At 12:30 p.m., Fox Sports Prime Ticket will televise the Stanford-USC football game while MLB Network showcases Ramon Martinez's 18-strikeout masterpiece from 1990. So if you're around, come hang out and chat about one and/or the other.
I will be at Yo Gabba Gabba Live at the start of these activities, but hope to catch up with you later.
Former Dodger minor leaguer Jonathan Figueroa has passed away from lupus at age 26. (link via Diamond Leung's Diamond Notes).
Here's an excerpt from the press release of the Lincoln Saltdogs, Figueroa's final team.
... Figueroa, who enjoyed an eight-year professional baseball career, is survived by his wife, Katitiana, a five-year-old son, Victor, and a one-year-old daughter, Victoria.Figueroa, who turned 26 years old in September, joined the (Lincoln) Saltdogs in August of 2008 and pitched in three games over the final 11 days of the season. He started the 2009 season as a member of the starting rotation, and made the start in 12 of his 13 appearances, going 3-4 with a 3.45 ERA. Jonathan was named the American Association Pitcher of the Week for June 1-7, making two starts and pitching a combined 12 innings without allowing a single run. Figueroa made his last start on July 11, earning no decision in a home outing against Sioux Falls. He went on the disabled list the next day, and finished the season on the inactive list. On October 23, the Saltdogs announced that they had exercised the 2010 option on Figueroa's contract. Overall, Figueroa went 3-5 with a 3.78 ERA in 16 appearances for Lincoln, including 13 starts.
"I was shocked when I heard the news," said Saltdogs manager Marty Scott. "I remember how hard Jonathan worked to improve his performance on the mound, after he got off to a rough start this past season. He really turned into an asset for us before we had to place him on the disabled list. He was a great guy to have in the clubhouse and in the dugout, and he really connected with his teammates. We'll all miss him, and I can't even begin to imagine how tragic this must be for his wife and children." ...
Josh Wilker of Cardboard Gods found a Pedro Guerrero baseball card in the street Thursday and wrote about it today. That makes Friday the 13th our lucky day.
Catching up on some notes at the end of the day ...
The postseason honors continue for Matt Kemp, who now has a Silver Slugger award to place alongside his Gold Glove. Andre Ethier gets a shiny decorative bat for his mantle too!
They are the first Silver Slugging Dodger outfielders since Kirk Gibson in 1988.
162 Shawn Green
125 Adrian Beltre
79 Gary Sheffield
75 Andre Ethier
75 Jeff Kent
61 Matt Kemp
59 Eric Karros
54 Paul Lo Duca
49 Russell Martin
45 James Loney
Adjusted OPS (minimum 1,000 plate appearances)
170 Gary SheffieldOn-base percentage (minimum 1,000 plate appearances)
.428 Gary Sheffield
.368 Russell Martin
.367 Jeff Kent
.366 Shawn Green
.363 Andre Ethier
.354 Rafael Furcal
.354 James Loney
.346 Matt Kemp
.345 Nomar Garciaparra
.344 Paul Lo Duca
Slugging percentage (minimum 1,000 plate appearances)
.612 Gary Sheffield509 Shawn Green
421 Adrian Beltre
311 Jeff Kent
302 Andre Ethier
274 Russell Martin
265 James Loney
263 Paul Lo Duca
242
Matt Kemp
242 Eric Karros
209 Gary Sheffield
565 Shawn Green
429 Adrian Beltre
349 Andre Ethier
329 Jeff Kent
303 Russell Martin
301 Rafael Furcal
289 Paul Lo Duca
277 Matt Kemp
272 Gary Sheffield
249 James Loney
That Gary Sheffield was something, but it looks to me like Shawn Green is the Dodgers' offensive player of the decade.
Money from Column B doesn't always comes from Column A. The business world is often not so clear-cut.
Nevertheless, there could hardly be a more ill-timed revelation for the Dodgers — in an offseason already full of them — than the news that, according to Bill Plaschke of The Times, they have cut the salary of 87-year-old part-time scout George Genovese from $18,000 to $8,000. Like anyone else would be, Plaschke is quick to draw the connection between Genovese's meager pay and the McCourts' recently publicized extravagance.Now, at least on one level, the decision appears to have rested with Logan White, the Dodgers' popular assistant general manager in charge of scouting.
"I try to use George the best I can, but I know everybody always wants to be used more," White told Plaschke. "I can't go into details about it, but I'm taking a different path here and making changes in the whole staff. I can tell you it has nothing to do with the divorce or with finances. We're just trying to improve our local feel."
Let's give White the benefit of the doubt and say hypothetically that Genovese, whom former Dodger general manager Dan Evans described as "the greatest scout of all time," isn't quite as valuable as he once was. Is his past service not worth an extra $10,000?
One almost has to think that it is worth that and more, but that budget considerations dictated that Genovese not get it. And who has the final say over the scouting budget? Not White, I'm guessing.
As this news spreads, someone at the Dodgers organization will no doubt find themselves asking, "Was it worth 10 grand to have this negative publicity, instead of letting the guy just keep it?"
But perhaps the main remaining question is, who will race to address this situation first and try to seize the public relations advantage, Frank or Jamie? Of course, it could involve someone admitting a mistake (whether they believe it was a mistake or not), or having to convince the world that any perceived grandstanding is beside the point.
Hmm, tough decisions. And to think, all this nuance could have been avoided by following a simple rule: When you're in a public business, don't slash the salary of an 87-year-old man.
Matt Kemp and Orlando Hudson have won Gold Gloves, the annual honors chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., edging George Clooney and Kate Winslet, among others. And let me tell you, the ceremony, hosted by Ricky Gervais, was a riot.
OK, I might have mixed up my entertainment and baseball lives again, no doubt to the consternation of many of my readers. I'm just finding it tough to keep worlds from colliding in my head these days.
In all seriousness, congrats to the winners. Memories of Kevin Malone actually had the scoop early this morning, and Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness has this appreciation of Kemp:
Kemp probably doesn’t deserve this any more than Hudson did, as we mentioned yesterday. His UZR/150 of 3.2 was just 11th in the National League, far behind leader Nyjer Morgan’s 35.8 mark. Of course, the Gold Glove voting is a fantastically flawed process, which we should all know by now, and which Joe Posnanski clearly demonstrates in explaining the travesty of Adam Jones winning over Franklin Gutierrez in the AL. The same process is in play in the NL -- Shane Victorino got the second-most votes, yet was a negative player based on UZR/150 (-4.2).Still, whether he deserves this or not is immaterial. How many times have we read over the last few seasons that Kemp was an absolutely horrible outfielder? Hundreds? Thousands? From the Plaschkes and Oberjuerges of the world? Now, he’s a Gold Glove winner, and whether or not he really should be, it’s absolutely correct to have him in the conversation. ... This, more than anything, seems to be a testament to the hard work he’s put in towards trying to improve his baseball intelligence to complement his baseball skill set.
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