Last night was Dodgers Night at the LA Kings game, and as you can see in the pic above (via LA Kings on twitter) our nightmare-inducing mascot was on-hand to celebrate the occasion with Bailey of the Kings. Stay tuned, I'll have more pics from last nights event shortly.
Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodgers History: In 1947 Father Vincent Powell of the Brooklyn Catholic Youth Organization released a public statement declaring that the group, "is withdrawing from the Dodgers' Knothole Club." He goes on to say that he cannot allow the kids to be associated with Leo Durocher -- a fellow deemed to have low moral character. Several weeks later (April 9th) the National League would levy a one-year suspension against Durocher. The reasons vary from the Catholic boycott, his close association to known gamblers and an off-field spat with Charlie Dressen. As you know, this was Jackie Robinson's first season in the Majors, so Durocher's absence caused quite a stir in the club's front office. Leo was seen as the perfect manager to handle the expected rancor that Jackie would experience. Jeffrey Marlett at SABR provides a fantastical write-up on Durocher's suspension, here.
- Happy Birthday, Peter Guber, Tim Thompson, Bert Hamric, Omar Daal & Blake Hawksworth!
- Oh, no. My deepest condolences to the Jarrin family and friends. Per AP; "Blanca Jarrin, wife of Dodgers HOF broadcaster, dies at 85." RIP, Blanca Jarrin.
- In honor of their late son, Brooks Hill, Rich Hill and his wife Caitlin, launched “Field of Genes”, a campaign to support Massachusetts General Hospital in their research of rare genetic diseases. For more information on the campaign please visit www.fieldofgenes.org and follow on Instagram at fieldofgenes. Per Alex Speier at the Boston Globe; "Rich and Caitlin Hill pledge $575,000 to MGH for genetic disease research."
“At some level, you want an answer and you deserve an answer,” said Rich Hill. “There aren’t support groups out there for these ultra-rare diseases.“[But] there are doctors out there like Dr. Sweetser who can possibly help get you to an answer. We were fortunate in that regard, to receive that kind of support.
“It takes special people that have a passion for what they’re doing to continue to put their heart and soul into their work and get answers for people who aren’t experts in that field.”
- I'll take any good news you'll give me. Per an ESPN report; "Dodgers' Kershaw plays catch, goes 'pretty well'"
"Kershaw is not the most patient person in the world, and he wants to go out and compete," Friedman said. "We certainly get it. We're early enough in spring training where we have a little bit of time. Today went pretty well, and I'm sure he'll pick up a ball and do it again tomorrow and kind of go from there."The challenging part is taking the time and having the patience to kind of go through it. He's in a good frame of mind right now -- just the fact he's able to get out and play catch, and it went pretty well. But we'll continue to kind of take it day by day and see where we're at."
- Check out this new (to me) Dodgers collector blog I just ran into. It's called WNY Dodger Fan (link here).
- No... I'm not bitter at all. Via Travis Sawchik at Five Thirty Eight; "Bryce Harper May Already Be Past His Prime: Sorry, Phillies."
FiveThirtyEight examined all players in MLB history who have had one season of 8 or more WAR — but only one — before turning 26, and then we studied the trajectory of those players’ careers. There are 32 such players in MLB history, including three other than Harper who are still active: Aaron Judge, Matt Chapman (who hasn’t played his age 26 season) and Evan Longoria. Of the 28 players who are no longer active, 17 never produced another 8-plus WAR season after their age 25 season.The historical players studied peaked at age 24 (6.6 WAR) and 25 (6.5 WAR), then they declined steadily. A player’s peak is often earlier than conventional wisdom would expect. Jeff Zimmerman at FanGraphs found that while the average ballplayer peaks at age 27, good players peak at either 25 or 26 years old.
In actuality, I am more than content with not signing Harper. We don't need him and we certainly don't need a 13-year contract on the books.
- Per Tom Verducci at Sports Illustrated; "Walker Buehler May Be Risking Arm Fatigue, but Neither the Dodgers Nor Buehler Are Worried."
Asked about Buehler’s workload last year, Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said, “We talked about this at the beginning of spring training and the early part of the year. We don’t set out a set innings limit for guys. We have a range, but so much of it is how they bounce back outing to outing, how they maintain their stuff start to start, [and] how they’re bouncing back between starts that gives us more insight into fatigue, and that’s far and away the biggest indicator.”
- Via Craig Minami at True Blue LA; "More with Keith Law on Verdugo, Ruiz and Smith: Concluding part of interview with ESPN baseball analyst Keith Law and his thoughts on Dodger prospects."
- You all gotta check this out! Per Dan Daley at Sports Video Group; "New Grammy Museum Exhibit Celebrates Baseball." (Hat Tip: Tom Hoffarth on twitter) The Grammy Museum, at LA Live will feature -- from March 14th til the end of the 2019 season -- an exhibit celebrating the greatest song in the world: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Popular Music and the National Pastime.”
The exhibit takes viewers through that connection starting in the 19th century, when interest in baseball-themed music was fostered through the sales of sheet music, through the rise of baseball songs as part of a new era of American music in the early 1900s to current-day popular music’s central role in players’ preparing to take the field. Genres from pop and jazz to country, R&B, and rock & roll are reflected throughout the exhibit.Baseball and music had another Grammy connection this year. As part of the events surrounding the Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, Edward Meeker and the Edison Orchestra’s original 1908 recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year.
- I want one of these! Per a tweet by Rian Johnson:
My little brother handmade (!) this dart board for me and I have to show it off, it is The Most Fabulous Object In The Universe pic.twitter.com/Onr31VDdOR— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) February 28, 2019
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