February 2012 – Page 3 – Dodger Thoughts

On February 14, 2012

On this Valentine’s Day, Josh Wilker makes Bobby Valentine the subject of his Cardboard Gods offering, linking to a 1971 Spokane Daily Chronicle story in which Valentine declares, “I intend to be the Dodger shortstop for many years.” But Valentine, the 1970 Pacific Coast League MVP, had already suffered the injury that derailed his playing career.

But wait, there’s more …

In the second part of Bronx Banter’s series on Hiroki Kuroda, William Juliano runs a statistical analysis on the former Dodger righty.
Steve Dilbeck of Dodgers Now celebrates, for good reason, getting a phone call at home from Vin Scully.
Dodger Stadium will once again host a college baseball doubleheader, this time on March 13. UC Irvine will play Pepperdine at 2 p.m., followed by UCLA-USC at 6:30. Advanced tickets are $7 ($5 for students). Gates open at 1 p.m., parking is free and concessions are discounted. Details here.
Tony Gwynn (Sr.) is having more cancer surgery, reports The Associated Press.
From Chad Moriyama: “The article I didn’t want to write: Jeremy Lin and racism.”
Hey, it’s not as if I’m immune to the charms of Kate Upton, but thanks to Big League Stew for finding the link from Upton’s MLB 2K12 ad to George Plimpton’s Mattel Intellivision spot.
Update: Adding this last bit from Mike Newman at Fangraphs …

… Before scouting Dodgers Rubby De La Rosa in person, a running joke with scouting contacts was that my radar gun must be broken because it had never registered a velocity above 96 MPH in a season and a half of lugging it around. I headed to Chattanooga knowing De La Rosa threw hard enough to surpass 96 MPH, but was not prepared for just how much harder he threw. Seeing a “seven” on the gun was impressive, but when he popped the mitt at “eight” and “nine” in succession, it became obvious De La Rosa’s fastball was in a different league than any I’d seen previously. (For those who are wondering, when a pitcher throws in the 90+ MPH range, scouts will drop the nine and refer to the pitch by its second digit.) And while I generally ignore stadium guns at all cost, seeing 101 MPH flash on the scoreboard was a first, and left onlookers buzzing in the stands.

And while De La Rosa lacked command in the upper registers, the one 98 MPH fastball he located belt high on the inner half is seared into my scouting mind as it bored down and in on a right handed hitter to devastating effect. It was the single most dominant pitch I’ve seen live …

The Emerald City prepares for Hong-Chih Kuo

On February 13, 2012

On the heels of Alex Belth’s feature on Hiroki Kuroda came this piece by Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times (via Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.) on new Mariner lefty Hong-Chih Kuo. In the picture that runs with Baker’s article, I can’t say Kuo doesn’t look smart in that Seattle uniform, but maybe I just miss him.

… Kuo had battled a yips problem in 2009, then became arguably the game’s top reliever in 2010 with the Dodgers. In the interim, he’d worked with famed sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman to curtail his throwing issues.

But Dorfman passed away last February at age 75. By April, the yips troubles were once agan starting to overwhelm Kuo. He returned after the first DL stint, struggled again, then went back on the DL in May. I asked Kuo whether Dorfman’s death made it tougher for him to bounce back, since he could no longer phone him up for instant advice.

“Yes, it was hard,” he told me. “But you still have to fix it. It can’t come from somebody else.”

Then, he looked at me and pumped his chest with his fist.

“It has to come from inside here,” he said. “It has to come from inside me.” …

Elsewhere …

Ken Gurnick produced a status report on the Dodgers heading into Spring Training for MLB.com.
In its latest behind-the-scenes offseason video, ESPN.com checks in on Clayton Kershaw.
Dodger Thoughts softball teamer Matt Worland blogged at length about Saturday’s tournament. Here is part one and part two.
James Loney doesn’t look so bad, or as bad, now that the quality of National League first basemen has declined, writes Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness.
Twice-baked Dodger pitcher Jon Garland (remembered by Dodger Thoughts here) has signed a minor-league deal with Cleveland. He earned a $5 million base salary from the Dodgers in 2011.
Bob Timmermann posted a great historical piece on the Sports Arena at L.A. Observed’s Native Intelligence. I’d call it a must-read for any local sports fan.
More history: Mary Mallory of the Daily Mirror looks back at Eaton’s Rancho, which one sat at the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Boulevard, currently home to a McDonald’s.
A soundtrack for season two of Treme goes on sale April 17 (and has just been added to my wish list). Here’s a link to the season-one soundtrack.

The Bronx prepares for Hiroki Kuroda

On February 13, 2012

Alex Belth of Bronx Banter has a thorough, thoughtful, spare-no-effort piece on Hiroki Kuroda today.

Jon Weisman is in the best shape of his life

On February 12, 2012

In Life

Matt Kemp isn’t the only one working hard to have a big year. My eldest son, Young Master Weisman, filmed this feature piece checking in on my winter training regimen as I prepared for the 2012 blogging season.

Somewhere under the rainbow

One more for the road …

A good day had by all

Though there was no stopping the bats of top-seeded LFP 2 in its 31-7 semifinal victory over Dodger Thoughts, the day was nothing but a success. I couldn’t have gotten a better bunch of teammates if I tried – just a lot of fun to spend the day with. Thanks to Mike at LFP and Big League Dreams for putting on a great event.

Into the semis

Greg Zakwin connects in Dodger Thoughts’ 27-2 triumph in a rematch against Vin Scully Is My Homeboy II. A semifinal game awaited in the semis against LFP 2, the one team to beat DT today.

Playoff bound

James Higgins helped lift Dodger Thoughts into the tourney playoffs with a 20-5 victory over Vin Scully Is My Homeboy II at Tiger Stadium.

In the shadow of ’88

At the 1988 Dodger Stadium replica field, the Dodger Thoughts team fielded well but couldn’t stay even in the plate, losing its second game, 11-2.

Off to a good start …

Mary Whitfield pitches Dodger Thoughts to a 30-4 opening-game victory at the LFP Dodger Bloggers tournament.

Twenty minutes to gametime

Initial warmups are done. Realizing just how sore my arm will be Sunday. Hong-Chih, I feel you.

But right now, most worried about reaction time in the field. Thats something you cant practice while jogging on a random weekday morning.

In an 8 a.m. game, True Blue L.A. burst to a 4-0 lead over Dodger Bobble but now trails, 6-4.

End of the work week

On February 10, 2012

In Life

The Internet reaches its pinnacle: Howard Cosell and Jan Smithers

On February 10, 2012

In Entertainment

Does the World Wide Web get any better than this? Howard Cosell analyzes Jan Smithers while she sits in a dunk tank at the mercy of Dick Van Patten in 1979 on Battle of the Network Stars.

“This is a very serious girl, in point of fact,” Cosell concludes.

Magic Johnson documentary ‘The Announcement’ headed to ESPN