I had the pleasure of participating in the Dodgers Monday, May 18, Zoom Party. To the best of my memory, the following is what transpired.
Attendees (as pictured below):
Joe Davis
Alanna Rizzo
Andre Ethier
Austin Barnes
JT
Doc
Alex Wood
Clayton Kershaw
David Price
Cody Bellinger
Dieter Ruhle for pre-Zoom and 7th inning stretch
Later joined by Jo Koy (stand-up comic) – I have no idea who he is
Alanna Question for David Price – What have you been doing since the pandemic shut things down?
Answer – Staying indoors. Board games and art & crafts.
Follow up question – What about throwing and staying baseball ready?
Answer – First started throwing into throw pillows indoors. Last couple of weeks he has been in Arizona, and is now throwing to a catcher. He says he will be ready to go to ST 2.0.
Fan Question to David Price – Was #33 his first choice for a Dodger uni because of James Shields.
Answer – His first choice was #18. No specific reason, other than he liked the number and it was close to #10. He then also rejected #18 because he thought his new teammates would be thinking it was for the 2018 WS. #33 was for a reason (James Shields), and that is he number he wanted.
Question for Group (Alanna or Joe Davis) – What person have you been star struck by?
JT, Belli, Austin, Wood – Kobe at the 2018 WS
Wood – Additional (2017 WS) – Presidents George W. Bush and George Bush Sr.
David Price – President Barack Obama (2008 before he was President)
Kershaw – Dre (Ethier), Cory from Cory and Topanga, Justin Timberlake – I had no idea who Cory from Cory and Topanga was. I had to look him up. It has something to do with Boy Meets World. I have never seen one minute of anything from Cory and Topanga or Boy Meets World.
Question for Group (Alanna) – Have you thought how you are going to respond to the restrictions of High-Fives, sunflower seeds, and spitting in general.
Answers –
Kershaw – Does not think it is possible. He acknowledges that fist bumps or shoulder bumps could be done in lieu of high-fives, but still believes players will still high five. Kershaw indicated that he needs some type of encouragement in the game. As far as spitting goes, that will go on.
Barnes – Same as Kersh
Wood – Alanna asked if there were going to be different rosin bags behind the mound for each pitcher – Wood indicated he heard something about that, but does not know any details.
JT – Players enjoy celebrating and doesn’t think it will be eliminated. JT added that maybe Kersh could do some additional dugout dancing, and Kersh responded…whatever it takes.
Question from Alanna – Thinking back to George Brett’s outburst after being called out for using a bat with pine tar too far up the barrel, how angry to you players get with 1 being very little emotion and 5 being at the George Brett level?
Answers –
Belli – a 3
Dre – Everyone answered for him that it would be a 10
Alanna further questioned Doc on his outburst with Andy Green – Doc said that was not his best moment, and was not very proud of it. He said his wife was at a book club meeting and her friends were blowing up her text line with Doc being booted and in a fight. His daughter told him how disappointed she was in him. He said that was as angry as he has ever been.
Doc then interjected that he also wanted to curb his F-Bombs. When asked who dropped more Doc or Walker Buehler, all of the players said it was no question that Rich Hill was he King of the F-Bombs. Doc listed the culprits as Hill, Buehler, Barnes, then himself.
Alanna further asked Wood how fired up he gets and asked if he got to a 4. Wood’s response was, sure, and that he thinks everyone can get to that level.
Question from Alanna to Alex Wood – This is your first Zoom Party. We heard how David (Price) was handling the shelter in requirement, how was Alex handling it.
Answer – He has taken a lot of walks with his wife. He is back in LA (2 weeks now) getting ready for ST 2.0. Barnes added that he is also playing more video games. When Joe Davis said that he heard that Austin was not very good, Barnes said he was not in the Gavin Lux league, but he was better than Joc. Everyone agreed that Joc was horrible. When Barnes was pressed to rate Cody in video games, his response was just below Lux.
Fan Question for Austin Barnes – How did you learn how to catch a 100mph fastball?
Answer – Lucky. You just have to stick the glove up where you think it is going to go and hopefully it ends up there. He added that Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol were just high octane nastiness. Doc interjected and told the fan not to listen to Barnes. In his opinion and everyone else there, Barnes is great at receiving and handling the pitchers. He is being too modest.
Another Fan Question for Austin Barnes – Why did your Arizona State Coach (Pat Murphy) move you from 2B to catcher? Everyone started to laugh, and Dre added…Tell the truth. Note – Andre Ethier was also an ASU grad. Again everyone (especially Dre) was giving Barnes the business and Barnes finally agreed that Murph said he was too slow for 2B, and Dre added he was no Dustin Pedroia (Pedroia was an Ethier teammate at ASU).
Fan Question for Kersh – When did you start throwing a curve ball and can you show me your grip.
Answer – Kersh first commented that he has a High School graduation that he will hold up to ASU any day. Then he showed the grip. Alanna re-asked how old were you when you first started to throw a change. Kersh said 11 or 12. Price was also asked and he also said 11 or 12. When Wood was asked he said probably 11-12 but he didn’t really have a breaking ball until he was 20. Then someone added (I think Barnes or JT)…Notice he said breaking ball and not a curve ball. Woody throws a breaking ball. Woody responded; I don’t label them.
Question from Joe or Alanna – If you could be any other athlete, who would you be?
Answers
Wood – Tiger Woods – Again the group was laughing and asked Wood if he even played golf.
JT – I want to be like Mike…Mike Trout – I want to hit a ball that far.
Question from Jo Kay to JT – What will it be like to play in front of no fans?
Answer – It will be weird. There is no place like Dodger Stadium with 50,000 fans going crazy. We will miss that. We feed off that. We are going to have to find another way to generate adrenaline.
Question – Joe Davis to Group – MJ or Lebron?
JT answered – no question MJ. A couple of other mimicked what JT said. But then Kersh responded that it was a “non-sensical unprovable question. They played in different eras. There is no answer. All you can do is talk, but you cannot prove.” Joe Davis responded that is what he does for a living, and Kersh said that he is going to need to cross that off his list once he retires.
Joe Davis asked another question – MJ or Tom Brady (both have 6 world championship rings) – Barnes came out quick with MJ. There were no Tom Brady supporters on this one.
Question – Joe Davis to Kersh – Do you have any advice for Belli as to what he should expect in following up his MVP season.
Answer – On one of the more serious responses, Kersh said that nobody will put more pressure on Belli than he normally does anyway. We should expect that he will be able to handle it well. Kersh calls Cody…”Bopper” (and Belli).
Fan Question to David Price – Why did he want to switch leagues?
Answer – He wanted to hit. But everyone laughed and said not now. But he is looking forward to playing in the NL.
Dieter Ruhle and the 7th inning stretch.
Fan Question for Cody – Do you ever have anxiety when you bat, and how do you get rid of it.
Answer – I get anxious in the on-deck circle before my 1st AB every game. But when I step into the box, it is time to focus.
Fan Question from two young girls who had two new puppies named Cody and Taylor after Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor – If you were to name a new dog, what would be the name?
This question was not received very well. Nobody had a well thought response. David Price did offer Yogi. Kersh was looking at his baseball collection to see if he could find an answer and came up with Mo (Mariano Rivera). Doc said he has three dogs and that one of them is named Maury after Maury Wills.
Final Question from Joe Davis. – What do you want to say to the fans about the season?
JT response – I just want to get back on the field. I know the fans want to see us there, but we really want to get back out there.
Kersh said – We just let JT talk for us.
That was the end. I came away just laughing at the interaction between the players. They just love to tease each other. Doc said that the fans are getting to see behind the scenes what the players are like in the clubhouse.
Kersh has a very dry sense of humor. He was fairly matter of fact, but he would add some quick zingers in.
JT was relatively subdued. But you could tell the respect the others have for him.
Dre, Barnes, and Wood – They are the fun group.
Cody – He comes across as somewhat of an introvert. Not a big talker, but he seemed to enjoy himself, until his phone battery died just before the end. Cody will respond to direct questions, but is not as free to interject.
David Price – Spent most of his time with his beautiful little girl who was quite the chatterbox. He comes across as non-emotional. He seemed to have his game face on this evening.
Doc – Doc was Doc.
This was a great 45 minutes to just listen to some of my favorite Dodgers. I have seven jerseys in my current collection:
#5 – Corey Seager
#10 – JT
#16 – Andre Ethier
#21 – Walker Buehler
#22 – Clayton Kershaw
#35 – Belli
#57 – Alex Wood
And five of them were on the Zoom Party Monday evening.
One final take away. The players are really itching to play. They will not go against the MLBPA, but they want to be back on the field.
I did yesterday’s and last Monday’s zoom calls. It is fun just hearing the players joke with each other, and hearing Joe and Alanna’s voices. Reminds us of what we had and what we can hopefully have again next month.
I think Thursday there’s a zoom call in Spanish, featuring Fernando, Jaime Jarrin, and others.
Yeah. My Spanish is a little lacking so I will probably pass on that one.
Here’s a good question: what Dodger jerseys do you have in your collection?
I have:
22 – Kershaw
32 – Koufax (genuine wool felt jersey)
4 – Snider
27 – Kemp (used to belong to my Dad)
20 – Sutton
31 – Piazza
My original plan was to collect Dodger HOF jersey. There are other players that I want though.
That is a great collection. I used to have Gilliam, Drysdale, McMullen, Lefebvre, and Lacy. My parents threw them away and my massive baseball card collection (nowhere close to Bear’s) when they threw me out of the house when I graduated high school. Thanks, that gives me an idea for a column.
I had a baseball autographed by most of the 1963 LA Dodgers.
Walter Alson
John Roseboro
Ron Fairly
Junior Gilliam
Maury Wills
Ken McMullen
Tommy Davis
Willie Davis
Frank Howard
Wally Moon
Al Ferrara
Sandy Koufax
Don Drysdale
Johnny Podres
Ron Perranoski
Peter Richert
Larry Sherry
I would still have it… except that we needed it for a pickup game on one day when I was 11 or 12. Who knew?
What would that be worth today?
I’d give you $5 for it.
The only Dodger jersey I own is a #42. And since I rarely ever wear jerseys to baseball games, it’s likely that I don’t buy another one. Of course I’ll re do my entire wardrobe with Dodger championship gear whenever we do finally get one again.
I have # 5 Seager, 23 Gibson, 23, Gonzalez, 35 Bellinger, 32 Koufax, 42 Robinson and an old Brooklyn # 7 wool jersey, and that is one heavy jersey. I also have a #22 Kershaw. My Kershaw and Bellinger are road jerseys. The Gibson is a 88 WS jersey, and the Robinson is a 55 WS jersey. I had a baseball from when I sang the anthem, but my son lost it. I have a couple of autographed balls. But no major players on them. Monday signed one for me at a spring game in 2009. And a friend of mines son played in the majors and he signed one for me. His name is Kameron Loe. But my prized piece of memorabilia is my 8X10 photo that Duke Snider signed for me years ago at a card show in Orange county.
I’ve got a Dodger shirt with Taxidea Taxus on the back that SLO Tim gave me at a Spring Training game. It’s one of my few prize possessions. I don’t collect memorabilia anymore. I love the game, not the players. The only card of value I had left was an old autographed Ernie Banks card I gave as a tip to a young Cub fan waiting tables in Sedona. He about came out of his shoes. I miss Sedona. Beautiful place to live. Orange County sucks. Especially now.
Sorry I touched a nerve Jeff. I do understand why you would be sensitive at this time.
More opening a mitigated season talk this morning in the Athletic. It will be very strange in empty parks. I still question games being played in states that will most likely have spiking Covid counts. STB has asked the question a few times that nobody can answer. What happens when a player tests positive? It will happen you know.
P.S.
I also have a Mickey Mantle rookie card. It’s hanging in my office. Pretty damm cool Bear.
I have a Piazza jersey. My prized cards are an autographed Roy Gleason and an autographed Don Demeter(who else),
I had over 3000 cards when I was younger. I gave them to the neighbor kids when I started high school.
2D2, I bought the book about Gleason. Lost in the Sun. It is a pretty cool book. I found one of his cards on ebay and got that. I remember reading about him when he was in the Dodger system. I sure wish I would have gotten to see him play. My card collection was well over a million. Had boxes of them. All my friends were getting older and giving me their cards. I wish I had them now, my foster dad made me throw them away. Most were pre 1964. So that would be a lot of money. I collect mostly Dodgers now, and some of the reprints of the stars I grew up watching. I just got a 52 and a 53 Mays, a 52 Mantle, 58 Mantle and a 58 Aaron. I also picked up a Ruth and a Gehrig. Also got a Pete Reiser and just for fun, a Babe Herman…..oh and a 1960 Demeter. Glad ya like the Mantle there Badger……thought you would……
I don’t collect player jerseys, it’s the game and the Dodgers as a team that I love.
That is why we are all here. We love the team. I don’t collect the jerseys, I wear them when I get the urge. I wore my Robinson to a Dodgers -Rockies game at Coors a few years ago, and sat about 7 rows back of the screen behind home. In Az, they do not allow fans wearing Dodger jersey’s in the seats behind home plate……
The Athletic is offering a one year subscription for $30 on Facebook.
They have been doing that for months. Keep saying one time offer, but I have seen it since before Christmas last year. I watched a documentary on Netflix about the Portland Mavericks when they were an independent team in the NW league and owned by actor, Bing Russell. Pretty cool story. I watched his kid, Kurt play ball in the Angel system at AA El Paso when I was in the army. Bing used to come to the ball park. They were managed by former Dodger Norm Sherry.
The Battered Bastards of Baseball – Great documentary!
A million cards Bear? Wow! I christen you the crown prince of baseball card collectors.
Not even close. There was a guy up in NY years ago who had more than 6 million cards. Mine were in a huge box I had. His were all sorted and cataloged. I do know that I had a 52 Mantle rookie that was an original. It would be worth a lot right now. I got it from a friend who gave me all of his brothers cards. His brother was maybe 4 years older than me, so his cards went back to the late 40’s.
I do not have any Dodger jerseys, signed bats or balls. But, I have a treasured Framed picture of a postcard, signed by Koufax of celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Cooperstown HOF. It is hanging on my wall. My husband gave it to me for a birthday gift some years ago.
Cool keepsake. I had a postcard signed and sent to me by Darryl Strawberry, but it got lost over the years. I do have a greeting card signed by Hank Aaron. He sent that because I was coaching youth baseball. But my signed photo of Snider was the pinnacle for me. He was my hero and favorite player. I even copied his batting stance.
Thank you Bear. You have awesome souvenirs. Hope Snider’s batting stance worked for you.
Actually it did. I am a lefty hitter just like Duke was, although I threw left handed and he threw right. His stance was erect with a slight bend at the knee, he kept his back elbow almost straight, so his swing was very level. The main thing it did for me was allow me to hit line drives a lot. And when I hit them hard, they were like bullets. I actually took the button off of the top of a pitchers cap playing slow pitch softball when I hit a liner right back through the box, he ducked and it hit the top of his cap, and took the button off. He was needless to say, pretty shook up. Guess his life flashed in front of his eyes.