Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 12/30/2016 - Dodgers Links

Friday, December 30, 2016

Blog Kiosk: 12/30/2016 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Happy Birthday, Sandy!

Above is a 1967 vintage press photo of Koufax sitting in the broadcast booth for NBC. As you know, he was a broadcaster for a short time after retiring from the game. (eBay Auction Link) I am unsure where exactly the photo was taken, but clearly it's not Dodger Stadium -- those terrace seats are all wrong. The reverse of the photo makes some indication that this pic is from the 1967 All-Star Game in Anaheim:

National League trainer Bill Buhler had a special visit Tuesday -- Sandy Koufax, who made Buhler's method of ice packing pitching arms famous.

Koufax tossed only words on television in the 15-inning All-Star classic. But Buhler, the Los Angeles Dodger and form St. Paul Saint trainer, was still working with pitching arms.

Of note, the reverse of the photo has a small news snippet attached stating:

Below are more links to check out:

Happy Birthday, Jose Morales & Sandy Koufax!
Podcast: Frank Buckley at KTLA shares an old interview he did with Vin Scully (Link Here).

Scully: "Philosophically, you can't have a right without an obligation -- you can't have an obligation without a right. So, when you go on the air, I have a right to express my opinion, but I'm also obligated to be very careful as to what I say."

Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Remembering the Dodgers who didn’t play: Getting called up to the majors is just one step of the process."

But for one day, even though he didn’t play, (Shawn) Zarraga was a major leaguer.

Zarraga was a free agent this winter and has moved on to the Reds as a non-roster invitee, so he will have more opportunities to return to the big leagues and perhaps play. But for now, he joins a list of rare players who have were called up to the majors but never played.

Via Ian O'Connor at ESPN; "Story of Ralph Branca and Jackie Robinson still resonates."

Ralph often told the story of how his older brother John chastised him for standing shoulder to shoulder with Robinson during introductions on April 15, 1947. John asked what would've happened if a madman with a gun and wayward aim had taken a shot at Robinson. The pitcher answered, "I would've died a hero."

Via Harold Uhlman at Think Blue LA; "Andre Scrubb is ready for the next step."

“It means the world to be drafted,” Scrubb said. “After my freshmen year when I got hit pretty hard and wasn’t sure how I fit in Division I baseball to battle back and improve enough that I heard my name called is a dream come true. My years at High Point have been amazing and really helped me get to this point. Coach Cozart turned me from a thrower to a pitcher and the guys really motivated me and pushed me.”

Scrubb made his professional debut with the Arizona League Dodgers on July 2, 2016, pitching a scoreless inning against the AZL Brewers. On the season in the Arizona Rookie League he posted a 2.13 ERA in 10 games while striking out 18 in 12.2 innings pitched. He walked seven.

Panini's blog shares even more preview pics of their 2016 National Treasures Baseball card set; including the Clayton Kershaw and Hanley Ramirez cards below. This product officially hits stores today. Go here to check out more pics.