Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 3/26/2020 - Dodgers Links & News

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Blog Kiosk: 3/26/2020 - Dodgers Links & News - Some Odds and Ends

This just might be the best photo from the 1955 World Series - the Dodgers first World Championship. Featured are a group of Dodger wives (see Rachel Robinson on the far left) celebrating right after the victory, available via RMY Auction. This photo was taken by Barney Stein and it is a re-strike -- printed in 1980.

Below are more links to check out:

This Day in Dodgers History: In 1953 the St. Louis Browns returned pitcher Tommy Lasorda to the Dodgers after having just purchased him a month prior. In 1984 Jackie Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony. Rachel Robinson accepted the award on her late husband's behalf. At the time, Jackie was just the third ballplayer to be given the distinction (Moe Berg and Joe DiMaggio were the others). You can watch the presentation here. In 1991 the Dodgers sign free agent catcher and future Hall of Famer Gary Carter to a one-year $500,000 contract.
Happy Birthday, Jack McCarthy, Joe Klugmann, José Vizcaíno & Frank Lankford!
YouTube Video: The Brushback Baseball Podcast chats with Vin Scully's right hand man/ Dodgers "Booth Boss": Boyd Robertson (Video Link).
I found myself way too excited about this. Via Scottie Andrew and Alicia Lee at CNN -- "Lieutenant Dan the two-legged hound has been named the next Cadbury Bunny."
Via Mark Townsend at Yahoo Sports -- "Dan Haren is sacrificing his vast bobblehead collection to help those in need." This former Dodger has decided to put up his collection on eBay to benefit the Hollywood Food Coalition and Children’s Action Alliance. Check them all out here. A Clayton Kershaw bobblehead from a few years back is already up to $305 (link here) and it includes the following message: "Could Absolutely NOT grow a beard this thick."
Via Tim Brown, Hannah Keyser and Mike Oz at Yahoo Sports -- "What we're missing: MLB stars share their best opening day memories."

Clayton Kershaw

On the morning of my favorite opening day, last year’s, I drove carpool. I drove to Joc Pederson’s house, and to Justin Turner’s house, and to Rich Hill’s house, picked them up at their curbs and drove to Dodger Stadium. I wasn’t pitching that day, for the first time in nine years. It was a shoulder thing.

Via Graham Womack at Sports Illustrated -- "A Look at Dodgers Great Gil Hodges' Hall of Fame Chances."
Matthew Moreno at Dodger Blue shares his interview with Ross Stripling -- "Stripling Was Aware Of Coronavirus Through Work As Stockbroker, But Still Surprised By MLB Shutdown."

“I was actually watching the Mavericks game where Marc Cuban found out basketball was going to get suspended. You saw that big reaction he had that went viral on social media. I was watching with Kyle Farmer and he asked if I thought that would happen in baseball and I said, ‘I don’t think so, man. I think maybe play in front of no fans but there’s no way we put baseball on hold.’

“Forty-eight hours later I woke up thinking I had four innings against the Cubs, and by the end of that day, baseball was suspended. It happened really fast.”

Via Jake Reiner at Sports Illustrated -- "Former-Dodger Jerry Sands Finds a Baseball Home Abroad."

Sands’ family has been his primary support-system. They’ve been along for the ride, which first took them to the Korean Baseball Organization in 2018, and now Japan. Sands' wife Morgan and their two boys, Eli and Tucker, now five and three respectively, joined him for most of the 2019 season in South Korea.

“My wife’s a trooper. She stays with the boys and they come to most of the games ... it’s been a great experience for us,” Sands said. He adds that embracing new cultures and seeing different parts of the world has benefited the boys.

Per Jennifer Schuessler at the NY Times -- "Mister Rogers Song and Dr. Dre Added to National Recording Registry: The Library of Congress designates 25 recordings for preservation, in what it is billing as “the ultimate ‘stay at home’ playlist.” It also includes the 1951 tie-breaker game between the Dodgers and Giants... You know... The “Shot Heard ’Round the World” game.
Via Eric Nusbaum at Time -- "The Story Behind Jackie Robinson's Moving Testimony Before the House Un-American Activities Committee."

“I was not sure about what to do,” Jackie wrote in his autobiography. “Rachel and I had long talks about it. She felt I should follow my instincts. I didn’t want to fall prey to the white man’s game and allow myself to be pitted against another black man. I knew that Robeson was striking out against racial inequality in the way that seemed best to him. However, in those days I had much more faith in the ultimate justice of the American white man than I have today.”