LA Times Calls Out Dodger Blue Heaven Thoughts

Today's LA Times' Calendarlive section has an article called "50 Ways to Love Your Dodgers," which includes this advice:

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS...

As a guy who, at age 10, "wanted to be Vin Scully" when he grew up, native Angeleno Jon Weisman has been synthesizing media reports, analyzing between-the-lines drama and occasionally venting on his Dodger Thoughts blog since 2002. If you're looking for online snark, move on; Weisman and his readers merely exude true-blue passion. dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/

...OR SPILL SOME VITRIOL

Not recommended for the true-blue fan, or anyone averse to blue language, the decidedly R-rated Dodger Blues website throws darts at players, management, ownership, even history. Like the clock that records "Time Since the Last Meaningful Dodger Moment" (going on 20 years). The franchise's lowlights are "celebrated" with an acidity usually reserved for divorce proceedings. Bitter? Yes. Funny? That too. www.dodgerblues.com

TRUE-BLUE FAN

Ernest Reyes, on his extreme-fan-tastic website Blue Heaven, links to countless player and fan blogs, dispenses obscure trivia, posts hard-to-find video and hawks collectibles. Oh, and he does real estate too. dodgersblueheaven.blogspot.com

Congrats to Ernest, Jon and Anonymous DB Guy. Nice mention!

Found...kind of: Dodger Rookie Hazing Pix

"...the kicker of them all was Matt Kemp, who was in some sort of 'fat suit' with a bikini."

Frustrated by the lack of pictures from the Dodgers' recent rookie hazing? So was Ernest at Blue Heaven, so he took it upon himself to use his imagination (and Photoshop) to create some possibilities. His masterpieces can be seen here and here.

George "Shotgun" Shuba

1946: George Shuba congratulates Jackie Robinson after Robinson's first home run for the Dodger organization.

Having just watched all 23 hours of Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (and getting all teary-eyed several times), I'm in a historic frame of mind.

Fortunately, our friends at Blue Heaven and The Trolley Dodger are students of the game.

Blue Heaven links to this article from the Tribune Chronicle (Ohio) about George Shuba, a Brooklyn Dodger outfielder from 1948 to 1955:

Playing for the Montreal team in the Dodgers' organization, a very young George Shuba — he was 21 at the time — was waiting to bat and did what came naturally when his teammate, Jackie Robinson, crossed home plate after hitting his first home run.

"He called me later and thanked me," Shuba said. "And I said, what for?"

The moment is described as the first interracial handshake in professional baseball.

Robinson had been afraid, Shuba said, that none of his teammates would shake his hand after he'd broken baseball's color barrier. For Shuba, it was only natural — he saw no difference between himself and Robinson, having played with African American athletes at Chaney High School, where he graduated in 1942.

"I said, 'Are you on our team? Are you on our side? OK then.' "

Robinson went on to make history. Shuba went on to hit a home run in the 1953 World Series — the first Series home run by a pitch hitter in history, he says.

And let's not fail to recognize one of the coolest baseball nicknames ever. Here's to George "Shotgun" Shuba.