Archive for January, 2014

Alaska Baseball League – Baseball in the Great White North

No matter how old we grow there is always something to learn, especially in the world of baseball. A few days ago I discovered the Cape Cod Baseball League, a collegiate summer league in New England. I posted an article about the Cape Cod League here on the ThinkBlueLA blog site and very quickly became […]

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Scott Rice – Another one that got away

(Note: This is a re-post from April 15, 2013) One of the primary reasons why I spend two to three weeks at spring training each year is to get a feel for what to expect in the upcoming season, especially with the many pitchers in camp. Among those who I have watched closely in past […]

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Meet new Loons manager Bill Haselman

Just before Christmas the Dodgers announced the 2014 coaching staffs for their minor league affiliates. Although there were not wholesale changes there were several at the managerial level. Damon Berryhill, after five seasons with the Advanced Rookie League Ogden Raptors, in which he led the Raptors to four playoff appearances, was promoted to the AAA […]

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Age ‘a big big factor’ in Kershaw contract extension

During Friday morning’s press conference at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten and General Manager Ned Colletti made official the seven-year / $215 million contract extension for 25-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw, as was first announced on Wednesday. “We felt Clayton is so special,” Kasten said. “He checks all the boxes for us – on […]

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The Dodgers’ starting rotation – Déjà vu all over again

Remember when the Dodgers broke spring training camp last year with nine starting pitchers on their 40-man roster? How could you forget, we were reminded almost daily that it was “a good problem to have.” And indeed it was because within four weeks Zack Greinke, Chris Capuano and Ted Lilly were on the disabled list […]

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Cape Cod Baseball League – A piece of America saved

A long time ago when the earth was young – well maybe not that long ago – I visited the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. It was almost 40 years ago and it was a whirlwind visit as a day trip from East Bridgewater, a small community about 30 miles south of Boston. My wife […]

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There’s a calm over Los Angeles tonight

Can you feel it Los Angeles? If you’re a die-hard Dodger fan you can. It’s a sense of calmness, of warmth, of tranquility hanging over the City of Angles tonight – and it’s wonderful. It’s knowing that 25-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw will be a Dodger for a very long time. Although the reported seven-year/$215 million contract […]

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When does “a good problem to have” become a bad one?

When the Dodgers broke spring training camp last March, it appeared that they had an abundance of outfielders to match their abundance of starting pitchers. And even though Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp were not fully recovered from their respective shoulder surgeries and struggled considerably during camp, there was every indication that Crawford, Kemp and Andre […]

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Dream becomes reality for stadium traveler

I must admit that until a few days ago I had never heard of Paul Swaney. I came across his name and his dream while doing a bit of research for a year end review of the Great Lakes Loons, the Dodgers Class A affiliate in the Midwest League. All aspiring athletes have dreams which they pursue […]

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It’s not panic time over Kershaw yet but it’s getting there

Clayton Kershaw will be a Dodger for the 2014 season – that is a given. He is arbitration eligible with arbitration figures due to be exchanged beginning this Friday. If a contract extension cannot be agreed upon before January 31 and the defending NL Cy Young Award winner is forced into an arbitration hearing (which run […]

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