Monday, January 29, 2018

Blog Kiosk: 1/29/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends


The crush of fans at the Dodgers FanFest on Saturday was overwhelming. So much so, it was almost impossible to traverse the outfield -- let alone the stadium concourse. Nevertheless, it seems that most folks had a great time. It has been announced that over 35,000 were in attendance. Wow! Stay tuned as I'll have my pics from the day up soon.

Photo above via @Dodgers on twitter. Below are more links to check out:
  • This Day in Dodgers History: In 1961 one-time Dodger Max Carey, along with deadball era outfielder Billy Hamilton, are elected in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Carey played four seasons in Brooklyn, slashing .260/.346/.339/.685 with three homers and 81 RBI's, and managed the club from 1932-1933. He recorded a 146-161 record as the Dodgers skipper. In 1967 former Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, along with Pirates outfielder Lloyd Waner, are elected by the Veterans Committee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. BTW, Waner was a Dodger for a short time in 1944 -- having had 17 plate appearances in 15 games and slashing .286/.412/.286/.697. In 1988 the Dodgers signed free agent outfielder Kirk Gibson to a three-year $4.5MM contract.
  • Happy Birthday, Henry Medicus, Bill Krieg, Ray Hayworth, Hank Edwards, Steve Sax, Jason Schmidt & Mike Bolsinger!
  • Via Perry Vandell at AZ Central; "Glendale buys land high, sells low to Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers."
A company formed by the two Major League Baseball teams is expected to purchase the 38-acre dirt lot along Camelback Road, at the southeast corner of their Glendale-owned spring-training ballpark. 
Camelback Spring Training LLC will pay Glendale $3.3 million for the land, but the city stands to net only $260,000 from the sale.
Jansen was asked about one of those teams, the Marlins, who with a brand new ownership group, have completely slashed payroll by dealing the best outfield in baseball — Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich — plus second baseman Dee Gordon.
That’s what prompted the headliner quote from Jansen, which seemed more of a thought experiment than a call to action. 
“That’s the thing we might have to address, so we don’t have that many Marlins doing this. Maybe it’s an adjustment for us, as the players union. Maybe we have to go on strike, to be honest with you. That’s how I feel about it,” Jansen said. “Maybe we should go on strike to fix everything. Maybe not. I think we have to address that with the union. I’m not going to say that to you guys.”
  • ICYMI: The MLB Network named two Dodgers to their "Top 10 Catchers Right Now!" list -- Yasmani Grandal (#4) and Austin Barnes (#6). Per a MLB press release:
On Barnes, MLB Network analyst and 13-year MLB veteran catcher Dave Valle said, “I didn’t expect this much from this young player. …I didn’t expect the offense that he was able to bring for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.”
“Obviously, Yasmani (Grandal) got the lion’s share of the work throughout the season, but if you look back at the postseason, Austin (Barnes) played the most,” said Roberts. “And I think that was a decision we made because we felt that the last part of the season Austin was playing better. But I know that Yasmani is coming here and expecting to win his job back. So, I think they both look at it as a competition, and that’s a good thing.”

"Just wanted to reiterate to him, 'Be open-minded,' " Roberts said at the team's FanFest at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. "It's a different clubhouse than when he left. There's a lot of good players. He just assured me that all he wants to do is be on a winner. The opportunity to come back to Los Angeles is a dream that he never thought could happen."
The dream is far from reality. The possibility of Kemp opening the season on the Dodgers roster remains remote, according to people familiar with the situation. The Dodgers did not invite Kemp to FanFest because the organization did not want to put him in the awkward position of answering questions about his status, according to a team official. But with spring training only three weeks away, Kemp looks bound for Camelback Ranch.


Storey and his son Zach run their own construction business. In Sedona on a job, they got drift that Wills was a Village of Oak Creek resident – and that Wills lives near a job they were working.
It took Storey a lot to introduce himself to Wills one day. 
“I knocked on his door,” Storey says. “His wife came to the door. Talked to her for a bit. Then Maury came to the door.”


HN: Is it a little mind-boggling to be climbing the Dodger management ladder so rapidly?
BG: This is certainly is not the typical path. So like I said, I’m very humbled and I know how fortunate I am to be given this opportunity. It’s been great. Andrew (Friedman) and Farhan (Zaidi), I can’t imagine two better people to work for. Just very brilliant. Just good people, first and foremost. They’ve been tremendous leaders and being able to use them as resources to learn and grow on my part has been extremely helpful. They’re just extremely sharp, tremendous people skills. They think outside the box and get creative. They’ve built great cultures at all of the stops that they’ve been at. Like I said, I don’t think I could have asked for a better position, to be working under two people like that.

  • Watch Cody Bellinger receive his Rookie of the Year Award over the weekend, via MLB.com: 



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By at Monday, January 29, 2018
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