Lineup
For those who want a chance to meet James Loney and Matt Kemp, they’ll be signing autographs tomorrow from 12 – 1. Loney will be at a store in Los Angeles at 2333 Sepulveda Blvd. and Kemp will be at one in Torrance at 18201 Hawthorne Blvd.
And, there are still tickets left for tonight for those who want to come down and get their Furcal bobblehead doll. No collection is complete without it!
Here’s the lineup for tonight followed by some notes to whet your appetite:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Nomar, 1B (back at first for the day)
Kemp, RF
Abreu, 3B
Billingsley, P
FURCAL TAKES ON BOBBLE HEAD CURSE – On April 26, Nomar Garciaparra went 1-for-5 to become just the second Dodger player to get a hit on his bobblehead night, joining Cesar Izturis who went 2-for-4 on June 1, 2005. Of the four previous games in which a Dodger played on his bobble head night, those players were a combined 0-for-11, as Fred McGriff went 0-for-4 on Sept. 12, 2003, Shawn Green went 0-for-3 on July 18, 2002 and Paul Lo Duca went 0-for-4 on May 31, 2002. Combined, all Dodger players have gone 3-for-20 when honored with a bobblehead.
LEAGUE LEADERS – The Dodgers have 48 victories this season, tying them with the Brewers and Padres for the most in the National League.
PAYING THE BILLS – Since joining the starting rotation, Chad Billingsley has held opposing hitters to a .167 average (9-for-54). That is the lowest opponents’ average in baseball among all pitchers with three or more starts. Source: STATS, LLC
HOME GROWN DODGERS – Of the 31 players on the 25-man roster and the disabled list, 10 were drafted and/or signed by the Dodgers (Tony Abreu, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, Hong-Chih Kuo, James Loney, Russell Martin, Jason Repko, Takashi Saito and Eric Stults), while three others were drafted in another organization but reached the Majors with the Dodgers (Yhency Brazoban, Andre Ethier and D.J. Houlton). That’s 42 percent (13 of 31) “homegrown” Dodgers on the current club. At this time last season, it was 25 percent (9 of 36); at this time in 2005 it was 24 percent (8 of 33) and at this time in 2004 it was 31 percent (9 of 29).
BEFORE THE BREAK – Over the last 50 years, only 20 Dodger pitchers have won 10 or more games before the All-Star Break including Brad Penny, who has now done it in consecutive seasons. Of those 20 pitchers who have accomplished the feat a total of 46 times, only two have done it while losing one game or less – Penny and Doug Rau, who went 11-1 in 1977.
AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM – On this date in 1979, the Dodgers purchased the contract of Fernando Valenzuela from Puebla in the Mexican League and sent him to Single-A Lodi. The following year, he reached the Major Leagues and his career included a Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year Award and a post-playing career as a Dodger Spanish-language broadcaster on ESPN Deportes 1330.
THAT “OTHER” LEFT-HANDER – On this date in 1955, Sandy Koufax made his first Major League start and did not earn a decision against the Pirates. He gave up three hits, eight walks and struck out four in 4.2 innings of work.
ON THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN – On Sunday, July 15, President George W. Bush will host a White House tee ball game in honor of Jackie Robinson’s 60th anniversary of breaking the color barrier, it was announced today. The game will host teams from the Inner-City Little League of Brooklyn, NY and the Wrigley Little League of Los Angeles, CA, the two home cities of Robinson’s team, the Dodgers. The Dodgers will be represented by Special Advisor to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda, Director of Community Affairs Don Newcombe and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Howard Sunkin. This will be the 17th tee ball game at the White House and it will bring together some of Robinson’s original teammates and other notable baseball icons.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME – The Dodgers have a 25-18 record at Dodger Stadium, the second-best home winning percentage (.581) in the National League behind the Brewers (.698). Among the Dodgers batters faring better at home than on the road are Rafael Furcal (.313 to .231), Nomar Garciaparra (.324 to .224) and Olmedo Saenz (.323 to .114).
RUNNIN’ RUSS – Russell Martin has 16 stolen bases, an L.A. Dodger record and two shy of the single-season franchise mark set by Con Daily in 1892 (18). The only Major League catchers to steal more bases before the break since 1957 were Kansas City’s John Wathan (26 in 1982), Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall (22 in 1999), Texas’ Ivan Rodriguez (17 in 1999) and Wathan (17 in 1983).
MEMORIES – On this date in 1933, the first All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Dodger All-Stars were Tony Cuccinello (2B) and Max Carey, who was a coach.
SECOND CITY – The Dodgers have posted a 45-31 record this season when Jeff Kent starts at second base and a 3-7 mark when he does not. Kent is tied for the team lead with 10 homers and tied for second with 40 RBI, giving him 1,420 in his career, two shy of Jim Bottomley for 60th place all-time. He also has 521 career doubles, one behind Ed Delahanty for 34th place all-time.
Inside the Dodgers 
are both Kemp and Looney going to appear at the same time, but just different location?
Love the Bobble Head trivia!
Man, Fred McGriff, I almost forgot he was a Dodger. Remember the big 500 Homer sign the Dodgers had made up for when he reached that milestone? Oops! 493 ain’t bad! 🙂
Is it too much to ask for Kent to have the day off? Apparently so.
Really nice Josh, there’s plenty more on Con Daily over at Dodger Thoughts it seems he was well liked by his peers & fans but suffered an almost career ending injury in 1895.
pretty good lineup(i guess).
idk wat happend to loney all of a sudden he hasnt been getting good at-bats. wat happened to the magic man!! he did really reallly well and that road trip. but we’ll see how things go.
p.s
russell really needs to watch for hanley ramirez, that guy is the the juan pierre of the marlins.
Little wants make sure Kent gets to 550 plate appearnces to further the debacle created by Ned Colletti for no reason!
Nobody was bidding on Jeff Kent’s washed up services, yet gives Mr. Personality not one but what is going to be two extra washed up years.
At least we can enjoy another TWO THOUSAND OUTS from Pierre.
They should have a Furcal bobbleankle give away. Put him on the DL already.
……somebody please say something interesting…
thing is… if they put raffy on the dl whos gonna be ss???
abreu could always play ss…and the pierre bashing has got to stop sometime….not looking foward to four more years of this. i mean, he had a pretty good game yesterday…he’s getting better and better. also had many key catches on a dead run.
To evy: Hu’s at short.
“……somebody please say something interesting…” from alex41592
SOMETHING INTERESTING [Drum beat]
ok i am not fond of this lineup but oh well…bills has pitched well against the marlins this year so i expect more of the same.
I’m on the verge of packing it in as far as my hopes for the Dodgers advancing beyond the NLDS goes ( or even avoid getting swept right back out again ). Heresy with them only one game back from first? Perhaps. Still, I feel the team’s at least a year away from transitioning from a “good team” to a “really quite good team”, and being merely “good” is not enough to go deep into the postseason – in my uneducated opinion, of course.
Why at least a year away? Well, next year we’d hopefully be shedding a little dead wood ( Kent – don’t exercise his option ) and maybe Gonzo too, he’s good so far but his fall of cliff is coming … Nomar we’re stuck with, but at least Kemp, Loney et all have more time of maturing in the Majors under their belts. And we still have Penny and Lowe … Bills should be improved too, and maybe a free agent pitcher that doesn’t have a bum shoulder.
So yeah, next year maybe, this year I’ll take just being kinda in the hunt and be happy with it. Else losses like last night will just chew me right on up!
i mean he pitched well against the marlins last year, lol.
Anybody have a good story about how they became a Dodger fan? Or when they met their favorite Dodger? Someone tell a good story so I don’t have to read the same old **** again today. I’m genuinely interested if anybody has a great story!
for bluebleeder88 who is dying to hear something interesting: dodgers are playing today!! and were gonna win!!
hahaha j/k man!
I’d keep Loney in the line-up, though it is nice to see Abreu get another start. Billingsley will hold his own and hopefully the hits continue.
Alex- I have a good story. I wast 10 in 1988. When Gibson hit the homerun I ran around the house jumping up and down, screaming, cheering,laughing, celebrating. I ran back into the living room and jumped onto the couch, knees first. I landed on the zipper of one of the couch cushions and it slit my knee pretty good. Here I am 19 years later with a scar on my knee… which will forever be my 1988 Kirk Gibson homerun scar. I think that’s a pretty good story, anyway.
I’d keep Loney in the line-up, though it is nice to see Abreu get another start. Billingsley will hold his own and hopefully the hits continue.
Alex- I have a good story. I wast 10 in 1988. When Gibson hit the homerun I ran around the house jumping up and down, screaming, cheering,laughing, celebrating. I ran back into the living room and jumped onto the couch, knees first. I landed on the zipper of one of the couch cushions and it slit my knee pretty good. Here I am 19 years later with a scar on my knee… which will forever be my 1988 Kirk Gibson homerun scar. I think that’s a pretty good story, anyway. 🙂
Let’s win this game tonight!
Very cool story, I remember dogpiling with a bunch of my friends when I was 10 after the Dodgers clinched the West in 1995. No scar though…not to mention literally not moving during the rally against the Giants in 2004, leading into the grand slam by Finley. Where you couldn’t get me to stop moving after he hit it out!
This defines Dontrelle Willis:
This season:
left handed hitters are batting .097 (7 hits total)
right handed hitters are batting .360 (112 hits, 14 HR’s)
Needless to say we’re heavily right handed tonight and for good reason!
I am really impressed with the whole situation, the only downfall is that the Padres are also doing exceptionally well. The last few years has shown a tight division. This year the division not only is tight but **** good. The pitching is remarkable. the Dodgers have one of ,if not the best team they’ve had in the past 2 decades and they’ve shownsteady improvment,even with the constant turovers. I’m crazy about the bullpen, even if others have a lowerERAours is as good as it has to be. Our starting pitching is average, but often enough it get us to the 7TH inning wherein lies our strength. They tell us the opposing pitchers bare down more (which I really can’t understand ) when we have RISP. but I think the lack of patience by our hitters makes them easier outs. An improvement here could be the key to separate us from the pack. We have a good shot at the NLDS again. I don’t think the errors have really hurt us, when you win all you need is an eraser to rub them out. I think that LITTLE is doing a good job maneuvering the line up, even if it isn’t always pleasing to everybody(some want PIERRE & KENT out of the line up,for example, while KENT is still one of the best hitters in the game). Little gives us a good look at the team. People living closer to the west coast get a better look at the youngsters before they get to the big leagues. Us easterners have to rely mostly reports, although I’d been hearing a lot over the past few years about the Jacksonville 5 and they have arrived. I don’t know if Colletti has made up his mind yet, but as usual, it’s going to be a very important decision. GOOD LUCK TO THE DODGERS WHO ARE FISHING FOR MARLINS TODAY.
nnn
Posted by: carcyn@sbcglobal.net | July 6, 2007 03:21 PM “Can you picture Ozzie Guillen as our manager. He is the kind of manager that doesn’t matter who you are, he would do whatever it takes to win.”
Only in my worst nightmares. If he really wanted to win, he wouldn’t consistently bat crummy hitters like Erstad at the top of the order. Grady wouldn’t do that…oh, wait….
We may have a chance to push our lead over Arizona to 2 1/2 games, AZ down in Cincy 4-0 Bottom 5.
It’s a rout in Cincy 6-0 over Arizona
Posted by: lath19@gmail.com | July 6, 2007 04:05 PM, “Is it too much to ask for Kent to have the day off? Apparently so.”
Kent is 5 for his last 13 (.385) and several of his outs have been hit very hard.
alex41592@aol.com | July 6, 2007 05:09 PM is DEAD ON regarding Dontrelle Willis – his career spilts are tough on lefties also – this is the guy to sit the lefties against.
arizona’s pitching has been not so good this last week or so…looks good for us!
One things for sure with ozzie, if you aren’t doing well he’ll let you know it! No coddling of the veterans, we could use that on our team.
LONEY not LOONEY!
Josh,
What stores? And also, for the Loney location, is that North Sepulveda or South Sepulveda? Yahoo! Maps gives two different possibilities.
Matt Kemp will be right around the corner from my house, and while I don’t know who I like better (add in Russel Martin, and those are probably my three favorite players), I feel the need to got to the Loney location, to sing the Loney song to him:
My Loney has a first name,
It’s J-A-M-E-S
My Loney has a second name,
It’s L-O-N-E-Y
I love to watch him every day
And if you ask me why I’ll say
‘Cause James Loney has a way
With H-I-T-T-I-N-G!
NO CODDLING OF THE VETERANS is exactly what we need on this team…. And/or a manager who is not afraid of youth….
I would like to see Loney in the line-up too, but given the D-Train’s record, it seems to be Grady’s effort to load up on Right-handed hitters as much as possible.
Loney is not quite on fire like he was when he first got recalled, and then earned the starting job, but remember, there is only one game where he had a plate appearance where he did not get on base (the day the right field scoreboard tried to kill him). I trust that this is a one-night thing–and even Loney should get a day off every now and again.
im calling it right now…if the Dodgers lose, someone’s going to complain that we should have had Loney starting…(despite the record d-train has against lefties)….
and as always, i hope the Dodgers win! we need to go into the all-star break with some momentum 🙂
willis has been deadly against lefties this year, but if not for that loney should start. why should he start against kazmir and randy johnson and not willis? anyways, its good for everyone to get a day off occasionally, especially in this heat! and for anyone who still cares, lugo’s batting avg. has officially dipped below .200.
leekfink: But that last line doesn’t rhyme! Maybe:
“Because James Loney has a way
of raising pitchers’ E-R-A.”
eh if anyone needed a day off it was Kent. I just think its one of Grady’s horrible gut feelings. Im starting to think that Nomar is just washed up. Managements boner for Veterans will eventually be our downfall. Lets just pray to whatever god you believe in that after July 31st we still have our best players.
Both Stores look to be AT&T cellphone stores.The one on sepulveda has a Golf shop too at the same addy.
The one on Hawthorne is SW side of Hawthore across from the good guys.
You can rest Kent on Sunday, but not with the lefty tonight and that would mean Betemit at third against a lefty since Abreu would be a second, Nomar at first. Not a good option. It’s not a gut feeling it’s common sense, something some of you think Grady doesn’t have…I’m off to the game!
GO DODGERS!
gonzo is THEE only vet worth his weight, lets go kent !!!!
Abreu needs some AB’S so i’m o.k. with him starting today but if i remember correctly Willis doesn’t pitch all that well against the Dodgers & at Dodger Stadium.
Very good news for the pen’ Beimel is back, now I’m off…
Nomar at third, Abreu at second and Loney at first. Kent needs some rest and we need someone in the 4 spot that won’t implode an inning.
Kemp and Ethier are at different AT&T Stores at the same time. I’m honestly not sure if it’s North or South Sepulveda.
After rolling up Willis and LHPs in the past, it only stands to reason that we won’t get anything done tonight 🙂
robbed of a run…that clearly hit kemp on the foot
this game is horrible. its just soooo ***!!
kemp did get hit by that freakin pitch!!!
fuuuudge man!!
we could of had em there!!
ok Josh… who is going? you stated Loney and Kemp first…
great catch!!
Who do we think should be playing centerfield ????
should be at least 3-1 right now….robbed….always seem to get unlucky
Everybodys favorite player is coming to bat…… Hip HIp HOrray
yeap…that’s my favorite hitter baby!!! hahaa…godd one rwbjr
YES!!!! MARTIN!!!!! WAY TO GOOOOO!!!!!!1! IT”S TIED BABY!!!!
new that was gone as soon as he hit that one….no doubt about it…hhaha
Russell Martin for PRESIDENT!!!!
We are going to need one after Bush gets Impeached…
yeah kent!
Pierre, Martin, & Kent doing all the hitting…
Note to the rest of the hitters — THIS IS A TEAM GAME…
knew*
GONZOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! KENTT SCORES!!!!!!
Gonzo for VicePresident!!!!!
hahah…looks like luck is finally on our side
Yes Tim —- this helps to make up for that terrible call by the homeplate upm….
indeed
Bad Ju ju Got punished….
They saved the day for Bills… Now they need to hold the lead….
Please Grady — Just pretend that Tomko is not on the staff….
PIERRE M_A_R_T_I_N daGONZ & an E9
ok who starts Sunday now?
Nice move by Grady putting Loney in at 1st…
what a great job by houlton, furcal, and kent
Very good question — Who does start on Sunday….
I am real afrad of the answer…
Nice inning by DJ…
heard something this morn on the radio about everyone being avail to pitch Sun and they were joking about 1 inn per pitcher….
yay furcal
Managements boner for Veterans will eventually be our downfall.
Max —- Best observation /comment all day…
Hope it doesn’t — But could very well happen…
haha…he two-handed that one.
man…let’s go seanez
YEAH SEANEZ!!!!!!!!!!
Way to go, Rudy!!!
That was nor all the Seanez nay sayers…
for
The Old War Horse just seems to get it done….
It’s Broxton & Saito time….. After we score a few more runs of course…
wow…good catch by amezaga…i was hoping for kent to go to third or possibly score on that one…oh well
Thats what a REAL centerfielder looks like…
you know…pierre makes catches like that a lot too…just look a replay of any of the games against the braves
in fact…i believe he made a great catch tonight
no JP makes them without the dramatics hes at the wall alot quicker.Remember Lofton never being able to make it to the wall lastyear?
yeah…that’s true
I’m not going to argue with you Tim…. If you can’t tell the difference between the two players you are obviously never going to be swayed…
Did you just see that last play…. Plus he has an ARM..
what always ticked me off about the balls over loftons head was that he was never charged for errors….
Yes JP has no Arm but he makes those catches everyday.
I do agree —- Lofton was pretty sad last year….
C’mon Johnny B GOOD tonight!
i’m not trying to say either player is better…i’m just saying…before you continue to bash pierre consider that he had a great leaping catch at the wall tonight, and many more the past few nights and stop being so..um..mean
yeah broxton!!!
K
The way I look at it —- If you don’t have an arm you are only doing 1/2 of the job required of a good centerfielder….
KK
another K baby
Go Johnny GO!
Then Lofton was a dh playing center…
man has he furcal got an arm or what?
JOHNNY B GOOD TONIGHT!!!!
Brox looking good!!!!!!
Raffy looking great!!!! On his bobblehead nite even…
I think that song would be better for Brox.Play that Bottom of the 8th to get all the fans Goin…Johnny B Goode
And what a song to take with him for his Future Closer Role!
Tim —
Nobody was bashing Pierre — I simply stated the obvious… They have a very good CF & we have Pierre…
No need to be so DEFENSIVE & DISAGREEABLE…
i’m not being defensive or disagreeable…just pointing something out.
however, this is what you say:
“Thats what a REAL centerfielder looks like…”
although it may not be implicit, but it is definitely implied that pierre is a bad centerfielder. that’s pretty much bashing by my book.
yep you did say it as if jp was a bad cf’er and one note to that is that he missed Gonzo’s first shot at the wall which gave us the lead and he got picked off at 2nd..
I will give You this about JP —- His hitting is much improved over the last few weeks …. A point I have made on several ocassions… But, As I am typing this he grounds into an inning ending DP….
JP would have been fried for that already…
yeah..i’m surprised there hasn’t been that much said about that yet
wow…a rare walk by saito
Take of those RCGlasses boys — just maybe you will see what many, many others see… However, I doubt it….
BTW, I have read & heard many sports writers & commentators make duragatory remarks about your hero…
Evidently they are all wrong…
never said pierre was my hero…
wow…saito has a blown save….this is not fun
The Impossible just happened… DArnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Jp is not my Hero but your hero is on the Marlins and this is the Dodger Blog…..
come on sammy!
yes!…got the strike out…alright…time for a walk off
I Feel ill………
We need to win this game… It would be a very discouraging game to lose…
As I Say that, Tomko walks to the mound… God help us….
Did the Marlins pay the plate umpire?
NO **** Saito didn’t get the called strikes in the top of the 9th that got called against Martin and then the Whole HBP on Kemp with Bases Loaded….that wasn’t.. this ump is a CHUMP!
Dodger announcer just said “the centerfielder has made about 4 OUTSTANDING plays tonite”…..
Guess who he was talking about… Ha ha Ha ….i
ragging on our own Dodger players? thank god you don’t represent the majority..
Well-Guess this game wasnt important to grady. All tomko does is give up runs
*sigh*
I cannot stand watching this team play anymore. They are so pathetic.
Beyond Belief…..
yeah so pretty much tomko ***** ***. BOMBKO *****. can we get rid of that piece of trash, send him back to sf where we got him.
Why is he still on the team? When is the last time he came in to pitch and did not allow a run? Grady is a complete *****, I have not said this once this season yet, but he just gave this game away.
Apparently you cannot say m-oron
why is it that dodger management always seems to get rid of the players that are the heart of the time, but not able to DFA players that continuously cost us games. Someone should send a memo to Ned and let him know that the fans are not going to be upset that he gets rid of Tomko. While Chad didnt throw a great game tonight, he got the run support he needed, I just want to know who paid off the home plate ump. Notice how he took the ball away from little after he had intercepted it in mid air from the bat boy. The ump was not even going to consider changing his mind, disgraceful.
THIS UMP DID NOT SEE SAITO STRIKES IN THE 9TH. NOR DID HE SEE THE BALL HIT KEMP.
Cmon kemp stop swinging at **** in the dirt and hit the ball
The umpire was pathetic. I’m tired of the Dodgers getting worked over by the umpires.
Eh it is not his fault Tomko cannot pitch without giving up a run
A ray of hope by Abreu..
not that he deserves it, but maybe Loney can give Tomko a win here
Now everything is a strike though…
OMG that first pitch was so outside to Loney
break the curse…
Nice at bat by Loney…
BOBBLEPOWER!!!!!!!
Everybodys Hero comming to the plate….
Make us proud…
Here we go
all we need is a bloop singe with the infield up
did Vin just say penny is on deck?
Cmon Pierre you can do it. Prove you value to us.
yep penny to ph
Yea – So what else is new…
I really hope we get to see Penny bat
wellll…let the JP bashing begin…..
How fitting: Juan Pierre pops up. Welcome to the next 5 years.
DFA TOMKO, DFA PIERRE, if not them, then DFA Ned and bring in someone to do the first two.
WE WUZ ROBBED
Ugh this is terrible. I really hope Tomko is cut tomorrow. There is just no reason for him to be on this team. He is just awful.
If there’s ANYTHING positive about this game, Tomko moves closer to being DFA’d.
In Tomko’s last 12 or so previous innings he has given up 13 Earned runs, 23 hits, and 3 HRs. How lucky are we to have this gem on our team?
Guys play their hearts out, and get ripped open by the umpire, or a teammate swinging at the first pitch for a bases loaded DP, or any of those plays we found so frustrating over the past few weeks ( though to be fair Penny safe at second and Jones overrunning the ball should have been more than enough luck to win last night ) or otherwise the dice just doesn’t roll right for us. If this bad luck gets offset by Ned not deciding to do any dumb trades at the deadline, I’ll take it. If Ned makes a dumb trade at the deadline, I might get around to watching the Dodgers again next year, but I’m certainly not investing any of my time or money in the team – no tickets, no merchandise, no watching the games, no checking the website.
Anyway, that’s my rant. Just had to get it out. :-\ Stage back to the usual suspects.
that pitch that pierre popped up was right down the freaking middle with nothing on it. ok, rant over. dfa tomko.
im so sick of watching the dodgers go up and down every week. as of right now they have ALOT of improving to do. ANGELS ****!!!!
ok ok ANGELS STINK!!
Bomko did his usual — Shame on you Grady…
Bomko still on this team — Shame on you Ned…
Abreu not playing closer to the plate — Shame on you Grady…
The Plate Umpire’s Bad Calls… Shame On Him…
Pierre on this team for the next 4 years — Shame on you Ned…
12 men LOB — Shame on everybody…
Lousey Defense — Shame on everybody…. Bottom of the league…
It must be time to fire Bill Mueller — We obvioulsy need another SCAPEGOAT…
Nobody in managment willing to take the blame….Or to make the changes that are needed…
I’ll ask yet again…….why is Tomko still on the team?
A few points that i want to make.
1. lack of management: Miguel cabrera rips a double to score the tying run. Shouldn’t the outfield be deep to prevent that runner from scoring.
2. Lack of management: Abreu playing so far back that they put down a bunt in his face. Not his fault though, he is not a third basemen.
3. Lack of management: We need one run to tie, so we must try to do what we can do get on base to score. Matt Kemp swings on a 2-0. You would think they give him a sign to take the freaking pitch. 3 batters later, 3 walks.
4. Finally Tomko. I beleive this guy’s heart is not in the game. They throw him in the bullpen because he cant cut it as a starter. I just don’t think he is happy where he is at, and is not putting 100%. He is really killing us.
Something has to be done!
Very disapointing lost!
The answer is simple — We have Ned as a GM & we have Grady as a manager….
juan pierre…i have rooted for this guy for his whole career. this is my first post and i have been reading “Inside the Dodgers” for over a year. i just do not know what to think anymore. i am the ultimate optimist and have thought he was going to turn it around at any moment all year long. can we please just start playing the numbers. i am not with the crowd who just wishes for the young players to get their time; it needs to be earned in the majors. pierre is not the only one, nomar has played as poorly. it is frustrating because i feel we have the personel to win a few more games than we have been. i totally understand giving guys their time to prove what they are worth. but at this point, it seems if you were going to turn it around, it should have already began. this is quite the drunk rant, but i believe we should have no set line-up. no one in our line-up other than furcal and martin should be regulars. as much as i am criticizing the dodgers, i do still believe in coletti and little. GO DODGERS!!
“shame on JP”
“shame on Nomar”
there, that about rounds out the typical arguments on this blog
and here i am again. the previous blurp took me a long time to type. the guys holding the positions a little higher than us bloggers have more info than us. everything right now is a learning experience for the young guys. they cannot be controlled everytime. if you are expecting greatness from our young guns right now, you are stupid. these guys are going to go through a few more trials and errors than the vets. realistically, this year is going to be painful.
It’s because Ned signed him to a 2 yrs contract last year and we’re paying him a lot of money not to screw up.
Shame on Grady for taken out Nomar early or not put him at 3rd bases.
Martin had a good nite – playing like an AllStar……..
Kent had 3 hits & is raising his avg…. Those hard hit balls are starting to find the gaps…
Raffy had 2 hits & a walk on bobblehead nite … Pretty good nite for him… Plus a great doubleplay by he & Kent…
Kemp made some nice plays in RF…
Loney had some good at bats & drew 2 walks… Also looked good at 1st…
Tomko — Well, never mind…
Best of all – we didn’t lose any ground in the standings…
Tough loss, but we get to play again tomorrow & erase this one from our memory…
Boy – This being POSITIVE is hard to do … But it also seems to relieve the stress… STRANGE
being POSITIVE is what it’s all about…if you want to be negative all the time and degrade your own players, coaches, and management, then go root for the devil rays….
i prefer rooting for my Dodgers, through the good times and the bad….we’ll go get em tommorow with Lowe on the mound…hopefully he can go deep so that our bullpen doesnt get taxed again…
GO BLUE!!
I’ts amazing how LOWE is pitted against the best pitchers or he pitches just when the team is in a scoring drought.
im coming around to the “majorities” side now. Im going to start cheering for mediocrity. Don’t DFA Bombko. Heck DFA Penny. Make Bombko our ace. Why not give Pierre a contract extentsion now. Lets make Nomar our leadoff hitter. While we’re at it…lets make Grady Little owner.
I won’t comment too much on tonight’s game, but I will say that the majority opinion is that Tomko has to go, which has been known for a while now. All that needs to be said is while in the mens room before the 10th inning, Vinny over the loudspeaker said Tomko was in the game AND Every single person in the bathroom, including a few 5-6 year old kids started screaming “WHY?…Oh it’s over now” “Game Over” “He stinks” (along with a few other words you could substitute). He will never live this down, he’s booed after every ball thrown, sarcasticly cheered after every strike and everyone expects failure. Just cut him and eat the remaining $$$ on the contract. His own home team booed him tonight like he was pitching for the Giants. That’s how bad it was tonight. Tonight’s loss still hurts…I feel bad for Saito I’m sure he’s taking this all on his shoulders. Chin up and go get them tomorrow.
hmmm interesting and that game Wolf PR for Sanez I guess you really can’t put another player in that DH spot. What a stupid rules.
Did Mauer really leave the DH spot to catcher? That meaning the pitcher had to hit. I guess you really can’t used another hitter in that DH spot.
h ttp://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=270706304
Are they cheering Bomko ***** Bombko ***** with the booing like the Bonds ***** chant?
Let’s me say that again and I mean are they saying Bombko ***** Bombko *****?
Once Saito couldn’t save the game, it was almost a given that we were destined to lose it – how do you fight a combination of having to use Tomko in a game deciding situation and Pierre up with the bases loaded.
I’m not bashing Pierre, because he’s actually been playing pretty good ball. There is no reason apparent to me, however, why Tomko is still taking up that roster spot with the Dodgers. We could have either Meloan or Hull in his place, and either of them has to do better in a game-on-the-line situation. Last night we simply ran out of relief pitchers, and Tomko was left in that situation because we insist on leaving him with the club. Grady, with that unlimited patience, will continue to give him chances right up to the end of this season, and Grady and Ned are the ones who should be booed, because Tomko is already past that stage. He’s just doing all he knows how, and that is being a mediocre pitcher who does not belong in a game situation.
Actually, as I re-read my posting above, I have to apologize to all the mediocre pitchers in the league, because Tomko is now well below their level.
Neds bridge to the future is crumbling. Tomko is a waste of a roster spot. Why doesn’t management see this? They’d be better off with a young pitcher, I doubt he could do worse. Remember Tomko lost 15 games 3 years ago. A mediocre pitcher does not lose 15 games, only a very bad one does. Also Pierre is what he is, and that’s our misfortune, that and Nomar has to be played.
both fliegel & messagebear make good points i’m just upset period, hopefully things will turn around.
Two Points. 1. Marlins pitcher
unable to find the plate. Gives Abreu 4 straight balls,
He now has thrown 33 stikes & 33 balls (He’s wild ). So what happens ? Sanez, comes up and swings at the 1st pitch
???? 2. I believe that the “Honeymoon”, for Abreu, Loney, Kemp and Eithier is OVER. The opponents scouting staffs, have done their job.
Now it’s time for OUR Batting coach ( Meuller ), to do his JOB and help them adjust, BUT quick. We’re running out of time here.???????
A few comments:
“Thats what a REAL centerfielder looks like…” Actually, Amezaga is a shortstop. He played CF for the first time last year. Defensively, though, he is the best the Marlins have, almost anywhere they throw him in (seven positions total).
I’m with you on the Chuck Meriwether bashing, but the Dodgers weren’t the only ones suffering. His strikezone was laughable, for both sides. Gregg “found the plate” a few more times than Chuck gave him credit for.
Also, “I’ts amazing how LOWE is pitted against the best pitchers or he pitches just when the team is in a scoring drought…” We can relate with Mitre, who sports the best ERA on our pitching staff, and has the fewest wins. Should be an interesting match-up.
http://gamefish.mlblogs.com
Meriwether, HA! sounds fruity.
Many fans are mad about TOMKO but as it is GRADY is not giving up on him yet. Some games eat at you all night. Tomko shouldn’t have never even’ve gotten to the mound last night. It was one of those games you feel you were cheated out of. Plate umpire Chuck MERIWETHER(I checked the box score) either had a bad night or he should get his eyes checked. He missed the ball hitting KEMP(possible had a bad view) and SAITO didn’t look any different last night then usual, but he had to come closer to the middle of the plate(and you know what that does) to get a called strike. YES WE WERE BEATEN BY THE UMP.
Does anyone have an their old “Game Over” t-shirt. maybe we can recycle them and put a brett tomko picture on there. of course just not for the same reason.
i cant remember someone being booed louder than tomko got boed last night. this guy is done in LA. as for our favorite gritty centerfielder, he should be fined for hitting the ball in the air. yes pierre did collect some hits, but once and for all can we see him do that in the 8 spot. we could have gotten the same thing out of joey gathright for beans. it is becoming increasingly hard to support grady and ned. so far plan b is keeping us afloat but thats about it.
we should pinch hit penny for pierre.
Wow! What an exciting game last night.
Although I absolutely knew that we were going to lose the game the moment that Tomko emerged from the bull pen (and I seriously mean that), it was fun to see us load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
I know that I have said it several times before, but Tomko is flat out finished as a major league pitcher. He will not find that magic lamp that Grady (and now Honeycutt) say that he will find. Bob Harvey on Dodger Talk said it best (paraphrased): “Grady and Honeycutt have taken the “company line” when it comes to talking about Tomko, but he needs to be replaced.”
What really bothers me is that everybody (Grady, Honeycutt, Bob Harvey, A-Martinez) all say that there is no one to replace him, to which I strongly disagree. My first choice would be Eric Hull, and then Jonathan MeLoan – who should already be in Las Vegas. Even though these kids are relatively young and have zero MLB experience, ANYBODY would be better than Tomko.
For Honeycutt to say that the home town fans should be cheering Tomko on instead of booing him when he enters the game is a joke (although I fault A-Martinez for even asking that stupid question; much like when he asked Mike Lieberthal how it felt to be yanked out of Wednesday night’s game in the 9th inning so that Russell Martin could catch Saito. It should have been obvious to A-Martinez that Saito doesn’t want to throw to Lieberthal because he has no confidence in him).
I know that it’s water under the bridge, but here is my assessment of the game last night:
1. We should have won it – period. Once again, we left too many men on base (12) and too many in scoring position. This is where games are won and lost.
2. Replacing Martin in the 10th inning was STUPID! With Tomko coming in, EVERYBODY knew that the game would instantly be in jeopardy (everybody but Grady and Honeycutt, that is). You HAD to have known that, with a new pitcher and a new catcher in the game, whoever got on first base (in this case Miguel Olivo walked and Eric Reed, a speedy center fielder, pinch ran for him) would attempt to steal second off of Lieberthal’s “cold” arm. Now I’m not saying that Russell Martin would have thrown out Reed, but his chances would have been much greater than Lieberthal’s.
3. Somebody should have given Tony Abreu a Red Bull before the 9th inning because he was flat ASLEEP at third base when Ramirez bunted RIGHT TO HIM. If he had been playing in even a little, he might have had a play at the plate against Reed. If he hasn’t done so, Dave Jauss needs to chew Abreu’s *** for that stupid rookie mistake.
4. Grady claimed that he had “no bullets left” except for Brett Tomko, as Tsao and Stults were unavailable. This is absolute B.S. and REALLY pisses me off. Here’s a clue Grady: Tomko put the two first batters he faced on base, including the go ahead run. Grady knew that both San Diego and Arizona had lost and that this was a golden opportunity to jump into first place before the All Star break, during which EVERYBODY gets three days of rest. (Come on, even Brad Penny will throw no more than three innings in the All Star game). There was no reason whatsoever not to bring in Tsao, Stults, or even Brad Penny (who would have been my first choice. – Can you imagine the roar of the Dodger Stadium crowd if Penny had entered the game?). ****, I would have had Furcal pitch before Tomko.
5. Why the **** did Grady have Beimel pitch to one batter and then pull him. Granted, Rudy Seanez did (another) great job of getting us out of the inning, as he has done MANY times this season, but so, too, has Joe Beimel. This move really confused me, as it wasted one of our best relief pitchers.
6. As much as this goes against all common sense, I believe that Grady should have pulled Abreu out of the game after his second strike out and put Wilson Betemit in at 3B. It was very apparent that Abreu’s bench time has adversely affected his ability to hit. Betemit has been striking out less and having some very good at bats of late (i.e. walks in pressure situations).
7. I will repeat myself. This was another game that we should have won, but leaving 10+ men on base (including leaving the bases load once or twice in EVERY game) is flat out killing us.
Ok, I’m done with my rant. Let’s hope that Derek Lowe gets the run support that he deserves tonight to beat the Fish.
GO D-LOWE!
GO DODGERS!
tonyu42: “Does anyone have an their old “Game Over” t-shirt. maybe we can recycle them and put a brett tomko picture on there. of course just not for the same reason.”
I LOVE it! How’s this?:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b341/socalteams/TomkoGameOver.jpg
This team just keeps getting older…
The Dodgers signed RHP Roberto Hernandez to a minor league deal. They assigned him to Vegas. Looks like we found Bombko’s ticket out of where. Just too bad its Roberto Hernanadez.
in 26 innings pitched for the Indians this year he walked 16 struckout 18 and had an ERA of 6.23
btw Hernandez is 42.
GONZO number 4! itll be nice to have 2 .300 hitters in the top 4
i like the game over t-shirt, nice job. let’s hope for a great 2nd half. Go Dodgers!