By Jon Weisman
On a day to pay special attention to our better selves …
- Evan Bladh has more connecting Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King at Opinion of Kingman’s Performance.
- Maya Angelou, Berry Gordy and Jim Brown will be the honorees at the May 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon, “one of the events surrounding the Civil Rights Game that pay tribute to people who fight for equal rights,” The Associated Press reports.
- Forget about asking whether Clayton Kershaw is the next Sandy Koufax. Now folks like Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (via Gammons Daily) are trying to identify the next Kershaw.
- Potential bench options on the open market are outlined by Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
- The new manager of the Dodgers’ Single-A team in Great Lakes, Bill Haselman, is profiled by Harold Uhlman of Think Blue L.A.
- Masahiro Tanaka is scouted by Ben Badler of Baseball America, while David Schoenfield of ESPN.com offers his own appraisal. The deadline for Tanaka to sign a Major League contract is Friday.
- Former Dodger farmhand Carlos Santana is working on a potential move to third base from catcher for Cleveland. D.J. Short of Hardball Talk has more.
- Another former Dodger, Joe Beimel, has signed a minor-league deal with Seattle, tweets Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, adding that scouts say Beimel’s velocity is finally up since May 2012 Tommy John surgery. Bill Baer of Hardball Talk notes that Beimel, 37 in April, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011.
- Former MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn was wrong “about basically everything,” says the headline of Emma Span’s piece for Old Time Family Baseball. (Rob Neyer offers his own take at Baseball Nation.)
"I don't break bats…I wear them out!" -Josh Gibson. The legendary Negro Leaguer died at age 35 on Jan. 20, 1947. pic.twitter.com/l4itBULffL
— negroleaguesmuseum (@nlbmprez) January 20, 2014
Michael Green
Wonderful links. Jon, it’s so good to have you here. One note from Rob Neyer’s argument: Yawkey bought the Red Sox more than 20 years after Fenway Park was built. He didn’t tear it down, which counts for something. Another thing: when Bob Short moved the Washington Senators to Texas, Kuhn asked his top adviser if he could veto it, and the response was, yes, but don’t do it. So he ALMOST did something right. But a Hall of Fame with Bowie Kuhn and without Marvin Miller is truly an embarrassment to baseball.