Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Dodgers Notes from Spring Training: Spring Game 15/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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Colorado Rockies (8-6) at LOS ANGELES DODGERS (9-3-2)
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 – 1:05 p.m. MT | Camelback Ranch - Glendale
RHP Chad Bettis (0-2, 2.77) vs. RHP Zach Lee (1-0, 2.89)
TV: None Radio: None

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(Sky over Camelback, pic taken and shared by Alanna Rizzo on twitter)

STREAK SNAPPED: The Dodgers lost to their Camelback Ranch neighbors, the White Sox, yesterday, 8-6, snapping a four-game Cactus League winning streak. Joc Pederson went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, raising his spring average to .318, and the Dodgers clubbed four home runs, one each by Andre Ethier, Kike Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Rob Segedin.  On the mound, Kenta Maeda allowed two unearned runs in 3.2 frames and Chris Hatcher tossed a scoreless inning.
  • The Dodgers beat the Rockies, 6-4, at Salt River Field on Sunday. Last year, Los Angeles was 11-8 against the Rox, including 7-3 at Dodger Stadium.
BARNESTORMING: Dodger catcher/infielder Austin Barnes hit his fourth home run of the spring yesterday, temporarily taking over sole possession of the team lead until Rob Segedin came up in the 9th inning and blasted his fourth. Overall, the Dodgers’ 20 home runs are tied with Arizona for third in the Cactus League, trailing just the White Sox (26) and Cubs (22). The club’s offense has been clicking on all cylinders this spring, ranking second among NL clubs in batting average (.293), on-base percentage (.362) and slugging percentage (.503), behind only Arizona. Individually, Scott Van Slyke (.417, 3rd), Austin Barnes (.375, 6th) and Micah Johnson (.357, T-8th) rank among the NL leaders in batting average.
    (AJ Ellis, pic via @Dodgers on twitter)
  • On the mound, Dodger All-Star Clayton Kershaw’s 10.0 innings pitched is tied with Cincinnati’s Brandon Finnegan for the most in baseball this spring while his 10 strikeouts are tied for second among NL clubs.  
DOING WORK: The Dodgers are inviting the Los Angeles community to meet more than 100 employers and pursue nearly 3,000 job opportunities available Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the 21st annual Community Job Fair at Dodger Stadium. Those interested in attending should register by visiting: https://lajobfair2016.eventbrite.com.

TRIMMING THE ROOM: On Monday, the Dodgers made their first cuts of the spring, optioning RHP Jharel Cotton and reassigning RHP Lisalverto Bonilla, RHP Chase De Jong, RHP Caleb Dirks, RHP Jacob Rhame, RHP Chris Anderson, OF Alex Hassan and C Kyle Farmer to minor league camp. The Dodgers have 54 players in big league camp, excluding Brandon McCarthy and Frankie Montas, who are on the 60-day DL.

TODAY’S PROBABLE PITCHERS:
  • RHP Zach Lee will make his third start of the spring, after tossing 3.0 innings against the Angels on Friday. Lee, 24, saw his first big league action last season, starting at New York-NL on July 25, and was named the Dodgers’ Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year after combining to go 13-6 with a 2.63 ERA in 21 starts with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers. Lee ranked among the Triple-A Pacific Coast League leaders in wins (11, T-3rd), ERA (2.70, 2nd), WHIP (1.11, 1st), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.26, 3rd) and home runs allowed per 9.0 innings (0.40, 3rd).
  • LHP Julio Urias will make his second appearance, after making his spring debut Friday against the Angels. The 19-year-old, who was the Dodgers’ 2014 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, combined to go 3-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 18 starts last year, primarily with Double-A Tulsa before a late-season promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Urias also made several rehab starts last year with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers following cosmetic surgery on his left eye, which cost him two months of the season on the DL. Urias enters the 2016 season rated by MLB.com as the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball and the fourth-best overall prospect.
  • RHP Carlos Frias is expected to pitch in his fourth game of the spring, after making his first start on Saturday against the Mariners. He enters his third big league season after going 5-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 17 games (13 starts) with the Dodgers last season.
  • RHP Yimi Garcia will make a relief appearance for the fifth time this spring, after his fourth straight scoreless outing against the Rockies on Sunday. He ranked among the NL’s best relievers in WHIP (0.95, 5th), opponents’ batting average (.199, 16th), opponents’ on-base percentage (.242, 4th) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.60, 3rd).
  • LHP Adam Liberatore will appear in his fifth game, after most recently throwing a scoreless frame against the Rockies. Liberatore saw his first big league action last season with the Dodgers, going 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in 39 games.
  • RHP Matt West will come on in relief for the fifth time, last pitching 1.0 inning against the Rockies and striking out two. He tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in two relief appearances with the Dodgers after being acquired from the Blue Jays last year
(Kiké enjoying tacos brought by AGon, pic via Kiké on twitter)

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* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *
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Blog Kiosk: 3/16/2016 - Dodgers Links - Kazmir, Piazza and Tacos!


Adrian Gonzalez declared "Taco Tuesday" yesterday afternoon.

With his eventually departure later that day for the WBC qualifying tournament in Mexicali for Team Mexico, AGon treated his teammates and Dodgers staff to tacos.  Check out part of the spread in the above photo tweeted out by the Dodgers.  Go here to check out Kiké's plate.  Via Matthew Moreno at Dodger Blue:
“He brought in tacos and they were really good, so that was nice,” Kiké Hernandez said of his day’s lunch.
Below are more links to check out:
  • Scott Kazmir talk was all the rage yesterday.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Dodgers not yet concerned with Kazmir's velocity."
"He feels good," said Friedman. "I'd prefer a pitcher use Spring Training to build up. It's almost frightening when a guy is throwing harder as opposed to not as hard. He says he's fine, and I think he would say something if he wasn't. I'd prefer six weeks of building and getting ready instead of coming in on Day 1 and blowing."
  • This is a fantastic story about a youthful Mike Piazza meeting the great Ted Williams.  Via Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily, "Card Show Trip Led to Piazza Meeting Ted Williams."  There's a video at the above link as well.
“I don’t remember much, just that intense feeling of panic,” Piazza laughed.

Piazza had a copy of Williams’ famous book ‘The Science of Hitting’ and had the last man to bat .400 sign it for him.

After watching a few swings in that cage, Williams paid the young Piazza quite a compliment.

“He said ‘this kid’s gonna hit in the big leagues’.  And I was like ‘really?’  He said ‘oh yeah’.  It was euphoric. You can’t even describe a moment like that.”
  • This has been making the rounds with vintage collectors and Baseball historians of late.  The veritable "Magna Carta" of Baseball is going to auction soon at SCP.  Check out some info about it at SCP, here.  Also, the official Baseball historian John Thorn wrote about the documents here.  Needless to say, this is one of the more important finds to come along in a long time.
  • Audio: Listen to former Dodgers Head Athletic Trainer Dr. Sue Falsone talk a bit about her time with the Dodgers and what she is doing now.  (Link Here)
  • There appears to be some good news on the Time Warner/Charter Communication merger front.  Via Shalini Ramachandran and John D. McKinnon at the Wall Street Journal, "FCC Likely to Circulate Draft Order Approving Charter-Time Warner Cable Deal."  As I've indicated in the past, I do not believe there can be any movement in the Dodgers SportsNet LA coverage issue until this merger is completed.  Once that is done, I suspect coverage comes along soon thereafter.  Of course, the timing is all relative.  Soon might mean a few more months.
  • So cool!


* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *
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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Sit Your Bum Down Right Here


Unless you're sitting in the outfield pavilion at Dodger Stadium -- which amazingly still uses benches -- there isn't much of a demand for a seat cushion.  Most folks seem quite settled in those contoured pull-down seats, and with games expected to get shorter with every new rule change folks don't have to rest their behind on that hard plastic for long.  I, on the other hand, hardly find those seats comfortable, and I know I'm not alone in that thinking.  So, why not use a seat cushion, and why don't the Dodgers give one away every year as a promotion?  They are, after all, the kind of thing that would go to good use.

Unfortunately, the marketing folks at the team don't appear to agree with me, and we'll have to go another year without this obvious win-win giveaway.  In their obvious lapse of judgement I thought I would take a moment to troll the online swap meet that is eBay for some suitable cushions for your bum, many of which appear to have been past freebies at the stadium, and share them with you here. 

At the very top is a circa 1997 cushion with a basic logo on the front (link here).  Below left is another cushion that, based on its logo, is from the following season (link here).  The round Baseball-shaped cushion on the bottom right looks like an oldie (link here). Could it be a pre-80's ittem?

Here are a couple more.  The green ones on the bottom left is said to be from Vero Beach (link here), and I have to wonder if it was a giveaway at Holman Stadium on St. Patrick's Day.  The cushion on the right is definitely a giveaway; given the Chevrolet ad on the front (link here).

This last one, though, is my absolute favorite.  It not only works as an in-game seat cushion but may also provide relief for those with a painful hemorrhoid (link here).

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *
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2016 Topps MLB Sticker Collection - All the Dodgers


Stickers seems to be the theme for collectors the past couple of weeks.  Along with the MLB Wacky Packs brand (which is filled with stickers), Topps also released their 2016 MLB Sticker Collection.  Go here for a complete checklist.  At top is the front cover of the Topps sticker album, and as you can see Clayton Kershaw is on the cover.  Also, with each album you instantly receive a Kershaw sticker to add to your collection.  Check out the six -sticker sheet below.

Continue Reading After the Jump>
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Dodgers Notes from Spring Training: Spring Game 14/Road 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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LOS ANGELES DODGERS (9-2-2) at Chicago White Sox (6-6-1)
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 – 1:05 p.m. MT | Camelback Ranch - Glendale
RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (1-0, 4.15)
TV: None Radio: None


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(Mike Bolsinger, pic via @Dodgers on twitter)

WINNING TIME: Los Angeles takes on the White Sox today as the designated “road” team at Camelback Ranch after winning its fourth consecutive game yesterday, 6-2, over the Brewers. Micah Johnson had three hits to raise his batting average to .370 and Trayce Thompson blasted a three-run homer in the Dodgers’ five-run first-inning rally. Mike Bolsinger tossed 4.0 scoreless frames to pick up the win and J.P. Howell, Pedro Baez and Louis Coleman each tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
  • The Dodgers beat the White Sox, 6-1, in both teams’ Cactus League opener on March 3.
  • Scott Kazmir pitched 5.0 simulated innings in a “B” game against the White Sox yesterday, with Cody Bellinger, Yasmani Grandal and Kyle Farmer also seeing action against Chicago starter Chris Sale.
(Joc beat Puig again, pic via Puig on twitter)
GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Dodger offense has been clicking on all cylinders this spring, ranking second among NL clubs in batting average (.296), on-base percentage (.366) and slugging percentage (.492), behind only Arizona. Individually, Scott Van Slyke (.409, 3rd), Austin Barnes (.381, T-4th) and Micah Johnson (.370, 6th) rank among the NL leaders in batting average, while Van Slyke, Barnes and Rob Segedin are tied for fourth with three spring home runs apiece.

HAPPY DAYS: The Dodgers would like to wish a very happy birthday to Trayce Thompson, who turns 25 today! Thompson, who is in his first season with the Dodgers after being acquired from the White Sox in an offseason trade, celebrated his big day with a three-run homer in the first inning yesterday against the Brewers.

HOPEFULLY A SCREWBALL: On Thursday, Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela will throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to Team Mexico’s game vs. the Czech Republic in its World Baseball Classic qualifier in Mexicali. Valenzuela served as a pitching coach for Team Mexico in the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic tournaments.
  • Adrian Gonzalez will play for Team Mexico and will leave Dodger camp tomorrow for the WBC qualifiers March 17-20.
(Big Heads, pic via Camelback Ranch on twitter)

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *
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Blog Kiosk: 3/15/2016 - Dodgers Links - Kazmir, Ryu and Justin Turner


That is some sweet looking leather.

Yesterday afternoon the Dodgers shared a pic of Kiké Hernandez's new glove on twitter, and made note that it features his twitter handle.  I would rather make note of the awesome blue leather straps.

Below are more links to check out:
"I was working on a couple pitches, but was just trying to get that catcher-pitcher relationship down where we were in sync and had a good rhythm going," Kazmir recalled. "There were some things we tried in the first few innings that made it a little more difficult. We changed it a little bit, then by the third or fourth inning we were right there thinking with each other."
“It was very good,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “It wasn’t all about the speed. It was more about location and how I felt.”
  • Justin Tuner is on the mend.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Turner 'still standing' after quite the workout."
"I'm still standing," Turner said. "Everything is a test to see how I feel on both sides of the ball. I had a little extra adrenaline with the fans in the stands. I was anxious to get back out there in a real game. Playing on the back fields is good to get the work in, but it's not the same adrenaline and intensity with the fans in the stands. I felt great. Ran, slid into home, dove for a ball. Everything felt fine."
  • An WBC Qualifier series will begin this coming Thursday, and Adrian Gonzalez will be playing for Team Mexico.  Also, via Yvonne Carrasco at Dodger Insider, "Valenzuela to throw first pitch at WBC qualifier."  Go here for a schedule of games being played in Mexicali, Mexico and Panama City, Panama.
  • Those rare Ty Cobb cards found in a paper bag have been selling briskly.  Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily informs us that a fourth card (and its highest graded example) of the seven found sold for in excess of $1Million.  That's for that one card.  Wow!  It is believed that the first three cards reported to have been sold was for an accumulative value of over $1Million.  Check out what the million dollar card looks like on the right.
  • Wow!


* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *
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