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Monthly archives: September 2007
Congratulating Chad
2007-09-30 09:43
Dodger Thoughts, July 19: In an interview with NBCSports.com this morning, I was asked which Dodger was most likely to have a big stretch run. And I thought, there's Russell Martin, but you'd expect him to taper a bit under his workload by season's end. There's Rafael Furcal, but we don't know whether his ankle will allow it. There's Nomar Garciaparra, who is too due. There's Matt Kemp and James Loney and Andre Ethier, but they're already doing so well that it's almost impossible for them to kick it up a notch.As it happens, Loney had a monster September and Billingsley got only four outs in his final start of the year Saturday. Still, Billingsley had a 3.12 ERA in the second half this season, capping a fine sophomore year and adding to the promise of a great career. As I like to point out, Billingsley is ahead of Don Sutton at this stage of the game. * * * From my vantage point at Saturday's meaningless game, thanks to great seats passed to me by Dodger Thoughts commenter LAT, Andy LaRoche looked agile at third, and Matt Kemp hustled. Call me crazy. The crowd seemed like it was ready to fall in love with Chin-Lung Hu. He wins people over: first with his name, then with his game. * * * There is no tomorrow: * * * NL Smackdown 89-72 Padres Savor That Aroma
2007-09-29 15:40
The Losers' Dividend
2007-09-28 16:15
I've decided to go with the apostrophe in the headline this year, although it's legit with or without. From September 25, 2005: The last two Dodger games I have attended, a loss and now today's victory, have been the two most pleasant I've been to all season. Both came after the team's sub-.500 status was assured, a condition that seems to have weeded out the high expecters (expectants? expectationers?) who would only be satisfied by a victory. The best that people hope for now is that a baseball game be played. That's all. Throw the first pitch and we've already won. The Dodgers of September 2005 offer no other guarantees, and so we find ourselves at the major league equivalent of Little League, where it's a celebration when someone doesn't fall on his head and it's considered poor form to rain criticism or curb hope. Call it the Losers Dividend. It's a very relaxing, freeing payoff (abetted by the ease of ingress and egress to Dodger Stadium that the smaller crowds provide), enough to make one up and move to Kansas City or Tampa Bay so this can be reinvested and experienced permanently.I'll be at the game Saturday night, catching up with a friend visiting from out of town, a friend I spent a big chunk of the '90s going to Dodger Stadium with. For those three hours, I won't care what place the team is in. Take me out to the ballgame ... * * * Tonight's game: But Did She Move a Trash Can?
2007-09-28 11:26
U.S. soccer goalie Hope Solo is rational but brash. If you've been following the Dodgers over the past week, you know where that's getting her. From Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune: Solo, making her World Cup debut, started the first four games of the tournament, allowing two goals in the first 62 minutes and none in the next 298. But Ryan chose Cup veteran Scurry as goalie for the semifinal based on past performances against Brazil in big games, especially the 2004 Olympic final. When Scurry delivered an effort of much less quality Thursday, it was too much for Solo. "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," Solo said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. "And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. "And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think." It's Jeff Kent's instigational outspokenness - in a young player! Look out below. While U.S. women's soccer team coach Greg Ryan admitted that "in hindsight, you can say maybe the easier decision was to do it the other way," that doesn't mean there won't be punishment for the goalie's Sololoquy. Speaking today at a Shanghai hotel, Ryan made it clear, by implication if not point-blank, that Solo's statements may have cost her not only a start in Sunday's third-place game against Norway but likely jeopardized her status as the U.S. goalie of the future. Ryan, who became head coach in 2005, said reconciliation is possible if "both parties are sincere." He added, in a hardly veiled threat, "One of the great strengths of American teams is the talent pool of our goaltenders." Coach made the wrong decision, frustration should have been handled in-house, tensions rise after embarrassing loss, yada yada yada, can't everyone just be smarter next time? Update: via Bob Timmermann, Solo's apology ... and this Jemele Hill ESPN.com commentary that begins thusly: U.S. women's soccer coach Greg Ryan has pulled off quite a hat trick. His boneheaded decision to bench young goalkeeper Hope Solo for veteran Briana Scurry torpedoed the United States' bid for a third World Cup, ruined Scurry's legacy and created an unnecessary controversy. Way to go, coach. Even Grady Little is wondering what on earth you were thinking. Calming the Waters
2007-09-28 07:30
I originally titled this post "The Youth Movement Fights Back," but perhaps that isn't the best terminology. After all, those of us defending the kids aren't doing so simply because they're young, but because they happen to represent a great chance at building a winning team. It's more like, "Rationality Fights Back." In any case, in the Times today, Grady Little takes the pro-youth platform ... "We know the course we're on and we're going to stay the course," Little said of the Dodgers' commitment to youth. "The course they've been taking since they won a World Series here in 1988 is not working. This course we're on right now, we're going to try to make it work." ... while Ross Newhan graces us with this (forgive the unusually long excerpt): Didn't the younger players basically try to carry the Dodgers down the stretch, such as it was? Didn't the expensive older players, through injury, inconsistency or both, flame out to a large extent? Isn't it a misnomer to even say the Dodgers operated with a full-fledged youth movement in 2007? If this was a full-fledged youth movement, why wasn't James Loney -- who batted .380 in triple A last year and .414 in the spring and whose shoulders are now aching from toting the offensive burden in September -- up from the start rather than being recalled June 10? If this was a full-fledged youth movement, why weren't Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier playing every day, why not endure Andy LaRoche's third base growing pains for the entire summer, and why sign Luis Gonzalez as a free agent or re-sign Nomar Garciaparra? For a full-fledged youth movement, look to Arizona and the team that is about to win National League West, although that kind of first-year magic is rare. Most full-fledged youth movements result in competitive capitulation for a year or longer. With the Dodgers, who were legitimately alive in the division and wild-card races until mid-September, this was transitional integration -- and it might have led to October if some older players had stayed healthy or performed better. ... The Dodgers obviously have bridges to rebuild, management issues, approaches and relationships (from the front office down) to re-examine and resolve, but make no mistake: Although this is a difficult market in which to operate a development camp, the long wait for a nucleus of the current caliber to emerge from what had become a fallow farm system at times justified the 2007 route and demands caution if the club is now thinking it should break up that nucleus. Trade 23-year-old Kemp and his 10 home runs, 10 stolen bases and .331 average in 94 games? Trade 23-year-old Loney and his 14 homers and 63 RBIs in only a half-season? I say, bring on Tony Abreu, Delwyn Young, Clayton Kershaw, Chin-Lung Hu, that much more talent and attitude. I say, forget this semi-youth movement and officially make it full-fledged. Delwyn Young - History Is Calling
2007-09-27 16:13
All-time Los Angeles Dodger Single-Season leaders in OPS+ Minimum Plate Appearances: 2-4 John Hale (1974), 540 Minimum Plate Appearances: 3-8 Pedro Guerrero (1978), 317 Minimum Plate Appearances: 9 Darren Fletcher (1989), 308 Minimum Plate Appearances: 10-14 Cody Ross (2006), 301 Minimum Plate Appearances: 15-17 Tim Bogar (2001), 233 Minimum Plate Appearances: 18-24 Delwyn Young (2007), 213 through Wednesday Minimum Plate Appearances: 25-73 Marlon Anderson (2006), 207 Minimum Plate Appearances: 74-156 Rick Monday (1981), 196 Minimum Plate Appearances: 157-633 Mike Piazza (1997), 186 Minimum Plate Appearances: 634-657 Adrian Beltre (2004), 163 Minimum Plate Appearances: 658-701 Shawn Green (2001), 155 Minimum Plate Appearances: 702-711 Tommy Davis (1962), 148 Minimum Plate Appearances: 712-714 Shawn Green (2000), 118 Minimum Plate Appearances: 715-730 Brett Butler (1991), 114 Minimum Plate Appearances: 731-736 Rafael Furcal (2006), 107 Minimum Plate Appearances: 737 and up Maury Wills (1962), 99 * * * Tonight's game: The Pause That Refreshes: Russell Martin
2007-09-26 17:10
In this kidney stone of a September, let's all take a moment and thank our lucky stars for Russell Martin, winner of the Dodgers' Roy Campanella Award for Most Inspirational Player. Thanks for everything, Russell. * * * Tonight's game: Enough Is Enough
2007-09-26 07:36
Today, I read yet another column scapegoating one of the team's most valuable position players, Matt Kemp, for the Dodgers' fall into fourth place - and going on to suggest that he could be traded, maybe should be traded. The player is being criticized for a bad attitude, even though he is surrounded by veterans with bad attitudes. Different kinds of bad attitudes, perhaps, but bad attitudes nevertheless. The player is being critcized for speaking out in the press, even though he did so in response to veterans speaking out in the press. The player is being criticized for on-field mistakes, even though veterans have repeatedly made the same on-field mistakes. The player is being criticized for perhaps not being willing to learn, even though the veteran that started this whole thing has been one of the most irascible, stubborn people in baseball, whose baserunning in the past two seasons indicates that he hasn't learned nearly as much as he wants us to think. Headline from inside today's Daily Irony: Sweeney hopes to stay on as a voice of experience Yes, Mark Sweeney. The veteran who made the single dumbest baserunning mistake of the year. I have had it with the utter stupidity that has come out of the Dodger clubhouse and local papers this past week. Bill Plaschke writes that Kemp's "power and speed have been negated by silly at-bats and baserunning mistakes." Negated?? Are you serious?? The silly at-bats have already been factored into his on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which currently stand at .364 and .509. Yes, those are the numbers of the irresponsible Kemp. The baserunning mistakes? What have there been, five? Ten? Let's say the latter. Instead of 198 outs in 294 plate appearances, give Kemp 208 outs in 294 plate appearances. Wow, what a change. Negated??? Is third-base coach Rich Donnelly going to be traded in response to the baserunning mistakes on his watch? Mustering the resilience to read to the end of Plaschke's column, I found that the nuance of the suggestion is that Kemp be traded for a veteran in his prime that won't be worried about losing his playing time to Kemp and therefore won't be resistant to mentoring him. Brilliant idea - except the guy you're worried about mentoring won't be around anymore. Here's an idea that apparently isn't good enough for the papers: Why not have the manager and coaches do the damn mentoring? Seriously, what else are they there for? If Grady Little and the coaching staff are too weak to do it, then bring in a drill seargent. Hell, bring in Lou Gossett, Jr. and have him go all Sgt. Foley on Kemp. Apparently not. Apparently, I'm left to understand that the young brats in the Dodger clubhouse won't heed anyone currently in the Dodger organization, but will pay attention to some 28-year-old, $14 million-earning All-Star to be named later? Apparently, this isn't Plaschke's idea, it's the Dodgers' (though none of Plaschke's sources for it are named). This is our plan for the future? Look, I get that every player has his price. There are people out there better than Kemp, and if you can get one of them and keep him, that's great. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a fundamental misunderstanding of what has happened to the Dodgers this year. Throw the babies out with the bathwater. That's the operating strategy that has been suggested over the past week. Amazing. * * * On Tuesday's pregame show, Rick Monday spent five minutes interviewing Rich Donnelly, with both agreeing that chemistry is overrated and winning takes care of it all. Donnelly says he believes in "team math" over "team chemistry" - in other words, "the math of a three-run home run." Today in the Times, Dylan Hernandez writes that according to Little, "results were responsible for the revelation of clubhouse tensions." "I think every team has them," Little told Hernandez. "We had them last year. We made it to postseason. We had them this year. We didn't make it to postseason. You don't hear about a lot of things when you're able to win and you win through them. When you lose, as a result, then they start getting blown away." The Dodgers know that tales of bad chemistry are the effect, not the cause, of the team's losing. So why are so many pretending otherwise? * * * More fun quotes: It's gotten so bad, this almost qualifies as comic relief. From Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise: "The way (Russell Martin) plays, he's bound to be hurt sometime." - Mike Lieberthal * * * Update: The following is from former Dodger Dave Stewart, now an agent: The fact is there are veterans on (the Dodgers) who played adequate at best all season long. They're a year too late and on their way down. Penny's the only veteran starting pitcher the Dodgers could count on. Lowe has more losses than wins, Wolf and Schmidt got injured, and Hendrickson, and Tomko pitched poorly with ERAs of 5.26 and 5.80 respectively. Chad Billingsley on the other hand, who entered the league last season, has been their stopper since he's been in the rotation. Andre Ethier, who also started playing in the big leagues last year, has been a stabling point for them in the outfield. Another young guy, James Loney, has been nothing but good when they've played him. Relief pitcher, Jonathan Broxton, has only pitched 170 career innings so far, but has been very solid this year (80IP, 2.93ERA, 96K, 1.16WHIP). And, this may only be Russell Martin's second season in the majors, but he's already made an All-Star team (.299BA, 18HR, 85RBI, 85R, 21SB). If anything, the Dodgers have waited too long to play their young guys more. Bottom line... I think the way Kent handled this whole situation is complete garbage. I wasn't in that clubhouse, but chances are he didn't say a damn thing all year long and waited until they got eliminated to criticize and cry like a baby. If you have concerns speak up. Don't wait until September to let your frustration come to a head. Furthermore, if a veteran player doesn't want to play a leadership role, that's obviously their choice. However, if you don't want to be a leader then you need to shut up. * * * Update 2: Check out our heroine, Dodger Thoughts reader Molly Knight of ESPN.com, guesting at the Kamenetzky brothers' Blue Notes. What a Difference a Week Makes
2007-09-25 17:21
The last time the Dodgers took the field at home, they were serious National League wild-card contenders. Now, the playoffs merely represent the art of the barely possible. The rookies are under the microscope more than ever from the media's standpoint. Strange, isn't it? Though the season is all but over, though the kids have by numerous measures excelled this season, though they actually deserve the benefit of the doubt because they have the time and ability to improve, the opposite is the case. Dodger fans, I suspect, are mostly of a different mind. There will be those who only recognize the most recognizable, and will be disappointed to see tonight's lineup missing Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Furcal and Luis Gonzalez. But more and more people have been exposed to Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russell Martin and friends, and are tantalized by how close the organization is to recreating the mostly homegrown champs of the 1970s and 1980s. Everyone needs to do their best on the field. That's really the only message that needed to be sent to any player, young and old, in the tumultuous past week. Just do your best on the field. Management needs help, but it doesn't really need the players' help. There are going to be some big decisions coming up for the Dodgers this offseason. Shortsightedness will be a killer. * * * Tonight's game: Two Quick Links
2007-09-25 08:40
Danny McDevitt, who pitched the last game at Ebbets Field for the Dodgers and threw a shutout, gets profiled today in the Times by Jerry Crowe: When the Dodgers played their final game in Brooklyn, on a Tuesday evening 50 years ago Monday, the sadness enshrouding Ebbets Field was so impenetrable that not even a five-hit shutout by Danny McDevitt could shake it. Setting the depressing tone, Vin Scully recalls, was the song selection of organist Gladys Goodding, whose music infused the maudlin mood. "If I remember correctly, the very first song she played was 'My Buddy,' a pretty down song, and it went down from there. All of us in listening to the music were aware of her mental state, and I'm sure she was dipping into the brown bag, and the music kept getting more depressing every third out. ... "Everybody knew they were done," Scully says of the Dodgers' time in Brooklyn. "There wasn't a soul in New York that thought they were coming back." Except one, apparently. McDevitt, a little-known rookie left-hander on a team littered with name stars such as Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges, says he had no idea that game would be the Dodgers' Brooklyn swan song. This may explain how McDevitt, who had made his major league debut only three months earlier, effectively maintained his composure on a gloomy Sept. 24, 1957, pitching the Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 6,702. ... Crowe's story goes on to note that McDevitt later directed anti-poverty programs in the Mississippi Delta and Mobile, Alabama, at one point living next to Byron De La Beckwith, who was later convicted in the Medgar Evers murder. "I'm helping these black kids down there and he's my neighbor," McDevitt says of the Klansman. "I used to go to the backyard and he'd make these wax bullets for his .45. I could outshoot him, so he knew that I was dangerous." * * * Though not about baseball, this Times article breaking down the post-injury treatment of Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, whose life and limbs were in jeopardy following a tackle, might fascinate you as much as it did me. The prognosis for Everett (quadriplegia, breathing from a ventilator) has flipped about 180 degrees, and the medical world is trying to discern what conclusions, if any, it can draw from Everett's treatment. (It helps to have the very best, very quickly - that's for sure.) By Mistake, An Open Chat Thread
2007-09-24 20:03
Crazy Internet. 'Congratulations, Universe - You Win'
2007-09-24 09:30
T.J. Simers is lecturing the Dodgers and their fans about behavior and respect. T.J. Simers. * * * Here's my latest tour of the National League West at SI.com's Fungoes. Also, Dodger Thoughts reader Erin Wilson has a new blog going: Blue Thoughts, though she says she will soon change the name because the blog's scope has expanded beyond the Dodgers. * * * The California Parks Foundation is having a charity online auction on September 27th and one of the items is a Dodger fan package including box seats to a game. Proceeds will help to protect and preserve California's state parks, but bidders do not have to live in California to bid. * * * Update: Mark Whicker of the Register strikes a blow for sanity: The fact that they're 22-29 since then is a disaster that James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin and Chad Billingsley have done their best to prevent. The Dodgers lost because they got one victory out of Jason Schmidt, and because Randy Wolf didn't pitch an inning after July 3, and because Hong-Chih Kuo was gone after June 26, and because Derek Lowe went from 16-8 to 12-13. They lost because Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre, the 1-2 hitters, rank 53rd and 57th in NL on-base percentage, and because Jonathan Broxton began throwing home run balls at game-breaking times, and because Nomar Garciaparra had 24 extra-base hits all season, and because there wasn't enough bench to sustain everything. They did not lose because of their kids — or because of Kent, for that matter, since the second baseman had a scorching July and had a .498 slugging percentage. ... The Dodgers' instability has traditionally spawned a culture of complaint, and that's a problem Little, Ned Colletti and Frank McCourt must fix. It's simple self-preservation. Generally, players get more selfish the older they get and the more often they're traded. Bringing in the Wise Old Veteran only works if the WOV can still play. If he can't, he starts politicking for more innings and that one final contract. You could heat the Yukon with all the deadwood that lives in the Dodgers' room. Youth Movement Bullet Points
2007-09-23 08:54
It does not make sense to blame a youth movement for a team's troubles: One of the phonier damnations of the Dodger farm system accuses the team of failing to produce a bonafide star from the minor leagues, despite the Dodger system being highly rated for years. The flaw in the argument is that until recently, these so-called high rankings for the Dodger farm system did not exist. * * * Today's 1:40 p.m. game: Five, Five, Five, Five, Let's Sing a Song of Five
2007-09-22 16:47
Spat! The Musical
2007-09-22 07:06
Music by Diamond Leung, Al Balderas, Tony Jackson, Dylan Hernandez and T.J. Simers Lyrics by Grady Little, Ned Colletti, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Jeff Kent Call Me Responsible Losing Is For Losers I think he shares that frustration If I wanted to clarify anything The season is over Is there any sense of loss? The Kids Are Alright We're playing hurt Who said he was a leader? The younger guys The older guys That's not just in baseball Having fun is part of the game Call Me Responsible (Interlude) Marriage We've got a lot of people in there It'll be fine We just have a lot of people It's not a good thing In a lot of ways (Building cohesion) has been something Reprise Our 2008 Third Baseman's First Name Should Start With the Letter 'A'
2007-09-21 17:48
The Open Wound: The Day After
2007-09-21 08:30
Okay, I've read Bill Plaschke's Times column on the Jeff Kent quotes three times. And as put off as I was by the way it began, it is worth some scrutiny. It starts off by saying: This youth movement has officially gotten old. I thought it would work, I really did, but I admit today that I am wrong. Right away, you think you know what the column is going to argue. But then, on the third read, I finally focused on a paragraph I was glossing over. A youth movement works only when the veterans are flexible enough to move. The Dodgers veterans, it turns out, were not. To me, despite everything else in the column, this means Plaschke is not blaming the youth movement itself. If you read the whole column, he blames - it's hard to say really. Everybody? He seems to be reassert that the team's direction was correct, but within that framework, everyone could have handled things better. And that's a reasonable hypothesis. Plaschke goes on to assign partial responsibility for this clubhouse combustion to manager Grady Little, a man who earlier this month he said was handling the transition superbly. Now, Plaschke isn't so sure, but goes on to absolve Little by saying he had an impossible task keeping everyone happy. Was it impossible? I want to think not, but I don't know. In any case, I still think having the right players on the field at the right times is more important than keeping them happy in the clubhouse. Not that the latter isn't important at all, it's just less important. Anyway, the point Plaschke seems to be going after is subtle - almost too subtle. Here's how the column ends: Kent's comments show Little has lost a part of the clubhouse he must win back before that can work. As for Kent, he will make noises about retiring, especially since the Dodgers will reduce his playing time next year while playing Tony Abreu. But I've got 9 million reasons he will return, his option having vested on Thursday, not coincidentally the same day he publicly complained. In case he is wondering if the Dodgers bosses were listening, I've got three words for him. They'd better be. What exactly is the message Plaschke wants Dodger leadership to get, and how does he want them to react in tangible terms? Am I being dim? I've read the column four times now, and I still don't really know. Is it, "Do the youth movement, but do it right?" If so, I agree with Plaschke - with the qualifier that I still am not completely sure everyone agrees on what "doing it right" means. Update: The copy editors of the Times didn't quite get the subtlety, either. Their print headline for the column's jump: The youth movement is a flop. And To Think They Wore All Those Funny Costumes Without Complaint ...
2007-09-20 17:00
Jeff Kent had a fine offensive season, but next to him, Takashi Saito and Brad Penny, it was the kids who kept the Dodgers in contention. Apparently, that's not how Kent sees it, according to Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise: According to Kent, one of the problems was the amount of young players on the team. "Especially when you have a lot of them, it's hard to influence a group of them. I don't know why they don't get it - professionalism, how to manufacture runs, how to keep your emotions in it." "I'm angry and disappointed and perplexed and bitter." Dodger Thoughts commenter BHsportsguy offers this reaction: I have heard him say that he thinks there a lot of good young players that can play too (on his Prime Ticket interview). I think the frustration blew up over the last couple of weeks starting in San Francisco and ending here. Probably what set it off was the continued merry-go-around at third base, by now Loney and Kemp have been around, they make some mistakes but those are outweighed by their talent. But my guess is that certain guys felt that Nomar and Gonzo should get most of the time and unless he was tired, Kent probably should play too. All this being said, I think it is a poor choice of words and is something that should have been kept in the clubhouse. I agree that the Dodgers, young and old, probably have lots of steam to let out over the team's late-summer collapse. Still, Dodger rookies have my permission to sit the next hazing ritual out. Update: Ken Gurnick has more at MLB.com: "Right now, I can't give an answer to the future. I'm trying to get through the emotions of the season right now, rather than about the possibility of next year. "We're in a bad spot right now. Elimination time is three games away. Soon, we'll give up the ghost and it's going to be painful. We're close to the end of the season and close to the end of a career for me. I'm running out of time and a lot of kids don't understand that. They haven't been there." When you hear there's a split between the older Dodgers and the younger ones, some of it can get a little personal, especially when somebody's inevitably about to take away your job. But for Kent, it's strictly professional. He remembers being a young player that respected veterans and learned from them and he doesn't see that happening with this generation, or at least the large group of 20-somethings in his clubhouse. "I don't know what it is, but especially when you have a lot of them, it's hard to influence a lot of them," he said. "Don't get me wrong -- we have a lot of good kids. But it's hard to translate experience. I don't know why they don't get it. "It's professionalism. It's manufacturing runs, keeping your emotions in it. Experience can pull you through more than inexperience, experience helps more than inexperience. It's hard to give experience, just like that," Kent said, snapping his fingers. Kent seems to be saying that the kids are talented but misbehaved - kind of like my kids. Perhaps the kids aren't respectful enough; perhaps they aren't suffering enough, feeling enough disappointment. Still, I wonder, considering how well the kids performed, how much they contributed to the cause, why is he pointing the finger only at them? And certainly, has the effort of the core kids been any less at all than that put out by the grownups? Update 2: Al Balderas' version of Kent's quote in the Register: "How do you teach the young kids?" Kent asked. "I don't know if the older guys said that about me when I was a young kid, too. I don't know what it is. Especially when you have a lot of them, it's hard to influence a big group of them. We've got some good kids on this team. Please don't misinterpret my impression of them. But as far as trying to translate experience, I don't know why they don't get it." Update 3: And now Kevin Baxter in the Times: "You can use all your fingers on your hand and point around," he said. "There's many, many things that have happened that are perplexing. Many things that have happened that are curious. Many things that have happened that are unfortunate. "And you can't really put a finger on it. But you can point to it. Those things are disappointing. And frustrating as well." Asked if those curious and perplexing things included Manager Grady Little's daily lineups and the coaching staff's game strategy, Kent responded: "Everything." ... There has been an obvious and growing tension all season between the Dodgers' veterans and youngsters. Publicly, at least, that discord had remained largely under control and Kent is the only one who has spoken out on the record. But as the Dodgers' postseason hopes began to fade, costing both the 39-year-old Kent and 40-year-old Luis Gonzalez what could be their final shot at a second World Series, the tension has bubbled to the surface. Little Things Mean a Lot
2007-09-20 10:41
Okay, here it is. It's nothing definitive, other than to remind people that the possibility that sacking the manager is a frying pan-into-the-fire situation. But for SI.com, a column I've written on Grady Little: The easiest thing to do in baseball is to blame the manager. The hardest thing to do is find someone who can do the job better. * * * Tonight's 12:05 p.m. game: Do We Really Need This Level of Stupidity?
2007-09-20 07:13
Still? Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of 2007 is how little progress the Dodgers have made in reducing their macho, injury-inducing culture. From Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise: (Jonathan) Broxton revealed he's had some soreness in his right arm after appearing in his 80th game -- the fourth-highest total in franchise history. "I won't back down," said Broxton, who surrendered his second homer in as many days and his fifth this month. "I'll go until I get hurt." This, a day after learning that Rafael Furcal's back problems are the result of him compensating for the bum ankle he hasn't rested in months. Sheeeeeesh. The Coolbaugh Tragedy
2007-09-19 20:30
There's a powerful story on the death of Rockies coach Mike Coolbaugh in this week's Sports Illustrated. * * * The Dodgers might take a Spring Training trip to China next year, reports The Associated Press. September 19 Game Chat
2007-09-19 17:17
Kiss Me Deadly
2007-09-18 22:13
There's so much I could say now, though most of it would be obvious and therefore pointless. On a personal note, I do keep thinking about that error Rafael Furcal made 11 days ago in San Francisco. The team was on such a roll before that inadvertent stumble. For me, so much changed from that point on. It's been uphill ever since. And the Dodgers' rivals keep winning. Who better, in a way, than Takashi Saito to give up the crushing home run tonight? Someone whom we couldn't possibly be mad at. Someone who falters so rarely that when he does in a critical moment, one strike away from victory, resignation opens the door for you with utter grace. I'm enough of a sap to only tiptoe in, but I'm not looking back. It's been a schizophrenic year. It's been a year of transition, a year of potential, and it has just gotten away from us. Everyone will have their opinion of what went wrong. It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers assess it. Some mistakes, like a Furcal error or a 1-2 pitch from Saito to Todd Helton, just happen. Some mistakes don't need to be repeated. * * * I've had to come to terms with something recently. I tear up at movies. Like, pretty often, not just Brian's Song often. A movie hits me in a certain way, and I'm hopeless. It's the wife and kids that did it to me, and it's done. And there is no crying in baseball, not for me. There's moaning and groaning and cursing, but no crying. I've invested ... well, I've invested every day since the 2006 season in this 2007 season, and yet nothing in a day like today moved me as much as the movie I saw for work this morning. Completely off guard, I was forced into surreptitiously wiping at my eyes. I used to wonder whether I could ever be as happy when the Dodgers won as I was sad when the Dodgers lost. Not anymore. In all these years since 1988, I've changed. I've learned how to treasure the good in baseball, and fear the worst elsewhere. I'll remember last year's September 18, not this year's. And so even on a day as depressing as today was for the Dodgers, I'm going to keep the faith. I'm still looking forward to when they win. Double Singleheader Day
2007-09-18 11:56
Today's first game (12:05 p.m.): * * * Today's second game (5:35 p.m.): Rafael Furcal is day-to-day (or, for the realists out there, season-to-season) with lower-back tightness, reports Kevin Baxter of the Times. 4+1 ... +1
2007-09-18 06:35
Your Evening Sedative* * * 2006-09-18 22:34:0611:10 p.m. Almost ... Almost ... YES!* * * More memories provided by Ramona Shelburne of the Daily News. * * * Back to the present. Dylan Hernandez of the Times and Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise each have features today on James Loney. Biding Their Time
2007-09-17 20:12
From Al Balderas of the Register: Most of the players who received their September promotions are spending more time trying to find ways to keep themselves busy, fresh, in shape and ready. ... Pitchers Eric Hull and Jonathan Meloan have their own ideas about how to stay ready. Hull plays catch every day and throws regular bullpen sessions. Meloan goes out to the bullpen hours before each game and works on his windup and delivery, without throwing the ball. "It's just something I do every day," Meloan said. "I like to get on the mound and do some reps so that if I do get the call, I feel like I can get ready faster. "If I've already got a feel for it, I just have to get my arm loose. I'll throw a few pitches and I'm ready to go. I feel like if I don't do that, I've got to stay on the mound and find it (the feel). I don't want to be doing that when it's game time. Also I'm not pitching a lot right now so I'm just trying to stay fresh and know how it feels to throw from the mound." Hull added, "You do need to face hitters to stay completely fresh and to get better, but you can work on stuff without hitters in there too." The Dodgers bullpen and dugout might be at standing-room-only levels this time of year, but Little can be sure his seldom-used players will be ready to answer the call — whenever it might come. Gaping Generation Gap
2007-09-17 14:25
The team's top two position players and top starting pitcher in September are 23 or younger. And so, of course, MLB.com gives us the following headline: "Dodgers rely on vets in stretch run" And, of course, Roberto Hernandez (eight outs recorded this month) gets mentioned in the second paragraph, which asks the question, "So what will prevent this team from fading into obscurity as the season winds down?" And, of course, Luis Gonzalez is there in the fourth paragraph to make like Clarissa and explain it all: "Playing long enough, you can see when the rope is slipping away. Guys start pressing and trying to do too much," said Gonzalez, who was eliminated from the playoffs last season in September as a member of the D-backs. "That's where you hope that experience that guys have takes over, because those guys have been there before and learned from it. That's what carries a team down the stretch." And, of course, though the contributions of less experienced players are mentioned, Hernandez is able to put it all in perspective: "This is where veteran guys like Nomar, Jeff Kent and Gonzalez step up and lead by example," said veteran reliever Hernandez, who has been to the playoffs four times in his career. "The good thing about the young guys is that they're hungry. Those kids are excited and this is their first time experiencing this. You can feel the energy." Indeed, as the article goes on to concede, "The youngsters have provided a boost as well." Is it not safe to say that the Dodgers wouldn't even have a stretch run to contemplate if not, first and foremost, for the September efforts of first- and second-year players Kemp, Loney, Billingsley and Takashi Saito? There's actually a story here. It's not that some of the veterans aren't helping, but it's that the kids are clearly leading the way. But why report actual news when you can pass along a cliche? Arizona's Latest Magic Number: 58
2007-09-17 09:19
At Fungoes on SI.com, I almost went as far as to hand the Arizona Diamondbacks their playoff spot. Those Arizona Diamondbacks are wacky, but they're about to have the last laugh.The fact is, any NL team is capable of a 12-game collapse, so I'm not really assuming the Diamondbacks are in - just that the odds are with 'em. * * * Quick thought about Esteban Loaiza: It's entirely possible that he's going through the dead-arm period common to pitchers in April, and that he'll make a triumphant return to adequacy. It also seems almost certain that unless he were truly injured, he is going to get his next start, because it's a little too soon for Dodger general manager Ned Colletti to concede a problem in his $8 million acquisition. But the Dodgers shouldn't act as if there are no alternatives to Loaiza. Neither Eric Stults nor D.J. Houlton has pitched as poorly for the Dodgers this year as Loaiza in his past two starts, and the pair could easily combine for six innings. Update: On the eve of the anniversary of the 4+1 game - or as True Blue L.A. calls it, Sean's game - a must-read remembrance. Killing Two Myths
2007-09-16 23:36
The last thing I expected to read in the Ned Colletti cure-all era was that the Dodger clubhouse has poor chemistry, but Paul Oberjuerge of the San Bernadino Sun levies the charge: Watch this team interact. On the field and off. Ask people who spend time with them on a daily basis. And the analysis is pretty much the same. The Dodgers have an unhappy clubhouse. They are a team in only one sense: They wear the same uniform. (At least until the next clubhouse-churning trade.) The Dodgers' 2007 motto might as well be "All for one and none for all." It's every man for himself. All you need do is spend a few hours in the dismal and dreary cellblock that is the Dodgers clubhouse to pick up the energy-sapping vibe. ... And if they all wanted to talk about it, not that they really do, serious issues of language arise in a clubhouse where English, Spanish, Japanese and Cantonese are native tongues. And, anyway, perhaps all they might agree on is this: They have little respect for management. Oberjuerge moves on from this to question whether team chemistry actually leads to more victories, which of course, is eminently worth questioning. It's one of the oldest axioms of Dodger Thoughts: Winning breeds chemistry. Despite Colletti's reputation for emphasizing chemistry and character, we've all seen him bring in players who strike you as something less than Mother Theresa - yet, he's gotten about a hundredth of the attention in this area that his predecessor received. Still, I can't say I'm not surprised by the piece - a pretty broad broadside it be. Widespread animus, widespread disrespect for the bosses? We'll see if denials or confirmations follow. Update: Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise disagrees with the notion that the Dodger clubhouse is unhappy: A recent article claiming the Dodgers have an unhappy clubhouse has come to my attention. That same article also claims that Cantonese is one of the numerous languages spoken in that unhappy clubhouse. Since I'm the only Cantonese speaker in that unhappy clubhouse, I wonder if I've said something to myself out loud that would lead someone to believe that the clubhouse would be unhappy. Probably not because I don't believe it to be true. Then again, what do I know? I'm a writer who actually walks through that unhappy clubhouse and talks to the players nearly every day. I hear Spanish-speaking players unhappily joking around with English-speaking players. Some of them even speak both languages! I see Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese players unhappily playing cards and speaking English with Dominican players and American players. I've seen a Japanese closer communicate through the universal language of showing off a sword. I've seen Spanish-speaking players try their hand at the Japanese puzzle Sudoku. * * * Meanwhile, Sam Anderson in New York Magazine has had enough of Brooklynites mourning the departure of the Dodgers to Los Angeles: The story of the Brooklyn Dodgers is very likely the most mythologized nostalgia bath in the entire 400-year history of New York. The official version—a legend you've probably fallen asleep to during late-night documentaries or wondered vaguely about while barreling down the Jackie Robinson Parkway—goes roughly like this. A hundred years ago, Brooklyn was the meltiest part of the New York melting pot. In Bay Ridge and Crown Heights and Midwood, mustachioed fathers with giant Old-World biceps gratefully worked themselves to death so their newly American kids could play stickball and mainline egg creams. The only force strong enough to unite all of the fractured cultures was baseball ... This is the origin myth of modern Brooklyn, a story hammered as deep into the borough's collective psyche as the Odyssey to the ancient Greeks': The Dodgers united a multicultural Eden, but O'Money ate Southern California's forbidden fruit, and the borough fell into darkness. My first instinct as a skeptical modern inheritor of this legend is to punch it full of revisionist holes. The Dodger myth strikes me as one of the more self-indulgent stories a generation has ever cooked up in ahistorical homage to itself—an evergreen excuse for Manhattan's power elite to wax nostalgic about the colorful poverty of their Brooklyn childhoods. The Dodgers have been so persistently overinvested with meaning—so puffed up on lofty flights of jock metaphysics—that they're not even a baseball team anymore. They're every big idea you've ever heard of: Equality, Democracy, Community, America. Fortunately, revisionism turns out to be fairly easy. ... Be Quick, But Don't Hurry
2007-09-16 11:35
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
2007-09-15 11:49
Make Hay While the Sun Shines
2007-09-14 18:43
2008 vs. 1974
2007-09-14 12:30
In 1973, the Dodgers suffered a profoundly disappointing September collapse, not completely different from the bad August stretch the 2007 team had. The '73 Dodgers lost nine consective games and 11 of 12 from August 31 to September 12 to blow a four-game lead in the National League West. It was a year in which Davey Lopes and Ron Cey played their first full seasons as starters, and Bill Russell his second. Steve Garvey finalized his transition to first base. In 1974, the core of the 1970s Dodgers began playing together in earnest, winning 102 games and the National League pennant. Except for center fielder Jimmy Wynn, the entire starting lineup consisted of homegrown talent. Here's how the '74 Dodgers compare to the prospective 2008 Dodgers.
Statistics courtesy of Baseball Prospectus and Baseball-Reference.com. Comments: First base: Loney has been out of his mind lately, but he's certainly within the ballpark of the '74 NL MVP. Second base: The two look even on paper, but Kent will be 11 years older than the '74 Lopes. Shortstop: Although Furcal appears to lose this battle, there's little reason to think he won't be better in '08 than the'74 Russell. Third base: Huge advantage for the '74 Dodgers assuming that Garciaparra gets the Opening Day call, but Ned Colletti might make a move here. Left field: Not much potential difference here. Center field: Another huge advantage for '74. Right field: Kemp will need to stay on his game to keep ahead of Crawford, who was in his prime. Pitching: The 2008 Dodger pitching looks potentially superior, but keep in mind that Dodger starters in '74 pitched a higher quantity of innings. I could take this analysis a lot deeper, but all in all, the 2008 Dodgers really just need a toy cannon to emerge. Work
2007-09-14 09:03
Whether we're talking about the final 16 games of the 2007 season or the first 162 of the 2008 season, Andy LaRoche is going to have to convince the Dodgers of his resiliency – physically and mentally From Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise: LaRoche joked on his 24th birthday (Thursday) that he felt old. The way his bad back has acted up of late would seem to support that notion. The third baseman has resumed taking ground balls. "I don't feel anything at all," he said. The Dodgers are a team that will use any excuse, real or invented, to reduce the playing time of any player not named Juan. Baseball doesn't offer many days off, so I understand the whole lying around thing, but to not muster the energy for half an hour of physical effort, with so much on the line for himself and the team, is worthy of some concern. If there is work to be done at this time of year and you can do it, you should do it. LaRoche made a mistake. Moving forward, the key question is whether the Dodgers will compound that mistake. If LaRoche does do the work moving forward, if he makes amends, how quickly will the team respond by getting him back in the lineup? Will they be slow to use him, then regret not going to him sooner – the same regrets they should have with a number of younger players whom we were told earlier this year, incorrectly, weren't ready. This goes back to the fundamental question I asked earlier this month, which I still don't think has been answered: Is the way the Dodgers limit the playing time of their young players at the outset of their careers an actual contributor to their ultimate success? Or are the Dodgers just missing out on opportunities to cash in on their prospect fortune?Please let me emphasize that no one is saying that LaRoche is the second coming of Alex Rodriguez. The point right now, with a playoff spot still within reach but an uphill fight, is nothing more than to get the best available players on the field, and even though LaRoche has looked overeager at times at the plate, there's still nothing to indicate that he isn't the best option at third base on the current Dodger roster. In his brief appearances, LaRoche has looked less overmatched on the field than Nomar Garciaparra, Tony Abreu, Shea Hillenbrand and Ramon Martinez, and for the next 16 games, that's all that matters. LaRoche has to do his part, and the Dodgers have to do theirs. And then, either way, we'll start all over after the season. * * * It's exciting to see the Dodgers get off the mat. But this weekend, they play a first-place team while the Padres play a last-place team. The pitching matchups might actually favor the Dodgers, but you know that looking good on paper doesn't mean much in any given moment. You need to perform, and you need luck. Just Like Last Time, Only Better
2007-09-13 16:40
Countdown to 81 wins: just five more. Tonight's game: * * * Update: For those not watching in the bottom of the third inning, with James Loney on second and Jeff Kent on first and one out, Luis Gonzalez singled to left-center field. Scott Hairston had to range to his left to get the ball, meaning that Loney, even with his slowness, could score easily. However, it was also clear that Kent should not be trying to go from first to third. Nevertheless, there was Kent, stumbling toward third, ready to kill the inning for no reason. Only a terrible throw from Hairston enabled Kent to reach third base safely. He would have been out by 15 feet otherwise. On the next play, Kent was thrown out trying to score on a fly ball to short center field by Russell Martin. Mike Cameron broke the wrong way on the ball, thus enticing Kent to go, but still threw him out easily. Even on a night in which the Dodgers have started out wonderfully, leading 4-0 against Greg Maddux, we can't escape that there is something simply fundamentally wrong about how they run the bases. It is not just Matt Kemp. It permeates the entire club. The coaches and the baserunners just can't seem to grasp the obvious. Meanwhile, James Loney's career OPS as I write this, at age 23 and after 414 career plate appearances, is .904. Astonishing. Update 2: In the bottom of the fourth, Kemp was on second base when David Wells singled. Kemp was looking down to make sure he touched third base and ran through Rich Donnelly's proper stop sign, only to jam on the brakes and scramble back to third. Kemp is no saint on the bases, to be sure. But he fits right in. But the hit by Wells is the 10th off Greg Maddux in 3 1/3 innings, and he is knocked out of the game. Update 3: .907! LaRoche, Lowe, DeJesus All Healing
2007-09-12 18:59
Derek Lowe will pitch no sooner than Saturday, according to The Associated Press. But there is doubt as to whether he could make the start, leaving open the possibility of the return of Eric Stults or some other audible. And finally, an answer on Andy LaRoche - and new news of an injury to a minor leaguer - from Tony Jackson of the Daily News: LaRoche is limited to pinch hitting because his chronic back problem has become an issue again. LaRoche is unable to bend over to field ground balls and thus hasn't appeared in a game in a week. "It's not serious," (Dodger manager Grady) Little said. "He seems to be OK swinging a bat, but fielding ground balls is a little bit of a bother right now, so it will probably be a couple of days before he is available (defensively)." Meanwhile, shortstop prospect Ivan DeJesus Jr. was at Dodger Stadium for a visit with friend and fellow Puerto Rican Ramon Martinez, but DeJesus had a bandage on his left wrist. He underwent surgery last week to repair torn ligaments he suffered when his hand collided with a sliding baserunner's helmet late in the season at Single-A Inland Empire. "I was going to go to (the Arizona Fall League), but now I'm just going to rest and let this heal," DeJesus said. "I want to be 100 percent and ready for spring training." DeJesus, 20, was the Dodgers' second-round pick in the 2005 amateur draft. He had a solid year with the 66ers, batting .287 with 22 doubles, 52 RBI and a .371 on-base percentage, and could be in line for an invitation to big-league camp next spring. Let's Try a Different Approach and See What Happens
2007-09-12 17:35
50 Awaits
2007-09-12 14:51
The Dodgers have begun preparing for next year's 50th anniversary celebration of the team's first season in Los Angeles. Click the link for lots of details. Of course, it will also be the 20th anniversary of the team's last World Series title, unless there's a nifty comeback in the next 18 days. * * * Derek Lowe will miss tonight's start as a result of Tuesday's pregame hand injury, according to Inside the Dodgers. Chad Billingsley will take the mound on four days' rest. Andy LaRoche has been disappeared (figuratively) without explanation. Tony Abreu will start at third base. Sunday, September 30, Bottom of the Fourth
2007-09-11 23:00
Hu, SS A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes
2007-09-11 17:40
A Happier 9/11
2007-09-11 01:32
Originally published September 11, 2003 Twenty years ago today, Dodger Stadium hosted its greatest game. It began swathed in bright blue skies and triple-digit temperatures. When it ended, 228 crazy brilliant minutes later, shadows palmed most of the playing field, and every Dodger fan who witnessed the spectacle found themselves near joyous collapse. The game was between the Dodgers of Steve Sax and Pedro Guerrero, of Greg Brock and Mike Marshall ... and the Braves of Dale Murphy, of Bruce Benedict, of Brad Komminsk. In the end, however, it came down to one man. A rookie named R.J. Reynolds.
So Weird: Racing for Home
2007-09-10 20:05
For fun on an off day, here's a clip from the opening scene of an episode that I wrote for the Disney Channel series So Weird back in the late 1990s. In this scene, you'll see a fairly accurate depiction of the most unusual play I ever witnessed in person at a baseball game. (The real-life version was the final play of a 1989 high school playoff game I covered in Palo Alto.) * * * At U.S.S. Mariner, David Cameron assesses Seattle's Adrian Beltre signing, nearly three years later: Obviously, that first year was rough. He couldn't have started his Mariner career any worse. His first two months in Seattle, he received 199 at-bats and hit a staggeringly terrible .236/.264/.357. Since most of baseball was already convinced that his 2004 season was a massive fluke, the early struggles simply fit into the already written narrative about a bad player who had a contract year and was now one of the worst free agent signings in baseball history. The story of the Adrian Beltre contract was written two months into a five year deal, and in general, the national perception of the contract hasn't changed much at all, as Beltre is often referred to as overpaid or disappointing. MLB.tv users will remember the last Rangers series in Texas for Tom Grieve's constant whipping of Beltre in particular. Well, that s |