PHOENIX -- Like the grapes in his Napa vineyard, pitcher Joe Blanton went dormant, only to reawaken as a surprising new varietal.
Ineffective with the Angels in 2013, released the next spring and foundering in the Minor Leagues for Oakland, he retired to seemingly end a career that included a couple of nondescript months with the Dodgers in 2012.
But after sitting out most of 2014, he got the pitching itch and was reinvented last year as an effective reliever.
Which brings him back to the Dodgers, playing this spring for a manager who also doubles as a Napa vintner -- a trendy diversion for ballplayers past and present when you consider that Blanton's celebrity winemaker, Thomas Rivers Brown, is also winemaker for (Tom) Seaver Vineyards.