Dodger Thoughts

Twenty-three years since the World Series last began with the Dodgers …

• Don Mattingly gave an interview to 710 ESPN’s Mason and Ireland in which he said the Dodgers’ biggest need was “offense, no question” but added that he wasn’t confident the team would sign a big-time slugger.
• Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy posted a 2012 Dodger schedule with preliminary game times that put the start of Opening Day at 3:35 p.m. in San Diego. Clayton Kershaw pitching in Petco Park with shadows starting to spread across the field? Intriguing …
• The Left Field Pavilion Blog posted a fantastic picture of Carl Furillo’s great catch in Game 6 of the 1952 World Series for the Dodgers.
• It’s the 30th anniversary of Rick Monday’s Canadian clout – the pennant-winning home run in Montreal, notes Chris Jaffe of the Hardball Times.
• Also from Jaffe: a piece on the 10 weirdest career-ending performances of all time.
• David Ogden reviewed the ballpark at Dodger minor-league affiliate Ogden for Stadium Journey.
• Satchel Price of Beyond the Boxscore picked a 2011 all-National League West team, with Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and … Jamey Carroll earning spots.
• Kershaw won the Warren Spahn Award for best left-handed pitcher in baseball in 2011.
• For Variety, I wrote two pieces looking at the World Series from a TV ratings angle: a main story and a blog post that, among other things, note that much more important to Fox than the teams in the World Series is the length. Game 7s in the past 20 years improve the audience that watched a Game 6 by approximately 50% on average.
• Bob Timmermann defends the all-Midwest World Series at L.A. Observed’s Native Intelligence.
• Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News has a piece on why Fox doesn’t believe in a live strike-zone pitch-tracker.
• With a new book coming out on the 60th anniversary of the Shot Heard ‘Round the World, Ralph Branca gave an interesting interview to the Platoon Advantage.
• Josh Fisher, Esq. of Dodger Divorce answered some questions about the McCourt divorce settlement at ESPNLosAngeles.