Blog Kiosk: 5/25/2016 - Dodgers Links - That Strange Game

Last nights game was a mixed bag.

It started out with a fantastic ceremony in honor of the men and women in the armed forces, and included an enlistment ceremony for all four branches.  The photo above, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016, features the ceremony.

Then Mike Bolsinger came in to start his second game of the year and was fantastic.  He went 5.2 innings and gave up three hits, two earned runs and recorded six strike outs to win his first game of the season.  During the game, though, a bunch of weird things happened.  In the sixth inning Yasiel Puig came up to bat with two men on and rocketed a deep fly to right field.  In fact, it was so deep he thought he hit a homer, so instead of running hard out of the box he stood and admired it.  When the ball fell short of the wall he traipsed onto first base instead of the base he should have ended up at.    For his transgression he was benched for the rest of the game. Via Chad Thornburg at MLB.com:

"In my opinion, he should have been on second base," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "When we talk about playing the game the right way, we've got to be accountable. So that was the decision that I made."

BTW, that was a great call by Dave Roberts.  Listen to him talk about it briefly towards the end of this video (video link).  Via Dan Arritt at ESPN:

"I thought it was a home run, and then I didn't run out the ball, obviously," Puig said through an interpreter. "It was [Roberts'] decision to take me out of the game. It was a decision well made, because all my teammates are out on the field working hard, and I should have run out that ball."

(pic via Cespedes BBQ on twitter)

Then in the seventh inning something funny and strange happened.  A paper airplane landed on the infield with the Dodgers at bat, so the resident "no-fun" ballplayer Joey Votto let everyone know what he thought of that.  He stomped on it like an insolent child.  You can watch a gif of it here.  Obviously, Dodger fans booed him.  Then something incredible happened.  They started chanting "airplane stomper."  I kid you not!

I hope quirky chants like this become a tradition at games.  Heck, maybe decades from now fans will still chant this at the Reds... Just for fun.  It'll be like NY Rangers fans who still chant "Potvin Sucks" nearly 30 years after his terrible check against an Islanders player.

Oh... The Dodgers offense came alive and scored eight runs to win their third straight game.  Go here to check out a bunch of great photos from Jon SooHoo from the game.  Below are more links to check:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 2002 Diamondbacks starter Randy Johnson struck out Shawn Green to record his 3,509th career strike out to surpass Hall of Famer Walter Johnson on the all time list.  BTW, Green also hit two homers in the game to become the first Major Leaguer to hit seven round-trippers in three consecutive games.  In 2014 Josh Beckett threw his only career no-hitter against the Phillies.  Watch highlights from the game here.
  
• Via Jordan Kessler at Scoutables; "Trayce Thompson (Roommate Profile, Part 1)."

Trayce’s hot zone covers about half of the entire batter’s box. It would be difficult for a pitcher to avoid that zone altogether. Additionally, the chart shows us that pitchers are trying to get Trayce to chase at pitches high and outside — they are failing. He appears to be laying off those pitches outside of the zone, which contributes to his impressive 9.2% walk rate.

• Via Chad Thornburg at MLB.com; "Van Slyke could return after road trip."
• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA; "Dodgers base stealing well short of expectations."
• Much of this is news to me, and it's making me rethink how I keep my collection.  Check out Tom Bartsch article at Sports Collectors Digest entitled; "Special Care: Baseball HOF Says No to Slabbed Cards."  I already stay away from slabbing due to the issues mentioned in the story, but the stuff about autographed baseballs is enlightening.  I've got a signed Vin Scully Baseball that has noticeably faded over the past 15 years, and I need to do something about it.
• Pure class!  Via Arielle Aronson at FoxSports; "Jason Heyward made Cubs catcher David Ross cry with his retirement gift."  As you may know, former Dodger David Ross is retiring at the end of the season, so teammate Jason Heyward is paying for a suite to house his family for every road game.

"I know how special it is to have teammates like he was my first three years in Atlanta. You don't take it for granted," Heyward told Bleacher Report. "I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, as a teammate and as a friend, for what he's done for me."

• Via Kirk Kenney at the San Diego Union-Tribune; "Chorus wants Padres to reinstate fired DJ."

"We also would like to publicly accept the sincere apology of DJ ARTFORM and recognize his support for the LGBT community and equality for all people. We do not wish to see him lose his job with the San Diego Padres and kindly ask the Padres to reinstate him. Everyone deserves a second chance.

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