Today, we remember Alan Young, the “Mr. Ed” actor who passed away Thursday at age 96. Young and his horse companion made a memorable visit to Dodger Stadium for the 1963 season premiere, highlighted above. Sandy Koufax, Willie Davis, Leo Durocher, Johnny Roseboro and more appear.
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In a quiet, semi-private but warm gathering before Thursday’s game, the Angels honored Vin Scully, who made his last regular-season trip to Anaheim as a broadcaster.
Former Dodgers including Mike Scioscia, Alfredo Griffin, Mickey Hatcher and Ron Roenicke were joined by Mike Trout and Jared Weaver in making a lovely presentation.
Fabian Ardaya of MLB.com has a story to complement the video above, and Jon SooHoo has a picture at the Dodgers Photog Blog.
— Jon Weisman
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Dodger bench coach Bob Geren rides his bike from Pasadena to Dodger Stadium (and then in Dodger Stadium) before almost every home game. SportsNet LA has a fun time telling the story in the video above.
It’s also a good reminder that, if you can handle the final uphill climb, cycling is one of the alternate means of transportation to the ballpark.
— Jon Weisman
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Angels at Dodgers, 7:05 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, DH
(Ross Stripling, P)
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, DH
(Ross Stripling, P)
By Jon Weisman
Mike Bolsinger will return to the minor leagues after making a spot start Wednesday for the Dodgers, with reliever Chin-hui Tsao joining the roster from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Tsao, who turns 35 in June, has a 3.31 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with 14 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings this season, and has been unscored upon in his past eight appearances.
Last year, returning to the Majors after an eight-year absence, Tsao pitched seven innings for the Dodgers, with a 2.84 ERA in his first four games before allowing six runs in two-third of an inning July 25 against the Mets. He also doubled in his only at-bat.
Making his first MLB start in nearly eight months and his first since recovering from a March oblique injury, Bolsinger went 4 1/3 innings and was charged with two earned runs in the Dodgers’ 8-1 loss to the Angels, allowing nine of the 21 batters he faced to reach base, while striking out two.
Photos: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Here’s a fun comparison* between arguably baseball’s best closer, Kenley Jansen, and baseball’s best starter, Clayton Kershaw.
In the late innings (i.e., after the sixth), they have both been brilliant — and nearly identical.
*partially inspired by Jayson Stark’s ESPN.com column, which names Kershaw the best National League pitcher of the quarter-season.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Angels at Dodgers, 7:05 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, DH
(Mike Bolsinger, P)
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, DH
(Mike Bolsinger, P)
By Jon Weisman
Mike Bolsinger has been officially reinstated from the disabled list to start tonight’s game in Anaheim against the Angels, with infielder Charlie Culberson being optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
By Jon Weisman
From the year that brought you a career-high 20 complete games from Fernando Valenzuela and 210 hits from Steve Sax, Dodger Stadium is bringing back “Top Gun” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
The two blockbusters, each celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, will be the postgame features this summer in the Dodger Stadium Movie Series, presented by Fandango.
“Top” will play on the DodgerVision screens 15 minutes after the 4:15 p.m. Dodgers-Padres game ends on July 9, while “Ferris” will be shown following the 1:05 p.m. August 13 game between the Dodgers and the Pirates.
For more information, visit dodgers.com/movies or call (866) Dodgers.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw gets dirty.
That’s the thing. He’s so precious, that you want to protect him like a porcelain … well, like a porcelain Kershaw.
But Clayton Kershaw must think he’s Nerf or something. He leaps, he dives — he barrel-rolls if that’s what it takes.
Tonight, in the third inning, Kershaw singled. And then Chase Utley singled, and Kershaw took off. While all the Dodger fans clutched their hearts for dear life, like their boy was heedlessly dashing into the street to retrieve his ball, Kershaw rounded second and careened toward third.
He slid, hard, into the base, where the baseball was waiting for him, courtesy of Mike Trout. He was out. We was scared.
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And then with that streak of Dodger dirt along his side and on his rump, Clayton Kershaw got up, walked back to get his glove, returned to the mound, and proceeded to finish dominating his latest Major League opponent.
In eight innings, Kershaw struck out 11 Angels and walked none, extending his unique Major League record, in a 5-1 victory by the home team at Dodger Stadium.
It was the sixth consecutive game that Kershaw had whiffed double-digits without walking more than one batter — two more games than anyone else has had. In addition, Kershaw is within one of Randy Johnson’s NL record for consecutive games with at least 10 strikeouts, and two of Chris Sale’s MLB record. (Pedro Martinez has the record crossing over two seasons of 10 games.)
And now, process this. For the season, Kershaw now has 88 strikeouts and still only four walks. Twenty-two strikeouts for each walk.
In his past five starts, he has 58 strikeouts. And one walk.
By Jon Weisman
Hall of Famer Rod Carew was at Dodger Stadium on Monday to talk about his Heart of 29 campaign, whose purpose is to raise funds for the American Heart Association and awareness of cardiovascular disease. His visit included a stop to say hello to Vin Scully.
Learn more in this story and in the video below …
Angels at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCLI: Dankershawoen
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Kershaw CCLI: Dankershawoen
Chase Utley, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 1B
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
By one measure, Clayton Kershaw never worked harder in than he did in 2010.
Then 22, Kershaw averaged 106 pitches per start, which remains his career high.
Now 28, Kershaw is on pace to throw approximately 270 innings, which would be 44 more than his previous high total.
But Kershaw isn’t exerting himself more. He isn’t throwing more pitches. He is currently averaging 105 pitches per start, which is completely in line with what he’s done throughout his career.
If anything (with the caveat that no one should question how hard he is working), Kershaw’s days at the office are easier, because he’s averaging a career-low 13.5 pitches per inning.
By Jon Weisman
With the Dodgers barely halfway through a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, Mike Bolsinger is being called up Wednesday to take a turn in the Dodger starting rotation and give its existing members an extra day of rest, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported late Monday.
Bolsinger will be inserted after Clayton Kershaw takes his scheduled start at Dodger Stadium tonight.
In other news, the Dodgers will learn more today about the lower-back tightness of Adrian Gonzalez, who left Monday’s game after the fifth inning.
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/732447956650098688
By Jon Weisman
Though it came in a loss, this might be the night that the calls for Trayce Thompson to play every day reached a critical mass.
Two home runs by Thompson nearly helped the Dodgers overcome subpar outings by Kenta Maeda and Pedro Baez, but the Dodgers ultimately fell a run short and lost a Monday marathon — four hours in all — to the Angels, 7-6.
Angels at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Kenta Maeda, P
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Kenta Maeda, P
By Jon Weisman
Taking the mound tonight against the Dodgers is a pitcher with a 9.12 ERA, which might be enough to make you want to dial 9.11 if you’re an Angels fan.
But Matt Shoemaker is also a pitcher who had a 3.04 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings as recently as 2014. And even last month, he pitched back-to-back games — both on the road — in which he allowed two runs in 12 innings.
It’s almost as if there are two Shoes, and you don’t know which the Angels will put on tonight when they meet the Dodgers in the regular-season kickoff of the Freeway Series.
By Jon Weisman
Kenley Jansen has saved 13 of the Dodgers’ 38 games this season, putting him on pace for 55, which would tie the franchise single-season record set by Eric Gagne in 2003.
Jansen is also closing in on Gagne’s all-time Dodger saves record, with Saturday’s appearance leaving him six shy.
The 28-year-old Jansen on Saturday relieved in the 354th game of his MLB career, matching the number of relief appearances Gagne made in his career (including stints with Milwaukee, Texas and Boston).
As familiar as Jansen has become to Dodger fans, it might surprise some that his relief stats virtually match those of Gagne with Los Angeles, with 75 1/3 more innings. Gagne retains a slight edge in baserunners allowed, while Jansen has the strikeout edge.
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By Jon Weisman
There have been several bits of business that I’ve been meaning to get to, so I figured the best solution was to bring back the reliable “In case you missed it” feature from Spring Training to capture them all.
