Clayton Kershaw Wins 2012 Roberto Clemente Award

In a press conference this afternoon, it has been announced that Clayton Kershaw is the winner of the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award.  Per a MLB press release.

The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet recognizes a Major League Baseball player who best represents the game through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement. The annual award pays tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others.

As most of you know, Clayton has been very active in helping others.  Bud Selig had this to say,

“His accomplishments on the mound at such a young age are well known to baseball fans, but I am delighted that our game can shine a light on Clayton’s extraordinary efforts with his wife Ellen to make a difference in the lives of children in Zambia. Clayton Kershaw is a leader through his inspiring example, and he is a wonderful representation of the enduring, philanthropic spirit of Roberto Clemente.”

Congrats, Clayton!  Your good works have not gone unnoticed. 

“It is an incredible honor to receive this award,” said Kershaw. “Just being associated with someone like Roberto Clemente is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful.”

Check out his charity, Kershaw's Challenge, at this website. 

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/27/2012

I guess it's official now.  The Dodgers officially introduced Carl Crawford as a Dodger yesterday.  Pic via @Dodgers on twitter.  Jon SooHoo has posted up a bunch of photos, here.  Watch the conference, here.

• MLB Trade Rumors brings up another Japanese pitcher on the Dodgers radar screens, Kyuji Fujikawa.  Pete Holby at SB Los Angeles has more.  Watch him pitch below.

Video Link:

• The Dodgers are getting a new clubhouse for the players and Aaron Harang likes it, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

"It's awesome," said starting pitcher Aaron Harang.
...
"It's tough the way it is now, and a little awkward when you have opponents literally walking through your clubhouse to get to the weight room or cages while you're preparing for the game," Harang said. "And you could see at the end of the season with the callups how crowded the clubhouse got. It was like herding sheep in there."

• GCRL started a new blog called Timeless Teams that focused solely on the 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Baseball cards set, and he recently shared the cards featuring the 1977 Dodgers.
• Under "it's about time," MLB close to requiring headgear for pitchers, via Big League Stew.

A cap liner with Kevlar, the high-impact material used by military, law enforcement and NFL players for body armor, is among the ideas under consideration.

• Josh Tinley at Midwest Sports Fans takes a look at 8 sports-loving US Presidents.

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Collection: Paul Konerko 1996 Best Autographed Card

Paul Konerko has gone on to have a great career.  He started out as a Dodgers 1st round draft pick (13th overall) in 1994, and rose through the system as a power hitter.  In 1997 he had his first crack at the Dodger lineup and got his first Major League hit in 8 plate appearances.  Then, the following year he was on the Opening Day roster and played first base, but was soon supplanted by Eric Karros when he returned to the lineup.  Unfortunately, his short stint in 1998 was unremarkable, so the Dodgers traded him away to the Reds for closer Jeff Shaw.  From there he moved to Chicago, and finally made a home for himself.  Over a 14 year career with the White Sox he has racked up 415 home runs while batting .285.  Go here for his career stats.

Featured in this post is a 1996 Best Minor League autographed card of Paul Konerko in a San Bernardino Spirit uniform.  As you can see, he did a little bit of catching.  This card is very inexpensive and can be purchased for a song & a dance.  If I remember correctly, I picked this up at the last National Sports Collectors Convention in Anaheim for just a buck.  A buck!  What a deal.

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“Not Exactly Cooperstown” - New Baseball Documentary Free Screening

So, the World Series is over and now there really isn't any Baseball to watch.  So, what do you do?

Well, The South Pasadena Public Library might have the answer- at least for one evening.

On Friday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room that is located at 1115 El Centro Street they will have a free screening of a new Baseball documentary called “Not Exactly Cooperstown.”  The program is presented by the South Pasadena Public Library, the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library, and the Baseball Reliquary. Doors open at 6:30 PM and there will be a Q&A session with the filmmaker, Jon Leonoudakis

Go here for more information about this event.  A website for the documentary can be found here.

Based upon a brief description provided by the library, I think this is a must see.

“The Reliquary’s approach to the game is very different,” says Leonoudakis (the filmmaker). “It loves baseball, but not reverentially. The Reliquary is run by people steeped in the arts who operate it as a grass-roots affair. The organization fosters an appreciation of American history and culture through the lens of baseball.” Jon spent a year in the life of the Reliquary, “to see what makes it tick,” and to share the results. Leonoudakis calls his film “a star-spangled journey into the heart and soul of baseball that can’t be quantified by numbers.” 

“Cooperstown is for statistics, and the Reliquary is for stories and the great characters of the game,” producer/director Leonoudakis adds. “My documentary is an unorthodox look at America’s most orthodox game. “This isn’t your father’s baseball documentary,” says Jon. “My film is a bold stew of Americana, folklore, scandal, fandom, poetry, sport, and art.” Interviews with a cavalcade of experts, fans,  and  free-thinkers abound, including former major league pitchers Jim Bouton (Ball Four) and Bill “Spaceman” Lee,  as well as the San Diego Chicken, filmmaker Ron Shelton (Bull Durham), author Arnold Hano (A Day in the Bleachers),  and Terry Cannon, the Executive Director and founder of the Reliquary.

This event is now in the Blue Heaven Calendar.  Go there to check out other events in the southland.

BTW, this screening was originally scheduled for November 1st, but has since been moved to November 9th due to a potential conflict with the World Series.

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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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