Monthly Archives: August 2019

A sign of the (L.A.) Times: How 50 years ago, The Baseball Encyclopedia arrived at six pounds, some 2,300 pages, and a statistical revolution was born

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By Tom Hoffarth
The summer of ’69 had its lunar steps and its “Bad Moon Rising” at Woodstock.
With all that, David Neft, the first editor in chief of The Baseball Encyclopedia, is over the moon to be here today at age 82 and witness the marking of the publication’s 50th anniversary milestone.
As he says in our latest L.A. Times piece: “I realized two things from the start — one, I better damn well get it right, and two, whatever else I did professionally in my life, I figured that 50 years later, when I’m dead and buried, if anyone remembers me for anything, it’ll be for this book.”
We’re thankful to have made it out to San Diego for the annual SABR convention and see all the attention given to Neft and his project, as we are for the time Neft gave us to explain more about how it came about.

In addition to all we got into the story by way of notes, quotes and anecdotes, we offer even more tidbits: Read more

LET’S (LONG BEACH) POST IT: PATRICK CANTLAY AND THE $15 MILLION PURSUIT

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By Tom Hoffarth

For those accountants keeping track of Patrick Cantlay’s spreadsheets, the Long Beach native made $487,000 this past weekend in Atlanta at the PGA Tour Championship, a tie for 21st place in a 30-man field. The 27-year-old opened with an even-par 70 in the first round to keep his pre-weighted eight-shot advantage into a fifth-place positioning. Three more rounds of 71, 75 and 73 during rain delays eventually pushed him down behind the eventual winner Rory McIlroy, who had the $15 million take-home for winning the FedEx Cup playoff format.
Going into the event, we caught up with Cantlay to get his feel on how those at the Virginia Country Club in Long Beach were in his corner and where his heart and mind was centered, also based on observations by his coach, Jamie Mulligan. It’s here and posted on the Long Beach Post website.

The Return: Rocky Bleier, Vietnam, and a doc worthy of Oscar consideration

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This is an extended piece from an item in the Aug. 19 edition of the Los Angeles Times:

By Tom Hoffarth

Producer Jon Fish said he got a call about a month ago from ESPN execs to see if he could possibly speed up the editing process of his “SC Featured” documentary called “The Return,” based on former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and Army veteran Rocky Bleier agreeing to come revisit the Vietnam site where he was injured and earned a Purple Heart.

The network wanted to see if the piece could be entered into the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival last month. Fish obliged with a rough cut for the organization, without really knowing the ramifications.

Surprise: The festival not only requested a final version, but the 27-minute piece won Best Documentary. Read more

A SIGN OF THE TIMES: THE DODGERS, YOUTUBE, VIDEO STREAMING … START SCREAMING

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By Tom Hoffarth
The premise started rather simple in what ended up as this week’s version of the L.A. Times sports media column:
A) YouTube does a swell job at streaming free MLB games.
Which reminds us …
B) The Angels stream their Fox Sports West games on the Fox Go App.
But …
C) The Dodgers do not stream SportsNet L.A. games on the Spectrum App. Even if you subscribe to a service that gets SNLA.
That’s kinda strange, isn’t it?
D) Would the Dodgers considering taking the channel they actually own and making it available for streaming, a service that more in the younger demographic are comfortable with, and even those older can learn how to use via this YouTube template?
The Dodgers declined to comment, and Charter/Spectrum, which is in charge of the distribution, dismissed it. Read more

A SIGN OF THE (L.A.) TIMES: WHAT DAN FOUTS LEARNED FROM HIS FATHER, BOB, TO SHARPEN HIS BROADCAST SKILLS FOR CHARGERS, CBS

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By Tom Hoffarth
Dan Fouts spend last weekend in Canton, Ohio, for the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies, which included the usual group photo op (above).
His week ahead includes flying from his home in central Oregon to visit the Chargers’ Costa Mesa practice facility Tuesday, then joining the TV broadcast booth in Arizona on Thursday night as the team opens its exhibition season.
Friday morning, the former San Diego Chargers great and a color commentator on CBS NFL broadcasts will head to San Francisco. It’s time to say goodbye to his father during a funeral at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.
Bob Fouts died July July 9 at 97. The elder Fouts had logged two decades calling San Francisco 49ers TV and radio games when the team joined the NFL in 1950 and was a legendary Bay Area broadcaster whose work included college basketball, the NBA and local TV sportscasts.
What Dan Fouts learned from Bob Fouts does deep in the DNA for broadcasting, play-by-play or analysis. Here’s our weekly L.A. Times sports media piece, taking to Dan Fouts after his return from the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Canton, Ohio.