA on twitter.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Rollins likes idea of reunion with Utley."

"I think it would be a lot of fun," Rollins said. "One, he loved this team, went to school at UCLA, plays well at Dodger Stadium, actually beats up the Dodgers. If everything goes through and he's here, it would be nice to see him play home games in a place he's comfortable playing.

"He can add a lot. Hopefully, No. 1 first and foremost, if he's healthy and in a good place. That being the case, the way he's swung the bat, the way he's been playing, we can use it, anybody can. He's a tough guy. More than anything, there will be some new excitement in the clubhouse. He'll have the chance to play meaningful baseball late in the year. It's what we all want."

Below are some links to check out:

• ICYMI:  The two Dodger prospects sent to Philadelp[hia as a part of the Chase Utley trade are infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney and minor league pitcher John Richy.  Per a Dodger press release:

Sweeney was hitting .271 with nine homers, 30 doubles, 32 stolen bases and 49 RBI in 116 games this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. The 24-year-old was the Dodgers’ 13th-round selection out of the University of Central Florida in 2012.

Richy, the Dodgers’ third-round draft selection out of UNLV in 2014, was 10-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 22 games (18 starts) for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga this season. The right-hander pitched for Rookie-level Ogden and Single-A Great Lakes in 2014.  

• BTW, to make room for Utley on the Dodgers roster they have DFA's Alberto Callaspo, via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider.
• Jon also shares a whole bunch of quotes from Dodger GM Farhan Zaidi about the trade and the "State of the Dodgers," here.

•  On why they targeted Utley: “It’s everything. Beyond the numbers, he’s always been a very good defensive second baseman … he’s shown that range (since he came back from the disabled list). His quality of at-bats has been near the top of the league. We made it a point to stack our lineup with players who have quality at-bats. He’s always hit well at Dodger Stadium.

• “I think we have all the elements of a really good team. We got out of the gates really strong, and we’ve had stretches in other parts of the season where we did certain things well and struggled in other areas. I think we still have talent to bookend our season with a stretch … where we’re firing on all cylinders. We think we have the ingredients of a really good team, and it’s going to come down to execution.”

• Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Yasiel Puig has mild hamstring strain."  He should be ready to go on Friday.

"It was pretty good news today, it feels like," Mattingly said. "This is way less than last time, it seems like. At this point, he's calling it, 'very mild,' and the MRI is not showing a whole lot and Yasiel looks good."

• Panini has released some more preview pic for their upcoming 2015 Immaculate Baseball set; including the Yasiel Puig jumbo relic card on the right.  Go here to check out a bunch of great pics.

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