Friday, November 28, 2014

OMGOMGOMGNew Star Wars Trailer


Includes soccer-ball R2!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Friedman and Zaidi Pick Up Where Colletti Left Off; Sign DFAd Pitcher Nicasio, In Hopes He Might Someday Start Again

Yay, another big bold move from the Dodgers' new brass: Juan Nicasio. Pardon me while I temper my excitement.

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers acquired pitcher Juan Nicasio from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named or cash, the team announced Monday, continuing a trend of stockpiling young, inexpensive pitchers who could compete this spring to be the team's fifth starter or an extra bullpen arm.

Nicasio, 28, went 6-6 with a 5.38 ERA for the Rockies last season pitching in both relief and as a starter, but in his first three seasons in the big leagues he was exclusively a starter. Nicasio is 21-22 with a 5.03 ERA in 88 major league games.

Many people wondered what the Dodgers' new front office would do in its first offseason, and it certainly appears new team president Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi won't spend money the way outgoing GM Ned Colletti did in his last few seasons on the job.

Nicasio, who made $2.025 million last season, is eligible for arbitration. The Rockies had designated him for assignment.

Last week, the Dodgers acquired Mike Bolsinger from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash. It appears Friedman and Zaidi are hoping that moving Nicasio and Bolsinger from Coors and Chase fields, two of the extreme hitters' parks in baseball, to spacious Dodger Stadium will change their fortunes.

HanRam to Boston...Where 3B Is Now Occupied By Fat Guy

Dodgers shortstop (and I use that loosely) Hanley Ramirez is off to the Red Sox, for four years / $88M:

The Boston Red Sox agreed with Hanley Ramirez on Monday on a four-year, $88 million deal with a vesting fifth year for an additional $22 million, according to a major league source.

Ramirez, who will turn 31 on Dec. 23, has primarily played shortstop throughout his 10-year career but has also told teams he would be willing to change positions.

Ramirez was originally projected as a fall-back plan for the Red Sox in the event they were unable to sign the switch-hitting Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval reached agreement with the Red Sox on Monday, sources told ESPN, after choosing among offers from Boston, the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. All three offers were believed to be for five years and at least $90 million.

Ramirez rejected the Los Angeles Dodgers' $15.3 million qualifying offer earlier this month to become a free agent. Ramirez won the 2009 batting title and led the NL with a 1.040 OPS in 2013 (among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances).

According to Keith Law, the Dodgers get a draft pick but not the Sox' first-round draft pick (insider only):

The Dodgers get a compensation pick for losing Ramirez; Boston's first-round pick, at No. 7 overall, is protected, so they lose their second-rounder for the signing. Los Angeles is still short a shortstop at this point (although keeping Ramirez wouldn't have necessarily solved that problem). There also isn't much out there for them in free agency or the trade market. Their internal options are glove-only guys in Erisbel Arruebarrena or Miguel Rojas, so they could try a one-year deal with Stephen Drew to see if he has anything left after his self-immolating 2014, with the glovemen as backup options. But that's probably more downside risk than they'd like to take on.

Oh, and the Red Sox also picked up Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval: allegedly for five years / $90M, and possibly not far off from the offer from the team in Birdshit Park; Sandoval must have been tired of the poop. Understandable.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Oscar Hopeful Taps into Crosstown Rivalry

An ad for the movie "Birdman" in the sports section of today's LA Times.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Dodgers Thank Kershaw in Dying Medium

From today's LA Times sports section (click to enlarge).

Thursday, November 13, 2014

BREAKING: Water Wet, Sky Blue, Kershaw Amazing


Clayton Edward Kershaw is YOUR 2014 NL Most Valuable Player AND NL Cy Young Award winner. Not too shabby. Kid K becomes the first NL pitcher to accomplish the feat since Bob Gibson in 1968 (a mere twenty years before Clayton was born).

Congratulations, Clayton. We know this year did not end the way you wanted, but we bet you still have room on that lovely mantel behind you for a World Series MVP trophy, which should be coming along any old time now.

Graphic Artists Working Overtime on Kershaw MVP Art





Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Legendary Dodgers at Historic Dodgertown

Vero Beach community leader Bud Holman, Tommy Lasorda and Peter O’Malley at Florida Heritage Landmark ceremony Monday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

Steve Garvey and Sandy Koufax observe Maury Wills offering instruction at Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp Monday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

photos/captions: Historic Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Fla.

Thank You to Our Veterans

  • If you're in a giving mood, consider donating to Fisher House, an organization that provides "military families housing close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury."
  • How cool is this? From a Dodgers press release:
    The Dodgers will host approximately 300 pre-selected active duty service members of our nation’s Armed Forces representing the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard along with veterans and their families for batting practice at Dodger Stadium [today], Veterans Day from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

    “It’s an honor for the Dodgers to open our doors yearly to active duty members and veterans representing the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and host them for a day of baseball activities on the field,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers are dedicated to paying tribute to those who selflessly serve our country year-round and we are grateful to each and every one of them for their service.”

    Dodger Alumni Wes Parker, Al Downing and Billy Ashley and Dodger Special Advisor Don Newcombe will be present to welcome the group of active duty military members and veterans. Dodger in-game host Dave Styles will serve as emcee. The Dodgers’ Veterans Day batting practice event is also supported by AMR, Anheuser Busch, Avita, Coca-Cola, and Levy Restaurants. Emily Benford, known as Emily B, a singer songwriter and vocal director who recently competed on Season 6 of “The Voice” will perform the national anthem. [...]

    The Dodgers honor military personnel and veterans year-round with initiatives including the Veteran of the Game presented by Bank of American on-field recognition that takes place during each Dodger home game. The Dodgers will launch an online form to nominate active duty, reserve or retired service members to be recognized as Veteran of the Game. Details can be found by visiting www.dodgers.com/VOTG.

    The Dodgers also pay tribute to service members on military holidays by including them in pre-game ceremonies. In addition, the Dodgers schedule visits to the VA Home in Westwood and on a case-by-case basis, send care packages to troops deployed overseas and retirement acknowledgement letters. The Dodgers also offer discounted tickets to military personnel with proper ID for regular season games. For details on military programs please visit www.dodgers.com/military.

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

From Colletti to Zaidi: Front Office Gets Brainier





Monday, November 03, 2014

5 Thoughts on the Giants' Dynasty


1. That's right, I said dynasty. 10 of the last 15 World Series have been won by the 21st-century baseball powerhouses: the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals and Giants. Three World Series titles in five years isn't quite Yankees territory, but it's getting there, and the Giants may not even be done yet. What's worse, the Giants are pulling away from the Dodgers in terms of franchise championships: The Giants have eight and the Dodgers have been stuck at six for, oh, 26 years and counting....

2. The Giants are no longer a small- or mid-market team. Their $149-million payroll is the major league's sixth-highest, and it only figures to go up — as it should. It's good to see their management reinvest all that postseason money into their team. It's bad to see that they have fewer Jason Schmidt- or Andruw Jones-sized blunders in their free agent history, but that's an entirely different frustration.

3. Every team has bad fans. Remember Jonathan Denver, the Dodger fan (and the son of a Dodger security guard) killed by a Giants fan near AT&T Park in 2013? It turns out that Denver and his brother teamed up against the Giants fan, whom the SF District Attorney could not prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" did not act in self-defense. So if you detected some subtle anti-L.A. sentiment in the Giants' quotes about Bryan Stow participating in their pre-game World Series ceremonies, just remember that every team has bad fanseven the Giants.

4. 2014 was as unenjoyable as winning years get. The Dodgers' 42-8 streak in 2013 may have been an anomaly, but the 2014 Dodgers didn't even come close to making any kind of winning statement. Unlike, say, hockey, baseball rewards the team that gets hot at the right time, and the 2014 Dodgers never truly got hot, posting a winning streak of more than three games against above-.500 teams only once (in July, against Atlanta). Add to that the bullshit Time-Warner Cable situation (still unresolved, by the way!), and 2014 would be a year to forget — if you saw it in the first place.

5. Some fuck you's are in order. Fuck you, Chase Carey, for trading Mike Piazza. Fuck you, Frank McCourt, for costing us Vlad Guerrero. And speaking of Vlads: Fuck you, Vladimir Shpunt, for not doing your job.

OK, I feel a little better now.