Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Page 84 of 381

‘Quite cute’ A.J. Ellis signs 2016 deal with Dodgers

By

On December 2, 2015

In Transactions

A.J. Ellis homered and caught Alex Wood's eight one-hit innings September 16 against Colorado. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

A.J. Ellis homered and caught Alex Wood’s eight one-hit innings September 16 against Colorado. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

A.J. Ellis is returning to the Dodgers for 2016 on a one-year deal that allows them to avoid an arbitration hearing.

Ellis had a .398 on-base percentage and .486 slugging percentage in 168 plate appearances after May 26, enabling him to finish the season at .355/.403 after a slow start. As Ken Gurnick of MLB.com notes, he hit all seven of his home runs last season in his final 35 games.

Drafted in 2003, Ellis has been in the Dodger organization longer than any other active player, and is the third-longest tenured player on the big-league roster after Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw. He made his MLB debut in September 2008.

With 461 career games behind the plate, Ellis is ninth all-time among Dodger catchers, and will pass Joe Ferguson and Paul Lo Duca to reach seventh if he catches at least 24 games in 2016.

Ellis’ negotiating power was no doubt boosted by his award-worthy appearance Tuesday on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” in which he also showed off his future coaching ability while working with ceremonial first-pitcher Lisa Vanderpump.

Think Blue Review: Roberts Rules of Order

By

On December 1, 2015

In Uncategorized

[mlbvideo id=”532636883″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Fresh off the Think Blue Review presses, this week’s edition captures Dave Roberts introduction today as Dodger manager.

Jon SooHoo has also posted a photo gallery from this warm welcome.

– Jon Weisman

Live-blog: Dave Roberts introductory press conference

By

On December 1, 2015

In Front office, Managers, Managing

By Jon Weisman

Dave Roberts is being introduced at Dodger Stadium shortly after 11 a.m. as the Dodgers’ manager. We’ll highlight some of the key quotes as they come here …

(Also, note that Roberts will be holding a live Q&A on Twitter this afternoon – check the hashtag #AskDave.)

Introducing Roberts is Dodger president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman: “We are highly confident that he is going to play a significant role in us shaping a culture of sustained success here. Magic Johnson then presents Roberts with his Dodger jersey, wearing No. 30.

Roberts begins with some introductory remarks:

  • “For me, this is obviously a huge day for me, speaking personally and on behalf of my family. … I think for me to have an opportunity to put the Dodger uniform on again, it’s come full circle.”
  • “People have asked me in passing about this opportunity. I look at it as a responsibility.”
  • “I see Don Newcombe. I see Maury Wills. I see Tommy Lasorda. I see Adrian Gonzalez. These are people, when they wear that Dodger uniform, they wear it the right way — they wear it with pride.”

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/671771309529939968/photo/1

Next, the Q&A begins:

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Joe Wieland returning to Dodgers

By

On December 1, 2015

In Transactions

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, the Dodgers have re-signed right-handed pitcher Joe Wieland to a one-year deal for 2016.

Wieland, who will be 26 in January, had a 4.59 ERA and 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City this year. He also pitched 8 2/3 innings in two games for the Dodgers, allowing eight runs.

He was one of 16 pitchers to start a game for the Dodgers in 2015.

Wieland went from May 2012 to September 2014 without pitching in the Majors because of two surgeries, including Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2012.

Luis Avilan, A.J. Ellis, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Hatcher, Kenley Jansen, Juan Nicasio, Justin Turner and Scott Van Slyke are the Dodgers’ other players eligible for arbitration. They must be offered provisional contracts for 2016 by 9 p.m. Wednesday, or they will become free agents.

Who was the Dodgers’ Kobe?

By

On November 30, 2015

In Other sports

Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant at Dodger Stadium, July 31, 2013. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant at Dodger Stadium, July 31, 2013. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

It’s hard to be a sports fan in Los Angeles and not be affected by the end of Kobe Bryant’s career. Twenty seasons in a Los Angeles uniform? For one attempt at perspective, here’s the Dodger starting lineup on June 26, 1996, the day the 17-year-old Bryant was drafted.

Delino DeShields, 2B
Roger Cedeno, LF
Mike Piazza, C
Eric Karros, 1B
Raul Mondesi, RF
Mike Blowers, 3B
Todd Hollandsworth, CF
Greg Gagne, SS
Tom Candiotti, P

Candiotti, the starting pitcher that day, is now 58 years old.

On the way to work this morning, I asked myself who would be the Dodgers’ closest equivalent to Bryant, a spectacular, championship-winning (future) Hall of Famer who wore only one team’s uniform (albeit with two numbers). It won’t surprise you that there’s no exact match, but I do think there’s a closer one than you might realize.

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Single-game Spring Training tickets now available

By

On November 30, 2015

In Spring Training, Tickets

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

You can now purchase tickets for individual Dodger Spring Training games taking place at Camelback Ranch in 2016. And from now until December 6, you can save $3 per seat by entering the code “TEAM” when you click here and purchase.

For more information, visit dodgers.com/spring.

Previously: Dodgers unveil 2016 Spring Training schedule.

— Jon Weisman

New and familiar faces on Baseball America’s top 10 Dodger prospects for ’16

By

On November 30, 2015

In Minor leagues

top 10

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Baseball America’s annual ranking of Dodger prospects actually comes early this year — the 2015 rankings were published 10 months ago — and comes with five names that weren’t on the preseason 2015 list.

Joc Pederson graduated from prospect status, but Corey Seager remains a rookie despite his impressive September debut, allowing the Dodger infielder a second consecutive year in the No. 1 slot. Julio Urias moves up a spot accordingly to No. 2, while right-hadner Jose De Leon leapfrogs into the No. 3 spot.

The top newcomer on this year’s list is infielder Jose Peraza, acquired from Atlanta in the big July 30 deal. “Peraza lacks a high ceiling,” Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes, “but his bat-to-ball skills and wheels should make him a steady player in the middle of the diamond.” In the list of best tools in the Dodger minor leagues, Peraza is called the organization’s top athlete.

Making the biggest leap internally is first baseman-outfielder Cody Bellinger, who skipped Great Lakes after hitting three homers with Rookie League Ogden in 2014 and hit 30 for High-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2015. The 20-year-old is also labeled the best power hitter in the system.

“Bellinger used to gear his swing for line drives, but he made a mechanical adjustment in 2015 to put his body in a better position to create torque,” Badler wrote in his analysis. “Toward the end of 2015, he began to study heat maps to understand his own strengths and weaknesses, and he condensed his trigger slightly.”

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Dave Roberts and the Newlywed Game

By

On November 29, 2015

In Managing

Dave Roberts at a Dodger Stadium computer in 2004. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dave Roberts at a Dodger Stadium computer in 2004. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

Welcome to Dave Roberts’ honeymoon with Dodger fans and the media.

The new Dodger manager hasn’t been asked a question, hasn’t made a move. His rose is in full bloom.

But it takes two to be happy in a marriage, and let’s just say that Roberts’ collective new spouse — after 27 years of frustration — can be a bit challenging to keep satisfied.

Read More

Blue Friday sale and autographs at Dodger Stadium

By

On November 25, 2015

In Merchandise

Store panorama 11-25-15

By Jon Weisman

Justin Turner and the Dodgers will kick off the holiday shopping season with a Blue Friday sale and autographs at the Top of the Park store, the day after Thanksgiving.

Fans will enjoy up to 30 percent off merchandise, with Dodger Pride rewards card members also receiving an additional discount. In addition, the Dodgers’ ticket sales staff will be on hand to sign fans up for 2016 mini plans, which include opportunities to get tickets for the just-announced promotional dates.

Here’s the upcoming autograph schedule at Top of the Park:

Read More

Chia whiz: An early look at 2016 Dodger promotions

By

On November 25, 2015

In Promotions

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

If a Justin Turner Chia Pet and a Vin Scully T-shirt don’t sound like two of the greatest promotions ever, I might be speaking to the wrong crowd.

But for the right-thinking people among you, this April 30 giveaway is one of many highlights of the Dodgers’ 2016 preliminary promotion schedule.

New giveaways for next year also include a neck pillow, license plate frame, Father’s Day Dodger boxers, kids’ locker nameplate and socks.

New manager Dave Roberts, Don Newcombe, Dusty Baker and Clayton Kershaw will be among 2016’s 10 bobbleheads, along with one saluting 1981 World Series tri-Most Valuable Players Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager.

In addition, the 10-date Collectors Pin Series will spotlight on the Dodgers’ 10 retired numbers, and Magic Johnson takes over for Tommy Lasorda as this year’s giveaway gnome.

The Dodgers are also announcing two new mini-plan options for 2016 with tickets starting at $19 per game. A preset 21-game Collectors Plan offers Opening Day, all 10 bobblehead giveaways, all 10 retired number collectible pins and Jackie Robinson Day. A 30-game Flex Plan allows for any 2016 home game, including Opening Day. All mini plans are on sale now at dodgers.com/miniplans.

Below, you can see an informal list of planned 2016 promotions. Please note that:

  • Giveaways are limited to 40,000 units per game, unless otherwise noted.
  • Kids giveaways are for the first 15,000 ticketed kids 14 & under in attendance.
  • Only one giveaway item per person will be given to the bearer of the ticket upon entering the stadium.
  • Schedule is subject to change without notice.

Promotions part 1

Promotions part 2

Flashback: The Dave Roberts experiment

By

On November 24, 2015

In Humor, Television

Dodger director of graphic design Ross Yoshida passed along this video of Dave Roberts when he was the prankee on a September 2003 episode of “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment” on the ol’ WB Network. (Former Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca is in on the bit.) The Dodgers’ new manager is patient — really patient — but firm and in the end, able to take a joke.

— Jon Weisman

Dave Roberts and the Dodgers’ lost 2002 season

By

On November 23, 2015

In History

roberts & dreifort

By Jon Weisman

Dave Roberts made his Los Angeles debut with the 2002 Dodgers, a mostly forgotten squad whom a couple of weeks ago I called the best third-place team in Dodger history.

Those Dodgers won 92 games but finished behind Arizona and San Francisco in the National League West. Under the current playoff format, they would have made the NL wild-card game against the Giants, who ended up in the World Series against the Angels.

Instead, the ’02 Dodgers missed the postseason entirely, so their record as a team has largely been ignored. But in addition to the arrival of Roberts, there were these individual memories:

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Think Blue Review: 2015-16 edition No. 2

By

On November 23, 2015

In Uncategorized

[mlbvideo id=”530768583″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

The latest in our weekly series keeping tabs on the Dodger offseason …

— Jon Weisman

New manager Dave Roberts is the Dodgers’ somebody

By

On November 23, 2015

In Managers, Transactions

Dave Roberts in 2002 (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Dave Roberts in 2002 (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

Dave Roberts first came to the Dodgers as a nobody. On December 22, 2001, the Dodgers traded two single-A minor-leaguers, Christian Bridenbaugh and Nial Hughes, to Cleveland for an outfielder who had 40 career Major League hits at age 29.

Neither Bridenbaugh nor Hughes would play at any level in any of MLB’s 30 organizations again. But Roberts, he wouldn’t easily be forgotten.

Read More

Cotton, Stripling added to 40-man roster

By

On November 20, 2015

In Minor leagues, Transactions

Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 1.08.52 PMBy Jon Weisman

Minor-league right-handed pitchers Jharel Cotton (left) and Ross Stripling have been added to Dodgers’ 40-man roster today, as expected, ahead of the deadline to protect them from other MLB clubs in  the Rule 5 draft.

Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 1.08.44 PMCotton, who turns 24 in January, pitched primarily for Double-A Tulsa, with 71 strikeouts and a 1.12 WHIP in 62 2/3 innings, before gaining 7 1/3 innings of Triple-A experience at the end of the year.

Returning from April 2014 Tommy John surgery, Stripling (who turns 26 Monday) had 55 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP in 67 1/3 innings for Tulsa.

The Dodgers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster, 23 of them pitchers.

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Attendance

1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended

2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)

Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret. 

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