Sunday's game
Ned will be on DodgerTalk postgame today while at the same time, Nomar’s Carne Asada Sunday will be taking place on the Loge Level Terrace. Hope you’ll all be out here for one thing or another…
In a rush to go set up a photo shoot right now for next month’s Dodgers Magazine. As you’ve hopefully seen, we’ve had a current player with a Dodger legend each month (Andruw/Duke, Furcal/Wills, Nomar/Garvey/Cey) and July’s magazine will feature Fernando and Saito. A very cool theme, I think, but you tell me. Do any of you guys read the magazine and if so, what are your thoughts?
Today’s lineup is:
Pierre, LF
Kemp, CF
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
DeWitt, 3B
Ethier, RF
Berroa, SS
Maza, 2B
Billingsley, P
Inside the Dodgers 
A very cool idea indeed! I was thinking Nomo and Saito would be a cool pairing, with Hideo the Japanese pioneer who meant so much to the Dodgers. And of course so did Fernando. Both were such exciting groundbreakers. How about Koufax + Billingsley/Kershaw? (Too much pressure on the young guys though?)
Hope Chad brought his A Game today. The line-up’s not the greatest I’ve seen, but they can do it. They really need a home win.
I read every magazine. I like the cover concept, although I would rather see some of our homegrown guys on the covers with the Legends instead, since all of them have been homegrown as well.
I should’ve said, “since all of them were homegrown as well.”
surprise, surprise – who wouldn’t have guessed Pierre at the top?
GIVE US A BREAK PLEASE!! I WOULD EVEN GO AS FAR AS TO NOT MENTION PIERRE’S NAME (not to be confused with our beloved PierreEW) IF FOR ONE DAY JUAN PIERRE IS NOT IN THIS LINEUP. PLEASE JOE/NED (whoever’s in charge, which is really hard to tell these dasy) – ONE DAY!!!
bluecrewgirl – I am a taurus and stubborn as hell -we are all in the same 30 day span. Also, I live with Aries and know exactly how they are. In some ways maybe what he did was a good thing for him because maybe he’s finally letting the frustration out instead of keeping quiet. Matt’s certainly not been quiet about his frustrations and it hasn’t affected his playing time. Like I said last night, he will find his way through this like he always does. He is very determined to prove himself, and I have no doubt he will. Also, he’s got the other young players (Russell especially) to lean on during this time. Plus, he’s got us, the fans, who know what’s really going on, and hopefully he knows that.
oh yea thats the magazine i want to buy…
one with jones furcal and….the worst part…nomar!! are you serious??? nomar is no cey or gravey and NEVER WILL BE!! i hate that just cuz he is from the area, he is some kind of icon??? MARTIN LONEY KEMP those are the REAL DODGERS.
guess i wont be buying that issue…its just stupid IMO :]
I agree he will find his way through it and he has a lot of fan support no doubt. I agree Andre’s or anyone else’s emotional intensity should not affect playing time. They should want people that care that much in there. That’s one of the reasons we all love watching him and all the young guys play. They play with just a pure love for the game.
opps i thought that issue and all of them…nevermind lol
but i have no problem with the fernando and saito theme :]
Josh – Yes,just got my copy of the magazine. I am all for Kofax/Billz and Kershaw. Maybe Monday/ Kemp/Ethier – Ethier and Monday is/was #16.
bluecrewgirl – it’s why I watch. I don’t want to see Pierre slump back to his place on the bench and just sit there with no reaction. (Then again, why does he have to react, he knows his spot is secure) I want to see they care. Those are the images you remember the most – the emotion behind the game. We used to worry about that with my son (has those definite break the bat moments in him), but all coaches say, they want to see that emotion. They want to see that competitive edge. That’s another issue with our management; they are just sitting back watching our the team as a whole fail, and don’t even seem to care. They certainly aren’t trying new things. It would seem that Pierre fits right in with management; he doesn’t seem to care either.
Today’s lineup is:
Pierre, LF
Kemp, CF
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
DeWitt, 3B
Ethier, RF
Berroa, SS
Maza, 2B
Billingsley, P
Joe: They say we’re old and we can’t see
Anything good about walks or OBP.
Juan: Well I don’t care if all that’s true
‘Cause you got me, and baby I got you
Juan: Babe
Both: I got you babe I got you babe
Joe: They say our love won’t win no games
But I don’t care if we go down in flames.
Juan: I guess that’s so, I don’t care either
as long as I get to start instead of Ethier
Juan: Babe
Both: I got you babe I got you babe
Juan: I got 8….point 8 mil, and I put you…. in my will.
Joe: And when I’m sad, you’re a clown
And if I get scared, you’re always around
Joe: So let them say your hat’s too big
‘Cause I don’t care, let them call me pig
Juan: Then put your little hand in mine
There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb
Juan: Babe
Both: I got you babe I got you babe
Juan: I got you to write my name
Joe: I got you to lead the game
Juan: I got you to pull up my socks
Joe: I got you to take me on walks
Both: I got you babe
dodgereric – welcome back!! How was your trip to the boonies – great I could imagine 🙂
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Thanks for the song – LOL!!
Hiya nelly, changed your moniker I see.
The boonies were cool. By that I mean they were ok, but I think they moved Hades right next door. Crap, it was HOT! But it’s hot here in Temec also.
Just caught wind of our two OT losses to the Tribe. Anthing good to hang on to?
You’re welcome for the song. Looks like it’s still Ground Hog Day.
I just dropped in for a quick look. I’m on my way to my nephew’s Grad party. Check back later tonight.
C’mon, Dodgers! Let’s get one of these!!!!!
Changed name to make it easier with new computer, and I can since I have gone to the deepend, as enchanted would put it, it will be better not to have certain comments attached to school email name.
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I really didn’t see the game yesterday – I was in Modesto watching Michael play. It wasn’t good. The game on Friday was just bad timing. Played well until Sammy came in and the hit by Peralta missed Andre’s glove by inches. Matt got his #7th home run yesterday. JP is doing his usual. Ethier is struggling big time and starting to show real frustration according to Sara and others who were at the game yesterday.
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On the good side, enchanted and jhall were reunited yesterday and that always leads to fun and entertainment to say the least. A few songs were written as well – very funny too!! Let’s just say Pierre isn’t catching any breaks from this group. 🙂
Have fun at the party!!! We will do our best to bring home at least one win. If not, be assured plenty of ranting and raving once again 🙂
DNelly – Definitely agree about liking the emotional players. Gibson was a great example of that and his home run in the 88 World Series still gives me chills. I can’t believe it was 20 years ago. Makes me feel old. I’m off to the High Desert for my nephew’s B-Day celebration and since my dad and mom will be watching the Red Sox game on the computer, I won’t be online. They like the Dodgers, but are life long Red Sox fans since the grew up in that area. I hope you and everyone else on the blog has a great day and hopefully we’ll get to celebrate a Dodger victory.
Snakes losing now 4-3. Ugh Y do I even pay attention to them! lol
Josh–The idea for the magazine is pretty good. I will say two things about the magazine:
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1) I usually only read it if I get it for free. It’s actually pretty good, but for 5 bucks, it’s hard to justify it. Sports Illustrated is what, 2 bucks? And I feel that there’s a good chance that I will lose it at the Stadium–and then it’s money down the drain.
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Also, it was not until recently that I realized that it was pretty good, when I got one for free from sitting in my firm’s seats and they give them out. Sold as a “scorecard”–it just seems like an excessively overpriced scorecard, so I had not really seen it for years. I think it needs to be marketed differently (I do see there are some home sales and subscriptions) and sold for less.
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2) I agree with others here. Fernando/Kuroda seems like a fine idea, but we’re really focusing on the wrong guys. Jones is on the DL and signed through next year. Nomar is on the DL and is signed through this year–at which point I think he retires. Furcal is on the DL and is a free agent at the end of the season. Kuroda is on the DL and signed through 2010.
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There is a pattern forming here.
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Everyone featured is on the DL, and half of them could be gone at the end of the year–and only Kuroda is here for more than next year for sure.
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And I really think that this is a bad public relations position for the team. For whatever reasons, the player who still gets the biggest cheers is Nomar, who has not contributed this season, and did not do much last year.
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Russel Martin, however, is clearly the team’s best player, and should be the biggest fan favorite (particularly since he tends to be clutch, offensively and defensively). He’s not injured, which helps too. But, perhaps even more importantly, he is under the Dodgers control through 2010 (and, I assume that before he becomes eligible for arbitration at the end of 2009, he will be signed to a long term deal, like so many other young players around the league). A Martin/Yeager story basically writes itself, and it has the benefit of marketing our best player, and the guy who likely will be with the team for not just the year, but the next decade.
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(I admit–it’s a shame that Russ is doing so poorly in the All-Star balloting, and while it is clear that something tremendously fishy is going on with the All-Star ballots in Chicago, that’s still our fault as fans. Though, it would help if I did not have to write-in two–TWO– Dodgers at their positions, Kemp in the OF and DeWitt at 3B. I have voted a couple of hundred paper ballots at the Stadium, but writing in the names takes a long time).
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In general, that philosophy of marketing would make sense–particulary since the team seems to have rightly made a committment to keeping the youth (even if we question how well the kids are used on a day-to-day basis), focus on the young guys! Loney/Karros/Garvey/Parker. Kershaw/Koufax. Billingsley/Hershiser. Kemp/Willie Davis. These would all do the right things in focusin on the history AND building the fan connection with the young guys who are all udner the Dodgers control for several years, and who frankly should be here for a long time to come. Matt Kemp leads the team in runs batted in–when Piazza did that, he got the most rousing cheers from the fans, but most of the publicity about him tends to be how many mistakes he has made. Now, to be sure, there has been some good marketing–the All-Star Game Campaign Poster, calling him the man with the 5-tool plan is good–but it’s not been enough–witness again the all-star campaign, where he has to be a write-in.
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By connecting the fans with the long-term player base, you will be a huge base of loyal fans who follow players they love. That will keep people interested even when things go sour–the famous infield finished 4 games under .500 in 1979, but they did not lose the fan base. By focusing on Nomar, Fucal, Jones, your building a connection with guys who might be, and many will be, gone soon. And who are simply not producing because they’re not even playing.
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Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier, Bills, Kershaw–these guys should be the ones to get a big connection with the fans–they are producing and will for years to come.
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You hear from us a lot that playing the young guys is key for the team’s success on the field. But playing and focusing the PR on the young guys is far and away critical for good marketing.
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One good start is in the magazine. Another is that “My Loney Has a First Name. . . . ” t-shirt.
Can you believe that Torre is getting Maza ready for the stretch drive in August/ September and that’s why he gets to play second whenever Kent needs a rest. Not a chance for LaRoche or DY presence there, even though it shouldn’t diminish the defense and would improve the offense at that position. Torre is a relentless and stubborn bast**d, but that’s not new.
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the concept of Luis Maza starting at 2nd base ahead of Delwyn Young OR Andy LaRoche whenever Jeff Kent takes a breather… not that I’d be averse to either one of them playing every day or more often… but the fact that Torre keeps marching Luis Maza and his no-hit average out to 2nd base makes me wonder if Joe really has a commitment to win baseball games in Los Angeles. And Joe… would you please STOP IT with all the references and comparisons to New York already!! Stop making excuses and start winning ballgames!!
Torre knows what he’s doing. Don’t let him blind you with his rings!
josh – I am with leefink on the Martin/Yeager cover. I would have liked to say Scioscia/Martin too, but he is currently mangaging the team down the freeway. leefink brought up a good point about the magazine. It needs to start focusing more on the young core of players, and they it did have some smaller articles with them, but the feature articles focused on veterans who are on the DL or are on their way out next year (Nomar, Kent and Sweeney). In this issue there is a picture taken after DeWitt had a game winning hit. In the picture is DeWitt, Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Martin and Young. It is a picture of pure enjoyment of just winning one ballgame. Every player in that picture should be a focus. The energy they can and will bring to the game is what the fans want to see. The picture is on page 10 of the current magazine.
Carryover from the last thread….jungar, you are absolutely right that only the real baseball fans care whether the D’s win or lose. A significant majority of people at Dodger games (probably even Angels games, too, for that matter) are casual fans, at best. They’re looking for a combination of an afternoon out in the sun with a picnic and a trip to the mall thrown in. The fact that there’s a baseball game is almost secondary. Most don’t know whether the Dodgers are a good or mediocre team. These are the “fans” that Frank wants to attract because they will, at some point during the game, lose interest and, when they do, there’s food to eat and stores to shop in. Unless the team really goes south, management knows they have the real fans in their back pocket. Management has a vested interest in keeping the team playing, at least, at the mediocre level because both the real fans and the casual fans will smell out a bad team. The D’s management figures they need vets to keep the team playing at least, mediocre. In their minds, it’s too risky to go full force with younger players….on the lighter side, I heard an ad on the radio broadcast of the game yesterday for Lasorda Wine. It was, heretofore, unknown to me. Any of you California residents ever drank this stuff before? An inquiring mind wants to know.
I love listening to vin, but he really needs to get over the Pierre love – he called him “tireless juan” – give me a break!
Pierre on base again!
nelly– that should have been Bionic Juan. LOL.
K E M P!!!!!
Byrd is wild in the strike zone. Love it!!
Here’s hoping the boys in blue hammer the tribe today. Nice start. It’s pretty rare for Bills to get this kind of run support early.
nice 4 spot boyz!
There’s your lead, Bills. Rock and Roll!!!
That was a nice first inning!! Good job boys, even Pierre:)
With this heat, Chad will need to be economical with his pitches.
Missed it by that much.
Bills doesn’t seem to have his best stuff today. I just hope he settles down. Pitch count is waaay up there allready.
Well at least this time when I got up it’s the Dodgers in front but if Bills ever wants to be a top line starter he has to do something about his pithch count .. already almost 80 after 3 innings.
The reality may be that Bills isn’t really that good. He’s had enough time in the bigs to get more consistency. I hope that Kershaw proves to be better. If we had a GM with some capabilities instead of Ned, I wouldn’t mind seeing Bills, Ethier and LaRoche traded, but I know that Ned would never get decent value for the really good prospects or young players.
Bills-Kershaw is the 1-2 pitching duo in the upcoming years. Bills stuff is nasty, just needs more control. He will be fine.
I don’t doubt Bill’s potential but control is not something you learn over time. If his pitch counts are regularly high (and they are) then he will probably always be this way. I think we’re looking at a 6 inning pitcher who will have days when he’s very good and days when he’ll be gone after 4-5.
The way his pitch count is racking up, he’ll be lucky to get through the next inning. So much for the over worked bullpen getting a break.
The other thought that I have about Bills is that he probably has nobody to coach him at this level. I don’t see Honeycutt as worth a damn, or he might have made better use of some of the other pitchers that failed with us in the last couple of years. I believe that Bills had somebody at the minor league level to develop him far enough to get here. Honeycutt is a worthless fart or even less than that as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t know why they kept him when the rest of the coaching staff was fired.
We should all be thankful that ball went to right field – the run would have scored if gone into left.
We have a decent chance winning this game, unless Torre feels that he needs to vindicate Procto and for some reason lets him near this game.
Pierre smoked that one! lol
hahahaha at the Giants bullpen.
Kuo .. The Dodgers most under-rated pitcher.
This Peralta with the dyslexic spelled ‘Jhonny’ seems to be dialed in on NL pitching.
Peralta is dialed into many pitchers. He is on my fantasy team, and has done very well for me all season so far.
He’s at .105 – 5 points away 🙂
First two batters see 6 pitches and Sweeney pops up the first pitch. Gotta love that veteran approach.
Another Sweeney appearance, and no K. That’s probably encouraging enough for Torre to keep Sweeney around for another month at least. .100 is in sight in probably just another week.
Somewhere in the organization there has to be a better pinch hitter than Sweeney! No???
Now lets see which Broxton shows up today. I hope he’s lights out…
Josh,
How will the Dodgers celebrate when Sweeney breaks the .100 mark. Surely a special feature in your Dodgers Magazine. Even I might buy that issue, so that I can wipe something with it.
Pleasant surprise from the bullpen. So far, so good. Some insurance runs would be nice here before closing it out.
The funny thing is that Sweeney is one of the features in the June issue 🙂
4 runs in the 1st and not a GD one since! Not acceptable!
JP is 3-4 today! Get some! lol
That was a horrible at bat for Matt – not good!
I hate to say this but if Saenz had those many apperance I bet he would be over .200. Last year was a fluke for him lol.
Bring back Marlon Anderson. I wonder if the Mets would trade Anderson for Pierre? hahahaha
My Loney has a first name,
It’s J-A-M-E-S
My Loney has a second name,
It’s L-O-N-E-Y
I love to watch him every day
And if you ask me why I’ll say
‘Cause James Loney has a way
With H-I-T-T-I-N-G!
by MLK/leefink
even better Sweeney/Pierre/Proctor for Anderson?
Let’s just added another one of our former player Sanchez on that Anderson side.
It’s Sammy time!! – let’s hope he is the good Sammy 🙂
That’s the Sammy we know and love!!
Wonderful work by the bullpen. Just goes to show you what a couple of bunched hits plus a HR can do. Good win, Dodgers. Let’s get set up for the White Sox and at least take that series.
Great job by the bullpen today! It’s a ‘W’! Lets hope they keep it going!
The real Saito is back.
The D-backs have to go to Fenway Park. We can gain some more ground.
The real Saito is back.
Great job by bullpen, and credit needs to go to Maza for the catching that blooper of Grady’s and Ethier, Maza and Martin to get Peralta out at home. Those two defensive plays gave the win to Billz – way to go boys!!! An all team effort in both offense and defense.
Nice win!
More Torre bullshit:
“The thing about players when they get older, it’s a series of adjustments,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. “I think that’s what Mark [Sweeney] is going through right now. Right now, I think he’s pressing a little bit, and it’s tough because you don’t play. You’re waiting for that one at-bat, [and] YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO THROW HIM UP THERE IN AN AT BAT WHEN IT DOESN”T MEAN SOMETHING.”
Boggles the mind doesn’t it.
LMAO!!!!!! The comments keep getting worse and worse – we are going to need a lot more alchohol (or whatever you vice may be) just to get through some of these articles. LMAO!!! I am pretty confident now the kids will be just fine, it’s their management that is clearly the nutcases and need some serious intervention
enchanted – how come you are allowed to type bullshit
without the ******** ?
Reading your discussions earlier regarding the magazine, its clear to me that management has no regard for the kids whatsoever. Feature Sweeney, Nomore and Druw??… they don’t give a crap about the young guys, only Ned’s hired hands.
Pixie dust!!! works everytime!!
You know our management is alot like the screening of this blog – the doesn’t know the difference between a ******* and bullshit and our management doesn’t know the difference between common sense and bullshit.
supposed to be “blog system” after the word the.. in the first sentence – bad editing again
In June’s magazine there is an article about the kids called “The Big Leap” and it is a pretty good article. It talks about the adjustments some of the young players are making to the majors. The big feature article is about Nomar/Cey/Garvey and how Cey and Garvey are Nomar’s idols. Then there is another big article about Jeff Kent titled “Serious Business, Jeff Kent” – the title speaks for itself. The last feature article is about Mark Sweeney titled “Hit Man” which makes me laugh everytime I say it.
Truthfully, he seems like a great man, but at what price – I guess we will see when he gets to .100. The rest of the magazine has the usual stuff about the stadium’s 50 year plan and all the things that go with the 50th anniversary.
The magazine needs to be in reverse – more about the kids and less about the PVLs.
I suppose when Sweeney hits the Sweeney line and we have our “party”, we can all take time and relate our favorite remembrance/story of Mark Sweeney. We’ll fill up the other 59 minutes of that hour bashing JoJo and Ned. LOL
Looks like a nice game by Pierre today and some great BP work to a man. A well timed hit here and there this weekend and they could’ve taken all three.
In my book, eventhough Andre didn’t get a hit, he saved Billz his win getting that relay throw into Maza on knees and in the corner. That would have never happened in leftfield. The rest of the credit has to go to our bullpen. Yes, I admit Pierre had a good hitting day. Like many of say, it’s a once in a while thing and even if it’s a once in a while thing, he needs to be given the credit too. 🙂
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Can’t forget Russell’s #7th homerun 🙂
Injured 3B Nomar Garciaparra, who was told by his physical therapist in Boston last week to wait 10 days before doing anything, has decided to speed things up.
Garciaparra swung in the cage on Sunday and will resume baseball activities on Tuesday or Wednesday, about five days ahead of schedule.
“He decided,” Manager Joe Torre said. “That was his decision. The whole thing was his call.”
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lol
Sounds like the magazine is to the Dodgers’ PR department (Ned of course is all PR and no substance) what Pravda was to Kruschev. Have to take most of it with a grain of salt, not to mention Pepto Bismal. Talking about over-ripe veteran adjustment, you would think Sweeney would just have the good sense to retire. He’s certainly accomplished enough in his career. Under his circumstances, would you want to be a constant laughing stock and the manager’s excuse? If he hasn’t put away enough money by this time, I don’t think he’ll make it with his play potential with the Dodgers.
So already, Sweeney, get the hell out of here!!!
The comments in these articles keep getting more and more pathetic.
too funny enchanted 🙂
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I told my friend who is an A’s fan that we would trade their Sweeney for our Sweeney – her response “Are you kidding me?! no f***ing way!! Tells you how much other teams know about him.
The magazine needs to be in reverse – more about the kids and less about the PVLs.
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Kids, teens, young adults, parents and grandparents all could tell you at least 1 persons name on the Simpsons. Simpsons were great once as well….. It’s a great show to syndicate. No one other than maybe one or two of those groups could tell you anyone on say The Office or Arrested Development. Even the owners of both shows may agree on which show is better. But which one is being watched more? i think thats the dodgers.
we want the kemp jersey. joe blow wants the nomar jersey. joe blow would want the kemp jersey if kemp has a great, great year or the dodgers become a division winning team. joe blow wants the nomar jersery either way. nomar being around is under our complete control. Kemp doing awesom or the dodgers making the playoffs isnt. hence nomar.
Yes, you are right jungar, you can just look at the stadium seats and see all the Nomar jerseys – point taken 🙂
As for Nomore, at short I doubt he lasts a week if he even makes it out of rehab.
Nells, this is what management chooses not to see. JP’s one-dimensionality is so absolute that he has to have a 2-3 hit game every time out to justify (from a REAL baseball perspective) his existance. Ethier, though he’s not hitting, can still beat you with his glove. If JP doesn’t get on, he’s a worthless black hole sucking up at bats. Ethier still gives you a solid glove regardless.
I know that, and you know that, and most of us here know that, but it’s not going to change the idiot factor in Torre’s mind. It goes back to having faith that JP will take JP out of the game somehow( by miracle, I guess) so Ethier will have his rightful spot back, which he didn’t lose to begin with – it was just taken away and given to Pierre (that happened before Furcal got hurt). Andruw is just going to compound the issue, but then if he comes back in the same shape he left, then I can see another Nomar-like issue of him being back on the DL within a matter of weeks.
Come on Ned..Make a move… this youth movement needs to move on.. Either is struggling… move him out. Keep him.. okay send him to LV and bring up a true HR hitter. You want speed the guy in center as as much potential as anyone in LV. We are the laughing stock of both leagues. Build a new team around Martin, Bills, and start making some big time trades. We are just going to get worst… THese guys are losers. Prove me wrong.
As we have said before, any of these including Either can help a team… but team filled with singles hitters ain’t never gona work. A few somebodies mus go!
Come on Andrew.. move Either out. Maybe he can start for the IronPigs AAA.
Intriguing, Yet Absolutely much needed 4 To3 Win By Our Beloved Los Angeles Dodgers over the Cleveland Indians. First Of All, Super Hero Scott Proctor, We Know That You Will Come Big Time Up The Road! Up and at the Top IS Where Our Dodgers are going! What Can You Say About Super Heroes Tower Of Power, James Loney and Catcher Russel Martin With Their 2 RBI’S Each in The First Inning To Seal The Deal!Not Even Kryptonite Could Have Stopped Them! How About The Amazing Super Hero Juan Pierre With His 3 For 4 at the plate, 1 Run Scored and 29th Stolen Base Of The Season! Super, Juan! Super Hero Pitchers include Chad Billingsley, Hong-Chih Kuo,Joe Beimel,Jonathan Broxton, and Takashi Saito. What can you say about those guys, but Great Things! All the Of our Los Angeles Dodgers were Super Heroes As Well. All of Us Los Angeles Dodgers Fans are with you all the Way Team, And Our Faith Is So Strong In You It Will Destroy Kryptonite And Get Superman Jeff Kent His World Series Ring This Beloved Year of 2008 A.D.!
Good evening, ndeschenes~ Once again it is great to hear from you. Wish the Dodgers could have gotten games one and two for you, but like enchanted said, a couple of key hits and the outcomes of those games would have been much different. Have a great evening and day off (baseball, anyway), and we look forward to hearing from you during the Dodgers’ series against the Chicago White Sox. 🙂
ndeschenes – BTW – changed by sign-in name from dnelson to dnelly 🙂
Ned had a classic line on post-game Dodger Talk. Discussing the kids’ approach at the plate (flailing at breaking pitches) Ned said the “best way to handle a slider is to hit the fastball.” Ned may be many things…but he’s right this time. I get the feeling that the “teachers” want the “pupils” to be more selective until two strikes are on the board. Ted Williams’ theory was that the first pitch had better be EXACTLY what you’re looking for, both location and speed. If it’s not, even if it’s a strike, let it go. Then you expand the strike zone bit by bit. How often have we seen first-pitch hacks (are you listening Nomar and Kent, you’re not immune here, it’s not just the kids) at crappy pitches. But then, the kids will learn…in spite of the vets’ crummy example.
Was out there today in what seemed like Death Valley and my favorite moment came when Bills led off the bottom of the second with an out. In that EXTREME heat, Pierre walks up and bunts the first pitch for an out. A couple seconds later Bills is back out there, huffing and puffing, and giving up three runs. During the rally, I figured Bills ought to call time out, march out to left field and punch Pierre in the face for being a stupid a**.
http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/2008/06/post-3.html
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At the bottom of this article, there are some good audio post game interviews with Martin and Kemp on today’s game along with Torre’s post game interview as well. It’s worth a listen.
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kpookiemon – thanks for the info on the calls with Ned.
Discussing Juan Pierres approach at the plate Ned said the “best way to handle a right hander is is to hit the lefthander.”
In discussing Jeff Kent Ned said, it’s better to hit in 2002 instead of 2008
Criticizing a 24 year old on doing what may be the toughest thing in all sports gets under my skin. I would never want to work for him or Joe. It dosen’t seem like they do either. I saw more fire with Grady. Maybe I am wrong.
Those of you following the CWS – Fresno State and Univ. of Georgia are in the championship – both teams are Bulldogs.
1) I’m a little behind, and I saw seeskybout2rain’s comment, and wanted to see what Jungar had said, so I read some and saw the artile by Shaking that Jungar mentioned yesterday, and am completely confused by it. Does it have a point or make an argument? Is he saying to trade or not to trade? I don’t really get it.
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Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t see any serious trade in the works at the trading deadline.** If we are competitive, and theoretical “buyers,” we don’t have the guys to trade because the players that everyone wants (young major leaguers with upside and no free agency in sight–i.e.Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier, Bills, Kershaw, etc.) would be the heart of the successful team. You can’t win a pennant by trading any of your top 2 hitters (Martin and Loney right now) or top 2 RBI guys (Kemp and Loney right now). If we’re “sellers,” the trade bait would be “proven veterans” with fat expiring contracts who can contribute to a winner. But, frankly, while we have proven veterans with expiring contracts, we still don’t have anyone in that category. First of all, the reason is that the Dodgers are one of the 8 or so teams most able to afford expensive free agents (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Angels, Dodgers, and someone, I would imagine). But, our proven veterans right now either are not producing to the extent that they would be deemed a big take for a club making a stretch run (Penny is struggling, Furcal is on the DL, Jones is pathetic, and Kent’s .256 is not cutting it) OR, if they did start producing, we would be winning more games and no longer sellers (imagine Brad Penny version 2007, and that’s got to be worth 3.5 games, right?).
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**The exception is that we could deal a LaRoche if we viewed DeWitt as a sure thing at 3B, but I doubt it, and we could deal Lowe, who is pitching pretty well, and seems to certainly want to leave LA, though I don’t know why.
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2) Finally, turning to seeskybout2rain’s actual comments, and Jungar on the topic, I sort of disagree. I think that casual fans really want a winner. This is LA–we are, for better or worse, enamored with winners and indifferent to mediocrity. People only pay attention to the Lakers when they are winning–anyone remember Nick Van Excel? No. Why? Because he never won. But everyone loves Rick Fox, who was a bit player for a winner. The Dodgers have a better long-term fan base than a lot of teams, and certainly the rest of LA, but people come when the Dodgers win. And, if for no other reason than winning is much more profitable, management wants a winner.
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The difference is that the casual fan wears a Nomar jersey because they think of him as a winner. There are two reasons for this: 1) In his heyday, he was a winner and a great player; 2) The PR focuses on older guys like Nomar rather than the younger guys. (I don’t mean to knock Josh here at all–hopefully, it’s some constructive advice. The reality is it was impossible for Josh to give, say James Loney much PR until this season, since he was not even on the Opening Day roster last year (a huge mistake–but not Josh’s). But Loney has done appearances last year and this, was on the Rose Parade float, etc. But more can and should be done, like with the magazine (and, the aforementioned “My Loney . . .” shirt).)
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But imagine that if the casual fan were to hear Larry Bowa on the ThinkBlue TV show to talk about how impressive it is that Matt Kemp is leading the team in RBI rather than talking about the bad at-bats that the young guys are taking (particularly when it’s the young giys that are actually taking the good at-bats, and you could find that out just by using the “advanced stats” on ESPN.com–I don’t think that’s too much to ask for). Imagine if the casual fan were to read a Martin/Yeager piece rather than a Nomar/Garvey piece.
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Anyway, my point here is obvious–the casual fan bases their decisions about who is good based on what they have done in the past–not what they are doing right now or capable of in the future. This is not crazy, but the timing is off because unless you are dealing with a phenom, by the time a guy has had a hall of fame career, they are more likely to be on the downslide. After all, no one has ever hit more home runs after reaching 500 HR than they did before. . . . (think about that).
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But, some focus on the high quality of the young guys would speed up the casual fan’s perceptions. Martin is already breaking through, but the guy is the best hitter, a clutch hitter, a gold glove defender, and a consensus future captain–and SHOULD be the most popular player on the team.
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The odd thing, of course is that somehow, the baseball management seems to think the same thing as the casual fan–Nomar=good, so let him rush his rehab, probably hurt himself more, in an effort to speed his retreating skills back into the lineup. Uggh. It’s one thing for the casual fan to think this, but it’s unacceptable (if Jhall will forgive the use of the term) for the baseball operations to believe this.
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Jungar, your point about people preferring the Simpsons to Arrested Development is somewhat apt, but slightly off. Fox was wrong to cancel Arrested Development, because it was a GREAT show (maybe the best 52 half hours ever on TV). BUT–Fox was subject to ratings. If people, for whatever reason, did not watch Arrested Development, then that’s the result. In baseball, the result is winning and losing. People will watch a winner. So, if the Dodgers put out quality young players who perform well over proven veterans who don’t, the team will win and people will watch the Dodgers. And THAT’s the result. Casual fans may, at first, not get it, but if the Dodgers win the Pennant, they will. The team just has to have the courage to play the kids.
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The Dodgers problem is therefore more akin to Scrubs (in its first 4 seasons, not the last couple, where it has gone downhill). Scrubs was a brilliant new show. But they kept moving its timeslot around, threatening to cancel it, and they did not put it in the Thursday night “Must See” line-up until late in its run, instead they kept putting in tired veterans like the last few years of Friends, Will & Grace, Just Shoot Me, spin-offs like Joey, and tired formulas like Coupling and Good Morning Miami. Essentially, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are at risk of being the baseball equivalent of Scrubs.
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I should add this conclusion–there is still a strong reason to believe that we are going to go in the right direction–which will mean many years of winning–even despite some headscratchers. Colletti has not given in to the temptation to trade the young guys at last year’s deadline or over the winter, and I don’t see it happening this year, either. And while some of his free agent signings have been quesionable (or soem, worse), he has tried to limit the damage by short term contracts here. And while Torre’s move have been in some cases conventional and wrong in a awy that a Hall of Fame-bound manager should not be (running Pierre out there everyday in the leadoff spot, his goal of using 162 different line-ups in a single season), with Jones injured, he has kept putting Matt Kemp in centerfield (where he should play most of his career), while a lot of people would be tempted to play Pierre there because “he’s a centerfielder.”
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Anyway, sorry for the long post.
The difference as I see it jungar is that Grady didn’t try to break the young guys’ spirit. Something JoJo does on a daily basis. JoJo’s attained an arrogance from New York that he and his double standards are always right.
leefink – I always look forward to your posts. Your comments are always well-received by this Dodger Fan, and I am sure appreciated by many on this board. So, in my opinion, your posts can be as long as you want them to be.
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It’s a good thing that you and jungar and many others keep us thinking outside the box. I just wish our management had some of your (and many on this board) thought processes because if they did, the Dodgers wouldn’t be in this mess.
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BTW – James had a good hitting day so I posted the “James Loney Song” after his last at-bat 🙂
leefink – I also hope you are right in many of the things you are pointing out
*staying away with trades involving young players
*As far as the young players getting their names out
there it seems they are headed in the right direction,
especially recently with James Loney’s new venture with
Loney’s Lounge and Andre Ethier’s new venture with the
Rescue Mission and his Dining with ‘Dre blog, (to name a
few) are starting to come out into the community more
and making a name for themselves, which can only
benefit them in the long run as far as recognizability.
*There definitely has to be some positive media in light of
our young players. It seems like even on their good
days, it’s always kind of twisted around to become
something in a negative light.
No, no No Lee great post as usual. I am afraid you remember the kidless Jason where my posts were more articulate. You’re like Ned, allowing me to live off the old days. I was a winner..lol. Nowdays I rush them. I think you are right in many regards but for fun i’ll add a bit.
1. My positive on the article was that Frank gave Ned a vote of confidence and re-confirmed the long term plan. Now, I don’t trust Frank on the Ned comment, but on the long term plan, when you look at things $$ wise I believe it 100 percent. Ned won’t be allowed to do anything stupid isbasically how I read between the lines. I also view it positive in that the obvious was stated-payroll up, winning down and If you think that bothers Frank (I think what bothers him is, profits and branding) then it was sharp criticism for the GM. With solid and realistic praise for the young players. It’s positive becase again Coletti looks like a fool. Showing poor leadership and evaluation skills while trying to pimp himself. See where we are? Hope for Furcal, Nomar and Jones? I could have ****** things up worse but i didn’t? I think the overall point was were not 1 player away and stay the course. But I do see Ned as powerless basically.
2. I agree not much gonna happen at deadline. . Kent might be an exception to a team that is in the AL and already assured a playoff spot. Heck he is good enough for mr 3 million Winning World Series manager to roll out there everynight and proclaim him to be god of the approach where moto cross oil and mudflaps magically make real numbers meaningless. JP is good enough for two winning manager to roll out up at the top of the lineup for us but we can’t trade him, only dodger managers see value in him? Thats just crazy if true and i think it’s true and makes me just wanna scream as a fan..why should I suffer if 27 other teams aren’t willing to and were one of the richest and most hungry to win? but yeah things will be quiet.
3. Dodger attendence since 1980: I know you Lee know the years we won, most of you do. You can see the Fernando influx. See that 88 and 89 even though we just won the WS even years..You see 97 when Piazza was sickly good. And then you see when the McCourts came in and add more seats for his bottom line. No real changes win loose or draw (I threw out the strike years) (-1 is first place etc)
3,249,287-1980-2
3,608,881-2
3,510,313-1
3,134,824-4
3,264,593-1
3,023,208-5
2,797,409-4
2,980,262-1
2,944,653-5
3,002,396-4
3,348,170-1
2,473,266-4
3,170,393-2
2,766,251-6
3,188,454-4
3,319,504-1
3,089,222-1
3,098,042-2
2,880,242-2
3,017,143-3
3,131,077-3
3,138,626-2
3,488,283-1
3,603,680 -4
3,758,421 -2
3,856,753-2007 -4
Lakers are a bit different in that they actually win alot over the last 20 years. So when they don’t, its a shock and no one recall anything but even so they bore numbers similar to dodgers.
As per TV ratings I hope I just showed peole will watch what you show em if you package it right. But your Scrubs analogy was perfect and so are most other things you are saying.
What I am saying is McCourt can’t control winning or loosing reall, but he can control the package. I agree if they would have the courage to play kids 100 all in and they win, this town will go crazy over them. That’s part of my frustration. We haven’t been on the cusp of this now in 20+ years. (Piazza and crew dodgers did not have two potential under 25 top of the rotation starters and all these bats) And I worry about them pissing it away.
Went to the game to watch Pierre actually hit the ball 3 times today!! wooo 🙂 Torre and him are really guna have a goood night tonight.. and with the White Sox coming to town I think we can all expect the obvious… I’m not even gonna complain when I see his name on the starting lineup this series.. I mean he does hit a .375 against Buehrle… Why would Torre EVER sit his star player! ha ha ha… ha. oh yeah and of course we can’t forget to mention he stole a base too! 🙂
Rusell, & Kemp doing what we know they can do like always 🙂
and even though Ethier didn’t get any hits his slide catch and assist to Maza and then Martin getting Peralta out was a beautiful play. I also say it was fun watching Maza when he caught the ball and tumbled to get Sizemore out only to have Sizemore return the favor with a diving catch later on.. haha. And it’s always a good feeling leaving the stadium with a home win –a good way to end the weekend 🙂
As for playing the kids and the need to get rid of the vets I’m sure the whole management team knows what’s right but choose to do differently.. cus it’s just part of a whole big conspiracy plan they have going on… haha.
Did anyone go to Nomar’s carne asada Sunday or did it even happen today? I wasn’t paying attention to the announcements…
Btw, sorry guys I’m new to this blog but I can’t seem to work the spaces… Any suggestions? Thanks.
iheartethier – I find it best to put periods between comments like this
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However, some people can space three times like this
and it usually works, but not always for me.
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If I am talking to several people, I will do periods to make sure it works.
If I am just making comments, then I will try spacing 3 times.
🙂
Both things worked this time – hey you never know.
Glad you had fun at the game. I was very impressed by the play by Ethier,Maza and Martin. The play made lots of coverage and it was mentioned in the postgame comments. That should help confindence a little, and Ethier’s at-bats were better than yesterday, and I’m sure he got lots of kudos for starting that wonderful play. The box score gave him an assist so even though batting was I’m sure not up to par for him, hopefully he can go home thinking he gave Billz his win today.
iheartaethier ~ BTW – I changed sign in names today. I got a new lap top about a week ago, and I am finally starting to do things other than this blog and games. I have been wanted a new name attached to this blog so I can be a little less inhibited about language, etc. When using school address, other people can be paying attention. So hence, the new address below.
Thanks, dnelly.
Last post I hit the spacebar 4 times and it almost worked so this time I’m going to try 5 and maybe it’ll happen…haha.
Oh yeah and I forgot to mention Sweeney’s appearance… did he even make one? Sorry, I was busy chugging my full cup of beer…
And everybody keep voting for Martin on the All-Star ballot, he’s fifth, not good 😦
Oh and I just saw pics of Nomar’s event. Guess it happened but I was around for a good 30 minutes after the game and I didn’t see a lot of cars left in the lot when I was leaving… hm.
Let’s enjoy the day off from Torre-ment, of seeing Pierre taking up space on the left side of the field.
dnelly- Ah guess the five spaces didn’t work out too well. I’ll try the period this time. Yes, I did notice the name change, thanks for the update.
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I was watching a videoclip online of the Ethier-Maza-Martin play and at the end Scully says “and he is a dead indian…” haha I thought that was kinda funny.
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For some reason it has to be 3 only.
That was a great play and the Indian’s manager gives full credit to Andre getting in as fast as he did. It was the key to the play.
Sweeney did make an appearance – he is currently at .105, and when he reaches the Sweeney line which has been set by someone on this board (.100) we are having an online party since we probably won’t be celebrating anything anytime soon if our management team doesn’t get their acts together.
dnelly- yes! I did see the shot of the Indians manager in the dugout applauding 🙂 it’s good to see other teams recognize a great play even if it isn’t their own. I was holding my breath hoping Andre would make it a good one…. unlike the other night when he missed the catch and went full force into the dirt, it broke my heart & it didnt get better to see it on replay 100 times on tv later on… but regardless… Ethier will always be amazing in my eyes…ever since his debut with the A’s.
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Oh and about Sweeney, I was being sarcastic… hahaha & it made me realise I could chug a beer in the 30 seconds he was out there…
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The headline says “Dodgers being patient with Sweeney”… Oh boy, more like Mr. Torre-ment thinks celebrating the Sweeney line is way better than a win.
Josh,
It’s me again with a couple of more thoughts on the magazine. I have been a Dodger Fan since the early 70’s. My earliest memories are of the Steve Yeager days and then I really became a serious fan when Scoiscia was behind the plate. So, when I looked through the magazine again more carefully, I do enjoy reading the articles that tell stories of the past. The “Infield of Dreams” story featuring Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey was my favorite. However, I enjoyed the article about the rookies and the experiences they are having up here in the majors. I also like the feature of all the wonderful things our players are doing in your community. I live in nor-cal, but it is still good to see the players getting involved in their community.
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I am a 1st grade teacher, and my first instinct when I pick up anything that would have pictures, I immediately do a picture walk. So, if your market is to get kids to read this magazine as well, the more pictures the better. I am sure I am like most people and they really want to see pictures of their favorite players, past and present. Like I said earlier today, the picture of our core group of young players just enjoying a moment in time of winning just one game is one of my favorites in the entire magazine. It exemplifies why I love this game so much – wanting to see professional ball players loving this game and enjoying every second that they are a part of it.
It’s funny you say that, I have been following Andre since he was at ASU, and then I found out a few years later that he came into the A’s organization, and then when they traded him to the Dodgers, I thought it was amazing! I am a Sac State grad, but we didn’t have high profile sports so I took a liking to the Pac 10 teams and Arizona State was the powerhouse baseball team then, just as much as it is today. I still to this day follow ASU baseball. They are my favorite college team. However, since I live so close to Fresno, I will probably be cheering them on this time. I figure if they can beat ASU, then they have a shot to win it all.
http://braves.scout.com/a.z?s=248&p=2&c=764170
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Article about Sunday’s game from the perspective of the Indians.
dnelly…good move…I don’t blog on my school e-mail…as you say, too many noses…welcome to anonymity.
kpookiemon – you are a teacher?
kpookiemon- part of it is I didn’t know how to change it at first. I wanted to do this along time ago, but didn’t know how, plus at the time, my home computer sucked. Now, we are updated and going pretty good. I have been saying pretty honest, but not nice things lately, and I didn’t want the eyes of IT looking into it. It was reported that IT was monitoring usage, but later it was said for those that are doing politcal and union things over the e-mail,which did get pretty bad. But, I want to be safe, anyhow 🙂
“Andre made a really nice stop in the corner,” Martin said. “It was perfectly executed.”
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http://www.pe.com/sports/baseball/dodgers/stories/PE_Sports_Local_S_dodgers_23.467f04d.html
Kemp is the man in centerfield. When Jones returns?????!?!? Ned and Joe will trot him out there, and they’ll put him in center, but Kemp has solidified himself as a starter. That leaves Ethier and Pierre to have at it again. I’d like to see Pierre and Jones platoon–not because I don’t like them, but because I want Ethier playing every day. Dodgers have got to decide which kids stay.
Kent is the man at 2nd base. “Hello, Jeff? How’d you like to play for a contender? Chase that elusive ring one last time? No, no don’t worry, you’d be doing us–I mean…we’ll be fine. I’m gonna play LaRoche there. LaRoche. Yeah, he does kind of look like you. Anyway, God bless you, Jeff. You’ve been a great Dodger. What? Probably at the deadline. I don’t know. OK, OK. That’s great.”
I am a Fine Arts teacher behind the vast Orange Curtain.
Wow!! Very cool!! It makes sense why you are so creative on this board.
Billingsley (6-7) became the Dodgers’ first six-game winner, giving up three runs on eight hits, one walk and two hit batters, with Saito earning his 11th save. Andre Ethier and Luis Maza each ought to get a save too, for the two cut down the would-be tying run at home plate.
With two out in the fifth inning and Jhonny Peralta on first base, David Dellucci doubled into the right-field corner. Ethier slid past the foul line to intercept the ball without crashing into the wall, then scrambled to his feet and fired a strike to Maza, who fired another strike to Martin. Peralta was out, for the third out, and so was Billingsley.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-dodgers23-2008jun23,0,471548.story
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Another article from the LA times. It’s nice to see a story with all positives for a change.
Good Morning, Dodger Blue Fans,
It’s Morning Music Time!
Great win yesterday by our Dodger Blue eventhough after the first inning, I’m sure we were all on pins and needles hoping Billz would make it through the 5th and that we could survive 8 innings on 4 runs. Great first inning with the first four batters (Pierre, Kemp, Loney and Martin) getting it done with back to back to back hits, and then Martin finishing the scoring-first inning with his 7th home run. The first four runs, along with two fabulous defensive plays (thanks to Maza and Ethier) and an outstanding job by our beloved Bullpen consisting of Kuo, Beimel, Broxton and Saito deserve a “Job well done boys!!” This mornings’ song is done for all of you on this board, from the serious to the down-right hilarious. I did the song from the perspective of a new reader to this board.
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Song: “You Might Think We’re Crazy”
Original song: “You Might Think I’m Crazy”
by The Cars
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You might think we’re crazy
To hang around on here
Maybe you think we’re lucky
To have something to do
But we think that it’s wild
Cuz’ inside us is some child
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You might think we’re foolish
but the things we say are true
You might think we’re crazy
We bleed Dodger Blue
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You might think we’re hysterical
But we know what we speak
You know we’re into music
And that we may never sleep
But we think that it’s wild
When we make Dodger Fans smile
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You might think it’s foolish
What we put Ned through
You might think we’re crazy
We bleed Dodger Blue
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And it’s hard so hard to take
There’s no escape from Joe’s mistakes
And we keep it going till the sun goes down
And keep it going
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***musical interlude***
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You might think we’re delirious
The way we put Pierre down
But somewhere sometimes
When were curious
It comes back around
And, we think that it’s wild
That Juan’s in Dre’s left field
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You might think it’s foolish
This everyday “think blue”
You might think we’re crazy
We bleed Dodger Blue
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We bleed Dodger Blue
We bleed Dodger Blue
Awesome Nelly!!!!!!!!! A new anthem.
Nice win yesterday!!
Thanks, jhall
Hey, Well, I least we got one from your hometown team. I do like watching them play too, just not when they are playing the Dodgers – lol!! I was pleasantly surprised we held on and won that game. I was waiting for a Sizemore homerun any minute – lol!! That play at home was crucial, but at the time, there were still 4 innings of baseball to go, and I thought one team would’ve put more runs on the board. Who would have thought that play made all the difference.
It was a great play and ended up being huge for us. Hope the Indians get on a roll and make the playoffs. Let’s help them out by sweeping the White Sox this week. LOL!!
Welcome back Eric. Nice song!!!
You got that right. I haven’t paid much attention to the Indians players other than Sizemore and Peralta. I didn’t realize Carroll was playing for them. I was glad to see him there. He had a rough time getting playing time with the Rox. Also, Vin did a great job of telling stories about the players, especially Sizemore and Blake. Boy! Vin went on for days about those two.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear Vin yesterday. Church and family stuff so only got to listen some on local radio. Still fun though.
Well, he did a good job of telling stories about the players on this Indians squad. If you weren’t a fan of them before this weekend, I could see some people pulling for them if the Dodgers don’t get there. And yes, understand the church and family thing. We have the option of going Saturday nights so we often do that so we can spend time on Sundays going on short trips to the mountains (enchanted’s old neighborhood) and often the coast – Monterey/Carmel. However, yesterday, we went in the morning, and spent the rest of the day watching baseball from the gnats very sad loss :), to the Dodgers great win, and then on to the Fresno State Bulldogs win to go to the championship round of the CWS. Went from the church of God to the church of baseball – pretty good stuff!
Sounds like a great day Nelly.
Goooooood morning ITD!
I see someone chewed through the floor of his cage at 6:04 last night. Honestly. I’m going to HAVE to have a talk with Security around here.
Since Sweeney chasing The Sweeney Line is getting so much play here, we need to be a little more accurate. I don’t want to spoil the party when (not if) he drops under .100, but it won’t be the first time this year. Or the second. Or the third. It’s quite a saga. May I?
A little (horribly pathetic) history:
He got a hit in his first at bat this year, April 1st (1.000)
He then proceded to go 0 for 10 (with a walk – HA!) to drop below the Sweeney line at .091 on April 16th.
This was followed by an 0 for 5 stretch that dropped his average to .062 on April 26th (He walked again the next day. That guy is now flipping burgers.)
He doubled (one of his two this year) on April 29th against Florida to nearly double his average to .118.
He was rewarded with a start on May 1. He went 0 for 3 with 2 more walks. He’s now exactly at .100.
He walked the next day to remain at his line. May 3rd saw him take another 0 for 1 to drop him under again at .095.
Being a vet, he gets all the consideration in the world from our Joe, so May 4th he trots out there again and gets a single. Now he’s at .136.
He drops to .120 as he goes 0 for his next 3, then another single on May 11th. Now .154, he’s on a roll.
In his next 10 appearances he goes 0 for 15, mixing in starts against the Angels and Cubs. He gets a sac fly as well, but on May 27th is back under The Sweeney Line again at .098.
Hitless in his next 3 PAs, (o for 2) he drops to .093 on May 30.
June brings new hope to Mark and Joe as Sweeney pounds the pellet at a feverish pace, going 2 for his next 3 June 2, 4 and 5 to raise his average to a stratospheric .130!
It was not to be, however, as poor Mark has now suffered through his last 10 appearances. He’s gone 0 for 11 to fall dangerously close to The Infamous Sweeney Line at .105. Three more ofers will get him there again.
Mark (The Hit Man) Sweeney, primary pinch hitter – 2008
Games 53
ABs 57
Runs 1
Hits 6
2Bs 2
3Bs 0
HRs 0
RBIs 3
SBs 0
BBs 7
SOs 17
Ave .105
OBP .200
SLG .140
OPS .340
Total Bases 8
Sac 0
Sac Flies 1
It’s worth noting that of his 53 games, he’s come into the game 38 times in the ninth inning, and 6 more in the 8th. Yes, we’re a bit of a laughing stock, I’ll admit. But not because of anyone under the age of 27. Not one.
It sounds like you had a great day yourself, and yes, eric’s song is awesome!!
for the dodgers its better to look good but be bad vs look bad and be good.
Good stuff Eric. Sweeney is a joke alright. LOL.
Sweeney is below the Tomato Line. LOL.
Good Morning, Dodgereric!
It’s nice of you to wake us up with a nice laugh from your Sweeney Report. LMAO!!!
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How was the remainder of your weekend?
Hiya gang! Everything went just fine, except for the stupid heat. I think we’re getting a break today. Thankfully I have an office job now, but for 26 years I not only worked in that stuff every day but I was welding in it. Sheesh. A job for a younger man, I guess.
I’m really proud of my nephew. Graduating from Stanford is quite an accomplishment. And he’s a better person than he is a student. I’d like to have his future.
I mentioned back on Friday that I don’t take electronics while camping, but I overheard a little bit of the post-game on Saturday from someone’s radio while I was walking the dog. I heard Rick Monday say that Pierre went 0 for 5 and then immediately jumped on Kemp, saying, (and I’m paraphrasing) “Although he hit a home run, he continues to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.”
Man, I tell you, I must be stupid, because I just don’t get it.
Good stuff Eric! So there’s the Sweeney line (.100), then there’s the Teeny Weeny Sweeny line (.062)
Pa’s OK, he’s just more of a win now type a guy and frustrated with the lack of offense; and let’s face it, not everyone’s for the total youth movement (see Torre, Joe.) He supports the Blue though.
I’m dying to say something about Rick Monday, but I promised after he hit that playoff home run in 1981 that I’d never utter anything derrogatory about him again.
Wow!!! eric – Stanford – quite the accomplishment!!
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As far as the Pierre 0-5 day and Kemp’s home run. The home run, even in print was overshadowed by his other at-bats and his poor approach. They really need to start giving these kids a break in the media, especially Matt. That goes back to the management and allowing and even contributing to this issue. Torre has made it any easier with his comments about he kids either.
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good morning, enchanted – you must be feeling a little better after yesterday’s win, but still your same witty self.
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good morning to jungar too – you are on a roll this morning once again.
Here’s Monday’s stats at 22 when he was in his second full season in Oakland, about the same stage Kemp is now at 23:
1968 22 OAK AL 148G 482AB 56R 132H 24D 7T 8HR 49RBI 14SB 6CS 72BB 143K .274Avg. .371OBP
Morning nells! Good song BTW. I have a buddy who loved The Cars, so listened to them a lot.
Nelly, I’m sure you saw this: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080623&content_id=2989853&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
Thanks, enchanted
I didn’t have to change much in the lyrics. There are days when I feel like I am crazy for thinking the way I do nowadays, and I’m sure it’s pretty much the same with almost everyone on this board – it’s more like crazy with frustration. Also, since Pierre had a good day, I wanted to give him a break for at least the morning. The song did mention him, but the song itself wasn’t about him. Don’t worry, more Pierre songs to come I’m sure – it is an off day for baseball, you know 🙂
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Tonight we can sit back and hopefully watch the Red Sox hand it to the dbacks and maybe KC will do the same thing to the Rox as they did to the gnats. Gnats have the day off, but they are going to visit jhall’s city and hope the Indians beat crap out of them – Sizemore and Peralta can hit all the homeruns they want against them 🙂
Thanks for the article link, eric
No, I didn’t see that, but there was an article in our local paper this morning about the game and how Allison was playing with a shoulder ailment. The article here was about the team in general, but to know he pitched with shoulder issues is pretty brave or possible stupid (hopefully not)
Hearty congrats to your nephew Eric.
Thanks, jhall. He’s a good kid. Look for the song every day, just like the movie.
I understand Pa’s frustration, E, but it sure seems like he’s got a thing for Ethier, like he’s the only problem. But I’m glad to hear he’s not another you-know-who. By the way, at least for me, Monday’s HR just got him even for Buckner. The slate’s been clean for 27 years. Have at him.
BTW, nice work Nelly!
morning everyone. enchanted imagine if we all talked in our daily life the way Monday Broadcasts. Me as Monday in the kitchen with the wife making a bagel:
The spread? Creem Cheese. The knife, stainless steel. The bagel, blueberry. and the method of preperation? toasted…
and even though the wife waits and waits and waits, i wont tell her if the bagel is good till i am finished (or the inning is over.)
he broadcast like the game gets in the way of the story he is telling.
I don’t mind him though, it’s amusing to me because I am so used to it.
I guess I’m just saying there’s one glaring stat when you’re talking about Kemp’s trouble of making contact, and that held true for an entire career.
In otherwords its like the pot calling the kettle black.
Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend!!
You are right E, it is calling the kettle black, For he is a veteran also!! LOL rules don’t apply to him.
Funny jungar. I don’t actually get to hear any of Monday’s broadcasts, but I get the gist. His style? Unique. LOL
Good afternoon boys and girls…
I know it’s been a few days since I’ve been here. Went to San Diego for a family reunion over the weekend. It’s good to be back!!!
I see we have a new girl in town: bluecrewgirl. Welcome!!! Isn’t there another new girl here? I’ve only scanned the posts from the last few days…
And crash suggested a blogger feedback poll. Who sucks the hardest: Brett Tomko or Scott Proctor? That’s a loaded question and I’m not sure who sucks more, but if I had to pick only one, it would be Proctor.
Thanks,eric – like I tell enchanted – learning from the best teachers – enchanted, jhall and you! Did you go back and see Cpompe’s – pretty cool! It will make a good holiday classic!
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good afternoon, jnv – hope your weekend was good too.
Other than being hot over the weekend, it was all baseball, from highschool, Dodgers and CWS
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I have a comment about PA. I think he/she is another joey (not to be confused with joey_rock) , and he definitely has it in for Ethier. Joey comments about everybody and everything. PA tends to focus alot on Andre, and it’s every time he posts not just yesterday, and believe me it has taken alot of patience not to bite back so to speak. So, I treat him/her like joey, I ignore what he/she has to say.
Cp – yes, iheartaethier16 is also new. I (dnelson) changed addresses so I wouldn’t have to worry about IT people looking through stuff through my work address. It just took me a while to figure out this new computer, being a laptop and all.
cpompe… cpompe… this is you’re conscious calling you…
Where’s my dinner??
LOL
LMAO!!!! Make us feel guilty – not nice!!!
I just got back and opened my new set of baseball cards. I buy about 4 sets every so often. Out of 144 cards, 4 were Dodgers – Furcal (on DL), Young( limited sightings), Blake DeWitt’s rookie (fabulous!!), and to top it off – Joe Torre (ugh!). I guess I should be thankful it was him and not Pierre. I did get a Willie Randolph card (cool!)
dnel,
you’re nickname is still intact! But I love the ae16 on your name!!!
enchanted,
you’re on your own for dinner tonite; I’m being taken out for my birthday dinner tonite!!! 🙂
and iheartaethier16, welcome to you and I LOVE YOUR NAME!!! 🙂
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