Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Warren Spahn

Remembering ’65: Tied!

remembering-65-wide-v1-jersey

By Jon Weisman

“Breathing defiance in the face of the Giants’ seemingly insurmountable lead,” wrote Frank Finch in the September 24 edition of the Times, “the doughty Dodgers face the Cardinals tonight to open their final homestand of the gruelling, grinding National League campaign.”

Already, the Dodgers had made progress, trimming a 4 1/2-game deficit to two games. But their defiance was matched, and then some, by the Giants, according to UPI.

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In case you missed it: Ellis, Wilson, Jansen, Pederson and more

ElAttrache

Dr. Neal ElAttrache speaks at Monday’s celebration of the life of Dr. Frank Jobe. More photos from Jon SooHoo here.

By Jon Weisman

It’s still April, but sunshine has definitely found Southern California and Dodger Stadium this week. With Max Scherzer and the Tigers coming to town, things are heating up.

  • Hours before A.J. Ellis’ pending knee surgery was revealed, Mark Saxon discussed his managerial potential at ESPN Los Angeles. Impossible not to agree, though when his retirement day comes (hopefully far off), the broadcasting world will no doubt offer itself to Ellis as well.
  • Ellis underwent a 20-minute arthroscopic procedure today by Dr. Neal ElAttrache to debride (clean up) the medial meniscus of his left knee, the Dodgers’ PR department announced. Ellis will start his rehabilitation Wednesday, with recovery expected in four to six weeks.
  • Brian Wilson made his second rehab appearance for Rancho Cucamonga, facing four batters and retiring three, with a strikeout. Dylan Hernandez of the Times has more on Wilson.
  • Is Kenley Jansen throwing harder this year? Dave Cameron asks and explores the question at Fangraphs.
  • Chad Moriyama captured the best pitches thrown by Dodgers in 2013 at Dodgers Digest. (And to be fair, he also captured the least best.)
  • In his past three games with Albuquerque, Joc Pederson is 6 for 11 with two HR, three walks, two SB. In 14 trips to the plate, he has touched 17 bases on his own.
  • Lindsey Caughel might have less notoriety than his teammates on the Rancho Cucamonga staff, but he deserves attention, opines Ron Cervenka at Think Blue L.A.
  • Former Dodger general manager Fred Claire discussed his efforts to promote and develop baseball in New Zealand.
  • Warren Spahn went 298 wins and 15 years between road victories over the Dodgers, notes John Lowe of the Detroit Free-Press.
  • Today is the 40th anniversary of the first baseball game I can remember. Here’s to Henry Louis Aaron, whose 715th home run I watched on TV during spring break from first grade, 1974.

No offense, but they need offense

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.

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