First win and a tough loss
It was a nice come-from-behind win today at the home opener here at Holman Stadium, yet there’s still a sense of loss over the passing of Clem Labine. So many people here in Vero Beach knew Clem from his many years as an instructor at Fantasy Camp and our deepest thoughts and sympathies are with his entire family today and in the coming weeks.
I’m heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning so that we can prepare Dodger Stadium for Opening Day and I’ll be back in Vero Beach later in the month. I’ll continue to post from LA with updates on what’s going on in both places.
Inside the Dodgers 
i remember my grandpa telling me about the 55 team. He was 13 then and lived in Brooklyn at the time. He would tell how he thought Clem Labine was super human during that series. It’s a sad lose for the Dodger family and history RIP
Sorry to see the news about Labine. It’s tough to see the old-timers go.
i listened to and watched clem labines whole career.
the sport of baseball has lost a great pitcher, a great teammate and an even greater gentleman. he was a great DODGER in every sense of the word.
Good article about the 1-2 punch of Furcal and Pierre by Ken Rosenthal, the story is actually on the main page of Foxsports.com with a picture of Pierre.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6516052
Happy Birthday on the east coast to Grady (and me).
By the way, there’s something that should make any Dodger fan smile: look at the score from the Brewers-Giants game.
http://tinyurl.com/2fu6d6
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Now those ERA’s make even Hendrickson look good! Maybe get a towel boy and a bucket of Balls for hendrickson from the Gints.
I know its only a couple games into spring but whats the take on Bigbie? Saw a little flair there before he was injured in his stats but nothing big. Could he be the Darkhorse intangible Power bat coming of age?
Could our pitching be Sooo deep that we DFA a signed 3M pitcher for a billionaire(in the works) who just wants to pitch and do it well in the Bigs for min wage?
Could we be so lucky as to have these kind of decisions to start concidering in early March?
No we have talent on our side being Mr. Colletti with the exception of signing hendrickson.There is soo much Talent in spring training with Most positions Guaranteed this year that the competition is very real.Alot of Players who are could have beens and recovered from injury to fully capible are competing to take jobs from proven or Very top Notch Veteran rookies.Who will flame out and who will proceed? Who are the players who will show all upside only to fail? and who are gonna fail early only to proceed later?
This team was on the other side of the wall last year looking for anyone who could proceed now the team has to look for people who could fail.
Hendrickson ****** as a Dodger last year only to pull a few daisy’s out of his end………….. NC signed him ……again……mark and Ned you both recieve an F in this course ‘so far’.Betemit seems to have forgotten that he is here to keep a job from a top prospect similar to navarro to Martin last year.
A Whole Lotta Baseball left till we actually play a real game and my fingers have been sleeping most of the winter. so now they are training.
And for you ‘Dodger fans who Capped on Sarah’s Take….
Shame on you for not doing your research!!!She does a great job for very low pay and is very happy to have a place to do it.I Don’t think I could put that much effort into anything knowing what kind of flack I might get and not being able to fully defend myself everyday. For those of you have not taken the opportubity to check Sarah out take time now. She was the mis fortniate child who woke up one morning and thought I’d like to go out and play only to realize she couldn’t.Then decided to write…
I Personally from a fans point of view would like Sarah to be concidered for a special writers HOF vote in the future. ‘Special’ meaning writers who have overcome inability to physically write not those who are just too stupid to write which would encompass way too many ******…
In the future I would advise everyone to remember that the word can be mighty as the sword and use your words wisely as they can effect other people in ways that you did not conceive.
Players are players and the team is why we are here.Constructive criticism is ok as long as you do the Research.
TY Josh for providing us an outlet for our views and TY Dodgers.com for everyone elses views.
GO Dodgers 2007!!
Well said fisher! Sarah, if you read this, please know that many of us enjoy your column and consider your comments. We don’t have to agree with you all the time, nor should we. But, you always provide food for thought, are so very obviously a passionate, caring Dodger fan, and have won the respect and admiration of those of us who know your story. Keep up the good work!
Good bye Clem…it was an honor to know you. I hear you’re starting tomorrow and relieving on Monday!
Go Dodgers.
From the Robothal article:
“Some managers — the Cardinals’ Tony La Russa, for one — prefer a No. 2 hitter with power. The Dodgers arguably would be better with say, catcher Russell Martin, hitting second and Pierre batting eighth, drawing walks in front of the pitcher. But they’re not paying Pierre $44 million over five years to hit eighth.”
Exactly. Martin is a better two hitter, everybody knows it, and Pierre would be a solid eight hitter. But the Dodgers couldn’t justify paying for a 44 million dollar eight hitter, and he’ll bat second. Joke.
More Pierre bashing? Really? Haven’t we been through this…100 times in the past 2 weeks? Sad-panda, I appreciate your point of view, but I can think of very few of your posts which DON’T have something to do with Pierre.
Maybe you missed the point of that article – comparing Furcal and Pierre to great 1-2 speedsters of the past. The 1b-to-3b sac bunt is an interesting possibility; the writer of that article, aside from the one quote you pulled out, seems to support the idea that Furcal and Pierre will wreak havoc on other teams.
Would I mind seeing Pierre bat 8th? He would draw a lot of walks in front of the pitcher, thus increasing his OBP. But statistics aside, would that make him more valuable? Makes more sense to have a speedster (or 2) in front of your 3-4-5 hitters who are going to hit to the gaps much more frequently. I’d rather see Pierre on first when Nomar or Kent hits a double than Martin, because Pierre will score more frequently.
Today’s game is being streamed on MLB.TV if you have a subscription, although it is the Mets TV feed, so beware of bias, it is also on KFWB 980 am. Live Play by Play of the Dodgers vs. Mets coming up.
You could always ignore my posts, or not respond. Somebody posted an article, I responded to it. You’ll find that I usually only respond to Pierre conversations, I don’t really start them. You just don’t like my point of view. That’s fine, we can disagree amicably. As a show of good will, I won’t respond to the fallacy in your post. We can just leave it alone.
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 1: Mike Pelfrey pitching: Most of the Dodger regulars have stayed in Dodgertown, while the Mets are fielding their opening day lineup:
Jason Repko grounds to short
Russell Martin grounds to second
James Loney lines to right
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 1/2 inning No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Brad Penny Pitching:
Jose Reyes walks
Paul Lo Duca 5-4-3 double play LaRoche to Abreu to Loney
Carlos Beltran walks
Carlos Delgado hit by the pitch (Penny is having major control issues early on today)
David Wright grounds to second
0 Runs 0 Hits 2 LOB End of 1 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Mike Pelfrey pitching:
Olmedo Saenz grounds to third
Andy LaRoche singles to right
Matt Kemp 4-6-3 Double Play
0 Runs 1 Hit 0 LOB End of 1 1/2 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Brad Penny Pitching:
Moises Alou strikes out swinging
Shawn Green walks
Jose Valentin flies out to right
Endy Chavez singles to left, Green to second
Jose Reyes forces Chavez at second
0 Runs 1 Hit 2 LOB End of 2 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Jason Vargas Pitching:
Delwyn Young flies to right
Ramon Martinez flies to left
Tony Abreu grounds to third
0 Run 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 2 1/2 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 3: Hong-Chih Kuo Pitching:
Lo Duca reaches on an error by LaRoche
Beltran lines to right
Delgado walks, Delgado PICKED OFF BY MARTIN at first base
Wright lines it to left, Delwyn misplays it, but recovers and dives to his left to catch it
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 LOB End of 3 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 4: Jason Vargas Pitching:
Repko lines it down the left field line for a double
Martin robbed by Chavez who makes a diving catch in center
Loney strikes out swinging
Saenz strikes out looking
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 3 1/2 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 4: Hong-Chih Kuo Pitching:
Alou grounds to third
Green grounds to second
Valentin walks
Chavez singles up the middle, Valentin to second
Reyes foul pops to third
0 Runs 1 Hit 2 LOB End of 4 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 5: Billy Wagner Pitching:
LaRoche lines to center
Kemp bloops to first
Young strikes out swinging
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 4 1/2 No Score
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 5: Eric Stults Pitching:
Lo Duca flies to right
Beltran strikes out swinging
Delgado walks
Wright singles to left, Delgado to second
Alou reaches on an error by LaRoche (his 2nd of the game), bases loaded
Green foul pops to third
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 Error 3 LOB End of 5 No Score
Thanks, Alex. Wow, I hope those LaRoche errors came in the outfield… I think we’ve had at least 2 errors in every spring training so far.
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 6: Aaron Heilman Pitching:
Ramon Martinez lines to short
Abreu singles to right
Repko flies to center, Abreu steals second
Sandy Martinez strikes out looking
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 5 1/2 No Score
LaRoche is at third base, one was to his left and he got his glove on it but was unable to grab it. The second error was hit hard and went right between his legs.
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 6: Stults pitching:
Valentin grounds to short
Lastings Milledge lines to right, nice grab by Choo Freeman
Reyes homers to left, 1-0 N.Y
Lo Duca flies to center
1 Run 1 Hit 0 LOB End of 6 1-0 N.Y
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 7: Heilman Pitching:
Loney flies to center
Fernando Tatis singles to left
LaRoche singles to left, Tatis to second
Choo Freeman walks, bases loaded
Larry Bigbie lines a SINGLE to right, Tatis scores, 1-1 TIE, bases loaded (Bigbie so far has just be a stud, but it’s early)
Chin Lung Hu 4-6-3 Double Play
1 Run 3 Hits 2 LOB End of 6 1/2 1-1 TIE
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 7: Dario Veras Pitching:
Beltran doubles to the gap in left
Julio Franco walks
Wright flies to right, Beltran advances to third
David Newhan hits a sac fly to right, Beltran scores, 2-1 N.Y
Green strikes out looking
1 Run 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 7 2-1 N.Y
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 8: Jon Adkins Pitching:
Wilson Valdez flies to center
Damian Jackson strikes out looking
Sandy Martinez strikes out looking
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 7 1/2 2-1 N.Y
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 8: Jonathan Meloan Pitching:
Ruben Gotay walks
Milledge hard liner to Loney, out, who touches first for the unassisted double play
Anderson Hernandez grounds to Loney who touches first (All 3 outs courtesy of James Loney)
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 8 2-1 N.Y
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Top 9: Adkins pitching:
Loney singles to right on a half-swing
Tatis lined DOWN THE LINE for a double, Loney goes to third
LaRoche walks, bases loaded
Choo Freeman singles to right, Loney scores 2-2 TIE, bases loaded for…
Larry Bigbie reaches on a fielder’s choice to Franco who threw home and Tatis beat the throw home, 3-2 Dodgers
Chin-Lung Hu forces Bigbie at second, LaRoche scores 4-2 Dodgers, Freeman to third
Wilson Valdez singles to left, Freeman scores, Hu to second, 5-2 Dodgers
Damian Jackson flies to center
Sandy Martinez grounds to the pitcher
4 Runs 4 Hits 2 LOB End of 8 1/2 5-2 Dodgers
Dodgers at Mets: Spring Training Update: Bottom 9: Aaron Hull Pitching:
Drew Butera singles to left
Ruben Sierra grounds to second, Butera to second
Franco flies to right
Fernando Martinez grounds to second
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB
R H E
Dodgers
5 10 2
Mets
2 6 0
WP: Jonathan Meloan
LP: Jon Adkins
SV: Aaron Hull
Time of Game: 2:49
Another Spring Training win is always nice.
Go Dodgers!
Gyys, if my comments abot Sarah’s Take upset you, i apologise. I think the Lady is truly a remarkable person of quality and courage and I did not mean to take anything away from her accomplishments. All I was saying is that her style is not my “cup of tea” so to speak. Therefore I choose not to read her column. And reading her bio again, I think she’d be okay with that. As for doing what she’s doing,you can put me in the Pro-Sarah crowd also.
This 25 man roster is crowded this year and Bigbie looks like he wants a Job Really Bad! Anyone know what Penny was throwing speed wise? Was he wild by overthrowing still or just knocking the rust off?
Not to ride the bandwagon but
I read Sarah’s take tonight and fully agree with the points made about defence.I voiced my opinion about Lofton and Furcal’s gloves last year as well as kent losing range to turn the double play. She was right on point about the strain it puts on the pitchers and Penny blew up on Lofton if you remember because he had to work out of bad innings due to balls over loftons head not even on the warning track. I Still think that some sort of stat needs to be made on runs saved by position players as well as runs produced by defenders not making plays.Runs that are not charged to the pitcher should be charged to individual defenders in some way all runs scored should be accounted for on both sides.Errors need to be charged more aggresivly and broken down into 2 seperate catagories.Bases attained/Runs scored and Bases allowed/runs cost.Bases attained and runs scored due to errors need 2 seperate stats for the batter. Bases allowed and runs scored by error need to be charged to the player who allows them. I don’t remember how many times I saw Balls fly over Loftons head in center last year but it was enough that everytime I saw a semi deep fly toward center my Heart skipped a beat. All in all my point is this. When you throw all the numbers into the pot and boil them down offencivly and defencivly then add them up you should be able to get an overall number of runs produced/runs cost coefficent and in the case of any zero’s a stat for each.
One last observation to ponder is that in our day and age at least for post season that video review be included for bad calls by the umpires/judges for balls in play but not including stikes and balls. I know it takes away from the fire of the game and that all in all it evens out over the course of the season but in the playoffs it can finish a season on one close/bad call.
Great Come back Team Keep the bats fired up and everyone get ready for a Very long productive run to OCT!
Go Blue 2007!!!
Read Sarah’s column this morning and enjoyed it.
Penny was around 90-91 MPH, KFWB interviewed Russell Martin after the game and he said he’s never seen Penny throw this well this early. Penny was a little wild as I noted in my play by play, but that was due to it being his first game pitching, more so than overthrowing, nonetheless he went two scoreless innings. I’ll have play by play only of the Dodgers split squad home game today against Atlanta with Lowe starting around 10:10 am Pacific. The other split squad team will hit the road to take on Washington with Tomko starting.
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 1: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Kelly Johnson flies to Repko in right
Yunel Escobar grounds to Betemit at third
Brayan Pena strikes out swinging
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 1/2 inning No Score
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 1: Chuck James Pitching:
Jason Repko singles to center
Mike Lieberthal flies out to Langerhans, Repko steals second
Nomar popped up
Jeff Kent singles to left, Repko scores, 1-0 Dodgers
Luis Gonzalez singles to right, Kent to second
Matt Kemp walks, bases loaded
Wilson Betemit (Batting righty) forces Kemp at second
1 Run 3 Hits 3 LOB End of 1 1-0 Dodgers
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 2: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Jeff Francoeur popped up to right
Scott Thorman singles up the middle
T.J Bohn singles up the middle, Thorman advances to third
Ryan Langerhans singles, Thorman scores, Bohn to third, 1-1 TIE
Martin Prado singles, Bohn scores, Langerhans to second, 2-1 ATL
Chuck James forces Prado at second, Langerhans advances to third
Kelly Johnson grounds to Nomar at first
2 Runs 4 Hits 2 LOB End of 1 1/2 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 2: Chuck James Pitching:
Ramon Martinez strikes out swinging
Russell Martin flies to left
Jason Repko grounds to third
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 2 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 3: Joe Mays Pitching:
Yunel Escobar singles to left
Brayan Pena 1-6-3 Double Play
Jeff Francoeur flies to center
0 Runs 1 Hit 0 LOB End of 2 1/2 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 3: Buddy Carlyle Pitching:
Mike Lieberthal flies to right
Nomar grounds to second
Jeff Kent singles
Luis Gonzalez strikes out looking
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 3 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 4: Joe Mays Pitching :
Scott Thorman strikes out swinging
T.J Bohn reaches on an error by Ramon Martinez
Langerhans strikes out looking, T.J Bohn caught stealing
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 Error 0 LOB End of 3 1/2 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 4: Buddy Carlyle Pitching:
Kemp grounds out
Betemit grounds to first
Ramon Martinez strikes out swinging
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 4 2-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 5: Elmer Dessens Pitching:
Martin Prado doubles after Kemp just misses it in center
Brent Lillibridge grounds to third
Kelly Johnson grounds out
Yunel Escobar reaches on an error by Ivan DeJesus Jr. at short, Prado scores, 3-1 ATL
Brayan Pena grounds to DeJesus
1 Run 1 Hit 1 Error 1 LOB End of 4 1/2 3-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 5: Manny Acosta Pitching:
Ken Huckaby popped up to second
Jason Repko singles to right
Ivan DeJesus singles to right, Repko advances to third
Nomar 6-4-3 Double Play
0 Runs 2 Hits 1 LOB End of 5 3-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 6: Elmer Dessens Pitching:
Jeff Francoeur grounds to Kent
Scott Thorman singles to center
T.J Bohn popped up to Huckaby at catcher
Langerhans singles up the middle, Thorman to second
Martin Prado flies to Kemp in center
0 Runs 2 Hits 2 LOB End of 5 1/2 3-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 6: Manny Acosta Pitching:
Kent put out
Luis Gonzalez reaches on an error and goes to second, Choo Freeman runs for Gonzo
Kemp grounds to short, Freeman advances to third
Betemit strikes out
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 Error 1 LOB End of 6 3-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 7: Jonathan Broxton Pitching:
Lillibridge strikes out
Jarrod Saltalamacchia strikes out swinging
Yunel Escobar singles to center, Escobar advances to second on wild pitch
Brayan Pena bloop singles over De Jesus, Escobar scores, 4-1 ATL
Gregor Blanco reaches on an error by Matt Kemp who drops an easy fly ball in center, Pena advances to third
James Jurries grounds to short
1 Run 2 Hits 1 Error 2 LOB End of 6 1/2 4-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 7: Tyler Yates Pitching:
Andy LaRoche grounds to third
Ken Huckaby grounds to pitcher
Repko walks
De Jesus Jr. strikes out looking
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 LOB End of 7 4-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 8: Zachary Hammes Pitching:
T.J Bohn popped to the pitcher
Langerhans flies to Kemp in center
Martin Prado singles to right, Prado steals second
Lillibridge grounds to short
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 7 1/2 4-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 8: Steve Colyer Pitching:
Saenz singles
Abreu forces Saenz at second
Freeman strikes out
Kemp flies to right
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 8 4-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Top 9: Chin-hui Tsao Pitching:
Saltalamacchia flies out
Yunel Escobar flies to right
Matt Diaz strikes out looking
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 8 1/2 4-1 ATL
Braves at Dodgers (ss): Spring Training Update: Bottom 9: Will Startup Pitching:
Joshua Bell grounds out
Andy LaRoche grounds out
Larry Barnes flies to left
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB
R H E
Braves
4 11 1
Dodgers
1 7 3
WP: Chuck James
LP: Derek Lowe
Time of Game: 2:31