Gonzo is going to play until he gets his 2,500 hit. He said thats all he really cares about. Some veteran leader ****. I hope we lose tonight. This is getting ridiculous.
I was a little disturbed by Jeff Kent’s comments to the media today. You’d think he was the only one in the clubhouse who is disappointed about how this season is ending.
Some of his remarks were: “I don’t know what it is, especially when you have a lot of young players,” said Kent, “I don’t know why they don’t get it.” Asked what they don’t get, Kent said: “A lot of things. Professionalism. How to manufacture a run. How to keep your emotions in it. There’s just a lot of things that go on with playing 162 games.”
Well, maybe his attitude is coming across to the young players and they pick up on it. What exactly is he referring to? Broxton giving up home runs lately, the lack of hitting in key moments with RISP, running through stops at 3rd base? He makes it sound like only the veteran players should be playing because they are the only ones with the guts to see the season through.
I would have to say part of the problem could be found by his looking into a mirror. He doesn’t have very good hustle when he plays second base, and I’ve heard the comment that he runs the bases like he’s got a piano on his back. And I agree, he’s pretty slow. Sure, he hits for doubles at lot, and he’s gotten his fair share of home runs, but his venting like this makes me think he’s not a team player, and maybe the kids are not good enough for him to associate with.
Perhaps the Dodgers should consider starting over with all new players: “rookies” and then let’s see how far they get into 2008.
This is ridiculous that Kemp has to sit so a washed up Gonzo can play. Grady is crazy. Some of Neds other less talked about great moves letting Cody Ross and Werth go. Either one of them would have been better in center than what we have know for 9 mil a year. Also I see Marlon Anderson is still productive. I’d rather still have him instead of Sweeney. Every choice that management made has been the wrong ones, they’re batting 1000 at being wrong. Get rid of both of them.
Why is Martin playing?!!! Let Him rest. We’re eliminated already! Jake Peavy isn’t going to lose today against Morales and the Rockies. Earth to Grady!! Earth to Grady!!
I heard Gonzo was a big fan of “Loveline”. Maybe he should take up a new profession in radio or something, because he sure is an embarrassing baseball player.
And I hate that stupid promo from early in the season when he disingenously talks about the “good, young players like Ethier and Martin.” But he probably wishes Ethier wasn’t on the team taking “his” starts.
I said in the beginning of the year, that if Gonzo were still good Arizona never would have let him go. He didn’t fit in with their kids and was complaining about lost playing time. Sound familiar?
Why the **** is Gonzo still playing? He’s not gonna be back with the team next year anyway. We are out of it we should see what we’ve got with some of these kids. KEMP IS YOUR BEST HITTER!!!!!!
you said >>>I said in the beginning of the year, that if Gonzo were still good Arizona never would have let him go. He didn’t fit in with their kids and was complaining about lost playing time. Sound familiar?<<<<
you can almost bank on him playing on a non-competitive team next year, he’s a great guy & all but he isn’t the same player he once was.
Oh, and yes, I’m a hot head when it comes to this team. My dad (who even though is also a hot head), never bashes the team, and normally gives me **** at the games about my yelling at Grady and certain players (I once got yelled at by Carolyn Hughes but that’s another story). But even my dad, who again doesn’t criticize the Dodgers much, and normally enjoys going to as many games as he can, said that he is tired of Grady Little. I suggested that we go to one game before the season was over, and he said he didn’t think he wanted to watch Grady manage anymore this season.
He actually managed to **** off someone who never once complained about Jim Tracy, or the team losing a game. He just loves going to the games, and god knows for whatever reason “spending quality time with his son (me)”.
So there you go. That’s like one of those ringing endorsements of a poster child that Frankie needs to look at for next season.
If Grady actually thought Kemp was the best hitter, he’d be playing more.
I only made an Abreu comment because Grady proves he still cannot contruct a lineup. A two hole hitter (and granted we had the wrong one all year long) should have patience. Abreu has none. And there we are.
Nomar should be shut down for the year, he’s injured, let him heal up. Ridiculous to play him at this point, I don’t get it and you can’t defend it.
I wasn’t a big Jim Tracy fan , but he looks pretty good to me now after watching Grady littles managing. I also thought Colburn was a better pitching coach than Honeycutt.
I’m guessing just from this lineup that Grady hasn’t realized that we don’t have a shot this season, or else I’d hope he would be playing the kids. I want him to be fired as much as any of you but I doubt it will happen.
With our top 5 HR hitters in this lineup we have a total of 86. Yes we got the Power. What we need is to look more confidence at the plate. Batter’s need to be more selective, stop first ball swinging and draw more walks. Let’s at least try to end the season over .500 GO DODGERS !!
Good point, fliegel, about Colburn being better than Honeycutt. That’s easily forgotten. Of course, much could be made of the fact that this has to be one of the worst coaching staffs. So, there’s one more reason why GRADY MUST GO – AND COLLETTI TOO.
Kemp’s base running Errors did not cost us the season SO STOP F’ING BRINGING THEM UP! anyone that think it was the kids that ruined this year are easily the stupidest people in the world.
Nomar, Gonzo, Pierre, Schmidt, Wolf(kinda…he ran into some bad luck with his should…he was rushed back…by grady and ned of course) and Grady are the main reasons we are where we are.
Loney, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley, MArtin and Broxton are the reason we ever had life down the stretch.
did any of you guys that are screaming for Kemp to play ever think that with all of the missed signs etc maybe HE is the reason he’s not playing? if he paid attention to the coaches and vetererns like Kent he might be playing. it takes things OTHER than raw talent to make a star.
People, although the Dodgers are eliminated all but mathematically (6.5 out of the WC with 9 to play), these games are extremely important to Arizona, so baseball etiquette demands that Grady start “realistic” lineups. That means not starting **** who was at AA the majority of this season. (The Padres should be pleased that Matt Kemp continues not to play.)
The last homestand against non-contenders (the soon to be eliminated Rockies and the Gnats) should produce some interesting lineups, one hopes.
It’s hard to know where to begin with a mob but I’ll start with jspelk who claims there are 10 players on the roster who should bat 2nd before Abreu and later claims Abreu has “no patience”. Abreu has been primarily used as a 2 hitter in his minor league career sometimes as lead-off and sometimes in the 3 hole. The team has 5 outfielders, 12 infielders including Abreu himself, Furcal (hurt), Seanz, Sweeny,and Hillenbrand and 3 catchers only one of whom is suited for batting 2nd. If I subtract the highly ridiculous that leaves 13 players of whom spelk thinks 10 including Kemp,Kent,Nomar,and Gonzalez are better suited for batting 2nd than Abreu. Since I think I’ll get no arguments about the above 4 that leaves only 9 which total includes Pierre. Abreu in his brief major league use has averages 3.45 pitches per PA not patient but not “no patience” I have never seen a NP/PA over 4 but I have seen 3.9. Luis Gonzalez is usually around 3.8 or 3.9. Bill Mueller in his best years also.
Kemp is not in the starting line-up for the same reason he wasn’t last Saturday when we beat Hernandez. You remember the last game we won. Because Hernandez has trouble throwing strikes to LH hitters. Gonzalez batting 308,Ethier 455, Loney 400 (2/5), Sweeny 375. Now as I have said in past posts I’d like to see Kemp playing and Pierre sitting but that’s a different discussion.
Believe it or not I was angry when I learned Colletti had signed Gonzalez and I’ve never changed in that but you people,as far as I can tell, are insane. Do you have any proof that Gonzalez has complained about playing time or is it what I think? You don’t look at pitchers splits so you make up a reason why Gonzalez starts when Grady starts him against certain RH pitchers. The reason you have made up is that Gonzalez complains. Is there any objective evidence that your claim is true?
As I am sure I’ve made clear Colletti has has a terrible year and I blame him for the team’s lack of run scoring during the period when we went 7-19 which dug too big a hole for this team to dig out of. Also for allowing Tomko and Hendrickson to start 10 of those games.
As for your direct question I would love that to be true but you know it isn’t so it is pre-teen level rudeness. Answer my posts.
Apparently, it’s more fun to rag and bash Gonzo because he’s taking time away from Kemp in the field, as opposed to bashing the guy who puts him out on the field and makes the lineup every day. I mean, when you are filled with so much hate inside, even the usual Grady bashing gets boring and the character assasination of Gonzo is much more thrilling i guess?
Thus, Gonzo gets ridiculed for suiting up everyday and putting on his glove and picking up his bat each time his turn comes up in the batting order, since it’s his fault he’s in the lineup, and Kemp is not.
Also, another fun technique is to pick up a Gonzo quote from the press and spin it so it makes it seem like he’s throwing a hissy-fit if he doesn’t get to play, and would throw towels and gloves/bats in the clubhouse everywhere to get his point across. That way, you have the opportunity to bash him by using descriptives words like “clubhouse cancer”, “selfish *****”, etc etc as opposed to the usual, and sometimes overdone “washed-up veteran” which will always be a favorite.
Just to be clear, i too would rather have Kemp in the lineup since he has far superior skills both on offense/defense to Gonzo. But i don’t know the splits of pitchers, and i don’t know what happens behind the scenes that leads to Kemp sitting down. What i don’t get is why you have to voice your frustration at Kemp sitting by ragging and bashing on Gonzo. I mean, people who continually say “I hate Gonzo” should really just say “I hate Gonzo because Kemp is sitting”. That way, you get your point across instead of sounding like you’re just whining about it.
tink As far as you thinking everyone else on this blog beside you is insane, Have you considered at the beginning of the season we weren’t? The management, or lack there of is what has driven most of us full of discontent, insanity, and borderline hatred in some cases.
Once again, You are NOT the end all know it all you think you are. The way you address others on this blog is condescending. The way you trying to talk down to others is uncalled for. You are rude, and obnoxiuos.
not trying to belabor a point but maybe if Kemp hadn’t been involved in so many mistakes that involved not paying attention to a coach, he might be in the lineup more. i just have to believe that Kemp is one of the youngsters that Kent pointed out. one that feels he’s made it and is to cool to listen.
miketink: I don’t think you’re condescending or rude. I do think those who accuse you of same are both. I don’t necessarily agree with you, but I find your posts thought provoking and inciteful.
I do agree with your take on Gonzo 100%.
Max- I think those billionaires wasted their money!LOL
Reading the posts on this thread was tedious because of all of the repitition, in many cases by some people posting the same thing over and over and over and over…(get my drift?)
Please don’t waste our time and your own by beating something to death. Be original or have the courtesy to keep quiet until you have something new to add to the discussions!
Loaiza $ucks and I called that right when Ned picked him up and everybody on this blog gave me **** about it. Guess what, Loaiza is the perfect symbol for how this year has gone, an old washed up injury prone veteran who has blocked young better kids from playing. Loaiza is one of MANY reasons why Ned should be fired.
Josh I don’t know if you will get a chance to read this so I will repost it again tomorrow right when you post the lineups- Are you going to do this blog next season?
Why the **** did we give Tomko and Loaiza a combined 30 starts this year and yet we didn’t give Houlton 1? It’s like we’re afraid our young players are gonna be good. It’s almost an automatic loss any time Loaiza or Bombko pitched, with that in mind why not give Stults and Houlton an opportunity?
Stults got his starts I was at a sun 10/inn loss that he did well in vs the Mets Kemp lost that one for us…DJ had his starts 2 years ago on rule 5 draft and he ******. DJ does better now but is still not quite there for a winning team starter.
How do you know Houlton still isn’t ready he never made a start? Don’t you think with what we got from our 5th starters this year that we owe Houlton a start?
swood: I believe you are wrong about Loaiza but we won’t know that until next year;however I am curious who is Loaiza blocking? The only candidates are Houlton and Stults. Their minor league stats are far worse than Loaiza’s major league stats. Do you think there are starting pitchers in the Dodger system who didn’t get called up because of Loaiza? I think you are wrong if that’s what you think?
jriley: I didn’t insult you. You act like I’m happy with the season. I’m very unhappy but you and the rest of the mob make things worse, at least for me, with your childish tantrums such as Grady ia an idiot(he’s not) Colletti is a Giant sab
miketink I am talking about Houlton and Stults. Stults is better then the injury riddled Loaiza and Houlton likely could be if we would ever give him a start.
Anyway all I am saying is Loaiza was a needless pickup when we would be kicking someone out of the rotation who was better then him. If you recall we kicked Stults out because he had ONE semi-bad start after all the bad starts we had put up with from Tomko and now what we will put up with from Loaiza. I just hope Loaiza gets injured(which he very well might) or else we’ve got another Tomko on our hands.
I’ve had enough of this. I’ve been a Dodger fan since the early 50’s and this is one of the most frustating years I’ve endured. I’m going to bed. see ya
rlglynn you have every right to go to bed. It’s not even worth watching a game that Loaiza is starting, its an automatic loss anyway. Thanks Ned for another great move.
We’re not exactly leading the world in runs scored even with our best players in there. It is impossible for our offense to come back and consistently overcome the crooked numbers Loaiza spots the other team. Loaiza is spanish for LOSS!!!!! lol.
Wait a second, Ned brings in a veteran over the hill pitcher, the veteran over the hill pitcher $ucks, we leave the veteran over the hill pitcher in the rotation no matter how bad he is and no matter how many games we lose because of it even though we have younger better options.
I hate to say it but I would actually be happy if we lost out the rest of the way. Maybe that would make Frank realize Grady is a lost cause and make the needed changes. What do you guy honestly think the odds that Grady will be let go?
eheuerman Grady will not be let go. We were in the race for too long this year for Grady to get fired even if we lose the rest of our games. No matter how much the fans hate them Grady and Ned are coming back next year. If we lose next year then maybe Grady will be gone.
A part of me is hoping we lose next year too because I don’t think this team can win it all with Grady/Ned. I think it will take a sub .500 year next year to get them fired.
Loaiza will stay in the rotation. Come on pierreseast Loaiza is one of Ned’s veteran signings, you don’t actually think he would be benched before he could really hurt our team. Just look at how long Tomko was in the rotation and how much he hurt the team.
we aren’t going to make the playoffs so the best we can hope for is that we lose every game and finish under .500. Thats our best chance to get rid of ned and grady.
I don’t even know what Ned is going to do this offseason. We don’t have very many positions of need, that is if we’re going to let the young kids play. I just hope Ned doesn’t resign Gonzo or another veteran corner outfielder.
Well the Gnats ain’t goin’ nowhere this year either. And the better news is Barry Bonds will take off that uniform. He’s looking to DH next year. If all that comes to pass, I will be rooting for him to reach 800.
It’s good to watch these games because you can see we are trying to win. We’re being beat. The other contenders proberbly think we’re not trying. Unless they’re watching it too.
To think, I used to watch nearly every game on TV or at the stadium. I hate Grady so much that I don’t even like the remote possibility that I might see him on TV.
The Dodgers were favored by most to win the NL West, but Little said he was always having to juggle the lineup to find the right mix, especially after key injuries and a lack of production from certain positions.
“If we could have operated the entire season basically with the lineup we came out of spring training with,” Little said, “I would have loved nothing better.”
That would have allowed the youngsters to break in slowly, he said.
Haven’t they been broken in slowly enough? Am i missing something here? Everything out of this guys mouth is like mush.
jeff kent basically said he’s an idiot and the vets are jealous because they aren’t good anymore and the youngs guys who are good are taking their jobs. He also said that all they care about is themselves.
Pierre,
I was so surprised that the audio sounds different than what the article reads. I guess I can no longer trust anything a sportswriter writes about a players comments. Part of the audio is on the Dodger Talk from yesterday. You can find on the kfwb site. -Emma
the audio is more telling than the quotes. You can hear by his voice and the tone of his statement that it was not made out of anger or hatred. Rather, it was more of frustration. Thus, when you just read the quotes on paper and by themselves, it makes it appear like he’s pointing the finger at the kids.
Of course, those that have that weird manlove for the kids will spin it into a “jeff kent hates the kids” thing, which it is not. But to each his own i guess.
Listen to the audio out his comments, and you can decide yourself.
Thank you Emma, I think it was just frusrtation anyway and Kent has a way with comments, He’s always saying something that agravates others, but I wish we had a coupler more of him. We’ll all find out if it was anything serious.
just a couple quotes from 2 la times articles posted tonight, for those that might miss it.
Asked if it bothered him to be criticized by one of the team’s leaders, Loney said of Kent, “Who said he was a leader?”
Said Kemp: “If you take the younger guys away, do you have a team?”
“The younger guys, we work hard, we play hard,” Kemp said. “We’re trying to make a name in the game for ourselves. The older guys, they’ve already made their names for themselves. We don’t want to get that bad rap, that we don’t want to win or we don’t want to play hard, because you won’t make it far in this game.”
Loney said the sizable generation gap in the clubhouse, and the fact there are few players in their prime to bridge the gap between young and old, probably resulted in some misunderstandings.
“That’s not just in baseball, that’s in life,” he said. “Definitely, things get misinterpreted. You really need to get to learn that person. A lot of people don’t want to take that time. A lot of people are too lazy to do that.”
Kemp said the younger players might “play around more” in the clubhouse, which he said might be mistaken for a lack of focus.
“Having fun is part of the game,” Kemp said. “If you came up here and you were serious all the time, that’s not fun. Joking with your boys, that’s fun. It helps you relax. You don’t have to think of all the pressures. You think of just having fun. But we’ve been serious when we get between the white lines.”
Asked if Little had adequately managed the personalities on the team, Loney replied, “I don’t really have anything to say on that.”
Kent refused to revisit the discussion for long on Friday. To a suggestion that he might want to clarify his vaguer statements, he replied, “If I wanted to clarify anything, I would’ve done it yesterday.”
He said he wouldn’t retract what he said, asking, “Are there no reasons we lost?”
“The season is over and I’m mad,” said the exception, Jeff Kent, still steaming. “Look around this clubhouse — is there any sense of loss? They don’t get it. There’s no sense of failure in here.”
At first that “He’s not a leader quote” sounds like something Uncle Miltie once said, but ya know what, he’s right. Kent has NEVER EVER EVER been a clubhouse leader. Ever. None of these veterans are. Nomar-nope. Gonzo-proven cluhousee cancer. I think maybe everyone should just stop talking to reporters for a while. Kent wasn’t directly saying the kids are responsible for the season, but he DID insult them. Everyone should have chosen their words more wisely. And the irony is that the brilliant Colletti thought he was building a clubhouse with chemistry.
well i dont really feel like typing out a monologue, but besides from the whining this year, last year he had the same problem. The Dbacks wanted to give more playing time to a younger player (Quentin) and he threw a fit. Heck, he has a PRESS CONFRENCE about it. One game he sat out. One. game. For a player, who at the time, was out performing him. Sound familiar?
hmm interesting. That doesn’t necessarily mean he is a proven clubhouse cancer in my book, because there’s no indication of what goes on in the clubhouse unless you’re really there. As for what happened in AZ, i think it might be the suprise he felt and the way management informed him so late that he was not going to be retained beyond the last year of his contract. Kind of like how Barry was told just today that he was not going to be retained after his contract expires. I just heard on ESPN that Barry was not happy about being notified about it so late.
As for “whining” this year, i think it’s more fan spin than anything. He didn’t downright say that he was made and would not give it his best. He was saying it like he saw it, and he didn’t throw anyone under the bus. But then again, you can take it how you want, and if his comments strengthen your pre-conceived perception of him, then so be it. I think if he went the next step and demanded or hinted at a trade, then that would have more weight about how he was putting himself in front of the team, and didn’t want to accept the role that he was given.
If i recall, Loney or his agent hinted at a trade when he was sent down to AAA at the beginning of the season. However, we all know that he deserved to be in the big leagues and sending him down was a mistake. However, he shouldn’t have hinted at wanting to leave the Dodgers or at a trade in the first place. He certainly has no right as a guy who was just a prospect at that time. So i must ask, wouldn’t that be called whining as well?
i think it was loneys agent that said hed demand a trade.. and i remember reading somewhere that logan white got pretty pissed off at his agent for that..
again, i’m not trying to defend Gonzo, and i’ll be as glad as the next fan once he’s let go as a free agent this year, and someone else is given the starting job. Preferably Kemp.
However, what i don’t agree with is the generalizations made about him, and the titles given to him if i feel they are underserved. Comments such as steroid use, hateful posts about him and his personality are not warranted if there is no proof to back it up. No matter what, he’s still a Dodger this year, and any posts about his character that lacks concrete proof is not warranted. And this applies to any dodger, young or old, in my opinion. If you want to criticize his on field play, you can do it quite easily with his stats/percentages/etc..However, talking about his personality and the way he carries himself is a whole different story.
as an agent, you represent your client. If Loney didn’t want things said about him, and on his behalf, then he needs to hire a different agent because whatever is said about Loney by his agent is interpreted as on behalf of Loney. Just like Boras saying that A-Rod will opt out of his contract this year. A-Rod hasn’t said it himself, but we all know it’s gonna happen.
Ya know, he’s not the first one to do that when sent back to AAA. Ryan Howard did it when he was playing behind Jim Thome. Loney is no Howard but Nomar SURE aint Jim Thome either.
Well, we all know it was Loney’s frustration that was the cause of it, since he felt that he should of been in the majors.
Look, i’m not blaming him for asking for a trade, or having his agent send hints that he was not happy. I was just bringing it up because it shows that all players are human and get frustrated when there’s a change they don’t like. It was a 1 time thing, and obviously, Loney isn’t asking for a trade as we speak.
As far as Gonzo’s situation, until he continuously is talking to the media about his lack of playing time and his inconsistent starts, and is leaking info. about how he’s mad about the situation he’s in, i’m hardly going to call him a whiner. Of course, you can call him all you want, because it’s clear a majority of people don’t like Gonzo. Why? Gonzo’s talking time away from Kemp in the field. But is that Gonzo’s fault? Gonzo doesn’t make the lineups if a recall. However, he still gets blamed and ridiculed for it, as if he’s out there scratching Kemp’s name off the lineup card and penciling his name there instead.
but like i said, each has their own opinions about him, like any other player. It’s just sometimes, i wish people wouldn’t “hate” a player so much for such a silly reason.
Plaschke’s article this morning was terrible. He sides with Kent, and he says that the youth movement should end? One bad series should not change someones opinion like that, especially a veteran sportswriter like Plaschke.
Kent needs to be traded this offseason. Hopefully he’ll end the year on a positive note so his trade value will be good this offseason. Hu should play second base next year. The guy is ready!
How does Grady Little put in a guy like LaRoche to start a game at this stage of the season when he’s batting below .200 while Nomar and Saenz are on the bench?
After reading the above comments I still draw the same conclusion. Everybody is hates to lose, It’s frustrating and you never get use to it as long as you live. I don’t believe there is a Chicago Cub Fan’s mentality. There are some of them who waited their whole life just to win the pennant, let alone a World Championship. Some died first. And for us, there really isn’t a guarantee our dreams will ever be reached again. GO DODGERS
The fact that the Dodgers remained in the race as long as they did was despite Grady’s pathetic managing, not because of it.
You might consider that the vast majority of Dodgers fans feel the same way. At the “Inside the Dodgers” blog, an informal poll was taken on this Thursday’s thread. Thirty-one of the thirty-two fans who voted felt that Grady should be fired. I guess you and Grady know all and 97% of Dodger fans are clueless.
Grady has mismanaged this team all year, and at times has made absolutely mindbogglingly bad decisions. I guess the highlight of his stupidity was the day he let Loaiza bat with the bases loaded and the Dodgers down 4-0 to the Padres and Jake Peavy. I assume you know the rest of the details of this boneheaded move. If that particular bit of idiocy was an isolated incident it would be easily forgiveable — much as Lasorda’s decision to pitch to Jack Clark is forgiveable — but the Loaiza incident was merely the stupidest among the endless stream of bad decisions Grady has made.
Finally, if the team lacks professionalism or clubhouse chemistry, certainly that must lay primarily at the feet of the manager.
So here we have a manager that lacks both strategic common sense and personnel managment skills.
I recommend that you join the vast majority of Dodger fans and ask Colletti and McCourt to FIRE GRADY!!
I couldn’t stand the carnage last night, and, thankfully went to bed after we were down 6-3. I was fed up with:
1) Confusion on the pop-up that led to Clark’s HR
2) The unabashed gloating on the part of the DBack’s broadcast team on MLB.TV
3) The repetitious whining here at ITD
and 4) The continued mismanagement of our team by Grady Little.
It is now 6:45 in the morning here in Toledo, and I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep and had a chance to reflect on my frustrations both with the team and this blog.
After reading all of the comments above, the following becomes painfully clear to me:
1) We all care passionately about The Dodgers
2) We all are looking for someone to blame for what’s happened
3) Our frustration has boiled over to personal attacks on each other, various players, management, writers, and even poor Josh
4) We need to take a deep breath, gather our wits, write off the season, look forward to much better things next year, and pray that the McCourts have the good sense to make whatever changes THEY DEEM NECESSARY (they do own the team) to fix the problems that are so glaringly obvious to all of us.
So there you have it, if you want to get all over my case, go ahead, but I wish you’d all stop making assumptions about what goes on in a clubhouse that you’re not in about players you don’t know, reported by media that makes far more money from controversy than complacency.
That said, there are no rumors or innuendo regarding Grady Little’s stewardship and management of this team during the games. That is out there for all of us to see on a daily basis. I leave it to all of you, and especially the McCourts, to draw your own conclusions as to where my feelings lie on his performance and what his future with this team should be.
I’ve only been following The Dodgers since 1947, so what could I know?
Great post, Ebbetsfld. This season can’t get over fast enough.
Interesting comment from Loney in the Times about taking away the young guys and not having a team. Well…all indications are we don’t have a “team” now.
grady’s nickname is grady IDIOT.. stupid redneck we can never understand wat hes saying with that stupid voice of him after everygame i watch sports and i here the same stuff.. he says “I tell u wat it was a tough match up and we played great but the other team was better.. in his stupid ridiculous voice.. he is the worst manager in baseball.. ned colleti is trying to build up another Giants team full of old players.. atleast if u want 2 be like the giants were in 2002 when they were one game away.. bring back dusty baker and fire that other redneck idiot.. i think any dodger fan is smarter then him.. Now frank macourt thanx for ur stupid parking it takes even longer to get in and out now and u’ve increased pricing.. all frank cares about is making money.. he doesnt care about the team since he came here the ticket prices and the parking has increased.. i’m just embarased that this is such a great franchise and now were just an embarasment in baseball..
with all the complaints about the youth movement ,by Kent & gonzo ,I counted 18 Vets on the team ,if they played up to expectations eiether, martin ,and bills might have played if Nomar was great Loney would still be at las vegas
Eduardo,
I don’t know if you think because you’re referring to a white man that it’s not racist to call someone a “redneck idiot.” My in-laws are “rednecks” and they sound a **** of a lot smarter when they talk than you do in your posting. So please stop.
MartinLoneyKemp,
In response to:
“You might consider that the vast majority of Dodgers fans feel the same way. At the “Inside the Dodgers” blog, an informal poll was taken on this Thursday’s thread. Thirty-one of the thirty-two fans who voted felt that Grady should be fired. I guess you and Grady know all and 97% of Dodger fans are clueless.”
Taking a poll on a blog that is clearly biased toward one viewpoint (as the majority of dissenters from the primary viewpoint no longer frequent this blog) is not a legitimate way to come up with a solid stat like 97%…it would be like going to Boulder, Colorado or San Francisco and polling about the war in Iraq, then reporting that 99% of Americans are against it. I know you may FEEL like every Dodger fan on earth agrees with you, but it’s really because of inundating yourself in the same viewpoint that dominates this blog. I was at a Dodger game in Denver last week and talking to random Dodger fans that I met there, and several of them said they loved Grady. Look at the ESPN article from this week about the 8 managers whose jobs are on the line, and Grady wasn’t even mentioned. So although you may think you have a claim to represent all of Dodger fan-dom, you’re just really representing a very narrow community and by no means 97% of us.
That said, just so I don’t get mindlessly called a “Grady lover” – I would like to see him gone, if only so the team next year will have a chance at a new clubhouse atmosphere with good chemistry.
It may be unfortunate, but you can’t fire McCourt unless he falls behind on his loans to purchase this great franchise. That, of course, is very unlikely, because the Dodgers is a money making machine, especially when you control the prices from tickets to parking, etc., regardless of how the team actually does on the field. Nobody really hears from him in the midst of this late-season demise of the team. I can only hope that he is engaged with what has been going on with this team and with the fan base that has such an emotional attachment to every season, every series, and every game.
The team makeup has changed since the beginning of the season. Maybe we should have had Loney at first base from the start, but Colletti and Grady decided to bank on Nomar for this and possibly the next season. I believe that this decision set the tone for management philosophy for how the season would eventually play out. Nomar, while not one of the older veterans, has had a recent history of physical impairments, and it wouldn’t surprise anybody in the Red Sox or Cubs organization that he should fail to deliver on a full season basis. Yet, management and ownership focused on his “leadership and experience” and set him apart with functions such as his Carne Asada, because they were enamoured with his big fan appeal in Southern California. He was considered too fragile or too valuable to expose to playing third base until it was demonstrably clear that he was no longer producing at first, and Loney had to be brought in. So much for one “veteran giant” contribution. I would not expect Nomar to be any kind of a team leader or to teach or associate with younger players. Nomar is for himself, and always has been for himself as far back as I can see his career.
To me it’s unfortunate that we will have him again next season. I think the questioning of Colletti’s judgment has to begin right there with Nomar. It may be unfair to single him out individually, because there are a lot of examples to spread around. I personally fault Colletti far more that Grady for the demise of this team, because he constructed it in the first place, and a very poor job it was indeed.
Nothing will probably happen in the way of major changes, because, in spite of the fans’ feelings and disappointment, the Dodger investment is still in tact and doing well – therefore, McCourt can ride with these people another year with no repercussions. For the fans’ sake I would urge a new direction with new management for 2008, and that means
Didn’t take the time to vote in the informal “let’s fire Grady” poll. Two votes to keep Grady.
Obviously many of the vets will not be here in ’08. I think he was dealt a bad hand, and this is not all his fault.
I’ve got to say, though, when our boys collapse, they really auger in. This can’t get over fast enough.
While re-thinking last night’s game and particularly the missed foul ball after Abreu’s “call off” signal, why are we playing Abreu at SS. His natural position is 2nd base, and he’s been tried pretty successfully as a 3rd base fill-in. We have Hu with the club, who has not been given too much chance to play, but he’s a natural SS. If we need **** replacement for Furcal, why not be playing Hu in that position?
MESSAGEBEARER: I agree with most of everything you wrote at the 8:15AM PT. All of the Nomar-Loney problem, especially letting everybody think that Nomar was unable to play 3rd. I also remember the 3-legged monster at third. Then out of the clear blue sky, Nomar to 3rd and Loney to first. As it turned out, it was too late. I now think you are right, they should of been smart enough to do this on opening day. It seems that they didn’t know their own players. I only hope, this move was the biggest and best move they made so far and most of all it doesn’t take to long to make the next one. I hope that this season, was a learning process, I hope they learned a lot more. As for your 9;01AM PT posting, it IS confusing why they are playing them in one position in Las Vegas and then bringing them up to fill in at another position. Let’s hope this organization see it’s errors and come next year they act upon them. In regards to your MONTRA, I don’t think they should fire Grady unless they can come up with someone with a more dramatic personality, somebody like Piniella, Gillion or Leland, you can only be Joe Torre when your team is already set up.
well its true, maybe we are ******* for buying into a team that has been so mediocre for 20 years… but at least we aren’t bandwagon Angels fans who didn’t exist before 2002. If you really love a team you love it for life. That’s not clueless.
MARTINLONEYKEMP: I would like to give my answer to your question of 11;50AM PT. Here in Brooklyn, 50years ago, the team had one problem, and that was ownership. Other than that management new a heck of a lot more about the the players in this organization than this management seemed to know during this season and I’m just hoping that it wants to win and finally has found out HOW.
Right, just out of the Tomko experiment and into the Loaiza one, except at a higher cost. In all fairness, for next year Loaiza will have the benefit of a long rest over the winter and then Spring Training. Who’s to say how that will improve him, but it’s another $6.5 million that won’t be spent elsewhere. A million here, a million there, and you’re talking some real payroll dollars before you know it. But it’s not Colletti’s money, so it’ll have to be up to McCourt to say “When” it’s enough for him to
FIRE COLLETTI AND GRADY TOO.
Martinloneykemp:
until I can buy the team, I’ll defer to ownership. When the Dodgers left Brooklyn, management was fine, and O’Malley left because Moses screwed him over. I never stopped rooting fot them and never will. But, they certainly know how to tear at your heartstrings, don’t they?
I’m off to Northern Wisconsin and won’t be able to post until Wednesday and I’ll miss the action here. Take care, all of you, and don’t be too nastsy to each other.
Go Dodgers
great. SO if we lose tonight will that be Kemp’s fault too?
Gonzo’s farewell tour of 2008.
Is Kemp in Grady’s dog house or something? I realize Gonzo has decent career numbers against Hernandez, but jeeeez!
Gonzo is going to play until he gets his 2,500 hit. He said thats all he really cares about. Some veteran leader ****. I hope we lose tonight. This is getting ridiculous.
Josh, I want you to march into Frank’s office and demand that Grady be fired!
Time to play spoiler here.
I hope Loiza isn’t lousy. lol
im using max again because im pissed off. Im just going to **** on this whole team until this veteran BS is over.
Free Little Hu!!!
There are about 10 players on this team who should bat second before Abreu. That is all.
Looks like my comment about Gonzo was deleted. Let me re-phrase: WHY is that piece of garbage Gonzo playing? WHY?
I hope they boo Gonzo in Az.
where is kemp!!
Fire NED and Grady
Arizona sure knew what they were doing letting Luis Whino go.
yeah russell should be batting second and Abreu should be batting 8th.
Ethier gets stuck in the 8th whole after producing in the 5 and 6 spots. Thanks Nomar. See what happens when you stop being hurt.
maybe Kemp didn’t wipe his *** right and that pissed off Gonzo.
This is just insane, Grady play the young guys, nothing you do will save your job.
Honestly, sometimes I think Grady uses darts thrown at the roster to come up with a lineup card.
So, LaRoche goes 2-4 then gets benched. Oh wait, I forgot, we’re on a playoff push, better play the vets.
Gonzo wants to “prove” how much Arizona missed out on his stellar year. All that he proved is that they made the right decision to let him go.
I love the overly optimistic mlb story on the Dodger front page. As if this is the key series for us to make it in with the Wild Card.
The Dodgers are about as clueless as an organization can be.
If Gonzo or Nomar start even once after we’re totally eliminated then management really are a bunch of tools.
The season is over.
Where is the 2008 schedule?
thunderbolt Too little too late for Laroche I guess huh? Grady! Grady! Grady! has gotta go go go!
I was a little disturbed by Jeff Kent’s comments to the media today. You’d think he was the only one in the clubhouse who is disappointed about how this season is ending.
Some of his remarks were: “I don’t know what it is, especially when you have a lot of young players,” said Kent, “I don’t know why they don’t get it.” Asked what they don’t get, Kent said: “A lot of things. Professionalism. How to manufacture a run. How to keep your emotions in it. There’s just a lot of things that go on with playing 162 games.”
Well, maybe his attitude is coming across to the young players and they pick up on it. What exactly is he referring to? Broxton giving up home runs lately, the lack of hitting in key moments with RISP, running through stops at 3rd base? He makes it sound like only the veteran players should be playing because they are the only ones with the guts to see the season through.
I would have to say part of the problem could be found by his looking into a mirror. He doesn’t have very good hustle when he plays second base, and I’ve heard the comment that he runs the bases like he’s got a piano on his back. And I agree, he’s pretty slow. Sure, he hits for doubles at lot, and he’s gotten his fair share of home runs, but his venting like this makes me think he’s not a team player, and maybe the kids are not good enough for him to associate with.
Perhaps the Dodgers should consider starting over with all new players: “rookies” and then let’s see how far they get into 2008.
I don’t get it. Why isn’t Hu playing? Little doesn’t even use him to pinch run?! Grady, Hu and Saito are not the same person you tool!
Gonzo is such an utter disgrace. Just an incredibly overrated, me-first hypocrite.
And he certainly is no “character” guy; unless the definition is that of a horribly selfish individual.
This is ridiculous that Kemp has to sit so a washed up Gonzo can play. Grady is crazy. Some of Neds other less talked about great moves letting Cody Ross and Werth go. Either one of them would have been better in center than what we have know for 9 mil a year. Also I see Marlon Anderson is still productive. I’d rather still have him instead of Sweeney. Every choice that management made has been the wrong ones, they’re batting 1000 at being wrong. Get rid of both of them.
Out: Kent, Gonzo
In: Hu, Kemp
Why is Martin playing?!!! Let Him rest. We’re eliminated already! Jake Peavy isn’t going to lose today against Morales and the Rockies. Earth to Grady!! Earth to Grady!!
I’d rather have Grady from Sanford and Son managing…
at this pint all you can do is sit relax and laugh your … off
point
Know = now. I’m holding a guitar while I type.
I heard Gonzo was a big fan of “Loveline”. Maybe he should take up a new profession in radio or something, because he sure is an embarrassing baseball player.
And I hate that stupid promo from early in the season when he disingenously talks about the “good, young players like Ethier and Martin.” But he probably wishes Ethier wasn’t on the team taking “his” starts.
“You promised me a starting job in LF, WHAAA!…WHAAA!!!”
I said in the beginning of the year, that if Gonzo were still good Arizona never would have let him go. He didn’t fit in with their kids and was complaining about lost playing time. Sound familiar?
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the Dodgers better not ******* from here on out, I still wanna see some completive baseball, no joke.
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fliegel In the words of Yogi “It’s Deja Vu all over again.”
Why the **** is Gonzo still playing? He’s not gonna be back with the team next year anyway. We are out of it we should see what we’ve got with some of these kids. KEMP IS YOUR BEST HITTER!!!!!!
you said >>>I said in the beginning of the year, that if Gonzo were still good Arizona never would have let him go. He didn’t fit in with their kids and was complaining about lost playing time. Sound familiar?<<<<
you can almost bank on him playing on a non-competitive team next year, he’s a great guy & all but he isn’t the same player he once was.
Bonds said he will not be with the Giants after this year. Here’s your chance Ned , another old Giant you can get.
Great post fliegel ^^^^^^
fliegel It’s not by his own choice. The Giants are relesing him after the season.
*Gonzo post was what I ment.
*releasing
Oh, and yes, I’m a hot head when it comes to this team. My dad (who even though is also a hot head), never bashes the team, and normally gives me **** at the games about my yelling at Grady and certain players (I once got yelled at by Carolyn Hughes but that’s another story). But even my dad, who again doesn’t criticize the Dodgers much, and normally enjoys going to as many games as he can, said that he is tired of Grady Little. I suggested that we go to one game before the season was over, and he said he didn’t think he wanted to watch Grady manage anymore this season.
He actually managed to **** off someone who never once complained about Jim Tracy, or the team losing a game. He just loves going to the games, and god knows for whatever reason “spending quality time with his son (me)”.
So there you go. That’s like one of those ringing endorsements of a poster child that Frankie needs to look at for next season.
I know Baroid isn’t being asked back. Now’s Neddies dream come true.
Pedro pitching tonight for Mets. I can still see him in his Dodger uniform. Every time I see him pitch I think about what could have been…
If Grady actually thought Kemp was the best hitter, he’d be playing more.
I only made an Abreu comment because Grady proves he still cannot contruct a lineup. A two hole hitter (and granted we had the wrong one all year long) should have patience. Abreu has none. And there we are.
Nomar should be shut down for the year, he’s injured, let him heal up. Ridiculous to play him at this point, I don’t get it and you can’t defend it.
I wasn’t a big Jim Tracy fan , but he looks pretty good to me now after watching Grady littles managing. I also thought Colburn was a better pitching coach than Honeycutt.
I hope Gonzo strikes out 4 times tonight and gets laughed off the field in AZ.
Good riddance Gonzo, we played the young kids and we’re in the playoffs and you’re not!
Please say it: “Grady must go”
swood Too late. His best years are behind him. The last thing this club needs is another injury prone washed up pitcher.
I’m guessing just from this lineup that Grady hasn’t realized that we don’t have a shot this season, or else I’d hope he would be playing the kids. I want him to be fired as much as any of you but I doubt it will happen.
Grady MUST GO!!!
jjriley I obviously don’t want the Dodgers to sign him now… I just think about what might have been if we hadn’t traded him in the first place…
swood, this isn’t even his best lineup if he was trying to win. It’s just another different lineup.
Maybe it’s some sort of inside joke he has with other managers and the number of different lineups he can create.
Maybe he should start Penny in LF. He hits pretty good.
In all of our opinions it isn’t the best lineup…in Grady’s opinion I think it is…
It’s not Gonzo’s so don’t blame him its Grady’s fault for continuing to play him.
It’s plainly obvious why Gonzo is playing: he’s a rich primadonna. It has nothing to do with ability.
With our top 5 HR hitters in this lineup we have a total of 86. Yes we got the Power. What we need is to look more confidence at the plate. Batter’s need to be more selective, stop first ball swinging and draw more walks. Let’s at least try to end the season over .500 GO DODGERS !!
Who would Dodger fans rather see in the OF: a noodle-armed fossil or an exciting young athlete like Matt Kemp?
I choose Matt Kemp.
PLAY DELWYN YOUNG!!
I wonder if Gonzo goes up to bat with a pacifier in his mouth?
Good point, fliegel, about Colburn being better than Honeycutt. That’s easily forgotten. Of course, much could be made of the fact that this has to be one of the worst coaching staffs. So, there’s one more reason why GRADY MUST GO – AND COLLETTI TOO.
Does anyone know the specifics on Hershiser’s contract with ESPN? I’d love to see him come in as a pitching coach.
ksspark
thanks for the facts. Guess I saw a different base running blunder by Kemp. They are hard to keep track of. Great post.
p.s. still don’t like the bp hats.
Do us ALL a favor Gonzo and just stay home!!!! Go take care of the triplets while you still can before the steriod effects kick in.
Gonzo…HAHAHA…lol…This is too funny!
Gonzo whines like a woman on PMS. I think I’ll start referring to this person as “her”
Kemp’s base running Errors did not cost us the season SO STOP F’ING BRINGING THEM UP! anyone that think it was the kids that ruined this year are easily the stupidest people in the world.
Nomar, Gonzo, Pierre, Schmidt, Wolf(kinda…he ran into some bad luck with his should…he was rushed back…by grady and ned of course) and Grady are the main reasons we are where we are.
Loney, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley, MArtin and Broxton are the reason we ever had life down the stretch.
Max is back from the dead?!?
can we mix in a start for hu at SS, i mean jesus we’re out of the race so who cares.
did any of you guys that are screaming for Kemp to play ever think that with all of the missed signs etc maybe HE is the reason he’s not playing? if he paid attention to the coaches and vetererns like Kent he might be playing. it takes things OTHER than raw talent to make a star.
yep. after i got ran over by a bus a group of 5 billionaires dug up my body and rebuilt me from head to toe.
So maybe Kemp will learn to play better by not playing right?
Thank god, Max. I really didn’t like that exit guy.
no but he might become coachable
People, although the Dodgers are eliminated all but mathematically (6.5 out of the WC with 9 to play), these games are extremely important to Arizona, so baseball etiquette demands that Grady start “realistic” lineups. That means not starting **** who was at AA the majority of this season. (The Padres should be pleased that Matt Kemp continues not to play.)
The last homestand against non-contenders (the soon to be eliminated Rockies and the Gnats) should produce some interesting lineups, one hopes.
It’s hard to know where to begin with a mob but I’ll start with jspelk who claims there are 10 players on the roster who should bat 2nd before Abreu and later claims Abreu has “no patience”. Abreu has been primarily used as a 2 hitter in his minor league career sometimes as lead-off and sometimes in the 3 hole. The team has 5 outfielders, 12 infielders including Abreu himself, Furcal (hurt), Seanz, Sweeny,and Hillenbrand and 3 catchers only one of whom is suited for batting 2nd. If I subtract the highly ridiculous that leaves 13 players of whom spelk thinks 10 including Kemp,Kent,Nomar,and Gonzalez are better suited for batting 2nd than Abreu. Since I think I’ll get no arguments about the above 4 that leaves only 9 which total includes Pierre. Abreu in his brief major league use has averages 3.45 pitches per PA not patient but not “no patience” I have never seen a NP/PA over 4 but I have seen 3.9. Luis Gonzalez is usually around 3.8 or 3.9. Bill Mueller in his best years also.
Kemp is not in the starting line-up for the same reason he wasn’t last Saturday when we beat Hernandez. You remember the last game we won. Because Hernandez has trouble throwing strikes to LH hitters. Gonzalez batting 308,Ethier 455, Loney 400 (2/5), Sweeny 375. Now as I have said in past posts I’d like to see Kemp playing and Pierre sitting but that’s a different discussion.
Believe it or not I was angry when I learned Colletti had signed Gonzalez and I’ve never changed in that but you people,as far as I can tell, are insane. Do you have any proof that Gonzalez has complained about playing time or is it what I think? You don’t look at pitchers splits so you make up a reason why Gonzalez starts when Grady starts him against certain RH pitchers. The reason you have made up is that Gonzalez complains. Is there any objective evidence that your claim is true?
tink I was wondering. Does McCourt, or Coletti sign your payroll check? Just curious.
you said >>Believe it or not I was angry when I learned Colletti had signed Gonzalez<<
I wasn’t all that PO’ed about that signing, except for his noodle arm, it don’t matter anymore, He’s out for ’08.
As I am sure I’ve made clear Colletti has has a terrible year and I blame him for the team’s lack of run scoring during the period when we went 7-19 which dug too big a hole for this team to dig out of. Also for allowing Tomko and Hendrickson to start 10 of those games.
As for your direct question I would love that to be true but you know it isn’t so it is pre-teen level rudeness. Answer my posts.
miketink,
Apparently, it’s more fun to rag and bash Gonzo because he’s taking time away from Kemp in the field, as opposed to bashing the guy who puts him out on the field and makes the lineup every day. I mean, when you are filled with so much hate inside, even the usual Grady bashing gets boring and the character assasination of Gonzo is much more thrilling i guess?
Thus, Gonzo gets ridiculed for suiting up everyday and putting on his glove and picking up his bat each time his turn comes up in the batting order, since it’s his fault he’s in the lineup, and Kemp is not.
Also, another fun technique is to pick up a Gonzo quote from the press and spin it so it makes it seem like he’s throwing a hissy-fit if he doesn’t get to play, and would throw towels and gloves/bats in the clubhouse everywhere to get his point across. That way, you have the opportunity to bash him by using descriptives words like “clubhouse cancer”, “selfish *****”, etc etc as opposed to the usual, and sometimes overdone “washed-up veteran” which will always be a favorite.
Just to be clear, i too would rather have Kemp in the lineup since he has far superior skills both on offense/defense to Gonzo. But i don’t know the splits of pitchers, and i don’t know what happens behind the scenes that leads to Kemp sitting down. What i don’t get is why you have to voice your frustration at Kemp sitting by ragging and bashing on Gonzo. I mean, people who continually say “I hate Gonzo” should really just say “I hate Gonzo because Kemp is sitting”. That way, you get your point across instead of sounding like you’re just whining about it.
tink As far as you thinking everyone else on this blog beside you is insane, Have you considered at the beginning of the season we weren’t? The management, or lack there of is what has driven most of us full of discontent, insanity, and borderline hatred in some cases.
Once again, You are NOT the end all know it all you think you are. The way you address others on this blog is condescending. The way you trying to talk down to others is uncalled for. You are rude, and obnoxiuos.
Get over yourself, and get a life.
not trying to belabor a point but maybe if Kemp hadn’t been involved in so many mistakes that involved not paying attention to a coach, he might be in the lineup more. i just have to believe that Kemp is one of the youngsters that Kent pointed out. one that feels he’s made it and is to cool to listen.
KENT the Ol’ reliable strikes again.
Bobby Cox got ejected from tonights game. Go figure.
Anytime you score it’s a good inning.
miketink: I don’t think you’re condescending or rude. I do think those who accuse you of same are both. I don’t necessarily agree with you, but I find your posts thought provoking and inciteful.
I do agree with your take on Gonzo 100%.
Max- I think those billionaires wasted their money!LOL
Reading the posts on this thread was tedious because of all of the repitition, in many cases by some people posting the same thing over and over and over and over…(get my drift?)
Please don’t waste our time and your own by beating something to death. Be original or have the courtesy to keep quiet until you have something new to add to the discussions!
If anybody was really watching you saw a bunch of real good at bats.
loaiza got through that inning with minimal damage. Hopefully he can shake it off this next couple innings.
God Pierreseast I hate MLB.TV. If anybody cares the Yankees just made an unbelievable comeback in the bottom of the 9th to tie Toronto at 4.
Loaiza $ucks and I called that right when Ned picked him up and everybody on this blog gave me **** about it. Guess what, Loaiza is the perfect symbol for how this year has gone, an old washed up injury prone veteran who has blocked young better kids from playing. Loaiza is one of MANY reasons why Ned should be fired.
Y’all ready to spoil?
That’s the way to get that run back Tony Abreu.
READY
C’mon Bombko vs Loaiza??? Although neither are great bombko was finally dumped….and who is Loaiza blocking that is better and ready?
Josh I don’t know if you will get a chance to read this so I will repost it again tomorrow right when you post the lineups- Are you going to do this blog next season?
fisher- Stults, Houlton and a few of our other AAA pitchers would be better then Loaiza. Loaiza blows.
Stultz is good sometimes DJ is shakey at best neither are very good when put into the rotation consistantly.
We have a ton of AAA pitchers who can’t win in AAA why do you think they could win here?
Why the **** did we give Tomko and Loaiza a combined 30 starts this year and yet we didn’t give Houlton 1? It’s like we’re afraid our young players are gonna be good. It’s almost an automatic loss any time Loaiza or Bombko pitched, with that in mind why not give Stults and Houlton an opportunity?
The Dodgers have to play win I think it’s very importantant to give their best effort, there is a lot more than this year at staake.
I think Stultz pitches better here then he does in Vegas.Dj has his moments but is still just not quite it.
fisher- if Tomko and Loaiza are consistantly getting rocked why not give our young guys a shot?
fisher I think everybody’s ERA, not just our AAA pitchers was high in that league/ballpark.
Stults got his starts I was at a sun 10/inn loss that he did well in vs the Mets Kemp lost that one for us…DJ had his starts 2 years ago on rule 5 draft and he ******. DJ does better now but is still not quite there for a winning team starter.
except our AAA hitters….that we kept atleast…
fisher are you saying Loaiza/Tomko is there for a winning team starter?
No I’m saying that Loaiza is better then Tomko.
How do you know Houlton still isn’t ready he never made a start? Don’t you think with what we got from our 5th starters this year that we owe Houlton a start?
OKAY NOMAR that’s another run.
swood: I believe you are wrong about Loaiza but we won’t know that until next year;however I am curious who is Loaiza blocking? The only candidates are Houlton and Stults. Their minor league stats are far worse than Loaiza’s major league stats. Do you think there are starting pitchers in the Dodger system who didn’t get called up because of Loaiza? I think you are wrong if that’s what you think?
jriley: I didn’t insult you. You act like I’m happy with the season. I’m very unhappy but you and the rest of the mob make things worse, at least for me, with your childish tantrums such as Grady ia an idiot(he’s not) Colletti is a Giant sab
Both of them $uck.
Lately Loaiza is better then JB…..
saboteur*
miketink I am talking about Houlton and Stults. Stults is better then the injury riddled Loaiza and Houlton likely could be if we would ever give him a start.
*miketink Loaiza is blocking either Houlton or Stults. I guess at this point it would be Stults.
well Stults is 1-3 in 4 starts
Anyway all I am saying is Loaiza was a needless pickup when we would be kicking someone out of the rotation who was better then him. If you recall we kicked Stults out because he had ONE semi-bad start after all the bad starts we had put up with from Tomko and now what we will put up with from Loaiza. I just hope Loaiza gets injured(which he very well might) or else we’ve got another Tomko on our hands.
DJ Houlton is better than Loaiza.
yea dodgerdude he is.
DJ is 0-2 in relief and loaiza is 2-2 in 5 starts since with the team….
We should trade Loney for Teix in the offseason too….
Because wins are a great stat to judge a pitcher by.
Season is a week left………what we gonna keep him?
Loaiza is 1-2 with the dodgers, with a 7.20 era, 12 walks, 12 ER, in 15 innings.
We should trade Loney for Teix in the offseason too….
Posted by: fisher928@yahoo.com | September 21, 2007 07:46 PM
You’re kidding right?
lol that’s a jab at DA17….Ha Ha Ha
fisher Loaiza is 1-2 with our team. He’s only made 3 starts for us he made 2 for Oakland.
I just looked this up:
LOAIZA HAS AN ERA OVER 7 FOR US!!!!!!
STULTS ERA AS A STARTER IS UNDER 4!!!!!!
Make of it what you want…
LOAIZA *****
ok only took a quick look at the stats there I was wrong.Thought they were all D starts.
Baseball always had it’s strange side.
swood,
you should be ashamed of yourself, wishing that any human being should be injured. grow up!
Its ok Fisher I did that too a while ago with Proctor.
Oakland didn’t want Loaiza Ffor a reason We’re finding that out
sabre I am ashamed of myself =(
lol
Loney wants an rbi here
Right rfglynn, there was a reason Billy Beane basically gave him away.
Peavy is perfect through 4 vs. Colorado. Zero to Zero
lol squib single….Loney is still a stud for the next 10 years.
Please next years manager:
Give the young guys a shot.
Better yet Next Year MGR. Have a box of clues….
The D’BACK HAVE PLAYED SO WELL THIS YEAR IT’S EASY TO FORGET HOW YOUNG MANY OF THEM ARE.
They have a good mgr…
But we have our James Loney.
;o) Yes we Do TY Ned!
Gonzo’s 0 for 3 so far…
she is gone
Loiza’s lousiness continues….
This is pathetic. Are we pitching batting practice. We can get any of our minor league pictures to do bwtter than this. This is a joke.
What a surprise Loaiza is getting shelled again… when will Ned ever learn his lesson with injury prone no good players? SWOOD FOR GM IN 2008!!!!!!
Loaiza is a joke, better yet our management is a joke. Why in the world was this guy brought in?????????
I’ve had enough of this. I’ve been a Dodger fan since the early 50’s and this is one of the most frustating years I’ve endured. I’m going to bed. see ya
Loiza is Espanol for lousy.
rlglynn you have every right to go to bed. It’s not even worth watching a game that Loaiza is starting, its an automatic loss anyway. Thanks Ned for another great move.
We’re not exactly leading the world in runs scored even with our best players in there. It is impossible for our offense to come back and consistently overcome the crooked numbers Loaiza spots the other team. Loaiza is spanish for LOSS!!!!! lol.
Fliegel you got it wrong.
Loiza is actually Espanol for Tomko.
Darn, I was hoping to see DJ Houlton come in for his customary 3 scoreless innings of relief after a Lousy Loiaza start.
eheuerman@sbcglobal.net You got that right.
Agreed dodgerdude and eueurman.
Wait a second, Ned brings in a veteran over the hill pitcher, the veteran over the hill pitcher $ucks, we leave the veteran over the hill pitcher in the rotation no matter how bad he is and no matter how many games we lose because of it even though we have younger better options.
Haven’t I seen this movie before???
The Dodgers should not lose their cool, The are playing hard, they are giving their all.
I hate to say it but I would actually be happy if we lost out the rest of the way. Maybe that would make Frank realize Grady is a lost cause and make the needed changes. What do you guy honestly think the odds that Grady will be let go?
Pierreseast no matter how hard the play they can’t overcome Loaiza, and in the big picture the front office.
eheuerman Grady will not be let go. We were in the race for too long this year for Grady to get fired even if we lose the rest of our games. No matter how much the fans hate them Grady and Ned are coming back next year. If we lose next year then maybe Grady will be gone.
nice stroke by d young
Good point, I would have to agree. Frank is more concerned in high tech concession stands and making the Stadium into Disneyland.
If Loaiza stays in the rotation after tonight I think I’ll join you guys bashing Little
A part of me is hoping we lose next year too because I don’t think this team can win it all with Grady/Ned. I think it will take a sub .500 year next year to get them fired.
Loaiza will stay in the rotation. Come on pierreseast Loaiza is one of Ned’s veteran signings, you don’t actually think he would be benched before he could really hurt our team. Just look at how long Tomko was in the rotation and how much he hurt the team.
Gonzo is hitting .212 in his last 10 games.
its tough to win games when your number 5 hitter isn’t hitting.
wow… talk about no arm… nomar bounced that throw to the cut off man.
POUR IT ON ARIZONA!!! DESTROY US THIS WEEKEND PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nomar=gonzo
destroy us as long as the old farts are playing…if the kids play then GO US!
Gonzo has experience and that is way better then an inexperience player who hits .330
nice one max…
eheuerman are you being sarcastic?
we aren’t going to make the playoffs so the best we can hope for is that we lose every game and finish under .500. Thats our best chance to get rid of ned and grady.
Maybe Artie will put a few more Angel billboards by Dodger stadium and that will wake Frank up.
max how old are you?
Wood, yes I am.
Gonzo has the experience to leave 5 men on base. I bet Arizona is really sorry they let him go.
Face it Max, we’re not getting rid of Ned and Grady this year. If we do bad again maybe after next year or after the ’09 season.
BOOOOOOOO!
ok eheurman I was hoping you were lol.
im 19 swood. Almost 20
rockies take the lead. 1-0
Prediction, Gonzo will replace Bonds in SF next year.
Rockies lead 1-0. Hawpe RBI single
These games can sure take the good out of you, but what can we do?
At least i know the dodgers can’t lose on my birthday, no game this monday.
Tony may go yard right here.
Martin arm can make us feel better. Think>>>this game is not over yet.
I don’t even know what Ned is going to do this offseason. We don’t have very many positions of need, that is if we’re going to let the young kids play. I just hope Ned doesn’t resign Gonzo or another veteran corner outfielder.
Pierre I love your loyalty, but I to break it to you.
Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse, it does.
This season is going totally F-U-B-A-R!
pierreseast this game is over, every game that Loaiza start is over before it starts. They all end with a Dodger loss.
I hope AZ wins the division. I don’t want SD to win it 3 times in a row.
God Dammnit Dodgers. I’m going to sleep. Good night everybody.
In a sense we maybe we ARE spoiling the D’Backs
FUBAR
I’t takes an old dog sometimes a little longer, SWOOD
Oh I’m the old dog that thought he’d come around SWOOD If Grady doesn’t get it by now than he’s older than me.
===
Thank god for Gonzo. Imagine how bad we’d be losing if we didn’t have him…
Look at that he got a hit! You go Gonzo!
CONGRADULATIONS GONZO 2,500 hits
OK, now Gonzo has his 2,500. Hope it’s his last hit as a Dodger, because I really don’t want to see him again.
Well that’s 2500 for Gonzo lifetime.
I love these one-sided games.
When we’re on the winning end.
now we get to see the young kids!! :]
too bad d young was already used
Messagebearer, you have to wait awhile.
Well the Gnats ain’t goin’ nowhere this year either. And the better news is Barry Bonds will take off that uniform. He’s looking to DH next year. If all that comes to pass, I will be rooting for him to reach 800.
Boy when it comes to speeding up games no one does it better than the Dodger hitters. How are they going to get to end the season over .500, this way?
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GONZO!
I hate the Padres.
If Tony Clark hits another one after that****oh strike 3
i hope there isn’t a big write up about gonzo’s meaningless hit.
Imagine if our KIDS come back in the top of the ninth.
Let them have their fun.
Blowberto rules!
who saw that coming? I DID
our old guys are horrible, our manager is horrible, our gm is horrible, and our season is horrible
Corpas blew the save for the Rocks at petfood. Gonzales went deep. Tied 1-1.
It’s good to watch these games because you can see we are trying to win. We’re being beat. The other contenders proberbly think we’re not trying. Unless they’re watching it too.
we aren’t trying to win.
SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT same time same place.
We were trying to win they were better than us tonight.
Six in a row!
Tough time to be a Dodger fan……..
another good game for to not watch.
To think, I used to watch nearly every game on TV or at the stadium. I hate Grady so much that I don’t even like the remote possibility that I might see him on TV.
and where the **** did the Padres get all of these **** 9th inning heroics from? They have to be one of the luckiest **** teams around.
i have tickets to fan appreciation day….the best gift they can give me is if they just cancel the game so i don’t have to go.
you make it seem like they’re forcing you to go?
well i payed for tickets…don’t want to waste money now do i?
true…just go an enjoy the game the best you can then. No matter what, they’re still the Dodgers, and highs and lows are nothing new in sports.
and*
I’m just hoping my season tickets sell next weekend. I don’t really want to go.
Curious quote from Grady:
The Dodgers were favored by most to win the NL West, but Little said he was always having to juggle the lineup to find the right mix, especially after key injuries and a lack of production from certain positions.
“If we could have operated the entire season basically with the lineup we came out of spring training with,” Little said, “I would have loved nothing better.”
That would have allowed the youngsters to break in slowly, he said.
Haven’t they been broken in slowly enough? Am i missing something here? Everything out of this guys mouth is like mush.
ok, what was supposed to be the opening day lineup?
Other that Furcal, which position player was hurt on opening day?
no one. Grady just making excuses because the guys they thought would carry this team didn’t.
Can someone explain to me what it was that Jeff Kent said? It went way over my head.
jeff kent basically said he’s an idiot and the vets are jealous because they aren’t good anymore and the youngs guys who are good are taking their jobs. He also said that all they care about is themselves.
Why would he say that?
What did he mean by they just don’t get it. Who just don’t get it?
Pierre,
I was so surprised that the audio sounds different than what the article reads. I guess I can no longer trust anything a sportswriter writes about a players comments. Part of the audio is on the Dodger Talk from yesterday. You can find on the kfwb site. -Emma
the audio is more telling than the quotes. You can hear by his voice and the tone of his statement that it was not made out of anger or hatred. Rather, it was more of frustration. Thus, when you just read the quotes on paper and by themselves, it makes it appear like he’s pointing the finger at the kids.
Of course, those that have that weird manlove for the kids will spin it into a “jeff kent hates the kids” thing, which it is not. But to each his own i guess.
Listen to the audio out his comments, and you can decide yourself.
Thank you Emma, I think it was just frusrtation anyway and Kent has a way with comments, He’s always saying something that agravates others, but I wish we had a coupler more of him. We’ll all find out if it was anything serious.
well, regardless of what Kent, it’s about **** time someone said something other than, “waaaaaaaah, I’m not getting to play”.
just a couple quotes from 2 la times articles posted tonight, for those that might miss it.
Asked if it bothered him to be criticized by one of the team’s leaders, Loney said of Kent, “Who said he was a leader?”
Said Kemp: “If you take the younger guys away, do you have a team?”
“The younger guys, we work hard, we play hard,” Kemp said. “We’re trying to make a name in the game for ourselves. The older guys, they’ve already made their names for themselves. We don’t want to get that bad rap, that we don’t want to win or we don’t want to play hard, because you won’t make it far in this game.”
Loney said the sizable generation gap in the clubhouse, and the fact there are few players in their prime to bridge the gap between young and old, probably resulted in some misunderstandings.
“That’s not just in baseball, that’s in life,” he said. “Definitely, things get misinterpreted. You really need to get to learn that person. A lot of people don’t want to take that time. A lot of people are too lazy to do that.”
Kemp said the younger players might “play around more” in the clubhouse, which he said might be mistaken for a lack of focus.
“Having fun is part of the game,” Kemp said. “If you came up here and you were serious all the time, that’s not fun. Joking with your boys, that’s fun. It helps you relax. You don’t have to think of all the pressures. You think of just having fun. But we’ve been serious when we get between the white lines.”
Asked if Little had adequately managed the personalities on the team, Loney replied, “I don’t really have anything to say on that.”
Kent refused to revisit the discussion for long on Friday. To a suggestion that he might want to clarify his vaguer statements, he replied, “If I wanted to clarify anything, I would’ve done it yesterday.”
He said he wouldn’t retract what he said, asking, “Are there no reasons we lost?”
“The season is over and I’m mad,” said the exception, Jeff Kent, still steaming. “Look around this clubhouse — is there any sense of loss? They don’t get it. There’s no sense of failure in here.”
hmm, no praise from Loney for Gump?
At least the Pudres lost.
At first that “He’s not a leader quote” sounds like something Uncle Miltie once said, but ya know what, he’s right. Kent has NEVER EVER EVER been a clubhouse leader. Ever. None of these veterans are. Nomar-nope. Gonzo-proven cluhousee cancer. I think maybe everyone should just stop talking to reporters for a while. Kent wasn’t directly saying the kids are responsible for the season, but he DID insult them. Everyone should have chosen their words more wisely. And the irony is that the brilliant Colletti thought he was building a clubhouse with chemistry.
just curious..because i might be out of the loop on news regarding gonzo since i didn’t really follow his career much, but..
how is he a proven clubhouse cancer? What are instances that have come up that have been documented for him to warrant such a title?
well i dont really feel like typing out a monologue, but besides from the whining this year, last year he had the same problem. The Dbacks wanted to give more playing time to a younger player (Quentin) and he threw a fit. Heck, he has a PRESS CONFRENCE about it. One game he sat out. One. game. For a player, who at the time, was out performing him. Sound familiar?
hmm interesting. That doesn’t necessarily mean he is a proven clubhouse cancer in my book, because there’s no indication of what goes on in the clubhouse unless you’re really there. As for what happened in AZ, i think it might be the suprise he felt and the way management informed him so late that he was not going to be retained beyond the last year of his contract. Kind of like how Barry was told just today that he was not going to be retained after his contract expires. I just heard on ESPN that Barry was not happy about being notified about it so late.
As for “whining” this year, i think it’s more fan spin than anything. He didn’t downright say that he was made and would not give it his best. He was saying it like he saw it, and he didn’t throw anyone under the bus. But then again, you can take it how you want, and if his comments strengthen your pre-conceived perception of him, then so be it. I think if he went the next step and demanded or hinted at a trade, then that would have more weight about how he was putting himself in front of the team, and didn’t want to accept the role that he was given.
If i recall, Loney or his agent hinted at a trade when he was sent down to AAA at the beginning of the season. However, we all know that he deserved to be in the big leagues and sending him down was a mistake. However, he shouldn’t have hinted at wanting to leave the Dodgers or at a trade in the first place. He certainly has no right as a guy who was just a prospect at that time. So i must ask, wouldn’t that be called whining as well?
casino…
i think it was loneys agent that said hed demand a trade.. and i remember reading somewhere that logan white got pretty pissed off at his agent for that..
again, i’m not trying to defend Gonzo, and i’ll be as glad as the next fan once he’s let go as a free agent this year, and someone else is given the starting job. Preferably Kemp.
However, what i don’t agree with is the generalizations made about him, and the titles given to him if i feel they are underserved. Comments such as steroid use, hateful posts about him and his personality are not warranted if there is no proof to back it up. No matter what, he’s still a Dodger this year, and any posts about his character that lacks concrete proof is not warranted. And this applies to any dodger, young or old, in my opinion. If you want to criticize his on field play, you can do it quite easily with his stats/percentages/etc..However, talking about his personality and the way he carries himself is a whole different story.
hendy..
as an agent, you represent your client. If Loney didn’t want things said about him, and on his behalf, then he needs to hire a different agent because whatever is said about Loney by his agent is interpreted as on behalf of Loney. Just like Boras saying that A-Rod will opt out of his contract this year. A-Rod hasn’t said it himself, but we all know it’s gonna happen.
Ya know, he’s not the first one to do that when sent back to AAA. Ryan Howard did it when he was playing behind Jim Thome. Loney is no Howard but Nomar SURE aint Jim Thome either.
Well, we all know it was Loney’s frustration that was the cause of it, since he felt that he should of been in the majors.
Look, i’m not blaming him for asking for a trade, or having his agent send hints that he was not happy. I was just bringing it up because it shows that all players are human and get frustrated when there’s a change they don’t like. It was a 1 time thing, and obviously, Loney isn’t asking for a trade as we speak.
As far as Gonzo’s situation, until he continuously is talking to the media about his lack of playing time and his inconsistent starts, and is leaking info. about how he’s mad about the situation he’s in, i’m hardly going to call him a whiner. Of course, you can call him all you want, because it’s clear a majority of people don’t like Gonzo. Why? Gonzo’s talking time away from Kemp in the field. But is that Gonzo’s fault? Gonzo doesn’t make the lineups if a recall. However, he still gets blamed and ridiculed for it, as if he’s out there scratching Kemp’s name off the lineup card and penciling his name there instead.
but like i said, each has their own opinions about him, like any other player. It’s just sometimes, i wish people wouldn’t “hate” a player so much for such a silly reason.
and with that, i’m out….good night Dodger fans!
Happy 80th bday LaSorda and Happy early 23th Kemp for tomorrow.
Plaschke’s article this morning was terrible. He sides with Kent, and he says that the youth movement should end? One bad series should not change someones opinion like that, especially a veteran sportswriter like Plaschke.
Kent needs to be traded this offseason. Hopefully he’ll end the year on a positive note so his trade value will be good this offseason. Hu should play second base next year. The guy is ready!
How does Grady Little put in a guy like LaRoche to start a game at this stage of the season when he’s batting below .200 while Nomar and Saenz are on the bench?
After reading the above comments I still draw the same conclusion. Everybody is hates to lose, It’s frustrating and you never get use to it as long as you live. I don’t believe there is a Chicago Cub Fan’s mentality. There are some of them who waited their whole life just to win the pennant, let alone a World Championship. Some died first. And for us, there really isn’t a guarantee our dreams will ever be reached again. GO DODGERS
My response to Simers’ defense of Grady:
Dad-In-Law of Bagger,
The fact that the Dodgers remained in the race as long as they did was despite Grady’s pathetic managing, not because of it.
You might consider that the vast majority of Dodgers fans feel the same way. At the “Inside the Dodgers” blog, an informal poll was taken on this Thursday’s thread. Thirty-one of the thirty-two fans who voted felt that Grady should be fired. I guess you and Grady know all and 97% of Dodger fans are clueless.
Grady has mismanaged this team all year, and at times has made absolutely mindbogglingly bad decisions. I guess the highlight of his stupidity was the day he let Loaiza bat with the bases loaded and the Dodgers down 4-0 to the Padres and Jake Peavy. I assume you know the rest of the details of this boneheaded move. If that particular bit of idiocy was an isolated incident it would be easily forgiveable — much as Lasorda’s decision to pitch to Jack Clark is forgiveable — but the Loaiza incident was merely the stupidest among the endless stream of bad decisions Grady has made.
Finally, if the team lacks professionalism or clubhouse chemistry, certainly that must lay primarily at the feet of the manager.
So here we have a manager that lacks both strategic common sense and personnel managment skills.
I recommend that you join the vast majority of Dodger fans and ask Colletti and McCourt to FIRE GRADY!!
Regards,
OK, here goes…
I couldn’t stand the carnage last night, and, thankfully went to bed after we were down 6-3. I was fed up with:
1) Confusion on the pop-up that led to Clark’s HR
2) The unabashed gloating on the part of the DBack’s broadcast team on MLB.TV
3) The repetitious whining here at ITD
and 4) The continued mismanagement of our team by Grady Little.
It is now 6:45 in the morning here in Toledo, and I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep and had a chance to reflect on my frustrations both with the team and this blog.
After reading all of the comments above, the following becomes painfully clear to me:
1) We all care passionately about The Dodgers
2) We all are looking for someone to blame for what’s happened
3) Our frustration has boiled over to personal attacks on each other, various players, management, writers, and even poor Josh
4) We need to take a deep breath, gather our wits, write off the season, look forward to much better things next year, and pray that the McCourts have the good sense to make whatever changes THEY DEEM NECESSARY (they do own the team) to fix the problems that are so glaringly obvious to all of us.
So there you have it, if you want to get all over my case, go ahead, but I wish you’d all stop making assumptions about what goes on in a clubhouse that you’re not in about players you don’t know, reported by media that makes far more money from controversy than complacency.
That said, there are no rumors or innuendo regarding Grady Little’s stewardship and management of this team during the games. That is out there for all of us to see on a daily basis. I leave it to all of you, and especially the McCourts, to draw your own conclusions as to where my feelings lie on his performance and what his future with this team should be.
I’ve only been following The Dodgers since 1947, so what could I know?
Great post, Ebbetsfld. This season can’t get over fast enough.
Interesting comment from Loney in the Times about taking away the young guys and not having a team. Well…all indications are we don’t have a “team” now.
The only comment I have is:
“don’t scapegoat Grady. Colletti is at least equally incapable.”
FIRE COLLETTI AND GRADY BOTH!!
grady’s nickname is grady IDIOT.. stupid redneck we can never understand wat hes saying with that stupid voice of him after everygame i watch sports and i here the same stuff.. he says “I tell u wat it was a tough match up and we played great but the other team was better.. in his stupid ridiculous voice.. he is the worst manager in baseball.. ned colleti is trying to build up another Giants team full of old players.. atleast if u want 2 be like the giants were in 2002 when they were one game away.. bring back dusty baker and fire that other redneck idiot.. i think any dodger fan is smarter then him.. Now frank macourt thanx for ur stupid parking it takes even longer to get in and out now and u’ve increased pricing.. all frank cares about is making money.. he doesnt care about the team since he came here the ticket prices and the parking has increased.. i’m just embarased that this is such a great franchise and now were just an embarasment in baseball..
this team is full of hasbins..
1. gonzo
2. furcal
3. shmitd
4. wells
5. loiza
6. garciaparra
7. seanez he was a really good setup man and closer back in the day
8. dereck lowe
9. shea hillenbran
10. Juan Pierre
11. the steriod freack MARK SWEENEY REMEMBER HIM HE WAS RELATED TO THE SAME STEROIDS AS BARRY BONDS..
with all the complaints about the youth movement ,by Kent & gonzo ,I counted 18 Vets on the team ,if they played up to expectations eiether, martin ,and bills might have played if Nomar was great Loney would still be at las vegas
Eduardo,
I don’t know if you think because you’re referring to a white man that it’s not racist to call someone a “redneck idiot.” My in-laws are “rednecks” and they sound a **** of a lot smarter when they talk than you do in your posting. So please stop.
MartinLoneyKemp,
In response to:
“You might consider that the vast majority of Dodgers fans feel the same way. At the “Inside the Dodgers” blog, an informal poll was taken on this Thursday’s thread. Thirty-one of the thirty-two fans who voted felt that Grady should be fired. I guess you and Grady know all and 97% of Dodger fans are clueless.”
Taking a poll on a blog that is clearly biased toward one viewpoint (as the majority of dissenters from the primary viewpoint no longer frequent this blog) is not a legitimate way to come up with a solid stat like 97%…it would be like going to Boulder, Colorado or San Francisco and polling about the war in Iraq, then reporting that 99% of Americans are against it. I know you may FEEL like every Dodger fan on earth agrees with you, but it’s really because of inundating yourself in the same viewpoint that dominates this blog. I was at a Dodger game in Denver last week and talking to random Dodger fans that I met there, and several of them said they loved Grady. Look at the ESPN article from this week about the 8 managers whose jobs are on the line, and Grady wasn’t even mentioned. So although you may think you have a claim to represent all of Dodger fan-dom, you’re just really representing a very narrow community and by no means 97% of us.
That said, just so I don’t get mindlessly called a “Grady lover” – I would like to see him gone, if only so the team next year will have a chance at a new clubhouse atmosphere with good chemistry.
It may be unfortunate, but you can’t fire McCourt unless he falls behind on his loans to purchase this great franchise. That, of course, is very unlikely, because the Dodgers is a money making machine, especially when you control the prices from tickets to parking, etc., regardless of how the team actually does on the field. Nobody really hears from him in the midst of this late-season demise of the team. I can only hope that he is engaged with what has been going on with this team and with the fan base that has such an emotional attachment to every season, every series, and every game.
The team makeup has changed since the beginning of the season. Maybe we should have had Loney at first base from the start, but Colletti and Grady decided to bank on Nomar for this and possibly the next season. I believe that this decision set the tone for management philosophy for how the season would eventually play out. Nomar, while not one of the older veterans, has had a recent history of physical impairments, and it wouldn’t surprise anybody in the Red Sox or Cubs organization that he should fail to deliver on a full season basis. Yet, management and ownership focused on his “leadership and experience” and set him apart with functions such as his Carne Asada, because they were enamoured with his big fan appeal in Southern California. He was considered too fragile or too valuable to expose to playing third base until it was demonstrably clear that he was no longer producing at first, and Loney had to be brought in. So much for one “veteran giant” contribution. I would not expect Nomar to be any kind of a team leader or to teach or associate with younger players. Nomar is for himself, and always has been for himself as far back as I can see his career.
To me it’s unfortunate that we will have him again next season. I think the questioning of Colletti’s judgment has to begin right there with Nomar. It may be unfair to single him out individually, because there are a lot of examples to spread around. I personally fault Colletti far more that Grady for the demise of this team, because he constructed it in the first place, and a very poor job it was indeed.
Nothing will probably happen in the way of major changes, because, in spite of the fans’ feelings and disappointment, the Dodger investment is still in tact and doing well – therefore, McCourt can ride with these people another year with no repercussions. For the fans’ sake I would urge a new direction with new management for 2008, and that means
FIRE COLLETTI AND GRADY NOW!!!
Didn’t take the time to vote in the informal “let’s fire Grady” poll. Two votes to keep Grady.
Obviously many of the vets will not be here in ’08. I think he was dealt a bad hand, and this is not all his fault.
I’ve got to say, though, when our boys collapse, they really auger in. This can’t get over fast enough.
While re-thinking last night’s game and particularly the missed foul ball after Abreu’s “call off” signal, why are we playing Abreu at SS. His natural position is 2nd base, and he’s been tried pretty successfully as a 3rd base fill-in. We have Hu with the club, who has not been given too much chance to play, but he’s a natural SS. If we need **** replacement for Furcal, why not be playing Hu in that position?
James Loney is my idol ! lol
MESSAGEBEARER: I agree with most of everything you wrote at the 8:15AM PT. All of the Nomar-Loney problem, especially letting everybody think that Nomar was unable to play 3rd. I also remember the 3-legged monster at third. Then out of the clear blue sky, Nomar to 3rd and Loney to first. As it turned out, it was too late. I now think you are right, they should of been smart enough to do this on opening day. It seems that they didn’t know their own players. I only hope, this move was the biggest and best move they made so far and most of all it doesn’t take to long to make the next one. I hope that this season, was a learning process, I hope they learned a lot more. As for your 9;01AM PT posting, it IS confusing why they are playing them in one position in Las Vegas and then bringing them up to fill in at another position. Let’s hope this organization see it’s errors and come next year they act upon them. In regards to your MONTRA, I don’t think they should fire Grady unless they can come up with someone with a more dramatic personality, somebody like Piniella, Gillion or Leland, you can only be Joe Torre when your team is already set up.
Simers responded to my email which I posted at 1:07 a.m. on this thread.
“Dodger fans are clueless—more than 3 million bought tickets three
years ago to watch a team finish 20 games below .500.” — T.J. Simers
ebbetsfield,
Just curious. Did you advocate so much deference to ownership when the Dodgers left Brooklyn?
well its true, maybe we are ******* for buying into a team that has been so mediocre for 20 years… but at least we aren’t bandwagon Angels fans who didn’t exist before 2002. If you really love a team you love it for life. That’s not clueless.
Well said, jspelk.
If you want to fully enjoy the fruits of victory, you must support the team in the agony of defeeat.
MARTINLONEYKEMP: I would like to give my answer to your question of 11;50AM PT. Here in Brooklyn, 50years ago, the team had one problem, and that was ownership. Other than that management new a heck of a lot more about the the players in this organization than this management seemed to know during this season and I’m just hoping that it wants to win and finally has found out HOW.
Is the Esteban Loiaza experiment over yet???
It’s just beginning. Good old Uncle Ned picked him up for $8 million next year as well.
Right, just out of the Tomko experiment and into the Loaiza one, except at a higher cost. In all fairness, for next year Loaiza will have the benefit of a long rest over the winter and then Spring Training. Who’s to say how that will improve him, but it’s another $6.5 million that won’t be spent elsewhere. A million here, a million there, and you’re talking some real payroll dollars before you know it. But it’s not Colletti’s money, so it’ll have to be up to McCourt to say “When” it’s enough for him to
FIRE COLLETTI AND GRADY TOO.
I’d rather have Stults or Houlton or Hendrickson starting over Loiaza.
Martinloneykemp:
until I can buy the team, I’ll defer to ownership. When the Dodgers left Brooklyn, management was fine, and O’Malley left because Moses screwed him over. I never stopped rooting fot them and never will. But, they certainly know how to tear at your heartstrings, don’t they?
I’m off to Northern Wisconsin and won’t be able to post until Wednesday and I’ll miss the action here. Take care, all of you, and don’t be too nastsy to each other.
Go Dodgers
I think the media should be harder on this team..