Good morning, starshiners …
- Rubby De La Rosa, as we learned from our talk with De Jon Watson earlier this month, is feeling good. Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com has more.
- Video of a five-inning perfect game Clayton Kershaw threw in high school — with 15 strikeouts, while also hitting a home run — has been passed along by Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven.
- The only coverage that you need to read of Ronald Belisario’s admission that he used cocaine is at Hardball Talk, namely the exchange between Craig Calcaterra and Aaron Gleeman.
- Left-handed reliever Brent Leach, 29, has returned to the Dodger organization, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. Leach, who pitched 20 1/3 innings for the 2009 Dodgers, had a 5.95 ERA with a 1.729 WHIP and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings in eight starts for Yokohama in the Japan Central League last year.
- Goldstein adds that the Dodgers also signed 25-year-old righty Jared Lansford, a 2005 second-round draft choice by the A’s whose father is former major-leaguer Carney Lansford. Jared had a 4.54 ERA with 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 48 Double-A relief appearances last year.
- Statement from the team today: “”The Los Angeles Dodgers are pleased that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved its revised Disclosure Statement, which keeps the Dodgers on track to emerge from Bankruptcy as planned on April 30. Bidders have shown tremendous interest in the opportunity to purchase the Dodgers and related assets, and the Dodgers look forward to a very successful conclusion to their bankruptcy case.”
- Finally, “The Don Zimmer ‘Zim Bear’ Will Haunt Your Kids’ Dreams” (via Hardball Talk)
Linkmeister
We’re having home renovations done and one of the construction laborers looks uncannily like Matt Kemp. I told him that (he said, “Who?”), he pulled out his smart phone, Googled Kemp, and agreed with me.
Photographic evidence: http://linkmeister.com/wordpress/?p=7723
My fraternity teamed up with a sorority and wandered the campus streets in Tucson singing that song during Greek Week back in 1970 or ’71.
Jim Hitchcock
I’m staying at Link’s villa next time I visit Hawaii :)
Linkmeister
Come now! You can help supervise! (You could also contribute monetarily. Don’t be shy.)
Jason Ungar
classic!! In the wrong line of work!!
Jack Dawkins
Since this post arrived at 10 AM, all I have to say is that writers have a different definition of early morning than I do, but then I have only had jobs that work on NY time here in LA, or Navy time. 10 am is near lunch in my world!
Jon Weisman
I’ve been up since 6, but mainly I just felt like posting that video. :)
Anonymous
Nice to see Brent Leach back with the club – he is a good kid and very spiritual. I hope he can return to form. I always called him “Puff” because he would rosin up before every pitch and when he released the ball, there would be a huge puff of rosin dust in the air – haha!
Anonymous
I would hope his spirituality does not conflict with his competitiveness.
Jack Dawkins
David was a bit competitive as I recall…
Jon Weisman
I’m live-tweeting a Magic Johnson conference call, on a number of subjects, at twitter.com/dodgerthoughts
underdog
I still feel like A-Rod is a bit of a primadonna for this
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/rod-brings-own-food-restaurant-because-diet-report-232331948.html
though I get the special diet/special needs thing. Can’t he find restaurants in a huge sophisticated city that cater more toward his diet though? Or find a slightly more flexible diet. And then don’t ask a restaurant to re-prepare some of your outside food, for that matter…
Jon Weisman
But he wasn’t at a restaurant – he was at a hotel pool. I don’t know, if I made $20+ million a year and was expected to be in top shape, I don’t know if I’d want the hotel burger. Seems like a big non-story.
I wouldn’t think twice if Kemp were doing it.
underdog
Hm, yeah, it being in the more casual hotel poolside eatery environment does make it a bit more okay. Still think asking them to re-heat his food that he didn’t buy there is a little obnoxious, but not as egregious as it would be if he were in a fancy restaurant for dinner. I think when I originally thought this a bigger deal I’d thought there were a few other incidents like this. Just one poolside thing, yeah, I see your point. (And raise you a Nutri-system meal.)
Jason Ungar
People bring wine to a restaurant. I am sure he spent enough there for them to consider it a corking fee..Still can’t stand the guy though…
Jon Weisman
Magic on the Dodgers: “I’m excited. Will I be involved (if we get team)? You bet. Will it be day to day? Yes, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”
Jon Weisman
And yes, the Jim Tracy jokes write themselves.
Anonymous
I wouldn’t mind if Magic’s group wins the bid. He’s one of my favorite Lakers, seems to be a good businessman and it appears that winning a championship would be one of his high priorities. He has a proven “drive to win” track record. As much as Kobe wants to win, I don’t think you’d see him take a salary cut in order to sign another high quality player to help the team win a championship.
Jon Weisman
RT @ckrewson: Headline Of The Day: “Five Guys robbed by two guys.” bit.ly/xVrxOX Later changed, but hey, good effort there.
Anonymous
There used to be an appliance store in NY called Two Guys, inspiration for the Saturday Night Live skit “Two Guys. . . Who Are Lawyers.” I don’t know if they were ever robbed by a different quantity of guys.
Where can I get me one of those Zim Bears? They’re priceless.
Jason Ungar
We recently moved. Going thru a box just now of stuff I found Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, the story set 5 years after Star Wars with Grand Admiral Thrwawn. The bookmark I was using was a 1991 Dodger Schedule..After playing the California Angels in the freeway series we opened on the road vs Atlanta. Ah simpler times. I recall reading the book on my California tour (like the Soprano’s when Meadow was with Tony minus the murder) of colleges with my dad. Stanford, Berkely, UCSB and others looked great. I went to Chico. Poor grades and all.
Jon Weisman
Jon Garland’s Cleveland deal is off http://bit.ly/zOsZvl
Anonymous
Looks like there will be no Kennedy High alum playing in the majors since 1993.
underdog
Another old friend alert: Jay Gibbons is now a Brewer.
Please, remain calm, I implore you to remain calm.
Anonymous
I am late to the comment on this, and now it is slightly off-topic, but I wanted to comment on your Variety round-up, and on “Smash” in particular. The problem I have with “Smash” is that the arc of what happens does not seem to make sense, and calling it “musical theater TV” seems a stretch. “Glee,” to whcih is is being compared, and to which it claims to owe its opening, is totally different. “Glee” is pure camp. Every week, this mish-mash of outcast teens perform some new show-stopping music that is absolutely amazing, and get cheered by their audiences for it, while simultaneously being outcast at school. It does not really pretend to make sense.
Now, I have admittedly only seen an episode and a half of “Smash,” but the pilot is questionable. Debra Messing’s character starts with taking a year off from work to adopt a baby. She then starts working on the concept, to her husband’s objection, waxes poetic about Marilyn Monroe, and by the end of the one-hour pilot they have all (or most) of the songs, but the “book is still a mess.” I don’t personally get the waxing poetic about Marilyn, but more importantly, wouldn’t it take months, at least, to get a good number of songs written for a musical? Isn’t that perhaps the hardest part of writing a musical? So in one episode, they went from random concept through life-changing idea, to semi-completion (on the writers’ part). It seems far too quick. And now, what is really left for Debra Messing to do? The other problem for this to be good musical theater on TV, they will need to branch out from the Marilyn Monroe musical-within-a-show, because there are only so many musical pieces that they could realistically do, even over a full season (and, frankly, probably even fewer unless you really want to be obsessed with Marilyn Monroe for a whole season or more of television–and I assume that is not what they are looking for, since the show is not about Marilyn, but the industry).
So while “Smash” has a lot of good piece parts, it does not really seem to hold together as a serious show–while “Glee” just accepts that it is completely kooky and unbelievable.
Jon Weisman
I think that’s mostly fair and accurate on Smash – I just find I have to forgive a lot on that show, though right now I’m willing to. For me, Glee’s acceptance of itself doesn’t change for me that it’s still a big mess, but I can understand others don’t mind.
Anonymous
RIP Andy Robustelli. Sadly, I already thought he had died twenty years ago.
KT
All reports i have read have him dying last may: http://tinyurl.com/8xb882n
KT
See above
Jon Weisman
Whenever he died, I hope he’s still R-ingIP.
KT
Very true
Jon Weisman
Tim Lincecum: stiff back. bit.ly/A1tsz6
Clayton Kershaw: stiff back. atmlb.com/Aq31Ck
Anonymous
Beverly D’Angelo is super hot.
I saw a production of Hair at the Wadsworth Theatre a decade ago, with that guy from Wings (the lady’s man pilot, not Monk) playing Berger. It was fantastic. The themes of Hair are as essential as ever.
Anonymous
Someone at the Times twitter feed got mixed up about Andy Robustelli. https://twitter.com/#!/LATimesobits/status/172464054600859649
Jon Weisman
NPUT
DougS
Oddly enough, the Don Zimmer Zim Bear reminds me of Invader Zim wearing a bear suit.