I feel ya Jackie.
I put myself on a brief hiatus following the Dodgers recent plunge in the playoffs. I just needed some time to sulk. But now I'm back and I thought the above 1952 AP wirephoto that recently sold at RMY Auctions (link) would be appropriate to show here. As you can see, Jackie Robinson doesn't look well after losing another World Series to the Yankees. Per the descriptor:
The big 4 of the 42 of Jackie Robinson's uniform seems post-climactic as the Dodger second baseman sits dejectedly in Ebbets Field dressing room today after the Brooklyn team lost final game of the 1952 World Series to the New York Yankees. Winning four games to three the World Champions once again kept the Dodgers from their first World Championship.Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodgers History: In 1988 Kirk Gibson hit his legendary walk-off home run off A's pitcher Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the World Series. This event spawned Vin Scully to utter these immortal words; "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened." Go here to watch and listen to it. Arash Markazi at ESPN wrote a great article about the event here.
- Happy Birthday, Henry Thielman, Phil Reardon, Chris Haughey, Nick Tremark & Mitch Jones!
- Are you interested in working for the Dodgers? Meg Rowley at FanGraphs provides some info on a Dodger job opening for a Quantitative Analyst and Quantitative Analysis Intern, here.
- Excellent. Per Matt Povenzano at Beyond the Boxscore -- "We are currently watching a different sport."
Juiced ball trutherism isn’t on the same plane as QAnon or Epstein Brain, but when explanations from the same league that owns the ball manufacturing company fail to comply with basic physics and probability, you begin to wonder what lurks around the corner. As Adam Curtis wisely put it in his landmark documentary Hypernormalisation, we enter what is considered “hyper-real”: we know that this is not a simulation and that is reality, but something feels off about in a way that feels uneasy or unsettling, in a way you know things are off but can’t explain how. It’s our permanent state in our economic and political life, so naturally it’s our permanent state in baseball, too.
- David Rosenthal at Dodgers-Lowdown provides a nice bullet-pointed rundown of the salient details from Andrew Friedman's conference with reporters yesterday; including that he is finalizing his contract with the club and Dave Roberts is not going to be fired. I still can't believe anyone truly believes that Doc should be fired -- it's a ridiculous notion.
- Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA -- "Few Surprises at Friedman’s Year-End Press Conference." Ron shares some quotes.
“When the season ends as abruptly as it did, and it’s one of the more painful losses that I can remember, the whole thing is focusing on how we get to winning those 11 games in October,” Friedman said. “In our mind, Dave is absolutely a part of that.”
BTW, Rick Honeycutt has retired as the Dodgers pitching coach.
“Rick Honeycutt is going to transition into a special assistant role,” Friedman answered. “Obviously, he’s meant a lot to this organization for a long time and he still will going forward. It’ll just be in a slightly different role that we’re still kind of working out the details on.“Fortunately, we’ve been able to have [current bullpen coach] Mark Prior around and have him build up relationships, so my assumption is he will slide into that. Those specific things haven’t been worked out yet,” he added.
- Ryu is a cinch to win this. Via a tweet by Mark Feinsand:
The MLBPA announced that players have selected Lucas Giolito, Jorge Soler and Hunter Pence as finalists in the American League and Josh Donaldson, Sonny Gray and Hyun-Jin Ryu in the National League in voting for Comeback Player honors in the 2019 Players Choice Awards.— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) October 14, 2019
- But this news about Ryu is much more important. Per Soompi.com -- "LA Dodgers Pitcher Ryu Hyun Jin And Reporter Bae Ji Hyun Expecting First Child." Congrats!
- I really want Ryu back, but fear his contract demands. Per Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors -- "Scott Boras Sets Sights High For Hyun-jin Ryu Contract."
That bet has paid off more handsomely than anyone expected, with Ryu turning in his best season as a big leaguer. Boras is understandably excited to market the starter at a high-point in value; the veteran agent tells Yonhap News that he’s angling for both a hefty salary and an extended length of contract. Is one more important than the other? “That’s like saying, with a car, do want the engine or the steering wheel?” says Boras. “You want both.”
- As much as I enjoyed having Rich Hill in Dodger Blue, I believe the chances of coming back to be very small. We just can't hold back the kids any longer. Via a tweet from Andy McCullough:
Rich Hill said he wants to be a Dodger again in 2020. He teared up while speaking with reporters. He called his time with the organization an honor.— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) October 10, 2019
- Via Eric Moskowitz at The Atlantic -- "How Baseball Cards Got Weird: A very analog hobby finds a way to thrive in the digital age."
Baseball-card collecting really ought to be extinct. It’s an analog hobby in a digital world, an expression of fandom in a sport whose attendance is in slow decline and whose cultural relevance is in free fall. But as my experience in Billy Byington’s break suggests, the hobby has not only persisted; it’s found effective, if peculiar, methods of adapting to an inhospitable environment.
- ICYMI, David Freese announced his retirement over the weekend. Thank you, David! Per his twitter:
— David Freese (@david23freese) October 12, 2019
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