Dodgers Notes from Spring Training: Spring Game 5/ Road Game 2

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 (1-1-2) at Chicago Cubs (3-1)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 – 1:05 p.m. | Hohokam Park, Mesa, AZ
RHP Aaron Harang vs. LHP Brooks Raley

(twitter link: @Dodgers)

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(pic link: Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2013)

HIT THE ROAD!: The Dodgers travel to Mesa today for their first true road game of the spring as they meet the Cubs for the second time in three days after Los Angeles’ 7-6 win on Monday at Camelback Ranch. After today, the clubs will meet two more times this spring and then seven times during the regular season, Aug. 1-4, at Wrigley Field and Aug. 26-28 at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles won the season series, 4-2, last season and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers hold a slim, 1,028-1,023-14, advantage in the franchises’ 2,065 all-time meetings. In case you were wondering and I know you were, there are just 33 days until Opening Day!

• The Giants rallied for four runs in the ninth inning yesterday to tie the Dodgers, 8-8. Los Angeles batted around during a five-run second inning that knocked Tim Lincecum out of the game and also plated three runs in the sixth inning on Alex Castellanos’ three-run homer. Skip Schumaker and non-roster hopeful Jeremy Moore both hit two-run doubles during the club’s second-inning rally with Moore going 2-for-2 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBI on the afternoon. On the mound, Josh Beckett threw 27 pitches and struck out three in 2.0 scoreless frames in his first start of the spring.

HILLTOPPERS: Aaron Harang will make his 2013 debut this afternoon after going 10-10 with a career-best 3.61 ERA in 31 starts last season with the Dodgers. Harang made just one start against the Cubs last year and did not factor in the decision despite allowing just two runs in 6.0 innings in an eventual 4-3 Dodger loss on May 6 at Wrigley Field. In his career, the 35-year-old right-hander has thrown more innings against the Cubs than any other big league club (165.2 IP), going 11-8 with a 4.40 ERA in 26 starts against Chicago.

• RHP Ronald Belisario is expected to make his second appearance of the spring this afternoon after allowing two runs on three hits in 1.0 inning on Saturday against the White Sox. Belisario did not allow a hit or a run in three appearances against the Cubs last season, walking one and striking out four in 3.0 frames.
• RHP Mark Lowe tossed a scoreless inning on Saturday against the White Sox and will be making his second appearance of the spring. Lowe, a seven-year big league veteran, is in his first season with Los Angeles after two-plus years with the Rangers.
• RHP Javy Guerra will make his 2013 debut today after having his 2012 season cut short by an oblique injury. Guerra has been successful in 29 of 36 save opportunities in his career and his 2.45 ERA is the 15th lowest mark among NL relievers during the past two seasons.
• RHP Matt Magill enters the season rated as the Dodgers’ No. 9 prospect by Baseball America and will make his second appearance of the spring after striking out three in 1.1 scoreless frames on Saturday against the White Sox. Magill was a 2012 Double-A Southern League All-Star and was honored as the league’s pitcher of the week on three occasions last year, going 11-8 with a 3.75 ERA in 26 starts for Chattanooga.

(pic link: Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2013)

LET’S GET IT GOING DODGER FANS!: Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp advanced to the finals of MLB Network’s #FaceofMLB and is currently trailing Cincinnati’s Joey Votto in MLB Network’s bracket to decide who the Face of MLB is. The online hashtag battle (#MattKemp) runs through Friday. Start tweeting!

TODAY ON THE DIAL: None TODAY ON THE TUBE: None LACE ‘EM UP: Tomorrow morning is the Dodgers’ annual open tryout in which any ballplayer can come to the fields and attempt to earn a minor league contract. Registration will begin promptly at 8 a.m. with the tryout taking place at 9 a.m. on the minor league back fields. Players just have to bring their own uniform and then dazzle the staff.

MAJORING IN THE MINORS: The Dodgers will have six minor leaguers joining the club in Mesa today with outfielder Matt Angle (#82), infielders Rafael Ynoa (#83) and Rusty Ryal (#84) and pitchers RHP Angel Sanchez (#87), LHP Eric Eadington (#88) and RHP Red Patterson (#89). Today will be a homecoming of sorts for Eadington, Patterson and Ynoa, who played in Mesa during their stints last fall in the Arizona Fall League. Ynoa, 25, led the Solar Sox with a .330 batting average, 32 hits, four triples, 20 RBI in 27 games.

WORTH WATCHING: Today’s game will not be televised or on the radio in Los Angeles, but tomorrow’s 1:05 pm game (12:05 pm PT) can be seen on PRIME TICKET and heard on AM 570 Fox Sports Los Angeles. During tomorrow’s telecast, an excerpt of a special interview will air featuring a pair of Hall of Famers, Vin Scully and Sandy Koufax.

• Yesterday, team photographer Jon SooHoo shot a once-in-a-lifetime photo with legendary Dodgers Maury Wills and Sandy Koufax, Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin, Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda and Team Travel Advisor Billy Delury that represented more than three hundred combined years of service to the club. That photo along with SooHoo’s daily photo galleries can be viewed on Dodgers.com.

(pic link: Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2013)

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Dodgers' Open Tryouts Tomorrow!

I know this is a late note, but for those of you who think you have the right stuff to wear Dodger Blue might want to drop what you're doing and head over to Arizona - like now!  Tomorrow is the Dodgers' annual open tryout.  Anybody can come to the field in hopes of "wowing" the Dodgers' staff. 


Registration starts at 8:00 AM and the tryout begins an hour later at 9:00 AM on the minor league back fields.  You must bring your own uniform and equipment.

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 2/27/2013

 

Chris Olds at Beckett.com shares even more pics from 2012 Panini National Treasures Baseball.  This set officially goes live today, so you should be able to find them in hobby stores soon, if not now.  Above are Duke Snider and Burleigh Grimes game-used jersey button cards, and below are Leo Durocher and Wee Willie Keeler book cards.  BTW, I believe the Snider card above is a base card.  Also, this set is not licensed by MLB, so you will not see any team logos.  Nevertheless, the cards that I have seen look very sharp and I hardly miss the logos.

• Eno Sarris at FanGraphs suggest that Hanley Ramirez should play shortstop.

The Dodgers might be losing a few runs here or there due to Hanley Ramirez playing at shortstop despite his bad range to his right. With a good defender to his right, though, that negativity is mitigated. And by showing him a little positivity, maybe the Dodgers will reap the best Ramirez has to offer. 

• This is a daily must-see.  Check out Jon SooHoo's pics from yesterday at Camelback Ranch.
• Via JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers, they plan on bringing back the Hollywood Stars Game in 2014.  YEAH!!!  All I ask is that they play Baseball, not softball!

“We have an awful lot of celebrities at our games,” Kasten said. “People that I know from TV and movies. … You associate that with the Lakers; you see them at courtside and you see them dolled up like they’re going to a Hollywood premiere. All the makeup, all the glamour, all the jewelry and all of that. Those same people come to Dodger games. You don’t notice it because they’re in jeans and a T-shirt and a baseball cap without a lot of frills. I’m telling you, I have met star after star after star of TV shows and movies and they are blending in because there’s a different way to go to a baseball game — a more comfortable, more relaxing, more natural way — than to other events.”

• I love seeing other folks photos from Spring Training.  Here, Alex Cora at Sons of Steve Garvey share his.
• via Dan Kaplan at Sports Business Journal, Chavez Ravine is now being considered as a possible site for a new Football Stadium.  Please... Say it ain't so! Also, the below line in the article greatly troubles me.

It’s unclear if the league would want the Dodgers to leave Chavez Ravine if an NFL team moved in. Guggenheim is planning to spend a low-nine-figure sum renovating Dodger Stadium, so that would seem an odd investment if the stadium were to be torn down to make way for an NFL venue.

I don't mean to go on a rant here, but as far as I'm concerned the NFL gave Angelenos a big "middle finger" when they let those other teams leave, and as a result I could give a flying "f***" if a NFL team ever comes back to LA.  I am a firm believer that NO citizen (tax dollar) funds should ever be used to build a stadium; especially after witnessing what the Marlins owner did to Miami.  I consider the spending of those funds for that purpose to be welfare for millionaires, with little prospect of a fair return for taxpayers.

• Manny Ramirez to play in Taiwan, via David Brown at Big League Stew.  
• Nick Diunte at Examiner.com reports on former Negro Leaguer Rev. William "Bill" Greason's recent speech in New Jersey.  (Hat Tip: Baseball Happenings)

An increasingly rare opportunity to witness one of the legends who played in the Negro Leagues tell their story live and in-person came to Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on Saturday in Mullica Hill, N.J. Eighty-eight-year-old Rev. William “Bill” Greason, former pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons and St. Louis Cardinals, delivered an impressive sermon for their "Take the Mystery out of Black History" event in which baseball, race, and spirituality were effortlessly intertwined.

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Another New Vin Scully Baseball Card from Panini

For the second time in as many months Panini releases a Baseball card set that includes a Vin Scully insert card for adoring fans to gawk over.  Check it out above.  This past November they released their Cooperstown set that included a Scully insert and autographed card (see them here).

It is from Panini's 2012 National Treasures Baseball set (see a complete checklist here), and it officially becomes available today at your local hobby store.  Apparently, this is the only card of him in the entire set, and it is very limited (just to 20 copies).  As you can see, it includes Scully's portrait and an autograph "cut" from one of his old banking checks.

BTW, National Treasures is a very high-end Baseball card set.  An unopened box of cards will run you about $350.00, and you get only one pack it it.  So, this is definitely for collectors with some cash to burn.  On the plus side, that one pack is filled with "hits" - literally.  Each pack includes 8 cards, and all 8 cards will either have a relic, autograph or a combination of the two.  Heck, even the base cards are hits.  Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll have pics of all of them to share here.

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