If I can make it there
You’d think I could remember to change my watch from central to eastern time. That’s okay, though. I got here to Shea early after having a meeting and lunch with some colleagues from the league office here in Manhattan. Took the 7 train out here to Flushing with the rest of the tennis-going crowd and settling into this very fine city…at least in my opinion.
Today’s lineup:
Furcal, SS
Lugo, 3B
Garciaparra, 1B
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Kemp, CF
Hall, C
Penny, P
Inside the Dodgers 
Julio Lugo and his sub-.700 OPS to the rescue!
It’s alright though, Penny has as good an average as Lugo – the real leadoff guy today is Nomar!
Wilson Betemit, wherefore art thou?
Well, let’s see if we can charge the fortress with this band of ball players 😉
i was about the only one who said that the lugo trade was bad at the time, go back and check.. i hate to do it, but i told you so.. i wonder why he keeps getting in the lineup.. hopefully we have a good series..
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
What happened to Betemit being the everyday 3rd baseman? I realize his hitting from the right side hasn’t been great, but give hime a chance…..couldn’t be worse than Lugo’s .220 with no power and poor decision making.
I’m hoping Nomar pulls himself out of this spiral starting today.
Would have liked to have seen Martin in there….although Hall hasn’t hit bad. Kemp looks like a special player.
“Nevertheless, Penny can be good, so Penny will be good.”
Penny WILL be good! this is NY, we need to show them we ARE contenders & not pretenders!! come on Penny showed NY what you’re made of!
MathTeacher @ gameday
congratulations on your ability to cut and paste from Dodger Thoughts, just in case you didn’t think people could scroll up and click the link from the sidebar.
Be easy on mathteacher.
He’s an inbred loser that lives in West Virginia that has no life at all. I’m not really sure his connection to the Dodgers, but maybe he’s related to Jim Tracy being from that hickville backwoods area.
If you are related to Jim Tracy, please inform your friend that the Dodgers are glad that he’s gone bc he was horrible, and that we all hope he enjoys losing 100 games a year with the Buccos.
Thanks.
No doubt mathteacher@gameday.com is the same joeyp, etc guy banned yesterday.
MLB blogger police-
Add: joeypistone32@yahoo.com to the idiot/block list.
Dude, tell me you have something better to do with your time. Seriously.
Might as well block joeypistone33@yahoo.com also while you are at it, this guy seems pretty cleaver.
i’m kind of PO’d that Martin isn’t getting a start today, Lugo hasn’t been hitting but the dude has speed so i kind of understand him batting 2nd, but were’s my boy Martin!!?
Lugo is so discusting to watch…I really hate saying that but its true. Anytime there would be guys on base you KNOW the guy wont come through. He cant even set the table. Why dont you use your SPEED Lugo! bunt down 3rd and beat one out. Toby Hall in there today huh…hmm…Toby’s ERA while catching isnt very impressive. But I think the fact that Penny has looked pretty awful his last couple outings Grady is trying to change things up. We shall see. Hopefully we can set the table and get the 1st one of 4.
being one of the old guy”s, OPS is a new abbr. for me. I aked my grandson who plays for Murrieta high school what it meant and even he did’nt know. please help!! will be watching game tonight. GO DODGERS.
lugo has to sit, and martin has to play, this is not the time of year to be resting.. brad needs to have a d-lowe type of game, its frustrating how this guy never makes it past the 5ht inning anymore.. penny needs to grow some.. kick out joey!, it was good luck last night..
BELIVE IN BLUE!
i’ll be happy with Penny giving us 6 even 5 as long as he pitches lights out against dreaded NY.
Looking forward to watching the Dodgers at Shea this weekend. Unfortunately with the US Open next door, the traffic will be insane….
OPS is On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage
Dude…..Drew is hitting cleanup tonight.
Seems like Ramon Martinez was doing a nice job filling in befoer Lugo came along, now he rarely plays, and his at-bats have gone to Lugo who has not produced.
Hall at least has produced, so it makes sense to rest Martin here and there.
p.s. Regfairfield, Drew is in there….
To everyone else: that regfairfield is not me.
To the imposter: blow me.
Need to take at least 2 out of 3 here, then sweep the pathetic Cubs. I think Grady is doing the best he can with what he’s got. It is hard to manage when your player drawing the biggest check (J D Drew)needs 3 days off a week. $11M a year and fragile just doesn’t cut it. He has to give Nomar and his frail *** time off, and senior citizen abuse laws dictate that Lofton can’t be abused or it’s a felony, so he needs days off. Left field and SS seem to be the only positions where we get consecutive games. Looks like Ethier will get a day off in October.
like i said on Dodger Thoughts, I’d love to see Bills ready against the over paid Mets Kou tomorrow will be really cool, if he’s THROW STRIKES look out!!.
thanks kristograph. enjoy the game.
I know, I spelled graf wrong. SORRY
joeyp: “Derek Lowe was lucky yesterday. He only struck out 1 batter. Every Brewer was putting the ball in play.” Dude – He gave up ONE unearned run on THREE hits! That’s sinkerball magic at its absolute best!
As for the high ERA when Toby Hall is in the game, you need not look any further than who he has been catching his entire stint with the Dodgers – HINDrickson.
Yet again I simply cannot understand why Grady keeps Wilson Betemit (the Dodgers leading homerun hitter) on the bench. You don’t suppose that Grady is doing so because he wants Drew or Normar, or Kent to finish the season with the most homeruns, do you? Naw. Grady would NEVER do that (would he?).
HEY COLLETTI – Send Lugo back to Tampa Bay WITH HENDRICKSON! (I’m good with Toby. Man he hits the ball hard!).
Penny gets number 16 tonight!
GO DODGERS!
fansince53@yahoo.com
i’ll only be happy if the Tubester get’s 3 hits, if not i’ll be pretty PO’d
Don’t get me wrong interpol, there isn’t a bigger Russell Martin fan than I. Toby simply has not had an opportunity to show us what he is capable of. His numbers at Tampon Bay were pretty good and he’s tossed out a few runners for us already, too.
Will you settle for two hits?
GO DODGERS!
Tampon Bay???
nah i’ll be cool with 2 hits, i’m to stoked for this series i guess.
That’s the 2nd game in a row where Furcal didn’t run out a grounder at full speed…..what’s up with that?
Furcal may be saving his legs after a long season of being on them. I’d rather have him not leg it out than pulling up short with an injury.
Come on Penny, you haven’t recorded an out yet!
man, this is going to be a long series….
I have never heard of a player “saving his legs” on a grounder. Especially a speed guy who can take advantage of a bobble or slow throw to first. Unacceptable
Here it is shortly after 8:00 P.M. on the east coast and I am following the Dodger game. How cool is that to have an early game to follow?I too felt Ramon Martinez was making a good contribution and now sits out most of them. Hope that Lugo or Betemit soon catch fire. In the final analysis, the big boys have to carry us. – Nomar, Drew, Kent, Furcal. Hope they start tonight. Really would like to take two of four at Shea. Don’t know what has happened to Penny. He, Lowe and Maddux have to come up big and keep us even to late in the game. We don’t come back well. This is not a good start. Penny hasn’t gotten anyone out yet. The Mets have a very strong lineup but good pitching is supposed to trump good hitting. C’mon Brad. Go Dodgers!
welcome to day 1 of our 4 game (getting) sweep(ed).
Oh man, Penny. You’re not looking much better than Hendrickson. Come on, locate your pitches! If you did that, Valentin would not have hit that bomb 😦
Penny seems to be more bluster than brain. One can but hope he becomes better over time.
Guys… take a chill pill… okay? Yes, Betemit should be in the lineup. He’s not. Glavine isn’t Superman. There’s a reason he doesn’t have more than 12 wins. He gets hit in the later innings. We will come from behind for the first time in a while and will give us momentum in the series. It WILL happen. Betemit will come off the bench and make Grady wish he’d played the whole game.
By the way, all you Steiner bashers out there should be wathing/listening to the absolute joke Mets announcers right now…. they have spent the last 20 minutes discussing who the mets resular season MVP should be and talking about Keith Hernandez’s thumb. Beyond painfull…. please Dodgers, do something to shut them up!!! Lots of hard hit bals for the Blue so far, none finding holes.
Drew’s sit-back-and-wait-for-the-walk approach not working so far.
Su frustrating, seems like I get my wish for a losing game that is not a white flag waving one. We play well, things just doesn’t happen for us today.
I dont know the stats for sure, but have the Dodgers come back to win a game when down by 3? Anyone know ?
Does Penny know how to warm up in the bullpen? It seems like he needs a couple of innings into the game to get into stride, and by then he’s got the game already lost. It’s been several disappointing game starts in a row. Is he too “big” for somebody to straighten out his pre-game approach?
It’s the fifth inning “Bear”. This game’s far from over.
Julio Lugo! Why are you trying to “pull” a ball that’s six inches off the outside of the plate?!! That was a perfect pitch to drive to right field and down the line.
Somebody said this guy could hit… who was that idiot?
If you come in contact at all with Little, please tell him to go back to DREW-NOMAR-KENT, in the 3rd, 4th and 5th spots. The last time we had that line-up we scored over 10 runs and Nomar had his 6 RBI’s. Nomar needs to get dropped in the line-up to get going again.
PLEASE TELL HIM!!
wow, that was awfull.. i’m so embarrassed of being a dodger fan right now.. truly upsetting.. msr. milano cant even go 6 innings! msr. hamn cant get a hit, mike marshall jr. just suks, i’m so effing pissed right now… maybe we need to bring back the poncho..
BELIEVE IN THE PONCHO!
One night in New York and it’s proven we cannot make it there…time will tell if we can make it ‘anywhere’ But if we get swept in N.Y after getting swept by St. Louis making the playoffs won’t mean anything cause we’ll be 3 and out! If we even make it there!
Little take out Penny he didn’t even give us a chance to come back
LoDuca doesn’t seem to be wearing down this year.
Should have known that the Big P can’t go past the fifth inning. The Big P stands for BIG *****. Maybe we can get something of value for him in the off-season and then with his contract dollars saved pay Zito the $15 million to get a real pitcher on board for next year.
What do you know….Kemp doesn’t run out the pop-up hard and doesn’t end up on second after the error. Where is the coaching? Where is the hustle?
we just lucked out into a minor rally, lets try to get back in the game
BELIEVE IN THE PONCHO!
take lugo out and put in betemit!
BELIEVE IN THE PONCHO!
is little trying to lose the game on purpose? W.T.F.!! FU$#!!!!
BELIEVE IN THE MERCY RULE
Why not leave Lugo in with the bases loaded? He needs his confidence built – what does it matter if we don’t score. There is something wrong with this manager’s thinking.
Why didn’t we get Mota back? He’s way bettr than Carrara.Why didn’t Grittle hit for Lugo with Mota pitching and the bases loaded? He knew he wouldn’t do anything and he has a guy on the bench who has hit 17 HRs and dosen’t play. If this team folds it’s not just the players fault it’s Grittle. You won’t see Randolph resting players or playing them out of position. Nobody runs hard on ground balls and they get away with doing it. Okay I’ve vented.
This team is a joke, honestly- the way we fade in the face of a 3 run lead is embarrassing. Before the seats were warm the game is over. We all knew it. The Mets TV announcers are making fun of the lack of hustle, lack of fight back, no one can believe this is a 1st place team. They are right.
Its DEJA stLU!!!! The team must be thinking about Littles “rest-ology” rather than getting it done. If they can just loose 3 more games quickly there will be rest at the end of the tunnel on Monday. Thank goodness. 1 down, 3 to go….. then rest in 2nd place. For now.
No one husstles, everyone quits.
Can somebody please tell Steiner that he works for the Los Angeles Dodgers & NOT New york??
good times in New York, over pay & there’s always good things that come with that.
L.A. in the long wrong will have the last laugh.
Grady… you had your matchup from heaven!! Betemit from the left side against Mota, and yet you continue to let Lugo pop up meekly??? I don’t care about anyone’s confidence right now. All I know is that they traded for Betemit to be the everyday 3rd baseman, yet it seems that Lugo is there more often these days. Why??? Grady… wake the **** up!! Lugo isn’t showing anybody a thing.
As for Kemp’s defense: he’s a corner outfielder. If anything, when Lofton rests, put Ethier in center. Andre has more MLB experience in the outfield. On the other hand: if Lofton had played tonight, then both of those balls that Kemp BADLY misplayed would have been caught.
Also, Martin is the better defensive catcher. That throw from Jeff Kent on the force play home would have been caught if Martin were in the game… and he’s a better hitter than Hall.
So there you have it. Two misplayed balls in the outfield and a botch at home… and this would only be a 2-0 game right now.
Oh no, we ******* again!!
My bad… that play at home wasn’t a force play, but still, Martin wouldn’t have dropped that ball.
Hate to say it, but I think Tracy could manage this team better than that. At least you’d have the players that are producing in the lineup every day instead of this constantly shuffled approach every day.
The commentators for NY and Milwaukee both question Grittles moves. Everyone I’ve heard and I’m talking ex retired baseball people think Grittle has lost his mind with his approach to these games. I was no big Tracy fan, but this is crazy,even Tracy would be better.
Also, look what a great game Drew had after his 2 day reat!
Betemit should play every day – Lugo OUT period.
Loney should play and Nomar rest until he has FULLY recovered from his knee problem. Kent should bat cleanup with Drew maybe third in the order.
Green should either wear a smaller sized cap or ask mr Bonds how to grow his head bigger…
About the game: no runs – no win. Tomorrow i hope we’ll have runs at least.
to griffon64: it’s 5am in Helsinki and a nice workday is coming so soon 🙂
why the ***** was that?
i too had to endure the mets broadcast and they were killing kemp and the general lack of the dodgers hustle.
i watch alot of baseball (too much) and believe the brewers play hard. the marlins play hard and the mets definetely play hard. the dodgers either win or lose, but don’t play hard – except repko.
which brings me to my first gripe. why kemp in center ?!? you have two good to very good centerfielders and you put kemp – a rookie – out of position in shea stadium.
yes, he did win the game last night, so reward him with a start in RIGHT and rest ethier and put repko (a right hand batter) in cf or – oh my gosh – maybe lofton in center. what a concept.
and please take lugo out back and shoot him. he is now really starting to **** the energy out of the team. is grady afraid to bench him because of showing up ned? same way with shawn bradley hendrickson.
they are just not working and grady owes it to the team to put the best guys out there.
which leads to my next point. the team. who is the team leader and where is he?
is it kent? lofton? penny? lowe? somebody has got to a) call a team meeting. b) take this team on its shoulder and carry it and c) go in to grady’s office and confront him on his erractic lineups.
this team needs to field at least the same core of guys – preferably the veterans..
and lastly – what could he said that already hasn’t about jane d. drew. lets say he will play about 120 games at 11 mil. what is that about 100,000.00 per game. and for what? i was starting to miss him this week, but oh no – back to vintage drew – three k’s a pop up…and that stupid check swing of his…
and yes, will shawn green please get a hat that fits and stop trying to be willie mays with his hat flying off of every routine pop fly.
oh yeah, i forgot – valentin has the same number of homers as drew – 15 and yes,he is playing out of position too!
“Green should either wear a smaller sized cap or ask mr Bonds how to grow his head bigger…”
atleast i still get good laughs coming hear.
i hate NY with a passion!!
Hey ksspark,
So I see you are coming over to the dark side on Lugo?
Dude I am proud of you on those very critical posts you had on Mr Lugo!
Grady is wierd, I saw Randolph throw out his “A” lineup while Grady rests Martin, Betemit, and a very consistent Lofton.
I give props to Randolph for atleast acting like he cares about winning..
Uggggh! That was aweful! Hate to say it boys, but the Blue Crew will be four games back by the time they return home from this road trip. The good news is that I won’t have to wait very long to get my post-season ticket money refunded.
For those of you old enough to remember, former MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti said it best:
“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come out, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”
Ugh. I’m sick and tired of Little and this team’s lack of spine.
On the other hand, the Padres got swept by the Mets too ( yes, it is a foregone conclusion ) and that’s where our four-game lead came from. We just have to get it back against the few remaining teams, that’s all.
And then get swept out of the post season 🙂
It sounds like you all have given up… bunch of… nevermind. Grady, please wake up. Randolph show cases his A line-up while Little gives us a C Line-Up… He’s as streaky as the team is. WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY???!!!
well, we lost again! after the game I listened to GRADY. as usual his comment was we’ll see what happens tomorrow. pretty soon there will be no more tomorrows. it will be like the years before (55) WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.
thought i would calm down after football and a good nights rest, but it didn’t work.
point well taken about randolph and his A-Team vs. Grady and his ??? Team.
i am guessing he is trying to shake things up and add a spark (Kemp.Lugo) while keeping consistent Furcal and Eitheir in everyday.
Questions – why doesn’t Furcal or Eithier get a day off? Why does Drew get so many
frickin’ days off? why does grady pair
Hendrickson with Martin and Penny with Hall this week – perhaps making both starters weaker?
i have pretty much focused on the wild card right now figuring the team has a 3 game lead on the phillies and 4 game lead on the giants.
what really concerns me is the last six games of the season are on the road at
colorado and THE GIANTS!
this could get really, really sticky.
Can’t watch this team- the way they play is disgusting. No heart at all. I really hope Furcal is hurt b/c he is one of my favorite Dodgers and seeing him jog out the first grounder to lead off set the tone. The Mets announcers were shocked…. I found myslef defending it, but… why? I can only imagine what Tommy was thinging sitting in the front row. See you guys next year, hopefully sans Grittle. Hopefully Dodger baseball comes back.
Little its Sept. no one needs a day off ride them until they drop,if we go down it should be with our best on the field. Lowe needs to start on 3 days rest he only threw 79 pitches thats a no brainer. I’m really started to get annoyed with Little’s lineups but he’s defitnetly better than tracy. Tracy was a puppet I wouldn’t mind seeing a younger guy with some fire(see Girardi).Theresno excuse for not hustling so kemp should’ve been pulled in the middle of the game for not hustling that’s terrible! I saw a yankee game earlier this year Johnny Damon who is a proven champ made it to second on a dropped pop up to a 2nd baseman. I don’t blame Kemp I blame Little you can’t be giving up just cause your losing. Not taking penny out when he already was gassed down 3 runs Little cost us!
I, too find myself still upset after the loss.
All year long we hear how half the team consists of those famous old veterans who know how to win. Now that the stretch is here and they should be winning, Lofton the old veteran sits, leaving Kemp to look helpless in center field ( I though Lofton was bad! ), Nomar the old veteran suddenly can’t hit his way out of a paper bag, Penny has forgotten how to throw effectively ( or are just not good enough to compete against the Mets lineup ) and so it goes on.
I have a revolutionary idea for the lineup: stop trying to “shake it up”. Instead, point to a few guys, the best at every position preferably, and say “You, you and you … it is your job to get it done. You go out there and play because we trust you to get the job done. Now play!” It isn’t October yet. The guys can rest all winter long. Now is the time to play the game hard, with a manager who has faith in you putting you in the lineup every day.
Something like
Furcal SS
Lofton CF ( Not that I like Slappy the slap-hitter that much, but his outfield D has improved and he can get one base )
Kent 2B ( he never makes me feel he’s going to throw away his at bat like Lugo et all makes me feel )
Drew RF ( he’s finally playing well )
Ethier LF
Loney 1B ( Nomar’s body seems to have packed it in for the season and Loney plays a good 1B )
Betemit 3B ( the only man who hits the occasional HR it feels like, to try and clean up the bases second time around )
Martin C ( the last hope to get those baserunners in )
P
That’s our A lineup in my opinion, and that’s the lineup that should be out there playing the best team in the NL.
In the team’s defense, note that we’re not needing to run the Cruzes and Ledees of the world out there. They did a good job building the outfield.
But what use is having the pieces if you don’t use them?
Griffon – Absolutely agree with your philosophy and your lineup at this point in time. Some stability and continuity is needed here. That way we either do it or we don’t and no rehashing about what tweaking the lineup every day could have done for us.
Went to the game last night. The Dodgers played like they were 15 games out of first place. There was no effort whatsoever, starting with Furcal jogging to first to lead off the game. Kemp looked lost of those two shots to center, I don’t think Lofton would have caught them but Repko would have had a shot.. Also, Kemp’s lack of hustle on the error by Reyes was extremely frustrating to watch, he was practically walking to first base. I hope someone on the bench spoke to him about that. I expect a better effort this weekend..
I am also good with your philosophy griffon, but I have to differ (albeit only slightly) on your A-Team line-up. I agree with everyone except for first base. I have to go with Nomar and here’s why:
Hits – 123 (second only to Furcal’s 166)
Runs – 71 (tied for second with Drew to Furcal’s 94)
RBI’s – 75 (second only to Drew’s 81)
HR’s – 15 (tied for second with Drew to Betemit’s 17)
2B’s – 27 (third only to Furcal’s 29 and Drew’s 28)
Fielding Percentage – .996 (he has made only four errors all season and a very strong “Gold Glove” candidate)
His .308 batting average is tied for 9th in the NL.
I’ll give you that he has been in a terrible slump since the All Star break, but the guy is a gamer all the way. He is very capable of multi-RBI games (like the SIX that he had in last Saturday’s game), not to mention mulit-hit games and, of course, an occasional HR.
Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY like Loney and he will be our everyday first baseman next season (the Dodgers will not re-sign Nomar – he’ll want a multi-year, high dollar deal, which Colletti will never give him). Granted, Loney only has 80 AB’s, but he is only hitting .275 and his power hasn’t arrived yet (but it will next season – mark my words).
As much as he is struggling, we NEED Nomar in the everyday line-up to have any chance at making it to the post season.
GO DODGERS!
If Nomar could only play like the player he was in the first half, when he compiled the bulk of those statistics, I’d gladly have him in there, fansince53!
But if he brings a .202 bat with the accompanying statistics, I don’t know how that will help us win. Loney’s a slick fielder with soft hands from what I’ve seen, though of course Nomar will probably be able to pull of that one or two spectacular plays that only an ex-shortstop can. The other nice thing about Loney is that he presents a bigger target to throw to a 1B. Nomar’s a lot of things, but he’s not very tall 😀