Andre back in the saddle…
As you all know by now, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers settled, which is always a best-case scenario. I know that there are a ton of Ethier fans on Inside the Dodgers and you have been very vocal about wanting to avoid arbitration, which we all did. It looks like our favorite food critic will be making a great salary this year while still finding a way to find a middle ground with the club. Hopefully, he can send in a new review for Dining with Dre soon.
The rest of the day here was filled with more workouts, including some bunting practice for the pitchers. Team historian Mark Langill weighs in regarding one of the best bunters in baseball history, Maury Wills:
Fifty years ago, Maury Wills spent spring training in 1959 with the Detroit Tigers, which selected the journeyman infielder in the previous winter’s minor league draft. But the Tigers opted not to keep Wills for the $40,000 fee, so he returned to Triple-A Spokane to begin the regular season.
Wills received a surprise promotion to Los Angeles in June after general manager Buzzie Bavasi noticed a hole on the top of Don Zimmer’s baseball shoe while standing near the batting cage. Zimmer was hiding a broken toe. Wills batted .260 in 83 games for Los Angeles to help the Dodgers win their first championship on the West Coast.
Zimmer was long considered by Bavasi and other Dodger brass as the eventual replacement for longtime shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who retired after the 1958 season. But Spokane manager Bobby Bragan, who suggested Wills learn to switch-hit in 1958, thought the speedy Wills had the potential to be a star.
“(Wills) did a fairly good job wherever he was sent, but he was never spectacular,” Bavasi wrote of Wills’ first eight seasons in the Dodger minor league system from 1951 to 1958. “Nor did he figure in the Dodger plans. I once made the statement if I had someone offered me $11 and a bag of potato chips for Maury’s contract, I’d have sold him.”
Wills, the 1962 National League MVP, stole 586 bases during his 14-year career.
Inside the Dodgers 
Congrats on getting that paper Dre! With him playing every day I think he’s primed to have an all-star year. Thanks to the suggestions from the ITD faithful, i purchased MLB.TV a couple days ago and i’ve already gone through and watched some archived games from last year that had some special moments, such as Kershaw striking out the side in his 1st inning ever, Manny’s first Dodger home run, Dewitt’s inside the parker, and of course the moment where we sent the NL favorite cubbies home via a sweep in convincing fashion. I cant wait to witness all the special moments of this season. GO DODGERS!!
The Dodgers have had some pretty good shortstops since they’ve been in Los Angeles, such as Zimmer, Russell, Izturis,
Furcal(the most powerful), to name a few but to me #1 was Wills. I picked him as the best in the 50 years that they’ve been in LA LA Land.
Oh yes, how can I forget. Congrats to Ethier and all the Ethierholics , a well deserve raise in the MLB salary range.
I am very a very happy Ethieraholic today. I just wish it wouldn’t have taken so long. Now, please get Manny signed and ST and the season will be very exciting.
Thanks Tru!!
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This is from the end of the last thread…
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Good evening ITD’ers!
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I hope everyone is well.
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Dishguy if I haven’t said welcome,… Welcome!
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There was some pretty good conversation going back & forth the other day regarding the McCourts and both sides of the “aisle” so to speak made good points.
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I’ve been a McCourt supporter and given them a chance. In the last few months though I have been increasingly on the negative side. Not because they won’t spend $$$ on Free Agents (Because I don’t want them to spend bucks on a bunch of PVL’ers). But because they say things like; the economy is tough and so to spend $$$ on Free Agents (Who aren’t really Free!) isn’t a good idea with people having a tough time making it; & then buy 2 houses in Malibu for $48 million.
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Or saying they are moving the ST headquarters west so fans can get better access to the team only to jack up the prices for the seats. They are saving tons of $$$ not having players & staff fly to/from Florida.
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It’s things like that that annoy me. They bought the team. They own it. If I buy a car, I own it. So I don’t want people telling me what to do. But if I don’t get new tires when they go bald and my passengers get upset at me for not maintaining my car I guess they have that right. But they also have the right not to ride with me. That’s probably not a good analogy but I hope the point is understood.
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That is a couple of reasons why many here are tired of them.
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Now I do feel that having ST in Arizona is a win/win situation for the players, organization, and fans.
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The players, coaches, and staff will be improved because they will spend less time traveling and more time on the field or training or working on improving their skills. Remember Kent got injured last year in ST and it worsened during a bus ride to an away game. This should also benefit us fans because hopefully the team will be better rested when the season starts and play better during the year.
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I went to Vero last year and loved it. It was the only time I’ve gone and did it last year because there would never be another chance to.
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But I’ve been to ST in Arizona about 5-6 times in the past and it is awesome. There are many teams in the area & the drives are short to away teams so you can go to games every day. Now I stayed in Scottsdale because the friends I went with were Giants fans and a friend of ours works in their front office. So we played in Scottsdale for most of the time. But we would go out and see many players, coaches, staff, and whatnot at dinner, shopping, dessert, all over. Not just Giants but from all the teams in the area. It was fun. Most everyone that is down there is there for ST & it made it an extremely fun & relaxing atmosphere.
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I think in time McCourt Ranch will become a tradition & our kids will look back on the place the way many of us look back at Vero.
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Now I also look at the McCourts and feel that yes they do like the limelight for their good deeds, but as I looked at the photos on the website it is nice to see them making a difference in the community with their ownership. I can take them posing for photos as long as they are making a difference in people’s lives. I also feel that it is somewhat genuine.
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I don’t think all rich owners do that. While Mark Cuban & the Maloof’s are given praise for what they do with their teams, I don’t see them doing much charity work. I could be mistaken but I see them doing tons of playing as well.
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Once again I went a little long but…
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I’m pumped as one of the Ethieraholics to have Dre officially in the fold. I do wish they could of done it sooner and for a longer term deal. But I’m glad they got it done and can focus on playing ball!
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Go Blue!!!
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Bring the Ring in 2009!!!
Josh – Thank you for that wonderful news about Andre.
CONGRATULATIONS ANDRE!!!!!!!!
I was on my way home from Southern California back up to the Central Valley and heard about it, but couldn’t post on ITD until now.
I haven’t read the previous thread, but I here enchanted is back to being enchanted for a while. Thank goodness. I don’t have to keep thinking of ways to use the word enchanted anymore.
joepierre – it’s great to see you.
dcollins ~ great post!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Commish doesn’t want steroids blame
February 17, 2009, 4:49 PM ET
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3912702
[well, want in one hand, ____ in the other, see which fills up first…- me]
In the volatile wake of Alex Rodriguez’s admission that he used performance-enhancing substances earlier this decade, Bud Selig remains bothered by the suggestion that he is to blame for Major League Baseball’s steroids era.
“I don’t want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn’t care about it,” Selig told Newsday in a Monday phone interview. “That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I’m sensitive to the criticism.”
[lots of people are sensitive to being criticized, ESPECIALLY when the criticism is valid. – me]
Rodriguez’s admission, which came last week in an interview with ESPN, has been an overwhelming undercurrent to the start of spring training. Three days after the New York Yankees’ star third baseman said he was “sorry and deeply regretful,” Selig said Rodriguez shamed the game and “will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation.”
[better hope that boat has room for two. – me]
Well, you can read the rest for yourself, but DAMN!!! I needed a good laugh today!
Where’s Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford in the Tom Clancy movies) when you need him?
“HOW DARE YOU COME IN HERE AND BARK AT ME LIKE SOME JUNKYARD DOG, I’M THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL!!!”
How dare you, sir.
Good evening ITD
How did I miss Facebook??? Thanks everyone. This should be fun. Thank you Trublu.
nsblues ~ all this happened during Selig’s watch, so how can he not be blamed.
Thanks Tru!
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Also in regards to the prices of tickets being high at “The Ranch” or “McRanch” being able to see the away games one could probably get a seat behind home for less on the road games. Except for the Giants games. Those & Cubbies sell out early.
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So my suggestion would be if you can’t afford the $90.00 ones sit in the less expensive at the home games and get the better ones on the road and you won’t be disappointed. I know if I lived in the LA/OC/SD areas I would be road trippin!!
heartruss ~ I don’t know why you waited so long. Now we have to get CP to do it. 🙂
Trublue, Selig must really think everyone’s morons if he expects us to believe that tripe. He can run home and cry to his $18 million a year salary
nsblues ~ everyone was saying that Selig knew what was going on way before he tried to do anything about it. GMs had told him as well as some managers and even some players.
Everyone won with this steriods era, except the fans. Although we did all love the long ball.
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My guess is some of the players won’t be winning from this era in 10 or so years when they really break down due to their usage & being shut out of the Hall.
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The whole thing is just really sad.
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You can sort of say, as I think someone mentioned here the other day, it mirrors where our society is now with the collapse of the economy due in many reasons to greed.
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It was all good when things were good… but now it’s all bad & what were we all thinking???
He’s the one who’s shamed the game. And he was the guy minding the store. If he didn’t know what was going on in the game, then what is he doing running the sport?
It’s his job to know.
nsblues ~ you are right. And, as dcollins stated, everyone was caught up in the long ball and the Sosa, Mark and Barry stuff that we didn’t care. You wonder, though, they just keep talking about the hitters but what about the roided pitchers? There had to be more than Roger, Gagne, and our own Mota.
It sure is his job to know. Any other CEO who does that with his company would be out on his a**.
Baseball has anti-trust protection, though. They regulate themselves, and no one outside can touch them… unless the government revokes it. And this steroid era might just do that trick.
Shame
Maybe he will have to resign in shame. Yea, sure he will!
I think if the economy doesnt improve he will wish he had resigned.
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I would think with all the money invested in new stadiums, big contracts, luxury boxes, lack of sponsorships, something has to give?
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dcollins is right when things are good, life is a dream……
Everybody’s dreams are changing.
GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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GO MLB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“He’s suffering. The game is suffering. The Yankees are suffering.” _Cashman on A-rod
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1. There are kids right now all over the world who are starving to death, tonight.. The money he made just today, lying again to all of us, could have fed 100’s of them for years. A-rod making 250 Million dollars is not suffering.
2. Baseball made more money than ever last year. That’s not suffering.
3. Yes the Yankees are suffering as they just spent another 380 million this offseason.
Very well put jungar 🙂
Yankee fans suffer every day they can’t call themselves World Champions.
[/tear]
With apologies to the Godfather…
This is Manny’s world, this is Manny’s world,
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a Martin or Furcal.
You see, Manny crushed the ball to take us to playoff road.
Manny put his arm ‘round the kids so he could carry the heavy load.
Manny made electric moments to keep highlights out of the dark.
Manny made the fun for the Ravine, like no one ever seen.
This is Manny’s, Manny’s, Manny’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a Loney or Kershaw.
Manny thinks about Dodger girls and Dodger boys.
Manny makes then happy ’cause Manny kills the ball.
And after Manny has done everything, everything he can,
You know that Manny wants money but Frank don’t want to spend.
This is Manny’s world,
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without an Ethier or a Kemp.
But Manny’s lost in the wilderness.
He’s lost in bitterness.
Awesome Song Kahli!!!!!
some late evening reading material
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/dailypitch/2009-02-17-dailypitch18_N.htm
Have you seen these “Inside Dodgertown Videos”
http://insidedodgertown.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/02/inside_dodgertown_21709.html
Hey Nelly, whats going on great videos. I wonder what the place will be like if and when Manny arrives?
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GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!
Hey Dodger4life!!! Life is good today…….cold compared to where I was I guess. We managed to avoid all the bad weather including snow on the Grapevine until we got to Fresno. Then rained the rest of the day. The Grapevine did look pretty awesome with all that snow. How was your day? They just announced Andre’s arbitration news on our Fresno news. It’s good to hear it actually said. According to the video on “inside dodgertown” Andre seemed like he was in really good spirits and just ready to go out and play some baseball. All good to hear.
Hi Nellyjune
I was just watching those videos on the Dodgers website. Makes me want to be there. Sounds like you had an interesting time driving back.
Yes, LIFE IS GOOD TODAY, it’s a good day to part of the blue, as alway’s. Boy the Dodgers are really getting thier product out in the publics eye with all the new blogs. I am glad to see Andre and his family make progress in the financial aspect of the game. I’m sure all the Dodgers will do thier best to Bring the Ring. When manny arrives the place should be jumpin I would suspect.
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GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I am glad you arrived safely from your trip 🙂
Good Evening heartruss!! It was a great ride back. We had a good drive,weather wise, until the rain in Fresno, but the music, food and conversation was great so it made the trip go pretty fast.
Thank you Dodger4life:)
That was a pretty good pay increase for Andre. I think mine was 2.5% and I felt lucky!! How long was your drive Nellyjune?
Where is Dodgereric by the way?? And how are you Dodger4life? Having a nice evening?
Our drive was about 6 hours and 45 minutes from La Quinta (Palm Springs area) with a stop for lunch a little over halfway. We had no traffic other than a little slow down on the 10 going towards the 57.
I had a wonderful evening just relaxing and enjoying friends and music. I hope you are enjoying yourself heartruss. I cant wait for some baseball 🙂
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Good night ITD, Nelly and you too Heartruss. I am getting a little bit sleepy. It is sure nice to see all the players throwing the ball around again, It wont be long now.
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COME BACK MANNY!!!!!
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LETS MAKE A DEAL!!!!!!
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GOD BLESS THE U.S.A. AND MAY GOD BLESS US ALL!!!!
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GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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HAVE A GREAT DAY TOMMORROW EVERYONE 🙂
Good Night Dodger4life!!! Always a pleasure to be in your company. Take Care and God Bless to you and yours. Life is good today 🙂 GO DODGERS!!!!!!
heartruss – not sure where dodgereric is, but I am sure he is probably working on something.
This sucks. I want to be optimistic but I don’t think even with Manny we have good enough pitching.
Right on cue ……….. sure enough, I just finished sending out Week 1 Results in my NASCAR fantasy league. Star Wars Day pushed it back a day and now the Scout work has been pushed back as well. I’ll get it done tomorrow.
Great song, kahli! We’re edging towards 500 songs with you taking #479!
jungar ~ Are you going to go Juan Pierre on us again? – LOL!!!!!!! Like enchanted said this morning, on paper it sure doesn’t look impressive. I guess this is a wait and see game of 1) who’s really healthy and 2) Are the acquisitions going to pay off for us like CHP did?
Good Evening Ward Dear/dodgereric!!! For NASCAR, I ended up spliting. My second team with Kyle Busch as my #1 driver actually won. BTW – about your question at lunch time. I can probably ask you the same question, but yes, Matt is doing just great!!! What specifically would you like to know – LOL!!!!!!!!
The kids are going to have to rise up, jungar.
Evening, June Darlin’! I’m afraid this will be a short session for me, I’m kind of wiped out for some reason. I think an extra hour or two of sleep might do me some good.
Your second team might be pretty good if you’re winning without decent points from Shrub. But that was a weird race for sure. It ended way too early, they don’t even stop racing there until they get down to the last 25 laps.
We might go into March before finding out if it’s 9 or 99 in LF.
Yep, getting tired. “they don’t even START racing there……”
Good night, Dodger Blue faithful! With or without Manny, it’s going to be a fun ride! God Bless you one and all!
Well, it is already is 12:35 am. I am ready for bed too really. Just paying some attention to my pets who haven’t seen me for 5 days now. Good Night, get some well deserved rest, and God Bless to you and your family.
Good morning ITDland ~ Andre is signed and now, since his locker is waiting for him, sign Manny, and let’s get on with the season.
Good Morning ITD readers and writers!!!!
7 Days and 3 hours until our first Spring Training game. All position players show up today with full practice starting tomorrow.
GO DODGERS!!!!
~DODGER BLUE THRU AND THRU~
Good Morning ITD, Dodgerfaithful
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I hope everyones day is off to a great start.
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I have just finished reading wikipedia on the subject of Vin Scully. In the wake of all the negativity surrounding the game today. This was and always will be a positive asset to baseball. It has jumpstarted my morning, Thanks again Mr. Scully.
Good morning ITD! Is a beautiful sunny day here in Chatsworth. yesterday the trains were only going to Chatsworth and the ones coming up north only to before Simi Valley. When we asked the conductor why he said “a suicidal rock” ” he left a note on the side of the road saying “I had a hard life”. He is always making us laugh. They were rock slides between Chats & Simi.
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Heart ~ yes, you are lucky with your 2% increase. Last week we were told that a freeze a increases were put into effect. I have family and friends that have been laid off so I feel lucky to have a job.
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I know jungar has some concerns about pitching, as do I and I imagine just about everyone else. Pitching’s a crap shoot year-to-year even with the same guys from one to the next, let alone with the turnover we’ve had this offseason.
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Two things this team lacks that we had last year going into the season: 1. an ace 2. a bonafide closer.
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Well we all know what happened to Penny. Lowe stepped it up a bit, but still is a #2 type man. Billz started to come into his own. Kuroda was so-so. And Bloaiza…
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Now we’ve got Billz, Kuroda, Kersh, Wolf and maybe Schmidt. If Billz stays the same, we’re OK there. Kuroda I think will be a little bit more of the pitcher we saw in the playoffs rather than what we saw a lot of the season. Wolf’s going to eat up some of Lowe’s innings, but probably not be as effective. Kersh has most of a years experience behind him and should naturally progress. How much will determine how much we’ll truely miss Lowe. The 5 spot was pretty much a oleo of who do we throw out there today?, but Schmidt/Vargas has got to be an upgrade over Loaiza. And lets face it, Maddux wasn’t all that effective in his starts last year either. On paper this years starters look inferior to last, but the reality in hindsight is that they should be a little better overall.
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Last year we had a somewhat shaky Saito closing. For some reason his confidence level wasn’t the same and he was close to blowing 1 out of 5 save opportunities. Brox shows 8 blown saves, but most all of those were as the set-up man. When he became the closer, he was 14 of 17 or the same pct. as Saito. Both Wade and Kuo became set-up men to him late in the season, so no change there. Mota and Proctor are equals. Beimel let an awful lot of inherited runners score last year, so Elbert/Stults/Milton may not be any different as the situational lefty. Park had an exceptional comeback year. It was when Idiot Joe put him in short relief that he started giving up runs. His spot to me may be the hardest to fill out of Vargas/Weaver/Estes.
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Where we’re going to have trouble matching up are against other teams true aces: Webb/Haren, Lincecum/Cain, Peavy.
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This team’s also going to have to score more to take some of that pressure off the staff and not put it in the position of giving up 3 runs and having it be insurmountable.
enchanted ~ I agree with you on the pitching situation. I do think we will be okay if we score runs and I’m always hopeful that we catch the Giants and Dbacks pitchers on an off day LOL
Good Morning enchanted!!! Boy, it’s good to write your real name. Let’s hope the management helps keep it that way. All great points as always. Let’s hope we have some fun surprises in pitching this season. I am sure they would love to prove most of us wrong, and I would gladly allow them to.
some lunchtime reading..
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgerthoughts/2009/02/lets-not-play-t.html
more reading…….
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/02/dodgers-wednesd.html
Interesting DeWitt wasn’t in the “core” meeting.
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Still don’t get the Orlando Hudson thing.
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Wish this was 2010.
LMAO!!!!!
If they are still looking at Hudson, DeWitt may, unfortunately, be on his way out.
yea, enchanted, I am not sure about the whole Hudson thing either, but you made an interesting observation about DeWitt. I didn’t see that. My laughing had to do with your last statement. There was nothing I could add to that statement.
Actually, I should be wishing this was 2011.
You’re too damned old to be wishing away years of your life …….
LMAO!!!!
Some of the things our Dodgers are doing off the field in Arizona
Students raised more than $14,000 with a silent auction. Los Angeles Dodgers baseball players, including Russell Martin, Chad Billingsley and Andre Ethier were available to sign autographs for $5, with all proceeds donated to the school.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2009/02/18/20090218sev-cross0218.html
unknowndodgerfan – I don’t know about you, but I could wish away a couple of years…..(jk) I know, I know……..that is very true….no wishing away years. We will just hope that the team will be able to manage itself this year. So, who is going to be the designated person to wake up Joe during the games this season? LOL!!!!
We could assign that job to JP………oh, wait, he’d have to leave his spot at the other end of the dugout.
…I don’t think a Garden Gnome will be much help in that situation. It’s not exactly lively itself……It just kind of sits there, kind of like Joe.. LOL!!!!
A perfect pair lol
Josh, thanks for all the updates. Please keep them coming. And thanks for the Maury Wills mention. Wills is one of my all time L.A. Dodger favorites and I have had the opportunity to tell him so. I am fortunate (and old enough) to have seen him play and he did change the game. He never hit for a real high average, did not have a lot of power and he did not have as much speed as one might expect but he was a smart player and used his skills to get on base and make things uncomfortable for the opposing pitcher. I can still hear those “go, go, go” chants. He also worked hard at defense. I would sure like to see him in the Hall of Fame but it will never happen.
Got that right Tru – a lawn ornament and an old turrd right beside it.
I must say I found the exchange between Bowa and Brad Penny refreshing and highly entertaining. How often do we see a coach or player really say anything meaningful? Makes you wonder if Bowa ever said such things to Penny’s face.
It seems to me that Penny was not a team player. When he was on DL, I never saw him at the games, especially during the playoffs. Apparently he packed up his stuff, emptied out his locker and left. Every home game however, I saw Jason Schmidt out in the field warming up with everyone else. I also saw Raffy quite often. And rumor has it according to some of the staff , Penny stole the original Dodger good luck gnome thinking it was the gnome that caused his horrible pitching! Haha.
I will truly miss D Lowe. I think that he should not be blamed for the lack of run support when he pitched. I seriously wonder how we will do with such a weak bullpen. Cory Wade is hurt already as is Sturze. We don’t know how Jeff Weaver will do or Mota. We have MacDonald, Kershaw, Kuroda, Wolf and ??? Why not go out and get Beimel? The Dodgers had a great bullpen but now…??
I don’t think Bowa would have much of a problem saying ANYTHING to a persons face birk! lol
Sturtze’s a total non-factor heart – no worries there. Wade on the other hand could be a problem.
I was at the first game Penny pitched for the Dodgers after the trade. He looked great and I was excited the Dodgers finally had a pitcher who not only threw hard but threw strikes. Unfortunately, he suffered the arm nerve damage his next time out. I don’t recall him being so big when he first came to the Dodgers. I agree that D. Lowe will be sorely missed but there was talk a few years he might not be back when his contract expired. I can’t help but think the lack of run support had something to do with him wanting to leave although one of the things we heard from time to time was his desire to play on the East coast. Hopefully Wolf and Schmidt will step up and have productive seasons but the odds are certainly not in their favor.
I never thought Sturtze was a factor. It was a comment pretty much on our bullpen. Maybe Beimel will be back. 🙂 I had my favorites.
Still have McDonald and Troncoso who could take Wade’s spot if they had to. Beimel and Reyes are still out there if needed also. I’m just wondering if McDonald will become Brox’s main set-up man. I know they brought in Mota, but I see him as a Scott Proctor use him only if you have to/mop- up kinda guy.
Of course they’re actually going to have to have a lead to set-up Brox. That parts iffy.
I read today that the Phillies were interested in Beimel, Ohman and Dennys Reyes. apparently they need a lefty. However, they won’t offer more than $750,000 to $1M range.
The pitching will sort itself out. It’s only February. Just because a columnist or two think the Dodhers have weak pitching doesn’t make it so. If they knew what they were talking about they’d be coaches or scouts, not fat writers. A lot of young Dodger pitchers are a year older and a year wiser…and they have playoff experience now…as well as playoff success. I still like Schmidt. A year ago everyone was grousing over Chan Ho’s signing…and I’ll bet the same people now think we lost a vital cog. Between Estes, Vargas and Weaver, someone will emerge twice the pitcher Chan Ho was /is. Have faith, ITD!!! Just like I’ve been told not to check the Dow every day, I also don’t check the columnists. Unless one cares for whining drivel…
…and we also don’t know what other teams will run into injuries to pitchers. For example, eventhough the Giants seem to have a solid rotation, it doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Cain didn’t have a great year last year. He was a lot like Lowe, meaning he always seemed to pitch in games with little or no run support. Zito is always a big question mark, and nobody will know how Johnson will fair in SF either. Also, one SP on the DL can make a difference in this division as well, and that goes for all the teams in this division,not just the Dodgers. I think we just have to wait and see how this all shakes out in the opening months.
I think you are right about the pitching, Kahli & Nellyjune. I’m not that concerned because I think our staff will get the job done and, our hitters will give them enough runs, so they won’t be stressed out.
And, for the most part, pitching is a crap-shoot, you never know who is going to be on or a little off of his game on any given day.
Ken Griffey Jr. is headed back to Seattle after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Mariners.
I think we will have pretty a pretty solid defense this year which should help the pitcher a lot.
Wouldn’t it be a great story if Jeff Weaver comes through with a “Chan Ho” type year or Schmidt finally earn his pay? You guys are right, it could happen.
Sorry, and you gals as well. Have a great evening.
…you too lbirken 🙂
lbirken ~ How’s it going? Thinks are finally shaping up pretty good for the Dodger fans. I think Manny will be signed shortly and then we will be ready to win it all!
the answer to the Hudson issue…..
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090218&content_id=3846228&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
Colletti said a pursuit of Hudson was not a reflection on Blake DeWitt, the assumed replacement for Jeff Kent at second base. If the Dodgers sign Hudson and not Ramirez, DeWitt could move to third base and Casey Blake to left field.
I’d rather have Manny with DeWitt at second and Blake at third.
Torre saying he won’t manage beyond 2010 could work as a shot across the bow to Manny and Scotty: ie. sign for two years at ungodly jack, hope the economy rebounds (which it either will or we’ll all be speaking Chinese), and then ride off to the American League sunset as a handsomely-paid DH in pinstripes…while Joe retires to wherever he lives and pens his next book, “The Juan Pierre Years.”
Very good point, Kahli.
Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!!! 6 days and 16 hours until the first Spring Training will take place.
some evening reading….
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/sports/baseball/19dodgers.html?ref=sports
Manny… you there???
If Manny is not there
We are stuck with Pierre
“I’m big on inventory,” said Colletti. “You never have enough good players.”
—
“That’s because you don’t sign or trade for any”, said Ungar
—–
Signed Sandy Alomar as a free agent.
Traded for Andre Ethier.
Signed Bill Mueller as a free agent.
Signed Rafael Furcal as a free agent.
Signed Nomar Garciaparra as a free agent.
Signed Kenny Lofton as a free agent.
Signed Chris Truby as a free agent.
Signed Brett Tomko as a free agent.
Traded for Jae Weong Seo and Tim Hamulack.
Signed Kelly Wunsch as a free agent.
Traded for Danys Baez and Lance Carter.
Signed Aaron Sele as a free agent.
Signed Joe Beimel as a free agent.
Signed Jeff Duncan as a free agent.
Signed Ramon Martinez as a free agent
Signed Pat Borders as a free agent.
Signed Kurt Ainsworth as a free agent.
Signed Brian Meadows as a free agent.
Signed Takashi Saito as a free agent.
Signed Craig Brazell as a free agent.
Traded for Wilson Valdez.
Traded Cody Ross for Ben Kozlowski
Signed Giovanni Carrara as a free agent.
Signed Adam Greenberg as a free agent.
Traded Dioner Navarro, and Jae Weong Seo for Toby Hall, Mark Hendrickson
Traded for Elmer Dessens.
Traded Danys Baez, Willy Aybar, for Wilson Betemit.
Traded Cesar Izturis to the Chicago Cubs. Received Greg Maddux.
Traded Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza (minors) to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Julio Lugo.
Traded Jhonny Nunez for Marlon Anderson.
Signed Ramon Martinez as a free agent.
Signed Ken Huckaby as a free agent.
Signed Sandy Martinez as a free agent.
Signed Nomar Garciaparra as a free agent.
Signed Travis Smith as a free agent.
Signed Juan Pierre as a free agent.
Signed Matt White as a free agent.
Signed Randy Wolf as a free agent.
Signed Mike Lieberthal as a free agent.
Signed Jason Schmidt as a free agent.
Signed Luis Gonzalez as a free agent.
Jayson Werth granted Free Agency.
Signed Rudy Seanez as a free agent.
Signed Chin-hui Tsao as a free agent.
Signed Luis Maza as a free agent.
Signed Fernando Tatis as a free agent.
Signed Choo Freeman as a free agent.
Signed Kelly Stinnett as a free agent.
Signed Matt Riley as a free agent.
Traded Elmer Dessens for Brady Clark
Signed Ben Davis as a free agent.
Signed Rick Bauer as a free agent.
Signed Roberto Hernandez as a free agent.
Released Marlon Anderson.
Traded Wilson Betemit for Scott Proctor.
Traded Travis Denker for Mark Sweeney.
Signed Shea Hillenbrand as a free agent.
Purchased Chad Moeller from the Cincinnati Reds.
Signed David Wells as a free agent
Selected Esteban Loaiza off waivers .
Signed Rene Rivera as a free agent.
Signed Terry Tiffee as a free agent.
Signed Chan Ho Park as a free agent.
Signed Danny Ardoin as a free agent.
Signed Angel Chavez as a free agent.
Signed Brian Falkenborg as a free agent.
Signed John-Ford Griffin as a free agent.
Signed Andruw Jones as a free agent.
Signed Greg Jones as a free agent.
Signed Mike Koplove as a free agent.
Signed Brian Shackelford as a free agent.
Signed Tanyon Sturtze as a free agent.
Signed Hiroki Kuroda as a free agent.
Signed Gary Bennett as a free agent.
Signed George Lombard as a free agent.
Signed Matt Riley as a free agent.
Signed Alfredo Simon as a free agent.
Signed Tom Martin as a free agent.
Signed Mike Myers as a free agent.
Signed Ramon Martinez as a free agent.
Signed Rudy Seanez as a free agent.
Signed Jason Johnson as a free agent.
Signed Luis Maza as a free agent.
Signed Mark Sweeney as a free agent.
Traded Juan Rivera for Angel Berroa.
Signed Pablo Ozuna as a free agent.
Traded Jonathan Meloan and Carlos Santana (minors) for Casey Blake
traded Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris (minors) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Manny Ramirez
THAT is some inventory list jungar. Do you know anything about Meloan, Santana and Morris…..what their status is for this year on their respective teams?
Colletti said a pursuit of Hudson was not a reflection on Blake DeWitt, the assumed replacement for Jeff Kent at second base. If the Dodgers sign Hudson and not Ramirez, DeWitt could move to third base and Casey Blake to left field.
—
Juan Pierre can’t catch a break!
……like you care – LOL!!!
Good evening ITD boys and girls!
Yeah!!! Frank and Ned came to their senses and signed Andre before having to go into the hearing. I still don’t know why it took this long, but I’m just thrilled that it was done!!! Andre – You most very much deserve this raise!!!
Are we still talking about acquiring Hudson??? I said it before and I’ll say it again, but why now??? The time to go for Hudson is before we signed Casey Blake. I know others on ITD have said to sign Hudson to play 2B, move DeWitt to 3B and move Blake to LF. Again, I guess that can happen. It’ll still leave JP out in the cold. I’m not crying any tears that JP won’t get his playing time. I still don’t think we’ll be able to trade JP. We’ll see what happens.
I know it’s been a LONG time since I’ve been on here for any great length of time. I mean other times that I had the time and was trying to sign onto ITD, I couldn’t. Bummer. So how are my ITD friends???
Hey CP!!!! It has been along time!!! How are you doing? It is a huge relief to see Andre signed and ready to go. I can’t wait to see this young core this season. Manny or not, they are going to have a fantastic season. I can feel it!!!!
My Nellygirl!!!
Yes, I’m with you 100%!!! Our Young Guns are going to have a fantastic season!!! I’m doing fine. My shoulder is still there and is bothersome, but right now, I don’t care. Andre got a great raise and most importantly, both sides avoided arbitration!!! I’m still unemployed, but still looking. Not much has happened. Like I said before, at times I’ve been trying to sign on but couldn’t. Other times, I could only stay on for a very short time. You were somewhere last week, wasn’t it? I think it had something to do with Dodgereric, huh?
….yes, my daughter and I went down to Matt’s (Eric’s son) Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony. It was wonderful, Eric and Chris were fabulous as always, and Matt is just like Eric describes, a very impressive human being for only being 16 🙂 – lol!! After we left Temecula, we went to the Palm Springs area (LaQuinta) to visit my brother and his family, including my two nephews (7 and 9). My older nephew had a baseball tournament on Sunday, and then like everyone else on Monday, the weather was nasty so we stayed in and watched movies most of the day. Then, we came home on Tuesday. It was a fun mother/daughter adventure to say the least.
http://www.rotowire.com/roto_to_gnews.htm?ID=276412&sport=mlb
I know I haven’t said it, but I am sure thinking it. Why are we not giving long term deals to our young players? I am sure I am missing something, but both Andre and Russell got one year deals, where McClouth (27) just signed a 3 year 15.3 million dollar deal. He was signed after seeing how Andre’s settlement went.
Nelly – Sounds like you and your daughter had a great time! I drove down to LA Monday afternoon. My mom had an ophthalmologist appointment Tuesday morning, so I just slept over Monday night. After her appointment at Kaiser in Woodland Hills, I took her out to lunch at Soup’s Sports Grill (this is Jeff Suppan’s new restaurant). We met Jeff’s sister-in-law. It was great! Then we saw some neighbors from our old neighborhood (where I grew up – of course, the same block of the same street that Jeff grew up on!) Then we went to Valley College in Van Nuys where my mom worked for 30 years. Then I took her home, she took me out to dinner then I headed back to Ventura. A lot of driving, but it was great just to spend time with my mom.
So how’s school???
That sounds like a fun day too 🙂
School is going good. I have this entire week off so I am spending it cleaning so I won’t have to do much during Spring Break. My son has a baseball tournament in Anaheim during that week. Back to my class…..they are doing as good as can be expected I guess. They are adorable, but they are a challenge at the same time. I figure I have them for a reason, and I just take it one day at a time, and try not to stress over the little stuff so much this year. In all likelihood, it may be my last year at this particular school if our board can’t keep class-size reduction intact. I will get displaced into a different school and grade level. However, that’s not all bad either, I think 🙂
Hi Cpompe1 and Nellyjune.
I’m sorry to hear that Nelly. Do you have any idea as to what school or where it is? I mean, you wouldn’t be moving outside that school district, would you?
Cpolmpe1, go on facebook, that way you can keep in contact easier since it is a little difficult to get onto ITD lately. ITD has its own facebook page. Nellyjune, could you give her the link? By the way, did you look at the new ST video? It is so funny with DY and Russell.
Hey heartruss!!! How are ya girl???
Okay heartruss, now I’m going to be getting a facebook “sell job” from you??? j/k. I mean, my difficulties signing onto ITD aren’t just the MLB server, but sometimes I just can’t find the time to spend any kind of time to spend at the computer – whether I’m reading dodger.com, ITD, or whatever. But I’ll tell you what I told Nelly before – I’ll think about it… 🙂
Great!!! I was worried about you.. your shoulder is still a problem??
Actually, ramslover asked who was on FB from ITD the other night so that is how the topic got brought back up again. It wasn’t me 🙂
I was a holdout for a while but I signed up two days ago. It is fun and you can see what everyone looks like. So far there are 8 of us on the ITD page. I am having fun talking to trublu, Nellyjune, Dodger4life. I’ve posted a lot of pictures. Very easy.
Sorry heartruss, I didn’t mean to worry you. I appreciate the concern though. My shoulder, well, it’s just there. It certainly doesn’t hurt the way it did a few months ago, but it’s not 100% ethier. I’m being diligent about doing my shoulder exercises, but again my shoulder doesn’t feel 100%. It just takes time.
Again girls, I will think about FB!!!
and I happened to be reading the posts and idly clicked on the link and bingo, there I was. It is a lot of fun. Put it on your favorites so it’s easy just to get on and get off. My blackberry goes off when someone posts on my facebook. Lately I’ve been on my laptop more because I started a couple of blogs. The link is on my facebook page. 🙂 I’m glad I caught you on ITD, Cpompe1
I pretty much have just put Dodger business on my facebook which is all I plan to do. I know Facebook has gotten some bad press lately but they only know what you post.
Nellyjune, how did your day go? I know you were doing some cleaning. Did you have any fun?
CPompe1, it sounded like a lovely day with your Mom. Do you know Jeff Suppan?
…..I never have fun cleaning. I am not a very good housekeeper. Cooking and baking – in a heartbeat. However, cleaning – not enjoyable to me at all.
6 days and 12 hours and 48 minutes until the Dodgers first Spring Training game.
Yaaay. Ten days until I will be in Arizona to see a couple of games. I changed my reservations to the Comfort Suites which is the closest to the ballpark. It was more expensive but I cashed in two free nights so it came out to be the same as the other reservation. Plus they provide free shuttle service within 7 miles of the hotel. I can’t wait!
It will be a lot of fun I am sure. I can’t wait for you to go too, so you can bring back a report on how it was.
I will post pictures on facebook.
Heartruss – I wish I could say that I know Jeff Suppan. I don’t. But because he and I grew up on the same block of the same street, he and his family are good friends with our longtime neighbors from across the street. They know the Suppans very well. We’ve heard so much when little Jeff was growing up. But since Jeff is 14 years younger than me, I never knew him growing up. I’m sure I’ve seen him and his family, but no, I don’t know them personally. I WOULD like to rectify that situation though. Hey, maybe the he can follow Randy Wolf’s path to come back and pitch for his boyhood idols – our Boys in Blue!!!
Nelly, I don’t like to clean ethier. (Did we ever say we are a lot alike???) I clean because I have to, but I still don’t like doing it. Well, I was online applying for a job. I’m done now. I’m getting kinda tired. I’ll catch up with y’all later. I will just make sure I don’t stay away for very long…
sounds good 🙂
Good Night CP!!! Good, someone else who doesn’t like to clean. I think it was bluecrewgirl who said she rather clean than cook. I really wish I liked it more. I think part of it is I feel like I clean all day long in the classroom to an extent. I do have a pretty good system to get the students to clean too, but it’s still part of my life at school too because I do help them. Take Care and God Bless CP!!!
Good night Cpompe1. Take care.
heartruss – I wish I could go to spring training, but we, as a family,are going to Anaheim for Spring Break so we have to save money for that, especially if we want to see a Dodger/Giants game while we are there.
Good Night ITD readers and writers!!!! Take care and God Bless to all of you 🙂
GO DODGERS!!!!!
Good morning ITDland ~ Please, please sign Manny. Let’s get on with the show!
I see Nelly posted by the Hudson situation but I see no one posted this.
Its going to be interesting if they sign Hudson AND Manny. Not that it wouldn’t instantly strengthen the everyday line-up, but it would make Blake’s signing for 3 years rather curious to say the least. I think DeWitt showed he can handle both 2B and 3B, and he has nothing to prove as a mere back-up. It blocks him at 3rd for three years and at 2nd for whatever term they’d sign Hudson.
IMO, it either leaves DeWitt totally tradeable, signals they don’t expect to sign Manny, or Ned’s finally getting [swallows hard… twice] smart and coming up with a viable contingency plan if Manny holds out into the season or signs somewhere else. It also belies that Pierre would be the starting LFer (breathes huge sigh of relief.)
An infield of DeWitt/Furcal/Hudson/Loney would probably be the best fielding in the league and would make our pitchers 2-3 hits a game better just with their range alone. Kent’s cement shoes cost at least 1 hit per game as did Nomar’s. And what Blake lacks in range in left would hopefully balance out with his arm. Still would leave us scrapping for runs though unless MELK stepped it up a notch or two.
Could be an interesting season.
Orlando Hudson: Dodgers in Mix?
RotoWire.com Staff – RotoWire.com
15 hours, 22 minutes ago
Recommendation: GM Ned Colletti confirmed that talks have taken place. Should Hudson sign and the Dodgers not re-sign Manny Ramirez, the club could move Casey Blake to left field and use Blake DeWitt at third base, though both Hudson and Ramirez could sign and push DeWitt to a backup role or Triple-A.
I don’t think I want Hudson now.
Damn Maddux why you have to be the Padres ST instructor and not our team instructor?
I hate to say this too, but Ned’s done a [yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk] good job of culling out the malcontents on the team.
Of course, many of the malcontents were his doing in the first place…
(Ah, that feels better.)
One more malcontent to go!
Good Morning ITD readers and writers!!!!
6 Days and about 5 hours until the Dodgers first Spring Training game.
enchanted – always great to wake up and read what your thoughts are. It does seem like JP is out of a starting job either way (with Manny and/or Orlando being signed), doesn’t it? However, I think he is digging his own grave this time by admitting he wants to be traded. I do hope it’s one or the other though, but you made the observation yesterday that DeWitt wasn’t at the meeting of the young core group yesterday, so that is still a mystery in some ways of why he wasn’t there.
Good Morning trublu!!!!!
Good morning Nellyjune & Enchanted ~ I’m very concerned that DeWitt wasn’t at the meeting. You watch, he will be gone and the Garden Gnome will still be with us. Boo-hoo.
DY, Kuo, Kersh and Wade weren’t at the meeting either so I wouldn’t read much into it. It just seemed a little odd to me that DeWitt wasn’t there because he’d been a regular much of the year.
I’m OK keeping DeWitt, but I’m also OK with trading him if it brings us something of equal or greater value in another area. Not necessarily right away, but after spring and into the year if it looks like we’re in need of something. Other than Lambo and Kersh, he’s probably the most valuable trade commodity we have. That is of course if we have Hudson and Manny onboard. Otherwise I’m perfectly content with him at second or third.
Yes Tru, one more malcontent to go!!
Why do I have to go?
New tread!
Oops, new thread!!!