Something's gotta give
Eventually, something will end this skid. It doesn’t make sense that a city could be so hot and a team could be so cold, but that’s baseball, I guess. Maybe the revamped lineup will get it done:
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Saenz, 1B
Kent, 2B
Kemp, RF
Young, LF
Pierre, CF
Martinez, 3B
Tomko, P
As for the comment about old recorded games, we do have a very extensive archive of video that has games from over the years and I believe it’s currently in the process of being digitized, which takes an incredible amount of time. But that’s a great idea about being able to download them. I’ll look into it and see if that’s possible down the road.
Inside the Dodgers 
How about firing the manager? It worked for the Reds. They’ve been playing better ball since Narron got canned.
The reason Ned did nothing at the deadline or since is because he knows this team isn’t good enough to win. Bringing in one or two guys probably wouldn’t have made any difference. At the beginning of the season I asked who was going to drive in runs? We lost Drew’s 100 RBIs and Lofton getting on base and replaced them with a pinch runner and a seen better days Gonzo. It really doesn’t surprise me that this team has trouble scoring. There is no one to drive them in. It also doesn’t help that Grady has all the fire of water.
Posted by: fliegel@ptd.net | August 9, 2007 07:20 AM
Firing the manager won’t change the fact that this team isn’t very talented.
Like I said, if you think a manager can come in and yell and scream a team to victory, then you haven’t played before. A manager’s job is to not get too caught up in the highs and lows and avoid emotional roller coasters. Fans just get ticked off because they want it visually validated that the manager and players care as much as they do. “Emotion” and “fire” are the least of this team’s concerns.
Oh good god.. that lineup.. Kemp, Seanz and martinez in the lineup?? Are we trying to set a new record for strikeouts?
Martinez has struck out 9 times in 104 PAs. Not exactly Rob Deer.
Kemp is hitting .333 vs LHP
Saenz is hitting .152 vs LHP
Martinez is hitting .212 vs LHP
One of these is not like the others.
sangabrielad@yahoo.com | Don’t the Reds have the same team they had before Narron was canned? It can make a difference, it sends a message that this kind of play won’t be accepted and change will continue until we get it right.
The lineup is so different, it’s scarey. No Loney, Nomar or Ethier. If anyone was hitting it was Ethier. And Saenz? He has only walked. But everyone wanted Pierre further down the lineup. So who knows. Maybe a combination of the weakest links may work. Nothing else has.
i think grady is going for a bang with this lineup!
are u kidding me…? saenz who? martinez who?
what the **** is he doing…
does he think he can find the spark from the guys who struggle more than his starting players?
i just don’t know what’s happening now…
this team is desperate…
if someone deserves to rest it is russell martin…
if russell continue playing, trust me he might be gone for next season… coz they would find out there is something serious in his back or his ankle…
Flieg: You’re assuming players suddenly play better because there’s a new manager. For every Cincy situation you cite, I can cite 3 or 4 other situations where changing the manager didn’t improve anything. It’s about the talent on the field and Colletti doomed this team in the offseason. Little didn’t pick up the likes of Pierre and Nomar or injure Schmidt, Wolf, Tsao, etc.
Like I said, if you think a manager can come in and yell and scream a team to victory, then you haven’t played before. A manager’s job is to not get too caught up in the highs and lows and avoid emotional roller coasters. Fans just get ticked off because they want it visually validated that the manager and players care as much as they do. “Emotion” and “fire” are the least of this team’s concerns.
Posted by: sangabrielad@yahoo.com | August 9, 2007 07:28 AM
why not try and scream?
are u kidding me?
we are losing…
they did everything…
it’s time to discipline this guys..
they are young… they are old…
the oldies think they can do everything… the young once think they can do everything…
if the management can’t discipline this guys we will continue losing…
Well it looks like Grady has officially thrown in the towel with this line up. He should of given Martin and Furcal the day off to. This team is really in alot of trouble, i am not going to give up on them yet but Grady sure doesn’t seem to be to interested.
If you take Russell out of the lineup and keep all the youngsters and nonstarting players with Tomko pitching, it will be an embarrassing disaster. The team hasn’t had 3 consecutive shutouts since 1966. Most of you guys weren’t even born yet. Maybe Kent will get his power bat back and the Dodgers can work on the small ball. Let’s not give up on them. It’s not like we’re the Giants who are embedded in last place with Barry the only star.
“The reason Ned did nothing at the deadline or since is because he knows this team isn’t good enough to win. Bringing in one or two guys probably wouldn’t have made any difference.”
I am starting to come into this camp. If by Monday we have not right the ship, than there will no other conclusion but that…
However, if by Monday we are 7 or 8 games out in 4th Place, we better not see any more of Gonzo in LF and far less of Nomar at 3B. We will need to see some of our young players for the next several weeks.
I was not surprised to see Martinez and Saenz in the lineup!
I am actually shocked that they are still in Major League Baseball…
At least Sanez is not batting 3rd…
Well it’s nice seeing Pierre WAY down in the lineup, hopefully today is the day we break out of it. To be honest i’m tired of hearing all the negative stuff around here hopefully a W will ease everybody down.
Blue Crew Rocks!
xoxrussell,
i would rather lose with russel martin out of the game than lose with the tiring martin in the field…
he deserves to rest…****** grady..
he is like Joe Torre… grady is doing what Torre did to proctor…
he is making russell martin work even if the guy can’t keep it going…
sangabrielad, maybe it’s not about a manager yelling and screaming, like you said, but, at there comes a time when a team needs some kind of change. The Dodgers are obviously not going to change their roster at this point in the season but a managerial change tells the players and the fans, “hey we’re not happy and we’re going to make a change because we believe we can still win this thing.” I don’t think that a new manager can do a worse job than Grady has done and it puts the players on the spot, maybe that’s what they need.
This is truely sad… not sure if Im even going to watch the game today. This is just Grady getting a little too carried away with trying to shake things up. I understand why nomar sits, this being a day game and all, but Come ON!!!! This is just getting ridiculous.
Fligel. Do you really believe that the Dodgers aren’t talented?? They were in first place forever before the all star break. The injuries got them down big time. Who can predict that? This slump has taken on a life of its own. It just snowballs and snowballs. But we can’t downgrade them that way by simply saying they’re not talented. I’m very down but I’ll never say anything about my Dodgers to make them feel worse about it. Don’t you think that they’re feeling our pain (as well as their pain)?
sangabrielad@yahoo.com I agree with you that it’s more Neds fault for the team he built , but sometime change is good just for the sake of change. I doubt it would be worse.
Van. It seems we usually are on the same page. I agree Russell needs to rest but today isn’t the best day. Look at the lineup. Lieberthal is okay and needs to play but not today.
fliegel is right, the team is at a point right now that it cant get much worse, what do we have to lose.
The implosion continues and the end is near.
I am absolutely furious with the Dodgers. Last night’s loss was like watching a kids T-Ball game. Sure, Aaron Harang pitched a gem – but so did Chad Billingsley, Scott Proctor, and Jonathan Broxton; good enough to win, that’s for sure.
I have avoided doing so thus far, but I am now going to cast blame – Grady Little:
You are down 1-0 in the top of the 7th and you are on the road. There are no outs. Your lead-off hitter just doubled. What do you do?
This is Baseball 101, folks – YOU FREAKING BUNT THE RUNNER TO THIRD – NO MATTER WHO THE NEXT BATTER IS! And what does Grady Little have Matt Kemp (who should still be playing Triple-A ball) do? He has him swing away and Kemp lines into a double play.
And speaking of Baseball 101, there are two Golden Rules that are taught in Little League:
1) NEVER make the third out of an inning at third base – NEVER, and
2) ALWAYS freeze on a line-drive – ALWAYS.
James Loney being doubled up on a line-drive (that NEVER should have occurred in the first place), was the biggest FRM (Rookie Mistake) of the year – bar none, and worthy of an ***-chewing from here to there. Will Grady do this? Probably not; after all, he made a mistake that was far BIGGER than the one made by James Loney.
I’m so freaking pissed off at Grady and the Dodgers that I can’t even see straight!
That said, YOU GUYS BETTER WIN TODAY OR YOUR SEASON IS OVER!
GO DODGERS!
Well with this lineup, lets just throw in the towel and bring up the Las Vegas team to play the Reds… couldn’t do any worse.. Valdez, Hu, Ruan, etc. with Stults pitching… probably score a few runs at least..
heres what we need. We need the pitching staff to go into the clubhouse and start a fight. Maybe that will get things going again. We’ve seen fights pull clubs out of the skids before, and the pitching staff has every right to start one. If this continues, Penny is going to end up losing Cy Young.
fansince53, you say Harang pitched a gem. Come on, everybody is pitching gems against the Dodgers right now, even Bronson Arroyo. Yes, you tip your hat to the pitchers but with the way the Dodgers are swinging the bats and Grady’s decision making (i agree 100% on the bunt or non-bunt)we are gonna see a few more “gems”
xoxrussell@gmail.com I believe that the older guys are past their primes and the younger guys are not yet near their prime. That adds up to what we have now. The injuries haven’t helped , but like I said earlier who on this team will drive in runs? That was a predictable problem that either was unseen or ignored by management.
xoxrussell,
like i said, i would rather lose a game than risk the health of our star player…
Todays pitcher for the Reds has an era of 16… think the dodgers can make him look like Cy Young?
fansince53,
i think u are overreacting..
i agree with you with bunting…
but why would u say that Kemp should be playing AAA ball?
i think u don’t understand what the dodgers are doing…
they are trying to win while giving the youngsters an experience…
the thing is they aren’y winning games…
and would u rather bat gonzo there than kemp?
all u can get with gonzo is pop ups!
i know ur frustrated… everyone does..
but u should understand what sports is…
losing or winning… u have got to deal with it…
Im predicting we’ll score at least a run today, not guaranteeing a win, but we should get a run.
Lets see , last night Loney has the only extra base hit, so today he sits so Tomato and his 180 avg. can bat third. Makes perfect sense. Also with JP and Martinez along with the pitcher , that’s an automatic 3 outs. Maybe Grady should have sit JP and put in Either.
Van, I would rather have Gonzo in the lineup than Kemp…. all Kemp does is strikeout.. Gonzo occasionaly comes up with a single.
So if we get swept in Cincy, what happens? What does Colletti and Little say that will keep the wolves at bay? This team is not going anywhere fast and at 5 games back, it’s not to late for a change.
spanner,
if u try to think of the situation carefully u would rather choose Kemp…
both are struggling rayt?
both are badly fooled by pitchers… gonzo strikes out alot too since the all star break…
gonzo singles…
but kemp homers…
i would rather choose the guy(kemp) who can make a difference in one swing than the old, can’t hit, strikes out, struggling gonzo…
wow… 4th place… go small market Dodgers… BUT AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE OUR PROSPECTS… HA HA HAHA! what a joke!
I think I might have just blead out… just how much can one bleed Dodger blue?
Oh by the way, Lowe is still schedule to pitch Saturday, but there is a chance he won’t be ready to go as he continues to have problems with his sore hip. Honeycutt says if he goes he will be “on a short leash”..just great.
Van, if the choice is between just those two.. I’d still take Gonzo on the grounds that as a veteran he is more likely to come out of the slump…
Still, my ideal outfield right now would be Ethier, Pierre and Young…
that’s the thing gonzo is a veteran… but there is no leaderdship coming from him…
he should be one of the leaders in this team coz he already experience winning a championship…
what the **** is he doing rayt now…? nothing!
and i saw him last time he plays, he knows the team is losing but he can still laugh after he struck out…
is that the leader u want? not taking it seriously coz he already has a gold?
Come on Josh, are you pulling my leg? Did the Reds batboy draw up this line up?
i cant even begin to explain this lineup. i think at this point loney needs to play everyday. saenz has absolutely no plate coverage anymore.and finally the best move ive seen yet, dropping juan pierre. they have finally figured it out. he comes up too often at the top of the lineup. im also glad to see young get another start in place of gonzo. hope we can turn things around although im not too optimistic about tomko.
if we have a healthy LaRoche it could be a whole lot different…
i know he is a rookie but u’ll never know what he can bring here in the majors if he is healthy…
I have a feeling today that we are gonna break out. This could be a high scoring game. Just a weird feeling about today’s game!
GO BLUE!!!
Why does Pierre have to start everyday? I really don’t understand. There are consequences for everybody else on the team playing horribly except him.
Back to my comment about the pitching staff should start a fight in the clubhouse. I still think that this would be the best thing. There has got to be some built up frustration, it all seemed to start in that sunday afternoon loss to the Mets, its been pretty much downhill from that point. But since then, the pitching staff has been rock solid. Anyways, if the pitching staff did do this, I would clear out the clubhouse, I believe in Penny, Broxton, and Bills they have the biggest people on the team. Saenz is the one person who could rival them for size.
This is by far the worst lineup ive seen from Gump. What is this man thinking???
What is Ned thinking??
Why is he still the skipper??
Ethier should certainly be starting more often then he does. Kemp is not great in CF, but today is a day for him to be in CF…
Grady Gump is a Chump!
I am surprised Betemit does not get a start today?
Oh, wait a minute he is on the Yankees who find room for him on a regular basis in the most powerful lineup in baseball…
The Dodgers, the least powerful team in baseball had no use for him!
Brillant!
the small ball…that’s what we need today. And decent pitches. And above all, don’t let the Reds score first!!!
“In the end 162 games is a long time and you’ll go through these peaks and valleys and you just have to ride through them together.”
Take a gander at who said that quote…I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t a baseball player.
If we actually tried small ball yesterday we probably win.
No matter what. I get excited right before a Dodger game starts. Here’s hoping this is the day…Apparently Grady is trying to shake the veterans up by replacing them in the lineup. Hope it works. Go Dodgers….
YES! Steiner and Lyons!
Jeff Brantley was becoming a dirtbag!!
I’ve been thinking all night of ways to change this horrendous situation. I remember a story about Russ Hodges, Giant’s announcer spitting twice on his microphone after the suggestion from a listener, when the Giants were in last place in 1951. We all know what happened after that. Today, I received the Dodger Winning streak Pendant, I purchased, through the mail, the thing’s 41 1/2″ long and 17″ wide at its widest point. in case anyone doesn’t have one. Truly I don’t believe the line up had anything to do with what’s going on. BUT it’s been done before and if anything this lineup shakeup will sure break up the monotony and Who knows? LET’S HOPE IT WORKS.
Hopefully this isn’t Cy Dumatrait!
wow.. grady’s finally topped himself. this is the worst lineup ive ever seen. and now they will score 20 runs to make me look stupid.
Has Mike Lieberthal quit yet? lol
Tomato should be sacrificing!
What a disgusting lineup. At least today’s shutout will be deserved.
Martinez and Saenz in the same lineup is just gross.
Pierre finally bats where he should, but in this lineup it doesn’t even matter.
nice start… hope they can take advantage
OMG I forgot, Tomko is pitching!
Russell shaved that little beard off. Maybe that’s the key. He hit a base hit. Furcal walked. Saenz hit a base hit. Finally a run!!! The tide has turned. Yessss. Go Dodgers!!!
The streak is over!!!!
First lead since last Wed.
hey.. a run.. time to celebrate!
THE STREAK IS OVER! WE SCORED!
Wow, Kent just missed that!
we got a run…now bring on the d-backs
For some reason this lineup is working. Go figure.
Still the same team they can’t hit with RISP
Ethier > Kemp
aw! double play…!
that hurts…
that’s not a big inning!!!
typical matt kemp.. grounds into a double play to kill the rally..
One run with bases loaded no one out….thanks Kemp…Geez…and now we have Bomko on the mound…good luck
Bases loaded nobody out, here we go big inning in the making…1 ****** run!!!
quick, bring in the normal people, the flood gates have opened!!!
this is lineup is awful. but so is this pitcher apparently. and so is tomko. so somehow it will all even out in the end.
First hitter single..good start Bomko
2 on no one out….LOL
1st and 2nd… atta baby Tomko!!! Good thing we scored that 1 run.
Bomko in trouble…big surprise, eh?
HAHA The guy tagged from 1st base!!
Junior is awesome. How old is he??
2nd and 3rd on Pierre’s gun!!!
Always advancing on JP.
Maybe we need to replace Pierre with Junior?????
I would take Hopper at this point.
Uh oh, the Reds have tied it up. Hopefully we get out of this inning.
How long do you think it will take Tomko to loosen up?
Tomko just needs to work on an even keel.. that’s why he gave back the run we stole in the 1st.
It could’ve been a lot worse. Go Dodgers!!!!
well I think we need to count our blessings in that tomko got out of the first wth a tie… we’re usually behind at this point. Somethings not right.
The first two innings have started off well, runners on base in the two plays. Good hits Pierre and Delwyn. Life is good.
Wow, Pierre doubles….
See he is money at the bottom of the line up.
If we take the lead in this inning, is it to early to go to the bullpen??
Feels good to be ahead and actually scoring runs. Maybe this lineup is working???
Very nicely done by Martinez…
nice that is what u call small ball… good start…
I kept saying…the small ball. It’s working.
squeeze play please!!!!!
OMG a productive out!!!
Tomko can’t even BUNT!
Bomko can’t even get the squeeze bunt down..BIG SURPRISE…!!!
Grady with the right call, Tomko with the horrible execution…
How long has it been since we scored a run on a base hit?
Raffy trade places with Pierre come on!!! hook one in the corner
Come on. Tomko is the pitcher. Most pitchers can’t do anything except pitch. Let’s hope he just does well doing that.
it’s ok…
at least we score runs every inning…
let’s keep it going…
i don’t care about hitting with RISP… let’s keep playing small ball…
I’m glad to have the Dodger telecast with Steiner & Lyons It makes things better.
How many of you guys played baseball beyond high school ball? Where ?
Ughh. Tomko should be able to get the bunt down.
I disagree with anyone who claims that we do not have the talent to win the division. We have the talent to win the World Series (even with a couple of question marks at the back-end of the starting rotation). This is an incredibly talented team. Whether they execute is different–the kids make mistakes and some of the old guys have struggled. But they have all the talent needed.
Was Loney at fault for the DP yesterday??? Yes–I disagree with fansince53 that it was a rookie mistake, but I agree that a veteran would have played it better. But hey, at least Loney doubled.
Today’s line-up??? I guess we’re trying anything.
Has anyone been watching “The Bronx is Burning” on ESPN. It’s the story of the 1977 Yankees. This week’s episode shows that the Yankees were in 3rd place, 5 games back on August 10. As we all know, those —- Yankees won the pennant and beat us in the World Series. So there is hope.
Bomko…gives up 2 run home run…now we’re talking!!!
awwww!
that hurts!!!
stupid tomko!
this is bad…!
i hope we can continue scoring…
Hahahahahaha!!!!! Wow. How much longer can the Dodgers stay with Tomko???
Do you remember the play with Reggie Jackson, when he intentionally put his rear end in the way?
this can be a high scoring game….
4 years college ball Division 3. Averett University in Danville, VA!
Time to get Houlton into the rotation instead of tomko.
Tomko is a joke and the Dodgers are a bigger joke for continuing to let this guy take the mound.
2 years Los Angeles Harbor college, and 2 years Chapaman University.
i think tomko is addicted with that cut fastball…
since he started doing it seems like he can’t stop doing it anymore…
he should use more change up…
caliautorebuilder,
What years were you at Chapman?
Little on Pierre.
“Early in the season, there was some struggling there. Now we’re at 400-500 at-bats. We need more on-base percentage. That’s the bottom line. That’s pure numbers.
“To get runs, we have to get more runners on. We need more of an on-base percentage from this man.
“It’s not really something he’s probably looking forward to or has done much in his life. I’m not doing this. I’m writing it down. The numbers dictate.
“What I buy is the bottom line. There’s a lot of numbers to judge by
-1
Nice I played in 2001, was Rex Peters there at the time?
Name doesn’t ring a bell. When you played there you guys were really good.
Kemp needs to sit down…really struggling..and Kent has warning track power..LOL
Oh yeah, we had 3 legit starters and 4 or 5 big sticks, our team played great defense as well.
This team has been hit by injuries. A team with Tomko and Hendrickson in the rotation is deluding itself if it think it is a contender. We lost Schmidt, Wolf, and Kuo – good pitchers, but injury risks. Losing all three pretty much stuffed our season.
Also, the lineup is powerless ( and some players are OBP-challenged ). That is just not a World Series winning mix. Sorry.
Maybe next year …
I played under Mike Weathers, the head coach at Cal State Long Beach. What position did you play.?
Unfortunately the more I watch the more I have to come to the conclusion that Kemp is not ready to be up here. It may take a whole season to mature him in that respect, and, if that’s what we want to do, so be it, but let’s not look to him to take us anyplace in the standings. Loney situation is different, and he should have been with us all season, and that could have made a difference in the standings.
first pitch swinging…. nice job Kemp.
Kent’s gonna get a hold of one of these ones and go far.
I can’t figure out what it’s gonna take for the Dodgers to play Ethier everyday. I think he’s the best hitter amongst all the kids and maybe on the whole team. Also, Loney is young and has a huge upside, you gotta let him play everyday too, especially right now.
Left-handed reliever, how about you?
WOW, Tomko should hide.
Catcher, did you go there right after high school?
No I was at OCC for my first 2 years
Good program, I went to Los Angeles Harbor College, State Champs 1990 51-5 that year.
w0w… i think
young, kemp, ethier in our OF is good…
young is hot…
**** JP smoked that ball
I just started reading all of these. Forgot it was an early game. I’m at work, turned on my mlb.com audio, found out the Dodgers had actually scored and were winning 2-1. It didn’t take long for that to disappear.
Fansince, I feel exactly the same way as your rant above… I love the Dodgers so much and I can’t even stomach the ball that they’re playing. How did this happen? They look terrible. Every single one of them is to blame. It’s easy to point at Grady and Ned (and I’ve found myself doing so lately) but c’mon. Billingsley has now lost 2 consecutive outings with a score of 1-0!!!! It disgusts me. And when I see this line-up with Olmedo and Ramon It certainly doesn’t make me feel any better.
Pierre moved down to the 7 spot is nice and all but do any of you truly believe it’ll be for more than this one game? Remember a few months ago Grady moved him to the 8 hole? I was so happy about that move and thought it was going to stick. No, no. The very next day and from there on out he was right back at the top.
Hope is fading. Turn it around Dodgers! What else can anyone say?
Harbor was always pretty good in my JC days also, our 1999 OCC team went to the So Cal Final Four and lost but I did get to play in the top JC conference as rated by Baseball America those 2 seasons, it was a lot of fun, currently Gerald Laird (Cypress), and CJ Wilson (Santa Ana) are both playing in the bigs from that time.
Kemp is ready…
does a rookie need to hit everything to be ready
ofcourse he is going to struggle…
this is his first struggle this year… so give him a chance…
loook for a big 8th
Can this idiot put down a bunt please..
OCC i think has always been good and Cypress too. Marvin Benard was on my high school team and played at Harbor with us.
Was that ball 4 on the bunt?
2nd and 3rd and Furcal pops out…nice
IM out, this team can’t hit with RISP.
This reds pitcher is awsesome. They might win the central!
OUT
i don’t know what furcal is doing…
2 pitch at bat…
he should just bunt coz he is good at bunt hits…
It’s truly a sad day when 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position is an improvement.
TOMKO finally got the bunt down. Too bad he couldn’t do it on the sqeeze play. That is why we are losing. Hitting out of synk. The hits just don’t come at the right time.
This is a better game for the Dodgers than the last few. It’s horrible to not be able to score at all. Give Tomko a break. The score is 3-2 and could be worse.
Man, this thing just isn’t working. I wonder what Mr. McCourt thinks of all this. Maybe he has a master plan for next year to bring in ARod and let him hit in between all these prospects that we still have and Ned Colletti will not trade.
It’s good to have Jeff Kent back.
I think that Furcal must be the least effective lead-off man this season, at least among the contenders. Go ahead and tell me that his ankle is hurt, and that is why. What the heck has management done about getting him on the DL months ago, so that he might contribute sometime before this season is over.
The BA & ERA have’nt changed that much during ALL the losing. It’s just the hits haven’t come at the right time.
I can’t believe Olmedo is getting play time. It’s truly mind boggling.
We have almost but not quite warning track power….and Russell swings and is out on one pitch..Do they ever learn?
And Saenz is still awful.
This team is sad…and getting depressing
Considering all the health problems the pitching is holding up pretty good. Just lacking the run support.
for tomko today 75 pitches through 5 innings, 49 strike, 23 balls, thats more than 2:1 ratio. Its just the 3 ER that are hurting him at this point. But he’s on the verge of another quality start. Thats probably why Grady keeps moving him out there.
Facing one of the worse pitchers we still can’t hit.!!!Every pitcher is Cy Young to the Dodgers.
come on guys let’s get something going, we need a 3 run inning.
Hey I have an idea!! How about you guys score some runs this inning?!!!!!
That boy, a good Dodger Fan!
Not to contredict myself but the lineup scramble I think helps because Gonzo & Nomar & Loney & Ethier might be feeling a little down and Saenz & Kemp & Martinez & Young are glad to get the chance to play.
Yeh..Let’s play Kemp instead of Ethier..smart Grady
Delmon Young the only hitter we have…go kid.
Solid atbat Kemp. Looking good out there.
Kevin
I hope you’re kidding…this team can’t get any breaks…pitiful
Definitely need to keep running Pierre out there every day. 2nd flyout to center. Can somebody tell this guy he has NO power and needs to keep it on the ground..
That is what happens when you can only hit the ball 200 ft tops.
messagebear, Furcal’s season last year was one of his best ever. He is not running this year as much but
.281 .344 .369 .712 (this year)
.286 .350 .410 .761 (career)
so yes a little slip and i’ll go with ankle on this, but not that much off his typical pace. Last year was the only year he ever hit .300 and it was his best year for OBP, slug and OPS.
Saenz down to .182 and Martinez down to .175… Betemit started for the Yankees yesterday and Anderson started in CF for the Mets today.. Atta boy Ned.
We have at least helped out Dumatraits era.
As i said earlier, the Dodgers make every pitcher look like he’s pitching a “gem”..
LOL eheuerman…..who is taking bets on a sweep?..
My feeling is it would be better for this team to really tank so Ned could see how bad he and Grady are..or maybe someone could see who cares…if we just are mediocre as usual they will say too many injuries…..They have no chance of making the playoffs and no chance of doing anything in the playoffs even if they got there.!…Maybe we could get the #1 pick like the Dbacks did for several years and get some REALLY good players…might help
and I am a big Dodger fan..but watching these games is painful and boring.
Asking a team to score a run is like asking a baby not to cry or telling a bird not to fly.
This is disgusting. I don’t know how much more I can take.
I HAVE A FUN POLL/QUESTION FOR EVERYONE:
HOW MANY OF YOU THINK WE’RE GOING TO WIN TODAY?
agree on kemp he is pressing like everyone else. The talent is there, we all have seen it, he is just not ready yet.
He is young and a year or two away, but that seems to be the MO. We are too young and too old. We have no in their prime players other than Furcal/Pierre and they have been pretty bad and are slap hitters anyways, i think that shows now more than anything else.
kevinpoush.. I think we win!!
That’s 1!
pray we win?
Kemp at the plate is starting to remind me of a young Beltre or Mondesi.
oh no…another pitcher…another Cy Young candidate?..everyday Eddie now…Maybe he will be the ONE.
We’re going to win kevinpoush.
You’ve got to believe.
Dodgers are going to win this one. The score is still on 3-2. We shouldn’t give up so easily.
A ball is crushed by the Dodgers..and we get a single..
unreal
0-2 on Furcal…He needs to rest someday and we have no one to replace him??
would have been nice to have furcal bunt nomar over…
Furcal needs to take a week off.
Wouldn’t it have been logical to have Furcal bunt Nomar over?
The only one on the roster that can play short other than furcal is martinez.. unless nomar wants to take a crack at it..
ok..now 2nd and 3rd and one out…what are our odds?
saenz pls don’t strike out!!!
Is Russell hot or what??? Must be that clean shave. You know how superstitious those guys are.
COME ON DODGERS!!!!
if furcal had bunted, we’d have a run now
nice…
now kent go and get the go ahead hit…
Today Saenz rocks. No one can debate that. Score tied.
AMEN AND AMEN! WE HAVE A TIE GAME!
i think it’s becoz the clean shave…
i’ve told this before here…
coz i notice before that when martin has a clean shave he hits a ton… he’s hot…
i think it is a lucky charm…
well.. no loss for tomko at least…
And Nomar off the bench to get things going. Nice.
Ok, with Tomko out of the game just got to say he did a solid job today. 6 innings 3 ER’s, kept us in it and while we still haven’t delivered with RISP. It’s still 3-3. So we’ve done something right. Now we’ve got to take this.
Go Dodgers!!!!! Best game in many!
Hey Alex…where’s the stats.
Sometimes it takes putting in “Everyday Eddie” when he has not been pitching everyday and the Dodgers get better pitches to hit. TOMKO had a quality start which would have been great in more productive times.
tomko should be commended for keeping us in it for sure. it is hilarious all of our runs have come on sac flys.
I think they should have left Nomar in and either yanked martinez or moved him to short and yanked furcal.
Tomko did his job. Now Dodgers…get those hits!
This is still a nailbiter. But at least the Dodgers are staying in the game. The last few games, we were already saying GAME OVER. This game is awesome. Go Dodgers.
aw…
this is trouble again…
Typical Dodgers, more comedy.
what’s whit that?
that’s got to hurt!!!!***** it!!!!!
so much for this one.
seanez with 2 out i wouldn’t mind the runner…
beimel with 2 out i wouldn’t mind the runners…
they always want to make great plays and it hunts them sometimes…
here comes the 8th
Hate to lose on a BALK especially during these times. I just hope we run out of ways to lose.
Nothing like seeing a bunch of guys with mullets and sleeveless shirts pull their brooms out.
this first pitch stuff with kemp has GOT to stop, bench him until he learns.
what’s with Kemp?
we all know he is good…
but what is wrong in taking pitches…?
he needs to take more pitches…
young is so HOT!!!
that man has got to play everyday…
Young is on fire.. he should be in the lineup every night.
waaaaaaaa… that’s just badluck…
another man down…
4 for 4 day and comes out with cramps. That’s your story of the 2007 Dodgers…
maybe they just want to put a speedster like Gonzo on the basepath.
Is Ethier that much faster than young?
YOUNG before you cheer….he’s hurt. Like scratching up a brand new car.
JP needs to rest…***** it…
they keep putting him in the lineup maybe if he knows he doesn’t have the job anymore he will show more of his talent…
put the youngsters in the OF…
Ethier, Kemp, Young
OMG CLUTCH RISP BASE HIT! WHAT???
So what was everyone saying about Martinez???
Ramon has just earned 10 more starts.
good job by ramon getting the clutch rbi hit!!!!!
nice piece of hitting with oldie martinez…
who would think he is the one who can break the RISP spell?
has the coach by chance checked Loneys BA against LHP…. this could get interesting.
This game reminds me of the good old day….Way back when we use to win most of the time.
let’s keep the run going…
that’s the start…
go blue!
nice james…
that’s what u call a rising star…
raffy batting right against stanton, this is good 😀
first pitch!!!!! RAWRRR!!!! ME GO SMASHY!!!!
what’s up with the first pitch…
this frustrates me…
they are swinging like they are all hitting above 300…
try to get more pitches…
6 LOB for Raffy, that a kid!!!!
We got a chance.
HEY- DID ANY OF YOU READ THOSE QUOTES FROM GRADY ABOUT PIERRE?! WOW. FINALLY, GRADY IS SPEAKING PUBLICLY ABOUT HIS DISPLEASURE OF THIS SLUMP.
“We changed hitting coaches in the middle of the [season] and it jump-started us a little bit. I don’t think we can continue to do such things as that. I do think something has got to start happening different around here. Enjoy the weather. It’s the only thing hot around here right now.” Grady Little
this first pitch stuff with kemp has GOT to stop, bench him until he learns.
Posted by: fezzik031@yahoo.com | August 9, 2007 11:54 AM
bench Raffy till he learns and Pierre. if were being fair and all.
Little said he told Pierre of the move after Wednesday night’s game and that Pierre wasn’t looking forward to it because he had rarely done it in his career.
“But I’m not doing this,” Little said. “I’m writing it down, but the numbers dictate this. What I go by is the bottom line. Early in the season, it was hard to judge by the amount of at-bats. Now there are a lot of numbers to judge by. Maybe this will help Juan get it going.”
NOW LET’S WIN THIS GAME DODGERS! JEEEZ!!
Young has earned a few more starts. I still think that Kemp will be the better player in the long-term, but Young clearly has developed more, and a great day when we needed one.
Kemp needs to go to the cage and work on the plate discipline that he was starting to do well with earlier this year. He is still going to be huge.
We’re not hitting timely today, but at least we are hitting today (12 hits through 8). That’s step one.
With Broxton in there, we just need a run in the 9th, and a very well-rested Saito can end it. Then we get to work on timely hitting tomorrow.
leekfink,
what do u mean young has develop more?
he is just starting..
remember what Kemp did when he first have the Job?
he did hit .380 rayt?
both of them are great…
i think the trio of ethier,kemp,young should be put in the lineup…
since they were trying to experiment the lineup why not try the youngsters…
speaking of first pitch…. ADDA BOY Encarnacion
Do you feel depressed, sad, disgusted…negative…well your normal…and it all goes with being a fan.
Tomko scared me as much as anyone. But I think it’s time to give him a break. Look at his starts since the Break:
Tomko’s last 5 starts:
Today – 6 IP, 3ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K
8/2 v. SF – 5 IP, 3Er, 5 H, 3BB, 1 K
7/28 at Colo – 6 IP, 5ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4K
7/20 v. NY – 6 IP, 0ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K
7/15 at SF – 5 IP, 1ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3K
He’s not going to win the Cy Youn that way, or probably even a contract extension, but other than the outing in Colorado (and, you have to discount Colorado), he’s done well–at least well enough to keep us in the hunt. His problem is not that he has pitched poorly, but only that he has gotten into trouble early, which has been demoralizing.
i told you… gonzo has got some bad swing going on…
i think someone deserves to be on his spot in the lineup…
he just can’t hit anymore…
since all-star break he has been struck out alot…
Odds in the game are not good.
let us see what scotty can do…
What a perfect hook by Proctor, beautiful pitch
Hopper is no JP.
fingers cross!
nice
to the 10th we go…
Only problem is Kemp is coming up..maybe he can change his luck…let’s hope so..
Without the BALK……?
wins are still hard to comeby though…
i hope they win this game…
Kemp need to steal maybe twice.
Pierre…DFA…lol
painful…Martinez strikes out with man on 3rd..what else is new?
so much for ramon…lol
Is anyone else tired of hearing Lyons apologize for how bad Saenz and Martinez have been hitting this season due to lack of playing time? If they were hitting better they would be playing more. I guess you have to consider the source Lyons was a .252 lifetime hitter.
Ramon has 2 rbi’s today, would you expect more?
well the game has got to end at some point…. at least it’s fun to watch them again. Hopefully we can pull it out, is lieberthal the only hitter left on the bench?
u always expect more…
he is in the Big League…
he is here for a reason…
agree, but I know better then to expect to much.
i would rather see penny than lieberthal…
Blowberto is coming in if we don’t score.
oh my…Furcal …home run..we lead!!!!!
nice one…
good to see that raffy…
yeah!
RAFFY CLUTCH HIT!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
Raffy must have heard what I was typing. Thank the Lord!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! RAFFY!
THEY WON’T STOP THAT ONE.
let’s finish this thing…
I was going to type I wanted to see Penny hit a go ahead homerun but Furcal beat me to it.
if we didnt take the lead we probably would have seen penny hit, or martin would have sat the rest of the game and pitcher’s spot go to martin’s position.
Let’s hope and pray this one is over and that somehow it sparks a win streak. Oh, how we need a streak! C’mon Dodgers! Fight your way back to the top!
this game is over…
lets hope saito isnt too rested that would = rusty
Oh god lead off hit.
Come on guys – a double play would be nice now.
Yeah, it’s never over until it’s over especially during these past few weeks.
THEY DID IT
WOOT!!! got the monkey off our back!
AWESOME!!!! A win at long last!
A___T_________L__A__S__T but we dug ourselves a big whole to climb out of. BUT that’s one in a row…….WE CAN GET BACK.
Let’s hope Delwyn Young isn’t hurt..I want him in left field every day instead of Gonzo…pray he’s not really hurt.!!!
Yessss. I knew this was the day. Strange lineup but somehow it worked. This is what you call teamwork. Everyone fought hard. Look at Ramon!! Even Saenz..and Delwyn was amazing. Whatever happened, our Dodgers are back. You naysayers, eat your words. Takashi, you rock. Raffy, you rock. And Russell 3 out of 6 is awesome. Go Dodgers!!!
well, I guess the lineup actually worked today. Keep Pierre down and keep Martin in #2 slot, that seemed to get the pressure off of him, or something. The big question is, would this have happened with the old lineup?
I think that the lineup somehow clicked. Giving everyone a chance didn’t hurt. We all knew that Delwyn is a red hot batter and Saenz had always been a HR hitter. I’ve noticed that Raffy has been a clutch hitter. How often have I marveled at him. He has those accurate bullet throws to first base. It doesn’t matter who plays first, the ball is right there. Above all, it was a team effort. Of course Raffy was the player of the day with his HR but everyone was the shining star. Go Dodgers!!! Russell sure looks great clean shaven.
i wasn’t really impressed by our offensive output today considering who the pitcher was, but nonetheless a win starts us in the right direction. i hope this lineup is never put out there again, regardless of the fact that we won.
Grady will change the line up once Pierre gets a single HIT. Afterall Grady loves his veterans, no matter how bad they play.
i missed the whole freaking game 😦
Imagine what this lineup could do san Olmedo and Martinez. Hopefully this is our regular lineup for the rest of the season.
I can’t believe it too 500 AB’s for Grady to finally realize Juan Pierre doesn’t get on base enough.*****!
yeah max, he was suppossed to get the memo in May, but Casino wouldn’t deliver it to him. After all who cares about OBP?
This is classic. I can laugh again…
“And here comes Gonzales, 0-3 besides the 2 run homerun, so officially 1-4”
-Rick Monday
From T.J: Heat-related cramps for Delwyn Young, he’s fine.
How you holding up Alex, can you breath again?
watch yourself Jason. He leads the team in hits!!!! but not average hahahaha.
Lol, yeah for one day, but at 5 p.m tomorrow probably going to start up the heart once again. I’m intrigued as to who is going to become our new #3 hitter (Loney?, Ethier?, Nomar?)
i read something about nomar going back there (to the 3 spot)… while im not happy with that its a lot better than seanz. good that delwyn is fine. great game for him and he should get another start soon.
That’s a good question. I am just happy we got thru today..At this point how about Young? heck why not.
they say nomar will be the #3 hitter again…
well i know nomar has struggled alot… but he is still clutch and he give us productive outs that’s why he has that amount of RBI…
i think nomar in 3rd spot is smart…
russell in 5th or 6th.. he is more productive hitting in those spots…
i think we need to try and make some playing time with our 3 youngsters in the OF…
ethier, kemp, young at the same time…
Kemp is struggling but he is just on his first full season so give him a chance…
great win today…
i hope this is the start…
Clutch is not a skill. You need your best hitter in the 3 hole and Garciaparra isn’t it.
oh yeah trust me i know that!
but no one is stepping up…
so why not try to put back your original 3rd hitter…
and the fact that russell martin deliver more runs in 5th or 6th spot…
Martin is going to be hitting from the #2 position, which is where he was going to hit from before the Pierre signing. Which is probably exactly where he should be. Took a while, but Pierre is where he’s put himself: The #8 hole. Nomar’s Avg/OBP/OPS etc… is too low and doesn’t have the sufficient numbers to be a #3 hitter. Ethier could be an interesting choice. I like Nomar batting sixth. With Loney either ahead of him or behind him. Gonzo/Kemp/Young can take the other spot.
all i can say is i wouldn’t want gonzo to be our starter in LF from now on…
I was just thinking of something, you stat guys including Rick Monday, the big RISP stat, we haven’t had anyone clutch in like twenty years. Probably the last guy I could remember that was clutch with runners on was Steve Garvey, you could count on a line drive over the second baseman’s head everytime. Ever since then who have we had, no one that I could remember. It just seems like it is a dilema we have been faced with for the past twenty years.
I think if you ran the stats, you’d find that “clutch” hitters usually perform at their career norms regardless of the situation. Is Manny Rodriguez a clutch hitter? No, he’s a good hitter. “Clutch” categories also generally have small sample sizes within the course of a season, so they’re moot.
The point is to get good hitters, period. And good hitters aren’t guys with high BAs (as Ned seemingly believes), but those that get on base.
Finally, don’t fall too in love with Young. He had a good day, but that doesn’t mean he should start every game from here on in. Remember, he’s primarily an IF. An ideal situation would be Kemp in center with Ethier in right and Gonzo in left with Young spelling him 2-3 times a week.
One example of what I’m talking about above is David Ortiz. He has this “clutch” reputation. However, a look at his numbers from 04-06 tell a more complete picture:
Total OPS: 1.011
Runners on: 1.010
Scoring position: 1.012
Scoring Pos. w/ 2 outs: 1.018
Ortiz just hits like his normal self in “clutch” situations. The bottom line is good hitters are good hitters.
yeah max, he was suppossed to get the memo in May, but Casino wouldn’t deliver it to him. After all who cares about OBP?
This is classic. I can laugh again…
“And here comes Gonzales, 0-3 besides the 2 run homerun, so officially 1-4”
-Rick Monday
Posted by: jungar@wsgcorp.com | August 9, 2007 02:24 PM
umm yah, okay..i adamantly advocated pierre in the leadoff or 2 spot???..go find a post of mine that said so.
My contention, like some others on here, is that the same people harp on the same topics, i.e. pierre, and it was getting annyoing. There have been many posts stating so as well, and many posts complaining of him, and rightfully so. When we lose, it’s pierre’s fault, and when we win and he does well, no one says a word.
But then after a couple months on this blog, i learned to keep quiet on the topic because pierre and other dodger’s annoy some of you so much that it’s impulsive to talk bad about them (i.e. nomar, tomko, saenz, martinez, etc etc..) when they struggle, and to keep quiet when they do well for our team. So i just left it at that.
Basically, i just gave up and left that JP topic alone, but now you’re “i told you so” attitude is getting the best of you…but thanks for bringing it up again like you’re some kind of genious and pulling my name into it..
If i recall, when we were losing game after game this past week, you were quite down abuot the situation, so don’t go and throw my name into your posts to make a point, when it’s not worth advancing your position.
Also, you were the one that was about to cry when you perceived a “personal attack” upon you a couple weeks ago. I guess you’ll never learn.
Giants just announced they’ve traded Mark Sweeney to the Dodgers. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep Marlon Anderson? Mistakes tend to compound themselves.
One example of what I’m talking about above is David Ortiz. He has this “clutch” reputation. However, a look at his numbers from 04-06 tell a more complete picture:
Total OPS: 1.011
Runners on: 1.010
Scoring position: 1.012
Scoring Pos. w/ 2 outs: 1.018
Ortiz just hits like his normal self in “clutch” situations. The bottom line is good hitters are good hitters.
Posted by: sangabrielad@yahoo.com | August 9, 2007 03:52 PM
-yep, i agree with that. Good hitters get the job done, period. No matter the situation. It’s just the times that they get clutch hits are the times that we remember most.
Giants just announced they’ve traded Mark Sweeney to the Dodgers. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep Marlon Anderson? Mistakes tend to compound themselves.
Posted by: appledrums@gmail.com | August 9, 2007 04:05 PM
-interesting move..do you know who we gave the giants in return?
A “Player to be Named Later”
It will probably turn out not to be a player of any consequence, but you never know, and they wouldn’t have had to do it if they still had Anderson, a left-handed hitter who’s more versatile than Sweeney. Sweeney is certainly a professional hitter who will help out though. I imagine more moves are on the way.
yah sweeney on board as primary pinch hitter and he can play 1st base probably means saenz will be DFA’d??
sweeney did have a couple nice hits for the Giants recently including an rbi double that was sharply hit against the marlins. I got to see him hit a bit as i was watching bonds chase 755 and 756, so hopefully he can contribute a bit off the bench and in spot starts as needed.
Oh Casino, how I wish I kept all your posts. It would be so easy to throw it all back in your face. I guess if I had the time I could go retrieve them all but I won’t. You do no wrong of course. In any case, you are right. I am sorry. I should not have wrote that. Let’s not get into a ******* match. I just apologized for being a hypocrite. I should not have gotten personal.
fair enough..i didn’t understand why you had to bring me up in your post..last time i checked, i never rubbed anything in your face in my posts. Although there may be opportunities to have done so, what’s the point? I certainly get no joy from making a joke out of someone else’s opinion about something.
And for the record, i have never advocated pierre in the leadoff spot or the 2 hole. Just because i never continaully bash the guy day in and day out does not mean i’m a “JP FAN”. But, now that he’s dropped down in the order, i just hope he provides something to the club at the very least in that role. I certainly am not going to lose sleep over pierre being dropped down, that’s for sure.
and by the way..i just checked the probable pitches section on dodgers.com and saw a oswalt v. billingsly matchup for the first game of the astros series. That will definately be a great one to watch!
But first, of course, we need to get at least 2 out of 3 in st. louis, if not all 3, but that might be getting greedy, but who knows? 🙂
pitchers*
Sweeney got his hand spiked today. Saw it while watching their game.
yep, your right man. I’ll man up and say I was wrong.
Marlon Anderson left the game today with a hurt wrist.
The last Gnat-Dodger trade I can recall is Candy Maldanado for Alex Trevino in 85.
Dodgerthoughts.com confirms this is the first one in 22 years.
Interesting move, his OBP is very good. He’s also been red hot the past two months. Since the break his OBP is .565. One of those low-risk moves. Would make more sense on August 31st, that way we don’t have to cut or option anybody. Would be a shame to see Young optioned after that game. Regardless whomever goes down will be back in September. It’s just a left handed bat off the bench.
yep, your right man. I’ll man up and say I was wrong.
Posted by: jungar@wsgcorp.com | August 9, 2007 04:48 PM
no worries man..we all have the same common goal…root for our Dodgers as they go for a 2 game win streak tommorow!!!!!! 🙂
another gnat… thanks colletti. we should of just kept marlon.
Thanks amigo. I agree with you at times that I try to be “right” to much. I just need to let things go. I don’t want people to think I don’t support our players, even if I don’t support our management.
My Pierre bashing is really Coletti bashing. In any case, I pretty much like this move to get Sweeny.
Marlon was let go due to timing I think, not talent. You could argue that at the time, Wilson was our lefty pinch hitter. Saenz the righty.
Sweeney seems to be a fair replacement for Betemit and makes the Betemit-Proctor move look better, especially considering Proctor has shown us durability and effectiveness since the move.
but betemit is still a better pinch hitter. sweeney has little to no power. just face it. ned is determined to get as many ex gnats as possible on this roster. why don’t we get pedro feliz while we’re at it.
I also just realized we could go back to 11 pitchers for Sweeney, but I can’t imagine optioning Houlton (our long reliever). The only other possibility is Hernandez DFA. So, Houlton, Hernandez, or Young. Very unlikely they option Kemp. I agree Marlon was a victim of timing, Betemit was good enough to be our lefty off the bench, until he was spun for Proctor. Regardless we need a proven lefty off the bench and now we have that again. A rookie (Young) shouldn’t be our left handed bat off the bench, considering he’s a switch hitter. He should be playing regularly here or in Vegas.
Plus Young will be recalled when we expand to our 40 man roster in September, so I think he’s the most likely candidate.
well this isn’t going to save the season, thats for sure. but im sure ned figures the more old guys the better.
well the idea that Wilson was a pinch hitter at all is annoying to me but I am trying my hardest to turn over a new leaf.
It’s a good move, and possibly a bit of a surprise. Guys will often be put on waivers just to see if they will clear, so we may have been able to put in a first claim (thanks to our recent poor play).
DodgerThoughts is worried that we’re losing patience with Loney, because Ned said that he might get an occassional start. I don’t see it that way. He’ll get a start, but Sweeney’s whole game is the pinch-hit. Also, Ned seemed to be complaining that “the guys we were counting on in the off-season and spring” weren’t delivering, and he meant the veterans, not the kids. And Loney’s not struggling too badly (certainly not compared to the rest of the team). Three hard hit balls yesterday, including a double, and 1-2 today.
Sweeney is a better left-handed pinch-hitter than either Anderson or Betemit was, so it’s an improvement for the team.
I doubt that they would DFA anyone with three weeks until the rosters expand. Clearly, Sweeney is coming in as the number 1 left-handed pinch-hitter, which is the role we were giving to Delwyn Young. But I am betting that Houlton gets optioned–again, the pitching has not been a problem, and the rotation has been pretty good (including the back-end). The bullpen is pretty well-rested, so, 11 pitchers would be just fine for the next 22 days. Plus, if we end up needing a long-man in a week, we can make a move to send down Young and bring Stults back, so this would work OK.
Young getting optioned is possible, but after today, it seems unlikely. Kemp is remotely possible, but even with him struggling, I don’t think they see any advantage in putting him against minor league pitchers. Kemp’s problem is dealing with the effectiveness of major league pitchers, and I don’t think he’s ever going back to Las Vegas.
As for who we are trading Sweeney for, there was a player who some years ago was traded for a Player to Be Named Later, and 6 months later, the player the team named was the same player. In other words, a guy got traded for himself. True story (though I can’t remember the name or cite the source). That being said, I am betting it ends up as cash considerations. It seems like contract dumping by the Giants.
not that it matters but I totally agree with your whole post lee
Sweeney will get the occasional start the way Saenz just got ‘the occasional start’. This pretty much makes Saenz a 100% bench player. This in no way should affect Loney’s playing time.
Thanks Jungar. It does matter to me.
Of course, you’ve probably just cursed it, and now the team will do the opposite. But let’s hope not.
why can’t the dfa be grandfather hernandez over houlton? notice how he hasn’t been using the old man much lately. i don’t think grady trusts him, and rightfully so.
if ned/grady honestly thinks that sweeney>loney at 1st on any given day then….ugh.
I see that Sweeney has been added to the 40 man roster already. Any idea who they took off?
They should just move Schmidt or Repko to the 60 Day DL.. that clears a spot.
Dodgers had only 39 on 40-man before Sweeney. Plus many players could go to 60 day DL. I count 6 who will not play again this year. I am not including Wolf in that but am including one AAA player.
Hernandez is pitching fine against RH hitters and does not deserve to be cut. And, in the heat of St.Louis I can’t think the Dodgers will go to 11 pitchers so I don’t have a guess except Young.
said Little. “You can’t come into a season saying you’re depending on the young players to get us through; it’s clearly evident not even Russell Martin [can carry us] after only one season. The bottom line is, the people we’re depending on are not getting it done.”
Russell Martin can’t carry anything right now Grady because he’s exhausted by you playing him everyday, and the rest of those so called people you were depending on play the game of baseball as if they have no clue about the fundamentals and/or proper execution, which of course is a direct reflection of their manager…. i.e. the other night when you had Penny swing away at the first pitch with no one out and a man at second instead of having him lay one down. You’re a donkey!
Dayn Perry called Juan Pierre the worst hitting center fielder this year.
“Sure, Pierre has his good points: he’s a fairly efficient base stealer, and he’s a solid defender in center. At the plate, though, he’s been a wreck this season. Speed on bases is nice, but one must, you know, reach base in order to use that speed. Pierre’s paltry OBP of .318 proves he’s not doing that. Pierre has such limited secondary hitting skills that he really needs to hit comfortably over .300 to be useful. In 2007, he’s coming up short in that regard.”
Mark Sweeney… seriously? why? Ned why? Call up LaRoche and his near .600 SLG%!
so Mark Sweeney is the guy that replaces Wilson Betemit as our next pinch hitter. Kind of funny, this guy hasn’t hit a homerun this year and his avg is .256. Wilson is crushing the ball in the BIG APPLE. Front office realized a mistake was done?
Way to go Colleti you destroy the bench by trading Betemit, and make it all well by getting Sweeney. You do know that you got Mark Sweeney not Mike Sweeney.
Mike Sweeney hasn’t picked up a bat since June 17th, Mark Sweeney meanwhile since the All Star Break is batting .412 and has an on base percentage of .565
As a pinch hitter this season Mark Sweeney is batting .313 and an OBP of .441.
Do not judge a book by its cover, this guy can hit off the bench not to mention find a way to get on base.
We all agree mistakes have been made this year, but I tend to live for what is to come. What’s done is done!
Getting Sweeney,who is the No. 2 all-time Pinch Hitter with 155 (Just ahead of Mota and behind Ex-Dodger Lenny Harris 212) is just the guy we need from the left side off the bench.
Sweeney is batting .326 as a PH this season, that is what we need. HR’s with RISP are special, but RBI hits or extra base hits are just as good with RISP or two-out hits during a rally.
Look like Sweeney was first drafted by us in the 39th round of the amateur draft in 1990 but did not sign.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sweenma01.shtml
we once drafted randy wolf and brett tomko too 🙂
why is everyone still complaining about the Betemit deal? Betemiss HAD NO FUTURE WITH THE CLUB!! I said at the beginning of this year he was going to be traded before the deadline for that reason.
IF you really want to complain about something complain about our waste of 44 million dollars thats STILL ON THE TEAM!
Yep and Eric Brynes and Chase Utley.
Oh wow I didn’t known his brother is Jim Wolf a mlb ump.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Wolf
nice pick up with sweeney…
what’s next for Young? Is he going to start for us in LF?
coz my understanding is they call him up to be our pinch hitter on the left side of the plate coz he was a switch hitter…
and who is the guy going with the giants?
Keep Young in LF for now and move Either to RF. Sweeney will be nice coming off the bench.
JP has played every game this season, why not a day off and an outfield of Kemp, Young and Ethier? I believe it’s worth a shot and maybe a few more runs, i mean, all 3 of these guys can smack the ball alot harder than JP.
ur right Kiper…
grady already said that he doesn’t want the way JP is playing, so why not try to give him a couple of days off…
and put young(LF), Kemp(CF), Ethier(RF)…
Here we go, this is the line up i’d like to see:
Furcal
Martin
Ethier
Kent
Garciaparra
Loney
Young
Kemp
Ethier will see some pitches with Kent behind him and Nomar protects Kent, you have some good opportunities at 3,4 and 5.
What I find strange is the fact that Grady publicly calls Pierre out in the papers for not performing up to expectations, but yet Pierre is not benched for a game or two to clear his head?
I cannot believe Little keeps playing Pierre in order to keep his consecutive games streak going, but what other explanation is there?
maybe when they sign him, they got into an agreement to keep his consecutive games…
u’ll never know what kind of talk they have when they finish signing the contract…
and another reason is…
they didn’t pay JP that big money just to sit on the bench…
“It’s frustrating, because I was brought here to bat at the top of the lineup and get on base and score runs,” Pierre said. “I’m not doing that well enough right now, I guess. (Hitting seventh), I can’t bunt and I can’t run like I want to. But I just have to roll with the punches. It’s frustrating for me, but if I was batting .330 with an on-base percentage of .400, I would be at the top of the lineup.
“Essentially, I have to blame myself for not getting the job done.”
I have a question..Who gets sent down now that we have Sweeney??…Martinez or Saenz?
We can only hope..
About Pierre…gee I really hate that he’s unhappy..THEN GET THE JOB DONE AND GET ON BASE FOR A CHANGE!!
Dbacks won again..We better not lose anymore.
Saenz better get released! Saenz,Little, Steiner, Lyons all need to go!!!
Does anyone watch the Pre-game show. Kevin Kennedy has some great points. I bet the team improves with him as our Manager.
diehard..
I totally agree with you about Kennedy…but don’t expect the Dodgers to fire Grady…sorry to say…I just want a manager that can speak normally after a game and make some GOOD decisions in game…We haven’t had a manager that you can understand or says anything meaningful after a game it seems forever…even Tracy couldn’t….all Grady says is..”we’re proud he’s on our team” or something equally as stupid…
why would u want little go?
i know he made alot of mistakes by putting some stupid lineup… but that is what u call desperation moves…
i think the only reason why JP stays in the top of the lineup that long is becoz this is his 1st year as a dodger…
they want JP to feel welcome…
it is not stupid…
maybe ur don’t want grady becoz of the way he speaks or the way he react when losing…
but i think grady is doing a good job by not talking…
coz ACTION speaks louder than words..
it’s not only his fault why we are losing… it’s our players…
can u see them swing on the first pitch? that’s the reason why we are losing…
he address that to the team before but some of them aren’t listening… coz alot of the guys are veterans and you can’t change the way they play even if u are the manager…
I would certainly recommend Saenz for the DFA, particularly since Martinez can at least field and since Sweeney can play first base as well (I’m sure better).
I think our team would be better off with anybody as manager compared to Little. He’s got as much impact as a wet dishrag. Why do you think the Red Sox were glad to get rid of him and nobody picked him up until Colletti got that bright idea.
Hey, on foxsports.com this morning they have a feature on the worse hitters in baseball by position. We have been validated!! Here is who they say is the worse hitting centerfielder: CF — Juan Pierre, Dodgers
Sure, Pierre has his good points: he’s a fairly efficient base stealer, and he’s a solid defender in center. At the plate, though, he’s been a wreck this season. Speed on bases is nice, but one must, you know, reach base in order to use that speed. Pierre’s paltry OBP of .318 proves he’s not doing that. Pierre has such limited secondary hitting skills that he really needs to hit comfortably over .300 to be useful. In 2007, he’s coming up short in that regard.
Well, i guess we’re not the only ones hating on JP…
If JP can only get on base an awful lot he might have a career high in steals already…
he might be finishing the season with 80 steals…
The big issue with the dodgers to me is that we didnt go out and get a big bat for the middle of the order before the start of the year. Early games that were close could have been blowouts which would have allowed us to rest oour staff more. We need that consistent presence in the middle of the order to pick things up when the team is struggling.
The other problem is that 2/5ths of our starting rotation pitched a total of 125 innings this year.
Go on and on about Grady..but really this is more on the GM.
Pierre is only doing what he’s been doing for all of his career, albeit somewhat less effectively this season. He would probably contend it’s because he’s been out of his lead-off position. The problem with having Pierre on the team is clearly Colletti’s fault. The deal was done in panic, and he psychologically needed to beat out his previous boss with the Giants, who still proved to be smarter than Colletti by not offering such a long contract. Under the circumstances I’m not surprised that this deal bit Colletti in the a**. Unfortunately it’s the team that will suffer this deal for several more years to come, because we’re effectively locked out from getting a legitimate power CF in the off-season market.
Well, i’m not a fan of JP but i agree that he’s not the problem as much as us not having a power bat in the line up. We are seriously looking at a season of not one player hitting 20 homeruns. When was the last time that happened. In the steroid era of baseball, in the era of weightlifting and the juiced ball, the Dodgers will not have a player top 20 homeruns..unless Jeff Kent heats up. Amazing.
Pierre negates his stolen bases with all the extra bases he allows with his poor arm.
I haven’t been able to find this: How many bunt hits does Pierre have this season? I only remember 1 off hand.
yeah…
and if u look at it…
we don’t have any other position to put a power bat…
we will have a spot if they wouldn’t want LaROche at 3rd or Abreu at 2nd..
but as we are all hearing…
they like LaRoche.. they like Abreu…
so where are we going to put the power bat we needed…?
Big Question mark in next years offseason!
I really believe that the Dodgers are going to get into the ARod sweepstakes this offseason. Ned and Mr. McCourt have an obligation to the 3 million plus fans that cross the gates at Dodger Stadium each year to give them a winner. They can’t go after Andruw Jones or Torii Hunter (JP) and there really isn’t anybody outthere in the upcoming free agent market that the Dodgers can use (starting pitching) so i really believe that ARod will be on their radar screen. The competition for ARod will be between 4 or 5 teams (Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, Cubs???) so why not.
It looks to me like we’ll have to concetrate and get some starting pitchers in the off-season. I don’t trust that we’ll have either Wolf or Schmidt back, and Lowe will probably be gone after next season. Picking up one or two starting pitchers is a risky proposition at best, because arms give out more easily than batting prowess. Colletti doesn’t have a great track record with his pitcher trades or signings.
let us say we get A-Rod…
how about our pitching needs?
we will only have 3 pitchers in our rotation next year…
penny, chad, jason!
we need two more…
or at least 1… coz i think Kuo will be our 5th starter again…
are we going to get a mediocre pitcher again?
Lowe might be going somewhere next year…
van, as i said, there really isn’t any options in the upcoming free agent market. I think the best option for the Dodgers is to hope that you can get Schmidt and Wolf back, and if you believe the Dodgers P.R. people and their medical staff, they will both be back. You have a staff of Penny, Lowe, Bills, Schmidt, Wolf and Kuo should also be back. There really isn’t anybody outthere that will be much better than our options. You add ARod and you have a real legit BIG BAT in your line up. With the maturation of Loney and Ethier and Kemp you have a pretty good shot at scoring some runs. Besides, you have ARod in a situation where he’s happy, he’ll be an idol in LA, he’ll be THE star of the team, which he isn’t in NY, and this will be his team to carry and no more Jeter to compete with for the headlines..oh and he’ll be making $30 million. Yes, No???
Found it….Pierre has 11 bunt hits in 48 attempts.
That’s not very good.
So moving Pierre to LF is out of the question for you guys for next season? At least his arm issue wouldn’t be so bad. You put Andrew Jones in CF and all of a sudden thats a pretty strong defensive OF. No need for A-rod, that guy is a looser. Great player but every team he goes to gets worse, not better.
Dream on if you think that McCourt will allow a multi-year $30 million yearly contract. He’s been bitten enough with the high payroll dollars that have turned out to be wasted.
messagebear, ARod isn’t exactly Schmidt or Pierre or who else has the McCourt regime been bitten by???
Yeah but Pierre’s had a lot of bad calls go against him on those bunt hit attempts. I can remember at least 5 where he was clearly safe and was called out. Some of those umps are probably the same guys posting on this site about how terrible pierre is.
The only way to get rid of Pierre is to trade bad contract for bad contract. I don’t see a match out there.
If the Dodgers eat the bulk of Pierre’s contract, they can trade him. They won’t, but that’s how you would get rid of him. Pierre will be a Dodger for at least the next 2 seasons so we may as well learn to live with him at the top of the line up.
everyone loves the way A-Rod play…
but he is too expensive…
and i would rather get Santana so we have a hard thrower Left handed pitcher…
i don’t know how the things will shape up next year coz we really need a power bat…
but pitching should be the teams number one priority…
I wasn’t aware of the fact that Santana is a free agent.. my bad!
Santana’s signed through 08.
L.A is going to be crazy if A-Rod is here…
just try to imagine Koby, Beckham, A-Rod!
That’s what i thought czrussell, and that’s why i said there were no viable options out there, as far as pitching, for the Dodgers.
too expensive A-Rod? We are the LA Dodgers bringing in 4 million fans a season. Imagine if we get Arod, how many jerseys would sell alone. I just read the McCourts bought a 32 million dollar palace in Malibu. I think they can afford Arod!!!
GO DODGERS!!!
This is from mlbtraderumors.com:
Possible FA
Starting pitchers for 08
Carlos Zambrano (27)
Curt Schilling (41)
Jason Jennings (29)
Koji Uehara (33)
Freddy Garcia (32)
Kenny Rogers (43)
Jon Lieber (38)
Bartolo Colon (35)
Joe Kennedy (29)
Tomo Ohka (32)
John Thomson (34)
Kip Wells (31)
Wade Miller (31)
Livan Hernandez (33)*
Randy Wolf (31) – $9MM club option for ’08
Paul Byrd (37) – $8MM club option for ’08
Jeff Weaver (31)
Tom Glavine (42) – $9MM player option for ’08
Kris Benson (33) – $7.5MM club option for ’08
Jaret Wright (32)
David Wells (45)
Eric Milton (32)
Kyle Lohse (29)
Matt Clement (33)
Rodrigo Lopez (32)
Josh Fogg (31)
Byung-Hyun Kim (29)
Odalis Perez (31) – $9MM club option for ’08
Brett Tomko (35) – $4.5MM mutual option for ’08
Zambrano and Fogg would be of interest to me.
diehardblu,
that’s not what i mean…
i know they can afford A-Rod…
but if they get A-Rod, how about our other needs?
pitching? we only have penny, chad and jason next year…
u can’t win championship with A-Rod and no pitching…
look at the yanks on the start of the season…
they are high octained offense… but the pitching staff gave up too much runs…
I’d like to see them pick up Uehara depending on the price tag. He was pretty much lights out in the world baseball classic.
Maybe Rodrigo Lopez, he would be equivelant to anything we have after Penny and Lowe and other than that, no upgrades. Zambrano will not leave the Cubs and Schilling is done. I really think that ARod would be a good fit with these young players and he will bring in a heck of alot more people, the Dodgers would be on ESPN or Fox every week and the guy is only 32 so you have to figure he’s got 7 to 8 solid years left. Oh and there is that homerun record sitting out there that is within reach for him 6 to 7 years down the road. Imagine what Ethier could do in the 3 hole with ARod behind him…
OK, I’ll take Penny, Lowe, Billingsley,Scmidht, Kuo,Kershaw, point is we can develope pitching. Imagine Martin seeing nothing but fastballs cause he has Arod hitting behind him. We will not be perfect but we would be in GREAT shape.
plus right now I’m looking at the Yanks and their in better position than our boys. Arod has a little to do with that.
This team that we have now, in spite of it’s pitching woes, is where it is because of the lack of run production,i.e, homeruns, risp!!! The Dodgers would be in first place right now if they had a power bat. The pitching, as bas as it’s been, is not to blame. Aren’t we coming of 3 straight shutout losses? (prior to yesterday) The pitching in those 3 games was pretty **** decent. So my point is that we aren’t in that much trouble pitching wise as some of you make it out to be.
well i love to see LaRoche at 3rd…
but if they will get A-Rod(which is i love to see also) it will be a great improvement.. agree…
i hope they will play LaRoche at 2nd instead of Abreu…
and i still believe pitching is more important…
i’ve seen the cardinals win WS coz of good pitching…
diehardblu?
A-Rod?
i don’t think u are reading the papers…
when the yanks win consecutive games it’s not becoz of A-Rod… he is on slump that time trying to get to 500 HR…
the yanks win consecutive games becoz of Abreu and Cano…
I agree. Batting has been the problem. But, I think that if you give Loney, Laroche, Ethier, and Kemp, full seasons as starters in 2008, more likely than not, 3 out of 4 will hit 20 homers. Maybe all four. Martin could hit 20 as well next year. I think addition by subtraction and the experience gained by the young players will improve the power next year.
I think Abreu is a much better option at second. The pitching will improve with Abreu out there. Laroche’s big defensive asset is his arm which would is not as important at 2nd.
kipper,
who are our opponents that time?
our pitching is great coz we are against the Giants, arizona and reds…
if we are up against the mets or some other great teams that time our pitchers will be out in the 2nd inning…
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WOWZERS!!! 420 COMMENTS!!!
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But seriously I’m just glad we got a win & it looks like the negativity has slowed some.
If we moved Pierre to left and signed a good centerfielder then Ethier and Kemp would have to platoon again.
Pierre is the odd man out IMO. He needs to go. Either straight out release him dump him on some team and pay 98% of his contract. I don’t care just get him off the team. He’ horrible and won’t get any better.
Juan Pierre was the worst signing in Dodgers history since Darren Dreifort and its probably the worst position player signing in the teams history.
WE have a lineup that doesn’t string hits together. Pierre really hurt us at the top of the order. With him there we couldn’t get a rally going with our 1-2-3 guy. Especially when Nomar was batting 3rd forever. I think we should just hand this team over to the “Kids” and let them get some experience and have them take over next season. IF we sign A-Rod LaRoche can always play left or 2nd.
MMMM an outfield of LaRoche, Kemp and Ethier with A-Rod playing third.*****
signing Pierre made us less flexible. Horrible signing. His signing is a fireable offense. It’s that bad of a deal. It’s a historically bad deal. HISTORICALLY!
If the Dodgers were able to convince A-Rod to take our money…
It is likely that the Dodgers would attempt to trade Furcal or Pierre. Clearly that experiment at the top of the lineup has been a failure.
A-Rod can play SS.
LaRoche will play 3B.
If Pierre is traded we can move Furcal to CF or just keep Pierre there.
If we trade Furcal rather than Pierre, we will not have to take back a bad contract or add in money, so that would really help the payroll next year.
After 2008, Nomar, Kent, and Lowe will be off the books.
Your right I don’t read the papers. I watch the games Arod carried the yanks to a .500 record All season. Now that they are hot its the whole team. If it wasn’t for Arod they would be no where near the top. NY papers don’t appreciate the best player in the game. He needs to go where he’ll be loved!!
well u have to start praying that he would sign here in L.A…
alot of teams want him…we have a 40-50 chance.. i guess… everybody loves L.A!
the only problem last offseason is money…
the organization didn’t put some money on the table with carlos lee and alfonso soriano…
so u need to pray that the organization is willing to pay such an amount of money…
I think A-rod is alot like Kobe. You love him or hate him type thing. I don’t think he will ever get the respect he should until one of his teams wins a world series. That may not be fair, but I think it is true.
Me, I would be concerned with A-rod at 30 million. Not because of 2008 or 09 but in 2010, 2011, 2012 we will be paying a 35+ year old alot of money and well, we see how that has gone. 5 years ago Nomar was awesome, gonzo hit 50+ bombs, Kent was a true middle of the order bat..times change fast in baseball. You put A-rod in the NL west with the ballparks out here and his numbers will decline. Still be solid, but decline.
Max there really isn’t anyone left who feels Pierre is a good signing is there? Even Grady snapped finally. And that’s saying something.
I think JP is great but i agree it’s a bad signing…
not just becoz he is struggling but they block a spot for a Jones or Hunter caliber…
if he was traded for a bad contract that would be great just to make some spot with others.. i would be sad to see him go, though, coz good character guys are hard to find… specially here in baseball…