Blog Kiosk: 9/5/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

It was nice to see Austin Barnes hit a home run last night. Per Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider:

Barnes became the sixth Dodger catcher since 1908 and the first since Russell Martin in 2008 to hit a home run, steal a base and knock in three runs in the same game. His teammates took it from there, as the Dodgers matched their largest deficit overcome in a win this season. 

“It’s been obviously a frustrating little funk I’ve been in — not really little — but it was nice to contribute,” Barnes said. “To finally put a good AB together and get us back in the game, it felt good, for sure.”

They handily routed the Mets, 11-4, to stay .5 games behind Colorado. This coming weekend they'll be facing the Rockies in another must-win series.

Photo above via Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers 2018 at Dodger Insider. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1908 Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers hurler Nap Rucker threw a no-hitter against the Boston Doves/Braves. He struck out 14 and walked none en route to a 6-0 victory. In 1955 Don Newcombe hit his seventh home run of the season to establish a National League record for home runs by a pitcher in a season. It was a three-run jack in the fourth inning to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Newk would eventually throw a complete game to win his 20th game of the season, 11-4. 
• Happy Birthday, Jimmy Knowles, Ed Stein, Jul Kustus, Merv Shea, Buddy Hassett, Wayne Belardi, Candy Maldonado, Rod Barajas, Randy Choate & Zack Walters!
• Cat Loves the Dodgers shares her pics from yesterday's game here.
• Podcast: Dodger Nation -- KentaFornia | Episode 18 | Blue Heaven Podcast (Podcast Link)
• ICYMI: Yasiel Puig started his two-game suspension yesterday. He'll be back in Dodger Blue for the Colorado series this weekend.
• Well worth your read. Per Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider; "Pedro Baez — yes, Pedro Baez — shows why he belongs."
• This is frustrating. That amazing catch by Todd Frazier of the Mets on Monday against Alex Verdugo was not a catch. Per Jessica Kleinschmidt at Cut4; "Thanks to SNY's Steve Gelbs, we now know what really happened with the Todd Frazier 'catch' into the stands."
• Congrats! Justin Turner was named the National League Player of the Month for August yesterday. Per a Dodger press release:

Turner batted .402 (39-for-97) with 22 runs scored, 11 doubles, a triple, six home runs, 20 RBI and a stolen base across 25 games played to claim his first career NL Player of the Month Award, and second monthly award overall after earning NL Rookie of the Month honors in May 2011. Among qualified NL hitters in August, Justin finished first in doubles, batting average and on-base percentage (.491); tied for first in hits; second in slugging percentage (.722); tied for second in runs scored and extra-base hits (18); tied for third in triples; and tied for fifth in RBI.  This is the Dodgers’ first Player of the Month Award this season, and the first since Adrián González in April 2015.

• Via Houston Mitchell at the LA Times; "Dodgers Dugout: What analytics missed about Matt Kemp."

You see, while all the experts, including me, were writing about his lack of production, his poor WAR the last few seasons, his low OPS+, his great ability to ground into double plays, his arthritic hip, there was one thing we were not seeing in all those stats: Matt Kemp’s determination.

It turns out Kemp loved playing for the Dodgers. He never wanted to leave. Sure, his play declined after he left, and he put on some weight, but what the analytics didn’t show us was the heart and determination it took just to take the field with an arthritic hip. I’m sidelined for a week by a hangnail, yet here’s a guy trying to hit 100-mph fastballs and run down balls in the gap while pain was stabbing him with every step he took. 

That didn’t show up in the analytics.

• Carson Cistulli at FanGraphs includes Dodger prospect Gavin Lux their his, "The Fringe Five: Baseball’s Most Compelling Fringe Prospects."
• Something not right is going on with Yadier Alvarez; Per Larry Brown at Larry Brown Sports; "Report: Dodgers minor leaguer went AWOL before start."

Alvarez was supposed to start for his Double-A Tulsa Drillers on Sunday, but he left the team and was “unreachable”, according to NBC LA’s Michael J. Duarte. Duarte reports that Alvarez packed up his locker and took an Uber ride from Springfield, Mo. to Tulsa.

• I learn stuff about the hobby all the time. Via Tom Shieber at Baseball Researcher; "The Dangers of Collecting Baseball Cards."

Today, well over a century later, the various baseball card sets of 1909-1911 — the sets known as T204, T205, T206, T207, etc. — are prized and celebrated. But, as you might expect, baseball card collecting was also quite popular at that time. What you may not know is that nearly just as popular was the press expressing great concern that baseball card collecting was dangerous. Dangerous to children, dangerous to business owners, and dangerous to society in general.

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