Tuesday, February 19, 2013: Full-Squad Workout #4 

BACK AT IT:Today, the Dodgers held their fourth full-squad workout of 2013 as Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu faced hitters for the first time during live batting practice. Matt Palmer, Steve Ames, Juan Abreu, Aaron Harang, Ronald Belisario, Peter Moylan and Josh Wall also faced hitters, while Javy Guerra threw a traditional bullpen off the mound. 

A WHOLE NEW BLUE!: Today the Dodgers officially announced details of their “A Whole New Blue” advertising and marketing campaign, which will include print, digital, television, radio and out-of-home components. The “A Whole New Blue” campaign takes its lead from the anticipation and excitement generated by team ownership’s very ambitious off-season program to strengthen the team and implement enhancements to iconic Dodger Stadium. The campaign debuted on the team’s website (www.dodgers.com) and on graphics seen at the recently held, first ever off-season team FanFest. It has been incorporated in the team’s print ads, radio spots, game tickets, and other sales collateral and will soon be displayed on billboards and bus shelters. Digital and television advertising will launch later this month. “A Whole New Blue” was designed by Walton Isaacson (WI), the team’s new advertising agency

• Today, the Dodgers’ camp had its annual visit from MLB Productions, while Showtime’s 60 Minutes Sports sat down with Don Mattingly, Ned Colletti and Tommy Lasorda for an upcoming episode on the team.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: The 58 players currently in big league camp represent nine different countries, including the United States, Dominican Republic (7), Venezuela (3), Puerto Rico (2), Mexico (2), Curacao (1), South Korea (1), Australia (1) and Cuba (1).

• The Dodgers will have five players depart Camelback Ranch in early March to participate in the World Baseball Classic with Adrian Gonzalez and Luis Cruz representing Team Mexico, Ronald Belisario playing for Venezuela, Hanley Ramirez joining the Dominican Republic squad for pool play in Puerto Rico and Nick Punto suiting up for Team Italy.
• Gonzalez, who will play in his third World Baseball Classic, will serve as Team Mexico’s captain. In 2009, the 30-year-old got off to a hot start after playing in the WBC, hitting .333 with 20 RBI in 22 April games for the Padres and tying for the MLB lead with nine home runs in the month.

WRITER’S BLOCK: As a part of the team’s community efforts, Dodger players and coaches signed more than 400 jerseys, 32 bats, 120 dozen baseballs and hundreds of photos in the last two days, which will be donated to various charities throughout the Los Angeles community.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: On this day in 1954, the Brooklyn Dodgers signed free agent outfielder Roberto Clemente from Puerto Rico to a one-year contract for $5,000 and a $10,000 signing bonus. At age 19, Clemente batted .257 in 87 games at Triple-A Montreal. The Dodgers tried to “hide” the prospect by not playing him full time and gambled by not protecting him in the Rule 5 Draft after the season. The ploy didn’t work as Pittsburgh President Branch Rickey drafted Clemente and he began his eventual Hall of Fame journey with the Pirates.?

• Major League Baseball renamed its annual community service award after Clemente following his death on Dec. 31, 1972. A Dodger is nominated for the award each year with Steve Garvey taking home the league-wide honor in 1981 and Clayton Kershaw winning it last year.

COULD BE LEGENDARY: Dodger alumni Ron Cey, Tim Leary, Fernando Valenzuela, Maury Wills and Steve Yeager will help celebrate a new season of Cactus League play at Camelback Ranch – Glendale’s inaugural Legends Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24. Former greats from both the Dodgers and White Sox franchises will be on hand to sign autographs and greet fans from 11:30 am-12:30 pm before being introduced in pregame ceremonies for the club’s first Cactus League game at Camelback Ranch – Glendale against the White Sox at 1:05 pm on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers, LLC 2013

Probably one of my favorite Spring Training activities is watching the non-roster invitees try and have a magical breakthrough and make the major league team. While always a long-shot, it’s fascinating to see who is extended an invitation and how the competition progresses.

Ken Gurnick over at MLB.com has a great look at state of the Dodgers’ the NRI pitching competition as Mattingly and Honeycutt look for a diamond in the rough to potentially round out the bullpen.  The 2013 roster includes Juan Abreu, Kelvin de la Cruz, Kevin Gregg, Mark Lowe, Gregory Infante, Matt Palmer and Peter Moylan. Gregg, Lowe and I guess Moylan have the most promise, but like all NRI guys, they’re looking for something of a reboot for their careers.  If I had to bet on one at this early stage, I’d go with Mark Lowe, as he probably has the most legitimate upside of this group.

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/©Los Angeles Dodgers,LLC 2013

We’ll be getting these up on a daily basis moving forward (straight from the Dodgers’ PR department):

INTO THE SWING OF THINGS:On the third day of full-squad workouts, left-hander Clayton Kershaw threw a live batting practice session, facing teammates Carl Crawford, Luis Cruz, Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez, Jerry Hairston, Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez and Juan Uribe. In addition to Kershaw, Stephen Fife, Matt Guerrier, Matt Magill and Shawn Tolleson all threw their first live BP sessions of spring.

LISTEN CAREFULLY: Along with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, Sandy Koufax, who was sporting his class No. 32 Dodger BP jersey, spent time working with members of the Dodger pitching staff in the bullpen area, including an extended chat with Josh Beckett. After joining the club in late August, the right-hander posted a 2.93 ERA (14 ER/43.0 IP) in seven starts with Los Angeles.

BIRTHDAY BOYS: The Dodgers would like to wish a very happy birthday to coach Manny Mota (75) and assistant hitting coach John Valentin (46). Mota is entering 34^th season as a coach with the Dodgers and 2013 marks his 44^th year with Los Angeles after a playing career that spanned parts of 13 seasons with the club. The Santo Domingo, DR native will embark on his fourth season as a broadcaster for PRIME TICKET as a Spanish broadcaster. Valentin is entering his first season on the Major League staff and sixth season in the Dodger organization, after spending last year as the Triple-A Albuquerque hitting coach. Under Valentin’s tutelage last year, the Isotopes ranked among the Pacific Coast League team batting leaders in average (.298, T-1^st), runs (842, 2^nd), hits (1,495, 2^nd), triples (58, T-1^st), slugging percentage (1^st, .471) and OPS (.832, 1^st). Happy birthday, Manny and John!

•  Mota hit .304 during his 20-year Major League career with San Francisco (1962), Pittsburgh (1963-68), Montreal (1969) and the Dodgers (1969-80, 82) while becoming baseball’s all-time pinch-hit leader with 150, a mark since broken by Lenny Harris and Mark Sweeney.
• Valentin played the majority of his career with the Boston Red Sox as a shortstop from 1992-2001. A veteran of 11 Major League seasons, Valentin is the only player in Major League history to complete an unassisted triple play (July 8, 1994 vs. Seattle Mariners) and hit for the cycle (June 6, 1996 vs. Chicago White Sox). He won the American League Silver Slugger award at shortstop in 1995 and belted three homers in the 1999 AL Division Series to lead Boston over the Cleveland Indians. He yielded the reigns of shortstop to former Los Angeles Dodger Nomar Garciaparra in 1997, converting to a second baseman and eventually shifting to third base after a season-ending injury to starter Tim Naehring. Valentin spent three more seasons with the Red Sox before ending his career with the Mets.

FOR THE CAUSE: Today and tomorrow, Dodger players and coaches will sign more than 400 jerseys, 32 bats, 120 dozen baseballs and hundreds of photos, which will be donated to various charities throughout the Los Angeles community.

THIS DAY IN DODGER HISTORY: On February 18, 1999, the United States Postal Service issues a second stamp commemorating the career and accomplishments Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson as part of the “Celebrating the Century” series. Robinson’s stamp represents the 1940s when the infielder broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The first Robinson stamp was issued in 1982 as part of the Postal Service’s Black Heritage series

COULD BE LEGENDARY: Dodger alumni Ron Cey, Tim Leary, Fernando Valenzuela, Maury Wills and Steve Yeager will help celebrate a new season of Cactus League play next weekend at Camelback Ranch – Glendale’s inaugural Legends Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24. Former greats from both the Dodgers and White Sox franchises will be on hand to sign autographs and greet fans from 11:30 am-12:30 pm before being introduced in pregame ceremonies for the club’s first Cactus League game at Camelback Ranch – Glendale against the White Sox at 1:05 pm on Saturday, Feb. 23.

GETTING SOCIAL: One of the best ways to stay connected with the Dodgers during Spring Training (#DodgersST) is on social media with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and earlier this year, the club launched a program to reward those dedicated fans interacting with the club online, via social media and at Dodger Stadium. For more information on the Dodgers Rewards program and to sign up to be entered to win great prizes, including Opening Day tickets and autographed baseballs, fans can visit DodgersRewards.com.

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers, LLC 2013

So as you may know, there are three, yes THREE, proud Dodger fans that are trying to get into to MLB Fan Cave, and dammit, we owe it to Major League Baseball fans everywhere to get these guys in there!

Representing LA in the final 52 are Mark Fabrick from Los Angeles, Jeremy Dorn from Walnut Creek, CA and Thomas Roberts from Huntington Beach, CA.

Voting is taking place online until Wednesday, February 13^th, so take a second to follow the links and get clicking!

Spring Training officially opens for the Dodgers this week with pitchers and catchers reporting to Camelback Ranch on Tuesday, and man, am I excited!  The first workout kicks off on Wednesday, position players report on Friday and the first full-squad workout takes place on Saturday.

Also of note, Don Mattingly will be giving his first media address of the season on Tuesday, with new lefty pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and general manager Ned Colletti also speaking during the day.

As we have for the past seven years, the dodgerfan.net guys will be here all season long, giving you our unique analysis and thoughts on the team on and off the field all season long, so stop by, pull up a chair and participate!  We run this blog because we love it, but interacting with all of you makes it even better.

See you at the ballpark,

Chris and Alex

Photo credit: Glendale Star

For me, I have a degenerative tendon in my knee that just isn’t healing through traditional physical therapy.  I also love to run, and being in my early 40s and not able to do so just isn’t an option that I want to consider right now.  Fortunately my sports medicine doctor (who also happens to be a team physician for the Seattle Mariners) knows the PRP procedure, and we decided it was something to consider after much discussion.

Here’s what it is (per the info I’ve received from my doctor’s office): “PRP is an emerging treatment in a new health sector called ‘Orthobiotics.’ The philosophy is to merge cutting edge technology with the body’s natural ability to heal itself.  Blood is made of RBC (Red Blood Cells), WBC (White Blood Cells), Plasma and Platelets.  Platelets were initially known to be responsible for blood clotting.  In the last 20 years, we have learned that when activated in the body, platelets release healing proteins called growth factors.  There are many growth factors with varying responsibilities, however cumulatively they accelerate tissue and wound healing.”  With PRP, blood is drawn from the patient, “spun” until it’s rich in the good healing platelets, and then those platelets are injected back into the patient’s ailing part (in my case, my tendon).

Interestingly, PRP was initially used over 20 years ago in the dental field to enhance wound healing in cancer patients with jaw reconstruction.  Soon afterwards its applications extended across many fields of medicine from cardiovascular surgery to orthopedics.

It’s not a treatment that works 100% of the time (and it apparently hurts a lot), but it doesn’t take a lot of time, has a relatively quick recovery period when compared with surgery and is popular with many pro athletes.  In addition to Bills, I read today that David Ortiz is having a version of this treatment done.  Other athletes that are reported to have had similar treatments include Kobe Bryant, Rafael Nadal, Hines Ward, Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods, among others.  Jonah Lehrer at Grantland and Elizabeth Lopatto at BusinessWeek both wrote great overviews of PRP that I highly recommend.

Anyway, this is probably more information on PRP than you really wanted, but given Billingsley’s treatment and the popularity of it among pro athletes, I suspect it’s something we’re going to be hearing a lot about in the years to come.

Oh, and I’ll also keep you posted on my experiences with PRP in the coming weeks…it should be interesting!

First up, like all Dodger fans, I’m beyond thrilled that Vin is returning for his 63^rd season.  It’s a remarkable accomplishment, and something that was in doubt inspired by the recent momentum by the new ownership group.

From the official press release:  “The new ownership of the Dodgers has revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself,” Scully said. “I am so convinced of their great purpose and leadership that I eagerly look forward to joining them in pursuit of the next Dodgers championship.”

Regardless of the success of the Dodgers, it’s comforting to know that we’ll be treated to at least one more amazing season of listening to the greatest there ever was.  Scully will continue his current schedule, calling all home games at Dodger Stadium, as well as road games in California and Arizona.

And now to the other big news item from the weekend: the Dodgers staggering acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto for James Loney, minor league pitcher Allen Webster, infielder Ivan De Jesus and two players to be named later (reportedly including highly-touted prospect Rubby de la Rosa.

“We continue to do everything in our power to strengthen our team for the stretch drive in an effort to reach the postseason,” said Colletti . “This trade today exemplifies ownership’s commitment to making the team as good as possible not only for 2012 but for many seasons to come.”

All you can really say is wow.  It’s a remarkable haul of talent for the Dodgers, while also allowing them to shore up their greatest weakness (power at first base) with a SoCal resident and four-time All Star in Adrian Gonzalez.  Of course, the Dodgers are also hoping a change in scenery will revitalize the disappointing Josh Beckett and also provide a suitable home for Carl Crawford next season once he recovers from Tommy John surgery.  We also picked up the versatile IF/OF Nick Punto who can fill the Jerry Hairston, Jr. role now that he’s out for the season due to surgery.

But the cost is also very high, and I’m not talking about the $262.5 million involved.  The real prizes for the Red Sox are pitchers Allen Webster and Rubby de la Rosa.  While there are highly touted, they are also prospects so are no sure things.  But as Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts points out, it makes me shift uncomfortably in my chair a bit to think about de la Rosa in Fenway Park for the foreseeable future.

Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports has a thought-provoking look at the trade and the Dodgers’ rationale for making it, in particular the lack of free agent talent at 1B and 3B in the upcoming offseason, and the impact on ticket sales that the Mexican-American Adrian Gonzalez can uniquely provide.

This was a rare “win win” trade for both teams, and will no doubt create an ongoing debate for years to come.  But really, as LA fans, you’ve got to be inspired by this ownership group’s commitment to trying to win now, as well as in the future.  After all, how can a middle of the order lineup featuring Kemp, Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier not inspire you?  We gave up a ton for Gonzalez and the rest, but I’d much rather the Dodgers make this move than none at all. You’ve got to gamble to win, and Mark Walter has proven he’s willing to roll the dice with the best of them.

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo / LA Dodgers 2012

Hanley Ramirez.  Randy Choate.  Shane Victorino.  Brandon League.  Did the Dodgers really pick up all four of those guys at the trading deadline? Un-freaking-believable.  Say what you will about the Dodgers not landing Ryan Dempster (or any starting pitcher for that matter) after trading away starter Nathan Eovaldi, but this ownership group made a statement that that they are here to win – and win soon.

Before the game, Magic Johnson said (per Eric Stephen): “We definitely want to win this year.  We’re not sitting back waiting on next year or the year after.  We want to win now.  We had needs, and we feel like we upgraded our team.”

But best of all, General Manager Ned Colletti didn’t give up any of his top-tier minor leaguers, instead keeping those guys off the block and moving strong minor leaguers (along with Eovaldi and Josh Lindbloom) while stockpiling arms in the bullpen, adding outfield depth and an explosive (albeit temperamental) young third baseman/shortstop who will be with the Dodgers for another two years.

And with the NL West all tied up with the Giants and the Diamondbacks lurking in the shadows, this summer is looking really, really exciting.

Go Blue!

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Katoly Arvai

Blogger Night had a few of the old stalwarts in attendance, including Craig from True Blue LA, a few of the “new Sons” from Sons of Steve Garvey, Roberto from Vin Scully is My Homeboy and Roger from Dodger Dugout, among others.  There were also some new blogs that made the cut, including Save the Dodgers and something called Angry Albert.

Alex and I arrived around 6 p.m. via lot P and the Top of the Park entrance and secured our tickets to the suite after a few ID checks and a long wait for those aged Dodger Stadium elevators.

We made our way to suite #232 (down near the Stadium Club) which was packed with lots of snacks and Dodger Dogs. 

General Manager Ned Colletti and Director of Contracts, Research and Operations Alex Tamin arrived shortly thereafter and we launched right into a wide-ranging Q&A session on the state of the Dodgers for about 30 minutes. Tamin is pretty new to the organization but has worked in arbitration cases where Colletti had a chance to evaluate him and is a whiz with Sabremetrics and other quantitative aspects of the organization

Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten was the next to arrive, and brought along two former bloggers from the former Washington Nationals blog Nats320 that he’s still friendly with.  Kasten made a point of emphasizing his support of the blogging community, noting that one of his first questions he asked after arriving was “What are we doing with the blogs?”

We’ll have more on Kasten’s views on the Dodgers soon, but he seems like a super passionate, dynamic, accessible and engaging leader.  It’s still very early on, but it seems like we may have struck gold with Kasten.

The rest of the evening featured a few more special guests popping by to chat, including team historian Mark Langill, Dodger legend Ron Cey, LA Times beat reporter Dylan Hernandez and of course the entire Dodgers PR team.

If you haven’t met Mark Langill, the guy has an incredible memory.  When he learned that Alex and I grew up in Pasadena, he immediately began reciting key players and specific games from our high school the early 90’s when he was a local sports reporter.

All in all, a great night was had by all.  Special thanks to Joe, Yvonne, Garrett, Jon and H.J. for putting together a great event.

This event has really become one of the highlights of the season, primarily due to the way the Dodgers embrace social media and the true openness by their executives and staff.  Looking forward to more of the same tonight, and also catching up with some of our favorite blogging brothers and sisters.