What began as a fantastic mound duel between Brad Penny and Jake Peavey went so late last night, had the Friars not broken through against LA’s Brett Tomko in the top of the 12th, new San Diego acquisition Milton Bradley might’ve had to make his pitching debut. Instead, Trevor Hoffman picked up his 23rd save, and the Dodgers’ Bad Lieutenant (0 for 4 last night) is left to ponder his latest act of altruism towards women’s athletics. From the Daily Breeze’s Andrew Simon (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
Emily Winkel works as a preschool teacher at Cedar Montessori School in Glendale.
But Saturday, the 30-year-old from Pasadena was the one being taught ” by current and former Dodgers and other guests at the third annual Dodgers Women’s Initiative and Network (WIN) baseball clinic at Dodger Stadiu
After pitcher Randy Wolf and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt provided instruction on how to grip the ball and deliver it properly, Suzette Van Bylevelt, 40, went into a full windup and delivered her pitches with some velocity toward the strike zone target that had been set up.
“I always wanted to (pitch), but when I was growing up, girls just did not do that, said van Bylevelt, who watches all of the Dodgers games on television. “It’s the first time I’ve ever pitched, but I used to be a tennis player, so I have some sort of talent. It’s fun.”
The participants were not the only ones who seemed thrilled to be out there. Second baseman Jeff Kent (above), not usually known for his personality, showed quite a bit of it when he addressed the group before instruction began.
Saving the on-field talk for later, Kent launched into a discussion of how disgusting dugouts are, with players spitting all kinds of thing onto the ground. He then proceeded to toss bags of sunflower seeds into the crowd and teach the women how to chew the seeds properly.
“We try during this period to inject some fun and allow them to get an understanding of what we do, and eating sunflower seeds and spitting them is part of what we do,” said Kent afterward.
During the instruction period, Kent continued to speak his mind on a variety of subjects while helping out director of medical services Stan Conte and strength and conditioning coach Doug Jarrow at the strength and conditioning station. With the group sitting on the grass around him and stretching, Kent happily answered questions about bat dimensions, cheating in baseball and the challenges of maintaining proper nutrition.
At the risk of telling Mr. Simon how to do his job, I’m sure fans of both sexes could benefit from Dangle’s deep thoughts on the matter of cheating in baseball.