Derrel Thomas, “Sweet” Lou Johnson and Dennis Powell ride on top of the Dodger fire truck at today’s 29th Annual Kingdom Day Parade More photos can be found here.
Month: January 2014 (Page 3 of 6)
By Jon Weisman
One of the counterpoints to the general “Hail contract, well met” about Clayton Kershaw’s extension last week was that it’s too much money to give to someone who only pitches once every five games.
However, “once every five games” understates Kershaw’s impact on the season. Pitchers have far more interactions in a game than any other position on the field, and Kershaw, being who he is, has almost as many as anyone.
In 2013, for example, Kershaw faced 908 batters, or 182 more than the Major League leader in plate appearances, Joey Votto. Factor in that 689 of the batters Kershaw faced made outs (plus another 31 retired on the bases thanks to double-play grounders, caught stealing and pickoffs), and you can begin to see how tremendous his impact was.
Certainly, those guys didn’t make outs by themselves – outside of his 232 strikeouts, the remainder were put into play and almost entirely handled by fielders other than Kershaw, who had 27 assists in 2013. And many position players make a difference in the field as well as at the plate. But my point is, we should be far past the point of viewing starting pitchers as part-timers. (Not incidentally, this explains why they shouldn’t be counted out of the most valuable player voting.)
No one risks facing high-stress situations in baseball more often than starting pitchers. Kershaw, by avoiding them for the most part and embracing them so adroitly when they do arrive, deserves acknowledgment for that.
As for the money itself … few are under any illusions that the relative salaries of firefighters and firearmers are in moral proportion. But within a baseball context, looking at his past performance and his future projections, Kershaw’s contract passes muster (as Dave Cameron notes at Fangraphs) in this era, even with physical risk factored in. That’s the world we live in … and Clayton Kershaw, as much as anyone, deserves his rewards.
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
Hank Aaron and Tommy Lasorda (Photos by Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Lasorda with former Dodgers executive Tommy Hawkins
By Jon Weisman
Tommy Lasorda provided one of the funnier moments at the 11th annual “In the Spirit of the Game” fundraiser for the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation on Saturday. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has the coverage from the fundraiser for the foundation, which raises funds for baseball scouts in need. Dennis Gilbert heads the foundation.
… Special presentations were made by motion picture and television stars Jason Alexander and Michael Keaton, while one of the funnier moments was provided by Dodgers Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who painstakingly presented the Managerial Award named for him to Bruce Bochy of the rival Giants.
“For me, to give him this award, something is wrong with this dinner tonight,” Lasorda joked.
“Thank you, Tommy,” said Bochy. “You were my great, great, great grandmother’s favorite manager.” …
Hank Aaron, pictured above with Lasorda, was presented with the Executive Leadership Award.
Actor Jason Alexander, in George Costanza-esque Yankees jersey, opens up the program.
By Jon Weisman
While looking for some stuff to bring to my office, I burrowed my way into my ticket stub collection from my younger days. Here is some of what I found (apologies in advance for the low image quality) …
This is my oldest Dodger stub, from one of the first Dodger games I had ever attended — I can’t imagine I had been to more than a few before this. When I was young, I would sometimes put the tickets in the old family typewriter and type my name on them, because my family’s Rams season tickets came with my father’s name printed on them.
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This is from the only World Series game I have yet attended.
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That pitch looks like it’s gonna smack our Dodger hero in the face if he doesn’t duck.
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Yes, it has been a while since there was an All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.
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The Times’ A student ticket program was a huge deal when I was a kid. This one was my brother’s.
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Here’s the Opening Day stub following the Dodgers’ 1981 World Series triumph.
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This is an unused ticket to the R.J. Reynolds squeeze game. I was invited to a Raiders game that day and went there instead, but got home in time to see the ninth inning on what was then a relatively rare telecast live from Dodger Stadium.
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Olympic year.
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I like this hologram ticket from Opening Day 1992.
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I was all set to go to the World Series … that wasn’t.
[mlbvideo id=”29585681″ width=”550″ height=”338″ /]
By Jon Weisman
My never-ending, fruitless quest to get people to say “Nomonia” instead of “Nomomania” aside, here’s a nice video tribute from the Dodgers to the newly crowned Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer, Hideo Nomo.
It’s a tremendous honor, and I was so happy to see it. Even though I rationalized why Nomo was almost completely shut out in the recent Cooperstown balloting, a big part of me felt his importance to the game was being understated. But this new recognition feels wonderfully appropriate and fulfilling.
I can still remember the joyful surprise of that first Nomo season. Before it began, you weren’t sure he would be able to stay in the big leagues at all, and then suddenly, he was racking up strikeouts on a pace with the greatest in baseball history.
I can also remember the tough times, when his arm was failing him and the struggles began, and then his resiliency as he battled back, before finally giving way for good. His ERAs and adjusted ERA as a Dodger:
2.54, 149 (1995)
3.19, 122 (1996)
4.25, 91 (1997)
5.05, 80 (1998)
3.39, 112 (2002)
3.09, 131 (2003)
8.25, 50 (2004)
Pitching is a crazy game.
Below, some statements from the Dodger family, present and past.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers congratulate Hideo Nomo on his election to the Japanese Hall of Fame,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “‘Nomomania’ was a very special time for Dodger fans in the United States and internationally. He had a great career both in Japan and the United States, and that’s quite evident by the overwhelming voter support Hideo received in gaining entrance on the first ballot.”
“I am so happy and proud to learn of Hideo Nomo’s election to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame — he is truly a Hall of Famer,” added Tommy Lasorda, who managed Nomo during his first two MLB seasons in 1995-96. “When he came to the Dodgers in 1995, I remember taking him under my wing like a son and helping him with the transition. He was quite a pitcher and competitor, but he is also a very special and caring person. The Dodger fans loved him and it became the start of ‘Nomomania’ in Los Angeles and Japan. Hideo, on behalf of the Dodger organization, congratulations on this prestigious honor. We wish you and your wonderful family many happy and healthy years.”
Former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley sent this message to Nomo: “Congratulations, Hideo, I am very happy for you. You deserve this extraordinary recognition by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ever since we first met in 1995, I have admired your professionalism and courage facing baseball’s finest hitters. Everyone in the Dodger organization respected you. You are a pioneer and have opened the door for others to follow you in Major League Baseball. Well done.”
Postscript: For those who have forgotten, the unusual boxscore of Nomo’s MLB debut.
By Jon Weisman
Continuing our celebration of Clayton Kershaw’s contract extention today, here’s a look at what other journalists are saying. Though Clayton Kershaw has signed the richest contact for a pitcher in baseball history, more than one analyst is affirming that the Dodgers got a good deal.
Andre Ethier will be a guest on the upcoming third season (which begins February 17) of Disney XD’s “Lab Rats,” reports Michael Schneider of TV Guide. So sometime while Ethier is gearing up for the 2014 season, you’ll also see him gearing up with these bionic teens.
By Jon Weisman
As much anxiety as Dodger fans might have felt about a contract extension for Clayton Kershaw being completed, the ace himself said he stayed rather calm.
“During the season, it’s always hard to think about that stuff,” Kershaw said on the phone from Texas with reporters. “I didn’t let myself think about it too much. Once the offseason started, I always kind of had the feeling it was going to work out.”
And work out it did — a seven-year deal that made him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history. Kershaw admitted it was a little difficult to wrap his head around — and that he fully expected the size of his contract to be surpassed by another player in the future — but that it was “incredible” for him and his wife Ellen to have it resolved.
“Contracts and money are something that’s a little bit uncomfortable for me to talk about, but I realize what a term blessing it is — and at the same time a tremendous responsibility,” Kershaw said. “Our heads have been running with different things we can support with Kershaw’s Challenge.”
[mlbvideo id=”31308061″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]
Kershaw added that it made sense that the Dodgers would attend to outside acquisitions before settling in to hammer out this agreement.
“There’s never been a sense of urgency, because I was going to be in L.A. for the next year regardless,” he said. “I think (after other deals were done), it gave them and ourselves a chance to focus on it for a solid week or two, and I think that’s ultimately what made it happen.”
The pitcher said he wasn’t seeking a voice in player acquisitions, trusting the Dodger front office. He hadn’t been asked to recruit Japanese postee Masahiro Tanaka. But Kershaw, who turns 26 in March, said he was prepared for the added pressure that comes with the deal.
“I don’t think there’s a negative,” Kershaw said. “I think it’s how you look at it. Obviously, there’s gonna be a lot of expectations as it should be, if your salary’s out there and you’re one of the top players in the game, you’re gonna be expected to be one of the best players in the game. That’s fine with me. I look forward to those expectations and look forward to trying to live up to them.”
The disappointing finale to 2013 — a knockout punch by the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series — hasn’t been forgotten, but Kershaw said he doesn’t need it as added motivation.
“It definitely went wrong,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t a good start. Definitely not a good time for it, definitely feel pretty responsible for us ending our season. Definitely not a good feeling, and leaves a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth when that’s the last game of your season. I definitely don’t want that to happen again.”
After taking six weeks off from throwing following the end of the season, Kershaw began preparation for the 2014 campaign. He said he is not working on anything in particular (“I’m not gonna even say ‘changeup’ anymore, just because I say it every Spring Training and nothing ever changes”) but more focusing on health and consistency, day in and day out. He doesn’t expect any problems from an offseason shortened by a lengthy Dodger playoff run and an early trip to Australia for the Opening Series with Arizona.
In general, Kershaw indicated that he tends to take the long view, which is one reason why a seven-year deal (with an opt-out clause after five years) was just right for him.
“I think that length of the contract we decided on was important to Ellen and me, and specifically the opt-out was important, too,” Kershaw said. “I always want to be able to see the end and always want to be able to pitch at a very high level. Anything longer than that, I would have been a bit overwhelmed trying to live up to the obligations of that contract.”
His appreciation for the Dodgers’ faith in him was unmistakable.
“First and foremost,” Kershaw said, “what an amazing gift for Ellen and I, and how thankful we are to the Dodgers that they believe in us so much. It’s a very humbling thing, to have the support. … We’re just excited honestly to be in L.A. for a long time.”
[mlbvideo id=”31308009″ width=”550″ height=”338″ /]
By Jon Weisman
We’ll be covering the highlights from the Dodgers’ press conference today with Stan Kasten and Ned Colletti at 10 a.m. Refresh for updates. If you’d like to watch the presser on a separate browser window, click here.
10:00 a.m.: The Dodgers sent out the press release officially announcing that Clayton Kershaw had been signed to a seven-year contract. Here’s Kershaw’s quote for the release …
“It is an incredible privilege to be part of the Los Angeles Dodger organization for another seven years,” said Kershaw. “L.A. has become a second home to me and my wife, and I’m excited for the opportunity to represent the city for a long time to come. I am particularly grateful to our team’s ownership and front office for believing in me. With this contract comes tremendous responsibility, not only as a pitcher, but as a good steward of the resources given to me. To whom much is given, much is required. Ellen and I are excited to take an undeserved blessing and, Lord willing, make a difference in the lives of others. I’m humbled by this recognition and looking forward to a new season, and hopefully, a World Series championship for the city of Los Angeles.”
10:10 a.m.: The troops are gathered in the press room, and we’re about to get started. By the way, Kershaw will be speaking to reporters via conference call at 11 a.m.
- Colletti, smiling as much as you’ve ever seen him as he sat down: “We’ve all seen a lot of players and a lot of great pitchers in our careers. There are those that stand out above pretty much all the rest, including in my mind Clayton. Not only as somebody that’s won a Cy Young, finished second, won another Cy Young, leads this staff, 25 years old, left-handed, ultra-competitive, something that we’ve watched grow as we’ve drafted him and developed him. That’s what you can read on the back of the baseball card .. For me, it’s also that he’s got the heart that he’s got. Ellen Kershaw and himself, with the perspective they bring to their lives and others, I think when you’ve got the complete set like that, it’s somebody that not only represents your baseball team but represents your organization and your city at probably the highest level.
- Kasten: “I don’t usually sit in for contract press conferences or trade press conferences, but because of the size and significance of this deal, I was involved more than I typically am. From our standpoint in ownership, we felt Clayton is so special. He checks all the boxes, on the field, off the field, in the community, home-grown, age-wise. It really was the perfect storm, both for Clayton as well as for the Dodgers. There’s been a lot of attention about this being the biggest contract for a pitcher in baseball, and that is the case. If someone should have this contract, it should be the best pitcher in baseball.
- Kasten: “For us, in ownership, it was all that he does on the field, in the clubhouse, as well as all the things he does away from the field, away from Dodger Stadium, which as you know to us in ownership, is very, very important to us as well. Representing this organization today, continuing its legacy of 50 years here, Clayton is as good as it gets. “
- Kasten on negotiations: “Long. We started in March. It was always pleasant and constructive and collegial. If it had not gotten done now and had taken until next year, I wouldn’t have been surprised if we signed him then also, because the relationship has been great. I think both sides respect and appreciate each other; that’s what made it comfortable. There are ups and downs like every negotiation, because it was dragging on for a long time. And so, in the middle of last summer, we were nearing something that might work, but then it was dragging on so long, and we both said to each other, ‘Yeah, let’s put this off until the offseason,’ and I think both sides were comfortable with that. I think both sides thought we would get something done, but we were prepared in the event that we didn’t to still keep talking. Fortunately, we didn’t have to get to that, and we can now turn our attention to the next thing, whatever that may be.”
- Kasten: “As I reflect back on the first discussions that we had … it wasn’t all that far away from where we wound up, but there were probably a thousand iterations from last March to now. … I will say this, if (agent Casey Close) and Ned and I had dedicated a week to being in the same room, but that was never there for us. Casey’s in New York, we’re here in the offseason, Clayton’s in Texas, our owners are in other cities. We’d have a conversation, we’d get back to the other side a week or two later. Because there was never any urgency or a feeling of ‘get this done or else,’ from either side.
Colletti: “And when the season gets going, you have even less opportunity to really do it … because you never want anything interfering with the thought process of Clayton.- Kasten: “We know all the precedents, we know all the risks. A big part of this for us (was) getting as much protection as possible from insurance, which we did. That was helpful, to both sides, to know that you could do that. A big, big factor for us that really was a positive for us was Clayton’s age. We have that going for us. Clayton has that going for him. I’d feel differently doing this contract for a player in his mid-30s. … Doesn’t make it foolproof. There are still risks, but every day in this business, we have risks that we have to evaluate. Nothing is risk free.”
- Colletti: “It’s tough to have in our mind to have the best pitcher in baseball, the youngest best pitcher in baseball, and tell him we’re not going to do what others have done for others.”
- Kasten: “I’m sure there is (a top end to our payroll), but we’re comfortable where we are. For right now where we are in approaching our second full season (as owners), we’re still first and foremost concerned with the quality of the team we can put together. Adding it up comes after that, and that’s because this is a long-term strategy for us. I think after five years, six years, seven years, when you add it all up, it will make a lot more sense than it might to some people who look at today’s snapshot.”
- Kasten: “(Luxury tax) is an expense that we’re well aware of, and we understand to the decimal point what the costs are.”
- Kasten: “Nothing precludes anything else. Everything has to be evaluated independently. That’s what I ask Ned and his people to do. When there’s something that makes us better, we would do it, irrespective of what came before that. I know that’s generic, but that’s actually how we evaluate.”
- Colletti: “That’s a great quote.”
- Kasten: “I’ve only got a couple of messages, and I’m just going to keep beating them into you.”
- Kasten: “The reason (Kershaw) is not here today … he’s had an awfully busy offseason. He’s made a couple of cross-country trips just this week, including earlier this week for a physical for all this. So we said, ‘You can stay home today — we’ll get everyone with you on the phone.’ He’s also had, and I hope this is something that continues for the rest of his career, a fairly short offseason. And so we let him stay home today.
- Kasten: “For me, personally — I hate no-trade clauses, and I’ve never done one. I will tell you, I do hate them. Opt-outs are more reasonable to us, particularly with our circumstances here in L.A. and the resources that we have, the appeal that we have to guys. … I wouldn’t just give it out willy-nilly, but there are times that it really has value during the course of a negotiation. That has been the case in the most recent negotiations.
- Colletti: “I talked to Casey (about Masahiro Tanaka) probably not yesterday but every day this week and we’ll talk to him again this week.”
- Kasten, on the deadline today for exchanging arbitration salary figures: “Not a hard deadline, but all deadlines have the advantage of concentrating the mind, to see what we can do. Today we would have had to put a number in, and does that change the dynamics? Hard to say. Wouldn’t have been a brick wall, but it made it more complicated, so we said let’s use that as a good benchmark to see if we could get it done by then. And both sides wanted it done, so this was a tool.”
10:26 a.m.: Questions end.
Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
We’ll start the day with some happy tidings …
- Hideo Nomo became the youngest ever to be elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com has more. Nomo is the third first-ballot inductee in the Japan Hall’s history.
- Congrats to Mike Petriello, Chad Moriyama, Dustin Nosler and Daniel Brim on their impending launch — coming on Monday — of Dodgers Digest. Details here from Petriello and from Nosler.
- Former Dodger pitcher Brad Penny has signed a minor-league contract with Kansas City, says Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish — and was later joined by another former Dodger, Guillermo Mota. Penny. who only turns 35 in May, last pitched in the majors in 2012, throwing 28 innings with a 6.11 ERA.
- Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation looks at the history of showing and not showing close calls on scoreboards, and wonders if the new policy announced by MLB on Thursday will last.
- There’s never a bad time to offer praise for “Hoop Dreams,” whose 20th anniversary Will Leitch celebrates at Sports on Earth.
The Dodgers have scheduled a press announcement with Stan Kasten and Ned Colletti at Dodger Stadium for Friday at 10 a.m.
Dodgers.com will stream the announcement live.
Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association have approved the expanded use of instant replay for the 2014 season. From today’s press release:
… Managers will have at least one challenge to use. If any portion of a challenged play is overturned, then the manager who challenged the play will retain the ability to challenge one more play during the game. No manager may challenge more than two plays in a game. Once the manager has exhausted his ability to challenge plays during the game and after the beginning of the seventh inning, the Crew Chief may choose to invoke instant replay on any reviewable call. Home run and other boundary calls will remain reviewable under the procedures in place last season.
A designated communication location near home plate will be established at all 30 MLB ballparks. There, the Crew Chief and at least one other Major League Umpire will have access to a hard-wired headset connected to the Replay Command Center, which will remain at MLB Advanced Media headquarters in New York. Major League Umpires will be staffed as Replay Officials at the Replay Command Center. After viewing video feeds, the Replay Official will make the ultimate determination of whether to overturn the call, based on the continuing standard of whether there is clear and convincing evidence.
Instant replay will be utilized during some televised games in Spring Training for the purposes of educating on-field personnel on the rules of the new system. …
Two other notes of interest: As the fifth bullet point up top indicates, the neighborhood play at second base will not be subject to review. Also, teams will now have the right to show replays of all close plays on the ballpark scoreboard, regardless of whether the play is reviewed.
By Jon Weisman
So, maybe it was because this was the first time in years I didn’t have to get up pre-dawn for the Oscar nominations, but I got to wondering how many of you will be tuning in live for the Dodgers’ opener against the Diamondbacks in Australia on March 22.
The game has a 7 p.m. Sydney start time, which translates to 1 a.m. in Los Angeles. (Quick time-zone sidebar: Daylight Savings Time starts in the U.S. on March 9, but it ends in Australia on April 6. So while there’s a 19-hour time difference today, there will only be an 18-hour time difference when the game takes place. Unless the Internet has lied to me.)
Game 2 in Sydney has a 1 p.m. start time on March 23, which translates to 7 p.m. March 22 in Los Angeles, creating the rare night-night split doubleheader for Dodger fans.
Let us know in the comments below if you’re going to be up for Opening Day!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moMjp74w54Q&w=550&h=413]
By Jon Weisman
In 1984, KTTV Channel 11 took this look at the history of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. Among the incidents that don’t get as much attention these days are the 1971 brawl that had echoes of the famous Juan Marichal-Johnny Roseboro calamity, with Mays and Marichal once again pivotal figures, and a 1978 outfield collision at Candlestick Park that triggered a bizarre finish.
For what it’s worth, the next batter after that 1971 brawl, Willie Davis, hit a two-run home run.
Here’s a more recent picture of Elaine Perkins, who introduces the video above.
