I had failed to mention that yesterday was the eight year anniversary of the legendary exhibition game between the Dodgers and Red Sox at the LA Coliseum. 115,300 fans were in attendance; establishing a new MLB record.
Featured above is a AP press photo taken of the stadium during the Dodgers very first home game on April 18, 1958 against the Giants, via an auction listing on eBay. 78,672 fans attended that game.
Below are more links to check out:
- Sports Illustrated shares a bunch of great Jackie Robinson photos here.
- Via Matthew Delmont at the Atlantic, "When Jackie Robinson Confronted a Trump-Like Candidate."
“A new breed of Republicans has taken over the GOP,” Robinson wrote just after Goldwater claimed his party’s nomination. “It is a new breed which is seeking to sell to Americans a doctrine which is as old as mankind—the doctrine of racial division, the doctrine of racial prejudice, the doctrine of white supremacy.” He continued, “If I could couch in one single sentence the way I felt, watching this controlled steam-roller operation roll into high gear, I would put it this way, I would say that I now believe I know how it felt to be a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.”
- Via Ryan Bort at Newsweek, "Ken Burns on Jackie Robinson, Donald Trump and History Repeating Itself."
Q: Have you always felt Jackie Robinson is underrated as an activist?
KB: Yes. If you look at it, he represents the beginning of the modern age of the civil rights movement. As we say in the film’s introduction, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, he was “a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom riders.” When he [made his major league debut] on April 15, 1947, there had been a lot of civil rights going on in the 20th century up to that point. But at that moment, Dr. King is still a junior at Morehouse College. Harry Truman hasn’t integrated the military yet. Brown v. Board of Education hasn’t happened. There are not organized sit-ins at lunch counters, although as a teenager Jackie had done that. Rosa Parks is a decade away from refusing to give up a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus—but Jackie did that in 1944. That’s what makes him so seminal.
- Audio: Listen to documentarian Ken Burns on Dodger Talk. He chats about his upcoming Jackie Robinson documentary on PBS. (Link Here)
- Audio: Listen to Kenley Jansen on the LA Today show on AM570. He chats a bit about the bullpen. (Link Here)
- Via Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs, "Welcome Back, Alex Wood."
There are early signs of a velocity bump. Not to a new level, but to an old and familiar level. The spring fastball has had some life to it. The spring changeup has had some life to it. Wood’s breaking ball has changed over time, picking up more power and sacrificing some break, but that doesn’t seem to be an accident. The breaking ball has been a pitch in transition. The other pitches have just gotten stronger.
- Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw remains skeptical about defensive shifts."
“I think just mentally for me I can live with a hard-hit ball getting through a hole as opposed to a soft, cheap ground ball that goes through because no one is playing there because of a shift,” Kershaw said. “Mentally, it’s just easier for me to swallow. You start making excuses in your head like, ‘Ah, I made my pitch.’ You just don’t want to have that in the back of your mind. At least I don’t.”
- DodgersGirl10 takes a brief look at, "The evolution of Kershaw's Autograph."
- Blowout Buzz shares a bunch of preview pics from Topps 2016 Bowman Chrome set (Link Here); including the Urias and Piazza cards below. Go here to check out more.
- I just realized that Topps has gotten involved in the direct sale of authentic autographed pieces to collectors, and they have several different Corey Seager and Kenta Maeda pieces available for sale. Check them all out here. Below are two unique Maeda photo cards they are selling.
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