We don’t talk politics or religion at LA Dodger Talk and it is extremely rare that we talk about… much less even feature, something other than Dodger Baseball, but today is one of those days (sadly). For those of us who are old enough, we will always remember where we were when people like JFK, Princess Diana, and Kobe Bryant died. I was in Waikiki heading to the Airport when…
Now that the Bobby Thompson home run has surfaced again, perhaps I can tease you one more time with a reference to that fateful hit in an article I wrote four years ago. I trace my birth as a Dodger fan back to the 1952 season. Vin Scully and Duke Snider were the midwives in bringing me into the world of “Dodger Blue.” Vin’s voice captivated me one evening in…
One of the many definitions of an “iconoclast” is someone who strongly opposes generally accepted beliefs and traditions. Some people think inside the box. Others think outside the box. I prefer to think there is no box. I am an iconoclast. I readily admit it and even embrace it. While the entire Dodger Fandom was attacking Andrew Freidman (pick a day… any day), I was embracing his tactics. I still…
Yesterday Evan gave us a great read on Ralph Branca – the man – not the unfairly maligned baseball player. With his reference to Jackie Robinson and “shot” it brought me back to another historic moment in time and an article I had written eight years ago about one more little known Dodger who too was a better man. George Shuba – now there’s a name that I suspect doesn’t…
We, as Dodger fans, are all going through different levels of anger as we cope with the sign-stealing scandals of which the Dodgers were victims. It is a travesty of justice that we lost that window of opportunity to see our team win the World Series after so many years of falling short. Frankly, I’m pretty angry about it, but there isn’t much we can do except hope that this…
When I coached youth baseball and at the high school level, travel baseball and specialized training weren’t as readily available as is it is today. We had materials and videos written by Tom House, including the “Winning Pitcher”, “Power Baseball”(written with Coop De Renne) and of course Nolan Ryan’s “Pitcher’s Bible”. For hitters, you had Charlie Lau’s “The Art of Hitting .300″ and“A Hitting Clinic: The Walt Hriniak Way”. Of…
There will only ever be one Clayton Kershaw but the Dodgers did sign another Clayton on January 17. They had previously selected left-hander Clayton Andrews in the 40th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft but he didn’t sign. He did so with the Brewers in 2018. The new Clayton on the block is 24-year-old infielder Clayton Daniel. He was acquired from the Cubs in a trade for right-hander Casey…
Every time I hear that it makes me wonder if the person who said it was repeatedly dropped on their head as a child. What other possible explanation could there be? Maybe insanity? Let’s just say that the fans who say that Guggenheim & Company are just “greedy bastards” – only concerned with profits are right. That’s all the more reason the greedy bastards would want to win. What? Why?…
In 2016, a rookie was called up at the end of the season and in 95 AB’s he hit .179 with a .263 OB% while striking out 45% of the time. Obviously, he was a ZERO, ZILCH, NADA. Nothing to see here… move on. Many people were unimpressed. “He needs to spend another season at AAA.” This kid was 24 years old and only hit .179? He was obviously way…
Right-hander Jack Little was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Stanford University. His three-year teammate at Stanford, outfielder Brandon Wulff, was also selected by the Dodgers in the 17th round. Although the Dodgers picked Little with starting in mind, he had been a reliever exclusively at Stanford with a total of 53 relief appearances in his three-year career with the…