Seventh-inning stretch at Dodger Stadium, Independence Day (click to enlarge)
When you’re out of the blogging groove but the ideas keep coming, the easy thing to do is just dish them off on Twitter. But tweets are like shooting stars, and sometimes you want a constellation. So here I am back at Dodger Thoughts to try to collect some thoughts.
Also, I’m convinced that tons of people bypass the intro to a column and to get straight at the meat, so let’s get right to it.
By Jon Weisman
Beginning tonight, the Dodgers are opening a Kosher stand that will begin service by offering three types of Kosher hot dogs.
Located at the grill adjacent to Tommy Lasorda’s Trattoria in the right-field plaza, the stand will offer a Kosher Dog and a Jalapeno Kosher Dog for $9 each and a Kosher Italian Sausage for $10.
The stand will be open at Dodger home games except Friday and Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Additional food items will be added in the future.
In addition, the Dodgers will celebrate their 16th annual Jewish Community Night on August 30 when they host the Chicago Cubs at 5:08 p.m.
The Dodgers are offering a special ticket package, which includes a voucher for a Dodgers-in-Hebrew T-shirt and a ticket to the game in the Reserve MVP or Preferred Reserve sections. An additional Kosher food stand will be available in the Left Field Reserve section. In addition, the first 40,000 fans in attendance August 30 will also receive Dodger headphones.
A limited number of tickets for Jewish Community Day are still available and can be purchased at dodgers.com/jewish. In order to receive the commemorative item, fans must purchase the ticket package through the website. The commemorative item is available while supplies last. Anyone interested in groups of 20 or more should call (323) 224-2642.
By Jon Weisman
Ever since I heard about the new Meatball Marinara Cone at Tommy Lasorda’s Trattoria this year, I kept trying to picture it.
So at my first opportunity, I went down to get a visual of the meatballs, marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese, wrapped in a breaded cone. You can see it above, alongside another of the new food items at Dodger Stadium this year, the Meatball Marinara Fries.
At right, a vertical image of the cone, in all its glory.
Below, some other pics from the first Dodger game at Dodger Stadium this year …
Above, the Dodger Insider Concessions Guide for 2015 (click to enlarge).
By Jon Weisman
Renovations to the Reserve Level concessions stands and the Lexus Dugout Club, as well as several new food offerings, will greet fans at Dodger Stadium in 2015, the team is announcing today.
The new menu items include:
In addition, there will be daily specials at the Think Blue BBQ, more locations for nachos (including vegetarian and vegan versions of the signature helmet-sized nachos) and more availability for such healthy choices as turkey burgers, veggie burgers, veggie dogs, veggie wraps and veggie pizza at a number of locations throughout the stadium.
Here’s more from today’s press release:
By Jon Weisman
Dodger Stadium’s beloved Chef Dave Pearson will be a featured guest on the Cooking Channel’s “My Grandmother’s Ravioli” on August 20, airing at 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. depending on your provider.
Chef Dave, a daily presence in the Dodger press box, will be in an episode entitled “A Home Run in the Kitchen,” in which we’re told he trains host Mo Rocca “to cook like a major leaguer without too many drops, errors or rookie mistakes.” This includes showing “how to make his buddy Tommy Lasorda’s favorite dish, lasagna, at Dodger Stadium, and later they prepare short ribs and green beans for a family dinner at his home.”
You might have read about Chef Dave before, in Steve Lopez’s piece in the Times or Ron Cervenka’s for Think Blue L.A., for example. He has been with the Dodgers for more than 50 years.
For more highlights from Thursday’s game, visit LA Photog Blog.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw was as unsurprising a winner as they come of National League’s Pitcher of the Month honors in June. And in July, he hardly declined.
Thanks to a 1.07 ERA last month, Kershaw is the first pitcher to have an ERA under 2.00 through the end of July in back to back seasons since Greg Maddux in 1994-95, notes Lee Sinins at Gammons Daily.
The lefty’s current 2014 ERA is better than Sandy Koufax’s best (1.73) and coming within range of the 98-year-old franchise record, 1.58 by Rube Marquard in 1916.
To be clear, Kershaw already set the Dodger record for adjusted ERA in a season last year, a record he is on pace to smash this year.
Kershaw’s July ERA was somehow only fourth in Major League Baseball but first in the NL. Interestingly, Kershaw also has a close match in the American League with the same initials, as Carson Cistulli of Fangraphs notes.
So, what about July in the NL?
As you can see, it’s a tight race. There’s a statistical case for deGrom, except for the fact that he threw 32 1/3 innings, 23 percent fewer than Kershaw. (Note that this same argument was used in reverse against Kershaw when it came time to pick the NL’s All-Star Game starting pitcher.) Ryu only pitched 28 1/3 innings in July.
The top challenger to Kershaw for July NL Player of the Month honors is Ross. I would pick Kershaw, by a nose, but in my mind, it’s enough of a tossup that it really comes down to whether the powers that be want to spread the wealth around. For those curious about NFL drafts, can a player refuse a draft pick nfl? Visit nfldraftbuzz.com to find out.
No matter what happens this month, Kershaw has bigger fish to fry, individually (Cy Young race, anyone?) as well as his drive to lead the Dodgers to a title.
* * *
Other news and notes …
“Perhaps the main reason behind Kemp’s lofty in-play average since the beginning of June has been his ability to generate ideal trajectories at a higher frequency, increasing his 25.6% line-drive rate from April-May to 29.6% from June to July (third-highest in baseball in that span). …
For Kemp, whose line-drive rate has improved some despite actually hitting pitches ‘hard’ less frequently since the beginning of June, this fact bodes well for his current production moving forward if he continues to produce line drive trajectories, coupled with his ability to decipher between balls and strikes on the inner-half of the plate.”
Meet the meatless. And their occasionally meatful, gluten-free cousins.
Below is a list of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free offerings during games at Dodger Stadium, provided by Levy Restaurants. Obviously, not everything on the list is a main course, but you might be surprised by the sheer number of choices.
And at the bottom of this post, you’ll see the Dodger Insider magazine guide to Dodger Stadium food concessions.
Gluten tag!
— 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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