Blog Kiosk: 5/11/2016 - Dodgers Links - Maeda, Puig and Trayce Thompson

Exciting!  Thrilling!  The crowd jumped out of their seats and roared.

Locked into a tie, Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson, the youngest son of former Laker star Mychal Thompson, came up to the plate with two out and proceeded to knock a 2-2 pitch into the left field pavilion for a walk-off home run.  (Watch it here)  Via Jack Baer and Anthony DiComo at MLB.com:

"It was a fastball," Thompson said. "Their whole entire bullpen, their whole entire pitching staff has amazing stuff. I just try to keep it simple against them. Just look for a heater, keep it simple and square it up. It was a fastball over the plate that I was able to handle."

Per Doug Padilla at ESPN:

“I don’t know how he did it,” Seager said. “He took two heaters and still battled back and ended up swinging at the first thing that doesn’t bounce. That’s awesome. It’s an awesome moment.

“He’s calm as hell. It’s unbelievable. He didn’t even have any jitters after the game. It was like as if nothing happened right there. It was special. A lot of people, their motors are going fast. His just wasn’t. No heartbeat at all.”

The Dodgers really needed this win.  Best yet, starter Alex Wood put in a great performance.  Wood went 6.1 innings in the no-decision; giving up four hits, two runs (one of which was unearned) and striking out nine.  On Wood, Mets manager Terry Collins said this:

"That's the best I've seen Alex Wood pitch," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics from Jon from yesterdays game.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1963 Sandy Koufax would throw his second no-hitter of his career against the Giants.  He had a perfect game going into the eight inning when he walked Ed Bailey on a 3-2 pitch.
• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Jose De Leon rests with arm soreness for Oklahoma City."
• Via Brad Lefton at the Wall Street Journal, "Sixty Years Ago, the Dodgers Toured Japan and Changed Baseball Forever."

“Up until then, defensively, Japanese baseball was reactionary, not anticipatory,” (Sadaharu) Oh said. “For example, the Dodgers preached to anticipate the bunt and charge in with the pitch. That kind of thing was unheard of in Japan. They taught the infielders how to move in tandem with the pitcher and play a more team-oriented defense. It completely changed the way we defended.”

Fun with Fantasy Cards - Some Dodgers from Mother's Day

I guess this is better late than never.

This afternoon I had some spare time, so I decided to make a handful of Dodgers Mother's Day fantasy Baseball cards.  There aren't a whole bunch of photos featuring the team in their Mother's Day garb (from what I could see in a quick search), so I just made do.

A Vintage Brooklyn Dodger Metal Cigarette Case

I've never seen anything like this before.  Featured here is a 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers metal cigarette case complete with logo and home schedule emblazoned in it.  It is on auction at Inside the Park Collectibles (Link Here).  It's about three inches tall, and appears to function like a slip case for smokes.  From what I can tell, you take a pack and slip it through the sides to give it some protection.

I have no idea what something like this would sell for, and at the moment it is valued at just under $150 bucks. 

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Blog Kiosk: 5/10/2016 - Dodgers Links - Accents, McCarthy and Vin Scully

It's all about the accent.

After sixteen years in the big league, Adrián González announced on twitter, all he was missing was an accent on his name.  So, last night he came out of the Dodgers dugout with a new change to his uniform.  Check out his accented "á" above.  AGon then challenged Kiké Hernández to do the same.  Naturally, he did.  Check out Kiké's new uniform on the top right, pic via his twitter.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1955 Don Newcombe threw to an minimum of 27 batters in a complete game one-hit shutout 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.  The lone hit was a lone single given up to Gene Baker in the fourth inning.  He would be subsequently thrown out trying to steal second base soon thereafter.
• On Thursday, May 19th at the Skirball Cultural Center on Sepulveda Tommy Lasorda will sit down with Larry King for an evening of talking Baseball.  Go here for information.  A Q&A session will also follow.

Welcome to the Blue, Casey Fien!

The Dodgers made a move over the weekend to bolster a relief staff that has been lees than good.  They claimed right-hander Casey Fien off the waiver wire on Saturday from the Minnesota Twins.  Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

Between 2013 and 2015, Fien had the sixth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio among relievers in the Majors at 5.5. His 3.9 percent walk rate in that span was fifth.

He had a 3.55 ERA/1.09 WHIP in 62 games for the Twins last year. However, the home-run ball hurt him this year with the Twins. He surrendered five in 13 2/3 innings and had a 7.90 ERA/1.76 WHIP in 14 appearances.

Charlie Wilmoth at MLB Trade Rumors writes more about him:

Fien allowed 12 runs and five homers in 13 2/3 innings with the Twins this season. He had been significantly more effective in the previous several seasons, however (even as his strikeout rate has progressively declined), and last year he posted a 3.55 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and an excellent 1.1 BB/9 over 63 1/3 frames. He also hasn’t shown a significant loss of velocity in 2016 as compared to last season. Fien clearly seems able to throw strikes, but that tendency might sometimes get him into trouble, as he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher.

Blog Kiosk: 5/9/2016 - Dodgers Links - Baez, Puig and Urias

There was nothing but pink all day.  Featured above are Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig in their Dodgers pink Mother's Day uniforms prior to the start of yesterdays game.  Pic above via Puig on twitter.  Unfortunately, one player didn't have his pink bat.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

Howie Kendrick had the go-ahead RBI with his usual bat, but he didn't mean to slight the Mother's Day theme.

"My pink bat got left behind, or I would have used it," he said. "It was in the rack back home, but it missed the plane."

BTW, the Dodgers won the game over the Blue Jays, 4-2.  They rallied, with the game tied at two, in the eight inning off an RBI single by Kendrick.  Then, Kenley Jansen shut the door with his eleventh save of the year.  So far, he is perfect is save opportunities this season.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"When you're really good, people can take you for granted," Kershaw said. "You expect him to go 1-2-3 and strike out the side. But he's not an unknown. It's just a matter of him being so good. What you want from a closer is someone who wants the ball, and Kenley embraces it. He wants to be out there, and that's huge."

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1947, the infamous photo of Jackie Robinson with Phillies manager Ben Chapman is taken prior to a game in Philadelphia.  As you know, Chapman lead an cavalcade of racial slurs against Jackie when they played in Brooklyn several days before, and the ensuing backlash against his actions caused him to seek amends by taking this photo.
• Happy Birthday, Aaron Harang!