Today's lineup
Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Nomar, 1B
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Betemit, 3B
Anderson, LF
Martin, C
Penny, P
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Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Nomar, 1B
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Betemit, 3B
Anderson, LF
Martin, C
Penny, P
Inside the Dodgers 
I would have put Andersen in the 8 spot. Or maybe played Ethier instead.
Otherwise this is my favorite lineup.
I just hope Ethier isn’t losing confidence. He’s had several rest days so this one really has the feel of sitting a player when he’s down !!
We have to pull ourselves up and attack this game like it’s our last chance !!
Go Dodgers !!!
This is crtunch time . If we can’t beat the Cubs it’s over Johnny.
A team win is more important than a pitchers win (Lowe) and more important than a players ego (Nomar & Drew). If Grittle figures this out we’d be a lot better off. If he realizes that if a guy dosen’t produce sit him , no matter who he is ,and what he’s done in the past. He has other people to play.
james loney should get a start, i dont care if its at first, or at left field.. i’d rather have loney out ther instead of anderson… hopefully mr. milano pitches a good game today, and mike marshall jr. gets some cluth hits…
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
fliegel@ptd.net – how true. This is where having a “player’s manager” like Little really is painful. Place the team before the player – always, everybody.
Let’s see if Penny has matured enough to bounce back – he’s been lousy overall since the All-Star break. Or maybe he carries an injury? Who knows.
Yesterday’s game was a fluke. Team would do well to put it behind them and concentrate and compete in the here and npw. You can’t be perfect all of the time. How you do in the moment is what is important. Go team.
is there a lefty going today? why isn’t Kemp or Ethier in there? i like Betemit in there though.
You guys should keep in mind its not just rookie pitchers who often tire in September – all young players aren’t used to playing this time of year because the minor league seasons end on labor day.
Ethier’s obviously getting very tired, and if this team’s going to win a game in October, it’s going to be because Nomar and Ethier are hitting. So Little is resting Ethier and trying to let Nomar get his stroke back. Winning the division isn’t going to mean much if Nomar and Ethier hit .200 in the playoffs – we’ll lose anyway.
Loney’s been a great minor league hitter, but expecting him to go in there and do what Andre did is unrealistic, and the bet that Nomar will get it going before Loney turns into a great major league hitter is a pretty safe one I’d say.
Gotta dance with the girl that brung ya.
no disrespect but Drew batting clean up in almost laughable, i mean come on!! IMO this year he’s a shadow of his former self. (even though his former self is nothing to right home about) IMO.
I thought this was a pretty good piece from yahoo.com:
LITTLE CONSOLATION:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ag40TdG8KOH_2KWZ_LX8GKsRvLYF?slug=jp-little091306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
interpol meant “wright home about”… right? :o)
that’s too funny!!
And I MEANT to type “write home about”… right???
Wright = a last name
write = something you do with a pen or pencil
right = a direction, or affirmation
Now I’ll go back to school and study up myself… lol.
elkim27s article on Grittle is exactly right. Grittle is the one to blame for certain loses. Grittle says he won 94 games in Boston, but with Ortiz & Manny in the lineup that helps!
Los Angeles Dodgers Hitters: Five Highest by VORP
Rafael Furcal 39.5
Nomar Garciaparra 28.2
Kenny Lofton 24.5
Jeff Kent 24.2
J.D. Drew 24.1
Thank you, Mr. Clay Davenport.
Ethier was around 28 or so but he’s dipped to 24 with his extended slump.
Nomar’s also dropped below the 30 mark.
I agree with mikejunt. Andre is just plain tired. You can see it in his face and in his performance on both sides of the ball. He is not making the defensive plays that he was just a few short weeks ago and his at bats have been horrible these past two weeks. He is swinging at the first pitch nearly every at bat, whereas he used to be very patient. This has led to him leaving a lot of guys on base, which is a killer (not to mention that his strikeouts have skyrocketed).
The only guys with uglier at bats right now are Matt Kemp and James Loney. I am genuinely impressed and I congratulate James Loney’s on his incredible .380 batting title in the PCL, but this ain’t the PCL; it’s the Bigs and Loney has not been able to make the adjustment yet.
Matt Kemp is just flat not ready yet. He is striking out on pitches that are a foot (or more) out of the K-zone. Penny and Lowe’s at bats look better than Kemp’s.
Both Loney and Kemp will undoubtedly become great ball players, but now is not the time to work on their development. We need our A-Team out there EVERY night. (I just hope that Russell Martin can continue his level of play for the next six weeks. We cannot afford to “Grady Rest” him).
I still believe that Marlon Anderson will be our dark horse in the stretch run and into the post season. He is a very good addition to the team and his post season experience will prove to be very valuable.
GO DODGERS!
PS: GRADY – DO NOT LET HENDRICKSON INTO THE BALL PARK!
Ethier is mentally tough, otherwise he’d not have made it this far as he has. But I’m very much in agreement with resting him right now. Fugghedabout the ROY and having enough AB’s for the AVG top ten. He just needs some time to re-focus and he’ll be okay down the stretch. But I will reiterate my request from last night:
To whomever stole Andre Ethier and replaced him with his imposter… please return Andre to the Dodgers immediately. No questions will be asked and we will not bring charges against you… yet. Do it now and all will be forgiven.
OK, why does every one think Ethier needs MORE rest? 2 days off and an off day is MORE THAN ENOUGH. Get Andre BACK IN THE LINE UP.
dorad2 – – read the posts by the other guys explaining their theories, have a quick look at Ethier’s figures week-by-week for the past month or so, and watch his body language in the field. It does appear that the boy is tired.
The Padres have a 5-0 lead over the Reds right now and I’m sure they’re not going to cough it up like certain other contending teams did 😉 so Penny’d better turn his stuff around. He’s got some seasoning under the belt, high time he starts showing it.
Come on Dodgers. It is a grunt at this time of year, but you don’t work hard all year just to throw it away down the stretch, do you? Concentrate and play well, boys! Best of luck.
( and Little, next time you want to shake something up, shake yourself a little, and try something new, like team before individual, steady lineups, etc etc )
Couple really nice catches by Drew on those wind-caught balls out there in right today 🙂
Absolutely, Drew made the tricky plays in the first few innings there, and a thing like that can set the tone for the game. Game wrapped up safely, like yesterday’s should have been 😉 and all’s well again in L.A-L.A land, I suppose!
Ethier is dragging just a little. This is the FIRST year he is playing ball in September. Yes, he played Arizona Fall League last October, but that was after resting the month of Sept. Andre’ is a ballplayer, he will get his stroke and 2nd wind when the Dodgers get back to LA> I expect that Drew, Kent and Lofton will rest Thursday day game, we should see Andre’ tomorrow.
Excellent game tonight. Everyone played well. Gotta love that Furcal and Nomar. These guys really know how to step it up during crunch time.
Great outing by Penny. If he can knock out two more wins, he’ll be a leading candidate for the Cy Young award.
Hey dorad2 – Trust me, I am not bashing Andre Ethier in any way, shape, or form. The kid is outstanding! But, as griffon64 said, his numbers during this road trip speak for themselves. The kid is 1 for 18 with 5 K’s. He will rebound Big Time once the team gets home, but I think that Grady should keep him out until then (it’s only one more game).
GO DODGERS!
Okay, granted that last nights’ game was pretty ghastly to say the least, there were however over 110 posts to yesterdays’ game blog, mostly all negative posts I might add, especially when the team was down. But tonight, after a huge performance by Brad Penny and the rest of the TEAM, there’s only 24 posts of which only three of those were posted AFTER the game ended. Where are all of our SUPPORTIVE fans today? Come on people… do we only post here when the team does poorly?? Or is it that nobody has WGN on their channel lineup? Give the boys some love when they deserve it… okay? Especially all of you Brad Penny haters of late. The man pitched his butt off… give him his just dues, okay?
What a game tonight! I’d have posted sooner but had to TiVo the game instead. Penny was HUGE!! 7 hits, 6 strike-outs, and 0 walks in 7 innings of work!! Very impressive with good control of his fastball… much like the Brad Penny of the first half.
Furcal is scalding hot right now, and Nomar is definitely back! Keep up the good work guys because you need to take out the Padres this weekend.
Kuo tomorrow… Go Big Blue!!
Thoughts and prayers go out to Glendon Rusch, diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism earlier today… very serious. He’s a lucky man to this point. Get well soon.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060913&content_id=1661088&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc
I’m here Kevin, just got done with my kids soccer and softball practice. Busy days !! What I was able to listen to on the radio sure sounded good. They really needed this one !! Ethier looks tired, I think his wife is due any time now so maybe he has other issues on his mind. A day or two off will do him good. We need this guy in a big way !!
Go Dodgers !!
PS – How’s that storm treating you Harold ?? You OK ??
I’d love to see Dodgers win postseason awards, but Penny’s ERA is over 4 and if Josh Johnson doesn’t win the Cy Young then the award doesn’t mean much – I’m really glad that the Dodgers haven’t made more trades with the Marlins, can you imagine how it’d feel if all those rookies were former propsects of ours?
yeah eulhman, have you been doing ok with the weather?..
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
Hey guys… Harold posted the following earlier this morning:
“Gary, the left over hurricane missed Nova Scotia. However, Newfoundland is expected to take a bit of a hit. High winds and a meter of rain. Grady might make decisions we feel are not wise. However, he also makes many we take for granted. Rarely do we say ,”Good job Grady”. In any event, he doesn’t throw, catch or hit the ball. In the final analysis the players have to do that. Their play reflects on the manager. I’m saying, let’s get two in Chicago and go home pumped up for SD. We still just have to win each series, not sweep. Go Dodgers.”
Posted by: euhlman@bwr.eastlink.ca | September 13, 2006 10:53 AM
I’d love to see Dodgers win postseason awards, but Penny’s ERA is over 4 and if Josh Johnson doesn’t win the Cy Young then the award doesn’t mean much – I’m really glad that the Dodgers haven’t made more trades with the Marlins, can you imagine how it’d feel if all those rookies were former propsects of ours?
Posted by: mikejunt@jamadots.com | September 13, 2006 10:37 PM
Been up front since before the allstar break about that kid…I would have put up aybar Guzman O perez Baez and cash for him he looks like the real deal so far and in an area we really need it in. ^5 Penny Furcal K Lo Nomar and Great job team except for those 2 abortions with Anderson running… *** was that?once ok but twice?There is a division to win here and a pitcher who is not known to throw strikes on any count other then 3-0 then why hit n run or steal with a lead..Twice…Don’t know if it was called or just done but it was bad either way. and as far as we only have to win the series goes… any game we take to the 5th inning that we are winning by 7 runs(especially against a cellar team) WE Have to Win…
That is not asking much at all seeing that we are the team to beat in the NL West….GO BIG BLUE F%$@ing Wrecking Crew!
Sunny and warm here this morning, especially after the win last night. Hurricane passed by out to sea. Well done Brad. No walks a good sign. That’s the kind of outing we need now. Let’s get another one this aft and get rested up for tomorrow night. This is probably the first time. Andre has played this late in the season and also in pressure. His at bats suggests he is not as focused – maybe tired, affected by the pressure, expecting the baby, etc. Hard for a rookie to deal with. Also the scouting reports have probably gotten around. Plate patience will help. Russell seems to be bearing up quite well which is surprising at his demanding position. Go Kuo. Go Dodgers.
let’s take the series, come home & play quality baseball against the Padres.
why didn’t Grady little use Saito in the first game??
Interpol, LA Times writes this morning that Grady has stated that he will not use Saito in a tied game on the road, but might in a home game and never more then one inning. He want’s him available for every game for the balance of the season. Makes sense !!
Lets take this series and come home on a winning note !!
Go Dodgers !!!
it makes sense BUT, the padres lost THAT day. i’m cool with it thuogh.
Kuo pitching today will be very “interesting.” both good or bad.
Gary and Ray. Thanks for your concern re:hurricane warning Nova Scotia. Didn’t come ashore. We are most fortunate. They rarely do. The worst was in Sept. 2003 – Hurricane Juan. Most devastating in my lifetime but didn’t hit Lunenburg at all.My biggest concern this time was that the electrical power would be taken out and I wouldn’t be able to follow the Dodgers while in Chicago.
C’mon Kuo. Go Dodgers. Early game for me today.
Harold… Glad to hear nothing exciting weather-wise out your way. Are you able to tune-in this game today? Should be fun with Kuo finding his stuff again last week. Andre’s not being punished for poor play… just being rested. He’ll start against the Padres. Grady’s writing is on the wall on this one.
No doubt in my mind that both of the Anderson throw-outs were Hit & Run plays. Penny flat missed the sign and the pitch to Russell was so bad that he couldn’t get the bat near the ball. The Hit & Run play is huge in baseball. Unfortunately it is also quite risky (much like the suicide squeeze).
There are certain batters in the Dodger line-up that are great Hit & Runners (Furcal, Lofton, Nomar, Kent, Russell, Maddux) and there are others who are not so good (Drew, Ethier, Kemp). Penny is so so, but he missed the sign. It’s not really fair to blame Morton Anderson for being thrown out either time.
Anderson played a great left field last night. He made two outstanding catches. I don’t think that Ethier has to worry about losing his job to Anderson, but it sure is nice to have a reliable replacement who can also hit well. Anderson has a great attitude about his role, much like those of Saenz, Tomko, and Martinez. Now Luggie-o? Well that’s another story.
Game starts in an hour. COOL!
GO DODGERS!
PS: Grady – DO NOT LET HENDRICKSON INTO THE BALL PARK!