Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 2/15/2018 - Dodgers Links

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Blog Kiosk: 2/15/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Apparently, Clayton Kershaw has a new Valentine.

Photo above via Camelback Ranch on twitter. Go here to check out a bunch of pics taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo here. Below are more links to check out:

This Day in Dodgers History: In 2017 the Dodgers signed free agent reliever Sergio Romo to a one-year $3MM contract. He would eventually be traded to the Rays in late-July.
Happy Birthday, Hal Lee, Charlie Irwin, George Earnshaw, Joe Moeller, Ron Cey, Rick Auerbach, Russell Martin & Russ Mitchell!
A Spring Training Note: The Dodgers have 32 pitchers (10 non-roster invitees) and six catchers (three non-roster invitees) in camp. Throwing their first official bullpens of the spring yesterday were Tom Koehler, Scott Alexander, Dylan Baker, Tony Cingrani, Rich Hill, Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Ross Stripling, Mark Lowe, Pedro Baez, and Yimi Garcia.
Via Andy McCullough at the LA Times; "Kenley Jansen calls MLB's pace-of-play initiatives 'ridiculous'"

"Football is four hours, four and a half hours. The Super Bowl was five hours. Listen man, baseball fans are not going to stop watching the game because the game is too long. Let's stop that. I think that's ridiculous."

Per Miles Thomas at the LA Loyolan; "Al Ferrara speaks about being a 'real Brooklyn Dodger'"

At 78 years old, Ferrara calls himself a “real Brooklyn Dodger,” growing up in Brooklyn and knowing only the Dodgers. He spoke on how he learned how to play baseball on the streets, on the concrete using cars and sewers as bases. It was not until he attended his first major league baseball game at seven years old that he saw grass for the first time. Ferrara described seeing the Dodgers for the first time, with the classic white uniforms, Dodgers logo written across the front, and said, “Right there and then, that’s what I want to be, I want to be a baseball player.” As well as being his first major league baseball game, it was also, according to him, the debut game for legendary player Jackie Robinson. There, he witnessed the first African American player play in a major league game on April 15, 1947. He remembered the first time legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully was introduced into the broadcast booth.

I can't help but agree with Clayton, per a tweet by Pedro Moura:

“I wish he’d gone somewhere in the American League,” Clayton Kershaw said of Yu Darvish. “But, you know, we’ll just have to beat him, I guess.”
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) February 13, 2018

Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider; "Koehler looks to follow the Dodger starter-to-reliever blueprint."

“I’ve watched guys come (to the Dodgers) who have been successful starters in the Major Leagues and transition and become outstanding relievers,” Koehler said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to do what those guys did. Time will tell. But (the Dodgers) have a plan that has worked and feel I fit in that mold, so it definitely excites me.”

Panini's Knight's Lance blog shares a bunch of preview pics from their 2018 Diamond Kinks Baseball card set; including the Jackie Robinson and Cody Bellinger cards seen below. Go here to check out more.

I might have to get this. Topps is releasing a 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray/card Collector's Edition set of the famed movie The Sandlot. Check out what will come in the package below. Go here for more information. It'll include 10 cards fashioned after the 1962 Topps Baseball All-Star subset, and is slated for release on March 27th.