482 from previous thread: Isn't it the same thing?

This is starting to remind me a little of the scary year of 2005. That year, injuries forced us to play a bunch of guys who didn't belong in the majors, because our stud prospects weren't ready.

This year, Jones was terrible, but was replaced by Pierre. Furcal goes down, we get Hu. Kent goes down, we get Maza. God help us if Martin gets hurt.

If Penny picks it up a bit, the starting rotation should be solid all the way through, so there's that.

We get to see Kershaw & Billingsley back to back for the foreseeable future, and we have a chance to drive a nail in the coffin of the Mets' managerial career of Willie Randolph this weekend.

2 - If Martin gets hurt, we're basically toast. But wouldn't that be true of any team that lost four players or more from its starting lineup?

God help us if Martin gets hurt.

Laroche can catch! They considered moving him to catcher about 6 years ago.

Following in Eric's footsteps, I'm willing to wager a customized T-shirt of choice on the whole Andy-will-be-up-by-this-Saturday thing.

When the 1961 Dodgers went four straight games without an XBH, the streak was still alive in the fifth game until the top of the 9th inning when Ron Fairly doubled off of Stu Miller.

Since 1956, the longest stretch of games any team has had without an XBH was six games by the 1967 Yankees.

The 1967 Yankees were, in a word, bad.

I would think that in the Deadball Era some team might have had a longer streak, however, it was easier in that era to get a really cheap double because fans were on the field quite often.

2
You forgot the glass half full stuff:

1) Nomar/LaRoche went down, we got DeWitt!
2) Schmidt stayed down, we got Kershaw!
3) Kent goes down, we eventually get LaRoche!
4) Kuo doesn't go down, we get Kuo!
5) Billingsley becomes the Ace!

6-17 vs teams above .500

Dodgers will be fine once they play the bad teams again.

Arizona is down 0-10 in the 6th. At least we'll be only 3.5 games back.

Frank Finch's lead in the LA Times on August 17, 1961 after the Reds swept the Dodgers with a pair of shutouts at the Coliseum to retake first place.

"The Dodgers, whose firepower suddenly become less than that of the Tibetan navy ..."

Despite that slump, the 1961 Dodgers weren't bad. They finished just four games out of first. And Sandy Koufax struck out 269.

I hope no one bought a Kershaw jersey yet.

From Diamond:

On Friday, Clayton Kershaw will pitch wearing the No. 22, and he'll turn in the No. 54 jersey. If you're wondering what becomes of Mark Sweeney, he's taking No. 21.

I watched that game on tape delay, as it were, and just catching up now. No need to say this really, but that may have been the single most depressing loss I've watched this season. Not that I was feeling confident they'd win, with only that one run up there, but when your starter pitches so lights out as Lowe did, well... anyway, sigh... no need to rehash all that again. Maddening, but I guess not shocking.

Jon says it well above, the bright spot is that the pitching has come around 180 degrees from where it was not that long ago, and with Kershaw in the mix to boot. It's frustrating that they have nothing to show for it this week, but you know the offensive drought won't carry on like this.

And the thing about 2 is that the guys coming up in 2005 were not ever going to be major league ready. The Dodgers have now gotten looks at some really good young players in the batter's box and on the mound (and yes, a few fringe players like Maza, but he hasn't been as terrible as I feared). It's really not quite the same thing. But when you start losing a number of players it's always a concern.

A depressing loss, but every season has its share of nadirs, and I feel like this series may be one of them.

I don't know what are in the plans for Schmidt, but we'll know by the Dodgers' next off day, June 10, right before a series in San Diego. Kershaw is in line (if he doesn't get skipped, which he shouldn't since they still have 6 straight days of games after the off day) to start June 11 or 12 in San Diego, two games that I will be attending.

Getting Kershaw/Billingsley back to back (in line with no switches between now and then) would be awesome.

All that said, in 13 , is it okay if I cry? I think a good cry can always make you feel better. Maybe I'll just whimper and then move on.

Go Lakers!

12 - The second clause of the second sentence is not the one that most around here were hoping for.

Can you have multiple nadirs?

17 - You can have multiple Raders.

If anyone can, the Dodgers can!

Valleys, how's that? Lots of valleys...

Which is better than multiple abysses.

12
The last non-Sweeney to wear #21: Marlon Anderson. If they can DFA the greatest hitter in LA Dodger history, surely they can do the same to the 4th worst!

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/rKan

4 Not necessarily, if the team has decent depth. In 2006, when Navarro went down, we got Martin. When Repko went down, we got Ethier. When Seo was ineffective, we got Billingsley. Carter and Baez were replaced by Broxton and Saito, etc.

I was so bummed out about this loss I forgot to eat dinner! Crumbs. I better do that or I'll get crabby.

Wait, I already am crabby.

Even Tony Jackson answering my question earlier didn't make up for the rest of this crummy day.

Doug Davis beating tonight might get Scherzer back in the dbax rotation.

12 Clayton must have issues with getting the number 22. When I saw him with Jacksonville, the program listed him as number 22, but when he signed an autograph for me, he signed number 36. I asked him about that and all he said was that there was a problem with 22 and he had to wear 36.

Doesn't your 21 sort of counter your 2 ?

DY isn't even on the depth chart at 2B. Is his defense that craptastic?

14 Are you saying it's lined up for Kershaw on the 11th and Billz on the 12th? If so, then if they don't skip anyone on the off day, that will line them up for 17-18 June in Cincinnati! Two games that I will be attending.

25 No. 2006 is the counterpoint to 2005. In '06, we had lots of ML-ready depth to step in for injured/ineffective players. That wasn't true in 2005.

theres so many sox fans in seattle tonight its scary lol..

26 If we aren't going to give him a shot to make at least a couple starts right now with Jones and Kemp out, then why even hold on to him at all? Are we afraid another outfielder and 2B will go down and then we might need him?

27
I messed the days up. Off day is June 9. Kershaw is slated for June 10 (and presumably June 15); Billingsley for June 11 (and presumably June 17).

This is presuming a 5-man rotation of course, meaning you would probably get Kuroda on June 18.

I think that the main problem with the team is that management is trying to have it both ways. On one hand, we have a slew of young players who are still getting their feet wet in the major leagues, and instead of letting them develop--or not develop--naturally, undue pressure is put on them, and potentially foolish decisions are made, because of a win now mentality. The fact that Torre even suggested that Loney might sit against certain tough lefties is in itself a cause for concern--are they really going to tell him, at age 24, that he can't hit lefties? This way of thinking was best represented in the Great Outfield Debate, where the team couldn't decide whether to let the young players play, or go with the proven veteran.

At the same time that the young players are trying to find their way, management acts like we are one player away from being a championship contender. The signing of Jones is the kind of move a team on the verge of a championship makes, not a team filled with young players. Similarly, with Kershaw joining the rotation, we now have a starting staff of two very young pitchers not yet in their prime, and three older pitchers who are moving past theirs. (You can even throw Schmidt into this argument, since he was originally to be part of the rotation from 2007-2009.) What do they do if Kershaw struggles, which he will at some point? Send him down because we cannot afford his on the job training? Or let him pitch through his struggles. And top all this off, we have a manager who was hired so the team could win now, and likely won't be here in 2-3 seasons.

If you add all this up--young players not quite ready, old players past their prime, and a management that cannot commit to one philosophy, you get what we have been for the past year, a .500 team.

31 You had me excited for a minute. I looked at it on Sunday and was pretty sure I would miss Kershaw.

And there's another 1-0 game in the majors tonight!

33 Although I'm seriously considering driving to Detroit if he pitches on the 15th. I've never been to their new stadium and this would give me a great excuse to go back. Anyone else on here in the Detroit area going to that one?

I have a feeling pretty soon Sweeney's number will be 86.

35
A 5 hour drive? That's Icaros-level dedication.

36
I have a feeling pretty soon Sweeney's number will be 86

Most ABs, Sweeney missed it by that much.

36 Will he ever get to don his new #21 jersey?

38 Hopefully his shoe phone will soon be ringing with the bad news.

Looking for some solace, turning my attention away from what the Dodgers have been doing, and trying to find some group of players owned by the Dodgers who can score, I examined the play-by-play of last night's 23-2 win by the Las Vegas 51s at Tucson. I came across something both remarkable and meaningless.

Francisco Lizarraga, the Vegas shortstop, batted in the eighth spot.
--In the first inning, with LV ahead 3-0, he came up with two outs and two on and hit into a force play -- to end the inning.
--In the second, with LV ahead 7-0, he came up with two outs and a runner on third and flied out -- to end the inning.
--In the third, with LV ahead 11-0, he came up with two outs and runners on first and third and hit into a force play -- to end the inning.
--In the fourth, with LV now up 16-0, he came up with two out and a man on second and he . . . singled.
--In the fifth, returning to form, he came up with two outs and the bases empty and struck out swinging. LV led 21-0 at the time.
He made the last out in the first three innings and four of the first five. Sounds like we should call him up.
Vegas lost 12-1 tonight to Tucson.

41
That's pretty cool; Starkian even.

Hopefully LaRoche is playing 2B at least in warmups. He played 3B in the game tonight (and went 0-4).

40
It would be pretty cool if Sweeney were shown the door, then he proceeded to go through a series of 15 or so doors on his way out.

2003 I'm seeing 2003 when I watch this team lately. Superb pitching (and fielding), banjo hitting.

But Beltre started coming out of his funk in the second half, doing well enough to help the team stay in the race, sort of, til the last week. So, if KempLoneyEthierMartinDeWittLaRoche can follow in Beltre's footsteps, it could still be a fun season.

That's all I want, a fun season. I'm not expecting this team to be the best in the NL at this point. Perhaps I'm a heretic, but I do think experience matters, and our young guys will hit better the more they get it.

44 refers to 2 , not 2003 . However, if we get up to that many comments on this thread, I'll look like a prophet.

[2,457,118]

This is fun.

Kent to the DL? If so, then this might be a line-up that would be fun to watch.

7 Pierre
9 Ethier
2 Martin
3 Loney
8 Kemp
5 LaRoche
4 DeWitt
6 Hu
1 Kershaw

Torre's talking about seeing what's ahead for next year. Let these guys play till the All-star break and see what happens.

Is Bluebleeder editing Gurnick's copy?

Torre said Kent was particularly frustrated with this recent injury having appeared to snap out of a prolonged offensive slump with three hits Monday.

"It's frustrating him, in the fact that he knows certainly he's a better hitter," said Torre. "He's getting older, but he's pretty honest. If he doesn't think he can still hit, he certainly would hone up to that fact. I don't see it."

I do appreciate the small dose of sweet reason in that story.

Any Nor Cal DT readers familiar with a place called Duarte's in Pescadero?

48
I'm not but I have been to Pescadero's in Duarte.

48 Yessir! Best darned berry pie I've ever had! And great fish. Pescadero's south of Half Moon Bay, north of Sta Cruz. Really fun old place.

---

Hey, Jon, did you, or anyone else here, watch "Recount" on HBO on Sunday? I just finished it and thought it was very well done (great cast), if certainly, er, nerve wracking.

Ugh, speaking of Vegas, Tucson turned the tables on them tonight, but worse than that... well, don't look at the box score, unless you want to see LaRoche take the collar, and Meloan, Brazoban and Troncoso all shelled. A great day all around for LA and their AAA squad.

50 - Saw it a couple of weeks ago - thought it was quite good.

48 My wife took me there before she was my wife. I think it helped her to become my wife. What fantastic food, although like many good restaurants, the best stuff is before and after the main course. They have incredible soups and desserts. It looks and acts like a diner, but the cuisine is well beyond diner.

I interviewed Danny Strong last summer:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967377.html

Sydney Pollock was supposed to direct Recount but had to pull out because of his illness.

It was clear, bright, sunny, warm, and breezy here in SoCal today.

Kemp had 2 doubles yesterday. What's the deal with no extra basehits the past three games.

56
It was Monday, but good call. Total of 3 doubles Monday (Ethier had the other).

Where did the extra-base streak story originate from? ESPN, WGN, or FSN/KCAL?

So I guess a lie is a dream that didn't come true?

George Brett Jr. is down to .294, I see.

54 Nice. Thanks for linking that. He did an exceptional job distilling all that into something coherent and dramatic. Had no idea Pollack was original director; how sad, but his replacement did a good job.

I better see that hitting gnome back out tomorrow..

59 - and still out hitting James Loney.

Maybe molesting a gnome is the reason we started having all these problems in the first place.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a four game sweep of the Mets by the Dodgers.

I have no fancy analysis to base that prediction on, just a hunch and a dream.

62 Therefore...

If the Dodgers were to ever get back to the world series while Vinny was still broadcasting, for the sale of baseball...would there any way he would broadcast any games, or would it be reserved for fox commentators?

Just thought of this when I saw an old clip form 88 and it looked like vin was commentating for NBC.

65 So tempting. Blah today sucks.

66 sorry..meant for the sake of baseball, also being that I was born in september of that year, I still haven't decided if I'm lucky or a total jinx

66 This is Major League Baseball we're talking about here. If they cared about stuff like that, they never would have awarded the WS contract to Fox in the first place. Vin's chances of calling a Series game on TV are about the same as your or my chances of doing so.

Sad to say, but you're more likely to hear Dane Cook doing the games than Vin Scully.

and sorry maybe I was blacked out or something yesterday, but did anyone note that the LV 51s scored 23 runs yesterday and Andy had 5 RBI's..maybe I totally missed that memo

By Arizona losing tonight, they lost their first series to NL West division foe. They were 20-5 against the NL West and had an 8-0-1 series record prior to this set against the Giants.

66 Vin would do the Dodger radio broadcasts similar to what he did in 2006.

By the way, Kershaw is changing his number to 22 for Friday's game.

In less than a week, the idea of DeWitt and LaRoche playing different positions has gone beyond DT and is now being considered by Torre. Funny how things happen.

70 Everybody noticed that except, presumably, for Ned Colletti, who was seen in his office with his fingers in his ears saying "La la la la... I can't hear you."

72 Or he might point to today's 0 for 4 with no walks.

72 hahaha, well if you are then comparing me to ned colletti, I take offense, and expect the mandatory DT apalogy (I know thats some rule# violation) : )

I still can't get the sick feeling out from this loss, especially since I got a late text from a cub fan saying only "sweep"

gonna sleep and hope for better success in New York and Laker Victory

I was surprised at how watchable Recount was. I expected to shut it off after ten minutes, but I sat through the whole thing. I think Katharine Harris brings out the worst in writers--they think they don't have to do anything to make it funny; I disagree.

I thought Recount was very entertaining. There's a clear bias, and usually that puts me off, but the script was performed so energetically, it didn't matter. Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Tom Wilkinson, Ed Begley Jr., Dennis Leary, and a bunch of character actors playing eee-vil Republicans and West-Wingish Democrats were all great. I particularly liked the creepy guy who advised Kathleen Harris. What a Snidely Whiplash!

It's now been 62 innings since the Dodgers scored more than 1 run in an inning.

Thanks Jon, I assumed I'd find something here this morning to help deal with recent frustrations in Chicago, and this did.

If only Dodger starters could pitch in cold, windy conditions every game.

Course, opposing pitchers would get to pitch in the same conditions, and we just saw how well that works out...

LaRoche at AAA in 2008:

Home: .387/.620/.581/1.201
Away: .196/.348/.333/.681

The Rockies, one year ago today: 25-27
The Yankees, one year ago today: 21-29

80 How many at-bats each?

Or in D4P style:

How many at-bats each...?

31 Home ABs
51 Away ABs

50 The pie looked really good, but I didn't partake.

53 Pretty cool.

I was camping in the Portola Redwoods over the weekend and heard about it through the Park Ranger. It was quite the adventure. There was a D-Backs fan (in Pescadero? I thought that was Giants Country!) sitting at the bar mumbling about my DT T shirt. I also got to meet Jennifer from this season's Top Chef! To top all of that off, they had Anchor Steam on tap. Really cool place.

I also got to see German Krautrock pioneers Cluster play with Ariel Pink at the historic Brookdale Lodge. Overall, probably the best camping trip I've ever been on. The Santa Cruz Mountains rule.

Yikes -- Odalis Perez had a secret root canal yesterday before he pitched.

http://tinyurl.com/6asun3

If Penny struggles early on again I hope they let Kuo take over the game. He seems to have the Mets number.

Rudy Seanez lives ...

http://tinyurl.com/4ox98n

In 5 of the last 6 games we have scored less than 2 runs and lost all 5 of them. Very depressing.

84 50 Thanks for the info. I'll have to make a point to visit Duarte's Tavern next time we are in the area.

And if anyone here is ever in the Pismo Beach area be sure to check out Splash Cafe for the best clam chowder you will ever have.

87
Who would win in a fight between Jim Gott and Rudy Seanez?

My money's on Ditka.

i'm sure someone's brought it up, but why not go with kuo in the 10th? he's the best pitcher you have left in the pen and he's pitched 1 inning since may 18th.

91 If we can't score any more than 1 run per game we might as will let them beat us in the 10th rather than drag it out and lose in the 15th. In case you can't tell I am really bummed by last nights game.

Pierre is slugging .309

91 maybe he's being saved for the Mets

35 Indiana jon, I am going to the Saturday game in Detroit. I went to all 3 games in both Detroit and Cleveland back in 2003 (?) when the Dodgers won all 6. I really liked Comerica even though there were only 8000 fans there.

95
You were present for the infamous Milton Bradley batting glove flap! Paul LoDuca, playing first base and miked up for Fox, told Bradley that if he kept doing that, someone like (Kevin) "Brownie" would put one in his ear.

Luckily you missed Thom Brennaman's holier than thou reaction.

Speaking of Milton Bradley - Texas is treating him well.

.327/.435/.561/.996

And he's played in 48 of 55 games.

It'll be nice when the team can replace the following two players:

Mark Sweeney:
41 Abs
.098/.208/.122

Chin Hu:
88 Abs
.170/.240/.205

Hu's sample size is starting to worry me. 88Abs is getting up into the range of "maybe he cant hit at this level" type of judgement.

98 Or maybe he's not ready.

I for one really enjoyed watching the pitching in this series. As frustrating as our offense has been, the pitching was a joy to watch.

I don't fault Torre for bringing in Saito last night, but after Broxton fanned his 3rd hitter, I couldn't help but think he needed to come out for the 9th.