Daily Conlon: 163 through 164

Here is today's Daily Conlon cards numbered 163 through 164. Now you're probably wondering why only 2 cards and not a full 9 card sheet? Well, the next 12 cards feature players with some great stories, and I thought it would be great to feature each individual card. After all, the nice thing about the Baseball are the fascinating stories. So while you wait for tomorrows great story check out the featured cards here that includes a old-time Brooklyn Dodger, Zach Wheat.

Taken from a previous story I wrote about Wheat:

Zach Wheat currently hold the Dodger franchise record for games played, at-bats, hits, doubles, triples, and total bases. He is second behind Duke Snider in RBI's. His defense, though, was what he was really known for.

"What Lajoie was to infielders, Zach Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all," Baseball Magazine crowed in 1917. "Wheat is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals."

Check out SABR's great biography written by Eric Enders. The best line in Eric's story is the last one.

Shortly before his death he was asked if he had any advice for youngsters with ballplaying aspirations. "Yes," he said. "Tell them to learn to chew tobacco."

Wheat certainly wasn't PC. Of course, he had no idea what PC was anyway. Heck, they didn't know the health concerns that comes from tobacco.

Writing to the Honorable Judge Kevin Gross

Why didn't I think of this? A Dodger fan by the name Greg MacDonald took some time last week to write a letter and send it to the judge presiding over the Dodger bankruptcy hearing. Apparently, it has been filed with the court and will forever be connected to the case. Via TMZ:

MacDonald tells TMZ that as a "very concerned Dodgers fan" ... he simply wanted to express his opinion to the judge ... that McCourt is a "snake-oil salesman" who should be stripped of ownership.

MacDonald says he addressed the letter to the judge and popped it in the mail on June 29 ... and somehow, it was entered into the court file ... which means it will be forever memorialized in court records.

Now, 4 more letters have arrived. TMZ continues:

A Dodgers fan named Greg MacDonald opened the floodgates recently, submitting a passionate anti-McCourt letter to the court ... the first fan letter in the McCourt bankruptcy file -- but FOUR more letters have since entered the fray, and each one LAMBASTS the current franchise owner.

So, that got me thinking. We need to all write letters to the Honorable Judge Kevin Gross, and we need to do it now.

Not sure where to send it? Well, use the address below, and be sure to use your best letter writing skills. Namely, address the court appropriately as the Honorable Judge Kevin J. Gross and state succinctly that this is with regards to the Dodger bankruptcy case. It should probably be no longer than 1 page, but if you are particularly verbose a couple of pages can't possibly hurt. You should also provide your name and contact information to the court.

Honorable Judge Kevin J. Gross
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
824 North Market Street, 3rd Floor
Wilmington, Delaware 19801

Is That Strike One?

In the first real decision in the McCourt BK mess, the judge tells McCourt's side "NO." From Bill Shaikin:

Major League Baseball does not have to turn over a wide range of documents to the Dodgers or make Commissioner Bud Selig available for a deposition, the judge in the Dodgers' bankruptcy hearing ruled on Thursday.

"This is clearly, in my mind, not an appropriate occasion to turn this hearing into a trial on the commissioner," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said.

...

"On the issue of financing, the discovery seems to be not relevant," Gross said.

A first pitch strike against McCourt. This still looks like it could be a lengthy at-bat.

Blog Kiosk: 7/7/2011

Pic from Matt Kemp on twitter. Oh... BTW, Vote for Ethier!

• Here are some photos of Gene Simmons throwing out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium from this past Tuesday, via Ultimate Classic Rock.
• A voice of reason from the Baseball nerd, Keith Olbermann.

  The Dodgers have enough to worry about, but the construction in which Rafael Furcal is healthy, Dee Gordon has the makings of a lighter-hitting Jose Reyes, and Jamey Carroll actually has trade value – and they send Gordon back to Albuquerque - is nuts…you trade Carroll before he turns back into a pumpkin, shift the willing Furcal to second and thus reduce some of the wear and tear on his body, and let Gordon run wild and free at the major league level. Anything else suggests the Dodgers are operating under a delusion bigger than any of Frank McCourt’s – that the team is competitive this year…

• NY Baseball Digest gets to know Andre Ethier.
• Ice Cube talks about the Dodgers, via Huffington Post.
  
  

  With the Dodgers I'm pretty much just a fan who's upset at the fact that this storied franchise is in so much turmoil. The fans are not coming out to the park; it's just a terrible thing. I don't have nothing against Frank McMormick [sic, McCourt] or his wife, none of that. But what I see is that as long as he has control of the team, the city may be perceived that as a team that's not going anywhere, and that's not a good thing.

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives his two cents on the Dodger mess, via ESPN.

  I have been a Dodgers fan since I was a boy living in the far northern tip of Manhattan. My dad was born and raised in Brooklyn and I would listen with him to Red Barber and Vin Scully broadcast games on the radio. I went to Ebbets Field on two occasions to see my heroes in the flesh.

• Ethier's campaign commercial. (Hat Tip: Vin Scully is my Homeboy)

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