“I talked it over with my wife, Sandi, and my family and we’ve decided to do it again in 2016,” Scully said. “There’s no place like home and Dodger Stadium and we look forward to being a part of it with all of our friends.”It'll be his 67th season with the franchise. On a sad note, Vin also said that next season may very well be his last. Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:
"I would say realistically, and I don't want any headlines, but I would say realistically that next year would be the last year," Scully said. "How long can you go on fooling people? I would say, 'Dear God, if you give me next year, I'll hang it up."The photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015. Below are more links to check out:
"If I didn't know how great a baseball player I know I am, I wouldn't be here trying to show off my skills to somebody," Linares said.
Watch the youtube video below featuring Linares. I can't help but think we're all being trolled.
"Howie has kind of plateaued a little bit, where he can run 90-95 percent but isn't yet all the way there," manager Don Mattingly. "We were kind of hoping he'd be playing baseball by Sunday, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So it's probably a few extra days for Howie."
With regards to Seager, Mattingly acknowledged that he's though about him coming in to play 3rd base.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) will play host to 1,000 California Masons and their friends and families. As a result of a friendly fundraising competition among the region’s lodges, athletes in LADF’s Dodgers RBI program will receive nearly 2,000 baseball gloves for their 2016 season. The California Masons will present the check on field to Carl Crawford, a former RBI player, and they will throw the first pitch. 
Tuesday's game starts at 7:10 PM. Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and
stadium gates open at 5:10 PM. The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Justin Turner bobblehead. See it on the left.
Dodger alum Matt Luke will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Dodger alum Al Ferrara will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
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"I felt it a little more than when I hurt it in Oakland," Puig said in Spanish. "... It wasn't that severe that time. Now, God willing, this one isn't that severe, either."
"It's good," Gonzalez said. "It started to swell a little bit and we didn't want it to swell too much. Take today off and be able to play [Friday] rather than play the rest of the game not feeling good."
Votto has heard the complaints about Pederson’s batting average. Early in his career, he cared only about his home runs and his average. Now, he cares not, preferring to focus on the direction and trajectory of the balls he puts into play, and how much he’s striking out and walking. Those are the elements he can control. He cannot fully control his average, which sunk to .255 a year ago before returning to MVP-like levels this season. And neither can Pederson.
“He’s doing so many other valuable things,” Votto said. “He plays center field, he hits for power, he gets on base, and you can’t ignore that. Nobody wants to see a low batting average, because it doesn’t reflect well, but you can’t deny the value of what he’s doing.
In his 26th appearance of the year, Greinke lowered his ERA to 1.61. Since 1968, the five-lowest season-ending ERAs were Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968, Dwight Gooden's 1.53 in '85, Greg Maddux's 1.56 in '94, Luis Tiant's 1.60 in '68 and Maddux's 1.63 in '95.
The way I figure, it comes to four things. Very slightly, the Dodgers have underachieved with men on base. They've been a bad baserunning team. They've very infrequently reached on errors. And then some of this is probably just simple bad luck. Combine those and I imagine you can account for the missing half-run a game. You at least get close. That's why the Dodgers haven't scored as many runs as you'd think.
For the series against Chicago, Levy Restaurants will offer the Chicago Style Dog, a quarter-pound all-beef Super Dodger Dog served on a poppy seed bun with fresh tomato slices, sports peppers, a pickle spear and topped with neon green relish, diced onions and drizzled with mustard and celery salt. The Chicago Style Dog will be on sale through Sunday at Extreme Loaded Dogs locations on field, loge and reserve levels.
Friday's game starts at 7:10 PM. Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and
stadium gates open at 5:10 PM. It is Friday Night Fireworks, so fans
will be able to go down onto the
field after the game to watch the spectacle. The theme will be "Summer Songs." Go here for information about future firework themes.
As part of Social Media Night, a photo area with a @Dodgers logo step-and-repeat and an oversized Instagram frame will be located in the right-field plaza for fans to take and upload photos using Friday’s official hashtag, #DodgersSocial from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Saturday's game starts at 6:10 PM. Auto gates open at 3:40 PM, and
stadium gates open at 4:10 PM.
DJ Adam will provide entertainment in the right-field plaza, DJ Lady Sha will be in the left-field reserve plaza, a yo-yo artist will be in the left-field plaza, and classic rock band The Trip will play in the right-field reserve plaza from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 
Sunday's game starts at 5:05 PM. Auto gates open at 2:40 PM, and
stadium gates open at 3:10 PM. The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Dodgers headphone. See it on the left. 
It is also Jewish Community Night at Dodger Stadium. Folks who ordered a special ticket
package in the All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion or Infield Reserve
will get an exclusive Jewish Community t-shirt with your ticket. See that on
the right. If not already sold out go here for information.
As part of Jewish Community Day, Rabbi Avi Stewart, rabbi and cantor of the Westwood Kehilla, will perform the national anthem. Actor Anthony Anderson will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
“See, here’s what I always heard. Dan was scared to death that he was going to hit a white boy with a pitch,” Buck O’Neil said in Joe Posnanski’s, ‘The Soul of Baseball.’ “He thought there might be some sort of riot if he did it. Dan was from Alabama just like your father. But Satchel became a man of the world. Dan was always from Alabama, you know what I mean? He heard all those people calling him names, making those threats, and he was scared. He’d seen black men get lynched.”
"You try to stay with those guys, knowing they have the stuff," Mattingly said. "We have some youth, but we also have a couple guys who are capable of getting hot, and that's really what we need -- for a couple guys to really get hot and allow us to put some combinations out there."
"My bad habit is when I have free time, I tinker, tinker, tinker to make my swing the best I can," said Ellis. "The problem with that is that I'm in between swings every time I go to the plate. I made the decision to make it simple, and I feel I really took off."
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"He's 100 percent right about that," Rollins said of Kershaw's advice. "It's almost like cruise control a little bit at times. It isn't because of effort, every team goes through that. When it's recognized, guys call that out, and you get back on the grind. Now the marathon is over and it's a five-week sprint. We're out front, and everybody is gunning for just that one spot. We have to show why we're the better team every single night."Photo above via @Dodgers on twitter. Below are some more links to check out:
"When Kersh says we should play with panic -- I'd say a sense of urgency -- it tells you that he's not real happy with the urgency we're playing with, or the lack of urgency," said Mattingly.
"I think Kersh is one of our leaders. When he speaks, guys tend to listen to him for the respect they have for him, the way he goes about his business and the way he backs it up on the field. You would hope you have a number of guys that feel the same way, not just Kersh. When you get in tough situations, they're the guys that do things right. Obviously, Kersh is a huge voice."
“We’re in a time when we need to win ballgames and put the best team out there and that’s not me right now,” Pederson said. “I can live with that.”
...
“I think that I really struggled right before the All-Star break and right after. There were some things that were just baseball. You hit it hard, it goes at them. You strike out a lot. Some things don’t go your way,” Pederson said. “But it’s the past. It’s not a big deal. I need to continue to grow as a player.”
But then begins the hard part — combing through more than 10,000 games to find the 50 greatest — whatever that means. “I kind of had an idea of three games I thought would be the top three,” he said.
And then I had a list of maybe 25 others that I didn’t have to do much research on. The back-half, however, were games I had never heard of or simply didn’t realize the Dodgers had been the opposing team in. Some were actually embarrassing to admit I didn’t realize the Dodgers had played in.”
Widely regarded as one of the finest shortstops of all time, Vaughan was the NL batting champ in 1935, with an astonishing .385, so rare for a man playing his position. Contemporary Luke "Ol' Aches and Pains" Appling of the White Sox was another one of those mythical beasts, winning the AL title the following year with .388, but I digress.
Vaughan is also one of the tragic figures of baseball, having drowned in a lake fishing accident soon after retiring.
What I didn't know was that Arky missed the 1944-46 seasons, which I assumed was due to WWII. But no, it was due to a weird, toxic incident with Dodgers manager Leo Durocher. Vaughan was a natural leader among his teammates, quiet, protective, respectful and a commanding presence.
In July 1943, Durocher suspended pitcher Bobo Newsom for 3 games for loudly complaining about catcher Bobby Bragan's defensive skills. But then Durocher said some angry things about Newsom in a newspaper, which infuriated Vaughan, no manager should speak ill of his own players, particularly after suspending him for the exact same behavior, and much less in print!
So Arky took off his uniform, stormed into Durocher's office, threw the clothes at him and said "Take this uniform and shove it right up your ass". Branch Rickey intervened and Arky finished the season, but then he retired to his ranch in California.
Then check this out, when Durocher was suspended from baseball in 1947 (for being married and having a mistress), Vaughan returned to the Dodgers after missing three whole seasons! Batted .325 as a part-time player, rusty skills and all, the man was a natural.
Here's Jackie on Vaughan:
He was one of the fellows who went out of his way to be nice to me when I came in here as a rookie. Believe me, I needed it. He was a fine fellow.
Nicasio has been on the disabled list since Aug. 10 with a left abdominal strain and has gone 1-3 with one save and a 3.06 ERA in 38 games (one start) this year.
But, of course, Dodgers fans don't want to hear that and simply trusting in a regression to the mean when the season is reduced to six weeks seems risky. Change will come, but it might come from within. The most interesting potential fix is to promote the team's best pitching prospect, 19-year old Julio Urias.
This is actually quite routine. When Fernando Valenzuela first came up in 1980 he pitched out of the bullpen, so doing this has some precedence.
Dodgers minor league pitcher Jharel Cotton got the call on Friday, when Double-A Tulsa manager Razor Shines told the right-hander he was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. If Cotton keeps up his breakout season, it might not be the last such meeting he has in 2015.
"He told me I'm going to Triple-A to relieve out of the pen, and hopefully the Dodgers like what they see," Cotton said. "It's great to know that."
With every press-box dining room being a reflection of the person who runs it, Dave's Diner is like a big hug. It is a place where the lowliest of workers can joke with Scully, where Tom Lasorda's voice still booms with glee, where Hefley and her husband Billy occupy one corner table, where Fernando Valenzuela can be found chowing at another one, where scouts gossip and writers complain and many folks just mill about until the first pitch.Below are some links to check out:
Dave Pearson created this space with a gentle, easygoing manner that matches his simple delicacies. He personally serves the broadcasters in a separate side room so Scully can at least eat in peace, yet he treats everyone as if they were a Hall of Famer, as he spends most of his time standing at the end of the food line shaking hands and telling stories.
“I hope we’re panicking a little bit. I think panic’s a good thing, to a certain extent,” Kershaw said. “It’s August whatever-it-is and we have five weeks and whatever it is, too. There needs to be a sense of urgency — maybe that’s better to say than panic.
“I feel like we have to start playing like that.”
That's the situation Joc Pederson faces right now, as he was held out of the Dodgers' lineup for a second consecutive game on Sunday despite a right-handed pitcher taking the mound for the Astros.
Kiké Hernandez again got the start in center field, and manager Don Mattingly all but outright said that's his preferred lineup going forward.
"It's that time of year. Kiké's just been swinging the bat better, and he's a comparable defender. It's just one of those things we have to do at this point," Mattingly said.
"I'm still going to try to match up Joc [with righties] ... but Kiké's earned at-bats. We feel like he gives us a better chance to win."
I noticed last night in myself a sense of resignation as Fiers pitched the no-hitter last night. While other Dodgers fans flailed around in a panic, I didn't care all that much. Yes, it sucked that the Dodgers were being no-hit (especially at the same time the devil magic Giants get HRs from their pitchers), but my overriding emotion was "Yes! I have a lead story for the cover of tonight's sports section!"
That's what happens in the middle of August, when you're staring at preseason football and little else.
I just don't feel the humiliation of a no-hitter anymore. My feelings of depression and embarrassment have faded over the years. I decided to explore that by studying the times that the Dodgers have been no-hit since I've been following baseball.
Awesome!“When I talk to them, I don’t lollipop them. I get on them good. No sir, if you want me to talk to the team they’re going to hear from me,” Lasorda said. “I said, ‘You guys from this date until next year, I will probably speak to a million people. If you’re not in the Super Bowl, I’m going to tell a million people how lousy you guys are.’”
Zack's statement helped me and his other new teammates realize exactly what kind of guy he is. Small talk doesn’t interest him and he chooses his words very carefully. He doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean. He’s not overly positive or cocky. Rather, he’s very down to earth, and fully self-aware -- and he is as quick to critique himself as he is to realize when he’s executed something to perfection. Those who don’t take the time to get to know him miss just how much he brings to the table when he talks. He’s realistic, measured and unflinchingly honest.
“His stats are impressive … the most impressive thing to me is his ability to not only recognize pitches in the strike zone but to separate pitches that are “attack” pitches and those that are “defensive” pitches,” Cougill said via email. “So many hitters work on developing the ability to recognize ball and strike but commit to strikes that they can’t attack.”
"You always have to go through these difficulties, but the people who are next to me trust me and support me," Puig said in Spanish.
The psycho Duggar family...the gift that keeps on giving.
— Brett Anderson (@BrettAnderson35) August 20, 2015
On August 20, 1945 a fresh faced 17-year-old shortstop, who had already debuted in Dodger Blue the season prior at the age of 16-years and seven months, became the youngest MLB ballplayer to hit a home run in a game. His name is Tommy Brown and he was 17-years and 257 days old when he did it. BTW, he is also the second youngest when he hit home run #2 five days later.Tommy Brown was a local kid; he was born December 6, 1927, in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. He never knew his father and was raised primarily by an aunt and uncle. He quit school at a young age to work with his uncle unloading barges on the docks of New York. Brown spent his free time playing baseball on the pavement and cobblestone streets and in the famous Brooklyn Parade Grounds. The Dodgers held open tryouts there in 1943 and a friend who played first base on Tommy’s team talked Brown into going with him. They joined about 2,500 other kids and Brown arrived without a glove or spikes, items he did not own. After three days the Dodgers told him and a handful of others that they would hear from the team. Brown was only fifteen years old. Over the winter, the club offered him a chance to attend spring training in Bear Mountain, New York. His “bonus” was the 25-cent fee for the ferry.Below are his career statistics, via Baseball Reference:
Below are some links to check out:"I think it would be a lot of fun," Rollins said. "One, he loved this team, went to school at UCLA, plays well at Dodger Stadium, actually beats up the Dodgers. If everything goes through and he's here, it would be nice to see him play home games in a place he's comfortable playing.
"He can add a lot. Hopefully, No. 1 first and foremost, if he's healthy and in a good place. That being the case, the way he's swung the bat, the way he's been playing, we can use it, anybody can. He's a tough guy. More than anything, there will be some new excitement in the clubhouse. He'll have the chance to play meaningful baseball late in the year. It's what we all want."
Sweeney was hitting .271 with nine homers, 30 doubles, 32 stolen bases and 49 RBI in 116 games this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. The 24-year-old was the Dodgers’ 13th-round selection out of the University of Central Florida in 2012.
Richy, the Dodgers’ third-round draft selection out of UNLV in 2014, was 10-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 22 games (18 starts) for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga this season. The right-hander pitched for Rookie-level Ogden and Single-A Great Lakes in 2014.
- On why they targeted Utley: “It’s everything. Beyond the numbers, he’s always been a very good defensive second baseman … he’s shown that range (since he came back from the disabled list). His quality of at-bats has been near the top of the league. We made it a point to stack our lineup with players who have quality at-bats. He’s always hit well at Dodger Stadium.
- “I think we have all the elements of a really good team. We got out of the gates really strong, and we’ve had stretches in other parts of the season where we did certain things well and struggled in other areas. I think we still have talent to bookend our season with a stretch … where we’re firing on all cylinders. We think we have the ingredients of a really good team, and it’s going to come down to execution.”
"It was pretty good news today, it feels like," Mattingly said. "This is way less than last time, it seems like. At this point, he's calling it, 'very mild,' and the MRI is not showing a whole lot and Yasiel looks good."
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Sources: #Phillies, #Dodgers talking about Utley for two minor leaguers, with LAD assuming ~$2M of Utley’s remaining ~$6M obligation.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 19, 2015
Now we hear that said proposal has been agreed upon but not yet confirmed or official, via Jon Heyman on twitter. And with that, I'll assume that the great chase is over. Utley will be a Dodger, and I imagine the Long Beach native is tickled pink... er, Blue.Utley, 36, has been one of the game’s very best players of the last decade. Over his 6,617 career plate appearances, he has produced at a 124 wRC+ clip. With stellar defense also a key component of his value, Utley has racked up over 60 WAR in 13 seasons.Check out this great article by Bill Shaikin of the LA Times from 2008 about how he coulda/shoulda been a Dodger, here. An excerpt is below:
But that outstanding production slowed somewhat last year and fell off a cliff in 2015 as Utley dealt with nagging ankle issues. He ultimately hit the DL for a stretch as his performance continued to suffer. All told, Utley carries a career-worst .617 OPS on the season.
Things have been trending up, however, since Utley returned from the DL. He’s slashed a robust .484/.485/.742 over 31 plate appearances in the month of August. That’s a small sample, of course, but it does suggest he’s healthy, and Utley obviously has an outstanding and lengthy track record of success.
The Dodgers took Utley in the second round in 1997. He said no to the Dodgers, yes to UCLA.It is still unknown who the two prospects are, but it is thought that they will be decent players.
Terry Reynolds, then the Dodgers' scouting director, said Utley had agreed to sign, then took a trip to Mexico. When he returned, Reynolds said, Utley had changed his mind.
Utley said he could not remember the details of his decision to turn down the Dodgers.
"It came down to the opportunity to go to college during college age," he said. "They said I could always go back. I wanted a normal college experience. I figured, if baseball was meant to be, there would still be that opportunity after college."
