It’s time for Dodger baseball!
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Head on over to MLBTradeRumors.com to submit your questions for Fred Claire.
Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire has agreed to answer some questions from MLBTR readers. I’ll choose the best ones from the comments. Fred was the team’s GM for about a decade, and also served in other capacities in the front office before that.
Highlights from the 1955 series.
Ted Williams on What’s My Line
They refer to the fact that the Red Sox played at Yankee Stadium earlier that day, and that the Sox won 10-9. The video description says this was from 1954, which would place this episode on May 23rd.
Joe DiMaggio on What’s My Line
From 1955; they refer to his just having been elected to the Hall of Fame. Doesn’t take them long to figure out who it was.
Hey, if you missed out on the 50th Anniversary Dodger Blanket Giveaway last night at Dodger Stadium, fret not. With a little driving and luck, you can grab one at the Inland Empire 66ers game this Saturday:
The Dodgers and 66ers have teamed up to allow the fans of the Inland Empire to show that they really are true blue fans. The first 2,000 people through the gates on Saturday, April 19th at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino will receive a free Dodgers blanket!
Last season the 66ers also gave away a Los Angeles Dodgers blanket and fans came out in flocks! A line of fans snaked around the the stadium with the truest of blue fans lining up as early as 3:30 that afternoon.
They’re playing the High Desert Mavericks, who have replaced the 66ers as the Seattle Mariners’ High A affiliate.
Update: Looks like they should do Blanket Night more often!
The starting pitcher for Inland Empire, Tim Sexton dominated the Mavericks offense for six perfect innings. In a somewhat controversial decision to strictly follow the pitch count, 66ers manager Henry Cruz decided to take Sexton (2-2) out of the game before the seventh inning. Paul Koss pitched the next two innings, and while he did allow three Mavericks to reach base, he kept the no hitter in tact. The three runners that reached base got there on an error and two walks. The ninth inning, and the no-hit bit, was put in the hands of Francisco Felix who started off the inning strong with a strikeout. The chance for a no-hitter ended however when the Mavericks shortstop and highly touted prospect Carlos Triunfel knocked a sharp ground ball to the right side that was too hot for the first baseman Eduardo Perez to handle. Felix would end up striking out the side in the inning, which was little consolation for losing the bid at the no-hitter.
The Dodgers issued a press release today, “Lasorda to receive Pope Benedict XVI at the White House”, which is very cool, especially if he can get His Holiness to say a prayer for the Boys in Blue. Lord knows we could use some help.
What caught my eye the most was this passage at the bottom of the emailed version of the release:
The Los Angeles Dodgers, pioneers in sport and world culture, are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2008. In that period, they have won more games, more pennants, and more World Series than any other club in the National League. Since the start of the modern era in baseball, the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, combined, have a cumulative attendance of more than 176 million, the highest total in the history of baseball or any other sport.
That just sounds awesome.
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS 45 5 10 3 0 0 6 0 0 3 8 .222 .308 .289 .597 40 3 7 1 0 1 2 0 0 6 11 .175 .283 .275 .558 41 4 6 2 0 0 4 1 0 7 11 .146 .271 .195 .466 43 6 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 9 10 .070 .231 .140 .370 40 3 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 6 14 .100 .217 .125 .342
(See below.)
They’ve been pooh-poohed by columnists and brutalized by reporters, but their new-media writing will benefit the team as they become complements and not the cornerstones of fandom.
April 11 2008
DODGER STADIUM, Los Angeles, Calif.
There’s bloggers in the house.
“Yeah, last year, we beat up Juan Pierre pretty good,” says an unidentified Son of Steve Garvey.
There are Dodger Dogs in the house.
Free Dodger Dogs.
On.
Tap.
There’s Ned Colletti in the house, and he’s wearing a handsome pair of cowboy boots.
Old-school reporters downright brutalize the bloggers, but it turns out that Colletti likes them.
“We should do this again,” says Colletti.
Public Relations and Broadcasting Director Josh Rawitch was good enough to invite local bloggers to hold a meet up at Dodger Stadium, plying them with free food and special guests.
Ned Colletti and his spiffy boots, answering questions with refreshing candor.
Owner Frank McCourt, displaying passion and blunt assessments about the past few Dodger seasons and current challenges.
And lastly, Tommy Lasorda, whose storytelling is even funnier in person than in print, and who also had the second longest-running blog in the room.
“Keep on blogging!” he exhorted us during perhaps the most inspirational speech ever given to a roomful of website writers.
(I came home and wrote this, so I think his speech worked.)
It says something that the Dodgers, one of the biggest and best sports franchises, took the time to talk to a group of bloggers.
It says something that the owner and general manager of one of the most storied teams in baseball took the time to answer every blogger question forthrightly.
It says something that a world-famous manager and baseball ambassador took the time to entertain a rapt bunch of bloggers.
#
Thanks to being in the suite area next to the Vin Scully Press Box, we were able to observe some of the secret, behind-the-scenes media goings-on that most fans never hear about.
Like Tony Jackson, Daily News sportswriter and frequent complainer about elevators, has a deluxe suite to himself, complete with personal chef and stenographer-masseuse.
TJ Simers, gadfly and Jeff Kent caregiver, was moonlighting at the Dodger Gear store in the suites area, drunkenly hawking replica jerseys and blue rally monkeys to passing plutocrats.
(Reportedly, this behavior is tolerated for fear of yet another column about driving across the Great Plains with his Long-Suffering Family Members.)
Bill Plaschke keeps showing up at Will Call, demanding free rides in the bullpen buggy on display nearby the press box.
Security usually distracts him by saying ESPN is on the courtesy phone in the guard shack by the front gate.
A Dodger employee, asking to remain nameless, let it slip that Plaschke gets paid by the carriage return.
We should all be so lucky.
So.
Lucky.
#
Oh, and the biggest secret of all?
I’ll probably be banned from the next blogger event for letting this bombshell slip, but it’s too big not to share.
One of the Sons of Steve Garvey is Alyssa Milano.
True story.
Watch for a line of special SoSG *touch* clothing and accessories coming soon.
You heard it here first.
#
Seriously, though, thanks to the Dodgers for their beyond-the-pale hospitality, but more than anything for their willingness to explore the new media world with reckless abandon, as well as answer our sometimes pointed questions with honesty and humor.
Hopefully they can do something about all the deadbeat reporters hanging around. ;)
#
Update: Most of the rest of last night’s crew have posted their experiences now:
I expect Ernest from Blue Heaven is sleeping off his Dodger Dog bender and hasn’t had a chance to post yet. Lord knows I had my own share and somebody else’s as well, but I posted when I got home instead. A little hair of the dog will get you going the next morning.
Actually, never mind. That’s a bad idea. Forget I said anything.
Update 2: At last, Ernest is up and at ‘em! :) “Suite Seats The Movie”
After last night’s game, I realize my Dodgers to-do list needs some amending, viz.,
Doing our thought experiment, here’s the line as played:
LAD 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 5 11 1 AZ 3 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 X 10 12 0
And if the first inning hadn’t happened:
LAD 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 AZ 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 X LAD 5 AZ 7
Today at noon (Pacific time) on the Fox Movie Channel, they’re showing It’s Good to Be Alive (1974), a dramatization of the story of Roy Campanella. Based on Campy’s book of the same name, it stars Paul Winfield as the catcher, Louis Gossett Jr. as his physical therapist, and Ruby Dee as his wife.
From the official Roy Campanella site:
A successful catcher is defined by his ability to handle the pitching staff, throw out would-be stealers, and keep errant throws and pitches in front of him. Roy Campanella possessed all these skills and then some.
The man they called “Campy” was the complete package, leading National League catchers in putouts six times, and clubbing 242 home runs in his 10-year Major League career. From 1948-1957, Roy Campanella was securely anchored behind home plate for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He caught in five World Series, won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1951, 1953, and 1955, and was the first black catcher in Major League Baseball history. In 1969, he joined baseball’s elite with his induction into the Hall of Fame.
Speaking of awards, the Dodgers in 2006 created the Roy Campanella Award in his honor, given to the Dodger who “best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late Hall of Fame catcher.” Rafael Furcal won the inaugural award. The winner last year? A certain All-Star catcher who can handle the pitching staff, throw out would-be stealers, and keeps errant throws and pitches in front of him. Pretty good hitter too.