Shut down the Internet: pic.twitter.com/z2vlYQ9ko5
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 19, 2014
By Jon Weisman
In their 26th year of pursuing their seventh World Series title, the Dodgers don’t feel they’ve fulfilled their mission because they didn’t win a championship.
Nevertheless, despite what happened in October, it was a memorable 2014 for a variety of reasons.
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(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers have officially announced the signing of pitcher Brett Anderson to a one-year contract today, making room for him on the 40-man roster by designating shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena for assignment.
Anderson, who will turn 27 before Spring Training begins, has thrown 318 2/3 innings over the past five seasons while battling injuries (including 43 1/3 innings last year for Colorado with a 2.91 ERA), so sure, it’s optimistic to lock him in for 30-plus starts in 2015.
But the potential for the appearances he does make is high — he has a career 112 ERA+ — and fits with the Dodgers’ defensively enhanced infield.
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By Jon Weisman
Test your knowledge of the 2014 Dodgers and their place in history with these 20 questions. Answers below.
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Embarrassing as it is to admit, I think what I might remember most about my first year with the Dodgers was the stress I felt trying to do a job worthy of this franchise.
That being said, there were some incredibly cool moments that I’ll recall. But nothing remotely compares to the one I’m about to describe, one culminating in a tension beyond dreaming.
Have a wonderful holiday!
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
Throughout the flurry of Dodger deals that greeted us in early December, I’d see a recurring question from folks on social media: “What about the bullpen?”
This puzzles me, because roughly two months before pitchers and catchers report, there has already been a significant teardown of 2014’s core relief corps.
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By Jon Weisman
With the official release of Brian Wilson today, preceded by recent acquisition Ryan Lavarnway being claimed on waivers by the Cubs and Kyle (that’s Kyle) Jensen being designated for assignment, the Dodger 40-man roster is back at, well, 40. But it’s not your slightly older sibling’s 40.
Let’s catch up on who’s new:
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By Jon Weisman
Baseball forces you to make some interesting adjustments. Jimmy Rollins’ biggest might not be switching from Phillies red to Dodger blue, but letting go of any residual memories of green and gold.
Rollins grew up in Oakland and greeted a conference-call question about his childhood allegiance today with a laughing “Are you trying to rub 1988 in my face or something?”
On the other hand, once he resolved to let go of his 18-year association with the Phillies organization, the Dodgers were his first choice for a new team.
Matt Kemp heads toward first after his 185th home run (including postseason) in a Dodger uniform, October 4 against St. Louis. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
A player who won our hearts leaves. A player who put a knife in our hearts arrives.
Dodger fans naturally are having emotional reactions to the departure of Matt Kemp to San Diego or the arrival of Jimmy Rollins from Philadelphia, the capper to the past week’s massive talent migration in and out of Chavez Ravine.
But don’t count out the scoreboard.
Baseball has shown, time and again, that nothing eases the whiplash of losing a beloved player or acquiring a formal rival the way wins do. That includes both winning on the field, and winning the trades themselves.
You loved watching Kemp play (though some abandoned ship when the going got tough). I loved watching Kemp play. And I was so invested — deeply invested. Players come and go — that’s been baseball reality for me since the first favorite I lost, Bill Buckner to Chicago for Rick Monday. Then the older you get, the more you have to shake and wake yourself. “Wasn’t this guy just 21 years old? Didn’t he just get called up?”
Matt Kemp became “The Bison” thanks to Dodger Thoughts (click above to enlarge), and although his embrace of the nickname was ambivalent, you don’t sever those ties without a thought.
But if the Dodgers are a better team than they were a week ago, the trade will be worth it. And there’s great reason to think that they are, that the Dodgers took a comeback season from a player and turned it into something even more. The talent received in exchange for Kemp is anything but a dismissal of his value.
Don Mattingly comes to the mound to remove Clayton Kershaw in the second inning on May 17 at Arizona. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
It was an odd mission, unlikely to be rewarding, and it was voluntary.
But I chose to revisit Clayton Kershaw’s May 17 blowup against Arizona, when he allowed seven runs in the second inning.
I was listening on the radio when it happened, and it was more than six months ago, so some of its nuances — yes, there were nuances — weren’t fresh in my mind. I remembered the four-pitch walks to Cody Ross — yes, more than one. I remembered the three triples. I remembered that Kershaw just was not Kershaw — the seven runs makes that pretty clear — and that given that he had come off the disabled list just a couple weeks before, there was some amount of panic among Dodger followers.
Kershaw, of course, recovered spectacularly from the start, with a 1.43 ERA and 211 strikeouts in his next 176 innings. You wanted to forget that outing in Arizona? Wish granted. It was completely irrelevant to his National League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player pursuits.
And yet, I retained some curiosity about it, mostly because it was just so unusual.
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Noel Cuevas has gone to the Colorado Rockies to complete the November 24 trade for pitcher Juan Nicasio. Those of you with good memories of Spring Training might remember Cuevas’ game-winning homer against the Royals in March.
The 23-year-old outfielder had a .285 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage for Double-A Chattanooga this season.
— Jon Weisman
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
To make room for Brandon McCarthy on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers have designated reliever Brian Wilson for assignment.
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By Jon Weisman
As one of the most sharp and social players on Twitter, not to mention one of the more progressive thinkers among big-league players, Brandon McCarthy has built a following among many baseball fans that transcends the hallowed bonds of team allegiances.
McCarthy, whom the Dodgers have officially signed to a four-year contract, already has more followers on Twitter than all but two of his new teammates — meaning that his own personal attempt to transform himself into a Dodger uniform online (left) met with an enthusiastic response, praiseworthy or not.
That’s not to say there’s no local angle in his arrival in Los Angeles. Though he went to school in Colorado, he’s a native of nearby Glendale. As Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. notes, McCarthy properly worships Vin Scully, and you don’t get off on a better foot in this town than that.
But McCarthy’s popularity in greater Los Angeles will ultimately be determined on the field, and there, the 31-year-old right-handed starting pitcher offers promise.
.@JimmieJohnson and @ClaytonKersh22 sing? https://t.co/kymZTrsu8p
— Stu Hothem (@hothem) December 16, 2014
Clayton Kershaw joined NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson in presenting at Monday’s American Country Countdown Awards … and thanks to Stu Hothem of NASCAR.com, we can document that it was music to … someone’s ears.
— Jon Weisman
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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