Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Tom Verducci

Video: Scully, Koufax and Hendley honored

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By Jon Weisman

“On a Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, the crafts of pitching and broadcasting came as close to perfection as we’ll ever see,” said Tom Verducci at Saturday’s Baseball Writers Association of America dinner as he introduced the Willie, Mickey & the Duke Award, going to the Cubs’ Bob Hendley and the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax and Vin Scully in recognizing the historical significance of the September 9, 1965 night that Scully broadcast Koufax’s perfect game beating Hendley’s one-hitter.

“The broadcast of the game, we’ve heard it a lot – at least I have,” Koufax said, “and Vinny was so special, it’s probably more exciting listening to him than it was doing it that night.”

Hendley, who joined Koufax in accepting the award, noted that Saturday was the first time he had actually met Koufax. He also charmingly pointed out that five days after the perfect game, he outdueled Koufax with a four-hitter in a 2-1 victory, meaning that in the two games combined, each pitcher allowed exactly two runs on five hits.

But Hendley could not have been more gracious to Scully or Koufax.

“If you get beat, get beat by class, get beat by the best,” Hendley said. “And he is the best, and he is class.”

In case you missed it: Caravan on ice

Dodgers Community Caravan
By Jon Weisman

Photo highlights from Tuesday’s second day of the Dodgers Pitching in the Community Caravan (presented by State Farm) can be found here.

Elsewhere, the links keep coming …

  • Clayton Kershaw spoke to MLB Network about the potential for using the new protective caps for pitchers approved by MLB. Steve Dilbeck of Dodgers Now passes along some Kershaw quotes.

    … “I’ve thrown with it. You don’t look very cool, I’ll be honest,” he said.

    “But technology is unbelievable and it really doesn’t feel that much different once you get used to it. Obviously, it would be a change. We wouldn’t look the same as everybody else, but if you’re that one guy who gets hit what seems like every year, there’s that chance out there. I’m definitely not opposed to it. I think it’d take a lot of getting used to. I think it’s a great thing and a step in the right direction, for sure.”

    Kershaw said baseball could require minor leaguers to wear the cap, easing its way into the big leagues. …

  • What were the most clutch plays of the Dodgers’ 2013 season? Chad Moriyama takes a look at Dodgers Digest.
  • Julio Urias ranks 14th on Keith Law’s top 100 prospect list for ESPN.com. The 17-year-old is followed by Corey Seager at 18, Joc Pederson at 41 and Zach Lee at 75. Here’s the start of the Urias writeup:

    The Dodgers signed Urias — who is the youngest player on this list by a wide margin — during the same trip to Mexico that netted them Yasiel Puig, which may end up one of the most productive scouting runs in baseball history, as Urias has enormous upside if he can just stay healthy while Los Angeles gradually builds up his arm to handle a starter’s workload.

  • Ken Gurnick is the latest to profile Lee, for MLB.com.
  • Dodgers marketing pioneer Danny Goodman is someone who must be remembered, and it’s nice to see Evan Bladh do so at Opinion of Kingman’s Performance.
  • Tom Verducci’s Baseball State of the Union piece at SI.com is long but well worth the read for how thought-provoking it is, even if you don’t agree with all he writes (and I don’t think he intends for you to).
  • One more from the caravan, which featured kids from Long Beach’s McBride Park Teen Center skating at Dodger Stadium at the end of the day.

DODGERS CARAVAN

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