Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Blog Kiosk: 3/13/2012

The Dodgertown Classic is today at Dodger Stadium. If you're aching for some Baseball head on over to catch the UCI Anteaters play against the Pepperdine Waves at 2:00 PM or USC versus UCLA at 6:30 this evening. More details are available here. $12.00 same day tickets are available.
  • Left Field Pavilion shares even more family photos from Jim Brewer.
  • This story is useless without photos- Tony Jackson at ESPN documents a recent spate of clubhouse jokes played by some Dodgers players.
  • Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times put together a great listing of career highlights of Harry Wendelstedt that includes some Dodger moments.
    Aug. 1, 1971: Wendlestedt is the man behind the plate in a game that ends in one of the strangest ways possible, and the circumstances directly involve Wendlestedt. The Reds lose to the Dodgers, 5-4 in 11 innings, with the winning run scoring on a walk-off catcher’s interference call. There’s one you don’t see too often. Manny Mota tried to steal home, and Reds catcher Johnny Bench came out to block the plate, causing Wendlestedt’s call. The Reds, as you can imagine, didn’t like it.
  • Evan Bladh at Opinion of Kingman's Performance visited the Dodgers minor club in Ogden, Utah.
  • The man who caught and returned Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit gets his own Topps Baseball card. Check it out in Beckett. Apparently, they are available in current packs of 2012 Topps Opening Day cards and are very scarce.
  • Check out the history of the Nintendo Game Controller at Holy Taco.
  • Did you love the Brady Bunch? Yhea... admit it... you watched it faithfully, too. Well, All About Cards features the complete 2011 Brady Bunch set for your enjoyment.
  • DodgerFilms unveils their season tickets.

Video Link:

Dodgers Notes from Spring Training- Day 21

Throughout Spring Training the Dodgers PR department sends out helpful daily notes from Camelback Ranch, and I am happy to pass them along.

Colorado Rockies (3-6-1) at LOS ANGELES DODGERS (6-1-2)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 – 1:05 p.m., Camelback Ranch - Glendale

LHP Chris Capuano vs. LHP Drew Pomeranz

Spring Game 10/Home Game 4



Todays Starting Lineup:
Dodgers: SS, Ellis 2B, CF, Ethier RF, Rivera DH, 1B, Sands LF, Uribe 5, Treanor C
Rockies: Young LF Herrera SS Pacheco 1B Hernandez C Arenado 3B Nelson 2B Blackmon CF Colvin RF Pomeranz
Upcoming Spring Training Schedule:
(Matt Kemp connects with a child, via Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers 2012)
  • MOUNTAIN TOPPERS: The Dodgers enter today’s contest with Colorado sporting 6-1-2 record, which is tied with Detroit for the best Spring Training record in the Majors. Los Angeles is undefeated (5-0-2) in its last seven games and the Dodgers have outscored their opponents 14-1 in their last two contests. The Rockies and Dodgers will face off two times in a five-day period with a rematch on Saturday afternoon at Talking Stick after the clubs split their 18 meetings last year.

  • ALL PHASES: The Dodgers have the National League’s lowest team ERA this spring with a 3.11 mark and rank third on the circuit with a .290 team batting average. Los Angeles also leads NL clubs with a .377 team on-base percentage and is tied for second with a .490 slugging percentage. In the field, the Dodgers have committed just three errors, tied with Houston for the fewest on the Senior Circuit.

(Dodgers vs. Angels in Tempe, via twitter @sportsologist)

  • HE’S GOT MY CAP: LHP Chris Capuano makes his second Cactus League start this afternoon after striking out three and allowing just two hits in 2.0 scoreless innings in Thursday’s win against Oakland. In 11 career games (10 starts) against Colorado, Capuano has posted a 3.68 ERA and a .235 opponents’ batting average despite his 4-5 record. The 33-year-old has been especially tough against left-handers over the course of his career, limiting them to a .229 batting average, a .290 on-base percentage and a .341 slugging percentage. Capuano will be followed to the mound by:

    ● RHP Fernando Nieve, who last pitched on Friday at Texas and allowed just one hit and struck out one in 2.0 scoreless frames. The 29-year-old pitched for the Doosan Bears in Korea last season after opening the season with Houston’s Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.

    ● RHP Stephen Fife, who last pitched on Thursday vs. Oakland and allowed one run on two hits in 2.0 innings of relief. Fife, 25, was acquired with Tim Federowicz and Juan Rodriguez from Boston at the 2011 trade deadline in exchange for Trayvon Robinson. He was originally selected by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2008 draft out of the Univ. of Utah.

    ● RHP Ramon Troncoso, who gave up two hits in a scoreless inning on Saturday at Seattle in his most recent outing and has allowed one run in 2.0 innings over his two Cactus League appearances this spring.

    ● RHP Ryan Tucker, who threw 2.0 scoreless innings on Friday at Texas against his former teammates after giving up two runs on March 5 against the White Sox in the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener.

(Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo/ LA Dodgers 2012)

  • DID I CATCH A NINER?: The Dodgers downed the Angels 9-1 yesterday as former Angel Juan Rivera drove in four runs, including a solo home run in the third inning, and Justin Sellers blasted a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Los Angeles starter Aaron Harang bounced back nicely from a rough first outing on March 7 against Oakland to limit the hot-hitting Angels to just one run in 3.0 innings and the Dodger bullpen of Angel Guzman, Chris Withrow, Wilfredo Ledezma and Scott Rice combined to blank the Halos in the final 6.0 frames.

  • JUAN GONE!: Juan Rivera slugged a solo shot off the Angels’ Aaron Taylor in the third inning yesterday for his third home run in as many games and has an .875 slugging percentage this spring with all four of his hits (three homers and one double) going for extra bases. Rivera, who re-signed with the Dodgers as a free agent during the offseason, is tied for second among National Leaguers in home runs and would rank second in slugging percentage if he had enough at-bats to qualify.
  • WITH HEAVY HEARTS…: The Dodger family would like to offer its condolences to the family of Dorothy Walton Reese, who passed away on March 7 at the age of 89. Reese was married to Dodger Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese for 57 years before his death on Aug. 14, 1999 and is survived by a daughter, Barbara Reese Dudgeon, and a son, Mark Allen Reese.

(Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo/ LA Dodgers 2012)