Blog Kiosk: 9/30/2016 - Dodgers Links - Kershaw, Reddick, Toles, Puig and Vin Scully

Before the start of yesterdays game a nice little moment happened between a young fan and Yasiel Puig.  As you can see in the pic above, the Dodger fan held up a sign offering to do push-ups in exchange for a bat.  Obviously, Puig couldn't help but take the bait.  So, he negotiated an exchange.  For 50 push-ups he would get one of his bats.  You can go here to watch the kid complete the task -- all the while, Puig provided all the encouragement he could muster.

BTW, the Dodgers defeated the Padres, 9-4, to remain just a couple games behind the Nationals for home field advantage during the upcoming NLDS.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out a more pics of yesterdays game taken by Jon SooHoo.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1923 Ebbets Field in Brooklyn held Zach Wheat Day in honor of the retiring Hall of Fame outfielder.  In 1956 Don Newcombe won his 27th game of the season.  He defeated the Pirates, 8-6, at Forbes Field.  In 1999 the Dodgers Giants play the very last Baseball game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.  The Dodgers defeated the Gnats, 9-4.
• Happy Birthday. Johnny Podres, José Lima, Kenley Jansen and Nap Rucker!
• Audio:  Listen to Tom Goldman speak with Dodger fans about the retirement of VIn Scully. (Link Here)
• Video: Watch Joe Davis' sign-off on his last broadcast this season, via Chad Moriyama on Streamable.  He thanks the fans and spends a bunch of time talking about Vin Scully.  (Link Here)
• Starting last night at midnight the Dodger Insider blog began their Vinathon that will include hourly post featuring photos, videos and stories on anything and everything related to the retiring Vin Scully.  Go here to check them all out. (Link Here)
• Via Julie DiCaro at Culturess; "How Vin Scully Saved My Sanity and Made Me a Better Mother." 

But at night, I would sit in front of the open window, feeding my baby, and let Vin’s voice, his stories, his memories of baseball from a time gone by, wash over me. It got to be a ritual every night in which I could lose myself, float up out of my body and hover somewhere in the warm wind over Chavez Ravine, just listening to Vin and thinking about baseball. It was better than meditation. It was (almost) as good as sleep. I could begin to relax, feeling some of the frustration with my never-quiet, never-sleeping, never-happy baby start to dissolve. As Vin would talk, I would unwind. Those few hours of relaxation every night recharged my soul, kept me going, and allowed me to be the mother I wanted to be the other twenty-one hours of the day. 

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com; "LA's Jarrin looks back at 58 seasons in booth: MLB's longest-tenured broadcaster plans on making it 60 years, maybe more."
• This really isn't a surprise.  Via Carlos Collazo at MLB.com; "Roberts adds Toles to LA's NLDS roster." 

"He's done nothing to disappoint," Roberts said before the Dodgers' 9-4 win over the Padres at Petco Park. "He's been great: offensively, defensively, running the bases. But I still want him getting out there, and see his name on a Major League lineup."

(pic via Jon SooHoo/Dodgers 2016)

• Via Doug Padilla at ESPN; "Don't bunt? Dodgers' Josh Reddick says you can't be so literal."

Reddick said the shirt was meant to honor the wacky “Baseball Wisdom” videos on YouTube. He found the shirt online, and it has kind of taken on a life of its own, helped, of course, by the fact that he wore it when he went up to see Scully, while the Hall of Fame broadcaster was wearing a dress shirt and tie.

“I’m a man for funny T-shirts,” Reddick said. “I follow (the shirt’s message) just most of the way. If something like that comes around or if I have to do it, then I do it. It’s all about whatever it takes.”

• Via Tony Blengino at FanGraphs; "Clayton Kershaw and the NL Cy Young Award."

The numbers are almost laughable. In a season when over 100 players have hit 20 home runs, Clayton Kershaw has put up a line for the ages. Through Tuesday: a 1.65 ERA, 1.67 FIP, a nearly unthinkable 168:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The only blemish is his low innings total, resulting from the back injury that cost him a substantial part of the summer. With no one seeming to run and hide with the NL Cy Young Award, it’s only natural to ask whether Kershaw might still be a worthy recipient of the hardware.

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *

* Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook *

* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *