I thought we got rid of Grady Little this past offseason for the obvious reasons.
1. Batting Juan Pierre in the two hole nearly every day. If he's going to be in the lineup there is no reason to have him batting 2nd and not first or eigth. But, like expressed many times here before, Juan Pierre just shouldn't be playing period. Especially at the expence of quality at bats from Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Conclusion: NO JUAN PIERRE!
2. The Lineup. Last years linup was about as consistent as something that really isn't consistent. (I fail to find something obviously inconsistent other than the Dodgers lineup... do the work yourself) Other than Furcaal batting leadoff and Kemp batting third, who else has a spot in the lineup where they have batted there more than just a handfull of games? Kent in the cleanup spot? And he should likely be batting 5th or 6th.
Conclusion:
Furcal (Injured)
Ethier
Kemp
Loney
Kent
Dewitt
Martin
Jones
p
alt:
Martin
Ethier
Kemp
Loney
Kent
Dewitt
Jones
SS
P
3. Torre and Grady are notoriously bad at using the pitching staff wisely. No surprise there.
4. When do we consider bringing up the young talent? Andy Laroche? Hello? The kid is on fire in AAA and no doubt Dewitt should be starting at third but maybe there is a situation where Laroche can play 2nd or short while Kent and Furcal "rest". This is a continuous problem that the Dodgers have had for a few years now. Calling up the youth to give them an actual shot at showing what they can prove. This is a Ned Colletti snafu.
5. Where is Clayton Kershaw? (see #4)
6. I hate Bill Plaschke!
In Conclusion Joe Torre has proven so far that he is going to shuffle the lineup until he feels confortable with what they are doing. I'd rather the team and players start to feel confortable with what is going on , but Joe... as long as you are confortable, that's all that matters. Tonights lineup:
Pierre, LF
Jones, CF
Kemp, RF
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Lowe
great!
not...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Tubbo
Dodgers' Jones isn't feeling weight of the world
Dodgers' $36.2-million free-agent signee is homer-less and, with a .105 average, isn't hitting even half his weight. But he doesn't appear worried, or even bothered.
April 13 2008
Talked to the Dodgers' Andruw Jones before Saturday night's game, and he whiffed again.
I wanted to know if the tubbo thought he could maybe hit his weight at some point this season. Calling the guy "tubbo" may not be best for him. But he is fat...
He said he's not fat and doing just fine, apparently envisioning himself as some sort of supermodel and weighing in with a .105 batting average. It is disturbing that Jones is in such denial. His weight is slowing him down a lot. He can't catch up to a 90 MPH fasatball and he can't stop swinging at offspeed junk outside the plate.
He said he's 240 pounds, and I said no way, and so he said, "Do you want me to go weigh myself?"
I said, "Yes, I do," and he said the scale was off limits to the media because as you know the Dodgers get their jollies making most areas around here off limits to people.
"Let's go," I said while leading him to the scale, and he checked in at 248 pounds. "My shoes are on," he said, sounding more like my wife than the Dodgers' center fielder. FAT!
I suggested a diet contest benefiting Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA since I would like to drop a ton before a special event in June, but Jones wanted no part of it.
"You're hilarious," he said. "I don't have to prove really nothing." You don't have to prove nothing, but sure as better hell earn that 18 million tubbo.
I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years.
General Manager Ned Colletti said Jones' best weight is somewhere between 235 and 240. Colletti also said Jason Schmidt would help the Dodgers. Fat chance! Schmidt is done.
Manager Joe Torre, a former tubbo who dropped 20 pounds as a player and then went on to hit .325 and .363, said he could talk until blue in the face, but if Jones isn't buying it, it's not going to make a difference.
The Dodgers, though, have paid Torre to make a difference.
Jones said it doesn't matter what Torre thinks, and I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years. I'm beginning to not like Andruw Jones.
"That's their problem whatever they think; I have no problem with my weight," the tubbo said.
Maybe it's a problem and maybe it's not, I said, but when you come to a team, struggle and look like a player who just didn't care enough to be in shape when the season begins, it upsets fans.
"That's part of life," he said. "Good players get booed. Look at A-Rod." Oh Arod, the guy who hit 54 home runs last year and batted 314 with 156 RBI's and makes 12 million more than you. Dude when you get anywhere near that close you can put yourself up there, but the closest you've ever been is the left leg of AROD when he is peeing on you.
The tubbo should ever look that good in a uniform.
The fans in Dodger Stadium, catching the tubbo's act for only the fourth time at home in a Dodgers uniform, booed Jones on Friday night after another wretched performance.
They even booed him in pregame introductions Saturday night, and with runners on first and third in the first, he struck out -- the fans letting him have it again. Rightfully so!
In the third, with runners on first and second, he walked, a Dodgers highlight so far this season.
"I don't have to tell fans nothing," he said, and he certainly knows how to sell those Andruw Jones jerseys. "If they want to support me, fine; if they don't want to support me, that's their choice. I can't worry about what other people say. They're not God. And neither are you! You better start taking notice not about what we say but about what you do. Have you noticed that it's what you do that determines what we say to you?
"You get paid for what you do."
Well then, you seem to be terribly overpaid at the current time, I said.
Jones hit .222 last season, and the Dodgers gave him $36.2 million. What would they have paid him had he hit his weight?
"It's not the first time in my life I've struggled," said Jones, who struck out 51 times in the Braves' first 41 games last season.
I told him I had to admit he was improving, striking out 11 times in the first 10 games -- at that pace striking out only 45 times in 41 games.
"I'm not going to hit 27 home runs in April," he said.
"How about one?" I suggested.
Jones had four hits and the same slugging percentage as Juan Pierre before Saturday's game, then went 0 for 3 and struck out again. The extra weight and the smirk that always seems plastered across his face, while charming, make it seem at times that he just doesn't care.
"Do I have to be sad all the time?" he said. "My mom is still living, my dad is still living, and my mom thinks I'm fine and that's what matters.
"If I didn't care then why have I played more games than any other active player since 1997?" he said, maybe for the first time showing a little life. "We'll see when the season is over in September or August."
I had no idea the Dodgers' season might be over as early as August, but the way he's swinging the bat, it makes sense.
TORRE IS new on the job, so trying to help, I told him he's got it all wrong so far, playing Pierre when Matt Kemp should be in the lineup every game.
"We need to get Andruw started," he began, explaining why he has Jones in the every-day lineup.
If that's the case, until Jones hits one out of the park, that's another reason to put Kemp's power into the lineup.
"I can't concern myself with power right now," he said. "We need to generate some offense, and have to start small."
So that's why he's going with the shrimp over Kemp.
THE AUTOGRAPH situation is better at Dodger Stadium, but not much. The team is still not allowing anyone without a ticket into the field-level box seats, lining up all those who want an autograph in aisle 27 -- the line extending all the way to the concourse.
Field box-seat holders had complained about the autograph crunch, although at 6:12 p.m., with batting practice all but over for the Padres, only 28 people were sitting in the field boxes behind home plate, first and third bases. At 5:30, with the Dodgers taking batting practice, there were nine rich people in their seats.
Torre stopped to sign some autographs for the aisle 27 line, but when the Dodgers completed warmups, every player, including Schmidt who isn't doing much these days, walked by the youngsters as if they didn't notice a single one of them standing there.
Later, the Dodgers brought out Andy LaRoche, who is not eligible to play because of a broken right thumb, and had him sign for everyone who wanted an autograph -- with his right hand.
The Dentist, the team's new PR guy, was there from start to finish and was working to make everything work for the fans, but without the active players' cooperation, he better hope they never add LaRoche to the roster.
Good article TJ. Way to ask the tough questions and give us Dodgers fans the news.
Dodgers' $36.2-million free-agent signee is homer-less and, with a .105 average, isn't hitting even half his weight. But he doesn't appear worried, or even bothered.
April 13 2008
Talked to the Dodgers' Andruw Jones before Saturday night's game, and he whiffed again.
I wanted to know if the tubbo thought he could maybe hit his weight at some point this season. Calling the guy "tubbo" may not be best for him. But he is fat...
He said he's not fat and doing just fine, apparently envisioning himself as some sort of supermodel and weighing in with a .105 batting average. It is disturbing that Jones is in such denial. His weight is slowing him down a lot. He can't catch up to a 90 MPH fasatball and he can't stop swinging at offspeed junk outside the plate.
He said he's 240 pounds, and I said no way, and so he said, "Do you want me to go weigh myself?"
I said, "Yes, I do," and he said the scale was off limits to the media because as you know the Dodgers get their jollies making most areas around here off limits to people.
"Let's go," I said while leading him to the scale, and he checked in at 248 pounds. "My shoes are on," he said, sounding more like my wife than the Dodgers' center fielder. FAT!
I suggested a diet contest benefiting Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA since I would like to drop a ton before a special event in June, but Jones wanted no part of it.
"You're hilarious," he said. "I don't have to prove really nothing." You don't have to prove nothing, but sure as better hell earn that 18 million tubbo.
I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years.
General Manager Ned Colletti said Jones' best weight is somewhere between 235 and 240. Colletti also said Jason Schmidt would help the Dodgers. Fat chance! Schmidt is done.
Manager Joe Torre, a former tubbo who dropped 20 pounds as a player and then went on to hit .325 and .363, said he could talk until blue in the face, but if Jones isn't buying it, it's not going to make a difference.
The Dodgers, though, have paid Torre to make a difference.
Jones said it doesn't matter what Torre thinks, and I guess that's what happens when a team agrees to pay you $36.2 million over two years. I'm beginning to not like Andruw Jones.
"That's their problem whatever they think; I have no problem with my weight," the tubbo said.
Maybe it's a problem and maybe it's not, I said, but when you come to a team, struggle and look like a player who just didn't care enough to be in shape when the season begins, it upsets fans.
"That's part of life," he said. "Good players get booed. Look at A-Rod." Oh Arod, the guy who hit 54 home runs last year and batted 314 with 156 RBI's and makes 12 million more than you. Dude when you get anywhere near that close you can put yourself up there, but the closest you've ever been is the left leg of AROD when he is peeing on you.
The tubbo should ever look that good in a uniform.
The fans in Dodger Stadium, catching the tubbo's act for only the fourth time at home in a Dodgers uniform, booed Jones on Friday night after another wretched performance.
They even booed him in pregame introductions Saturday night, and with runners on first and third in the first, he struck out -- the fans letting him have it again. Rightfully so!
In the third, with runners on first and second, he walked, a Dodgers highlight so far this season.
"I don't have to tell fans nothing," he said, and he certainly knows how to sell those Andruw Jones jerseys. "If they want to support me, fine; if they don't want to support me, that's their choice. I can't worry about what other people say. They're not God. And neither are you! You better start taking notice not about what we say but about what you do. Have you noticed that it's what you do that determines what we say to you?
"You get paid for what you do."
Well then, you seem to be terribly overpaid at the current time, I said.
Jones hit .222 last season, and the Dodgers gave him $36.2 million. What would they have paid him had he hit his weight?
"It's not the first time in my life I've struggled," said Jones, who struck out 51 times in the Braves' first 41 games last season.
I told him I had to admit he was improving, striking out 11 times in the first 10 games -- at that pace striking out only 45 times in 41 games.
"I'm not going to hit 27 home runs in April," he said.
"How about one?" I suggested.
Jones had four hits and the same slugging percentage as Juan Pierre before Saturday's game, then went 0 for 3 and struck out again. The extra weight and the smirk that always seems plastered across his face, while charming, make it seem at times that he just doesn't care.
"Do I have to be sad all the time?" he said. "My mom is still living, my dad is still living, and my mom thinks I'm fine and that's what matters.
"If I didn't care then why have I played more games than any other active player since 1997?" he said, maybe for the first time showing a little life. "We'll see when the season is over in September or August."
I had no idea the Dodgers' season might be over as early as August, but the way he's swinging the bat, it makes sense.
TORRE IS new on the job, so trying to help, I told him he's got it all wrong so far, playing Pierre when Matt Kemp should be in the lineup every game.
"We need to get Andruw started," he began, explaining why he has Jones in the every-day lineup.
If that's the case, until Jones hits one out of the park, that's another reason to put Kemp's power into the lineup.
"I can't concern myself with power right now," he said. "We need to generate some offense, and have to start small."
So that's why he's going with the shrimp over Kemp.
THE AUTOGRAPH situation is better at Dodger Stadium, but not much. The team is still not allowing anyone without a ticket into the field-level box seats, lining up all those who want an autograph in aisle 27 -- the line extending all the way to the concourse.
Field box-seat holders had complained about the autograph crunch, although at 6:12 p.m., with batting practice all but over for the Padres, only 28 people were sitting in the field boxes behind home plate, first and third bases. At 5:30, with the Dodgers taking batting practice, there were nine rich people in their seats.
Torre stopped to sign some autographs for the aisle 27 line, but when the Dodgers completed warmups, every player, including Schmidt who isn't doing much these days, walked by the youngsters as if they didn't notice a single one of them standing there.
Later, the Dodgers brought out Andy LaRoche, who is not eligible to play because of a broken right thumb, and had him sign for everyone who wanted an autograph -- with his right hand.
The Dentist, the team's new PR guy, was there from start to finish and was working to make everything work for the fans, but without the active players' cooperation, he better hope they never add LaRoche to the roster.
Good article TJ. Way to ask the tough questions and give us Dodgers fans the news.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Blaschke! ( the noice I make when I sneeze and puke at the same time)
In an effort that would make me vomit cheese doodles out my nose, Plaschke is at it again and he produced this.
Bill Plaschke:
Past becomes a present to Dodgers fans
A surprise pregame ceremony that had past players assume their old positions at Dodger Stadium becomes long moments of 'Look at that.' The McCourts hit a home run with this one.
April 1 2008
No. 50 started with No. 4. He likely means Dodgers stadium here. 50 years ago the Dodgers moved to LA and in their 4th year they finally moved into their new home at Chaves Ravine: Dodger Stadium. But the way he writes it can mean a number of things, especially if you continue reading. Is he talking about Brent Cookson (#50) or Bell Brand (#4). After racking my brain to try and understand the logic I had read half the article and missed just about everything that actually happened...
He appeared from behind a blue outfield wall, walked carefully across the deep green grass, startled huge cheers from a stunned Dodger Stadium crowd. Here we go...
Then, halfway to second base, he stopped, and so did our hearts.
Duke Snider had returned to center field. At the moment I'd take him over Pierre.
Fifty years after they arrived, the Dodgers are returning to Los Angeles. But they never left. How can they be returning if they never left?
From the dark Coliseum to the sunny Chavez Ravine, the milestone is being celebrated as a cornerstone, the Dodgers reminding us who they are, reminding us who we are. Because out of the blue I had to be given an identity card from a Dodgers security gaurd last week to remember who I was.
At Monday's opening day, Los Angeles was 56,000 Dodgers lovers with peanuts in their throats and Cracker Jack in their memories. Was someone choking? Peanuts in the throat sounds kinda dangerous. You gotta be old to remember cracker jack sold at the park!
During a surprising pregame ceremony, the field breathed Dodgers history, exhaling the sweetness of old stars, the smoothness of recent heroes, the shout that was Fernando, the whisper that was Sandy. Shouting, Whispering, again... It seems like all dodger fans do is whisper.
Who ever thought the McCourts could be so McCool? McThis Mctype Mcof Mcwriting Mcis Mcbeyond Mcold.
"This was way beyond cool," said former pitcher Jerry Reuss, an honoree. "You take cool, then go a step beyond, then a step beyond. This was something for which they have not yet invented a word." Plaschke invented it: McCool.
This was a 15-minute production that began with Snider walking alone to center field wearing a Brooklyn jersey. It continued with 40 other mostly uniformed former Dodgers stars appearing one by one from different parts of the outfield fence to man their old positions.
From left field marched Don Newcombe, the Dodgers' last remaining living link to Jackie Robinson. What about Scullie?
From right field ran Steve Sax, the Dodgers' last world champion second baseman.
From left field walked Maury Wills, the Dodgers' inventor of the stolen base. Because before Wills no one had ever stolen a base before.
From right field sprinted Steve Finley, whose division-title-clinching grand slam is still rattling around out there somewhere. This is cheap crap. Why would Finley be there? He played all of 3 months with us!
On and on the parade went, each name more surprising than the next, each figure accompanied only by the solemn announcement of his name and the tinkling of music from a "Field of Dreams" medley.
"With just Duke walking out in the beginning, fans weren't sure what was happening," Reuss said. "Then when they saw players coming from everywhere, when they realized what it was, it became surreal." See, the quotes are good. It's just the fictional writing that is crap.
Here was Bill Russell, making his first appearance on this field since his managerial firing a decade ago, running out to huge overdue applause deserved by one who has played more Los Angeles Dodgers games than anyone.
There was Eric Karros, the classy link from the past to the present, running out to the sort of applause that was often missing in those years. The applause for Karros lasted 24 minutes, because that's how long it took him to run to first.
They cheered Jimmy Campanis, and you wondered if they weren't also cheering the memory of his father. cheese doodles.
They cheered Don Miles, and he played in only eight games for those 1958 Dodgers -- only eight games in his career -- and you wondered how they knew? They didn't. they likely didn't even recognize him.
"I can just imagine what it was like in the stands," Reuss said. "There were grandfathers probably telling their sons about players they remember, and then those sons turning to their sons and talking about different players."
It was long moments of "Look at that!" and "Is that him?" and "Wow." Old typical Plaschke... putting words in out mouths. No doubt there were fans ooing and aahhing, why can't he put in a few quotes from the fans then?
Then, finally, it was the closing stretch of royalty, beginning with Fernando Valenzuela stepping from the dugout, one of the only two players who did not wear a uniform, of course not, he would never wear anything old, right? This doesn't make sense. 1) Fernando likely has to call the game on the radio for the spanish version and he didn't want to change clothes multiple times today. Not that the other players didn't, but to say that Fernando didn't wear it because it was "old" is just a bad speculation.
His cheers rattled the building, echoing into the entrance of another man from the left-field bullpen, Tom Lasorda, and you knew he was wearing a uniform because he never takes it off. I gotta admit, Tommy looks funny in a Uni. Kinda like an Oompa Loompa.
By now, everyone was standing, folks hooting and stomping and struggling to keep their composure. Stomping? Yeah, I usually stomp when I feel like I'm about to cry.
"And here came Sandy," said Manager Joe Torre.
Indeed, here came the cleanup pitcher (Cleanup pitcher? dominant, overpowering, masterful would have all been good words there, but cleanup pitcher... not. ), the final memory, Sandy Koufax, the only other player not wearing a uniform, as if anyone cared.
Koufax has been on this field maybe once in the last 25 years, he's so private, yet he came today because the owners asked, and he understood.
Once he stepped to the mound, the cheers still reaching to the center field hills, the current Dodgers players filed out of the dugout to show their own special appreciation by greeting their ancestors.
"It gave me goose bumps," Matt Kemp said.
The original idea was for Koufax to then end the ceremony by throwing out the first pitch, but, typically Sandy, he didn't want to do it alone, so he was joined by Carl Erskine and Newcombe.
Nobody was swinging, of course, but on that pitch, a home run was hit by the McCourts, who have proved to be worthy caretakers of the Dodgers culture. I'm surprised Plaschke can get anything done when he has Frank McCourts penis in his mouth.
They have rediscovered what the Fox Corp. had lost. They are rebuilding the glorious memories that years of chaotic behavior had eroded. It was because of McCourt that we didn't sign Vlad right?
When it comes to Dodgers history, the owners get it, they really get it. first lets fire everyone! Then hire a bunch or ex gnats.
The only Dodgers legend who was available but missing from Monday's ceremony was the ever-humble Vin Scully, who preferred to watch it from his broadcast booth, speaking only to announce that ceremonial first pitch.
Appropriately, the mere sound of his voice over the loudspeaker may have elicited the biggest cheers of the day.
"This was about connecting the last 50 years to the next 50 years," Jamie McCourt said. "The players today, their time has never passed, it will never pass. For Dodgers fans, three hours of a game is a lifetime of memories, and we want to celebrate that."
The creative force behind the pregame ceremony was the Dodgers' new chief marketing officer, an eternally bubbly guy named Charles Steinberg who has other surprises planned.
"Today, we were hoping to inaugurate a season in which families can bond with each other over their love of the Dodgers," he said.
Mission accomplished. While Plaschke is a horrible writer and even worse in his delivery, the idea to present something to the fans like this is a great gesture. My family and I have a special bond that no matter what is going on we can always talk dodger baseball.
Even the opposing San Francisco Giants did their part Monday, showing up as perhaps the worst team to play here in 50 years, barely making a peep in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers and Brad Penny. Good one! Finally Bill has said something right.
But this wasn't about the game. This was about the culture. Lets play the season and think about the culture... and win every game from here on out.
This was about a nameplate over a locker next to Penny's in the Dodgers clubhouse.
"Tom Lasorda," it reads.
Penny hangs out with Lasorda so much, he insisted the former manager have his own locker, and so he does.
He wants him close. We want all those living memories close, don't we?
On this most splendid of Dodgers birthdays, they never felt closer. Stomp, stomp, stomp...
Bill Plaschke:
Past becomes a present to Dodgers fans
A surprise pregame ceremony that had past players assume their old positions at Dodger Stadium becomes long moments of 'Look at that.' The McCourts hit a home run with this one.
April 1 2008
No. 50 started with No. 4. He likely means Dodgers stadium here. 50 years ago the Dodgers moved to LA and in their 4th year they finally moved into their new home at Chaves Ravine: Dodger Stadium. But the way he writes it can mean a number of things, especially if you continue reading. Is he talking about Brent Cookson (#50) or Bell Brand (#4). After racking my brain to try and understand the logic I had read half the article and missed just about everything that actually happened...
He appeared from behind a blue outfield wall, walked carefully across the deep green grass, startled huge cheers from a stunned Dodger Stadium crowd. Here we go...
Then, halfway to second base, he stopped, and so did our hearts.
Duke Snider had returned to center field. At the moment I'd take him over Pierre.
Fifty years after they arrived, the Dodgers are returning to Los Angeles. But they never left. How can they be returning if they never left?
From the dark Coliseum to the sunny Chavez Ravine, the milestone is being celebrated as a cornerstone, the Dodgers reminding us who they are, reminding us who we are. Because out of the blue I had to be given an identity card from a Dodgers security gaurd last week to remember who I was.
At Monday's opening day, Los Angeles was 56,000 Dodgers lovers with peanuts in their throats and Cracker Jack in their memories. Was someone choking? Peanuts in the throat sounds kinda dangerous. You gotta be old to remember cracker jack sold at the park!
During a surprising pregame ceremony, the field breathed Dodgers history, exhaling the sweetness of old stars, the smoothness of recent heroes, the shout that was Fernando, the whisper that was Sandy. Shouting, Whispering, again... It seems like all dodger fans do is whisper.
Who ever thought the McCourts could be so McCool? McThis Mctype Mcof Mcwriting Mcis Mcbeyond Mcold.
"This was way beyond cool," said former pitcher Jerry Reuss, an honoree. "You take cool, then go a step beyond, then a step beyond. This was something for which they have not yet invented a word." Plaschke invented it: McCool.
This was a 15-minute production that began with Snider walking alone to center field wearing a Brooklyn jersey. It continued with 40 other mostly uniformed former Dodgers stars appearing one by one from different parts of the outfield fence to man their old positions.
From left field marched Don Newcombe, the Dodgers' last remaining living link to Jackie Robinson. What about Scullie?
From right field ran Steve Sax, the Dodgers' last world champion second baseman.
From left field walked Maury Wills, the Dodgers' inventor of the stolen base. Because before Wills no one had ever stolen a base before.
From right field sprinted Steve Finley, whose division-title-clinching grand slam is still rattling around out there somewhere. This is cheap crap. Why would Finley be there? He played all of 3 months with us!
On and on the parade went, each name more surprising than the next, each figure accompanied only by the solemn announcement of his name and the tinkling of music from a "Field of Dreams" medley.
"With just Duke walking out in the beginning, fans weren't sure what was happening," Reuss said. "Then when they saw players coming from everywhere, when they realized what it was, it became surreal." See, the quotes are good. It's just the fictional writing that is crap.
Here was Bill Russell, making his first appearance on this field since his managerial firing a decade ago, running out to huge overdue applause deserved by one who has played more Los Angeles Dodgers games than anyone.
There was Eric Karros, the classy link from the past to the present, running out to the sort of applause that was often missing in those years. The applause for Karros lasted 24 minutes, because that's how long it took him to run to first.
They cheered Jimmy Campanis, and you wondered if they weren't also cheering the memory of his father. cheese doodles.
They cheered Don Miles, and he played in only eight games for those 1958 Dodgers -- only eight games in his career -- and you wondered how they knew? They didn't. they likely didn't even recognize him.
"I can just imagine what it was like in the stands," Reuss said. "There were grandfathers probably telling their sons about players they remember, and then those sons turning to their sons and talking about different players."
It was long moments of "Look at that!" and "Is that him?" and "Wow." Old typical Plaschke... putting words in out mouths. No doubt there were fans ooing and aahhing, why can't he put in a few quotes from the fans then?
Then, finally, it was the closing stretch of royalty, beginning with Fernando Valenzuela stepping from the dugout, one of the only two players who did not wear a uniform, of course not, he would never wear anything old, right? This doesn't make sense. 1) Fernando likely has to call the game on the radio for the spanish version and he didn't want to change clothes multiple times today. Not that the other players didn't, but to say that Fernando didn't wear it because it was "old" is just a bad speculation.
His cheers rattled the building, echoing into the entrance of another man from the left-field bullpen, Tom Lasorda, and you knew he was wearing a uniform because he never takes it off. I gotta admit, Tommy looks funny in a Uni. Kinda like an Oompa Loompa.
By now, everyone was standing, folks hooting and stomping and struggling to keep their composure. Stomping? Yeah, I usually stomp when I feel like I'm about to cry.
"And here came Sandy," said Manager Joe Torre.
Indeed, here came the cleanup pitcher (Cleanup pitcher? dominant, overpowering, masterful would have all been good words there, but cleanup pitcher... not. ), the final memory, Sandy Koufax, the only other player not wearing a uniform, as if anyone cared.
Koufax has been on this field maybe once in the last 25 years, he's so private, yet he came today because the owners asked, and he understood.
Once he stepped to the mound, the cheers still reaching to the center field hills, the current Dodgers players filed out of the dugout to show their own special appreciation by greeting their ancestors.
"It gave me goose bumps," Matt Kemp said.
The original idea was for Koufax to then end the ceremony by throwing out the first pitch, but, typically Sandy, he didn't want to do it alone, so he was joined by Carl Erskine and Newcombe.
Nobody was swinging, of course, but on that pitch, a home run was hit by the McCourts, who have proved to be worthy caretakers of the Dodgers culture. I'm surprised Plaschke can get anything done when he has Frank McCourts penis in his mouth.
They have rediscovered what the Fox Corp. had lost. They are rebuilding the glorious memories that years of chaotic behavior had eroded. It was because of McCourt that we didn't sign Vlad right?
When it comes to Dodgers history, the owners get it, they really get it. first lets fire everyone! Then hire a bunch or ex gnats.
The only Dodgers legend who was available but missing from Monday's ceremony was the ever-humble Vin Scully, who preferred to watch it from his broadcast booth, speaking only to announce that ceremonial first pitch.
Appropriately, the mere sound of his voice over the loudspeaker may have elicited the biggest cheers of the day.
"This was about connecting the last 50 years to the next 50 years," Jamie McCourt said. "The players today, their time has never passed, it will never pass. For Dodgers fans, three hours of a game is a lifetime of memories, and we want to celebrate that."
The creative force behind the pregame ceremony was the Dodgers' new chief marketing officer, an eternally bubbly guy named Charles Steinberg who has other surprises planned.
"Today, we were hoping to inaugurate a season in which families can bond with each other over their love of the Dodgers," he said.
Mission accomplished. While Plaschke is a horrible writer and even worse in his delivery, the idea to present something to the fans like this is a great gesture. My family and I have a special bond that no matter what is going on we can always talk dodger baseball.
Even the opposing San Francisco Giants did their part Monday, showing up as perhaps the worst team to play here in 50 years, barely making a peep in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers and Brad Penny. Good one! Finally Bill has said something right.
But this wasn't about the game. This was about the culture. Lets play the season and think about the culture... and win every game from here on out.
This was about a nameplate over a locker next to Penny's in the Dodgers clubhouse.
"Tom Lasorda," it reads.
Penny hangs out with Lasorda so much, he insisted the former manager have his own locker, and so he does.
He wants him close. We want all those living memories close, don't we?
On this most splendid of Dodgers birthdays, they never felt closer. Stomp, stomp, stomp...
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools!!!
You all know what I think of Plaschke. Just read my complaints about him below. If you can't see the obvious flaws in his thinking, writing style, or just have a hard time understanding anything about the man at all go to http://www.firejoemorgan.com/ to see what they think. Unfortunately this is no April Fools joke.
L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke top columnist, once again
Story posted on April 1, 2008
Bill Plaschke
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times won the sports column writing category for the third time in four years, highlighting final judging results announced Tuesday in the 2007 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
Plaschke has won the top columnist category back to back years and has placed in the top 10 eight of the past nine years. In the over-250,000 circulation division, Plaschke finished ahead of The Oregonian's John Canzano, followed by the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock and the Washington Post's Mike Wise. In fact, Canzano was runner-up to Plaschke last year also.
"I'm feeling equally honored and humbled," Plaschke said. "I'm also feeling very lucky...
because every day I read columnists...
in all circulation categories who are good enough to win this award...
Sportswriters are at the forefront of the fight to keep newspapers relevant...
and I'm just proud to be one of them."
First-place columnists in other divisions were: Ted Miller of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (100,000-250,000), Peter Kerasotis of Florida Today (40,000-100,000) and Mark Edwards of the Decatur (Ala.) Daily (40,000 and under).
No newspaper had two first-place winners in any category. But Bill Reiter of the Kansas City Star, in the over 250,000 category, finished first in game story, third as part of a team in projects and third as part of a team in explanatory.
How it is possible that a man that likely would be a better Romantic fiction novelist gets voted as the best sports writer comulmnist is beyond me. We can literally look back at every column Plaschke has written and, after throwing up, see all the places he was dead wrong. I'm not talking about a misprint or a spelled word wrong, he specifically wrote the opposite of either what was going to happen, what should happen, or what he thought could be happening. Even after specific events his writing style targets such a minority (women) that even if they were reading the sports section, any woman would likely view such descriptions as homo-poetic.
L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke top columnist, once again
Story posted on April 1, 2008
Bill Plaschke
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times won the sports column writing category for the third time in four years, highlighting final judging results announced Tuesday in the 2007 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
Plaschke has won the top columnist category back to back years and has placed in the top 10 eight of the past nine years. In the over-250,000 circulation division, Plaschke finished ahead of The Oregonian's John Canzano, followed by the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock and the Washington Post's Mike Wise. In fact, Canzano was runner-up to Plaschke last year also.
"I'm feeling equally honored and humbled," Plaschke said. "I'm also feeling very lucky...
because every day I read columnists...
in all circulation categories who are good enough to win this award...
Sportswriters are at the forefront of the fight to keep newspapers relevant...
and I'm just proud to be one of them."
First-place columnists in other divisions were: Ted Miller of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (100,000-250,000), Peter Kerasotis of Florida Today (40,000-100,000) and Mark Edwards of the Decatur (Ala.) Daily (40,000 and under).
No newspaper had two first-place winners in any category. But Bill Reiter of the Kansas City Star, in the over 250,000 category, finished first in game story, third as part of a team in projects and third as part of a team in explanatory.
How it is possible that a man that likely would be a better Romantic fiction novelist gets voted as the best sports writer comulmnist is beyond me. We can literally look back at every column Plaschke has written and, after throwing up, see all the places he was dead wrong. I'm not talking about a misprint or a spelled word wrong, he specifically wrote the opposite of either what was going to happen, what should happen, or what he thought could be happening. Even after specific events his writing style targets such a minority (women) that even if they were reading the sports section, any woman would likely view such descriptions as homo-poetic.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Oh! what a night.
It's debateable wether or not the Dodgers will ever trade Juan Pierre. Well, more than just debateable, it's downright lunacy if they don't! We all know his spring training numbers. Before I get to this article in which Ken Gurnick is doing his best Bill Plaschke imitation, let me tell you about last night.
LOS ANGELES -- Juan Pierre signed to be the Dodgers' everyday center fielder two winters ago. So did Nomar Garciapaara, Jason Schmidt, and Luis Gonzales. What's your point? When Andruw Jones was signed this past winter, Pierre learned that he was no longer the center fielder. The rest of LA including the current players on the Dodgers shouted for joy!
On Sunday, Pierre might learn he's no longer an everyday player, too. On Sunday? Are you telling me that he had no idea that his job may be on the line after the last 3 seasons? That he didn't know that playing badly might qualify him to be the highest paid batboy ever?!?!
"If they're going by the spring, I'll probably be sitting on the bench," said Pierre, who despite hitting .169 said he hasn't been pressing. That's comforting. Despite putting up putrid numbers that Michael Jordan could have beat, Pierre decided to take it easy. And if were only looking at the spring numbers something is wrong with the Dodgers staff. His numbers for the last 3 years have been discussed here adnauseum, and to think that all he has to do is get on base to be a starter... he doesn't even have to play good defense, or hit for power, or drive in runs, or be a good clubhouse guy.... all he has to do is get on base!!! Thankyou Juan Pierre for not being able to do anything good at all.
"It is what it is. It's a tough situation for me. I can understand being dissappointed in your play... But it really sounds like he is dissappointed that he isn't starting. Which makes no sense at all. I go out and play hard every day. But you're no good. You do realise that playing hard has nothing to do with talent right? But when you sign a five-year contract and you think you'll be in one spot and they go out and sign somebody to play your position and I certainly didn't have a horrible year. Only the worst year ever!!! I come in and everything's changed, well, it's the cards I've been dealt." Good on you to fold that crappy hand Pierre. Way to make lemonade, not out of lemons, but out of LEFT FIELD! When the Dodgers signed Jones, they backed you and said you would be the starting LF'er. No questions asked. You played your way out of a starting job.
Manager Joe Torre all spring has put off deciding who will flank Jones in the outfield among Pierre and young outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Ethier leads the club in home runs with six and is batting .365. Kemp had three hits Saturday night and is batting .307. Both have stronger throwing arms than Pierre. That's not just it. Throwing arms? That was an obvious difference between Pierre and Kemp/ Ethier. Some of the even more obvious differences is SLG, RBI, RS, OBP... just pick a stat other than steals and Kemp and Ethier blow Pierre away. Does that not spell "bench" to you?!?!
"It's a tough situation they created and put me in," batting 176 is the Dodgers fault? Look at what Bill Plaschke has started. When my brother and I were kids growing up and we'd get in trouble, what was literally the first response out of our mouths? "It's not my fault!" said Pierre. "It's one thing to move to left field, but now I don't even know if I'm going to play. And I'm at a point in my career, my game isn't diminishing. I don't know if you have checked out your stats over the last 3 years but... that's the definition of dimishing. I'm not 38 or 39 (he's 30). I'm not an old man."
Pierre, who hit .293 last year with 64 stolen bases, spent most of this Spring batting leadoff. But in recent games, Torre has dropped him to the bottom of the batting order, while Ethier and Kemp have remained in the middle of the batting order and Rafael Furcal has led off. Looks like Torre is doing what any normal, thoughtful, smart, baseball understanding, person would do.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Ken, maybe you should start the approval thing.
It's break-up season in Alaska. That doesn't mean I'm now on the market. Break-up is a time when the snow and ice starts to melt around town and makes for horrific traffic. Pot holes that were once covered in ice are now lakes of water ready to pounce on the unsuspecting motorist. Naturally my alternator went out on me and instead of taking it in to get fixed I decided to do it myself. Let me first say that I didn't get it done but not because I couldn't.
We have had a pretty consistent leaky faucet in our tub. It escaladed yesterday and I had to fix it. By the time I was done it was the 6th inning. So I thought I would tune into justin.tv or sopcast to watch the end of the game. Lets just say that it's good to know that Gamecast has updated their player. (Im watching the 86 playoff game between the yanks and sox on espn classic. I guess I never realized how bad those old uni's for the sox were. I have better looking pajamas!) Anyway, it was a dissappointing day/ night.
LOS ANGELES -- Juan Pierre signed to be the Dodgers' everyday center fielder two winters ago. So did Nomar Garciapaara, Jason Schmidt, and Luis Gonzales. What's your point? When Andruw Jones was signed this past winter, Pierre learned that he was no longer the center fielder. The rest of LA including the current players on the Dodgers shouted for joy!
On Sunday, Pierre might learn he's no longer an everyday player, too. On Sunday? Are you telling me that he had no idea that his job may be on the line after the last 3 seasons? That he didn't know that playing badly might qualify him to be the highest paid batboy ever?!?!
"If they're going by the spring, I'll probably be sitting on the bench," said Pierre, who despite hitting .169 said he hasn't been pressing. That's comforting. Despite putting up putrid numbers that Michael Jordan could have beat, Pierre decided to take it easy. And if were only looking at the spring numbers something is wrong with the Dodgers staff. His numbers for the last 3 years have been discussed here adnauseum, and to think that all he has to do is get on base to be a starter... he doesn't even have to play good defense, or hit for power, or drive in runs, or be a good clubhouse guy.... all he has to do is get on base!!! Thankyou Juan Pierre for not being able to do anything good at all.
"It is what it is. It's a tough situation for me. I can understand being dissappointed in your play... But it really sounds like he is dissappointed that he isn't starting. Which makes no sense at all. I go out and play hard every day. But you're no good. You do realise that playing hard has nothing to do with talent right? But when you sign a five-year contract and you think you'll be in one spot and they go out and sign somebody to play your position and I certainly didn't have a horrible year. Only the worst year ever!!! I come in and everything's changed, well, it's the cards I've been dealt." Good on you to fold that crappy hand Pierre. Way to make lemonade, not out of lemons, but out of LEFT FIELD! When the Dodgers signed Jones, they backed you and said you would be the starting LF'er. No questions asked. You played your way out of a starting job.
Manager Joe Torre all spring has put off deciding who will flank Jones in the outfield among Pierre and young outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Ethier leads the club in home runs with six and is batting .365. Kemp had three hits Saturday night and is batting .307. Both have stronger throwing arms than Pierre. That's not just it. Throwing arms? That was an obvious difference between Pierre and Kemp/ Ethier. Some of the even more obvious differences is SLG, RBI, RS, OBP... just pick a stat other than steals and Kemp and Ethier blow Pierre away. Does that not spell "bench" to you?!?!
"It's a tough situation they created and put me in," batting 176 is the Dodgers fault? Look at what Bill Plaschke has started. When my brother and I were kids growing up and we'd get in trouble, what was literally the first response out of our mouths? "It's not my fault!" said Pierre. "It's one thing to move to left field, but now I don't even know if I'm going to play. And I'm at a point in my career, my game isn't diminishing. I don't know if you have checked out your stats over the last 3 years but... that's the definition of dimishing. I'm not 38 or 39 (he's 30). I'm not an old man."
Pierre, who hit .293 last year with 64 stolen bases, spent most of this Spring batting leadoff. But in recent games, Torre has dropped him to the bottom of the batting order, while Ethier and Kemp have remained in the middle of the batting order and Rafael Furcal has led off. Looks like Torre is doing what any normal, thoughtful, smart, baseball understanding, person would do.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Ken, maybe you should start the approval thing.
Friday, March 28, 2008
BILL!!!
So...
Bill Plaschke hasn't written a Dodger article here for a while, so I thought I would shoot him an email why...
"We haven't heard much from you lately concerning the Dodgers. What's going on? I need some material here so I can rip on you some more. How's that Juan Pierre support club treating you?
He wrote me back!!!
"hang in there, dusto...(dusto??)...I will be a bulls-eye again next week when season opens.."
I responded with...
"Excellent!!!
There are a few guys on our blog (PSD) that support Juan Pierre. We thought you might be participating at our blog. If you didn't recognize my handle (Dusto) then you likely aren't "blogging" at PSD. Though it is possible that you are just incognito... "
I wouldn't doubt that when Andre gets the starting job he'll praise the team and difficult decision to "play the better player" without saying much about Pierre. Then he'll emotionally praise Ethier and give a huge background about the kid clawing his way through the minor leagues just to get blocked last year by Gonzo and now this year by Pierre. No doubt he'd include Andre's good looks and "heart throb" appearance and get all sappy about the kids future.
Bill Plaschke hasn't written a Dodger article here for a while, so I thought I would shoot him an email why...
"We haven't heard much from you lately concerning the Dodgers. What's going on? I need some material here so I can rip on you some more. How's that Juan Pierre support club treating you?
He wrote me back!!!
"hang in there, dusto...(dusto??)...I will be a bulls-eye again next week when season opens.."
I responded with...
"Excellent!!!
There are a few guys on our blog (PSD) that support Juan Pierre. We thought you might be participating at our blog. If you didn't recognize my handle (Dusto) then you likely aren't "blogging" at PSD. Though it is possible that you are just incognito... "
I wouldn't doubt that when Andre gets the starting job he'll praise the team and difficult decision to "play the better player" without saying much about Pierre. Then he'll emotionally praise Ethier and give a huge background about the kid clawing his way through the minor leagues just to get blocked last year by Gonzo and now this year by Pierre. No doubt he'd include Andre's good looks and "heart throb" appearance and get all sappy about the kids future.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Episode: 2
This second episode features a new challenge to the players.
A challenge many of them have likely never encountered.
A feat so difficult, the probability that some will not only go home, but go home with a right buttox inflamation is a likely possibility.
We are live on location here just outside the Right Field Pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Frank McCourt has generously donated a 35 million dollar, 6 million gallon water tank to hold today competitions. In those tanks are man eating sharks!
The players are separated into teams based on age. The over 30 group is one team. The under 30; the other group.
Our feature challenge this week is the mini-basketball/ home run derby/ swim for your life through shark infested water that has been lit on fire/ challenge.
The first portion of the challenge is difficult enough in its own right. Players have to be able to hit a mini-basketball a minimum of 100 feet while standing in a canoe.
After successfully hitting the minimum required distance of 100 feet the challenger must then swim the 360 feet circling the bases in shark infested water that has been lit on fire while dodging fastballs thrown by Clayton Kershaw!
If the player survives, he does it all over again until he is out or dead.
For every run scored, your team earns the right to vote another player "Out of the Ravine". The player with the most runs will earn a miniature of the miniature silver slugger award and IMMUNITY.
Batting leadoff for the "Old Cranky Fart Knockers", which is the over 30 group, is Juan Pierre.
Juan's small size and even smaller build should help him here to keep good balance while swinging in the canoe. It should also dispell the sharks seeing as he has no muscle or fat on his body at all. Infact I have a feeling he's missing bones in some areas. That should help him here. Bones really get in the way when you're trying to hit mini-basketballs for homeruns and swim through shark infested waters that have been lit on fire.
The real trick will be dodging those fastball by Clayton Kershaw. The young man has pinpoint accuracy and throws harder than anyone else in the game.
The great lack of power that will likely save Juan's life from the sharks will also keep him from being able to hit past the designated 100 feet.
Pitching in today's matchup is Larry Bowa.
As Juan takes his stance in the canoe, Larry tosses a mini- ball in his direction. Juan gently slaps the ball the other way and Larry immediately gets on his case.
"Hit the ball Frenchy!!! Like you mean it!!!"
As the second pitch arrives Juan swings with all his might...
and misses.
And falls in the water....
He quickly climbs back in the canoe, but not before Kershaw beans him in the groin.
Juan quickly shakes it off as that is the one bone he is missing.
Larry against shouts instruction to Juan. "Hey Frenchy! Try hitting it this time!!!", and giggles to himself.
Juan grips the bat.
Grinds his teeth.
And spits out a little bit of sea weed, and it lands on his jersey.
While he is cleaning it off, the pitch is thrown and he jumps up hit it.
The canoe rocks left...
Then right...
The momentum carries him to the ball in full force.
He connects and whails like a school girl.
Juan Dives into the water, dodging a heater from Kershaw.
Players from both teams stand in amazement as they watch the tiny Pierre avoid sharks, fastballs, and fire.
When he makes it to first base, he surfaces for air. But he must continue. No points are awarded for singles.
Down he goes, swiming past the sharks, under the fire, dodging fastballs by Kershaw.
He stops at second but just for a moment to catch his breath.
He pushes on to third, unnoticed by the sharks.
Instead of stopping at third he turns the corner and heads for home.
He stops midway between third and home to catch his breath, but only for a moment as a Clayton Kershaw fastball is aimed right at his head.
The ball connects and he panicks.
(the following events are quite graphic, viewer discression is advised)
In slow motion, mouths drop.
Russel Martin grins.
Brad Penny looks in shock.
Raffy Furcal throws both hands up in the air and laughs evily.
Andruw Jones drops all 8 hot dogs he's eating.
Juan is knocked unconscious, floating at the top of the water. His body is beginning to burn from the fire.
The sharks have heard his yelp.
They surround his lifeless body like... sharks... in a 6 million gallon pool, ready to pounce.
Juan awakes just before the first shark arrives. He begins to flail and dives under the water to put out the fire on his chest. His wounds are minor. But his fear is obvious.
He encounters the first shark with a quick slap on the nose. The shark looks perplexed and attacks.
Pierre swims for his life. To his incredible luck he is heading directly at home plate.
His paddling is quick and short, but it is no match for the shark. As he touches home plate to score a run, he is gobbled up and torn to pieces by 7 different sharks.
Furcal makes a call on his cell phone.
On the other end is Frank McCourt.
Raffy- "Hey, Frank. I have good news and bad news. Well, the bad news is that we lost today's challenge."
Frank- "Well, what's the good news?"
Raffy- "There's alot. You know that shark tank that you paid 35 million for. Well, it just paid for itself. And you no longer have to worry about trading Pierre. Turns out he was "shark bait". HAHA!!"
When the competition concluded it was apparent that the challenge may have been a bit "overboard".
The teams gather together and decide that losing Pierre was a necessary thing for the betterment of the team as a whole.
Jeff Kent secretly kisses the photo of Frenchy he keeps in his hat and says, "I'll miss you... my love"... he sniffles... snorts... and collapses.
A challenge many of them have likely never encountered.
A feat so difficult, the probability that some will not only go home, but go home with a right buttox inflamation is a likely possibility.
We are live on location here just outside the Right Field Pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Frank McCourt has generously donated a 35 million dollar, 6 million gallon water tank to hold today competitions. In those tanks are man eating sharks!
The players are separated into teams based on age. The over 30 group is one team. The under 30; the other group.
Our feature challenge this week is the mini-basketball/ home run derby/ swim for your life through shark infested water that has been lit on fire/ challenge.
The first portion of the challenge is difficult enough in its own right. Players have to be able to hit a mini-basketball a minimum of 100 feet while standing in a canoe.
After successfully hitting the minimum required distance of 100 feet the challenger must then swim the 360 feet circling the bases in shark infested water that has been lit on fire while dodging fastballs thrown by Clayton Kershaw!
If the player survives, he does it all over again until he is out or dead.
For every run scored, your team earns the right to vote another player "Out of the Ravine". The player with the most runs will earn a miniature of the miniature silver slugger award and IMMUNITY.
Batting leadoff for the "Old Cranky Fart Knockers", which is the over 30 group, is Juan Pierre.
Juan's small size and even smaller build should help him here to keep good balance while swinging in the canoe. It should also dispell the sharks seeing as he has no muscle or fat on his body at all. Infact I have a feeling he's missing bones in some areas. That should help him here. Bones really get in the way when you're trying to hit mini-basketballs for homeruns and swim through shark infested waters that have been lit on fire.
The real trick will be dodging those fastball by Clayton Kershaw. The young man has pinpoint accuracy and throws harder than anyone else in the game.
The great lack of power that will likely save Juan's life from the sharks will also keep him from being able to hit past the designated 100 feet.
Pitching in today's matchup is Larry Bowa.
As Juan takes his stance in the canoe, Larry tosses a mini- ball in his direction. Juan gently slaps the ball the other way and Larry immediately gets on his case.
"Hit the ball Frenchy!!! Like you mean it!!!"
As the second pitch arrives Juan swings with all his might...
and misses.
And falls in the water....
He quickly climbs back in the canoe, but not before Kershaw beans him in the groin.
Juan quickly shakes it off as that is the one bone he is missing.
Larry against shouts instruction to Juan. "Hey Frenchy! Try hitting it this time!!!", and giggles to himself.
Juan grips the bat.
Grinds his teeth.
And spits out a little bit of sea weed, and it lands on his jersey.
While he is cleaning it off, the pitch is thrown and he jumps up hit it.
The canoe rocks left...
Then right...
The momentum carries him to the ball in full force.
He connects and whails like a school girl.
Juan Dives into the water, dodging a heater from Kershaw.
Players from both teams stand in amazement as they watch the tiny Pierre avoid sharks, fastballs, and fire.
When he makes it to first base, he surfaces for air. But he must continue. No points are awarded for singles.
Down he goes, swiming past the sharks, under the fire, dodging fastballs by Kershaw.
He stops at second but just for a moment to catch his breath.
He pushes on to third, unnoticed by the sharks.
Instead of stopping at third he turns the corner and heads for home.
He stops midway between third and home to catch his breath, but only for a moment as a Clayton Kershaw fastball is aimed right at his head.
The ball connects and he panicks.
(the following events are quite graphic, viewer discression is advised)
In slow motion, mouths drop.
Russel Martin grins.
Brad Penny looks in shock.
Raffy Furcal throws both hands up in the air and laughs evily.
Andruw Jones drops all 8 hot dogs he's eating.
Juan is knocked unconscious, floating at the top of the water. His body is beginning to burn from the fire.
The sharks have heard his yelp.
They surround his lifeless body like... sharks... in a 6 million gallon pool, ready to pounce.
Juan awakes just before the first shark arrives. He begins to flail and dives under the water to put out the fire on his chest. His wounds are minor. But his fear is obvious.
He encounters the first shark with a quick slap on the nose. The shark looks perplexed and attacks.
Pierre swims for his life. To his incredible luck he is heading directly at home plate.
His paddling is quick and short, but it is no match for the shark. As he touches home plate to score a run, he is gobbled up and torn to pieces by 7 different sharks.
Furcal makes a call on his cell phone.
On the other end is Frank McCourt.
Raffy- "Hey, Frank. I have good news and bad news. Well, the bad news is that we lost today's challenge."
Frank- "Well, what's the good news?"
Raffy- "There's alot. You know that shark tank that you paid 35 million for. Well, it just paid for itself. And you no longer have to worry about trading Pierre. Turns out he was "shark bait". HAHA!!"
When the competition concluded it was apparent that the challenge may have been a bit "overboard".
The teams gather together and decide that losing Pierre was a necessary thing for the betterment of the team as a whole.
Jeff Kent secretly kisses the photo of Frenchy he keeps in his hat and says, "I'll miss you... my love"... he sniffles... snorts... and collapses.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Reality check.
The Dodgers currently have two players on the team that are out of options. Delwyn Young and Hong Chi Kuo. Both players have a pretty high upside and really low downside.
Delwyn obviously made an impression last year when he had something like 7 consecutive hits (I'm not exactly sure on that), but he reminds me of the impact someone with his talent can have with a bat. On the other hand, is his glove. And instead of using a glove he has a cast iron skillet glued ot his palm. The poor guy would likely have a shot a starting job if it wasn't for his turrubl defense. As a switch hitter that can absolutely rake, he isn't helping himself by batting 156 this spring. However, the club is basically forced to keep him on the roster so they don't have to face losing him to a needing team and getting nothing in return.
Kuo is a top notched talent and up until he started pitching for the Dodgers was lighting in a bottle. He was still pretty impressive but 4 elbow surgeries does not exactly spell consistent or healthy or reliable or sesquipedalian. Anyhow, it looks like he too will be on the opening day roster as a long reliever/ spot starter. A role I think better suited for Clayton Kershaw.
Could it be possible that we move both of these guys and maybe Greg Miller to the Cubs for Mark Derosa after they finally pick up Brian Roberts? Maybe a 3 way deal could be made where we give up the already mentioned players to the Orioles, the Cubs give up a few to the Orioles get Roberts.
I like Derosa because he is versitile enough to play any of the infield spots or the corner outfield spots. Maybe if we are really lucky we can throw Pierre in to ( I was going to say "sweeten", but... ) sour the pot. The cubs aren't exactly sold on Pie, but who would be sold on Pierre? That and he has 4 more years on his contract. There just is no room for a guy like him on basically any team.
Pierre isn't exactly helping himself either, by talking about playing time and his role with the team. Not to mention his turrubl play. Lets hope we can dump him and bronze the poo we get in return. Speaking of which...
Delwyn obviously made an impression last year when he had something like 7 consecutive hits (I'm not exactly sure on that), but he reminds me of the impact someone with his talent can have with a bat. On the other hand, is his glove. And instead of using a glove he has a cast iron skillet glued ot his palm. The poor guy would likely have a shot a starting job if it wasn't for his turrubl defense. As a switch hitter that can absolutely rake, he isn't helping himself by batting 156 this spring. However, the club is basically forced to keep him on the roster so they don't have to face losing him to a needing team and getting nothing in return.
Kuo is a top notched talent and up until he started pitching for the Dodgers was lighting in a bottle. He was still pretty impressive but 4 elbow surgeries does not exactly spell consistent or healthy or reliable or sesquipedalian. Anyhow, it looks like he too will be on the opening day roster as a long reliever/ spot starter. A role I think better suited for Clayton Kershaw.
Could it be possible that we move both of these guys and maybe Greg Miller to the Cubs for Mark Derosa after they finally pick up Brian Roberts? Maybe a 3 way deal could be made where we give up the already mentioned players to the Orioles, the Cubs give up a few to the Orioles get Roberts.
I like Derosa because he is versitile enough to play any of the infield spots or the corner outfield spots. Maybe if we are really lucky we can throw Pierre in to ( I was going to say "sweeten", but... ) sour the pot. The cubs aren't exactly sold on Pie, but who would be sold on Pierre? That and he has 4 more years on his contract. There just is no room for a guy like him on basically any team.
Pierre isn't exactly helping himself either, by talking about playing time and his role with the team. Not to mention his turrubl play. Lets hope we can dump him and bronze the poo we get in return. Speaking of which...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Poor guy...
Joey Gathright has this to say:
“I’m trying to pattern my game after Juan Pierre. I’m trying to become the best bunter I can be and really use that as a weapon. I think I’m getting better at it, but I know I can still improve quite a bit.”
If anyone thinks to pattern their game after Juan Pierre, think again. Ole' Slappy Mcpopup is literally one of the worst players in baseball history. Aside from his atrocious defense, lack of batting patience, and literally no power whatsoever, his speed all of a sudden becomes a useless entity. Joey Gathright, get ready for AAA.
“I’m trying to pattern my game after Juan Pierre. I’m trying to become the best bunter I can be and really use that as a weapon. I think I’m getting better at it, but I know I can still improve quite a bit.”
If anyone thinks to pattern their game after Juan Pierre, think again. Ole' Slappy Mcpopup is literally one of the worst players in baseball history. Aside from his atrocious defense, lack of batting patience, and literally no power whatsoever, his speed all of a sudden becomes a useless entity. Joey Gathright, get ready for AAA.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Dodgers "Survivor"
I was curious how the team felt about the current competition between Andre Ethier and Juan Pierre. It's obvious, even to the lay fan, that Andre is the superior player. He might not show up 6 hours early every day to work on his bunting, but at least he shows up every day. Something Pierre hasn't done for 3 years, figuratively speaking.
I wonder what Kent's opinion is now that Andre is outplaying Pierre, and has outplayed Pierre. I would like it if one of those Dodger's beat reporters would actually do some reporting for us. In the mean time we can play a little make-believe and say what we think it might be like in the Dodgers clubhouse.
Welcome to "Dodgers Survivor"!!! This weeks episode features our first "Vote and Trade" of the season. In an astonishing turn of events Juan has basically fell on his face, slapping grounders around the infield like he was Larry Bowa hitting "incessant earth scorchers" testing the infield defense. Too bad for Juan he is playing against major leaguers. However, against the girls soft ball team from his home town in Louisiana, the girls nicely curtsie and watch the ball dribble past their gloves. No wonder he got a 45 million dollar contract.
Andre Ethier on the other hand has really stepped up his game. Leading the team in basically all offensive categories and leading the league in HR, RBI's, anf OF assists. Jason Repko is also tied for the lead in RBI's with Ethier, both having 13. If Pierre gets traded today, not only will Ethier now be our starting left fielder, but Repko will take over as the 4th outfielder. A role he can manage better than Pierre and at a much cheaper rate. I'll take you to the live action, where the team is debating in their underwear, around a camp fire, surrounding home plate at Dodger Stadium.
Furcal complains about Pierre's lack of ability to 1) cover the outfield. 2) Bat behind him in the lineup.
"Man, the guy just don't know what he doin' out there! He's lost out there, picking his nose when the ball is hit to him. I usually have to play deep just to cover half the outfield for him. And don't even get me started on how many times I got thrown out at second because he tried to bunt his way on. You'all know my vote!"
Others chime in with similar comments. Kemp and Ethier both agree that if their playing time suffers because they have to give time to a scrub like Pierre... they would seriously question the direction the Dodgers front office wants the team to go.
Mark Sweeney decides to start the chant, "trade Pierre, for some hair! Trade Pierre, for some hair!"... the chant gains momentum and others pick up their bats. Around the fire they dance, swinging their bats over their heads and pounding them on the ground. Pierre wisely runs away, and in the dark tripps down the steps of the dugout.
As the chanting slows and laughter calms, Loney directs everyone to make a line infront of the voting booth.
A hidden camera captures the tabulation.
Matt Kemp writes in big bold letters "TRADE PIERRE" and slams it against the camera.
I wonder what Kent's opinion is now that Andre is outplaying Pierre, and has outplayed Pierre. I would like it if one of those Dodger's beat reporters would actually do some reporting for us. In the mean time we can play a little make-believe and say what we think it might be like in the Dodgers clubhouse.
Welcome to "Dodgers Survivor"!!! This weeks episode features our first "Vote and Trade" of the season. In an astonishing turn of events Juan has basically fell on his face, slapping grounders around the infield like he was Larry Bowa hitting "incessant earth scorchers" testing the infield defense. Too bad for Juan he is playing against major leaguers. However, against the girls soft ball team from his home town in Louisiana, the girls nicely curtsie and watch the ball dribble past their gloves. No wonder he got a 45 million dollar contract.
Andre Ethier on the other hand has really stepped up his game. Leading the team in basically all offensive categories and leading the league in HR, RBI's, anf OF assists. Jason Repko is also tied for the lead in RBI's with Ethier, both having 13. If Pierre gets traded today, not only will Ethier now be our starting left fielder, but Repko will take over as the 4th outfielder. A role he can manage better than Pierre and at a much cheaper rate. I'll take you to the live action, where the team is debating in their underwear, around a camp fire, surrounding home plate at Dodger Stadium.
Furcal complains about Pierre's lack of ability to 1) cover the outfield. 2) Bat behind him in the lineup.
"Man, the guy just don't know what he doin' out there! He's lost out there, picking his nose when the ball is hit to him. I usually have to play deep just to cover half the outfield for him. And don't even get me started on how many times I got thrown out at second because he tried to bunt his way on. You'all know my vote!"
Others chime in with similar comments. Kemp and Ethier both agree that if their playing time suffers because they have to give time to a scrub like Pierre... they would seriously question the direction the Dodgers front office wants the team to go.
Mark Sweeney decides to start the chant, "trade Pierre, for some hair! Trade Pierre, for some hair!"... the chant gains momentum and others pick up their bats. Around the fire they dance, swinging their bats over their heads and pounding them on the ground. Pierre wisely runs away, and in the dark tripps down the steps of the dugout.
As the chanting slows and laughter calms, Loney directs everyone to make a line infront of the voting booth.
A hidden camera captures the tabulation.
Matt Kemp writes in big bold letters "TRADE PIERRE" and slams it against the camera.
Russell Martin also writes that the Dodgers should trade Pierre and even makes suggestions as to which teams need a leadoff CF. "We can trade Pierre to the Reds, Cubs, Mets, A's, and even the Giants just for gitts and shiggles."
Nomar, Ethier, Penny, Saito, Loney, Jones, Furcal, and others give their vote. All in favor of trading Pierre.
Except for one...
One person decides not to vote for Pierre.
In a moment of weakness, and proabably because he didn't know the camera was there, Jeff Kent sheds a tear for Pierre as he is the only guy to vote for Slappy to stay.
Kent man's up, takes a biker magazine out of the back of his underwear, and collects himself before exiting the voting booth.
Loney opens the lock box and begins tallying the votes. He calls out "trade slappy! That's one for Pierre to be traded", and tallies it in the sand. The second is the same, as is the third and fourth.
The fifth vote however has a little bit of sticky man cream on it. Loney reads it, "I love Slappy Pierre. We need him exclamation mark, exclamation mark, exclamation mark, x o x o?". The team hushed in astonishment look one to another to find the imposter. Kent sniffles to himself quietly, and is caught by Raffy.
No one says a thing...
Moments later, Pierre is traded to the Oakland Athletics for the infamous PTBNL.
Thankyou Bluemouse for the inspiration.
Isn't it sad...
...that a blogger for the Pirates gets the Dodgers situation better than the Dodgers front office? http://www.bucsdugout.com/story/2008/3/18/14753/6976 Not that I am endorcing a Bucs Blogger to be working in out Front Office. Just maybe some food for thought?
3. Los Angeles Dodgers: They've got young talent out the wazoo, much of it major-league ready. Unfortunately, neither their GM (Ned Coletti) nor their manager (Joe Torre) inspire much confidence that the Dodgers will handle that young talent well. They're still talking about playing Juan Pierre in an outfield corner instead of Andre Ethier, which tells you most of what you need to know. And rather than just giving the third base job to prospect Andy LaRoche, the Dodgers were showing interest in veteran third baseman Brandon Inge. (LaRoche subsequently injured his thumb and will be out for another month or so.) If the Dodgers do win the division, it may look something like this: they lose 18 games in April, with Pierre and Nomar Garciaparra hitting .100 and Esteban Loaiza posting a 7.50 ERA. The Dodgers replace those guys with Ethier, LaRoche and Clayton Kershaw, and end up winning 90 games on the backs of those guys, Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley and James Loney. The Dodgers' talent is better than good enough to win the division, but I have no faith that the team's management will allow that to happen.
Too bad he doesn't realize that Laroche was probably going to start the season at third until the injury. Then they started talking about finding a replacement. I really hope the only reason they talked to the Tigers about getting Inge was to dump Pierre off on them.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers: They've got young talent out the wazoo, much of it major-league ready. Unfortunately, neither their GM (Ned Coletti) nor their manager (Joe Torre) inspire much confidence that the Dodgers will handle that young talent well. They're still talking about playing Juan Pierre in an outfield corner instead of Andre Ethier, which tells you most of what you need to know. And rather than just giving the third base job to prospect Andy LaRoche, the Dodgers were showing interest in veteran third baseman Brandon Inge. (LaRoche subsequently injured his thumb and will be out for another month or so.) If the Dodgers do win the division, it may look something like this: they lose 18 games in April, with Pierre and Nomar Garciaparra hitting .100 and Esteban Loaiza posting a 7.50 ERA. The Dodgers replace those guys with Ethier, LaRoche and Clayton Kershaw, and end up winning 90 games on the backs of those guys, Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley and James Loney. The Dodgers' talent is better than good enough to win the division, but I have no faith that the team's management will allow that to happen.
Too bad he doesn't realize that Laroche was probably going to start the season at third until the injury. Then they started talking about finding a replacement. I really hope the only reason they talked to the Tigers about getting Inge was to dump Pierre off on them.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Goofy Crazy Goofy...
So, I was up pretty late last night studying for a test today and in my delirium I came up with a trade idea. Hence the "goofy, crazy, goofy".
Send Abreu, Stults, Meloan, and Miller over to the Orioles for Brian Roberts. I wouldn't make this trade if we couldn't get rid of Slappy first.
So... send Slappy, Laroche, Elbert, Young, Kuo, Brazoban, and Orenduff over to the A's for Blanton and Chavez. We would totally empty our farm system, but whats the use in having it if you don't use it. These guy are never going to get to play because Ned is just going to keep on signing crappy vets.
Anyway, the lineup looks nice.
Furcal
Roberts
Loney
Kemp
Ethier
Jones
Kent
Martin
Next year Roberts moves over back to second and maybe Chavez is healthy again at 3rd.
The bench has
Chavez
Nomar
Repko
Bennett
Hu
ROTO looks nice too
Penny
Blanton
Bills
Kuroda
Lowe
and in the penn
Saito
BrOXton
Beimel
Proctor
Meyers
Loaiza
Schmidt
Who knows?... I don't. I'm just fishing for a way to get rid of Pierre.
Send Abreu, Stults, Meloan, and Miller over to the Orioles for Brian Roberts. I wouldn't make this trade if we couldn't get rid of Slappy first.
So... send Slappy, Laroche, Elbert, Young, Kuo, Brazoban, and Orenduff over to the A's for Blanton and Chavez. We would totally empty our farm system, but whats the use in having it if you don't use it. These guy are never going to get to play because Ned is just going to keep on signing crappy vets.
Anyway, the lineup looks nice.
Furcal
Roberts
Loney
Kemp
Ethier
Jones
Kent
Martin
Next year Roberts moves over back to second and maybe Chavez is healthy again at 3rd.
The bench has
Chavez
Nomar
Repko
Bennett
Hu
ROTO looks nice too
Penny
Blanton
Bills
Kuroda
Lowe
and in the penn
Saito
BrOXton
Beimel
Proctor
Meyers
Loaiza
Schmidt
Who knows?... I don't. I'm just fishing for a way to get rid of Pierre.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Join NOW!!!
This is the official site of the "He-man Pierre haters club".
Join up now by adding your name to the list in "comments".
Join up now by adding your name to the list in "comments".
Friday, March 14, 2008
Martin's first spring shot undecisive!
This comes from MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. The headline really tells the story! I guess when he hit the ball it stopped mid air to think if it was going to go over the wall. By the time it had made a decision the speedy Martin had already rounded the bases. Or this is what they meant...
Offense evaded the Dodgers until the fourth inning, when Russell Martin launched a two-run homer that needed mere seconds to leave Holman Stadium. The next three hitters all reached base, in a sequence highlighted by Jason Repko's RBI single. Repko later added another RBI single in the eighth.
No doubt he meant to say something like, "Martin hits a "no doubter"". We'll just leave it at that.
Offense evaded the Dodgers until the fourth inning, when Russell Martin launched a two-run homer that needed mere seconds to leave Holman Stadium. The next three hitters all reached base, in a sequence highlighted by Jason Repko's RBI single. Repko later added another RBI single in the eighth.
No doubt he meant to say something like, "Martin hits a "no doubter"". We'll just leave it at that.
How dumb are you? David Chalk decides to tell us.
This was posted at Bugs and Cranks. They are trying to prove that the "Rays" are better than the Dodgers. We'll just do the typical thing and show them just how dumb they are.
Argument #1: Hulkower, You Ignorant Slut.
The Dodgers haven’t done anything remotely interesting since October 15, 1988. Why else would Alyssa Milano have a puppy she got out of a pet store’s “bargain bin” named Gibson? Using Melissa Milano as your argument here really shows your ability, or lack their of, to do some investigating. Coming from a team that has never had a winning season, this is great! They have never won more than 70 games in a season. I'm going to laugh to myself for a moment...
Bringing over Joe Torre might be remotely interesting. It sets up a wonderful situation where if the Dodgers do well, the Yankees look bad; and if the Dodgers do poorly, the Yankees look bad. So this is just a knock on the Yankees huh? You aren't remotely smart.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have had a rash of spring injuries that rivals the Mets. Really? Who? Tony Abreu (a AAA middle infielder), Jason Schmidt (the 6th man in our rotation), and who else? Where's your remote now.
Infielder Tony Abreu is suffering from “right buttocks tightness.” Sons Of Steve Garvey suggests that Abreu’s Ass might be a Symbol of the ‘08 Dodgers season.
No one, but no one, is suggesting that the 2008 season of our beloved Devil Rays will be symbolized by a buttocks injury. Is that because if you actually win 72 games this year it will be a success? No, the symbol for our 2008 Devil Rays will be ass-kicking. Or a 72 win season. Just ask Joe Girardi, the Yankees interim manager with one less testicle than John Kruk. Burn.
Yet, the Dodgers are being talked about by many as the favorite in the NL West. Not because they are good, but because the NL West is filled with boring teams with little or no talent, and the Dodgers appear to be slightly less boring and slightly less untalented. And this is based on what remotely evidence. If they have enough healthy bodies, the Dodgers may win the NL West. They’d obviously have a much better chance if they do what I hinted at two weeks ago and what Home Run Derby’s Nick The Greek boldly predicts — sign Barry Bonds, The Greatest Player On Planet Earth (The G-POPE). Why don't you guys just hire Joe Girardi? Why don't you become the feeder team to the Yankees? Why don't you sign a player from your biggest rival and remotely who is also the biggest horses arce this side of the universe? Why not?
Our Devil Rays are obviously in a tougher division. Obviously. If our Devil Rays were in the NL West, they would run away with the division by at least 20 games. They wouldn't be able to hit themselves out of a little league park.
The Dodgers are a team full of old, fading quasi-stars and never-quite-weres. Other than Brad Penny and Derek Lowe, try to name another Dodger you wish was on your team. You probably can’t. Here are a few Dodgers that you have on your team already. Dioner Navarro and Edwin Jackson. Two dodgers that couldn't make the cut in LA and we had to send them to our AAA affiliate in Tampa. I bet you would love to have our starting pitching depth. Chad Billingsly, Clayton Kershaw, Eric Stults, James McDonald, (the list is basically endless). And that's just the young kids. We also have Hiroki Kuroda and Esteban Loaiza to round out the rotation. And on the field: Just the young guys again! Russel Martin!!! Literally the guy that took Dioner's job away from him. Matt Kemp! James Loney! Andy Laroche (I admit he's no comparison to Eva Longoria Parker) Chin Lung Hu. And now for the vets. The best CF in all of baseball, Andruw Jones! I doubt you'll want Raffy Furcal. Because you have such depth at SS. No wonder your team has never passed the 70 win mark. You people think that what you have will actually win.
Our Devil Rays are a team full of young, emerging superstars you wish your team had. I'll take Crawford, Upton, Longoria and Kazmir. Maybe Pena. But that's it.
We’ve now covered half the teams in Major League Baseball. Like the 14 teams that came before them, and like the 14 teams that will come hereafter, the Dodgers just ain’t shit compared to our Devil Rays. You're "Rays" are shit. So the Dodgers can't be compared to them.
We’ll prove it head-to-head only if it’s in The World Series. And only if the other team has to hit with 24 inch bats and pitch with their opposite hands and play defense with no gloves. Sure, given those circumstances you just might win. But it would be a 7 game series and come down to the last at bat.
Argument #1: Hulkower, You Ignorant Slut.
The Dodgers haven’t done anything remotely interesting since October 15, 1988. Why else would Alyssa Milano have a puppy she got out of a pet store’s “bargain bin” named Gibson? Using Melissa Milano as your argument here really shows your ability, or lack their of, to do some investigating. Coming from a team that has never had a winning season, this is great! They have never won more than 70 games in a season. I'm going to laugh to myself for a moment...
Bringing over Joe Torre might be remotely interesting. It sets up a wonderful situation where if the Dodgers do well, the Yankees look bad; and if the Dodgers do poorly, the Yankees look bad. So this is just a knock on the Yankees huh? You aren't remotely smart.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have had a rash of spring injuries that rivals the Mets. Really? Who? Tony Abreu (a AAA middle infielder), Jason Schmidt (the 6th man in our rotation), and who else? Where's your remote now.
Infielder Tony Abreu is suffering from “right buttocks tightness.” Sons Of Steve Garvey suggests that Abreu’s Ass might be a Symbol of the ‘08 Dodgers season.
No one, but no one, is suggesting that the 2008 season of our beloved Devil Rays will be symbolized by a buttocks injury. Is that because if you actually win 72 games this year it will be a success? No, the symbol for our 2008 Devil Rays will be ass-kicking. Or a 72 win season. Just ask Joe Girardi, the Yankees interim manager with one less testicle than John Kruk. Burn.
Yet, the Dodgers are being talked about by many as the favorite in the NL West. Not because they are good, but because the NL West is filled with boring teams with little or no talent, and the Dodgers appear to be slightly less boring and slightly less untalented. And this is based on what remotely evidence. If they have enough healthy bodies, the Dodgers may win the NL West. They’d obviously have a much better chance if they do what I hinted at two weeks ago and what Home Run Derby’s Nick The Greek boldly predicts — sign Barry Bonds, The Greatest Player On Planet Earth (The G-POPE). Why don't you guys just hire Joe Girardi? Why don't you become the feeder team to the Yankees? Why don't you sign a player from your biggest rival and remotely who is also the biggest horses arce this side of the universe? Why not?
Our Devil Rays are obviously in a tougher division. Obviously. If our Devil Rays were in the NL West, they would run away with the division by at least 20 games. They wouldn't be able to hit themselves out of a little league park.
The Dodgers are a team full of old, fading quasi-stars and never-quite-weres. Other than Brad Penny and Derek Lowe, try to name another Dodger you wish was on your team. You probably can’t. Here are a few Dodgers that you have on your team already. Dioner Navarro and Edwin Jackson. Two dodgers that couldn't make the cut in LA and we had to send them to our AAA affiliate in Tampa. I bet you would love to have our starting pitching depth. Chad Billingsly, Clayton Kershaw, Eric Stults, James McDonald, (the list is basically endless). And that's just the young kids. We also have Hiroki Kuroda and Esteban Loaiza to round out the rotation. And on the field: Just the young guys again! Russel Martin!!! Literally the guy that took Dioner's job away from him. Matt Kemp! James Loney! Andy Laroche (I admit he's no comparison to Eva Longoria Parker) Chin Lung Hu. And now for the vets. The best CF in all of baseball, Andruw Jones! I doubt you'll want Raffy Furcal. Because you have such depth at SS. No wonder your team has never passed the 70 win mark. You people think that what you have will actually win.
Our Devil Rays are a team full of young, emerging superstars you wish your team had. I'll take Crawford, Upton, Longoria and Kazmir. Maybe Pena. But that's it.
We’ve now covered half the teams in Major League Baseball. Like the 14 teams that came before them, and like the 14 teams that will come hereafter, the Dodgers just ain’t shit compared to our Devil Rays. You're "Rays" are shit. So the Dodgers can't be compared to them.
We’ll prove it head-to-head only if it’s in The World Series. And only if the other team has to hit with 24 inch bats and pitch with their opposite hands and play defense with no gloves. Sure, given those circumstances you just might win. But it would be a 7 game series and come down to the last at bat.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Rumblin'... Stumblin... Tumblin'...
Ned Colletti has answered a few questions from the fans over at the main Dodgers Blog Site. Lets see how he spins the Juan Pierre signing.
I've got a question for Ned. Don't you think that the team would be better with Either as the everyday left fielder? After all he's a more complete player with some power, a better OBP, and a good throwing arm. This was an indierct bash on Pierre. Great first question!!!
Posted by: fliegel@ptd.net February 28, 2008 06:53 AM
Andre is developing into a very good player. As Joe and the staff get more acquainted with Andre and others, I'm confident they'll find a way to get a solid amount of at-bats from all the outfielders. There is another factor to consider as well and that is competition. There are many times that we feel a young player is better served when they must compete for a job and compete for playing time. Andre Ethier has reached his ceiling. So has Juan Pierre. Andre is better. So having this "competition" is conterintuitive.
The competition for playing time in the outfield will hopefully increase the focus and productivity of the entire group. And make the team worse. We feel very fortunate that we have four proven outfielders plus Jason Repko and Delwyn Young. Juan Pierre is a second baseman out there. And there is always the injury factor to contend with as well. Which is why it's nice to have guys like Repko and Young but not Pierre. In the matter of a few minutes last Friday, we lost Andy Laroche for two months and nearly lost Nomar Garciaparra for a prolonged period of time. in a freak accident. We would have went from having a perceived surplus at a position, to being almost without a clear cut choice. It can happen that fast. Today, we have some outfield depth as well as competition for playing time. having 6 outfielders is overkill. The season is 162 games in length and many different unpredictable things will happen between now and the end. One thing is for sure. We aren't winning with Juan Pierre.
If you had it to do over, would you sign Pierre? I am sure he will say yes to save face but I think secretly he must be having second thoughts. At least on the length of the contract.
Posted by: jhall1218@yahoo.com February 28, 2008 09:45 AM
It's constructive to point out where the club was when we signed Juan. Then sign Kenny Lofton. A stop gap that basically better than Juan Pierre and cheaper! This offseason everyone knew there was literally a plethora of center fielders available. Now were stuck with Slappy. With J.D. Drew opting out to Boston, we had one outfielder with every day Major League experience - and that was limited to four months. Andre Ethier was called up in May and had four good months and then struggled in September. He was the only outfielder on the Major League roster with an experience who had ended the 2006 season healthy. Prior to signing Juan, we made a strong bid to sign Soriano and Lee among others, but those players did not have an interest in playing in Los Angeles. If anyone is expecting Juan to carry the club, then we've signed the wrong player. I just want Juan to pull his weight. He only weighs like 120 pounds. It shouldn't be that hard. We see him as a solid complementary player who has great speed and an admirable work ethic and with run-producing players around him in the lineup adds a strong deminision no mention of 500 plus outs, low OBP, horrid defense, and no power - without run production around him his value is dimininshed a lot. Or his value is diminished because he stinks. But you're the Gm so justify it any way you want. Last season, in my opinion, the club never got untracked. Even when we had the best record in the league in July, I didn't see it. I believe Furcal's injury added extra pressure to Pierre So it was Furcal's fault... Ned, have you been talking ot Bill again? Don't listen to that guy. He's retarded. - especially when we remember how well Furcal played in 2006 for us. I think it was compounded by the middle of the order failing to deliever more with runners on and lacking power. Consider that Pierre was only on base 33 % of the time. Ned, you're not doing yourself any favors by hanging onto the guy. We still feel that if Furcal and Pierre are healthy all season and if the middle of the order - Jones, Kent, Martin, Garciaparra, Loney and Kemp or Ethier Wait... don't say Kemp OR Ethier. You obviously meant Kemp AND Ethier right? You aren't still considering playing the worst outfielder in all of baseball are you?produce in the clutch that Juan's value to the club increases dramatically. How is it possible that his value increases because of the players around him. He isn't Steve Nash. He doesn't drive anyone in literally and he doesn't get on base enough to score a ton of runs. If the players fail to hit in the clutch in the middle of the order, and Juan is healthy and gets 200 hits and steals 60 a feat he has only done once bases, then Juan's value is diminished. Lets remember Juan stats shall we. He's going to bat about 290, OBP 330, no power, about 40 RBI's and 90 Runs. Somewhere between 130 and 150 combined runs. If Ethier played everyday he would score 85 and drive in 85. Somewhere between 160 and 190 combined runs. Who is the better player Ned? Don't tell me you think Slappy is. Don't tell me you think becaues Juan shows up early he is going to magically throw runners out at home. Because he isn't. Get rid of him already. As far as the duration of the contract is concerned, those terms are negotiated and sometimes you have to extend a player out longer than usual. If you look back at the history of our deals in the last three off-seasons, only Pierre's contract extends beyond three years. Many deals were for one or two years. Kenny Lofton anyone? I believe in negotiating the short-term deal whenever possible. From time to time, that's not possible and so you either sign the player or you pass. You really should have passed. Along with Jason Schmidt. Dope! But at the end of the day, you'd better have big league players on your club. And the day before we signed Juan Pierre we didn't have one everyday player on the roster who had played more than one full season in the big leagues as an outfielder. Ned if you have to use every word in the dictionary to justify why you signed this guy it was obviously a mistake.
Another question for Ned is after seeing what Ariz. and Colorado did last year, why do the Dodgers block their younger players with declining veterans? Why not just let the young guys play? After all even Boston stuck with Pedroria last year after a slow start and he came around to be a valuable member of that squad.
Posted by: fliegel@ptd.net March 1, 2008 08:17 AM
It's a tough call. Los Angeles might be a tougher place for a young player to play so we need to be as certain as possible that the young players are prepared as much as possible for everything that is going to come their way. It's not tougher than Boston. I guarantee you that. And it isn't because of the media. Case and Point: Bill Plaschke. In Colorado's case last year, the key players for them, in my opinion, were Helton, Holliday, Atkins, Hawpe, Francis and Tulowitzki. Of that group, only Tulowitzki is considered a young player. The rest are in their prime. Arizona is a younger club and a more accurate reflection of your point. They however, did have a vast majority of their key players in their prime as well - Byrnes, Hudson, Webb, Davis and Valverde. When we have signed the veterans, it has been because we had not witnessed enough consistency the previous season to take that chance. For example, Matt Kemp has a chance to be a tremendous player. He had a wonderful 2007 season and had an historic early few weeks in the big leagues in May of 2006. From around July 1, 2006 through the end of the season he struggled, hitting about .180 without any power (11-for-62, .177 with 0 home runs and 6 RBI). His defense and base running are areas in need of improvement. So as we entered the 2006-2007 off-season, we weren't convinced we should automatically make Matt the right fielder based on the last three months. Another example is James Loney, who looks primed for a great season. It took a little while for James to hit for power. During the 2006 season, he had hit 12 home runs in 468 at-bats and then started in Vegas in 2007 and hit one home run in 233 at-bats. And he batted 380. What were you thinking? So in more than 700 at-bats - most in AAA in a hitters league and ballpark - James had hit 13 homers. We knew the power would develop, we just didn't know when - which turned out to be last September when he hit 9 homers in little more than 100 at-bats. In some cases, we would rather err on the side of the veteran. One of the reasons being, if the veteran can't cut it, there is still a young player available. If there is no veteran available and the young player isn't ready, the cost to acquire a veteran player from another club in season would be very prohibitive. As time goes on more and more of our young players will get the opportunity to play. And a year from now, we may be fielding one of the youngest teams in the National League. Lets hope it's because you traded Juan Pierre!
He answered two other questions that I could care less about. He still feels that Andre Ethier hasn't developed yet. Dispite batting 295, 360, 460 for his career, Andre is possibly the best 4th outfielder in all of baseball. Combine that with Juan Pierre being the worst outfielder in all of baseball and you have Ned Colletti, the proudest GM in all of baseball. Too bad we have to endure 4 more years of Slappy McPopup and 2 more years of Jason Schmidt on the DL.
I've got a question for Ned. Don't you think that the team would be better with Either as the everyday left fielder? After all he's a more complete player with some power, a better OBP, and a good throwing arm. This was an indierct bash on Pierre. Great first question!!!
Posted by: fliegel@ptd.net February 28, 2008 06:53 AM
Andre is developing into a very good player. As Joe and the staff get more acquainted with Andre and others, I'm confident they'll find a way to get a solid amount of at-bats from all the outfielders. There is another factor to consider as well and that is competition. There are many times that we feel a young player is better served when they must compete for a job and compete for playing time. Andre Ethier has reached his ceiling. So has Juan Pierre. Andre is better. So having this "competition" is conterintuitive.
The competition for playing time in the outfield will hopefully increase the focus and productivity of the entire group. And make the team worse. We feel very fortunate that we have four proven outfielders plus Jason Repko and Delwyn Young. Juan Pierre is a second baseman out there. And there is always the injury factor to contend with as well. Which is why it's nice to have guys like Repko and Young but not Pierre. In the matter of a few minutes last Friday, we lost Andy Laroche for two months and nearly lost Nomar Garciaparra for a prolonged period of time. in a freak accident. We would have went from having a perceived surplus at a position, to being almost without a clear cut choice. It can happen that fast. Today, we have some outfield depth as well as competition for playing time. having 6 outfielders is overkill. The season is 162 games in length and many different unpredictable things will happen between now and the end. One thing is for sure. We aren't winning with Juan Pierre.
If you had it to do over, would you sign Pierre? I am sure he will say yes to save face but I think secretly he must be having second thoughts. At least on the length of the contract.
Posted by: jhall1218@yahoo.com February 28, 2008 09:45 AM
It's constructive to point out where the club was when we signed Juan. Then sign Kenny Lofton. A stop gap that basically better than Juan Pierre and cheaper! This offseason everyone knew there was literally a plethora of center fielders available. Now were stuck with Slappy. With J.D. Drew opting out to Boston, we had one outfielder with every day Major League experience - and that was limited to four months. Andre Ethier was called up in May and had four good months and then struggled in September. He was the only outfielder on the Major League roster with an experience who had ended the 2006 season healthy. Prior to signing Juan, we made a strong bid to sign Soriano and Lee among others, but those players did not have an interest in playing in Los Angeles. If anyone is expecting Juan to carry the club, then we've signed the wrong player. I just want Juan to pull his weight. He only weighs like 120 pounds. It shouldn't be that hard. We see him as a solid complementary player who has great speed and an admirable work ethic and with run-producing players around him in the lineup adds a strong deminision no mention of 500 plus outs, low OBP, horrid defense, and no power - without run production around him his value is dimininshed a lot. Or his value is diminished because he stinks. But you're the Gm so justify it any way you want. Last season, in my opinion, the club never got untracked. Even when we had the best record in the league in July, I didn't see it. I believe Furcal's injury added extra pressure to Pierre So it was Furcal's fault... Ned, have you been talking ot Bill again? Don't listen to that guy. He's retarded. - especially when we remember how well Furcal played in 2006 for us. I think it was compounded by the middle of the order failing to deliever more with runners on and lacking power. Consider that Pierre was only on base 33 % of the time. Ned, you're not doing yourself any favors by hanging onto the guy. We still feel that if Furcal and Pierre are healthy all season and if the middle of the order - Jones, Kent, Martin, Garciaparra, Loney and Kemp or Ethier Wait... don't say Kemp OR Ethier. You obviously meant Kemp AND Ethier right? You aren't still considering playing the worst outfielder in all of baseball are you?produce in the clutch that Juan's value to the club increases dramatically. How is it possible that his value increases because of the players around him. He isn't Steve Nash. He doesn't drive anyone in literally and he doesn't get on base enough to score a ton of runs. If the players fail to hit in the clutch in the middle of the order, and Juan is healthy and gets 200 hits and steals 60 a feat he has only done once bases, then Juan's value is diminished. Lets remember Juan stats shall we. He's going to bat about 290, OBP 330, no power, about 40 RBI's and 90 Runs. Somewhere between 130 and 150 combined runs. If Ethier played everyday he would score 85 and drive in 85. Somewhere between 160 and 190 combined runs. Who is the better player Ned? Don't tell me you think Slappy is. Don't tell me you think becaues Juan shows up early he is going to magically throw runners out at home. Because he isn't. Get rid of him already. As far as the duration of the contract is concerned, those terms are negotiated and sometimes you have to extend a player out longer than usual. If you look back at the history of our deals in the last three off-seasons, only Pierre's contract extends beyond three years. Many deals were for one or two years. Kenny Lofton anyone? I believe in negotiating the short-term deal whenever possible. From time to time, that's not possible and so you either sign the player or you pass. You really should have passed. Along with Jason Schmidt. Dope! But at the end of the day, you'd better have big league players on your club. And the day before we signed Juan Pierre we didn't have one everyday player on the roster who had played more than one full season in the big leagues as an outfielder. Ned if you have to use every word in the dictionary to justify why you signed this guy it was obviously a mistake.
Another question for Ned is after seeing what Ariz. and Colorado did last year, why do the Dodgers block their younger players with declining veterans? Why not just let the young guys play? After all even Boston stuck with Pedroria last year after a slow start and he came around to be a valuable member of that squad.
Posted by: fliegel@ptd.net March 1, 2008 08:17 AM
It's a tough call. Los Angeles might be a tougher place for a young player to play so we need to be as certain as possible that the young players are prepared as much as possible for everything that is going to come their way. It's not tougher than Boston. I guarantee you that. And it isn't because of the media. Case and Point: Bill Plaschke. In Colorado's case last year, the key players for them, in my opinion, were Helton, Holliday, Atkins, Hawpe, Francis and Tulowitzki. Of that group, only Tulowitzki is considered a young player. The rest are in their prime. Arizona is a younger club and a more accurate reflection of your point. They however, did have a vast majority of their key players in their prime as well - Byrnes, Hudson, Webb, Davis and Valverde. When we have signed the veterans, it has been because we had not witnessed enough consistency the previous season to take that chance. For example, Matt Kemp has a chance to be a tremendous player. He had a wonderful 2007 season and had an historic early few weeks in the big leagues in May of 2006. From around July 1, 2006 through the end of the season he struggled, hitting about .180 without any power (11-for-62, .177 with 0 home runs and 6 RBI). His defense and base running are areas in need of improvement. So as we entered the 2006-2007 off-season, we weren't convinced we should automatically make Matt the right fielder based on the last three months. Another example is James Loney, who looks primed for a great season. It took a little while for James to hit for power. During the 2006 season, he had hit 12 home runs in 468 at-bats and then started in Vegas in 2007 and hit one home run in 233 at-bats. And he batted 380. What were you thinking? So in more than 700 at-bats - most in AAA in a hitters league and ballpark - James had hit 13 homers. We knew the power would develop, we just didn't know when - which turned out to be last September when he hit 9 homers in little more than 100 at-bats. In some cases, we would rather err on the side of the veteran. One of the reasons being, if the veteran can't cut it, there is still a young player available. If there is no veteran available and the young player isn't ready, the cost to acquire a veteran player from another club in season would be very prohibitive. As time goes on more and more of our young players will get the opportunity to play. And a year from now, we may be fielding one of the youngest teams in the National League. Lets hope it's because you traded Juan Pierre!
He answered two other questions that I could care less about. He still feels that Andre Ethier hasn't developed yet. Dispite batting 295, 360, 460 for his career, Andre is possibly the best 4th outfielder in all of baseball. Combine that with Juan Pierre being the worst outfielder in all of baseball and you have Ned Colletti, the proudest GM in all of baseball. Too bad we have to endure 4 more years of Slappy McPopup and 2 more years of Jason Schmidt on the DL.
Tracy Ringolsby... Come on down!!!
2008 Dodgers preview: McCourting success
By Tracy Ringolsby
Mar 5, 10:47 am EST
For all the questions about Frank McCourt’s ownership in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have shown a willingness to spend money in the four years that the Boston parking-lot magnate has owned the team.
It has not, however, been well spent. I have to agree. Juan Pierre? Jason Schmidt? Esteban Loaiza? (though he will be our 5th starter. I think I'd rather see someone in there from the minors and save the money. But Loaiza should do well.)
This is a team that has led the N.L. West in payroll five of the last seven years – three of four under McCourt’s guidance – and has one division title to show for it. And like 82 injuries. While the GNATS can spend twice as much and they will never win anything. Congratulations, you were the worst team in the NL West last year. Here's hoping you spend wisely in the future so you can still be in last place.
The new leadership hasn’t stood still; it just hasn’t moved forward. So it went backwards?
The Dodgers are on their third general manager (Dan Evans to Paul DePodesta to Ned Colletti) and third manager (Jim Tracy to Grady Little to Joe Torre) in four years, but still trying to find a way to rebound from a fourth-place finish. They boast about the depth of their farm system – put together under the guidance of Evans, the first employee McCourt fired – but the Dodgers show virtually no confidence in the ability of the young players. This is true. We do have a young team though. Kemp, Martin, Loney, Bills, Broxton, Ethier, Laroche, Abreu, and Hu, are all under 25. The only guys on the team that can actually be called old are Nomar, Kent, and Sweeney. (I'm not going to include Schmidt. Not because he isn't old, he is. But more because he will be injured the length of the contract.)
As a result, they plopped down $44 million over five years a year ago to sign center fielder Juan Pierre, and then moaned about his lack of plate patience and arm strength, which certainly weren’t secrets around the league. ( As I recall the Giants were offering 3 years 30 million ) Then, this offseason, the Dodgers shelled out $36.2 million over two years for center fielder Andruw Jones, who’s coming off a season in which he hit a career-low .220, and moved Pierre to left field, which means runners can now go from first to third on singles to left. That's very good analysis Tracy. Are you a freaking investigator?
That’s not all. It isn't... no?
Trying to beef up the rotation, without giving any of the well-hyped arms in the system a chance, the Dodgers spent $47 million over three years two winters ago for free-agent righthander Jason Schmidt, whose history of arm ailments with the Giants should have been wellknown to the Dodgers in light of the fact that Colletti and trainer Stan Conte both came from San Francisco. Wooohooo Tracy.... You're really on the ball today. Who were those well hyped arms? Can you name any of them?
So why the shock when Schmidt, after six starts, a 1-4 record, 6.31 ERA and 25.2 innings pitched, ended up needing mid-June shoulder surgery? That setback left the Dodgers with a best-case scenario that he could be ready this spring. And when the Dodgers were in need of a starter while trying to hang on in the pennant race last year, they ignored potential help from within and put in a waiver claim for Esteban Loaiza, much to the glee of Oakland, which was able to unload the $7.85 million he is guaranteed this year. Who then was supposed to come in from the farm? WHO? Who was ready to excell from AAA? Can you name any of them?
After all that, surely the Dodgers are ready to give the young players a shot in 2008? Think again. The two main areas where veterans are possibly blocking youth are in left field and 3rd base. The 3rd base thing has kinda solved itself. And the left field debacle is well documented. Just not by you.
They not only went out and brought in Jones, but also gave a three-year, $35.3 million contract to Japanese righthander Hiroki Kuroda, who is coming off a 12-8, 3.56 ERA campaign with the Hiroshima Carp. He has looked really good. Lets not forget that the home stadium for the Hiroshima Carp has a center field wall that is 380 feet. 380!!!
The lack of respect for the organization’s prospects permeates the clubhouse, where the old and the new have wound up feuding, and it was a major factor in Torre being hired to replace Little as manager during the offseason. Oh boy... You are a "Mole". You know what Joe Torre does to Mole's? He squashes their grapes. Better wear a cup.
While the trademark pitching remains strong, the offense has sputtered without legitimate No. 3 and No. 4 hitters. The Dodgers ranked 10th in the N.L. last year with 735 runs scored and did nothing over the winter to give fans hope that they will be any more productive in 2008. Andruw Jones anyone? How about full time from Loney and Kemp who are known producers!
Los Angeles did exercise its option on power-pitching Brad Penny, who, for all his size and bravado, barely averaged more than six innings a start in 2007. And was 3rd in the Cy Young award.
He did, however, compile a 16-4 record, which was a tribute to the Dodger bullpen. Also back is Derek Lowe, who is 40-37 (with two losing seasons) in the first three years of his four-year, $36 million contract. What a sack of crap!!! I mean seriously!!! If a 3.65 ERA and a ERA+ of 120 is really that bad, consider that he GNATS have had no pitchers with his numbers over the last 3 years. Well, I guess if you include current Dodger Jason Schmidt then ok. If you're going to bag on the Dodgers, do it towards Juan Pierre.
Chad Billingsley, the expected No. 3 starter, is one prospect who has gotten a chance to shine. Then come Kuroda and Schmidt. Or Loaiza, since Schmidt will be on the DL come opening day.
The rotation’s depth? Since they’re still paying him, the Dodgers can always turn to Loaiza. At some point, though, they will be forced to give opportunities to the promising arms of Clayton Kershaw and Eric Cyr. As a noted Dodgers fan and having considerable knowledge of the current prospects, I find Tracy's understanding of the Dodgers organization to be fikle at best. Eric Cyr!?!?! No mention of James McDonald, Erik Stults, Greg Miller, Hong Chi Kuo, Justin Orenduff, Ramon Troncoso, Jon Meloan, Eric Hull even. This dummy goes with Eric Cyr?!
The saving grace has been the bullpen, where Takashi Saito, a setup man in Japan, has emerged as one of the most consistent closers in the big leagues over the last two years. He has quality setup men with the combination of righthanders Jonathan Broxton and Scott Proctor (a Torre favorite while with the Yankees), along with lefty Joe Beimel. Good. Nice work Tracy. Takashi was also a starter and closer when he played in Japan.
Catcher Russell Martin, one of the few Dodger prospects who has been given a chance to play, has emerged as an All-Star, providing major offensive punch with his ability to get clutch hits. Since we already mentioned James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Chad Billingsly, and Johnathen Broxton as Dodgers prospects that are currently playing. Lets not forget that Delwyn Young, Tony Abreu, and Andy Laroche have been given the chance to play. Andy has been injured as has Abreu. Young is likely to make the team in a utility role.
The Dodgers did create a spot for homegrown first baseman James Loney last year, but that meant moving Nomar Garciaparra, who was in the first season of a two-year, $18.5 million deal to return to the Dodgers, to third base. He will share time there this year with Andy LaRoche, who has shown only flashes of being able to handle the job. Congratulations Cheyenne, Wyoming... You have your very own Bill Plaschke. Chalk this up to the list of the growing stupid writers. If he keeps this up he will be given his own spot on the stupid level meter. So far we have Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, Bill Plaschke, and waiting in the wings is super prospect Tracy Ringolsby.
Veteran Jeff Kent opted to return for another year at second base. Rest assured his welcome back won’t be joyous after he pouted in the final weeks of last season about the lack of respect the young players give the Dodger veterans. This has been a well documented cat fight that stupid azz reporters, such as yourself, have blown way out of proportion.
Rafael Furcal remains at shortstop, and he’s a shadow of the explosive table-setter who originally came up with the Braves. And was injured most of the year last year. Did you do any homework before writing this Tracy?
What gets the Dodgers in trouble is their lack of infield depth. Garciaparra is the primary third baseman, but also the alternate at first. Mark Sweeney anyone?
With Pierre in left and Jones in center, Matt Kemp, a target of Kent’s barbs last September, has the edge in right. The Dodgers don’t have much experience on a bench that includes one-time Oakland phenom Andre Ethier and oft-injured Jason Repko as the outfield backups. Woot!!! Looks like a friggin awesome team. With the exception of Pierre. I would rather have oft injured Jason Repko out there. Andre Ethier on the other hand is a proven player. He has all the makings of being a 5 tool player. If he was given full playing time he would hit 25 homers, bat 290, and play great defense.
Susan Slusser covers baseball for the San Francisco Chronicle. Actually the brilliant people over at Yahoo screwed this one up. Tracy Ringolsby wrote this. All he has to do is produce a few more articles like this and he will be inculded in the Hall of Shame along with Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, and Steve Phillips.
By Tracy Ringolsby
Mar 5, 10:47 am EST
For all the questions about Frank McCourt’s ownership in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have shown a willingness to spend money in the four years that the Boston parking-lot magnate has owned the team.
It has not, however, been well spent. I have to agree. Juan Pierre? Jason Schmidt? Esteban Loaiza? (though he will be our 5th starter. I think I'd rather see someone in there from the minors and save the money. But Loaiza should do well.)
This is a team that has led the N.L. West in payroll five of the last seven years – three of four under McCourt’s guidance – and has one division title to show for it. And like 82 injuries. While the GNATS can spend twice as much and they will never win anything. Congratulations, you were the worst team in the NL West last year. Here's hoping you spend wisely in the future so you can still be in last place.
The new leadership hasn’t stood still; it just hasn’t moved forward. So it went backwards?
The Dodgers are on their third general manager (Dan Evans to Paul DePodesta to Ned Colletti) and third manager (Jim Tracy to Grady Little to Joe Torre) in four years, but still trying to find a way to rebound from a fourth-place finish. They boast about the depth of their farm system – put together under the guidance of Evans, the first employee McCourt fired – but the Dodgers show virtually no confidence in the ability of the young players. This is true. We do have a young team though. Kemp, Martin, Loney, Bills, Broxton, Ethier, Laroche, Abreu, and Hu, are all under 25. The only guys on the team that can actually be called old are Nomar, Kent, and Sweeney. (I'm not going to include Schmidt. Not because he isn't old, he is. But more because he will be injured the length of the contract.)
As a result, they plopped down $44 million over five years a year ago to sign center fielder Juan Pierre, and then moaned about his lack of plate patience and arm strength, which certainly weren’t secrets around the league. ( As I recall the Giants were offering 3 years 30 million ) Then, this offseason, the Dodgers shelled out $36.2 million over two years for center fielder Andruw Jones, who’s coming off a season in which he hit a career-low .220, and moved Pierre to left field, which means runners can now go from first to third on singles to left. That's very good analysis Tracy. Are you a freaking investigator?
That’s not all. It isn't... no?
Trying to beef up the rotation, without giving any of the well-hyped arms in the system a chance, the Dodgers spent $47 million over three years two winters ago for free-agent righthander Jason Schmidt, whose history of arm ailments with the Giants should have been wellknown to the Dodgers in light of the fact that Colletti and trainer Stan Conte both came from San Francisco. Wooohooo Tracy.... You're really on the ball today. Who were those well hyped arms? Can you name any of them?
So why the shock when Schmidt, after six starts, a 1-4 record, 6.31 ERA and 25.2 innings pitched, ended up needing mid-June shoulder surgery? That setback left the Dodgers with a best-case scenario that he could be ready this spring. And when the Dodgers were in need of a starter while trying to hang on in the pennant race last year, they ignored potential help from within and put in a waiver claim for Esteban Loaiza, much to the glee of Oakland, which was able to unload the $7.85 million he is guaranteed this year. Who then was supposed to come in from the farm? WHO? Who was ready to excell from AAA? Can you name any of them?
After all that, surely the Dodgers are ready to give the young players a shot in 2008? Think again. The two main areas where veterans are possibly blocking youth are in left field and 3rd base. The 3rd base thing has kinda solved itself. And the left field debacle is well documented. Just not by you.
They not only went out and brought in Jones, but also gave a three-year, $35.3 million contract to Japanese righthander Hiroki Kuroda, who is coming off a 12-8, 3.56 ERA campaign with the Hiroshima Carp. He has looked really good. Lets not forget that the home stadium for the Hiroshima Carp has a center field wall that is 380 feet. 380!!!
The lack of respect for the organization’s prospects permeates the clubhouse, where the old and the new have wound up feuding, and it was a major factor in Torre being hired to replace Little as manager during the offseason. Oh boy... You are a "Mole". You know what Joe Torre does to Mole's? He squashes their grapes. Better wear a cup.
While the trademark pitching remains strong, the offense has sputtered without legitimate No. 3 and No. 4 hitters. The Dodgers ranked 10th in the N.L. last year with 735 runs scored and did nothing over the winter to give fans hope that they will be any more productive in 2008. Andruw Jones anyone? How about full time from Loney and Kemp who are known producers!
Los Angeles did exercise its option on power-pitching Brad Penny, who, for all his size and bravado, barely averaged more than six innings a start in 2007. And was 3rd in the Cy Young award.
He did, however, compile a 16-4 record, which was a tribute to the Dodger bullpen. Also back is Derek Lowe, who is 40-37 (with two losing seasons) in the first three years of his four-year, $36 million contract. What a sack of crap!!! I mean seriously!!! If a 3.65 ERA and a ERA+ of 120 is really that bad, consider that he GNATS have had no pitchers with his numbers over the last 3 years. Well, I guess if you include current Dodger Jason Schmidt then ok. If you're going to bag on the Dodgers, do it towards Juan Pierre.
Chad Billingsley, the expected No. 3 starter, is one prospect who has gotten a chance to shine. Then come Kuroda and Schmidt. Or Loaiza, since Schmidt will be on the DL come opening day.
The rotation’s depth? Since they’re still paying him, the Dodgers can always turn to Loaiza. At some point, though, they will be forced to give opportunities to the promising arms of Clayton Kershaw and Eric Cyr. As a noted Dodgers fan and having considerable knowledge of the current prospects, I find Tracy's understanding of the Dodgers organization to be fikle at best. Eric Cyr!?!?! No mention of James McDonald, Erik Stults, Greg Miller, Hong Chi Kuo, Justin Orenduff, Ramon Troncoso, Jon Meloan, Eric Hull even. This dummy goes with Eric Cyr?!
The saving grace has been the bullpen, where Takashi Saito, a setup man in Japan, has emerged as one of the most consistent closers in the big leagues over the last two years. He has quality setup men with the combination of righthanders Jonathan Broxton and Scott Proctor (a Torre favorite while with the Yankees), along with lefty Joe Beimel. Good. Nice work Tracy. Takashi was also a starter and closer when he played in Japan.
Catcher Russell Martin, one of the few Dodger prospects who has been given a chance to play, has emerged as an All-Star, providing major offensive punch with his ability to get clutch hits. Since we already mentioned James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Chad Billingsly, and Johnathen Broxton as Dodgers prospects that are currently playing. Lets not forget that Delwyn Young, Tony Abreu, and Andy Laroche have been given the chance to play. Andy has been injured as has Abreu. Young is likely to make the team in a utility role.
The Dodgers did create a spot for homegrown first baseman James Loney last year, but that meant moving Nomar Garciaparra, who was in the first season of a two-year, $18.5 million deal to return to the Dodgers, to third base. He will share time there this year with Andy LaRoche, who has shown only flashes of being able to handle the job. Congratulations Cheyenne, Wyoming... You have your very own Bill Plaschke. Chalk this up to the list of the growing stupid writers. If he keeps this up he will be given his own spot on the stupid level meter. So far we have Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, Bill Plaschke, and waiting in the wings is super prospect Tracy Ringolsby.
Veteran Jeff Kent opted to return for another year at second base. Rest assured his welcome back won’t be joyous after he pouted in the final weeks of last season about the lack of respect the young players give the Dodger veterans. This has been a well documented cat fight that stupid azz reporters, such as yourself, have blown way out of proportion.
Rafael Furcal remains at shortstop, and he’s a shadow of the explosive table-setter who originally came up with the Braves. And was injured most of the year last year. Did you do any homework before writing this Tracy?
What gets the Dodgers in trouble is their lack of infield depth. Garciaparra is the primary third baseman, but also the alternate at first. Mark Sweeney anyone?
With Pierre in left and Jones in center, Matt Kemp, a target of Kent’s barbs last September, has the edge in right. The Dodgers don’t have much experience on a bench that includes one-time Oakland phenom Andre Ethier and oft-injured Jason Repko as the outfield backups. Woot!!! Looks like a friggin awesome team. With the exception of Pierre. I would rather have oft injured Jason Repko out there. Andre Ethier on the other hand is a proven player. He has all the makings of being a 5 tool player. If he was given full playing time he would hit 25 homers, bat 290, and play great defense.
Susan Slusser covers baseball for the San Francisco Chronicle. Actually the brilliant people over at Yahoo screwed this one up. Tracy Ringolsby wrote this. All he has to do is produce a few more articles like this and he will be inculded in the Hall of Shame along with Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, and Steve Phillips.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Dunce!
Bill Plaschke:
Torre's job is bringing Dodgers to heal (broken hearts mend over time)
An ugly rift fractured the clubhouse last year, and ingredients exist for it to happen again. The new manager was hired in part to prevent a recurrence. Or becaues there was literally no one else available. Whatever, lets get this over with.
March 9, 2008
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- So far, they smile and hug and make nice.
Jeff Kent spends 20 minutes working on a swing with Andy LaRoche. ( Andy is swinging already?)
Nomar Garciaparra spends quiet moments joking with locker neighbor James Loney. AAAhhhh, good times!
Everybody watches Matt Kemp's baserunning blunder, and nobody says a word. And then Kemp hits Pierre over the head with a bat and the team cheers, screams, and even some cry together as they watch Pierre's crumpled body twitch uncontrollably on the ground.
So far this spring, the Dodgers veterans and kids look nothing like the factions whose ugly September fight cost a team its season and a manager his job. Since the fight basically happened at the end of an already lost season, I don't think the "fight" cost the team it's season or the managers job. Grady did bad enough on his own to get fired. My 7 month old son had the sense to fire the guy.
"This is family again," Loney says. As he kisses Jeff Kent on the mouth.
But look closely. Listen carefully. I can't... I'm reading.
The same ingredients that exploded in last year's turmoil still exist. It wasn't an explosion. And the main ingredient is missing. LOSING!
The same competing interests. Baseball is a competitive sport. The same diverse opinions. Did he just call me black? The same short fuses. Jeff kent is back.
In one corner are veterans at the end of their Dodgers careers. Or so we hope. Until Ned gives extensions to Jeff Kent, Nomar, and Juan Pierre just for fun.
In the other corner are kids at the threshold of their Dodgers careers. Are you ready for "Smackdown Hotel" 2008? (thankyou scully88, you're still a "Bill")
The Dodgers are family right now, sure, anybody can be a family when life is a lazy exhibition.
But come opening day, it could all change at the drop of a fly ball, and they all know it. It would be Juan to drop said "fly ball".
"Nobody can sit here and tell you it won't happen again, nobody knows that," said pitcher Derek Lowe. "People don't change. People are who they are. It's all about making the right choices." and mostly about not losing, or making lineup cards that don't have Juan Pierre on them.
Late last season, the kids made the choice to laugh too loudly and run too easily and seemingly care too little. And they had way too much fun winning while the veterans were losing.
The veterans made a choice to rip them for it. Bastards!!!
This year's clubhouse has the same youthful energy with potentially five kid contributors in Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin. What about Chad Billingsly, John Broxton, and Clayton Kershaw?
This year's clubhouse also has the same veteran edginess, with Kent, Lowe and Garciaparra all in the final years of their contracts. So, Mark Sweeney, 38, isn't a veteran?
So what's to keep it from blowing up again? How about.... losing?
"Experience," said Jeff Kent. When he was asked about his hemmeroid problem going away.
I though this was supposed to be an article about Torre "healing" the dodgers clubhouse? All he really has to do is any four of the million things his predecessor didn't do. Lets just start with the lineup. No Pierre... Check. Furcal, Martin, Loney, Kemp in that order... check. Then he has to make sure to make Martin take a few extra days off... Check. Now, bring the right reliever in whose name isn't Hernandez or Tomko... check. Do not let a reliever start the game... check. Do not let a starter go to the bullpenn... ( this might be getting complicated...) Just make sure you don't be a total dunce like grady little or bill plaschke... check
"Winning," said Juan Pierre. Even Juan gets it.
"Hmmmm," said Joe Torre. Oh Boy...
Experience and winning would help, but the answer can be found in the "Hmmmm."
Yeah, this is all about Joe Torre. I know... that's why the article is named "Torre's job is bringing Dodgers to heal."
This is what he must do. This is a reason why he is here. Yup. I knew that.
Torre is not just a manager, he's a soother, a fixer, a closer. Most managers fill out lineup cards, give specific direction. Torre manages to sooth, fix, and close as well... by shrugging.
Where other managers blink, Torre shrugs. See, I told you.
Where other managers scream, Torre just shows up. Where other managers cry, Joe Torre cartwheels.
He was hired not only for his resume, but his gravitas. Ding ding ding. Bill has found our secret word of the day! The kid-veteran conflict is still so fresh and tender, it can only be squashed by this giant presence. Squish it... like a grape under your big toe!
Amazingly, Torre has not said one word to his team about last year's problems. Good on him.
But quietly, he has talked to veterans, he has talked to kids, he has met with coaches, and here's what he thinks:
"Handling this, after where I've been for the last 12 years?"
He smiled and shook his head.
Again and again and again. Then he got dizzy and had to sit down and have a drink of water.
First, Torre doesn't think it was a big deal. Because most everyone will tell you, "it wasn't a big deal".
"You have to understand, everything in this game starts small, everything," he said. "From what everybody told me, this was a mountain that came out of a molehill."
Indeed, it began small. and people like you, Bill, blew it way out of proportion.
A vet didn't like Loney's approach during a certain at-bat. Another vet didn't like the way Kemp ran on a certain count. Are these specific events or are you just making crap up?
A kid thought Kent was being standoffish. Or typical. Another kid thought Luis Gonzalez was being conniving. Even more typical.
Little things, silly things, bubbling things that burst in late September when Kent finally said what nearly every veteran in the clubhouse had been thinking. "These hemmeroids are driving me nuts!!!"
Followed by Loney and Kemp's saying what every kid in the clubhouse had been thinking. "yeah, Jeff, that doesn't look too comfortable. you should see a doctor or something."
It was rip upon rip, the unchecked molehills sprouting into an Everest-sized issue in which everybody was right, and everybody was wrong, and the biggest losers were the Dodgers. Considering that by the time the "fight" happened the season was basically over.
Torre says the secret is to walk around the yard enough to recognize, and step upon, those molehills. Stupid mole's. If we just didn't have mole's like Bill Plaschke to create goofy azz news like this we wouldn't have had a bad season last year and Grady Little would still be our manager. I can take winning... just not with Grady. Lets get rid of the mole's like Bill Plaschke... Check.
"That's what my coaches and I do," he said. "We need to be aware of what is going on in that clubhouse, and when certain things start to bubble up, we will be there step in. And squash Bill Plaschke's grapes."
Torre said the conversation with a fighting kid and veteran is a simple one. Smackdown Hotel 2008!!!
"I ask them, 'You guys have an issue, what are you going to do about it?' " he said. "I tell them, 'You guys have a problem, get it fixed.' " So, he does nothing?
Like his coach Larry Bowa, Torre starts the season with a separate message for the kids and veterans.
To the kids: "You are crazy if you don't take advantage of the experienced guys."
To the veterans: "I want you to speak up if something is bothering you, but I want you to go right to the person."
If it seems Torre is favoring the veterans, well, he has more postseason victories than any manager in baseball history (76) thanks mostly to veterans. Or the 200 million dollar payroll. But we can just chalk it up to experience. Whatever.
"There's a lot of passion in this game, and I'll never try to keep guys from expressing themselves," he said.
If it seems Torre is wary of kids, well, his New York Yankees usually traded those kids for championships. Who did they trade? I remember them signing a bunch of guys and playing the kids when they were ready.
"Kids try to be as good as they can be, and that sometimes leads to tunnel vision, where they lose sight of the big picture, which is winning," he said.
But Torre said he will not play favorites, because that would lead to greater divisions.
"You just try to make sense of it all," he said. "You just try to find a way to get through it."
For now, the sense is there, although the memories are still strong.
"Last year, we didn't get it," Kent said. "We just didn't get it." When asked why he didn't use preparation H.
This year, Joe Torre must give it to them.
Torre's job is bringing Dodgers to heal (broken hearts mend over time)
An ugly rift fractured the clubhouse last year, and ingredients exist for it to happen again. The new manager was hired in part to prevent a recurrence. Or becaues there was literally no one else available. Whatever, lets get this over with.
March 9, 2008
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- So far, they smile and hug and make nice.
Jeff Kent spends 20 minutes working on a swing with Andy LaRoche. ( Andy is swinging already?)
Nomar Garciaparra spends quiet moments joking with locker neighbor James Loney. AAAhhhh, good times!
Everybody watches Matt Kemp's baserunning blunder, and nobody says a word. And then Kemp hits Pierre over the head with a bat and the team cheers, screams, and even some cry together as they watch Pierre's crumpled body twitch uncontrollably on the ground.
So far this spring, the Dodgers veterans and kids look nothing like the factions whose ugly September fight cost a team its season and a manager his job. Since the fight basically happened at the end of an already lost season, I don't think the "fight" cost the team it's season or the managers job. Grady did bad enough on his own to get fired. My 7 month old son had the sense to fire the guy.
"This is family again," Loney says. As he kisses Jeff Kent on the mouth.
But look closely. Listen carefully. I can't... I'm reading.
The same ingredients that exploded in last year's turmoil still exist. It wasn't an explosion. And the main ingredient is missing. LOSING!
The same competing interests. Baseball is a competitive sport. The same diverse opinions. Did he just call me black? The same short fuses. Jeff kent is back.
In one corner are veterans at the end of their Dodgers careers. Or so we hope. Until Ned gives extensions to Jeff Kent, Nomar, and Juan Pierre just for fun.
In the other corner are kids at the threshold of their Dodgers careers. Are you ready for "Smackdown Hotel" 2008? (thankyou scully88, you're still a "Bill")
The Dodgers are family right now, sure, anybody can be a family when life is a lazy exhibition.
But come opening day, it could all change at the drop of a fly ball, and they all know it. It would be Juan to drop said "fly ball".
"Nobody can sit here and tell you it won't happen again, nobody knows that," said pitcher Derek Lowe. "People don't change. People are who they are. It's all about making the right choices." and mostly about not losing, or making lineup cards that don't have Juan Pierre on them.
Late last season, the kids made the choice to laugh too loudly and run too easily and seemingly care too little. And they had way too much fun winning while the veterans were losing.
The veterans made a choice to rip them for it. Bastards!!!
This year's clubhouse has the same youthful energy with potentially five kid contributors in Kemp, Loney, LaRoche, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin. What about Chad Billingsly, John Broxton, and Clayton Kershaw?
This year's clubhouse also has the same veteran edginess, with Kent, Lowe and Garciaparra all in the final years of their contracts. So, Mark Sweeney, 38, isn't a veteran?
So what's to keep it from blowing up again? How about.... losing?
"Experience," said Jeff Kent. When he was asked about his hemmeroid problem going away.
I though this was supposed to be an article about Torre "healing" the dodgers clubhouse? All he really has to do is any four of the million things his predecessor didn't do. Lets just start with the lineup. No Pierre... Check. Furcal, Martin, Loney, Kemp in that order... check. Then he has to make sure to make Martin take a few extra days off... Check. Now, bring the right reliever in whose name isn't Hernandez or Tomko... check. Do not let a reliever start the game... check. Do not let a starter go to the bullpenn... ( this might be getting complicated...) Just make sure you don't be a total dunce like grady little or bill plaschke... check
"Winning," said Juan Pierre. Even Juan gets it.
"Hmmmm," said Joe Torre. Oh Boy...
Experience and winning would help, but the answer can be found in the "Hmmmm."
Yeah, this is all about Joe Torre. I know... that's why the article is named "Torre's job is bringing Dodgers to heal."
This is what he must do. This is a reason why he is here. Yup. I knew that.
Torre is not just a manager, he's a soother, a fixer, a closer. Most managers fill out lineup cards, give specific direction. Torre manages to sooth, fix, and close as well... by shrugging.
Where other managers blink, Torre shrugs. See, I told you.
Where other managers scream, Torre just shows up. Where other managers cry, Joe Torre cartwheels.
He was hired not only for his resume, but his gravitas. Ding ding ding. Bill has found our secret word of the day! The kid-veteran conflict is still so fresh and tender, it can only be squashed by this giant presence. Squish it... like a grape under your big toe!
Amazingly, Torre has not said one word to his team about last year's problems. Good on him.
But quietly, he has talked to veterans, he has talked to kids, he has met with coaches, and here's what he thinks:
"Handling this, after where I've been for the last 12 years?"
He smiled and shook his head.
Again and again and again. Then he got dizzy and had to sit down and have a drink of water.
First, Torre doesn't think it was a big deal. Because most everyone will tell you, "it wasn't a big deal".
"You have to understand, everything in this game starts small, everything," he said. "From what everybody told me, this was a mountain that came out of a molehill."
Indeed, it began small. and people like you, Bill, blew it way out of proportion.
A vet didn't like Loney's approach during a certain at-bat. Another vet didn't like the way Kemp ran on a certain count. Are these specific events or are you just making crap up?
A kid thought Kent was being standoffish. Or typical. Another kid thought Luis Gonzalez was being conniving. Even more typical.
Little things, silly things, bubbling things that burst in late September when Kent finally said what nearly every veteran in the clubhouse had been thinking. "These hemmeroids are driving me nuts!!!"
Followed by Loney and Kemp's saying what every kid in the clubhouse had been thinking. "yeah, Jeff, that doesn't look too comfortable. you should see a doctor or something."
It was rip upon rip, the unchecked molehills sprouting into an Everest-sized issue in which everybody was right, and everybody was wrong, and the biggest losers were the Dodgers. Considering that by the time the "fight" happened the season was basically over.
Torre says the secret is to walk around the yard enough to recognize, and step upon, those molehills. Stupid mole's. If we just didn't have mole's like Bill Plaschke to create goofy azz news like this we wouldn't have had a bad season last year and Grady Little would still be our manager. I can take winning... just not with Grady. Lets get rid of the mole's like Bill Plaschke... Check.
"That's what my coaches and I do," he said. "We need to be aware of what is going on in that clubhouse, and when certain things start to bubble up, we will be there step in. And squash Bill Plaschke's grapes."
Torre said the conversation with a fighting kid and veteran is a simple one. Smackdown Hotel 2008!!!
"I ask them, 'You guys have an issue, what are you going to do about it?' " he said. "I tell them, 'You guys have a problem, get it fixed.' " So, he does nothing?
Like his coach Larry Bowa, Torre starts the season with a separate message for the kids and veterans.
To the kids: "You are crazy if you don't take advantage of the experienced guys."
To the veterans: "I want you to speak up if something is bothering you, but I want you to go right to the person."
If it seems Torre is favoring the veterans, well, he has more postseason victories than any manager in baseball history (76) thanks mostly to veterans. Or the 200 million dollar payroll. But we can just chalk it up to experience. Whatever.
"There's a lot of passion in this game, and I'll never try to keep guys from expressing themselves," he said.
If it seems Torre is wary of kids, well, his New York Yankees usually traded those kids for championships. Who did they trade? I remember them signing a bunch of guys and playing the kids when they were ready.
"Kids try to be as good as they can be, and that sometimes leads to tunnel vision, where they lose sight of the big picture, which is winning," he said.
But Torre said he will not play favorites, because that would lead to greater divisions.
"You just try to make sense of it all," he said. "You just try to find a way to get through it."
For now, the sense is there, although the memories are still strong.
"Last year, we didn't get it," Kent said. "We just didn't get it." When asked why he didn't use preparation H.
This year, Joe Torre must give it to them.
He's just a card or two.... or dozen short.
Bill Plaschke:
Garciaparra gets third chance with Dodgers (I'm not sure about this "third" chance thing? Nomar had down year last year and he wasn't really that bad. Just no power. )
Veteran will be the team's starting third baseman on opening day after LaRoche injures his thumb and will be out two months. ( he really should just end it here. This is all we need to know)
March 8, 2008
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- He wanted a chance at forgiveness. He has just been granted two months of very public remorse. I don't know of any time that Nomar has asked for forgiveness. I don't know how "very public remorse" qualifies as forgiveness?
He wanted a chance at another contract. He has just been granted two months of very public negotiations. No one has said anything about a contract?
Nomar Garciaparra wanted one more chance to be Nomar Garciaparra. In all truth last year he looked more like Mia Hamm.
Well, that chance is now. Nice to meet you. See you down at third base. Don't blow it. Thank You Bill Plaschke. You are the new Dodgers GM. You are the new guy that determines who plays and who doesn't. Stop writing like you're a part of the organization. You're an embarassment to the english language.
The most enigmatic of Dodgers veterans has suddenly become perhaps the most important, Because he's not Juan Pierre? Garciaparra's being pushed into the lineup as the starting third baseman Friday after his young competition, Andy LaRoche, tore up his thumb. There was a good chance he was going to start anyway.
A starting third baseman who had 59 runs batted in last season. And 93 the year before. Where are you going with this?... What better way to have veteran depth as talented as Nomar?
A starting third baseman who had more errors (10) than homers (seven). Oh boy... this is going ot get intersting.
A starting third baseman who declined so precipitously from the previous season that everybody assumed he was hiding some horrid injury. He had an ops+ of 78. Just a hare better than Juan Pierre.
Nope. At age 34, Garciaparra just had a lousy season. Now, a year later, he wants the Dodgers to believe that he can find himself again. Because they are literally backed into a corner here.
Well, now they have no choice.
The competition with the kid LaRoche ended as quickly as a non-roster catcher named Danny Ardoin, attempting a pickoff against the St. Louis Cardinals, could throw the ball 90 feet and watch it ricochet into LaRoche's right hand. Why didn't ardoin dosomething like this years ago?
First things first. Where's you're crapper? I've got a brown snake playing peekaboo with my but cheeks.
Could Joe Torre please follow the lead of Grady Little and play Russell Martin every single inning of every single game for the rest of his Dodgers career? Oh boy... Bill!... CAN YOU HEAR ME??? BILL!!!..... YOU.... ARE ..... STUPID!!!!....... For those of you who don't know or have just been living under Jessica Simpsons door mat for the last 2 years, Russell Martin is a catcher. Catchers get tired because they squat and stand repreatedly throughout the game. They typically need a break once a week. Russell is young and can play through the pain. Last year he really slowed down at the end of the year. Playing him every single game will literally ruin his career.
Now, for the rest of the story. Maybe it will be quick and painless. Probably not.
It is all about Garciaparra. And has nothing to do with anyone else on the team. Because our season hinges on the play of Nomar. Even if Jeff Kent never returns healthy, Andruw Jones hits .220 with 20 Hr, and Juan Pierre is Juan Pierre, the entire Dodgers season rests on Nomar playing the first two months of the season (likely batting 7th) out of his mind.
As the spring games began, he essentially had the third-base job locked -- Torre's fondness for veterans and all -- but LaRoche had recently been gaining ground. It was probably the other way around. but ok... Chalk that up to Bill just being stupid.
LaRoche is a good kid, a hard worker, listens and learns and was hitting .350 with a homer.
Garciaparra was hitting .375 with his first homer coming earlier in Friday's game.
Oddly, one inning before LaRoche's injury, Garciaparra was struck in the wrist by a pitch and eventually wound up going to the hospital with LaRoche. This is kind of an old story now but ok... I'm not totally unimpressed with your news reporting.
For a couple of hours, Dodgers fans everywhere found themselves cheering for competing X-rays. I live in Alaska. I was sure this meant a Juan Pierre trade for either Joe Crede or Eric Chaves.
Did your horse win? Chances are, it didn't. I know... not even a hint of trading Slappy McPopup.
If you are like many Dodgers fans, you wanted LaRoche to take the job. I did.
Now, he probably won't show up at full strength until the middle of May. Shucks.
Now, maybe you are cheering for the Dodgers to trade for Chicago's Joe Crede or Detroit's Brandon Inge? Having Inge would be a disaster. A Juan Pierre like disaster. Not only is he declining, but his contract is for another 3 years!
Easy. Enough. Ned Colletti needs to save his ammo for an eventual trade for a starting pitcher. Because the 19 starting pitchers we have just isn't enough. Nevermind Clayton Kershaw has just been promoted to the major league spring training roster. Or jason Johnson is finally being Jason Johnson. Esteban has come out of his shell... and of course Jason Schmidt is finally... well, nevermind.
Garciaparra batted .307 with 19 RBIs in the first month of last season. It was his best month of the year.
If this is an issue of his brittle body breaking down, well, he should be fine until LaRoche returns.
Time for a parade. Bill just put together two logical statements back to back. If Nomar can just keep the hot corner warm until Laroche is healthy, it will spell "Good News" for the Dodgers organization. Nomar has been viewed as a supersub for this season until Laroche's injury. As it is, Nomar doesn't necessarily have a heathly streak in him. And playing 3rd isn't his "natural"position. Much has been made, though not by Bill, of Nomar arm angle when throwing from 3rd. He has a strange motion for a third baseman. One similar to a shortstop I presume. Lets hope he can stay healthy until June.
There is also the matter of convincing a six-time All-Star that he has to accept part-time play at a variety of position and pinch-hitting spots. I'm pretty sure he and Torre already talked about it. There should have been no "convincing" at all.
This could be Garciaparra's eventual role with the Dodgers, but he is the competitive sort who would never swallow it unless he was given a fair opportunity to stay in the starting job.
This chance will be fair. This will be as many as two months to show that his skills have not yet disappeared. So, you're basically telling me things I already knew. Garciaparra would be on the bench as a utility infielder / right hand bat off the bench. Basically a talented skinny Oldmendo Saenz.
If he does well, he keeps the job and LaRoche returns to the minor leagues. Until he gets injured... Then we bring up Laroche, when he should have been starting anyway, and Nomar goes down. I'm getting tired of this "veterans play first" thing that Colletti has establisted.
If Garciaparra struggles, he goes quietly to the bench while LaRoche gives the team a burst of early-season energy. Unless he gets injured. Which he already has... So it will be more like midseason energy.
LaRoche's injury simplifies a complicated situation, and gives a popular veteran one last gasp at hometown greatness. I'm going to watch the Dodgers tomorrow just to see if Garciaparra gasps.
That doesn't make it any better, just more workable. Personally I think it is a situation the Dodgers were given too get out of the Juan Pierre debacle. A mixed blassing if you ask me.
That also doesn't change the fact that the Dodgers starting third baseman will be a guy who, among the major leagues' 24 third basemen with at least 425 at-bats last season, ranked 22nd in homers and 20th in RBIs. Good thing we had a center fielder who ranked DEAD LAST in everything.
By the way, what did happen to Garciaparra last season? Maybe it had something to do with having twins. I have a 7 month old and it turned my world up side down.
I've asked and asked and, in typical elusive Garciaparra fashion, he has never quite given me a straight answer. He's a good guy. He's not going to blame anything. Especially if it was his kids.
When pressed about it again earlier this week by Times reporter Dylan Hernandez, Garciaparra talked around the issue as usual before finally saying, "I have an idea. Maybe I'll talk about it one day."
That talk needs to be action. That day is now. The world is hanging by a thread because Nomar wont talk about why had a bad season.
Bill, we all know you have issues writing drama. Mostly because every piece you write is drama. Bad drama! If all you did was give us the facts, showed up early, and stole some bases, you'd get 9 million dollars. wait... wait... wrong argument....
Bill, just stop writing. This is my plea. Stop writing.
Garciaparra gets third chance with Dodgers (I'm not sure about this "third" chance thing? Nomar had down year last year and he wasn't really that bad. Just no power. )
Veteran will be the team's starting third baseman on opening day after LaRoche injures his thumb and will be out two months. ( he really should just end it here. This is all we need to know)
March 8, 2008
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- He wanted a chance at forgiveness. He has just been granted two months of very public remorse. I don't know of any time that Nomar has asked for forgiveness. I don't know how "very public remorse" qualifies as forgiveness?
He wanted a chance at another contract. He has just been granted two months of very public negotiations. No one has said anything about a contract?
Nomar Garciaparra wanted one more chance to be Nomar Garciaparra. In all truth last year he looked more like Mia Hamm.
Well, that chance is now. Nice to meet you. See you down at third base. Don't blow it. Thank You Bill Plaschke. You are the new Dodgers GM. You are the new guy that determines who plays and who doesn't. Stop writing like you're a part of the organization. You're an embarassment to the english language.
The most enigmatic of Dodgers veterans has suddenly become perhaps the most important, Because he's not Juan Pierre? Garciaparra's being pushed into the lineup as the starting third baseman Friday after his young competition, Andy LaRoche, tore up his thumb. There was a good chance he was going to start anyway.
A starting third baseman who had 59 runs batted in last season. And 93 the year before. Where are you going with this?... What better way to have veteran depth as talented as Nomar?
A starting third baseman who had more errors (10) than homers (seven). Oh boy... this is going ot get intersting.
A starting third baseman who declined so precipitously from the previous season that everybody assumed he was hiding some horrid injury. He had an ops+ of 78. Just a hare better than Juan Pierre.
Nope. At age 34, Garciaparra just had a lousy season. Now, a year later, he wants the Dodgers to believe that he can find himself again. Because they are literally backed into a corner here.
Well, now they have no choice.
The competition with the kid LaRoche ended as quickly as a non-roster catcher named Danny Ardoin, attempting a pickoff against the St. Louis Cardinals, could throw the ball 90 feet and watch it ricochet into LaRoche's right hand. Why didn't ardoin dosomething like this years ago?
First things first. Where's you're crapper? I've got a brown snake playing peekaboo with my but cheeks.
Could Joe Torre please follow the lead of Grady Little and play Russell Martin every single inning of every single game for the rest of his Dodgers career? Oh boy... Bill!... CAN YOU HEAR ME??? BILL!!!..... YOU.... ARE ..... STUPID!!!!....... For those of you who don't know or have just been living under Jessica Simpsons door mat for the last 2 years, Russell Martin is a catcher. Catchers get tired because they squat and stand repreatedly throughout the game. They typically need a break once a week. Russell is young and can play through the pain. Last year he really slowed down at the end of the year. Playing him every single game will literally ruin his career.
Now, for the rest of the story. Maybe it will be quick and painless. Probably not.
It is all about Garciaparra. And has nothing to do with anyone else on the team. Because our season hinges on the play of Nomar. Even if Jeff Kent never returns healthy, Andruw Jones hits .220 with 20 Hr, and Juan Pierre is Juan Pierre, the entire Dodgers season rests on Nomar playing the first two months of the season (likely batting 7th) out of his mind.
As the spring games began, he essentially had the third-base job locked -- Torre's fondness for veterans and all -- but LaRoche had recently been gaining ground. It was probably the other way around. but ok... Chalk that up to Bill just being stupid.
LaRoche is a good kid, a hard worker, listens and learns and was hitting .350 with a homer.
Garciaparra was hitting .375 with his first homer coming earlier in Friday's game.
Oddly, one inning before LaRoche's injury, Garciaparra was struck in the wrist by a pitch and eventually wound up going to the hospital with LaRoche. This is kind of an old story now but ok... I'm not totally unimpressed with your news reporting.
For a couple of hours, Dodgers fans everywhere found themselves cheering for competing X-rays. I live in Alaska. I was sure this meant a Juan Pierre trade for either Joe Crede or Eric Chaves.
Did your horse win? Chances are, it didn't. I know... not even a hint of trading Slappy McPopup.
If you are like many Dodgers fans, you wanted LaRoche to take the job. I did.
Now, he probably won't show up at full strength until the middle of May. Shucks.
Now, maybe you are cheering for the Dodgers to trade for Chicago's Joe Crede or Detroit's Brandon Inge? Having Inge would be a disaster. A Juan Pierre like disaster. Not only is he declining, but his contract is for another 3 years!
Easy. Enough. Ned Colletti needs to save his ammo for an eventual trade for a starting pitcher. Because the 19 starting pitchers we have just isn't enough. Nevermind Clayton Kershaw has just been promoted to the major league spring training roster. Or jason Johnson is finally being Jason Johnson. Esteban has come out of his shell... and of course Jason Schmidt is finally... well, nevermind.
Garciaparra batted .307 with 19 RBIs in the first month of last season. It was his best month of the year.
If this is an issue of his brittle body breaking down, well, he should be fine until LaRoche returns.
Time for a parade. Bill just put together two logical statements back to back. If Nomar can just keep the hot corner warm until Laroche is healthy, it will spell "Good News" for the Dodgers organization. Nomar has been viewed as a supersub for this season until Laroche's injury. As it is, Nomar doesn't necessarily have a heathly streak in him. And playing 3rd isn't his "natural"position. Much has been made, though not by Bill, of Nomar arm angle when throwing from 3rd. He has a strange motion for a third baseman. One similar to a shortstop I presume. Lets hope he can stay healthy until June.
There is also the matter of convincing a six-time All-Star that he has to accept part-time play at a variety of position and pinch-hitting spots. I'm pretty sure he and Torre already talked about it. There should have been no "convincing" at all.
This could be Garciaparra's eventual role with the Dodgers, but he is the competitive sort who would never swallow it unless he was given a fair opportunity to stay in the starting job.
This chance will be fair. This will be as many as two months to show that his skills have not yet disappeared. So, you're basically telling me things I already knew. Garciaparra would be on the bench as a utility infielder / right hand bat off the bench. Basically a talented skinny Oldmendo Saenz.
If he does well, he keeps the job and LaRoche returns to the minor leagues. Until he gets injured... Then we bring up Laroche, when he should have been starting anyway, and Nomar goes down. I'm getting tired of this "veterans play first" thing that Colletti has establisted.
If Garciaparra struggles, he goes quietly to the bench while LaRoche gives the team a burst of early-season energy. Unless he gets injured. Which he already has... So it will be more like midseason energy.
LaRoche's injury simplifies a complicated situation, and gives a popular veteran one last gasp at hometown greatness. I'm going to watch the Dodgers tomorrow just to see if Garciaparra gasps.
That doesn't make it any better, just more workable. Personally I think it is a situation the Dodgers were given too get out of the Juan Pierre debacle. A mixed blassing if you ask me.
That also doesn't change the fact that the Dodgers starting third baseman will be a guy who, among the major leagues' 24 third basemen with at least 425 at-bats last season, ranked 22nd in homers and 20th in RBIs. Good thing we had a center fielder who ranked DEAD LAST in everything.
By the way, what did happen to Garciaparra last season? Maybe it had something to do with having twins. I have a 7 month old and it turned my world up side down.
I've asked and asked and, in typical elusive Garciaparra fashion, he has never quite given me a straight answer. He's a good guy. He's not going to blame anything. Especially if it was his kids.
When pressed about it again earlier this week by Times reporter Dylan Hernandez, Garciaparra talked around the issue as usual before finally saying, "I have an idea. Maybe I'll talk about it one day."
That talk needs to be action. That day is now. The world is hanging by a thread because Nomar wont talk about why had a bad season.
Bill, we all know you have issues writing drama. Mostly because every piece you write is drama. Bad drama! If all you did was give us the facts, showed up early, and stole some bases, you'd get 9 million dollars. wait... wait... wrong argument....
Bill, just stop writing. This is my plea. Stop writing.
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