Dodgers Notes from Spring Training: Spring Game 14/ Home Game 8

Throughout Spring Training the Dodgers PR department sends out helpful daily notes from Camelback Ranch, and I am happy to pass them along.  See what they've written below.

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Seattle Mariners (11-3) vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS (4-6-3)
Saturday, March 9, 2013 – 1:05 p.m. | Camelback Ranch - Glendale
RHP Aaron Harang (1-0, 18.00) vs. RHP Jon Garland (1-0, 0.00)
TV: Dodgers.com Webcast | Radio: KTNQ

(twitter link)

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(pic link: Mattingley: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013)

PLAY BALL!: The Dodgers take on the Mariners for the second of three times this spring after falling to Seattle, 9-5, last Saturday in Peoria. The clubs will meet one final time on March 27 in Peoria in the Dodgers’ Cactus League finale. Los Angeles was no-hit by six Seattle pitchers (including current Dodger Brandon League) on June 8, 2012, but bounced back to take two of three from the Mariners last season at Safeco Field. The Mariners, however, hold a 13-12 advantage in 25 all-time meetings between the clubs.

• Matt Kemp is the designated hitter in the Dodger lineup today and will be the club’s last DH of the spring as pitchers are expected to start hitting in tomorrow’s game against the Rockies at Talking Stick.

THAT NEVER HAPPENED: The Dodgers were washed out in both games yesterday with the club leading both games at the time of cancellation due to rain. In Scottsdale, Los Angeles led 3-0 when the game was banged in the second inning, while in Glendale the Dodgers held a 3-1 advantage over the Reds when the tarp crew was summoned. Chris Capuano was among the notable performances against the Reds that won’t show up on a stat sheet, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings, along with Dee Gordon (1-for-2, 2B, SB) and Scott Van Slyke (1-for-2, 2B, 2 RBI).

• A number of Dodgers continue to rank among the National League leaders with Yasiel Puig batting .423 on the spring (8th, NL), Dee Gordon stealing five bases (1st, NL) and Jeremy Moore pacing the circuit in doubles (5, NL). In addition, Gordon is tied for the NL lead with six walks, and Andre Ethier’s two triples are tied for tops in the NL.
• The Dodgers continue to lead all National League clubs with a .307 team batting average and a .386 team on-base percentage through 13 Cactus League games.

EXTRA ARMS: Tommy Davis will throw a ceremonial first pitch prior to this afternoon’s game against the Mariners. Davis, a two-time NL batting champion in 1962 and 1963, is in camp this weekend along with Ron Cey as a guest instructor. The three-time All-Star played in 18 Major League seasons, including eight seasons in Dodger blue from 1959-66.

• Tonight, Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda will have first pitch honors at the World Baseball Classic game between the United States and Italy at 7:00 pm at Chase Field.

(pic link: Cey: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013)

VIVA LOS DODGERS: Dodger players continued to play key roles in the World Baseball Classic yesterday with Luis Cruz and Adrian Gonzalez combining to drive in all five Team Mexico runs in its 5-2 win over the United States last night. Gonzalez, who reached base four times, had three RBI, including a two-run homer off R.A. Dickey in the third inning. Mexico takes on Canada today at 12:30 pm in its third and final game in pool play.

• Team Italy continues to be the talk of the tournament and yesterday, Nick Punto went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Italy’s 14-4 win over Canada. Italy wraps up pool play with a game against Team USA tonight at 7:00 pm.
• Hanley Ramirez and the Dominican Republic also return to action this morning at 9:00 am against Spain, while Ronald Belisario and Venezuela take on Puerto Rico at 3:30 pm.

HILLTOPPERS: RHP Aaron Harang last pitched on Monday, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings in a minor league game. The 34-year-old has made just one official Cactus League appearance this spring, allowing four runs on five hits in 2.0 innings, but picking up the win on Feb. 27 against the Cubs in Mesa.

• RHP Brandon League will make his third “official” appearance of the spring, but last pitched on Wednesday with a scoreless inning against Team Mexico at Camelback Ranch. The former Mariner faced his old ‘mates on Saturday in Peoria in his last Cactus League appearance, allowing three runs (one earned) in 1.0 inning.
• RHP Kenley Jansen last pitched on Wednesday with two strikeouts in a scoreless frame against Team Mexico. He has made only one “official” appearance this spring with a scoreless inning against the Giants on Feb. 26.
• LHP J.P. Howell fired a 1-2-3 inning against Team Mexico on Wednesday in his last appearance after allowing two runs in 2.0 innings in his two Cactus League outings.

(pic link: Ryu & Ishibashi: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013)

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Blog Kiosk: 3/8/2013

Yasiel Puig greets Justin Sellers in the photo above, by Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo.  See more of his pics from yesterday here.

• Left Field Pavilion is the king of making fantasy Baseball cards.  Check out his recent Dodgers creations here.  I bow down to you, sir!
• "Kemp facing mental hurdles in rehab process," via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.
• "So far, so good with Chad Billingsley," via Mark Saxon at ESPN.

Right after Chad Billingsley said, "I think it's behind me," he paused, turned around, found some wood, knocked on it and continued, "But you never know. Any time you step on the mound ... "

• Howard Cole at Cole on LA takes a look at the Dodgers bench.

Alternate title considered – “Carl Crawford throws monkey wrench into Dodgers bench plans” – scrapped for grammatical reasons, and because the man can’t throw a household tool across a workbench, much less a baseball from left field to second base.

It doesn’t matter what the former All-Star wants or says; Crawford is unlikely to be 100% by Opening Day, which causes a domino effect across the roster, but for the sake of discussion for a moment, let’s assume he is.

• If you're curious, Buster Posey recently participated in a Reddit AMA "Ask Me Anything" session.  Check it out here.  It would be great if a Dodger would do the same thing.

• The NHL is in the midst of their own sabermetrics revolution, via Elliotte Friedman of CBC.

So, I asked the coach about it. He paused, then smiled and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He just didn't want to say anything about this "private" statistic. The next day, the player said, "Please don't report that... I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to say anything."

• Just because I've got the music of my youth on my mind.  Here's the Swamp Zombies with the song Cat's Meow.

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2013 Topps Heritage Baseball - Dodgers Variation & Mini Cards

Following up on yesterdays post featuring the Dodgers' base cards to Topps 2013 Heritage set, I bring to you some of the variation and mini cards.  To check out all of the cards Heritage cards I've shown so far go here.

As you may know, there are Chrome parallel cards of 5 Dodgers' cards, but I've chosen not to display them here.  They basically look just like their base card counterpart, but are super shiny.  Below is a checklist for them:

#HC13 Hanley Ramirez
#HC16 Andre Ethier
#HC25 Clayton Kershaw
#HC27 Matt Kemp
#HC83 Adrian Gonzalez

The mini cards also use the same photos as the base cards, but are individually hand-numbered to only 100 copies.

Mini Parallels: 

#200 Clayton Kershaw                      #427 Andre Ethier

#442 Hanley Ramirez                               #450 Matt Kemp

#472 Adrian Gonzalez

Full Color Blue Border Variations:

#200 Clayton Kershaw                            #450 Matt Kemp

#472 Adrian Gonzalez

Action Image Variations:

#450 Matt Kemp

Color Variations:

#200 Clayton Kershaw                    #450 Matt Kemp

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 3/7/2013

Juan Castro and Matt Kemp cheerfully greet each other during the Dodgers/Team Mexico game yesterday.  Check out more pics from Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2013 here.

• Evan Bladh at Opinion of Kingman's Performance writes a great piece about Brooklyn Dodger Ralph Branca (Part 1).
• Left Field Pavilion does it again.  This time he creates some fantasy Dodgers cards using vintage Topps Baseball card designs.
• Chris Olds at Beckett tells us that there are a bunch of 2013 Heritage reverse printing errors in the set, as well.  I'll let you know what Dodgers (if any) have those kind of variations.
• JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers speaks with Alfredo Amezaga of Team Mexico about the impact Adrian Gonzalez has on the team.

“It’s everything,” he said, “because when I talk to him, you can see his focus every time. If you ask him one thing, he’s going to answer that thing. He’s focused on that question. When I talk to him, he’s very into it, what you ask him. So in this situation, he’s trying to match or put together a lot of (schools of thought). I think he’s the right person to do that.

• Sports Card Info tells about some of the Monty Sheldon relic/art cards he created for Topps upcoming Gypsy Queen set.
• RIP, Tom Connor.  He was 77 when he passed away yesterday.  In his honor please listen and sing along to his song - "The Hockey Song".  The video has the added benefit of including some vintage game footage; including the Kings, in their original Forum Gold jersey's, participating in a bench clearing brawl against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Also, If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger... shares a great vintage photo of the Canadian country singer here.

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Dodgers Notes from Spring Training: Spring Game 13/ Home Game 7

Throughout Spring Training the Dodgers PR department sends out helpful daily notes from Camelback Ranch, and I am happy to pass them along.  See what they've written below.

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Texas Rangers (4-7-1) at LOS ANGELES DODGERS (4-6-2)
Thursday, March 7, 2013 – 1:05 p.m. | Camelback Ranch - Glendale
RHP Chad Billingsley (0-1, 10.38) vs. RHP Randy Wells (0-0, 4.50)
TV: PRIME TICKET | Radio: KLAC

(twitter link)

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(pic via Cathy a Blue Heaven reader)

TEXAS TWO-STEP: The Dodgers, in the midst of playing five games in three days, take on the Rangers today for the first of their two Cactus League meetings this spring. The two clubs have not faced off in the regular season since 2009 and the Dodgers hold an 11-8 advantage in the all-time series. Today’s starter, Chad Billingsley, has made just one start in his career against Texas and picked up the win on June 14, 2009 in Arlington, allowing three runs (two earned) in 7.0 innings in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win.

• In addition, RHP Josh Beckett pitched in a minor league game on the backfields today. 
• Dodger legends Ron Cey and Tommy Davis will arrive tomorrow and spend a few days in camp working with the squad.

MIXED RETURNS: The Dodgers had mixed results in their two games yesterday with a split-squad defeating Team Mexico, 10-2, in a World Baseball Classic exhibition and another squad falling 4-0 to the Indians in Goodyear in Cactus League play. The results from the exhibition game against Mexico will not count towards the team’s or players’ cumulative statistics.

• In Goodyear, Hyun-Jin Ryu was dominant through his first 3.0 innings, but reached his pitch limit after allowing the first two batters of the fourth inning to reach base (both eventually scored). Ryu struck out five, including all three batters in the third inning with called third strikes. At the plate, the Dodgers managed just five hits with two coming off the bat of Jeremy Moore, who is batting .467 this spring. 
• The Dodgers scored 10 runs on 12 hits, including a two-run, first-inning homer by Andre Ethier, as they cruised to a 10-2 win over Team Mexico at Camelback Ranch. Dee Gordon went 2-for-2 with two steals, two runs scored and an RBI and though he was held hitless, Matt Kemp knocked in a pair in the win. On the mound, Stephen Fife picked up the win with 4.0 innings of one-run ball, while Brandon League, Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell each tossed an inning of scoreless relief. 
• Los Angeles continues to lead the NL with a .302 team batting average and a .385 on-base percentage. Yasiel Puig ranks ninth among NL qualifiers with a .391 batting average, while Jeremy Moore is tied for the NL lead with four doubles.

(pic via Cathy a Blue Heaven reader)

SIMPLY CLASSIC: All five Dodgers participating in this year’s World Baseball Classic will see action today as Italy (Nick Punto) takes on Mexico (Luis Cruz, Adrian Gonzalez) at 1:00 p.m. at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale and Venezuela (Ronald Belisario) faces off against the Dominican Republic (Hanley Ramirez) at 4:30 pm in San Juan, Puerto Rico. All games of this year’s WBC can be viewed on MLB Network.

• Javy Guerra returned to the Dodgers yesterday from Team Mexico. His offseason surgery prevented him from being eligible for the World Baseball Classic. He will continue to pitch for the Dodgers without restriction.

HILLTOPPERS: RHP Chad Billingsley will make his third appearance (second start) of the spring today after allowing three runs on five hits in 2.1 innings and taking the loss in relief on Saturday against the Mariners.

• RHP Mark Lowe has yet to allow an earned run (one unearned) in 3.0 innings in three appearances this spring. Lowe last pitched on Sunday against the Indians, walking one and striking out one in 1.0 inning. 
• RHP Peter Moylan allowed two runs in 0.2 innings in his first outing of the spring, but since then has fired 2.0 scoreless frames in two appearances. Moylan has six strikeouts in his 2.2 innings this spring, including two Ks in his last outing on Sunday against the Indians.
• RHP Josh Wall has yet to allow a baserunner and struck out five in 3.1 innings during his three Cactus League appearances. Wall last pitched on Sunday against Cleveland and struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning.

CAMERA READY: Tomorrow, Javy Guerra (@JavyGuerra54) will take over the Dodgers Official Instagram account (@Dodgers) capturing a "Day in the Life" of a big league ballplayer.

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2013 Topps Heritage Baseball - Dodgers' Base Cards

Topps Heritage Baseball cards are out and it is filled with Dodgers galore.  This year, they borrow the vintage 1964 Topps Baseball design, and even incorporate many of the flaws that existed with that old set.  There are back description error variations and color variations randomly inserted.  I'll have a rundown on those cards later on.  For now, check out all of the Dodgers' base cards that can be found in 2013 Topps Heritage below.

#1 Kershaw, Dickey, Cueto                    #5 Dickey, Kershaw, Hamels

#14 Josh Wall / Paco Rodriguez RC                    #30 Chad Billingsley

 

#39 Brandon League                             #51 Kenley Jansen

#81 Matt Kemp/Clayton Kershaw

#88 A.J. Ellis                                     #101 Don Mattingly

#120 Josh Beckett                           #149 Zack Greinke

#154 Dee Gordon                                #180 Carl Crawford

#200 Clayton Kershaw                                   #310 Mark Ellis

#373 Ted Lilly                               #374 Luis Cruz

#427 Andre Ethier                            #442 Hanley Ramirez

#450 Matt Kemp                             #472 Adrian Gonzalez

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