History in the making
If you’re sitting in your office right now, wondering why you’re at work and not at Dodger Stadium, I don’t blame you. Suddenly you feel a bit of a cold coming on and you walk, sniffling and coughing, into your bosses’ office and tell them that you’re not feeling well and that you’ll have to go home for the day. Somehow, on your way home, you happen to pass Elysian Park Ave. and before you know it, you’re watching history in the making from the reserved level or pavilions.
Does this sort of thing happen every time we have a day game? I don’t think I really have to answer that question.
Here’s the lineup:
Lofton, CF
Lugo, SS (he’s now played 2B, 3B, SS, LF and CF in two weeks)
Nomar, 1B
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Betemit, 3B
Hall, C
Hendrickson, P (going for his fourth good start in a row)
I just grabbed the lineup card from last night’s game for our archives. If you haven’t seen the latest issue of ESPN the Magazine, there’s a great two-page spread about the incredible historical stuff the Dodgers have saved over the years. This is how stuff like that winds up in the archives. Something big happens and someone in the offices snaps a photo, grabs an item or asks the ticket office for some ticket stock. Hopefully it’ll be on display for all of you to see sometime soon at Dodger Stadium. And then there’s Al LaMacchia, who has witnessed history from a scout’s perspective.
Here are a few game notes to keep people updated:
THREE WEEKS AGO TODAY – On July 26, the Dodgers were in last place, a season-high 7.5 games out of first. In the past 20 days, they have gained 11.0 games in the NL West standings, having won six straight and 17 of their last 18 games. That stretch was preceded by a 1-13 stretch. The Dodgers have either had the division lead or shared it for 23 days this season.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1899 – In the modern era (since 1900), the Dodgers have never had an 18-game span like their current one. The last time they went 17-1 over 18 games was in May/June, 1899 when they were still called the Superbas and won 20 of 21 games. In fact, over the past 20 years, the only NL team to win 17 of 18 games was the 1986 Mets, who went on to win a World Championship. Source: Elias Sports Bureau
TO BE 18 AGAIN – During the last 18 games, the Dodgers have hit .297 as a team (181-for-610) with 99 runs scored for an average of 5.5 runs per game. They’ve been paced by Kenny Lofton (.429), Nomar Garciaparra (.350), Rafael Furcal (.347, 12 RBI) and Andre Ethier (.338, 12 RBI). During those 18 games, the pitching staff has a 2.37 ERA (41 ER/156.0 IP) with 136 strikeouts and 50 walks. Leading the way has been Brad Penny (3-0, 3.15), Derek Lowe (3-1, 2.93), Jonathan Broxton (0 ER/10.0 IP) and Greg Maddux (1-0, 0.90 ERA).
LOFTY NUMBERS – Since the start of the 2005 season, only two players in baseball have a better average than Kenny Lofton among big leaguers with 600 or more plate appearances. Albert Pujols (.331) and Miguel Cabrera (.328) are just above Lofton (.326). During that span, Lofton has stolen 43 bases and has been caught just six times for an 88 percent success rate. He also has a .381 on-base percentage since the start of last year.
HE’S ONE HALL OF AN INFLUENCE – Since Greg Maddux joined the Dodgers, the team’s ERA is 2.13 (32 ER/135.0 IP). Prior to that, the team’s ERA was 4.45 (465 ER/941.0 IP). Overall, the Dodger pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA this year, fourth-best in the National League.
Inside the Dodgers 
Nice post. Tonites game should be a little tougher than the last 5 vs. the Fish. Johnson has been red hot lately. Drew should be batting 6th. Move the E-kid to clean-up.
You mean this afternoon game since this is a rare afternoon game for us on a Wednesday anyway
Heh, I knew and predicted we’d see Lugo give Raffy a much deserved breather and Hall would start. Kinda suprised both Nomar and Kent are in there on such short rest from last night.
josh, don’t forget the game Lugo played in right field as well. i think he was told he would play every position but pitcher and catcher. 1st base is the only one left, but i’m sure we can make that happen in an extra inning game.
As Josh is running around and preparing things, I’ll put out my pregame comments:
1) Dontrelle Willis is not the best pitcher on the Marlins this year: Josh Johnson is. Moved from the bullpen to the Rotation in May, he’s been 9-4 with a 2.69 ERA as a starter. With this Marlins team. The Dodgers just have to do what they did to him before, though, and get on base a lot really early.
2) Hendrickson has one thing going for him in Dodger Stadium – he is not prone to the long ball. But he doesn’t get an advantage out of the mound; his K/BB and WHIP are much higher at home than on the road. With the team as hot as it is, he has a good shot at his first Dodger Stadium win of the year today.
3) Kenny Lofton, leading off today, will get a good oppurtunity to move in on Dummy Hoy on the all-time steals list. I’d like to see Kenny surpass that Dummy.
4) Julio Lugo still has yet to homer as a Dodger, and the same is true for Toby Hall. The two combined for 20 in Tampa, and are overdue for one in LA.
5) A check of weather.com for the 90012 zip code reveals it’s currently 75 and will get up to about 80, with a light breeze going. So officially, it’s a beautiful day for a ballgame.
Hendrickson has a good chance to get a W in white today … though is is a bit of a B-team, it is not all that much of one 😀
The offense have been steadily declining over the last 10 or so – time for them to crank ahead of the opposition’s pitching again!
Tough assignment this afternoon, the boys will have to play some good ball to keep this one rolling.
Go Dodgers!
Toni, I think that what he mean instead of CF. He hasn’t played CF yet.
Hendrickson in the rotation? Such a bad idea. Man, he looks lost today. That bases-clearing double was no surprise. Just because it is thought he’d be bad out of the bullpen, they keep him in the rotation? We have Dessens coming off the DL with no spot to go. I say put Hendrickson on waivers – no spot for him right now.
*sigh*
Oops, forgot to add – Bills gets threatened with losing his spot, but Hendrickson doesn’t? I know Hendrickson had some good outings of late, but man, the guy just has no stuff. He only has luck 😉
Hendrickson is a joke. Walks the bases loaded right out of the gate. He needs to learn how to throw a strike. Send his sorry %$*# back to the minors.
Well, you can’t expect the streak to run forever, but giving it up the way Hendrickson is doing it is a crying shame. The guy came from a “loser”, and he is obviously a “LOSER”. I personally don’t ever want to see him in a Dodger uniform again, be it as a starter, reliever, or batboy. That Seo/ Hendrickson, etc. trade is one that Colletti needs to correct yet, and the time is not too soon.
And here I thought it was just me. I mean, Bills was being threatened to be removed from the rotation, yet in the same time he has four wins to Hendrickson’s one. Really, Hendrickson hasn’t shown me a thing since he came up. He’s always fighting his control, can’t keep his pitch count down and walks the whole team, including the opposing pitchers. He would be the first one I’d consider sitting down… or is it simply the fact that he’s the only left-hander we have in the rotation? I just don’t get it… but I’d take Sele or Tomko over this knucklehead any day.
Seo is 1-5 with an ERA over 4 since the trade.
Not like he’d help the cause if we’d kept him.
Another thing: could it also be a combination of the one constant that has made the Dodgers’ pitching staff one of the best in the league, that of Russell Martin’s presence behind the plate, having to be removed every five days when Hendrickson pitches so that Hall can be pacified? Obviously something isn’t working.
We just got two back and Hendrickson’s got out of the second in order. Please, for the love of Pete!! Hendrickson!! Show me something!! Can you hold them to four???
After today, I’m expecting Aaron Sele’s return to the starting rotation.
Hendrickson is a joke. Bases loaded again? I hope Sele cleans up this mess. C’mon, their threatening Chad when this NBA reject has had one quality start since the trade? It makes no sense.
I don’t think it will happen. Hendrickson seems to be the new Carter/Hamulack blind spot. Yet we are ripping him after just this one by-numbers bad start, but looking at him one can see there’s nothing. I used to think Sele had nothing. Ha. Hendrickson made me see the error of my ways 😀
Looking at him today, someone said “He can’t play.” That’s true. Can’t pitch, can’t bat ( 9 strikeouts in 13 appearances ) can’t field ( almost threw away that ball to second after bobbling it, didn’t get the out to first on the little bobbler ).
Yet, we’re stuck with him. Whoo-hoo ( not )
Thank you Sele. Now, keep us in the game. Johnson doesn’t seem to be on top of his game either. Hopefully the offense can get us another W.
I think Jae Seo grew to 6’10” ane became left handed.
GAME
SET
MATCH
well at least we didn’t have an 18 game winning streak riding on that fool’s shoulders.
don’t sell the farm quite yet. if we are going to do anything in the playoffs, we have to win these come-from-behinders.
**** you Furcal and Lofton!!
I agree randyisrad… They still got a big chance. C’mon they’re the hottest team in baseball. They need to show the rest of the baseball world that they are a legitimate force.
with 1 out and 2 on, I don’t know why not to go with Olmedo to pinch hit. Sure he does better against lefties, but he can still knock one over the fence now and then.
Hendrickson has had one start with a game score better than 50, and one even 50. But on the upside, now we know we don’t have to demote James Loney when Dessens gets back.
now it’s over.
stupid Cabrara
Hendrickson is not going anywhere, I’m sure. ( though I think we should not try to drag him along )
Only good thing about this game is maybe the smoke and mirrors tricks Sele and Carrara have been sneking by on is pretty much cleared up- those guys are batting practice/bound to cost us games- lets clear the deck, get them off the 25 man roster, and start over Friday.
Carrara and Hendrickson both stink! At least it gives Ned options when Dessens comes off the DL.
Everyone’s been trying to hit a home run today instead of trying to just get on base. The swings are out of wack and we should have had a couple more runs in, although it doesn’t look like it would have mattered anyway.
Best wishes to Cody Ross, don’t wanna see nobody getting hurt playing this game, especially a former Dodger.
Carrara can still be OK, but he’s been pitching in three or so games in a row now. He isn’t up to that anymore, but a scoreless inning every other day I think he can still manage.
Cody’s X-rays were negative, so he’s day to day.
Why would Grady Little pinch-hit for Aaron Sele so early in the game. Sele had great stuff for his inning of work. He could have given at lease four or five innings.
Way to go Hendrickson. You just messed up the bullpen and the rotation all in one start.
When was the last time anyone out of the bullpen pitched more than two innings?
They used to call that “middle-relief”.
Just stick this one in your back pocket and move on. This happens to all teams, forget it and move on. Three big games this weekend in S.F! This game today will be one we look back on and laugh about later on this season. It’s one game! Every one breathe and calm down.
I agree with alex41592, games like this happen! It is a bit of a sorry sight to see the offense so flat today, but you do get the occasional blowout.
Chin up Dodgers, Friday is another day.
And a boo-hiss for Hendrickson, the only guy not belonging on the 25-man roster 😀
Just home from work and I see Giovanni’s ( a favorite of mine for some reason ) era has exploded. Looks like a bad day for the pitchers involved all around. O well. Not the greatest way to end the home stand, but great things have happened in the last 3 weeks. I see some talk in the media about play offs, but I personally feel it’s to early for that. Time to put this one in the rear view mirror, get on the plane and knuckle down in SF and SD. Especially after today’s effort. Wonder what this could mean for the rotation. Dessens can start but he’s probably more valuable out of the pen.
All good things come to an end so some new good things can start. 15-4 , 1-0 both the same in the loss column or the win column. What is important is what we do tomorrow. We won’t sweep every series but should aim to win every series. A sweep is a bonus. Big series coming up. Go Dodgers.
Ooops… my bad. I fast-forwarded through Sele’s the home run that he gave up. I still think Hendrickson’s not the answer for fifth spot.
Said it before and I’ll say it again Gio is a 1 inning pitcher and Grady keeps leaving him for 2.Maybe thats why he never pitched well anywhere else.I think all or all but 1 run he has allowed is in the second inning of relief. Oh well Reality check for the team. Go slam down a few Beers and Hit the road tomorrow wake up Friday ready for the rest of the season. Go get the oldmen up north Go Blue.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take Hendrickson out of the rotation!!!
why don’t we use Hendy on the road & Sele at home??
ps we’ll get ’em tomorrow.
For what its worth I think we should leave Hendrickson in the rotation if the alternative is Sele. Aarons ERA this year is starting to resemble the Nasdaq in the late 9os… but then again so is Hendrickson’s… Truth of the matter is both guys are borderline (as are many # 5 starters around the league) and both are, after good starts to the year, trending back into the 5 ERA range their career numbers would suggest we should expect (gee- go figure). So it’s probably a wash. Given that- I give the nudge to Hendrickson b/c he is the only lefty in the rotation and may get a little deeper into games.
Bring back the 4 mans rotation.
I think we should call up Scott Elbert or Hong-Chih Kuo back up and send Hendrickson down. Elbert and Kuo k/bb and k/9 ratio is way better than Hendrickson anyway. I think it worth a shot to have 2 rookies starting pitcher in your rotation. Of course Elbert is in single A, so it won’t happen.
Rather than resort to either Hendrickson or Sele for the 5th starter, I’d like to see us give Dessens that chance. When he was with us before, he was starting some games, and as I recall doing no worse than .500 in wins/losses with a reasonable ERA. What’s to lose – he can’t possibly blow up worse than Hendrickson has, and we might actually have a chance to win some of his starts.
Elbert is at AA Jacksonville. Pitching well but not dominant. I don’t think he should be rushed. Hanrahan is pitching better at Las Vegas than he had. I figure what we have is what we get – Hendrickson, Sele, Dessens. One of them will work out. The first four seem quite solid right now. Tough one tonight with Penny and Schmidt. Go Dodgers!!
You mean tomorrow euhlman? : ) I’d like nothing more than to sweep four games in San Francisco, but three will have to suffice for now. Let’s start another streak! I’ll take 17 of 19 all the time!