Monday, July 31, 2017

Blue Darvish


Um...holy shit!

The Dodgers also picked up a pair of lefty relievers: Tony Cingrani from Cincinnati and Tony Watson from Pittsburgh. Despite the two Tonys, they have a long way to go before obtaining an EGOT.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Kyle Saves the Farm

Congrats to Former Dodger (cries) Adrian Beltre on His 3,000th Hit!

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Dad Did a Great Thing

Sandy Koufax, Claire Smith and Steve Garvey at the 1985 All-Star Game.

Garvey and Smith, 2017.

Claire Smith is the first woman recipient of the Hall of Fame's prestigious J.G. Taylor Spink Award, and Steve Garvey played a role in her career.

From "Claire Smith, a Pioneer in Sports Writing, Is Honored at Cooperstown" at the New York Times:

...her greatest challenge came from the San Diego Padres during their 1984 playoff series against the Chicago Cubs. She was ejected from the clubhouse, then rescued by an empathetic Padres player, Steve Garvey, who fed her quotes from his teammates.

But Smith was no damsel in distress; she had an unbending professionalism about her that wore down even the most stubborn resistance.

“I had a game story to write,” she said in 1984, after she had been pushed out the Padres’ door.

Other pioneers in the sport — including Sandy Koufax, the Jewish Dodgers pitcher who refused to play on Yom Kippur during the World Series; Frank Robinson, the first black manager in the major leagues; and Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson — gave her a standing ovation Saturday.

The most heartfelt moment at the ceremony arrived when Smith introduced Garvey in the audience, thanking him for his help all those years ago.

“I knew it was a very important moment,” Garvey said after the ceremony. “And I knew she was a very deep soul.”

And from her acceptance speech:

Steve Garvey, please stand, just as you did when salvaging the worst day of my career. After I was kicked out of a clubhouse during the 1984 postseason due to gender, Steve came out to the tunnel to assure I would have postgame quotes. When he saw that I was becoming emotional after having been manhandled, he uttered the most important words an athlete ever said to me: "I will stay here as long as you need me to, but remember, you have a job to do."

Beautiful stuff, and a complete surprise to me. Good job, Dad.

1: Claire Smith; 2: Willie Weinbaum, ESPN.com

Friday, July 28, 2017

Series Thread (Games 103-105): July 28-30 vs Giants

Fri, 7p: Alex Wood vs Matt Moore

Sat, 1p: Rich Hill vs Ty Blach

Sun, 5p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Matt Cain

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Congrats, Orlando Zepeda!

A true blue baby!

Four years ago we brought you Ron Johnstone's advice on raising a Dodger Blue fan in orange country. Ron's advice included:

Constructive conversations about honesty and integrity every time a Giant gets suspended or indicted for substance abuse, and if you live anywhere near Burlingame, take a field trip to the old BALCO offices and tell stories from the car about a star player allowing his childhood friend (who had young children himself) to spend a year in jail.

These words came at the behest of Orlando Zepeda, a Dodger fan living in Giants territory.

Now we have an update from Orlando:

4 years after this post. Now a father of an 8 month old son in SF. It was my Giant fan wife's idea to name our son charles VINcent zepeda.

(wipes tear from eye) Good job, Orlando and wife. You two have come so far since...

Monday, July 24, 2017

Series Thread (Games 100-102): July 24-26 vs Twins


Monday 7 pm: Colon vs Ryu
Tuesday 7 pm: Berrios vs Maeda
Wednesday 7pm: Santana vs Wood

The Twins are coming into town for a three game series.  This might be the last time to see Bartolo Colon pitch (and hit) for good, as he is mulling retirement.  With the news of Kershaw out for 4-6 weeks, this next half of games should prove interesting.  Will we rally like we did last year and keep the line moving or crawl up into a ball in the corner of the dugout?  Plus that trade deadline is looming.  Did we go all in and give up some prospects?  Lets see what Doc Roberts, Friedman and Company have in store!  Go Blue!

Friday, July 21, 2017

Series Thread (Games 96-99): July 20-23 vs Barves

(cries)

Thurs, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Mike Foltyniewicz (I didn't cut & paste that!)

Fri, 7p: Alex Wood vs Jaime Garcia (maybe)

Sat, 6p: Rich Hill vs Julio Teheran

Sun, 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs Sean Newcomb

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Series Thread (Games 94-95): July 18-19 @ White Sox

Tues, 5p: Clayton Kershaw vs Miguel Gonzalez
Wed, 5p: Kenta Maeda vs Carlos Rodon

Now look at those standings! That's the way you do it. You play the guitar on the MTV (record scratch sound effect) — whoops, I mean, should we be worried about the Diamondbacks acquiring J.D. Martinez? Let's hope 10.5 games hollllllds!

Naming Rights to Dodger Stadium Are Finally for Sale

Dodgers asking $12 million a year for naming rights to field (Sports Business Daily)

UPDATE:

Friday, July 14, 2017

Series Thread (Games 91-93): July 14-16 @ Marlins


Well, well, well, the scheduling gods gave the Dodgers a little gift. Their first series after the All-Star Game in Miami is...also in Miami. Does this mean Kershaw, Turner, Bellinger, Seager, Wood, and Jansen just chilled on the beach all week? Must be nice! (We do know Kershaw is getting this series off, for extra rest.) Let's hope they didn't get too complacent, and they can keep their foot on the gas as the second "half" begins. They're currently 7.5 games ahead of the DBacks, 9.5 games ahead of the Rockies (both teams still hold the two Wild Card spots, despite recent skids), and just because it's fun to mention, TWENTY-SEVEN GAMES in front of the Giants.

Fri, 4p: Brandon McCarthy vs. Dan Straily

Sat, 4p: Alex Wood vs. Jose Ureña

Sun, 10a: Rich Hill vs. Edinson Volquez

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Vin Scully Awarded Icon Award at ESPYS

Monday, July 10, 2017

Home Run Derby, 5p

It's all about that sweet, sweet lefty home-run swing of Cody Bellinger. He goes up against the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon in the first round and is chasing Joc Pederson's second-place finish in 2015, the best a Dodger has fared in the Home Run Derby. Go Cody!

Friday, July 07, 2017

Series Thread (Games 88-90): July 7-9 vs Royals

Fri, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Jason Hammel

Sat, 4:15p: Brandon McCarthy vs Ian Kennedy

Sun, 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs Danny Duffy