Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/25/2012

Here is a photo shared by Tommy Lasorda on twitter of a caricature of himself in the Baseball Cafe in the Tokyo Dome.

• Are you looking for some Dodger Talk?  Well, now you can listen to the show this winter- starting this coming Wednesday, via a Dodgers press release.

The Dodgers announced today that starting Wednesday, October 31, Dodger Spanish-language broadcaster Jorge Jarrín will host a one-hour weekly show on AM 570 FOX Sports LA, “Dodger Talk – Offseason Edition.” The AM 570 Fox Sports LA program will air each Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Fans will have access to the latest Dodger news, interviews with Dodger players, coaches and front office executives. The inaugural guest on “Dodger Talk – Offseason Edition” next Wednesday is All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

• Matt Kemp's shoulder was worse than the doctors imagined, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

"When I hurt it, I asked the doctors if I could damage it more by playing with it and they said no, so I kept playing, and when they got in there they were surprised that I could play with it. It was worse than they thought," said Kemp in his first comments to the media since the operation. 

• Eric Stephen at True Blue LA has the 2013 tentative Camelback Ranch Spring Training schedule.
• With all of the Shohei Otani talk recently Mike Rosenbaum at the Bleacher Report wonders how he ranks when compared to Yu Darvish and other prospects.
• Dodgers assistant GM Logan White seems to believe he would be a No. 1 draft pick if he was in the USA, via the Dallas Morning News.

While answering a question about Otani's impending free agency, (Jim) Callis referenced a meeting between Dodgers assistant GM Logan White and the Japanese media in September. White told the assembled press that Otani "had the talent to be the top overall choice in the MLB draft."

• Via Nate Aderhold at Baseball Nation, since Otani was drafted by the Nippon Ham Fighters he would be ineligible to sign with any MLB club until April 2013.  So, everything is premature at this point.
• LA Kings broadcaster Bob Miller writes a great article at LA Kings Insider about some of the old stadiums that no longer exist.

As the interview started, Red Wing fans started throwing glass bottles from the upper deck.  When one crashed close to Pete and Marcel, Pete said on the air, ‘This is London’ as reporters did during the bombing of that city during World War II.  Pete quickly decided to end the interview and he and Marcel got safely off the ice.

• Ryan G at This Card is Cool finds a really cool card in Japan.  It's a Upper Deck/Kellogg Japanese card of old friend Takashi Saito in a Dodgers uniform.  Awesome!  And it can be yours for the right trade.
• WAGs of the 2012 World Series, via Busted Coverage.
• PSA just rolled out a new online resource for the autograph collector called PSA Autograph Facts.

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Did you catch it? Jackie Robinson's son, David, spoke with Bob Costas Last Night

The only thing I enjoyed about yesterdays broadcast of the first game of the 2012 World Series was the pregame show that featured a look back at some Dodgers history.

Bob Costas sat down with Jackie's son, David, on the 40th anniversary of his fathers death, and spent a few moments reflecting on his fathers legacy and his memories of him.  Check out the video below.

Although Jackie passed away when David was just a young man (at 20), it is obvious that he had a huge impact. 

“Him as a father, as a male and man figure in my life, as a strength and representing certain values. That’s the memory. The ballplayer is an image that’s known, but it really was the man that impact the boy.”

David spoke of his competitive spirit.

“I have a picture in my office in Tanzania. I’ve got his back, watching the field. Somebody’s hit a home run. My father is watching to see if he’s touched all the bases…I love that. I show my children that…to say, basically, it’s against our rules to give up. That’s a great motto for Jackie Robinson’s children and any children today.”

And of his ability to steal home plate.

“I’m always amazed to this day thinking about a man challenging the speed of a baseball…You got to have a lot of heart and a lot of confidence to figure you can make that run and beat that ball with the catcher and the pitcher against you.

Finally, David Robinson spoke of his legacy.

“There was a sadness, of course. He knew he was dying and his life was coming to an end, and what he had done was only partially done. There was not the manager that he saw, but there’s got to be the celebration. There’s tragedy in life and there’s the potential of taking the years you have, however short, and making them meaningful. In those short years, he did more than men who would live to 100. One of the definitions of greatness I think is someone who carries on until the final moment and continues to push the agenda and the issues that one has. That was forefront in his life…It was about something that impacted the civil development of American society and I think that’s an important and great thing that a baseball player did.”

Watch the video below.

Video Link:

A Big Hat Tip to Tim at MLB PR for passing this along.

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Video: When Baseball and Chemical War Collide

I happened to come across this video yesterday and thought it might be fun to share here.

For US soldiers in 1917 training for World War I required knowing and being comfortable using a gas mask.  Chemical warfare during trench battles was the norm.  So, as a part of their defense training all soldiers would wear a gas mask while practicing their individual task.  Heck, they even wore them while relaxing during a game of Baseball.

Check out the vintage video below from youtube that briefly shows trainees playing Baseball while wearing gas mask.  The video is just a clip from the 1918 film Chemical Warfare Activities in the AEF.

Video Link:

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/24/2012

Beautiful!  A final pic of the Stanley Cup with the LA skyline in the background, via twitter @Dodgers.

• Left Field Pavilion makes an incredible fantasy Baseball card of Don Newcombe under the Schaefer Beer brand.  All I can say is please make more!
• Vote for Ken Levine.  As you may recall, Ken was the former host of Dodgers Talk.  Well, he has since gone on to the Mariners, and has guest spotted on their radio broadcast.  Now, the team is looking to fill in the full-time co-announcer position and Seattle PI is polling fans to see who should get that spot.  Please go there and place your vote.
• Chris Jaffe at Hardball Times makes note of the 40th anniversary Jackie Robinson's death.
• Put this under the heading of "Bad Ideas".  The Dodgers could open up the 2014 season in Australia, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

The paper quoted Bob Turner, owner of the Sydney Blue Sox professional baseball team, saying that Major League Baseball has been negotiating with Australian Baseball League officials to hold the series, which could pit the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

• Are you carving a pumpkin for Halloween?  Well, the Dodgers provide some great templates; including the Vin Scully below.  Go here to check them all out.

• Gary Sheffield's a players agent?  Color me surprised, via Jack Dickey at Sports on Earth.  (Hat Tip: VSIMH)

Sheffield is more or less the Cincinnatus of player representation: He didn't ask to do it, but they beckoned him. Players just wanted Gary Sheffield on their side. So he got his license, just in case he decided to get involved in the business. And then Jason Grilli called in 2010. Sheffield and Grilli had played together in Detroit and gotten along well. Grilli was out of the big leagues, coming off a knee injury, and he wanted back in.

• Jim Abbott meets a 15-year old one-handed pitcher, via Cincinnati.com.

“I didn’t see (these young people) coming, not in the numbers they did,” he wrote. “They were shy and beautiful, and they were loud and funny, and they were, like me, somehow imperfectly built. And, like me, they had parents nearby, parents who willed themselves to believe that this accident of circumstance or nature was not a life sentence, and that the spirits inside these tiny bodies were greater than the sums of their hands and feet.”

• Come on, Costas!  Sign up!  Via Bill Shaikin on twitter.  From the 66'ers website.

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So... Who's Rooting for the Tigers?

This evening is Game 1 of the 2012 World Series and I am cheering loud & proud for the Detroit Tigers.  Sure, with the Giants paired off against them, they were the easy choice.  But, I like to argue that a little bit of Tigers fandom does reside in my blood.

As a young little leaguer I was placed on a Tigers team that was stacked.  We had a couple of kids who could hit like high schoolers and a pitcher who I swear was a 6-foot, 10 year old.  I manned 2nd base and moved to centerfield late in games since I was one of only a handful of kids on the team that could catch a deep fly.  Heck, the local paper that praised our league victory even remarked that I made a game-saving catch to help win our championship.

So, really... I'm a closeted Tigers fan.

Anyway, this afternoon is Game 1 and I look forward to watching the Tigers devour the Giants.  I especially look forward to watching the pregame show this afternoon.  On the MLB Network, I believe starting at 3:00 PM, they will air a rare interview between Bob Costas and David Robinson, son of Jackie Robinson.  According to a MLB press release:

David Robinson will reflect on his late father, including the impact Jackie Robinson had on baseball and society, plus his memories of his father’s speech before Game Two of the 1972 World Series, which was nine days before Robinson passed away.

So, don't miss it.

Here is the schedule they provided for the pregame shows for future games.

Prior to Game Two this Thursday, MLB Network will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Series with a feature on the seven-game series between the Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants. Hosted by Costas, the feature includes interviews with Dusty Baker, his son Darren Baker, Tim Salmon and J.T. Snow, looking back on the most memorable moments of this seven game classic, including Snow pulling Darren Baker out of harm’s way in Game Five and the Angels’ comeback to win Game Six and Game Seven.

Leading up to Game Three on Saturday, MLB Network will reflect on the 35th anniversary of Reggie Jackson’s historic three-home run performance in Game Six of the 1977 World Series with a feature including interviews from Jackson, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph and the original calls from the television broadcast team of Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Tom Seaver.

The Game 3 pregame show also looks like a must watch event.

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Collection: 1996 Donruss Signature of Raul Mondesi

Raul Mondesi was an absolute stud for the Dodgers.  He could do everything.  He could hit for power, run like the wind, and play the field like a modern day Roberto Clemente.  That might be a bit of an overstatement... anyway, I loved the guy in Dodger Blue.  Heck, I loved hearing the screams from fans whenever he came up to the plate... "Raaauuuuuuuullll!" 

As a side note, since leaving the Major Leagues Raul has built a career in politics in his native home.  Currently, he is the mayor of San Cristóbal Province in the Dominican Republic.

Featured above and below is a 1996 Donruss Signatures bronze autographed card of Raul Mondesi from my collection.

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