Kershaw Rebuffs Autograph Seeker At Wrigley
PLUS: TIME FOR FANS TO MAKE PLANS FOR 2024 SPRING TRAINING
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Readers React
Great article on HOF weekend in Cooperstown. I was there the week before just to re-kindle some of the baseball 'lovin child in me instead of feeling old and recently retired! I am leaving tomorrow for a drive across the country. I plan on attending games in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee while I eventually arrive in Seattle to meet an old friend. I just want you to know that your column is read with anticipation and I plan to continue to read as I travel on my brand new lap-top!!
— Tom (Pat) Mahady, Hackensack, NJ
Thank you for writing about [our meeting in Cooperstown]. It really means a lot. Believe you me, no one will ever fully understand that soap story. Maybe someday we can talk about the Jack the Ripper story.
— Jack Clark, St. Louis
You hit that Jack Clark visit out of the park! Almost as far as Jack the Ripper hit Tom Niedenfuer that fine day in 1985. I had occasion to revisit that home run in 2020, after learning a certain broadcaster had actually said on the air he'd thought Clark was dead. A month before the “f@g capitals” slip, Thom Brennaman pronounced the legendary slugger dead.
— Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Dansby Swanson and Francisco Lindor signed $1.3 BILLION worth of contracts as free agents and are hitting a combined .246 with a .733 OPS this season . . .
Injured Red Sox southpaw Chris Sale visited the Baseball Hall of Fame with his son’s youth team during the All-Star Break and saw several artifacts he donated over the years . . .
Luis Arraez doesn’t hit many homers but his first one this season came on April 11, the night he became the first Marlin ever to hit for the cycle . . .
Mookie Betts, who bowled a perfect 300 in the 2017 World Series of Bowling, is the nephew of Terry Shumpert, who played for six teams in his 14-year career . . .
Betts was with Boston in 2018 when he became the only ballplayer to win an MVP, Gold Glove, World Series ring, Silver Slugger, and batting, slugging, and runs scored titles all in the same season (2018) . . .
Justin Verlander, though fading fast, remains the only active pitcher with at least three no-hitters . . .
Freddie Freeman has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada . . .
When Freeman won National League MVP honors with the 2020 Braves, the only votes he didn’t get went to future Dodgers teammate Mookie Betts . . .
Jose Abreu, shortest man in the majors, wears No. 79 because mom Daysi told him it was unusual and scouts would be more likely to notice him . . .
Little Ozzie Albies swings a heavier bat than hefty Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. . . .
Chipper Jones says Ronald Acuna, Jr. is the best ballplayer he’s ever seen . . .
Bryce Harper remains the only player to homer in the Wild-Card Series, Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series in the same post-season (2022)
Leading Off
A Chance Encounter With Clayton Kershaw Outside Wrigley Field
By Anthony Solorzano
I just got back from a month-long trip to Europe and have to make up for the income that I missed while on vacation. One of my prized possessions that will bring in a nice cash-out belongs to Clayton Kershaw. Here’s a detailed description of the item for sale:
The item is one of a kind.
My wife will sign a letter explaining how the item was attained and prove its authenticity.
The item is super dope.
Back in 2016, my then-girlfriend (now wife) traveled to Chicago to see the Dodgers play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Before the game, we booked a tour of one of baseball's cathedrals and had some time between the game and the tour to grab lunch.
We grabbed lunch down the street from the main entrance and lounged around waiting for the gates to open. After paying the bill, a cab pulled up and Kershaw came out. I immediately grabbed the pen used to sign the receipt and crossed the on-going- traffic street to try and get his autograph.
According to my wife, I dodged a few cars and she describes the incident like an action scene in a Mission Impossible movie. Every time she tells the story, she leans more and more on hyperbole to tell the story. I swear, the last time she told the story to a couple of our friends, she said I jumped over a car just for Clayton Kershaw.
By 2016, Clayton Kershaw’s career had already reached legendary status. He was a five-time All-Star and three-time National League Cy Young recipient who also won an MVP award and a Triple Crown of pitching.
Who wouldn’t jump a car for Kershaw?
I became a religious Dodgers’ fan around the same time Kershaw took over the league. His rise to fame correlates with my transformation from a soccer fan to a hopelessly devoted Dodgers’ fan boy. I wasn’t going to let a moving car stop me from getting my favorite player's autograph.
When I finally got near him, I spoke to him.
“Hey Kershaw, can I please have your autograph?”
At this point, I was 26 years old. At that age, I consider myself a grown man. I worked a full-time job and paid grown-men bills. I had started my career in teaching and had plans to start a family with my travel partner. Asking a man who is only two years older than me for an autograph felt childish. Idolizing a man who’s close to my age feels immature, but I love being a man-child who loves a baseball team. I proudly asked future Hall of Fame inductee Clayton Kershaw to sign my Dodgers’ away jersey with a BIC pen.
His answer: “No, thank you.”
You are probably asking yourself what exactly I want to sell if I didn’t get his autograph. What I am selling here is the actual story. An autographed jersey would be framed and hung in a room. It would be limited to house visits when it comes to sharing it with the world, but a story can have an infinite amount of replay value.
And for that reason, putting a price tag on it is impossible, but I am taking offers. For the right price, I am willing to sell the rights to my verbal exchange with one of the best Dodgers in the history of the franchise.
Anthony Solorzano is a writer from Pomona, CA who writes about the Dodgers for LAXSportsnation.com.
Cleaning Up
Spring Has Sprung Early For Spring Training Fans
By Dan Schlossberg
While the Aug. 1 trade deadline is commanding the attention of baseball fans, Major League Baseball quietly released 2024 schedules for both spring training and the regular season.
That’s great news for people who like to plan ahead — especially since the early bird gets the worm regarding availability and affordability of accommodations, rental cars, and tickets.
Nothing beats a trip to spring training but most ballparks hold fewer than 10,000 fans, making tickets a hot commodity.
And the schedule is not without its usual quirks.
For one thing, the Tampa Bay Rays plan to play in Charlotte Sports Park, so damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022 that it was unusable for spring training 2023. The team won’t have to play home games at home, in Tropicana Field, or reactivate Disney’s Champion Stadium in Orlando.
The two New York teams will play a tropical version of the old Mayor’s Trophy Series, with one game in Port St. Lucie and the other in Tampa.
The Yankees will also visit jetBlue Park in Ft. Myers for a St. Patrick’s Day game against the host Boston Red Sox. Uniforms, bases, and foul lines will be green for the occasion but tickets will be red-hot — and pricey.
Hopefully, the hot dogs will still be red, as well as red-hot.
Boston, not satisfied with bagging a big opponent for a certain St. Patrick’s Day sell-out, will include the Dominican Republic and State of Texas among their 15 road games but will also play 15 home games in their 30-game schedule.
It’s been awhile since anyone has played that many exhibitions but clubs decided they needed more preparation for the 162-game season.
Oddly, only 10 games are scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on a Sunday, but 11 the following Saturday, March 23. Go figure.
Grapefruit League scheduling has been fubar for years — ever since the Los Angeles Dodgers gave up their bucolic Vero Beach base for a two-team arrangement with the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, AZ.
That move left both the Grapefruit League (Florida) and Cactus League (Arizona) with 15 teams each, forcing dozens of split-squad games. Fans will definitely not be able to tell the players without a scorecard, especially early in the spring when teams try rookies hoping to make a name for themselves. Only a handful succeed.
There won’t be any exhibition games in Montreal, which still yearns to replace the departed Expos, but there will be exhibitions games after the regular season starts.
That’s because the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play official games in Seoul, Korea on March 20-21, then return to the States for more exhibition games. The Dodgers will meet the Angels in a home-and-away series March 24-26, while the Padres play a pair of games against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park March 25-26.
How those teams cut their rosters should be interesting, since the normal 26-man limit will be in force for the Korea games but not for exhibition play.
Most spring training games, with few exceptions, are daylight affairs designed to give players, coaches, managers, and media members family time for swimming, golf, and barbecues.
The exhibition season will open with collegiate squads facing the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins on Feb. 23. The opposition will be Northeastern University and the University of Minnesota, respectively.
For complete information, August Publications will produce The Complete Guide to Spring Training 2024 / Florida and The Complete Guide to Spring Training 2024 / Arizona, both available for pre-order Tuesday. Early buyers usual bonus for early buyers will also receive an immediate download of the eBook for Kindle, Nook or Apple Books, with the physical book to come when printed.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has covered spring training every year since 1971. He says it’s the best part of the baseball calendar. Email him at ballauthor@gmail.com or check out www.danschlossberg.net.
Timeless Trivia
“Nobody wants to hear about your problems, and most of your opponents are happy you have them.”
— Beleaguered Mets manager Buck Showalter
When long-time Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins won the 2007 NL MVP, he had 20 triples — most by any player in the 21st century . . .
Rickey Henderson homered in 25 consecutive seasons, a major-league record . . .
Tris Speaker had more doubles and outfield assists than any other player . . .
An authenticated autographed picture signed by Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1911 sold at auction for $1.47 million, the most ever paid for a signed sports photograph. It is the only known Jackson-signed photo in existence . . .
Hall of Famers managed by Rogers Hornsby: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rich Ashburn, Ernie Banks, Jim Bottomley, Kiki Cuyler, Rick Ferrell, Burleigh Grimes, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, Gabby Hartnett, Gil Hodges, Travis Jackson, George Kelly, Freddie Lindstrom, Satchel Paige, Edd Rousch, George Sisler, Billy Southworth, Bill Terry, Billy Williams, Hack Wilson, and himself.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Memo on misspelling - Hall of Famer Edd Roush does not have a "c" in last name. Nor do I in my last name Lowenfish. cheers from Lee Lowenfish