Drei’s Random Bits

If the Kansas City Royals do go on to win the World Series, they will have really deserved it. Twice in the playoffs have they either staved off elimination or came from behind to win. In Game 4 of the ALDS, down 2 games to 1, trailing 6-2 heading to the 8th inning and 6 outs from elimination, like last year’s AL Wild Card, the Royals would mount an amazing comeback against the Astros, sending the series back to KC where they would win in 5.

Game 1 of the World Series, 3 outs from going down 1 game to the red hot Mets, the Royals would come back and tie the game, eventually winning in 14 and are now 2 games from their 2nd World Championship title. 

Still searching for The New Skip…

With news of Don Mattingly being hired as the new skipper of the Miami Marlins, the wait for a new skipper for the Dodgers continues, with Gabe Kapler and Ron Roenicke being 2 top candidates….

Beyond the Yard, To The Hardwood…

Kobe Bryant now in his 20th season !

Is it really Kobe Bryant’s 20th season with the Lakers ? The milestones just don’t seem to end. Rare is it for a player of any caliber to remain with the same team in any professional sport throughout their career let alone 5 years. Playing with the same organization for 20 years without leaving ? That is an accomplishment. We can probably count how many professional athletes in our liftetime that have not only played 20 seasons but  all with the same organization, such as Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. 

 With former UCLA Bruin and Laker Tracy Murray

Tracy Murray, the onetime Laker known for his outside shooting prowess, will be the shooting coach with the Lakers this upcoming season. I cant think of a more deserving person for the role than Tracy. I had the opportunity to interview Tracy back in January while he was the radio commentator for UCLA basketball for an article I did on Pauley Pavillion for Stadium Journey. For being my first interview, I already saw why he was a radio commentator and feel very strongly he will be a great asset to this young Lakers squad…

9th Inning Beats With Kid Marley Marlz…

 Hey Kid ! What time is it ?

Extra Innings… Is This the Year The Great Pumpkin Shows Up ?

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!! 

The Magic of Baseball Among African Americans and a Mini Puig Sighting in Westwood

Another interesting read focuses on the state of the game among African-Americans, this time from MLB.com beat writer Terence Moore, who feels Magic Johnson dispels myths that blacks aren’t into baseball . That, of course, is still debatable. Here’s an excerpt from his latest read…

” Let’s start with Williamsport, Pa., where a totally African-American team from Chicago is competing in the Little League World Series. Not only that, the star of the whole event so far is a 13-year-old Philadelphia girl, Mo’ne Davis, who throws a baffling slider when she isn’t frustrating hitters with 70 mph fastballs. “

Speaking of Mo’ne Davis

Perhaps we will see Mo’ne in the bigs some day ? I really hope so. Baseball integrated players of all colors , why not integrate the two genders ? If she has the ability to hurl a 95 MPH fastball in 10 years or prior, I say, Why Not ? In the meantime, Mo’ne has issued a pitchoff challenge to Clayton Kershaw .

Yasiel or Kobe ?

Perhaps this piece on Yasiel Puig may greatly influence your decision on what to name your newborn child, assuming it’s a boy. You will also be glad to know that the name Kobe increased in popularity in 1997 after some HS kid named Kobe was thrust right into the spotlight of another storied L.A. franchise…

This will be Kobe’s 19th season donning the Purple and Gold. At 35, Kobe says in basketball years he is 70 . I’d say that’s a good way of analyzing any professional athlete north of 30. Even at 70 basketball years, I think most teams would still clamor for your service Kobe …

Mini Puig Sighting in Westwood

For those of you who have followed my past Mini Puig posts, today, the Mini one pays a visit to the home of The Sons of Westwood, where he pays homage to another great who donned not only the Dodger Blue but also the Blue and Gold..

Paying homage to Jackie Robinson at the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame .

Oh yeah. Gotta love the sight of The Victory Bell in Bruin Blue, 2 years in a row !!! Looks like our Mini Puig is calling for an 8-Clap !!! It’s almost that time of year folks where we do double-duty !!!

With Brett Hundley during the Beat SC bonfire back in November. Mr. Heisman ? This is going to be a big year for The Mighty Bruins. I’ll have to get Mini Puig to pose with you at the next Beat SC bonfire…

Dre’s Magic Number of October, 33 !!! Thank You, Maraming Salamat !!!

But first…

A huge Maraming Salamat to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for their contribution of $150,000 to typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines. Basketball has long been one of the Philippines national pastime and the Lakers have always had a huge Filipino fan following here in L.A. and in the Philippines , as Dwight Howard would eventually find out. For the Lakers and Kobe to be a part of the relief efforts certainly does not go unnoticed amongst their Filipino fan base. So again, we say… THANK YOU !!! MARAMING SALAMAT !!!! Also, as i’ve been doing this past week, I will continue to post this link that you can click here for a list of organizations that you can choose to contribute reief efforts to , as well as these upcoming events that you would like to participate in, including a 3 hour telathon that will be aired tomorrow night locally on KTLA 5 from 7-10 PM, with proceeds going to the Red Cross. Also, if you have a Twitter account, on your tweets, please do include the hashtag #HelpThePhilippines. Your thoughts and prayers to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan are greatly appreciated.

October was quite a roller coaster ride for us Dodgers fans. It was also quite a month for me as well covering as much playoff action as I possibly could. Much of this was made possible not only by the Dodgers going deep into October, but by you fans as well for visiting and reading very heavily on my posts. Because of you, my October Ranking amongst MLB Fan bloggers hit a personal high at 33 !!! October also set a personal record for me for having my highest visitor count ever. So again, to you the Dodgers and baseball fans, I say…THANK YOU, and of course,as has been my ongoing message lately, MARAMING SALAMAT !!!!

FANS
Counting Baseballs reappeared after a newsworthy month…
1. The Baseball Collector
2. The AustralianBaseballDigest
3. Beisbol 007
4. The Unbiased MLB Fan
5. Pinstripe Birthdays
6. Cook & Sons’ Baseball Adventures
7. mlbblogger
8. The Brewer Nation
9. A’s Farm
10. La Pagina de Tony Menendez
11. Ballparks on a Budget
12. The Baseball Haven
13. Dodger Blue World
14. Rockpile Rant
15. Counting Baseballs
16. The Ballpark Guide
17. Observing Baseball
18. Los bigleaguers
19. Minoring In Baseball
20. 7000 Coliseum Way
21. 9 Inning Know It All
22. eltubeyero22
23. Flashin’ Leather
24. Cove Chatter
25. Coco crisp’s afro
26. Brewers Farm Report
27. Where Everyone’s a Giant
28. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
29. A Piece of The Game
30. Baseball Anytime
31. The Yankee Dinosaur
32. TheCutoffMan
33. It’s Always A Good Dre in L.A.
34. Plouffe’s New Hairdo
35. Reds Ramblings
36. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
37. The Baseball Sociologist
38. One Strike Away…Twice!
39. Rox Addict
40. This is a very simple game…
41. Balls and Strikes
42. Prospects2Pros
43. The Rays Rant
44. The Best MLBlog
45. Dedicado al Baseball
46. Reds Country
47. Hoppers Fan
48. Women Who Love Cardinals Baseball
49. MetsProspects.Com
50. The Angels’ Ace

From L.A. Filipno Dodger fans, may our sun always shine brightly….

Dre’s Post Season Bits

Now this is how one should spend time with his best friend

Now that’s what I call quality time with my best pal. Gonna be doing a lot of that in the following Saturday’s and Sunday’s to come between the 49ERS and UCLA. So who are your football teams ?

From The Twitter Feeds

Thank u 2 all my fans showing me mad love 2day. Surgery went well 2day and I'm ready 2 start this process of getting back! #GrindTime

— Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) October 22, 2013

Though we made it this far you’re presence was still missed out there in the NLCS. We can only hope that you can avoid any more serious injuries next year and that you’ll be patrolling the field deep into October 2014 !

It is with a heavy heart to say that I will not be returning to the LA Dodgers in order to pursue other opportunities within my career.

— Sue Falsone (@suefalsone) October 22, 2013

It was rumored earlier that Sue Falsone, the first female head athletic trainer in professional sports, would no longer be the trainer of the Dodgers and has been confirmed through her twitter account. So to Sue Falsone, best of luck to you pursuing other opportunities

Watching Puig tonight reminded me of Kobe's three air balls in Utah as a rookie. It's how he responds that will matter

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 19, 2013

Funny she should bring this up because I brought this up to a friend of mine as well, in which his response was ” All future stars have to mature before they shine bright like a diamond….” @JBThirty2 . I’m confident that Puig, like Kobe, will have many more chances to shine in the spotlight.

Mattingly & Colletti press conference quickly got awkward. Hear some audio from it #Dodgers http://t.co/8DVsQ8qp9r pic.twitter.com/VxpnhNwLUE

— DodgersBeat (@DodgersBeat) October 22, 2013

As i’m sure all of you know by now, it is now out there that Don Mattingly’s status as manager for 2014 is up in limbo. Just one week after being assured of his job security, Mattingly and Colletti apparently are not on the same page as to whether Mattingly will be back beyond 2014, Don saying he does not want to be a ” lame duck ” manager. We can only wonder if some of Don’s questionable play calling in both the NLDS and especially the NLCS have a major role in this. When you think about it, this really is no different from a players final year of a contract. In other words, we can only wait and see based on how far the Dodgers go in 2014, that is, if Mattingly want’s to be around for the ride. ( From the look on his face Donny don’t seem to enthused about coming back )

The 109th World Series

Personally, I really don’t care to want to watch. Yes, this is the Dodger fan in me that’s talking, not the baseball fan. Yes, this Dodger fan is still hurt, as I have been 3 of the last 6 seasons now come October. But hey, life goes on, right ? And so does the World Series between the NL Champs , St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals arrived to The Fall Classic after playing 5 tight games then knocking out Kershaw and our Boys in Blue in 6. The Red Sox arrived in all different phases, especially with the help of 2 huge grand-slams one by Big Papi in Game 2 of the ALCS that may have turned momentum of the series around, and the game winning grand slam in Game 6 by Shane Victorino ( Where was that clutch hitting in Dodger Blue last year Shane ? Yeah, i’m bitter !!!! ) The Red Sox boast a veteran roster particularly within their starting rotation while the Cardinals boasts some live young arms especially with the rookie Michael Wacha. Just like in their respective LCS’s, the series will come down to clutch hitting, something these two did very well in punching their tickets to this years Fall Classic. Dre’s Pick Cardinals in 6 MVP Matt Holliday