Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 8/3/2017 - Dodgers Links

Thursday, August 03, 2017

Blog Kiosk: 8/3/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

The worst thing about Baseball is learning that you are going to lose. It's inevitable. The beauty of the game is that it teaches you to persevere, regardless. More often than not, this Dodger team has soldiered on to overcome all obstacles to win. Last night, they just couldn't get over that hump. Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

“They’re a scrappy bunch,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts to SportsNetLA’s Alanna Rizzo. “They have some athletic ability and with (Freddie) Freeman in the middle of the order — he was on base three times tonight — we only put together six hits, couldn’t get a lot of baserunners and really couldn’t put things together tonight.”

Oh well, last nights loss to the Braves means it's time for a new winning streak. BTW, Cody Bellinger hit his 30th homer of the season -- becoming only the second Dodger and 28th rookie overall to have ever eclipsed the 30 home run mark. Mike Piazza hit 35 homers as a Dodger in 1993. The above pic via the Dodgers on twitter. Below are more links to check out:

This Day in Dodgers History: In 1959 the second All-Star Game of the year is played at the LA Coliseum. Don Drysdale gave up a third inning two-run homer to Yogi Berra to lose the game, 5-3. In 1980 Duke Snider, along with Al Kaline and Chuck Klein, are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1997 Tommy Lasorda, along with Phil Neikro, Nellie Fox and Willie Wells, are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2013 the Dodgers set a franchise record when they won their 13th consecutive game on the road by defeating the Cubs, 3-0.
Happy Birthday, Gus Getz, Jim Gott, Sid Bream & Kevin Elster!
Video: Yu Darvish addresses the media after being traded to the Dodgers. Darvish hopes to mesh well with the others and continue his great pitching. (video link)
Audio: Rick Honeycutt joined David Vassegh after watching Yu Darvish's first bullpen session with the team. (audio link)
Video: Dave Roberts talks to the media after their 5-3 loss to the Braves on Wednesday night. (video link)
Podcast: Jaime Jarrin joins Colin Gunderson to talk baseball on the Love of Baseball Podcast. (podcast link)
Clayton is a soothsayer. Per a tweet from Andy McCullough of the LA Times:

At the All-Star Game, Darvish said, Clayton Kershaw told him "I'll see you in three weeks."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) August 2, 2017

Per Jaylon Thompson at MLB.com; "Darvish joins Dodgers, throws bullpen session."

"It's great and it gives us a lot of options," Hill said. "[Darvish] coming into a team that is playing really well is great, and we have to continue to go out and do our job. We have to play the way we have been [playing] and attack the hitters, and pitchers with our at-bats."

One area that Darvish is looking to improve on is his batting, as he had spent his entire five-year career in the Majors with the Rangers. He said that he hopes to work on his bunting techniques and situational hitting.

"This is going to be a challenge for me, and I loved to hit when I was in the American League, as I went out there and had fun," Darvish said. "But you have to hit every time you go out there [in the NL]. There is a little concern about it, but this is the first challenge and we will see what happens."

ICYMI: Rich Hill was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for July. Per a Dodger press release:

In five July starts, Hill registered a 4-0 record with a 1.45 ERA and an impressive 40:5 strikeout-to walk ratio en route to claiming his second career monthly award, last winning the AL Pitcher of the Month Award for the Oakland Athletics in May 2016. The left-hander allowed just 19 hits and two home runs across 31.0 innings of work. Rich is the second Dodgers hurler to earn monthly honors this season, following Alex Wood’s award-winning month of May. Among qualified NL starters, Hill finished the period tied for first in wins, second in strikeouts and third in ERA.