Just classic – first the introduction, and then Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts telling the story of umping a Blyleven-pitched game four decades ago.
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Here’s a recap of Saturday’s Supercross event at Dodger Stadium from Chris Palmer for ESPNLosAngeles.com.
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I’m growing increasingly numb to the various lists ranking Dodger prospects. My interest in the prospects themselves hasn’t waned, but more and more, the ordering of them seems to have been generated like letter-number combinations from a Bingo tumbler.
Here are two more lists, from Baseball America and from Fangraphs. As if to thumb their nose at my state of mind, both rank Dee Gordon and Zach Lee first and second, but for example, BA has Trayvon Robinson 10th, while Fangraphs has him third.
I think I just enjoy getting information about the players rather than worrying about what order they should be in. In that spirit, here’s one excerpt: BA’s Best Tools in the Dodger farm system. You can see why BA likes Gordon – errors aside, they rank him as the team’s best defensive infielder.
Best Hitter for Average: Dee Gordon
Best Power Hitter: Jerry Sands
Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Justin Sellers
Fastest Baserunner: Dee Gordon
Best Athlete: Dee Gordon
Best Fastball: Kenley Jansen
Best Curveball: Chris Withrow
Best Slider: Scott Elbert
Best Changeup: Allen Webster
Best Control: Zach Lee
Best Defensive Catcher: Gorman Erickson
Best Defensive Infielder: Dee Gordon
Best Infield Arm: Pedro Baez
Best Defensive Outfielder: James Baldwin
Best Outfield Arm: Blake Smith
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I’m finding the transformation of Dodger Stadium into a supercross arena fascinating, if not a little frightening. I really would be curious to see it for myself. In any case, Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News gives us a look and talks to Dodger Stadium head groundskeeper Eric Hansen about his fears.
Longtime Dodger Thoughts readers might remember the visit of Young Miss Weisman to the comments section a couple of years ago. Tonight, I am privileged to offer this exclusive interview not only with 8-year-old Young Miss Weisman but also her oldest brother, 6-year-old Young Master Weisman.
They will be typing their own responses. Unless they start to misbehave terribly. (Do I make myself clear?)
Because this is a Dodger website, we’ll start off with a Dodger question or two before we move on to other topics of the day.
Me: How much do you like the Dodgers?
Young Master Weisman: A lot, I love them.
Young Miss Weisman: A- wait, are you ready? You might need some earplugs. Okay, here goes: A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Oh, that pleases me. But sometimes at the games it doesn’t seem like you love being there. What’s your favorite part about going to a Dodger game?
Young Master Weisman: Er-wait, are you ready? Cover your ears. THEY WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Young Miss Weisman: I like looking at the score board and learning what all the things mean. And I like the food. I’m done. P.S. Young Master Weisman is a copycat.
Young Master Weisman: I hate when Young Miss Weisman calls me a copycat. Stop Young Miss Weisman.
Young Miss Weisman: Fine.
Me: Ah, I wish all our disputes were settled so amicably. Now, what is your favorite sport to watch and your favorite sport to play?
Young Master Weisman: I love to watch baseball and swim.
Young Miss Weisman: I like to watch baseball and basketball and I like to swim and ice skate.
Me: You both are playing basketball this winter. How do you feel when you’re out on the court? Is it fun? Strange? Exciting? Confusing?
Young Master Weisman: It is fun. It is exciting. It is very confusing.
Young Miss Weisman: I feel BIG on defense and small on offense.
Me: What would you do if you were sitting at Dodger Stadium eating a hot dog or cheeseburger and a foul ball came toward you?
Young Master Weisman: I would reach and try to catch. That would be AWESOME.
Young Miss Weisman: I would put down my cheeseburger (that’s right, I don’t like hot dogs), reach out, and catch the ball.
Me: And to think I thought you’d say, “Duck!!!!!” OK, it’s your brother’s bedtime, so we’d better wrap this up for now. What would you like to say to the readers of Dodger Thoughts before you go get in your pajamas?
Young Master Weisman: Have a good time reading, I hope you like it.
Young Miss Weisman: Just keep doing what you’re doing and you will be (and are) great Dodger Thoughts readers!
Because his story never gets old. Lederer has a great writeup, with lots of photos, of his meeting with Bert Blyleven following Blyleven’s Lederer-boosted induction to the Hall of Fame.
Because he has reportedly been arrested, and because as much strife as he has been involved in, dating back almost to the time I began Dodger Thoughts, he is someone whose fate I feel invested in. And I really, really want his story to have a happy ending and not a painful or tragic one.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has been on top of this story.
Marcus who?
Thames actually has a Dodger history — producing “Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest”:
But of course, for many, this is the program Thames is most famous for:
Update: Marcus Thames’ deal with the Dodgers is official: $1 million plus incentives.
The Dodgers informed me tonight that there was an error in their media guide, and that therefore contrary to what I wrote Sunday, Rubby De La Rosa was never suspended for violating the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.
And miles to link before I sleep …
Update:
The fourth in a series of at least four, on how close selected Dodger prospects are to the majors …
Rubby De La Rosa
Vitals: RHP, 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, turns 22 on March 4.
Summary: We’re talking about him because he leapfrogged other Dodger prospects to become the organization’s 2010 minor-league pitcher of the year. De La Rosa impressed in a short rookie-ball stint in 2008 (47 1/3 innings, 51 strikeouts, 1.71 ERA) before a lost 2009 in which he managed only 16 1/3 innings and allowed 11 runs (while still striking out 22).
*Correction: The Dodgers informed me that there was an error in their media guide, and that De La Rosa was never suspended for violating the minor league drug prevention and treatment program. This post has been amended to reflect that.
But the Rubby-bandwagon got rolling again last season. De La Rosa came back strong at the start of 2010 with a 3.19 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings, then shot himself into the stratosphere of Dodger pitching prospects when he moved up to Double-A Chattanooga and had a 1.41 ERA in eight starts covering 51 innings (though his strikeout ratio fell to 6.9 per nine innings). At the two levels combined in 2010, De La Rosa walked 3.1 batters per nine innings. (Note: According to Fangraphs, his Fielding-Independent ERA was virtually the same at both levels: 3.12 vs. 3.22.)
For comparison’s sake: The Dodgers have had no shortage of starting pitchers make a quick impression in Double-A in recent years. Scott Elbert reached it in his age-21 season, but didn’t get a taste of the majors until a brief shot in 2008 and is still looking to lock in even as a reliever. Clayton Kershaw got to Double-A in the middle of his age-19 year, began his age-20 year at the same level before getting promoted to the majors, and hasn’t been back in the minors since he hit drinking age. Age is not be a barrier to a midseason promotion for a Double-A pitcher, but sustained excellence must continue, and that’s easier said than done.
Track record: De La Rosa’s ceiling is high enough for you to stick a flagpole. But with only 180 official innings in his minor-league career, spread out since his mid-2007 pro debut, it’s hard to say with any confidence what De La Rosa can do over an extended period of time. Chattanooga Lookouts radio broadcaster Larry Ward told Brandon Lennox of True Blue L.A. in August that De La Rosa had a fastball that could smell 100 mph, plus a secondary change and slider, while Keith Law of ESPN.com praised his stuff before the 2009 season. The watchwords, it seems to me, are consistency and endurance.
How close is he? Without the sextet of veteran starting pitchers the Dodgers have, we might have seen De La Rosa by the summer solstice. But with the team’s newfound starting-pitching depth, not to mention alternatives like John Ely and Carlos Monasterios as temporary stopgaps, De La Rosa is probably on track for a mid-2012 arrival if he maintains his current pace. As always, extreme excellence or awfulness could alter that timetable, as could a decision to shift him to the bullpen should the need again arise in Los Angeles this year.
Did you know? De La Rosa did not allow his first professional home run until 2010, his fourth professional season.
That little tidbit about the Dodgers releasing Pat Borders nearly five years after he last suited up for the organization piqued a good amount of interest here and elsewhere online. Dodgers communications veep Josh Rawitch explained what the deal was in an e-mail:
“He had voluntarily retired with us, so he was still in our organization,” Rawitch said. “He accepted a minor league coaching job in another organization, so we had to activate him and release him (per MLB) so he could sign his staff contract.”
The team for whom Borders will be coaching for has yet to be named publicly. Rawitch could not elaborate on how often this kind of situation comes up without us knowing about it.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback Thursday ….
Moyer could, with a year out of baseball, take an intriguing step, one that seems out of character with his reputation on the one hand, but in line with his noted desire to return. What if Jamie Moyer started using HGH or other banned substances to return from his injury? At his age, getting prescriptions for HGH and testosterone would be easy. MLB had no problem allowing testosterone to be advertised during its playoffs last year, despite the fact that it was a substance that caused it no end of problems over the last two decades. There is a waiver policy that would allow for the use of banned substances, but as a free agent, Moyer would not need to have this waiver. Moyer is free to do anything his doctor prescribes. He might need a waiver when returning, if he’s taken any substance that would cause a positive test, but most of what is used medically has a fairly short detectable period.
Would anyone begrudge Moyer if he decided to use a legal, effective substance to help in his return? Each week, some pitcher or another takes an injection of cortisone. The injection, usually mixed with a painkiller, is a quick fix, but a dangerous one. Corticosteroids can have an almost acidic effect on structures, doing long-term damage while allowing a player to come back in the short term. Many of these pitchers make a choice: take the spike and pitch, or don’t and don’t. Finding someone who declines takes quite the search; if someone does, they’ll often end up with a reputation or that tag of “bad teammate” or worse, “soft.” Moyer’s never been those things, so given a chance, would taking another kind of injection be wrong? Moyer fought through multiple surgeries prior to the 2010 season, including a nasty infection that could have been deadly, so he’s a fighter, a struggler … but could he go this far?
Rich Lederer and Bert Blyleven met in a surprise visit at a Minnesota Twins fantasy camp event Wednesday. David Dorsey of the Fort Meyers (Fla.) News-Press has the story:
… Rich Lederer, 55, had never played catch with Blyleven, had never been on a baseball field with him and so of course never had been subjected to the current Minnesota Twins broadcaster’s penchant for issuing friendly putdowns.
All of that changed Tuesday night and all day Wednesday.
“You’ve got an 18.00 ERA!” Blyleven shouted at Lederer on Wednesday morning at the Lee County Sports Complex, where Lederer got lit up while pitching in a fantasy camp game. “Hey Rich! Try to get an out, why don’t you!”
The two baseball fanatics met face-to-face for the first time in a surprise for Blyleven arranged by Minnesota Twins Fantasy Camp organizers Stan Dickman and Jay Harris.
Harris phoned Lederer last week and convinced him — an easy task — to visit Fort Myers in order to finally meet Blyleven.
The two had spoken on the phone over the years.
“It was a very nice surprise,” said Blyleven, 59, who was honored with a banquet Tuesday night at the Holiday Inn Express in south Fort Myers. That’s where Dickman asked Blyleven toward the end of the evening if he would like to meet Lederer, who then stood from the audience and approached Blyleven.
They embraced.
“There are very few times in your life when you get caught speechless,” said Dan Williams, 50, a fantasy camper from Minneapolis who witnessed their meeting. “Bert was caught speechless.” …
Technically, the two had met once before, when Lederer umpired a scout-league game that Blyleven pitched approximately 40 years ago. That doesn’t take away from what a great moment this was.
Barrel of fun in this new feature at Fangraphs, which gives you a graphical look at batters’ Wins Above Replacement through the ages. Here, for example, are the top Dodgers in WAR since the 19th century. You might be surprised how close Pee Wee Reese came to the No. 1 spot.
Baseball in January – I can always get behind that.
With the Dodgers opening their annual winter workout for minor leaguers to the press today, on the same day as baseball’s quarterly owner meetings in Arizona (with Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com giving us our Frank McCourt update) there’s plenty of linking to be done. Roberto Baly of Vin Scully is My Homeboy has not one but two posts (filled with photos and video), as does Phil Gurnee of True Blue L.A. You can also check out roundups from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dylan Hernandez of the Times and Beth Harris of The Associated Press:
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
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