Dodgers Blue Heaven: May 16, 2015

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Blog Kiosk: 5/16/2015 - Dodger Links - Ethier, Dodgers' Hello Kitty Plush Doll and a Fan Ejection?

Here is a fantastic vintage press photo taken by International News, dated March 1, 1954, that I ran across on eBay. It features several Dodger greats getting some needed practice before the season starts. After having an impressive rookie campaign the season prior, Junior Gilliam looks to be showing a couple of pitchers how to slide. After all, all reports I've read indicate that Gilliam had a high Baseball-IQ, and just naturally seemed to understand every part of the game. Below is what is written on the caption attached to the reverse:

SLIDE, JUNIOR, SLIDE--Vero Beach, Florida.....Second baseman Junior Gilliam slides in under the watchful eye of Field Director Al Campanis at the Dodgers training quarters as pitchers Don Newcombe and Joe Black watch.

Below are some links to check out:

Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Dodgers announce rain-delay ticket offer for May 25-27 Braves series."
ICYMI: Kenley Jansen has been reinstated from the DL and reliever Daniel Coulombe has been options back to AAA, via a tweet from @DodgersPR.
Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, "Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier is playing like old self."

"It's frustrating, but not everything's going to go good and go the way you want it to be," he said. "You have to grind through things. You're going to have ups and down, not only in the course of the year but in the course of your career. You have to figure out a way to ride them out and keep fighting and keep finding a way to improve and make adjustments."

Here's an early peek at the Hello Kitty plush Dodger doll that is being given away to fans on Wednesday, July 8th against the Phillies. Check out the Dodgers promotional schedule here.
Benjamin Hill at Ben's Biz Blog recently visited Historic Dodgertown and shared a bunch of pics. Check them out here.
I wonder if this could potentially be big news for Dodger fans; especially to those who have been locked out due to the cable situation? Via Timothy Burke at Deadspin, "Judge Grants Class-Action Status To Sports TV Blackout Antitrust Case." Jon Brodkin at Arstechnica also writes about the lawsuit in more detail.
This is for the Baseball history buffs out there. Via Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily, "(Masnori) Murakami to Return to U.S. for Autographs." Masnori was the first Japanese born player to appear in the major leagues, and he has just finished a new book on his experiences.
Via David Seideman at Forbes, "Weighing The Risks and Rewards of Investing In Today's Vintage Baseball Card Boom."
During Thursday's game at the bottom of the ninth inning the home plate umpire is seen moving towards the fans behind him and looked to be motioning at a fan. The initial reaction by most is that he tried to have a fan ejected from the game; which is rare but certainly within his purview. I spent some time trying to find out about the incident and came across the below post on reddit, here. It appears that the flash used by a fan was the problem. DodgerFilms makes note of the incident at the 10:13 mark in this video here.