50 thoughts on “Hunkering down, again”

1. My wife shares a birthday with Vin. https://twitter.com/nut_history/status/1333109585654243334?s=20

   • Exactly the way to phrase that unless she’s 95. I’ve met her. That’s not the case.

2. For live Dominican baseball, until mid-january. https://twitter.com/BaseballBrit/status/1332454767365218305?s=2J

3. The Athletic has “Black Friday deals for every MLB team“, and it suggests the Pirates sign Pedro Baez to be their closer. It suggests the D-Backs pick up Kiké Hernandez to play 2B. It suggests the Cardinals sign Joc Pederson. And finally, the Dodgers should sign Jake Odorizzi, a 30-year-old right-handed starter who’s 62-56 in nine years of MLB ball, most recently with the Twins.

   • I’d like Quique to stay. Báez underrated but replaceable. Odorizzi superfluous.

     • The argument is that Kershaw, Buehler and Price seem to get hurt at least once a season and that May and Gonsolin are still very young. Odorizzi would be insurance.

       • Hernandez will be looking for a very expensive, multi-year contract, which the Dodgers won’t and shouldn’t offer him. He wants to be a regular somewhere.

         • I can’t blame him for wanting to be a regular, but his value is multi-positional.

4. Full of turkey. Missing family. Grateful for health and baseball and you!

5. I also want to wish all my dear friends south of the border a very Happy Thanksgiving! I truly have appreciated hanging out with you so many evenings over so many years…

6. Happy Thanksgiving to All!

   • https://twitter.com/DPRK_News/status/1064617953751117825?s=20

   • Happy Thanksgiving scooplew and all my virtual friends here in Eleysian Fields.

   • Hau’oli Lā Ho’omaika’i to all of youse guys and gals!

     • They whisper it all over Turkey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6XAVi1btW0

       • Thanks for sharing that. I was a huge Soupy Sales fan. He had a daily 30-minute show at about 5:30 p.m. in L.A. when I was growing up.

         • It seemed appropriate to Turkey Day.

7. Pitches and catchers report in under three months. As for fans, who knows?

8. What might (should) have been. https://twitter.com/dodgers_cards/status/1330578192323596289?s=20

   • Some background on how the Pirates got Clemente:
     https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/62869/how-the-pirates-stole-roberto-clemente-from-the-dodgers
     I also have heard that after leaving the Dodgers to go the Pirates, Rickey had told O’Malley he wouldn’t pluck Clemente from the Dodgers, but that Rickey was no fan of O’Malley for how he had treated him. So he drafted Clemente.
     In the only game that I ever saw at Ebbets Field, the first game of a doubleheader on July 3, 1955, Clemente batted leadoff for the Pirates and went two-for-five. Both hits were triples. The Pirates won, 7-5. I still have the program, thanks to my late father. It cost a dime.

     • You didn’t stick around for Game 2?

       • Our family was nine days away from making a cross-country move by car to L.A. My parents had countless things to do. My father had promised to take me to a game at Ebbets Field, and he fulfilled that promise, as he did every one he ever made to me, I was not disappointed that we didn’t stay for the second game, just simply delighted that I had seen Brooklyn play once.

9. https://twitter.com/Cut4/status/1330201674464567302?s=20

10. The King! https://twitter.com/nut_history/status/1329918918236966915?s=20

11. Laying off employees weeks after winning a World Series is not a good look.

12. The Mutts’ first big move under new ownership. https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1329159458786828289?s=20

13. https://twitter.com/DodgerYard/status/1329197844377571328?s=20

14. Ouch. Over exuberance hurts.

    https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1328827356832800768

    • Today they removed the cast from my ankle, and I’m now in a walking boot. I’m also on track to return by spring training.

      • “Day-to-day,” huh?

        • I can actually walk from my office to the kitchen, instead of hobbling on crutches. I can carry my cup of tea and a snack simultaneously.

          • I remember that cast-free feeling. Even more, I remember that first shower.

          • I had never had a cast before in my life. I celebrated its demise by taking a hot soak in the tub.

          • I’ve had two ankle-to-hip ones (3 weeks and 12 weeks respectively), a foot-to knee one for a few weeks, and a soft cast on my left hand for an entire LA summer when I was about ten.

          • I always envied my schoolmates who got their plaster casts signed by everyone else.

          • I always envied my schoolmates who got their plaster casts autographed by everyone else.

          • All mine happened after I’d become an adult, alas.

          • You were an adult at age ten?

          • You were an adult at age ten?

      • P&Cs second week of Feb, normally.

        • Right now, landing on my right ankle would be tough.

15. Ouch. Over exuberance hurts.

    https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1328827356832800768

16. The other night, we watched “The Catcher Was a Spy,” about the legendary MLB backup/OSS agent Moe Berg. It never got great reviews, but we thought it was pretty good. (Spoiler – the son of the late Commissioner Bart Giamatti plays a supporting role). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0XTxOs-_Os

17. Did the Dodgers miss out on Cedric Richmond? https://twitter.com/AlanMCole/status/1328485760949948416?s=20

18. Something I learned today: Kershaw’s great-uncle discovered Pluto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Tombaugh

    • I recall when it was demoted from planet status and Klayton was upset (there may have been a t-shirt).

19. Highly recommended: A series on Netflix: “The Queen’s Gambit,” seven-parter streaming about a cheese prodigy. Excellent, even if you don’t play chess, which I used to.

    • Watched the first one. It was good.

    • So, is it cheesy or not? By the way, there’s an interesting chess match between Heisenberg and Berg in the film below.

      • I refuse to be a pawn in your word game.