A Personal Letter from Happy Felton to Walter O'Malley About that "Idiot" Son at SCP Auctions

As I had previously intimated, SCP has an auction that just opened up, and I've got quite a few items from my collection in it for the taking.  Hopefully over the next few days I'll share some of them with you.  In the meantime, I thought I would bring up an item (that's not mine) that has me wallowing in laughter.  Heck, I know if I had more details about the incident I would probably be busting a gut right now.

Featured below is an letter between Happy Felton, an entertainer who had a popular Dodger pregame youth show called the "Knot-Hole Gang", and Dodger owner Walter O'Malley.  It begins innocently enough with Felton seeking financial compensation for his frequently being a host to various special guest at Dodger games.  I assume that he would provide a tour and introduce folks to the players before or after games.  What strikes me as hilarious, though, is the postscript about one particular special guest.  Check out what he writes below:

PS: Mr. & Mrs. McNulty, who received our Special Services yesterday, at your request, thoroughly enjoyed themselves -- as did their idiot son who was aged about 34 and 6'3" tall.  I am sorry to report that the younger McNulty was severely gashed by one of the ball players who shall be nameless but whose initials are Footsie Belardi, and that he, the son, lost some teeth when hit by a line drive from the bat of one Preacher Roe.  I imagine the McNulty's will sue the ball club, myself and the manufacturers of Red Barber's "Bowena", as a matter of course.  See you in court.

I'm not sure if "gashed" is meant to be literal.  Maybe Wayne "Footsie" Belardi decided to give good ol' "youthful" McNulty a ribbing.  I dunno.  What is clear is that he got hit by a batted ball (likely during batting practice) and he didn't like it one bit.  It could be that the rancor of said incident caused Felton to finally decide that he wasn't being paid enough to deal with this.

I can't imagine that anyone has any specific details beyond that, but if you do please pass it along.  This Dodger fan would love to know.

(Auction Link)

**Photo at the very top of Happy Felton via Snider's Photo Album

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Blog Kiosk: 8/5/2015 - Dodger Links - Wood, Pederson and Jimmy Rollins

Alex Wood had a very good start with the Dodgers yesterday evening, and if not for a 7th inning snafu we might be focused on only that.  Unfortunately, the balk happened.  Then, the wheels fell off the Dodgers wagon.  Not that it's Wood's fault.  He pitched great.  It's just that his balk lead to an unfortunate outcome.

If you haven't seen Wood's pitch (Come on, really? It's only become the web's most recent sensation) check it out here at Cut 4.  As you can see, during mid-windup the ball slipped out of his hand and headed towards first base.  That put runners on second and third base.  The batter then walked to load the bases for Maikel Franco; who proceeded to hit a grand slam.  A game that was once tied at one was now a 5-1 Phillies advantage.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"It's been a weird eight days, for sure," said Wood, who also singled in his first at-bat. "I put us in a bad situation in the seventh, they ended up capitalizing. That's not the way I envisioned the first one going."

A game that looked like it would be remembered as an outstanding beginning for the former Braves pitcher would now become an viral internet sensation. 

The pic above is via @SportsNetLA on twitter.  Below are some links to check out:

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Dodgers sticking with Pederson despite slump."

"I think really now is not the time to start messing with the club and getting away from playing great defense in the middle of the field," he said. "Right now we have Joc sitting in the eight-hole, where there's really no pressure. We're not asking for a lot of offense. Really, there's been no talk of anything different."

• They still love Jimmy Rollins in Philly.  Via Ryan Lawrence at Philly.com:

"It was cool," said Rollins, who had to step out and raise his helmet a second time. "It was greatly appreciated. It went longer than I thought . I came out, they clapped, I nodded and got back in the box. And they just kept going. I was like,'Geez, we do have a game to play.' But it was a great moment for them to show their appreciation. I'm glad it was that way."

• Walker Buehler, the Dodgers 2016 1st round draft pick, has an inauspicious start to his Dodger career, via a tweet from Dodger broadcaster Alanna Rizzo.

1st round selection, Walker Buehler, will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow. His expected return is 12-18 months. #Dodgers

— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 4, 2015

• JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers shares a quote from Farhan Zaidi regarding Buehler and his surgery:

“As far as signing him, we still think he is one of the top pitching talents in the draft,” Zaidi said. “We have the luxury of being able to play the long game. Even if it puts him a year behind, we think when he comes back he’s going to justify where we selected him. Obviously we signed him for a reduced number that allowed us to do some other things in the draft.”

• Via George Vrechek at Sports Collectors Digest, "Former Employee Butch Jacobs Explains How Topps Picked the Pictures."

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What Does Kiké, Yasmani, Kelly Osbourne and a Toilet have to do with Anything?

So this happened today.

I was checking out my twitter feed when I ran across a tweet from Kiké Hernandez that had me puzzled.  Check out the tweet below

Heading to the stadium early so that I can clean the toilets in the clubhouse! Right? @KellyOsbourne

— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) August 4, 2015

What the heck is he talking about, and what does a toilet and reality TV personality Kelly Osborne have to do with anything?... Beside the obvious jokes about her hair. 

Well it seems that Osbourne put her foot in her mouth when she tried to make a salient point about Donald Trump's recent racist tirades against Hispanics by using a stereotype many would say is racist in itself.  Via a story by Zach Johnson at EOnline:

"If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?" Osbourne said. "In the sense that...you know what I mean? But I'm saying that in L.A., they always..." The other co-hosts were taken aback, and Perez said, "Latinos are not only the only people doing that." Osbourne cut her off and said, "No, I didn't mean it like that! Come on! I would never mean it like that! I'm not part of this argument."

Oy Vey!

First of all I hate the idea that we should be taking her seriously about a subject matter like this.  It's above her pay grade (so to speak) and I think she should just stick to her fashion consulting thingy.  Secondly, I get the gist of what she is trying to say, but she's very bad at doing it.  Thirdly, why the heck am I even writing about this?

Oh yeah... A couple of Dodger players decided to chime in.

Following Kiké's comment, Yasmani Grandal did his best to make light of the whole thing in his own tweet.

Cleaning toilets it's how I got my hand eye coordination!!! RIGHT?? https://t.co/QdoHnDpJGC

— Yasmani Grandal (@YazmanianDVL08) August 4, 2015

So there ya go.  We now have the secret to Yasmani's success.  LOL!

It's not often a Dodger player makes a public comment regarding a tangentially significant sociopolitical topic.  Most will stay away for fear of offending the easily offendable.  In this particular situation, though, both Hernandez and Grandal decide to make a serious point by being super-sarcastic, and this Dodger fan absolutely loves it.  I must say that this is a fine use of trolling as you'll ever see. 

BTW, I should probably state that I don't think Kelly Osbourne meant any harm by what she said.  She's just an idiot.

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Blog Kiosk: 8/4/2015 - Dodger Links - Kershaw, Pederson and Jim Johnson

Congrats, Clayton!  Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Clayton Kershaw named NL Pitcher of the Month."

Kershaw won the award even though his eight shutout innings on Saturday, July 32 weren’t counted. In the 31 previous days, the 27-year-old lefty pitched 33 innings and allowed one run for a 0.27 ERA (1.31 xFIP), walking two and striking out 45.

It was not an easy month to win the award. Among the competition was teammate Zack Greinke (38 innings, 0.95 ERA, 2.89 xFIP) and Chicago Cubs pitchers Jon Lester (43 1/3 innings, 1.66 ERA, 2.31 xFIP) and Jake Arrieta (42 2/3 innings, 1.90 ERA, 2.56 xFIP).

Graphic above via @Dodgers on twitter.  Below are some links to check out:

• Via Arash Markazi at ESPN, "How baseball trades hit home for players, their families."

"My son doesn't really get it," (Jim) Johnson said. "My daughter kind of understands it and took it pretty hard. So I send them some things to get them excited about the new team. I get them new jerseys and hats. My daughter loves notebooks, so I got couple of notebooks. It makes the transition easier for them I think."

• Joc has been struggling.  Matt Goldman at Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at why: "Hard hit balls have disappeared from Joc Pederson."

While the sample is much smaller in July, it's obvious that Pederson is not as disciplined as he was earlier in the season. It's also clear that he's not as aggressive on pitches in the zone. In the 3x3 quadrant that represents the strike zone, Pederson's swing rate has dropped in seven out of the nine boxes. Overall, he's letting pitches go by that he shouldn't and swinging at those that he should leave alone.

• Molly Knight, who wrote "The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse," answered a bunch of fan questions at Deadspin, here.
• Via Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest, "Alex Wood’s Disappearing Strikeouts." 
• Via Molly Knight at Deadspin, "How The Dodgers Got Baseball's Last Buried Treasure."  This is an excerpt from Molly's book on the Dodgers and it focuses on Yasiel Puig.

Puig hailed from Cuba but he may as well have been from Mars. When he showed up to the Dodgers’ spring training complex in Glendale, Arizona, that February he didn’t speak a lick of English. On his first day in major-league camp he stood in front of a water cooler and shook his head in disbelief at the blue liquid spewing out of it. He didn’t know Gatorade existed in more than one color. As the season wore on, the rest of the baseball world looked at him in much the same way. No one had heard of Puig a year ago, but in 2013 he would be the game’s most talked-about player. 

• This is just banana's!  (I know, I should be beaten for this)  Via Kike Hernandez's twitter, he will apparently be a spokesman for Chiquita.

The #RALLYBANANA & I have partnered with @Chiquita! Stay tuned for news on special appearances in the LA area. pic.twitter.com/40U63d69sM

— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) August 3, 2015

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Sign Her Up Coach! Caroline Wozniacki Can Throw a Strike

Folks... I think we got a glimpse at the Dodgers next free agent signing. 

Yesterday afternoon, tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki, tossed the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game, and absolutely wowed the fans.  She confidently strolled up the mound, took her place on the rubber and tossed an Eephus-styled pitch right down the middle for a strike. 

Wozniacki is currently ranked in the top-5 in tennis and a proven champion, so her athletic skills are no surprise.  Still, we've seen so many stars make this attempt and fail. 

Watch her make her pitch and read out "It's Time for Dodger Baseball" to the fans below.

Video Link:

(Pic via @Dodgers on twitter)

(Pic via @Dodgers on twitter)

Best yet, when she headed out of town later that day she proudly wore her Dodger Blue jersey, as evidenced by the pic she tweeted out below.

(pic via ‏@CaroWozniacki on twitter)

*Photo at the very top via @SI_Tennis on twitter.

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Puig Now Has His Own SportsCenter Commercial

Yasiel Puig joins a list of sports greats today.  Released just this morning is his very own ESPN SportsCenter commercial.  Watch it below.

Yasiel Puig doesn’t only have walkup music during home games, he also has it during staff meetings. Stan Verrett follows suit.

Video Link:

He joins a long list of athletes - and even pop culture stars - to record a little ditty for the network.  Go here to see a long list of past commercials.

Other Dodger players to film a commercial for ESPN include Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw.  You can watch both of those below.

Andre Ethier

Video Link:

Clayton Kershaw

Video Link:

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