“42” producer Thomas Tull, right, with Cal Ripken. (baseballhall.org)
The National Baseball Hall of Fame won’t induct any new members this year, but its annual Awards Presentation will have a Dodgers theme.
On July 27 in Cooperstown, the Museum will pay tribute to Legendary Pictures founder and CEO Thomas Tull and his soon-to-be-released film “42”, which documents and pays homage to Brooklyn Dodgers great Jackie Robinson. The film will be released nationwide on Friday, April 12, just in advance of baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day on April 15.
The Museum will also recognize former Dodgers team physician Frank Jobe for the development of Tommy John surgery, a now-common elbow ligament replacement procedure. John, the former Dodgers pitcher who won 288 games in his 26-year major league career, will join Dr. Jobe for the special recognition.
I attended a special screening of “42” last week and it seemed to be well-received by both the media and the Dodgers players and execs in attendance. I’m guessing it won’t be seen as a flop three months after its release.
Some bullet points for a Friday morning:
• In San Francisco, a Dodgers hat has become a symbol of political protest for a string quartet. From SFappeal.com:
The musicians [members of the San Francisco Symphony] are unhappy with the management’s latest proposal, which would include a pay freeze for the first year of a new agreement and small increases in following years, said David Gaudry, who plays viola and is the chairman of the musicians’ negotiating committee. “We’re losing ground to our better-paid peers,” Gaudry said, noting that the Los Angeles Philharmonic pays its musicians about $7,500 more annually, which was why the quartet wore Dodgers hats during today’s performance.
• SBNation’s Grant Brisbee believes that Masahiro Tanaka “is still probably the best international pitching prospect in the world.” Get yer advance scouting on, Dodgers fans. Tanaka is pitching for Japan in the World Baseball Classic and has a 2.57 ERA in seven games.
• FanGraphs scouts a stacked Pac-12.
• Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are voice actors, and the Dodgers have a new scout who considers Los Angeles “to be the worst place on the face of the Earth.” All that and more on this week’s episode of “The Cleveland Show.”
• An important question: Who hit the most home runs during the reign of each Pope?
• Another fantastic mix by Tycho:
