Lineup
The Schmidt update is just about everywhere you look online, so no real need to add much here. If there’s a silver lining to be found, it’s that the surgeon felt very good about that fact that he was able to repair everything that he saw and is confident that Schmidt can return to the power pitcher he was before the injuries. We certainly wish him well in his recovery.
Clayton Kershaw will be playing in the Futures Game, it was announced today. That takes place the Sunday before the All-Star Game up in SF. Stan Conte was also named to the NL training staff and there’s still work to be done in voting our players into the starting lineup. If you look at it realistically, we could potentially have five All-Stars: Martin, Penny, Lowe, Saito and Kent. Of course, it never actually works that way, but Lowe has pitched well enough to go there but his record hasn’t reflected that. Saito has been nearly unhittable all season long and Jeff might trail Utley in most offensive categories, but it’s not out of the question that he could return to San Fran as a backup at second base.
Oh, and I’ve been named to the NL PR staff for the All-Star Game. OK, so maybe I wasn’t so much named as volunteered, but I’ll be up north for the Midsummer Classic, too.
Here’s the lineup for tonight. Hopefully I can find some time to post more later tonight.
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C (keep voting)
Anderson, DH
Ethier, RF
Abreu, 3B
Billingsley, P
Inside the Dodgers 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
…..BREAKING NEWS…….
.
.
.
.
I’m upping the bounty to $1000.
.
.
.
.
If you can get joeyp to say he wants the Dodgers to win the ’07 World Series you win the money. All I needs the link.
.
.
.
.
.
I tries yesterday and was ignored.
.
.
.
.
Maybe you can do it. Good luck folks. You’ll need it.
.
.
.
.
I would consider Bill’s first start successful if he’s able to go four full innings with no more than two runs allowed.
Then Hendrickson could contribute mightily with two innings and no more that one run allowed. I’d let the real bullpen take over from there. So, if we can score four in the game, we should be O.K.
grady little for milton bradley.
Jon. Give it up man. Are you that dense? I hate the Dodgers. The only reason I follow them is to root for failure and heckle the supporters.
.
.
Leave me alone today. This Milton Bradley thing has me all depressed.
First off congrats on going to the All-Star game. 2) I just dont understand how Either Kemp or Loney dont find time in a DH role in this series.
is there any way to watch the futures game (besides going to SF)? it be sweet to get to watch kershaw pitch.
Why is Kemp not DHing??? That makes no sense to me at all. Anderson might have had a good game to open the series but why not give the kid a chance?
JOEYP…
You never answered my question from yesterday, who is your favorite current team?
Or are you too cowardly to announce it?
“THE LADIES” (Nomar & Pierre) need to sit for the rest of the year.
Ok, here’s why Kemp is not DHing. DHing is an extremely difficult thing to do. You have to sit on your behind for three hours. You get up 4 times a game. It’s like pitch hitting 4 seperate times. So, putting a rookie in a DH position where he would have to pitch hit 4 times is not smart because he’s not a pitch hitter. Anderson and Saenz are pitch hitting specialists so it makes sense to DH them this series. And….they will DH position players this weekend against the D-Rays (for sure Martin). And with a day game Sunday that would be where you’ll see Gonzo, Nomar or Kent DHing.
DHing is not that hard to do. Playing defense doesn’t affect the way you hit, I did it from time to time in college and had some of my best offensive games as a DH. Besides most DH’s take soft toss, ride exercise bikes etc.(ie. Edgar Martinez) between ABs anyway so that surely can’t be the reason.
“the ladies”?…serious?? rgonza13…pierre has been amazing recently…i mean he basically created the offensive surge all on his own on tuesday
I guess there’s no room for Loney or Kemp to play. After all it’s very important to have Anderson DH. Speaking of DH, the Dodgers will use Anderson while the Jays use Frank Thomas,how the heck is that fair? I think it’s time for Nomar and Pierre to rest.
it hurts my eyes seeing Anderson in the DH spot! what gives Grady?? seriously why no Matt Kemp!!
The Futures Game should be televised on ESPN. Can’t wait to finally see Kershaw pitch in a game!!!
Matt Kemp in June since his call up:
.375avg
.400obp
.500slu
.900ops
why would we want THAT in our lineup?
I don’t get it. Why would Kemp DH? He’s a much better fielder than LuGo. Let Luis DH and move Ethier to LF, put Kemp in RF…we’d almost have decent OF defense.
Good point czrussell I’m just upset to see Anderson in the line-up over Kemp.
“DHing is an extremely difficult thing to do”
now i’ve heard everything.
thanks momo. i am excited to see kershaw for sure.
grady has a very simple mind when it comes to young players. someone has a good game, they start again. until they have a bad game, they will start. if someone has a bad game, they will be benched.
I f he has a simple mind then this is pretty simple:
Matt Kemp in June since his call up:
.375avg
.400obp
.500slu
.900ops
The thing that scares me about the whole situation is that Grady doesn’t seem to consider Kemp a viable option on our team. I wonder if they are trying to keep his #s inflated to boost his trade value.
To be fair I guess it could be said that they dont play Kemp so Ethier and Anderson can increase their trade value. They have said nothing but great things about Kemp.
Alex – it’s *pinch* hit, not pitch hit…
i think that’s a little too conspiracy theory-ish for me. i mean, maybe they are playing ethier alot to showcase him!
i’m not sure if anyone else saw it.. but this is the link for russell martin on EXTRA as one of america’s most eligible bachelors..
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2007/06/hit_one_out_of_the_park_with_t.html
you’re probably not as interested as i am (being that i’m a girl, and have an actual crush on him, haha).. but it’s a good interview nonetheless.. showing you how great a person russ is, EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW THAT ALREADY :O)
can we finally put the joeyp thing to rest with the following. All Depo lovers are in love with obp over almost any other stat. well lets compare his lineup that he put out there yesterday with today’s dodgers lineup
pos. joeyp dodgers
player player
1B Out of .324
country
2B .343(AAA) .348
SS .277(AAA) .342
3B suspended .338
LF .347 .378
CF .373(cut) .310
RF .345 .323
DH .337 .343
C .241 .358
so joep wins at CF and RF but his centerfielder has been released. To top it off his lineup has 24 homeruns with 12 of those coming at AAA while the Dodgers lineup has 43 homeruns.
Therefore can we just put joeyp out of his misery and ignore him from here on out.
What about J Loney ???
Wouldn’t mind seeing him in the lineup also….
Haven’t heard anything about him or is injury lately…
Does anybody have any recent info ???
tony jackson’s blog said he saw him do some outfield running and he looks ready, which makes his absence in the lineup a little strange v. a RHP who is nasty against righties.
on the optimistic side it’s nice to see Bills in there today.
I was OK seeing Anderson DH one game. But again??? I hate complaining about the line-ups–there is a debate and a reason to start Nomar or Loney, Kemp or Pierre, etc. But this should be beyond debate. Nomar, Kent, or Gonzo should be DHing in these illegal league games, with their future replacements getting playing time in the field. (Martin should DH sometime, but not on Billingsley’s first start.) Actually, wouldn’t this be a fun game to start Loney, Abreu, and Kemp, and have one of the veterans DH and give the other two a day off, and basically see the future?
BTW–does anyone have even a scinitilla of doubt about Billingsley shutting them down tonight? I don’t–I think he’ll never see the bullpen again, and we’re about to witness the emergence of an ace. It’s like June 29, 1984–Orel Hershiser entered the starting rotation, and didn’t leave it again, and only pitched out of the bullpen in crazy extra inning emergencies, or Game 5 of the NLCS (which was also a crazy emergency too).
Finally, who came up with this idea that they are playing a guy to showcase him for a trade. It really makes no sense. The last post I saw this about was Ethier–well, if Ethier has all the offense that someone would want in a trade, then we need that offense and won’t trade him. Better to keep a young guy a mystery–it’s like Abe Lincoln said, “better to be silent and be thought of as a fool, then to speak and remove all doubt.”
Groundhog Day
leekfink —
You are exactly right… the old boys & Pierre should be used as the DH during our interleague play…. Plus it sure couldn’t hurt our defense…
But, as we all know, Grady doesn’t want to hurt the old vets(with there big salarys) egos…
Enjoyed you Abe Lincoln quote… Funny
Need this game tonite…
Padres about to lose…
“BTW–does anyone have even a scinitilla of doubt about Billingsley shutting them down tonight? I don’t–I think he’ll never see the bullpen again, and we’re about to witness the emergence of an ace. It’s like June 29, 1984–Orel Hershiser entered the starting rotation, and didn’t leave it again, and only pitched out of the bullpen in crazy extra inning emergencies, or Game 5 of the NLCS (which was also a crazy emergency too).”
I like the way your coconut works leekfink.
the Pads just lost 6-3, the Dodgers have to do there part now.
1) Yesterday was painful to watch. I’ll admit I stopped watching after Kuo was pulled. Thankfully they only have one Halladay.
2) I know he’s not a Dodger anymore, but still, Milton Bradley’s DFA today shocked me. I can see quite a few clubs that could benefit from picking him up. Maybe he could help Kent pick things up . . .
3) Nice to see Ethier hit like he did last night. He’s not where he was last year, and it would be great if that would get him going.
4) Is there something wrong with Kuo’s velocity? Gameday is reporting high 80s, as opposed to the 97mph heater I saw on TV at the end of last year.
5) Billingsley will go as long as he can on a limited pitch count, and then Mark Hendrickson will pick up for him. Ideally, the Dodgers will get to Marcum early, because in a battle of bullpens, I think we win.
I will no longer post anything until grittle finally swaps Nomar & Martin. It was fun posting goddbye…
“Dodgers Conte names to All Star training staff”…
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Between the hopelessness of the lineup and the seeming certainty of seeing Hendrickson pitch today, I have a hard time summoning any excitement about the game!
At least the Padres lost.
And the Rockies swept the Yankees. If we’re not careful, we will be in fourth place before the month is over. Not that the Yankees is that good. But the Rockies seems to be on the up and up, while we’re more of a gently sliding kind of club right now.
Here’s to a thumpin’ good game ( for us! ) tonight.
I think we are just getting a little to “EMO” about this team.
“Hopelessness of the line up”
“no excitment about today’s game”
“Kemp not in the line-up makes me sad”
“why doesn’t the team listen to my advice”
Let’s Go Dodgers!
Congrats to all personnel who get to go to the All Star Game and represent the Blue in any form.
We got alot of baseball ahead of us
Good luck Bills and Go Dodgers!
Why are they putting Anderson at DH. I want Kemp or Loney!
Wow! 8 pitches and three outs. We really know how to start things off.
I’m really not liking this umpire’s strike zone
me neither 😦
wow…talk about a tight zone. Bills needs some KY to get that ball through there.
yeah…well at least he’s looking sharp
nice pitch by bills
that pitch for Thomas was just unfair.
Seriously that hook was strike three this ump is awful!
wow…bills is really choking
yeah…choking like kuo did… give me a break.
Wow, 48 pitches in two innings. Of course, nothing that some offense can’t overcome. Come on Dodgers, let’s get some hits and score some runs.
Chad already at 48 pitches after 2 innings…
Behind by 2 runs – what can this lifeless / listless / hapless lineup do to get back in the game…
Hey, I’ve got an idea — WORK THE COUNT DUMMYS…
GET ON BASE FURCAL & PIERRE…
dang it man that cannot happen now not with 0 outs!
what the heck was he thinking???!!!!
Way to go Anderson ….
Who do you think you are ?? J. Pierre, our pickoff expert..
Dum, stupid, pathetic…
But very TYPICAL of this team…
ummmmm do u guys think they pitched around furcal to get to pierre?
3 Walks =s 0 Runs…..
Is anybody really surprised???
if john gibbons was smart he would have pitched around furcal to get to Pierre. I guess 44 million dollars doesn’t get you what is used too.
Inexcusable pick-off. Grady also obviously doesn’t believe in bunting runners over with no outs.
that’s why i love ethier
Nice play Andre —
Please don’t get injured…
Messagebear—
He just goes by his GUT FEELING…
How else do you explain the way he Manages ???
If grady manages with his gut I’d hate to see what he eats for dinner.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_weisman/06/21/dodgers.flux/index.html
nice ABs from the senior citizens…
Max –
Gibbons has nothing to fear with Furcal at bat —- He is basically 0 for June…
I can’t watch this offense much longer.
Nomar and Kent are hitting a combined .270 with 10HR and 72rbi.
A-rod has 73 Rbi himself.
If we lose these two series against AL, I’m at least hoping that Grady will be convinced to start using the youngsters. How long are we going to wait for the 3 and 4 batters to heat up for the season. They’re just barely luke warm, but I suppose they’re just pacing themselves for the stretch run – like for fourth place in the division.
I had said I’d be satisfied if Bills went four innings and didn’t give up more than two runs. I think he pretty much fulfilled that. THANK YOU! Next time out he will probably go five plus.
Here is that GUT FEELING at work ……
The game was over when it was 2-0. Now it’s really over.
well bills kept us in the game..thats all you can ask. i expect he’ll be better next time out.
For those of you watching the game, how did Bills look? He threw a lot of pitches in the 4 innings. Where is the offense?
MessageBear —
You and I both know that Ned & Grady are going to live or die playing Pierre,Nomar,Kent,&Gonzo to the bitter end… The only way they will come out of the lineup is by injury….
We all saw what they did last year & so far this year… It will just never change…
way to get something started…taking one for the team and a single…hopefully raffy can deliver
frick
Chad actually did a decent job… He only gave up 2 hits…. Unfortunately one of the hits was a HR…
But all & all he did Ok…
Normally you could say he kept us in the game… But trying to overcome a 2 run lead by our hitters is like trying to climb Mt Everest…. They will need a lot of oxygen…
well…hendirckson is doing pretty darn well
yeah peirre!
BARF
WHERE IS YOUR LITTLE GROUND BALL WHEN WE NEED IT.
KENT!!!!!!…..FINALLLYY!!!!
haha thank you kent!!!
WOW…he absolutely CRUSHED that ball
BRAVO MR KENT —
We just climbed Mt Everest…
praise the lord.
HOLY KENT! THAT BALL IS ON ITS WAY TO VANCOUVER!
Way to go, Kent! We needed that.
You “fans” that live and die with each pitch are pathetic. Can’t you just sit back and enjoy the game as it unfolds? Remember… they play nine innings for a reason????
I’m going to make the radical suggestion that as long as we play him, we let Pierre bat leadoff. Until Furcal gets his stroke back (or heals his ankle, which is probably the problem) he now needs to bat way down in the order.
people that suggest other people aren’t fans based on their opinion of things are pathetic.
Ok Hendy — Keep us in the game…
Let’s go south on a good note…
What a joke Pierre’s arm is…. Nobody is afraid to run on our outfield…..
It really hurts in close games like this…
alright boys…time to rally
You should know Max… you should know. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
kssparkuhl —
We pathetic fans could just go to sleep during the game and wake up to see what the final score is….
Is that what you do ???
If we just sat back & let the game unfold, You won’t have any reason to post & point out our misgivings…
Thanks for the info about games going nine innings – what happens if they are tied after nine innings ??
i like olmedo as much as the next guy but whats it going to take for Kemp and Loney to get an AB!
hahah nevermind kemp singled.
actaully kss Ive just questioned your baseball intelligence not how much of a fan you are.
As long as people care enough to post here about the dodgers I’ll consider them a fan. Something you obviously don’t.
I know it was a cheapo hit but seriously we need Kemp to get more playing time.
max you and I don’t always agree on things but I loved that link you posted earlier, Jon Weisman is dead-on with his assessment. Kemp brings that extra fear factor that our line-up is lacking. Guys like Sosa have made a living being dead-red fastball hitters, give the kid some extended playing time and let him take his lumps and get better.
really nice come from behind win today, & from what i’ve read Guo will pitche against old friend Jackson.
man KENT!!!..almost homer4ed twice…only a double, but i’ll take it!
hey hey Nomar & Kent — walk to Gonzo ….
come on Martin – Make your family proud…
Russell the rock star!!! Come on baby!!! Rock the house 55!!
MARTIN!!!!!!!! soooo clutch!!
OMG russell nathan coltrane jeanson martin jr is the man! wooo!
YESSSS!!!
this is dodger baseball baby
nice job olmedo 🙂
a pitcher pinch running…hehe
Zo… you might want to bake Russell some cookies and take them to him before a game. That’s how Mike Scioscia met his wife… lol!
is that really how mike scioscia met his wife?? hahah how awesome
what if wolf gets hurt…
Yes, this is Dodger baseball…..Keep it up…
Hold on for a big win & head south with some momentum..
Also pickup a game on the Padres…
now i see why kemp doesn’t DH or start.
Matt Kemp… he is going to be as automatic as they come. In two years he’ll be an All-Star regular…
haha thanks for the tip and as much as i like my sorority girl baking side, 91% of my crush on martin is because of his talent, 9% looks…except when he doesn’t shave…then it’s 90% talent and 10% looks…haha
man…..what an exciting rally
If Wolf were to get hurt? Blame it on bad conditioning. Blame it on bad luck. But Grady’s certainly not the first manager to have a pitcher pinch-run… and he certainly won’t ever be the last. Wolf’s in great condition and he’s a great athlete… I’m sure he can run just fine.
Only you Max…
“now i see why kemp doesn’t DH or start”.
Very witty indeed….
Still would like to know whats up with J Loney..
I’m surprised he hasn’t joined the party by now…
man….now raffy just gets needs to get a hit………..man is dodger baseball fun to watch
yes raffy too! ahaha…some payback for yesterday
well this is what i don’t get about Pinch Running with wolf…first off he pinch ran for the DH so now, unless they DH Wolf, we have too us two players off the bench instead of one. Also, do you really want to risk a pitching on the base paths? If Wolf would have gotten hurt we would have had another whole to fill in the rotation with probably Bombko or Hendickson and i KNOW no one wants that.
well…they’ll probably put in loney for wolf…i think
now the man that started it all…
then why not Pinch run loney? he was running in the outfield today and looked great according to Tony Jackson. As much as i love Loney an injury to him wouldn’t hurt the team as much as an injury to Wolf or any other pitcher.
That was fun!
i have no idea max…just my speculation. great inning. boys in blue came through.
You can bet that Loney will DH when that spot comes up. The fact that Loney is nursing a sore knee would explain why Wolf ran for Tow’Mater instead of Loney.
Gotta love how we pop a 6 spot and Max doesn’t say anything and then still finds something to complain about…seriously only you Max.
Fantastic clutch hitting all around started by the All-Star! Not to mention Kent’s top of the wall double…good stuff. Now hold onto it!
Go Dodgers!
again, an injury to loney wouldn’t hurt the team as much as an injury to wolf. I know i’d rather have Wolf on the mound then Bombko or Hendrickson. but he didn’t get hurt so it doesn’t matter still it was a noodle scratcher.
Betmit could have ran too ya know.
why didn’t they bring in broxton at the beginning of the inning?
yeah but…they’re probably saving betemit for an emergency pinch hit
seriously alex take off the dress.
Only when you say something nice about that last inning
That’s all right – Hendrickson and Seanez, you both did well!! Thank you for that effort.
Max —
Just mark it down to one of those GUT FEELING MOVES by Grady…
Don’t try to make sense of it…. He, quite possibly, doesn’t know why he did it…
The best thing about the rally?
It made rwbjr shut up and quit whining and complaing.
But I’m sure at the slighest mistake he’ll take it back up again.
Bills looked good and Hendy did a nice job picking him up. Now lets go bullpen. If you hold them we put away a W.
Paul —
I refuse to respond to such INACCURATE BS….
Hi Josh,
I like the new mlb online shop. One thing, though. White shirts placed on white backgrounds 😦 Doesn’t matter much for guys stuff I guess but I’m tryin’ to talk my woman into something with a dodgers logo. So if you know who to email to fix those items that you can’t see in the store that would make my birthday shopping for wife much easier.
Thanks.
alex, you know if i did that it would make me as much of a fans as you. And i would NEVER want you to think im as much of a fan as you.
Yeah Paulg, bad form. Max is the one who was complaining during the 6 run rally. Rwbjr definitely cheered along with the rest of us. I got your back Rwbjr…me and my dress!
now that the store has been brought up…Josh, do you know the reason behind not being able to buy customized away jerseys online?
geez alex. I simply asked why Wolf was pinch running. I didn’t know what was going to make you cry.
I completely understand it’s the character you’ve given yourself. I’m pretty sure you were cheering along like the rest of us. Here is a not so big secret: we kind of know you’re a HUGE fan, considering you’re here every day. Just let me know what your dress size is and I’ll have one ready for you in October lol.
Alex–
Keep it up and I’ll buy you a new dress… Just to show my appreciation, of course..
J Loney never got in the game… Whats up with that ??
ha alex, i dont know my dress size im more of a pants suit person. Just no mini skirts, i don’t feel like shaving.
Well, they’re probably still playing it safe with Loney’s knee considering the field turf. He probably could play and would if called upon, but what’s another day to play it safe?
Great Great win tonite…
Give them Helll in Florida..
wow…ok banter is ok when it’s witty…but you guys are taking it to a new low…how about just sticking to discussing the game?
we win!…taking a little momentum into florida…and hopefully kent will continue to be hot like he was tonight!
geez, the negative nancy’s and the 2nd guessers are making this blog go downhill…let’s hope the dodger’s keep winning so they can shut up for once….ok, maybe not..but once can hope 🙂
nice win by the blue crew….let’s go get em in TB!!!!!
indeed…dodger blue baseball is soo much fun to watch
we need to sweep the flat fish.
actaully more like flat pieces if cartilage
clutch….
Russell Martin now has a .462 batting average and 34 RBIs in 30 career plate appearances with the bases loaded.
10 Day Outlook: Several very interesting matchups coming up.
Tentative pitching matchups for the next 10 games:
@ Tampa Bay:
6/22:
Derek Lowe vs. Andy Sonnanstine
6/23:
Randy Wolf vs. Scott Kazmir
6/24:
Hong Chih-Kuo vs. Edwin Jackson
@ Arizona
6/25:
Brad Penny vs. Micah Owings
6/26:
Chad Billingsley vs. Edgar Gonzalez OR Randy Johnson (depending on Johnson’s back)
6/27:
BATTLE OF THE GROUNDBALL!
Derek Lowe vs. Brandon Webb
6/28:
Randy Wolf vs. Livan Hernandez
vs. Padres
6/29:
Hong Chih-Kuo vs. Chris Young
6/30: MEGA-MATCHUP! THE TOP TWO PITCHERS IN THE N.L SQUARE OFF:
Brad Penny vs. Jake Peavy
7/1:
Chad Billingsley vs. Justin Germano
wow.. some good matchups coming up. i hope edwin’s making the start and serving up some meatballs.
Edwin Jackson will probably pitch the game of his career against us.