Jon Soo-Hoo is there with about 100 pictures per day.
Nonetheless, I’d like to have been a fly on the wall to hear what Don and André are saying to one another.
Jon Soo-Hoo is there with about 100 pictures per day.
Nonetheless, I’d like to have been a fly on the wall to hear what Don and André are saying to one another.
NPUT
Paraphrasing MLBTR: This will be the first season in 20 with no new Japanese players, MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby notices. Hiroshima Carp pitcher Kenta Maeda looked most likely, but the Carp decided not to post him. Then infielder Takashi Toritani re-signed with Hanshin. For the last 10 years Japanese players have arrived at a rate of about 3 per season, with Masahiro Tanaka and Tsuyoshi Wada (who actually signed with the Orioles prior to the 2012 season) making their debuts last year.
FWIW:
http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/02/28/no-the-dodgers-arent-being-cheap/
I noticed old friend KT in the comments below the article
Yeah, I’ve seen him there…KMT59 or close, I think. He went there after DT went on hiatus. Somewhat surprised he didn’t go to TBLA, which a lot of DTers did.
I usually only glance at DD comments–if even that–because they get off in the weeds pretty quickly if not start off there.
Comments at TBLA are much better, IMO. Usually glance at them but don’t have time to wade thru all. Both places routinely get hundreds of comments under posts. Haven’t seen KT there.
This Jon interview with Koufax ought to be required reading for all Dodger fans. If anyone ever doubted Koufax knows about much more than pitching, this should end that:
http://dodgers.mlblogs.com/2015/02/26/sandy-koufax-holds-court/
Many worthwhile nuggets, including this on Puig–
““I think probably he’s never played against talent that might be his equal, so he’s thought, ‘OK, they’ll make a mistake. I can keep running, and they’ll screw it up.’ It doesn’t happen here. I think he’s learned that. … I think there’s a lot of progress. When you’re struggling at the
plate, everything looks bad.”
Sandy can probably still throw 85. If he’d had the benefit of contemporary surgical innovations, his numbers would have been off the charts.
Fun story here about Kershaw and the RocketFish (that’s what ESPN’s Neil Everett calls Mike Trout) splitting time and talking while doing Subway commercials the other day.
Can some of you West Coast folks enlighten me on how the UC Irvine Anteaters came up with that nickname? And for how Oregon became the Ducks and Oregon State the Beavers?
Those nicknames don’t sound exactly convey much for opponents to worry about. Anteaters are funky-looking, ducks are ducks. I suppose a beaver could tear your ankle up with those teeth, tho.
From Wikipedia: The Anteater mascot was promoted by 3 students in UC Irvine’s founding year, Bob Ernst and Pat Glasgow of the water polo team, and rowing team member Schuyler Bassett. The mascot name was brought to a vote to the student body where irregularities were suspected in the voting process.
How did UCSB come up with Gauchos when they should be Vaqueros? Why isn’t Stanford the Robber Barons, as the student body voted?
Ryu says “I’m not worried at all”
Anyone else worried 🙂
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/12386944/hyun-jin-ryu-los-angeles-dodgers-dealing-back-stiffnes
Hope that doesn’t translate like most of Donnie’s opinions on medical issues last season, when as soon as he said he wasn’t worried about a player’s medical issues, guy was a good bet for the DL. ;-])
High school knuckleballer, taught the pitch by Joe Niekro, has history of domination and hopes to continue opening eyes in college and maybe eventually MLB. Knuckler clocked at 73 MPH, faster than Tim Wakefield. Numbers against stiff Florida competition ridiculous.
Impressive. BTW, this pitcher is a girl.
http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/02/17/chelsea-baker-tampa-bay-howard-megdal?xid=aol_home&ncid=webmail30
Wonder how the 1952 ban on women in MLB came about. Perhaps to keep Veeck from some shennanigan?
No, not Veeck. Surprising, I agree. A Class AA team in Pa. signed a woman to play for it, and Commissioner Frick immediately banned the practice. Here’s an interesting thread from a baseball-fever bulletin board.
Gotta believe Frick had Veeck in the back of his mind. Otherwise he might have allowed them to play with an asterisk (urban legend).
Feeling for Josh Hamilton. He has such a monkey on his back, and it’s hard not to relapse after surgery. I wish him well.
That drug named Jesus offered him no lasting relief.
That’s not fair, Religion helps millions of people in many ways. But you really have to believe it, not just say it… By the way, I’m not religious, haven’t been in a church for more than 60 years, but I have respect for what it can do and for those who truly believe in it.
Religion deceives billions of people in a futile search for something that does not exist.
A broad interpretation of Rule 5 suggests that this sort of discussion should be nipped in the bud.
No, it’s simply a straightforward empirical observation.
That too, unfortunately. Shall we consider this nipped in the bud? It seems to make some people uncomfortable although it certainly shouldn’t…
Yes, but tell us how you really feel
Con todo respeto, I always moderate my language in public.
From the OC Register:
“Jamie McCourt’s attempt to have her divorce settlement with Frank
McCourt overturned was rejected by a state appeals court in Los Angeles.
Jamie argued that Frank had fraudulently underestimated the value of
the couple’s assets, including the Dodgers, and sought an increase in
her divorce settlement from $131 million to $770 million after the
Dodgers were sold to the Guggenheim group for $2.15 billion.”
DD on Gaudin signing:
http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/02/25/chad-gaudin-is-in-dodgers-camp-and-you-wont-like-it/
Meanwhile, in my neighborhood today:
https://twitter.com/partedelequipo/status/570668125286481920
Is that the polo field!?
I believe so. I’m not there, presently in Puerto Natales.
Balmy this time of year, I suppose.
Mild but not exactly balmy. Breezy, though.
Arriving in BA and driving out of EZE, one of the first sights is the baseball stadium. Apart from a small field at the Lincoln HS, the only diamond I ever saw during my time in Argentina.
There are eight softball diamonds in Paraná, Entre Ríos, three of them lighted. There are several more softball/baseball fields within Buenos Aires and scattered around GBA.
I have seen a full-sized baseball field in Salta. There are quite a few in northern Chile: http://southernconeguidebooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Tocopilla, where the US mining industry was so important.
Any idea how Entre Rios came to have those diamonds? Jakarta has a couple of fields that are actively used in the middle of the city supposedly because of Houston oil men.
A guy I know, an accountant there, was looking for an activity for young people there and his own persistence made it work. Teams from Paraná have even gone to play tournaments in the States. My nephew’s a very good fast-pitch pitcher in Olavarría, Buenos Aires province.
There is a baseball league in Buenos Aires, by the way. I have actually played with http://www.shankeesbaseball.com/
In addition to being an ex-Gnat, Gaudin has done even sleazier things: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2013/07/10/gaudin-charged-with-misdemeanor-in-las-vegas/
Typo in first graph of Gaudin story: “…with the aaddition of…”
Needed to be in the story about signing Aardsma. ;-])
And, to no one’s surprise, the Dodgers continue to scour medical wards for pitching.
http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/110371186/chad-gaudin-in-dodgers-camp
On the medically-challenged portion of the 2015 starting rotation–
http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/110346432/anthony-castrovince-brandon-mccarthy-brett-anderson-eye-successful-reunion-with-dodgers
While I am with yawl and want the season to begin, I tend to like spring training even though it drags at the end until we play our little brothers the Angles of Anaheim. This year especially, with all the new players (bet Vin is studying overtime to get their little stories to us!).
Los Ángulos Agudos de Anaheim.
Just a wonderful new post from Jon on Dodger Insider. http://dodgers.mlblogs.com/2015/02/24/on-clubhouse-reporting/#more-2089340
Be sure to click the Storify link for that Twitter exchange (mostly) between Molly Knight and Brandon McCarthy, too.
Following the team is supposed to be enjoyable and fun. You guys who complain about the new FO incessantly…..is all that really fun for you?
It’s REAL clear that you dislike all the player moves and you don’t like that they didn’t spend $500 million on every big name star free agent or Cuban prospect out there (yet)–as if doing those things guaranteed a WS. Actually, doing those things guarantees exactly nothing. You can’t buy your way into a WS.
The team hasn’t even played its first exhibition game yet. Gosh. Exhale.
Who said it was supposed to be fun? Suffering is a huge part of being a fan. Used to know a guy who loved to gamble, any way, any how. He asked me once what I thought a gambler liked most. I said, “Winning”. “Right”, he said, “Know what he likes second most? Losing.”
Please, please, please let the games begin so all this negativity will be overwritten by hits and runs and errors!
Every day, every thread. “The front office stinks. They don’t have a clue. I’d never have done that. Why didn’t they do this?”
Get over it, will you guys?
Ha! See my comments below. Yes, let the games begin!!!!
There is quite a conversation about the Moncada thing going on among the various personalities in my head.
1. The FO didn’t bid on him because he isn’t the type of player they like.
2. Might not be a bad thing. I can think of dozens of super-star players in AAA who never did anything in the bigs. He isn’t even close to AAA yet. Yes, I’m a skeptic or pessimist or whatever.
3. I’d rather gamble $70MM on him than all the bent wing pitchers they signed recently. Good news: Because there are several of them, we have a good chance one of them works. Bad News: Because there is only one of him, there is only one chance he is successful. Good news: There is also only one chance he fails. Best news: We don’t have to sweat it at all, it is the FO’s hotseat.
At dodgers.com, Mattingly says plan is for Nicasio to be a multi-innings reliever, Frias a starter.
Seems reasonable. Juan did fairly well as a 4-5 getting 10-15 starts early in his career, but not so well when he was throwing 30 games a season more recently. Jury still out on Carlos, who only has two starts under his belt (with 3.60 FIP).
My first thought in seeing the above photo was that Maatingly is arms length away – that is, out of punching range. Not that swings would happen, but…
The season can’t start soon enough for me!