“It’s almost time for Dodger baseball” – Vin Scully #ineedmydodgers #dodgers http://t.co/ESv0QjYG3R pic.twitter.com/dhsIVnGGWf
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) February 5, 2014
By Jon Weisman
Links for a Thursday …
- Ken Gurnick has a Spring Training preview for the Dodgers at MLB.com.
- While Gurnick looks ahead to the 2014 Dodgers, Lyle Spencer of MLB.com looks back at the 1963 Dodgers. “Managed by Walter Alston, the Dodgers overcame a sluggish start to win the National League pennant and surgically sweep the vaunted New York Yankees in a stunning World Series,” Spencer writes. “They did it with a predominantly black lineup, the first time that had happened.”
- Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com explores the possibility of Hyun-Jin Ryu having a sophomore slump, a topic that Chad Moriyama takes up at Dodgers Digest.
- Is the most iconic moment in Dodger history the Kirk Gibson home run? The Sporting News thinks so, and the only argument that I can really think of would involve Jackie Robinson.
- Robinson expresses his views on why baseball is popular in this letter, available on auction and discussed by Ernest Reyes at Blue Heaven.
- The Derrel Thomas Foundation is presenting the second annual Positive Image Awards at a dinner February 20. Roberto Baly at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy has more.
- Remember Koyie Hill? The one-time Dodger farmhand, a decade removed from the franchise, is still kicking and signed a minor-league contract with Washington. Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors has details.
- Joe Sheehan imagines what baseball would be like with a one-game World Series that resembles the Super Bowl and doesn’t like what he sees.
- You shouldn’t take recovery from Tommy John surgery for granted, writes Jeff Sullivan for Fangraphs — providing several examples of why.
- This Parks and Recreation-Dodgers mashup from @akaTheConman appeals to two of my great loves.
stanfromtacoma
I think the most iconic moment in franchise history happened in Brooklyn. Baseball is a team sport so I would say the first World Series win in 1955 was the top moment in Dodger history. The debut of Jackie Robinson in 1947 was more significant but I think Jack’s debut was more important for baseball and the larger society as a whole than it was just for the Dodgers. Of course without the contributions of Robinson, Campy, Jim Gilliam and Newcombe the dodgers would not have won anything in 1955.
Most iconic moment in LA I would say was the four game sweep of the Yankees in 1963. Particularly following the bitter disappointment of 1962, the World Series win was especially gratifying. Koufax pitching the Dodgers to the world championship in 1965 on two days rest and then following that up by pitching them to the pennant in 1966 again on two days rest in my mind trumps Gibson’s game winning home run. Gibby’s home run though really was special. Vin’s terrific call added to glory of that splendid moment.