The Mailman of Dodgertown…
As you recall, I dubbed Andre the Mailman of Dodgertown after he delivered back-to-back walk-off hits earlier this month, one of which came on the day that we had the post office out here for our 90090 announcement. Well, he added another one two nights ago and now, he’s up for MLB’s Clutch Player of the Month for June so all you Ethierholics, get on it. You can vote for him at pepsiclutch.mlb.com.
And in case any of you Ethierholics also happen to be yogaholics, you have a chance to do yoga with Andre and his yogi (not sure if I used that term correctly) as part of the WIN program. It’s Saturday, July 18 and all details can be found here.
Lineup coming shortly…
And here it is…
Pierre, LF
Kemp, CF
Hudson, 2B
Ethier, RF
Loretta, 3B
Loney, 1B
Ausmus, C
Castro, SS
Kershaw, P
Inside the Dodgers 
Morning all! Hope you all have a wonderful day, and that we become the first to 50!! Go get ’em Kersh!
I just voted, but for some reason when I clicked on the link it added a comma and a forward slash at the end, and it wouldn’t open. If you delete the comma and slash, you will get to the site.
Don’t forget BooBoo, Cindi Bear and Ranger Smith.
My question is if the yoga instructor is smarter than the average yoga instructor?
I can see what kind of afternoon we will be having on ITD! LOL
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Have a great game Kersh!
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A few early runs would be splendid, Dodger Blue.
Let’s see…Joe Torre…afternoon game…
possible lineup:
Pierre LF
Hudson 2B
Loretta 1B
Blake 3B
Jones RF
Ellis C
Castro SS
Kemp CF
Kershaw P
Agreed scott! But could we get Ausmus in at 3rd, or somewhere? 🙂
I thought Kuo was done. Jul 1 LHP Hong-Chih Kuo, out since late April with a left elbow strain, began a rehab assignment Tuesday. He pitched one perfect inning for the Dodgers’ rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona League, getting a popout and two groundouts.
They already said Ausmus going to catcher and no Jones would bat 8th.
That game must’ve been early.
shad, Kemp would bat 15th if Torre could bat 16 players.
Dodgers are carrying 12 pitchers right now which somewhat limits how much Torre can screw with the everyday players…
Still a horse crap lineup when you’ve lost 5 of 7 and you are playing a division rival….poor tired millionaires need a day off…COME ON TORRE!!!
Bat Matty 16th, then he could be our 4th clean up hitter!
Obviously Joe isn’t smarter than your average bear.
Swetta batting 5th? What a freakin’ joke.
I haven’t got anything against Castro playing over Furcal, but really Joe, Loretta 5th? He slaps worse than Crappy, I mean Slappy.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-espn-franchises1-2009jul01,0,5600587.story
Shad, no surprise. Have you been to DS lately? Maybe this poll means:
Fans = Friendly or Not?
WTF is this crap?
Angels are rated most fan-friendly
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
Angels fans root for their team against the Dodgers at Angel Stadium.
Other Southland teams on an ESPN survey of the four major North American sports leagues include the Dodgers at No. 50 and the Lakers at No. 51. The Clippers are last at No. 122.
When you look at this lineup, do you get the feeling that the Giants and the Rockies field better teams? Unfortunately the lineup doesn’t improve much if you put Furcal and Martin back in. And there is really no shining prospect in the minors who can be brought up. Is Manny going to turn it around? I think everybody expects that, but what if it takes him a month, or two, or three to get back into real major league shape. It’s amazing that we have the best record in the majors when you look at this lineup, plus consider that Furcal and Martin have done diddly to help the team be where we are. Guess it must be that Torre magic, although at this point I wouldn’t mind having either Tracy or Bochy. Call me irreverent – call me whatever you want. If we can keep on winning, I’ll bear the burden, but I’d feel a lot better if we traded for some decent talent, even if it’s only for the bench, because half of this lineup wouldn’t even make in AAA.
Just play the same guys in the same slots every freaking day. Is that too much to ask?
As enchanted says, only JP doesn’t need rest? Give me a break!
Hudson is better in the 2nd hold and Kemp 3rd who care if he screw them as long as we win and Loretta batting 5th is because of the stupid l r combo which I think it overrated.
The last time was last month.
hold=hole
Wait a second Furcal is out again?
The heck with Bochy and I always like Tracy.
Joe makes millions a year and this is what he comes up with? OK, play these guys, that’s fine. But at least put them in a decent batting order.
I’ve got a question, and since I didn’t care diddly about the Yankees and still don’t, I’ve no idea the answer:
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Did Joe pull this same kind of BS with the Yankees line-ups that he does here?
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I’m guessing no, but if he did it didn’t make any difference since his whole team was practically all-stars.
I bet that he could if George didn’t overspend those players.
Cashman and Steinbrenner wouldn’t allow this, only bozo’s like Ned and Frank. The fact that Kemp loses 1 at bat per game batting freaking 8th half the time is complete stupidity.
I declare the JUNE SWOON Over! Now sitting Blake out for Loretta vs a NL WEST Rival irks me, especially with Thursday as day off. Pierre will get his Days off real soon and it is really unusual that a players with over a 300 BA is going to sat for an extended time, but that is the way it should be to gain some consistency in this batting order. Pierre should be commended and praised for the work he did during Manny’s absence! Without his performance we may not be in first place. Give him a WS ring too when we win! We should be playing (hitting) like we want to beat these ROX, we could easily be in a position of being swept, if it werent for Wolf’s 2 RBI single in game one, and How Ironic Marquie did the same to us last night, so let get some by patience and consistency through the line up and start JULY on the positive. GO Dodgers!
Not to mention getting crap to hit in front of the pitcher…
Anyone watching the Price is Right? This 2nd showcase getting tickets to the final 4, alot of College Jersey and a new car.
The only reason we made the playoffs last year was partly Manny’s surge, but mainly Arizona’s total pratfall. “Genius Joe” only improved our record 2 games from the previous year.
This year they built their lead preying upon division rivals that were totally inept the first month and a half of the season. Now that teams like the Giants and Rox have started to play good ball, our team looks decidedly average.
Stick with this:
furcal
hudson
manny
ethier
kemp
loney
blake
martin
I think if Furcal was healthy last year we would had won that west by over 10 games.
Yeah Scott that the lineup we all want.
Scott I agree, if they perform. But not today.
They were all performing fine until Joe starting resting the regulars more and moving guys around based on lefty righty and percentages and all that nonsense.
Furcal still needs to produce I hate his average and obp right now.
Perfect lineup scott! I don’t care if it’s a righty or lefty pitching, we need consistency!
Probably shouldn’t complain about the lineup – I count two, maybe three guys capable of hitting one out of the ballpark. Can any other team match that kind of power?
Well, there’s one guy on the bench named Casey Blake that we could use…
Since May 29th, JP has hit .244, all from the leadoff position. He’s OBP’d .279 and has a SP of .285.
Since May 29th Kemp has hit .324. He’s OBP’d .377 and slugged .533 all from at or near the bottom of the batting order.
How is it then that JP gets to bat leadoff every single game so that he gets an extra AB, and Kemp just gets jerked around? And you’re going to take playing time away from Kemp by playing JP once a week?
And people wonder why I can’t stand Joe Torre?
I think Pierre need to give his average and obp to Furcal than Furcal could be in the top 10 in batting average.
I think Joe is trying to destroy our team! And, during the last few weeks, he’s doing a fine job of it!!
shad, maybe if Pierre had a good arm and could play SS…
Maybe if Pierre had a good anything we could trade him.
If Joe is going to use Pierre a couple times a week, he better be batting 8th! That way you don’t jerk around the other regulars too much, especially Ferk and O-Dog! You just move everyone up a spot and insert Pierre in the 8th spot!
How many teams in this league would sit Kemp or Ethier once a month let alone once or twice a week? Complete insanity.
If Joe would just get that slug Loney out of there the Dodgers would have a juggernaut bottom-end batting order capable of striking fear into any pitcher: Loretta, Ausmus, Castro and Kershaw…That said, the team will probably scored 10 runs today. Or not. I predict one of those two possibilities occurs.
Perumike ~ you know Juan is going to play when Furcal gets the day off and, therefore Joe will have him lead off. He thinks Idiout (enchanted’s term) is an amazing creature!
So, when Ferk gets a day, we automatically have two regulars out! Yay Juan!! Can Castro hit leadoff? I would almost prefer him leading off and replacing Ferk at short!
So resting Furcal then will automatically mean that Manny, Kemp or Dre sits also.
With Kemp getting an extra AB and O-Dog back in there today, I give them an excellent chance of scoring 2-3 runs today Kahli!!!
I am not into bashing any players and I also think blindly preaching “patience” at the plate means little. After all, except for causing the pitcher to expend more energy, a one pitch at bat that drives in a run, moves a runner into scoring position or starts a rally is more effective in my book than a 10 pitch at bat that ends in an out and does none of the above.
That being said, it is clear the Dodgers struggles began when the leadoff hitter (whether at the beginning of the game or inning) stopped getting on base. The Dodgers had scored a bunch of first inning runs but when was the last time that happened? Last night JP saw eight pitches in four at bats. Again, not important except each at bat produced a weak out. Unfortunately, both Pierre and Hudson have cooled off while Furcal can’t seem to get much going. So the speed at the beginning of the order is not getting on base.
I am also aware the Dodgers have seen some pretty good pitching but that excuse wears thin. In order to win a championship any team will have to beat some good pitching along the way. I would really like to hear from a current or ex-player if they believe changing the batting order as much as Torre does has an effect on the hitters.
Well, I hope Khali is right and we get lucky and score 10 runs…
umm, i was going to come on and bash the lineup.. but i think you guys have all taken care of that.. so i guess all i have to say is GO BLUE!! let’s get a win despite joe’s best efforts..
Mike don’t get to excited he having a good season but we know it wasn’t much of a hitter the first time around and throughout his career. I don’t think Castro had the speed to be a lead off hitter.
Don’t you think that is what will happen, Enchanted?
I sure do Tru.
Peirre is not “The Problem” He will be sat for a long time, and get his “rest”. The slugging, consistent and patient offense is the problem and the names have been tolled as not delivering or inconsistent or not being clutch. Lets hope that changes in short while (like 30mins) and our pitching does not falter. GO Blue Boys!
Koufax ~ Joe already said he will let Juan play once or twice a week. And, that really ticks me off!!!
I thought we were supposed to try and win a championship every year. And, that means putting your best players out there everyday!
tru, you are right. Despite JP’s avg still being over .300, when Manny comes back, JP is a distant 4th amongst outfielders on this team. Love him or hate him, JP is the 4th best OF and I find that hard to dispute.
With an off day tomorrow, why does Casey need a day off today?
I am glad Ausmus is handling Kersh, hopefully that helps Kersh a lot!
Tru blu: Joe said what! Say it ain’t so Joe. I understand it being hard to sit out the highest batting average player on the team of regulars, but he has no POP. This is not good for the consistency of the team.
I really like the Kershaw and Ausmus combo.
Koufax ~ that is right………no consistency. How can you sit Matt, Andre or even Manny for Juan?! Give me a break!
Isn’t it interesting that a certain player, such as Hawpe, just wears out another team no matter who is pitching?
Should be a real short leash for juan then, I feel that furcal’s problems are the fact that he is not being the lead off guy, and that JP should of been batting second all this time.
enchanted and lbirken hit the nail on the head. we’ve basically stopped scoring first inning runs. in april, we scored first inning runs in 11 games and won 10. in may, we scored first inning runs in an incredible 17 games and won 12. in june, however, we have scored first inning runs only 4 times, winning 3. we’ve scored a run in the first inning only once in the last 14 games. with pierre’s return to his normal, sub-.300 OBP, furcal’s continued struggles and hudson’s return to his norm, the 1-2-3 order that Joe used primarily in June completely failed. the last few games, Joe’s tried to shake it up, but to no avail, and IMHO, i think the reason is his stubborn view that pierre has to bat leadoff and has to play everyday. everyone has seen his drop-off in June. whether he’s a tireless worker or not, he’s worn down after the incredible May he had. if anyone else in the roster did this, they’d be rested or moved in the order. heck, he did it to andre. but with pierre, no, he continues to play the guy everyday and at leadoff. the team is paying for it now as others, namely kemp, sacrifice at bats (batting 8th or 9th, my GOD), while pierre still gets his 5 AB’s a game. with his putrid OBP, he’s barely getting on more than once a game. how can this continue to happen. to me, July 3 can’t come soon enough.
Hi Folks
A little late again.
It’s amazing how a weekend can set you back.
I have to count Monday because it was such an emotional day, I was unable to do anything but think about the wonderful thing that had just happened to me.
Well, I’m just trying to get back into my normal routine.
Now all I’m hoping for is for this team to do better today than they did yesterday against Jason Marquis, who was simply too good.
I think if the Dodgers didn’t swing, he would’ve struck them all out looking.
LET’S GO DODGERS*******
lol amazing that Pierre took 6 pitches.
RIGHT ON, kho!!
Kho ~ you hit the nail on the head. Why, oh why, if everyboy here can see it, can’t Joe?
Kershaw better get some 3 pitches innings or else he won’t stay in for long 31 PC throught 2.
no “t” through
I don’t get Kemp batting in the 2 hole at all, O-dog should be there.
Right Koufax, even when Kemp is moved up in the order he’s out of place in the #2 spot.
geez walking the pitcher is a no no.
Kemp should be batting 3rd and his career number is good.
Thank god we got Hawpe out. Kershaw 57 PC thru 3rd.
It seems the ROX are having trouble with RISP, I wonder how the Dodgers would do with RISP.
Scott, I said the same thing on last night’s thread, what team in their right mind would “rest” Ethier and Kemp the way Torre plans to? It’s crazy.
bluecrewgirl, that’s why they call him Joe “Crazy” Torre
I wish all these other teams would stop throwing their Cy Young pitchers against us. It just isn’t fair.
It would be nice to find out, Oldbrooklynfan, wouldn’t it? !
Jason Marquis must be getting REALLY angry right about now. His “masterpiece” last night is looking more and more like utter Dodger ineptness.
Damn Kemp and Castro first pitch swinging that would not work.
Bluecregirl ~ I saw what you said last night and I agree with you wholeheartedly! As, Mr. Jhall would say: “Unacceptable”!
Nice fielding Castro!
Well I see our line-up is producing about as we all expected. Nice call Joe. Great job.
Kershaw is just asking for trouble with these walks.
The last 12 innings we’ve had 2 hits!!!!!!!
How can everybody go into a slump at once. Oh, I forgot, Furcal and Martin have been in a season slump. Where in the F*** is our batting coach?????????? I could coach this team betten than Torre. All I would have to do is just listen to the ITD’s group each day to get it right. HaHa
You are very wise, boblee! lol
Nice played Castro
No. I don’t think Jason Hammel will pitch a game that is equal or better than Jason Marquis’ pitched yesterday, that would be something and would be a real headache.
If this is how we hit against Colorado pitching, I’m glad we’re not playing the Giants.
Geez another ******* walk
BTW, how does Kershaw walk an .048 hitting pitcher?
boblee, you definitely have what it takes!
Well, thru 4 innings, Kershaw has 74 pitches. He’ll barely make it thru 5 and thru 3 innings, Hammel 31. Shows that we are not waiting for our pitches.
lol a 40 years old throwing out Spilly someone must had miss the hit and run sign.
Please tell me Kershaw is getting squeeze,
Kemp 2 ab’s 2 pitches sigh
Is Kemp late for a doctor’s appointment?
This series is reminiscent of the one in Atlanta last year where we scored something like 1 run in 4 games.
OK. Who anchored Pierres asss to first?
Does Kemp have a hot date in the next hour?
I don’t think you can wait for pitches when the pitcher keeps throwing strikes, that’s how Marquis did it last night.
Hammel seems to be following the same pattern.
he must have heard you, Enchanted!
Let’s go Ethier! Show ’em how it’s done!
Absolutely pathetic.
We are absolutely pathetic.
yuck
Damn it Ethier you going to make Torre decision easy.
Hey enchanted, 2 minds with one thought
Damn Ethier you going to make Torre decision easy.
I’ll start the sentences boblee and you can finish them!!!
How about this, Torre’s line-up is ________
Urgh it took forever to post that the first time.
2 for the last 42 at bats. We should be able to swing blind and still have 3 or 4 fall in somewhere. When we go bad we do it as a group. This game sucks. This team sucks. I don’t think God could help this team right now, let alone Manny….
Torre’s line up is picked by throwing darts at a wall.
So what has changed? Earlier in the season it was believed Dodger hitters were “taking better” at bats. There still was a problem driving in runs but at least there were runners on base often enough. Hitters were seeing more pitches and taking more walks. Now it seems as if most Dodger hitters are behind in the count quickly and are not getting “good pitches” to hit. When they do hit the ball they seem to be hitting a lot of weak ground balls. It is not just one player but many of the players. Baseball is a game of adjustments but obviously the Dodgers have not been able to make those adustments. Will Dodger pitching have to throw a shutout to give the team a chance to win?
Torre’s line up is picked by throwing darts at a wall.
boblee, don’t get too close to the edge yet…wait until Kemp sits and JP is leading off in CF next week.
Kershaw surely like these 1st pitch ball.
I don’t understand how can you start the opp pitcher with a 2-0 count.
Pierre looked like he was walking on eggs going after that fly ball.
All these walks and full counts are not going to get it done! I’m glad he has gotten some key outs, and that Colorado hasn’t scored, but something is gonna give if he keeps pitching like this.
How can you walk the freacking pitcher? Throw him 3-98 mph fastballs-
What part about “throw it down the middle to the pitcher” does Kershaw not understand?
AAAGHHHHHHH!!!!
Hammels 1/21 0 walks and 8 k’s and he get 2 walks.
If we can’t hit the Rockies pitching, we are going to be in big trouble when we next face the Giants. I bet they are licking their chops, watching this game.
Maybe I should’ve post that since the .48 to the pitcher is even better lol
5 K’s and 5 BB’s for Kershaw so far. I can just imagine how good he might be once he figures out how to throw strikes on a consistant basis.
Oh, my God, a double!!!!!!
KERSH must have a heck of a pitch.
As usual he throws a lot of balls but they can’t seem to do much with him.
To me this is very typical of him.
I would rather see Blake Dewitt playing occasionaly than Loretta.
At least Loney broke the no no.
Me too, Boblee. At least DeWitt has some pop in his bat.
Come on Castro
Can Casey please stay in the game??
Need a hit from Blake for Kersh to be a possible winner
Right now All I see in our bats is poop.
Damn it hitting with risp is still bad.
CRAP!!!!!! THIS REALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!
A big CRAP
OK. All you people that actually thought we’d score there raise your hands.
Suckers!!!!
LOL, E!!!!!!
double crap!
Should had suicide squeeze with Castro.
Maybe that’s what Joe needs to do Scott to help him clear his mind.
This is the Dodgers 31st Non Decision by a starter.
lol enchanted
Wow, even a double followed by a single cannot produce a run. Luckily Colorado can’t do much today either. In fact, the Rockies seem to have their own problems.
I love seeing Hawpe striking out.
Belisario has to watch his drinking because we need him very badly, I think he is very, very valuable.
Another 1-2-3 inning!!!
The drinks are on Bellisario!!!
Pierre need to steal 2nd and 3rd and maybe home since we can’t scored.
Bout time for a JP caught stealing.
Cracks me up: Pierre cannot even get a break from Gameday. It says he singled on a soft fly ball to left.
Kemp 4 pitches in 3 ab’s very Pierre like game lol
lbirken ~ that’s okay, Charlie and Rick love him! They can’t stop talking about how fantastic he is!
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And, he just got thrown out!
Man we got alot of Nomar lately with these 1st pitch swing.
Nice prediction, E! Way to take the bat out of the hottest hitter’s hands, Phew!
All I can say is, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
Like who couldn’t see THAT coming?
LOL, enchanted, you’ve got to be kidding!!! JP caught stealing…hahahahah
There you go E
It’s almost like Matt and Andre are trying to beat each other out for who’s going to sit on the bench while Torre lets Pierre play.
I’m not a Pierre basher but he took the bat out of Ethier’s hands on that steal attempt. (Although he should never get thrown out)
Well better luck next time
lbirken – What has changed? I hope I’m wrong, but maybe the hitters have lost focus, because they’re looking forward to Friday’s return of Manny. The problem is, Manny could come back with a wussybat after being out for 50 games.
Hey, don’t tell Belisario to stop drinking – look what stopping did for Martin.
Crash ~ he will fit in with all the other wussybats!
Watching the Dodgers come to bat or going out to clean up the dog doo. Hmmmmm. Decisions, decisions.
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I’ll be back in a few minutes.
Crash, I don’t know if they are waiting for Manny; they did just fine when he began his vacation. But I do agree that it might be unreasonable to expect Manny to jump start this team all by himself.
Why do my computer keep on signing me out? I hate logging back in.
E, be careful, you might find some broken bats in all that poop.
I think they knew Manny was coming back and took the next 2 weeks off.
It seems the closes it comes to Manny’s return the worse the offense gets, maybe they’re just opening a spot for him.
How many spots does Manny need?
This team needs hi-colonic in the worst way.
Is there a phrase worse than ” We totally suck” ???
I just hope this lack of hitting doesn’t effect their thinking.
You have to give the opposing pitches credit.
Scott – It looks like they’ve opened eight spots for Manny, … maybe seven if we exclude Ethier.
The question is scott, how many spots can Manny fill
Good afternoon everyone…I am just tuning in.
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Come on Troncoso…Come on Dodgers!!!!!
boblee – Believe it or not, the phrase being used in high school these days would be … “We suck really hard”.
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E – Another good call on your part.
The hitters are certainly horrible, but Joe does nothing to try and remedy anything. No taking the extra base, no scoring runners from second, no situational hitting plays, no squeezes…he’s the Phil Jackson of baseball. Just sit, baby!
Time to clone Manny
Pitch carefully to Hawpe
This game would be unbearable if I couldn’t listen to Vin, with all his stories. The only redeeming quality will be if we get a walkoff win!!
Can we just play the starters in the same spot for 5 straight games hit or miss?
So good much for that first pitch hit for Hawpe
Wussybat… Furcal.
I prefer hit over miss.
At least is helping the pitching in fantasy league to bad for the hitter going to take a big dump.
Vote now for pinch-hitter:
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a) Wussybat Martin
b) Wussybat O-dog (can’t believe I just said that)
c) Wussybat Furcal
d) Mitch Jones
e) AJ Ellis
f) Wolf
All I’ve gots gameday – what the hell was that first pitch he threw Furcal??
TRONCOSO another gem in the crown jewel.
Who’d ever think back to back Marquis-Hammel?
But it ain’t over yet.
…..and you all were thinking we weren’t going to score any runs today – LOL!!!!
Castro bunt him over but it probably won’t matter we can’t hit with risp
At least Russ doesn’t have wussylegs yet.
OMG, a run!!!!!!!!!!!
This just in…Dodgers score a run!!!!!
I guess Raffy and Russ heard us! One scores, the other drives it in! 🙂
May I be the 1,259,587,525,597,521st person to say that PIERRE SUCKS!!!!
See, Joe is a genius.
It could be Eric …………or maybe it’s enchanted leaving and picking up dog poo.
SHUT EM DOWN BROX!!!!! WAY TO FURCAL!!!!!
OK, I’m the official good luck charm today I guess. The first pitch I saw on the tube was Furc’s single.
Way to go Ferk! I suspend my calling you a wussybat (well, for the rest of today, anyway).
I am reading Eric’s mind again 🙂
I never thought that FURCAL would come through as a pinch hitter.
GO RAFFY.
hahhaha nice eric
SHUT EM DOWN BROX!!!!!
W – U – S – S – Y – B – A – T ! ! ! !
I think it was my reverse jinxed
Nice one, Mr. Wonderful JP. Whatever happened to Furcal as a base-stealing threat?
Amazing how “speedy” JP has been caught stealing and GIDP today. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Charly Steiner!
Oldbrooklynfan, a negative thought? Not from you of all people. I hope we did not corrupt you with the tour.
Oh, I have been watching. I just didn’t have anything to add, and considering Matt and Andre aren’t doing crap today, I can’t complain about the other outfielder.
So much for Pierre to stay out of the dp.
COM’ON J O N
Hi Nelly good timing.
Thank you pitchers for keeping us in the game all day.
oldbrooklynfan was just using reverse psychology. He did not want to JINX Furcal by thinking good thoughts about him. 🙂
You absolutely do have to give the opposing pitcher credit at times, but we’ve been failing to score against a lot of starters lately who have ERAs north of 5.
wow, this would be stealing a win if brox can nail it down right now..
Big Jon
Hey everyone!
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Time for another jump into the deep end. This one’s for you, Jonathan Broxton!
Big Jon
Every morning at the park you could see him arrive.
He stands 6 foot 5, weighs 295.
Kind of broad at the shoulders with a strong right arm.
And everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big Jon.
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Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
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Nobody seemed to know where Jon called home
He just sits in the bullpen and waits for the phone.
He doesn’t say much, kind of quiet and shy
And if you speak at all, you’d just say hi to Big Jon.
Somebody said he came from Augusta, GA,
Where he learned to pitch; all the scouts said, “Hey!”
With fast balls and curves from a huge right hand,
Sent opposing batters to the promised land.
.
Big Jon
Big Jon
Big bad Jon
Big Jon
.
Then came that day at the bottom of the ninth,
Other team’s men on base and Joe started crying.
Dodger fans were praying, and hearts beat fast
and everybody thought they had breathed their last
cept’ Jon.
.
Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell,
walked a giant of a man that the Dodgers knew well.
Grabbed a fresh baseball and gave out with a groan,
and like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big Jon
.
Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
.
And with all of his strength, he gave a mighty throw.
Then the batter yelled out, ‘Oh my God, no!’
With pitches so crafty, the batter dug his own grave
now there’s only one out left to get the save, Big Jon.
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With bat on his shoulder the hitter tried to stare him down
Then came that rumble from down in the ground
A trail of smoke . . . a fastball so fine
That batter knew it was the end of the line, by Big Jon.
.
Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon
.
Now he’s saving games and making a name
All opposing batters he has tamed
And Dodger fans cheer when he throws the ball
At the end of each game he says “Fu Q, all!”
.
Big Jon
Big Jon
Big Bad Jon
Big Jon.
By sparkleplenty_1 on May 19, 2009 10:58 PM
Jonathan says – Fu-Q Y’all, and thank you for being contestants in today’s game!!!
Way to go Brox!
We win! Took the series! I’m glad to see we can take a series even when we play so bad!
Wow…not sure how the Dodgers won this series??!?!?!?! Each team scored a total of five runs.
Way to go Jon! My thought exactly, Piano Man, almost like stealing a series!
OK they got the win, but other than the pitching, was anybody impressed with this victory?
That sure turns a frown into a smile. Good job everyone. Never a doubt, right folks?
BROXTONIZED.
Never in doubt!!!
It’s a good thing we have a hell of a bullpen.
Big Bad John is the only one who belongs in the All-Star Game.
Bear – I agree about the bullpen. But I hope none of them has to pitch in the All-Star game. They all need a good three-day rest.
We better see if we can borrow Cerrano’s voodoo doll Jo-bu to get a lot more hits in the Dodger bats. I miss the days when we broke out in the first inning with a big lead and finished with a laugher. These 1-0 scores are too hard on the nerves.
I wouldn’t trade our bullpen for any other one in the MLB.
I think JP needs a good LONG rest now, say 3 months.
E, I don’t much care how they do it as long as they win. I agree, the Dodgers have been winning with smoke and mirrors with a little help from a no name bull pen and Big Bad Jon. Do you think the Rockies are in their clubhouse right now wondering what the heck happened?
It helps to win these types of games when you can’t hit, so congrats to the team!
I’ve got to hand to Brox for really stepping into the closer’s role this year after floundering a little when given the job on a temp basis in year’s past. He has been light’s out.
Next up….will the new Manny be the same old Manny?
To answer your question enchanted………………..no, and that applies to the series as well.
I am heading out to a high school double header in the 100 degree heat. I will catch you later tonight if anyone is around then. Take care and at least we can say this game will look good in the win column.
I agree with all of you about our pen. It’s amazing how well they’ve performed.
You know who we’re missing? Hudson. We killed in April and May and were ordinary at best in June, right?
Orlando Hudson splits
April/March .337 .411 .537 .948
May .328 .404 .414 .818
June .222 .269 .343 .612
I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence. He’s one of the best reasons we did all that first inning scoring earlier too.
Manny comes back Friday against Chad Gaudin. Manny has owned Gaudin in the past, 5-for-11 with two dingers.
Hey kahi if this was Coors you think that both teams can scored only 5 runs? I know it won’t happen but who had known that Nomo was going to pitch a no hitter way back in 1996.
agree, eric.
Actually I think Belisario and Troncoso to but those 2 have no chance.
Shad – agree on Belisario and Tronc, but Joe is close to over-using them. They need the rest.
For some reason, I think Manny will come out raking.
Perhaps another part of the uninspired play this last month is that they went from carefree Mannywood’s personality and over the last couple month’s took on Dull Old Joe’s.
They still having high school game? Isn’t school out there yet?
Isn’t Joe already overusing them already? Karros said something about them last night pregame shows.
I hate that our bullpen have the most innings pitches already and did you see what I post about Kuo? I thought he was gone but he had one good rehab game.
2009
June 14 12 .538
2008
June 11 16 .407
2007
June 14 14 .500
2006
June 11 15 .423
2005
June 11 16 .407
2004
June 12 14 .462
I don’t know what it is about June lately, but screw it – IT’S JULY, BABY!!!
Schmidt also had a good rehab game recently. And I quote from the Daily News :
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_12706905?source=rss
“Schmidt pitched 73 scoreless innings for Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday.” [ That’s their typo, not mine. They sure have gone downhill after shedding Tony Jackson. ]
Forget Manny! The real good news is that Claudio Vargas appears headed to the bullpen as the 13th pitcher come Friday!!!! Do good blessings ever cease?
Oh my Eric what does the 2000-2003 look like.
It was Milton did they change it to Vargas now?
Schmidt’s actual line last Friday was 7 2/3 innings, 5 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and 7 K’s. Does anybody here think he can help the Dodgers this year? I’m still skeptical about him.
I would love to see Ausmus catcher ERA when he catch Kershaw.
So that means we send Ellis AND Jones down. Or does Jones get DFA’d since they have to clear a spot on the 40-man for Manny?
Jones is gone when Manny come back.
shad, Milton is already here, of course, as pitcher #12. Now if the Dodgers can just squeeze in Estes as the 14th….??????
Crash that would be huge but if he can stay healthy and give us some good numbers than it would help alot.
Add Schmidt as the 15th, and we’ll be ready for that 73 inning game.
Neither Vargas nor Manny currently resides on the 40-man roster. Somebody is going to be unhappy very soon.
I see Selig already expand the all stars game from 32 to 33 maybe he would expand the roster to 26.
I give Schmidt credit for his determination but even if he comes back he will join an already crowded list of 5-6 inning pitchers.
n/m Eric
2000 13 15 4.43 ERA
2001 13-14 5.08 ERA
2002 19-8 3.67 ERA man I miss this one bad
2003 14-11 2.54 ERA
and a healthy Kuo 16th and now we go to 100th lol. Jones and Ellis is gone and probably McDonald soon I just don’t see Leach going a big surprise for us.
Just came back from a LOOONG meeting, with great JOY and elation I see we won ! Yahooo! Now I will read the details. Furcal sure responds to being sat out, I remeber the pinch Hit HR had to keep that game going. Thank you great Dodger in the sky!
Last 10 years
2009
April 15 8 .652
May 20 9 .690
June 14 12 .538
July 1 0 1.000
2008
March 1 0 1.000
April 13 13 .500
May 13 15 .464
June 11 16 .407
July 16 10 .615
August 13 16 .448
September 17 8 .680
2007
April 15 11 .577
May 16 11 .593
June 14 14 .500
July 12 13 .480
August 13 15 .464
September 12 16 .429
2006
April 12 13 .480
May 18 10 .643
June 11 15 .423
July 9 17 .346
August 21 7 .750
September 16 12 .571
October 1 0 1.000
2005
April 15 8 .652
May 11 17 .393
June 11 16 .407
July 10 17 .370
August 14 14 .500
September 9 18 .333
October 1 1 .500
2004
April 14 8 .636
May 13 14 .481
June 12 14 .462
July 21 7 .750
August 17 11 .607
September 15 13 .536
October 1 2 .333
2003
March 1 0 1.000
April 13 14 .481
May 17 10 .630
June 14 11 .560
July 9 18 .333
August 17 11 .607
September 14 13 .519
2002
April 16 10 .615
May 15 13 .536
June 19 8 .704
July 10 16 .385
August 18 10 .643
September 14 13 .519
2001
April 15 10 .600
May 15 13 .536
June 13 14 .481
July 18 9 .667
August 12 16 .429
September 9 12 .429
October 4 2 .667
2000
April 14 10 .583
May 14 12 .538
June 13 15 .464
July 14 12 .538
August 15 15 .500
September 16 11 .593
October 0 1 .000
And just for fun….
1988
April 13 7 .650
May 14 13 .519
June 17 11 .607
July 16 12 .571
August 17 12 .586
September 16 11 .593
October 1 1 .500
1981
April 14 5 .737
May 19 10 .655
June 3 6 .333
August 12 9 .571
September 13 15 .464
October 2 2 .500
1965
April 10 5 .667
May 19 12 .613
June 17 14 .548
July 15 13 .536
August 14 13 .519
September 20 7 .741
October 2 1 .667
1963
April 10 11 .476
May 17 9 .654
June 16 12 .571
July 21 10 .677
August 16 12 .571
September 19 9 .679
1959
April 11 6 .647
May 14 17 .452
June 18 12 .600
July 15 12 .556
August 14 12 .538
September 16 9 .640
1955
April 14 2 .875
May 18 9 .667
June 20 8 .714
July 19 13 .594
August 13 14 .481
September 14 9 .609
Are we back in the 60’s? The lack of production is a disappointment the last couple of weeks. Hope it improves when Manny returns. Can’t get worse.
*
I was telling my wife about a game I went to where Fairly hooked a line drive around the right field foul pole and Drysdale made it stand up. This game reminded me of that, only now the pitching is done by committee.
What happen in 1981? I was only 2 years old at the time about to turned 3 in July.
Man 1955 look scarey other than August.
’81 was a strike year shad. Notice there’s no July games either. The players went out in June and came back in August. The standings at the time of the strike was ruled to be the first half of the season, like in the minors. When they came back, they started fresh with the 2nd half. The playoffs started with the winners of the 1st and 2nd halves playing each other. If I remember correctly, the Reds (they were in the western division then) had the best record overall, but didn’t win either half, so they didn’t make the playoffs at all. We ‘won’ the first half and eventually won the Series.
We are the first to 50!!!! Let’s be the first to 100, and most importantly, the first to 4 in the World Series!!!
We could actually win 100, peru. We’re certainly on a pace for it. If Torre can keep from burning out the bullpen by not repeating Friday’s idiotic episode. If he doesn’t blow up the outfield.
But, if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a wonderful Christmas.
And eric, we’d all be as big as the Curacao Cow! 🙂
Yeah I heard about the strike but didn’t know it last that long and it look the Reds got screwed big time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_World_Series
Hello ItD
I’m not sure why there is such a Juan Pierre bashing group here. I think maybe it’s because everyone loves Andre so much and are afraid that he will have to sit once in a while to give Pierre playing time when Manny comes back.
I go to almost all the home games and have noticed that Pierre is one of the crowd favorites. Everyone cheers when he is up. Maybe he is not hitting as well as he did a couple of weeks ago. I noticed that Orlando is not hitting lately but few people bash him on this site. And Russell is pretty sad lately. If he hits the ball, it is a surprise. Raffy too has not been hitting well.
But yet the Dodgers are still #1 in the Western Division. What if all those slumping were hitting?
The bullpen has been remarkable with Bellisario, Troncoso and Broxton being so consistent. Mota has found himself.
Even without Manny, the Dodgers remain number one, many even say that they are the #1 MLB team. So what would make everyone happy here….a perfect team? That won’t happen. Because the Dodgers are human. We all have off days. Some days I can’t start an IV and I don’t know why. Luckily I don’t get grief for that. Because everyone has their bad days. Playing baseball is their job and I know they are trying to do their best. We all want them to go to the World Series. It would be awesome.
I get a lot of flak because I am always true blue, win or lose. But we are number one and have been that way for a long time. Let’s just enjoy what we have.
http://catlovesthedodgers.mlblogs.com
I know you guys probably don’t care about hockey but this is plan stupid the Blackhawks just offered a 12 yrs deal for Hossa 62.8 millions.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4300131
Hello All
CAT it is true I think it’s true what you said. About hating Pierre over Ethier. I personally love Ethier and I don’t want him to loose his spot. Pierre is a good player, but I think Andre is even better. So if I have to choose…BOOO PIERRE AND GOOOO ANDRE…(but the truth I love all of the Dodgers…GOOOOOO DODGERS!)
*
Now we get ready for the MANNY reunion. Friday’s game is going to be crazy. And the Truth I don’t think that Manny will come and do a BIG BANG….he will need some time. But I hope he does well…..GOOO MANNY AND WELCOME BACK!
*
WE WON TODAY…..GOOOOO DODGERS!
It is too bad that Juan Pierre doesn’t throw right handed so that he could play second base. People expect a corner outfielder to have lots of power. Pierre has a good average and makes things happen on the bases. He also gets picked off and thrown out stealing a little more than I would like. The other night he was on base four times but the guys behind him could not execute and drive him in. He is pretty consistent and has performed like he did before we got him.
I don’t really have a problem if Torre wants to play him once in a while once Manny returns. Having one of the regular outfielders available as a power hitting pinch hitter off the bench in a critical situation could actually be a good thing.
I am both a Martinista and an Ethieraholic. Ethier has been doing great…I am soooo proud of my DRE’. I am just very happy that he proved to the MLB world that he can do it without MANNY….now with Manny he is going to be AMAZING! GO ETHIER
I have not lost my hope for MARTIN. Who knows why he lost his power to play. But I hope that he finds that kid inside that loves to play the game and I hope that he finds that confidence he had before…….GOOOOOOOO MARTIN!
Pierre should play once in a while. He has proven to be a good player and the fans do love him. When Ethier, Kemp or Manny need resting…put Pierre in…GOOOOO DODGERS!
CAT, Pierre does get more than his fair share of criticism here for sure. It’s not Pierre’s fault, but at least for me, Kemp and Ethier are clearly better players and the idea of sitting either of them down in order for Pierre to play 1-2 times a week is frustrating. Torre seems to have a soft spot for Pierre despite his shortcomings. It’s amazing that while Manny has been gone, Pierre has not moved from his leadoff spot or his place in LF. Everyone else is rested or moved around the lineup but not Pierre, even though he has clearly struggled in June. Now, he is going back to the bench, but Torre has already said he is going to find ways to get Pierre in the lineup, presumably at the expense of Kemp and Ethier. Do any of the other bench players get the same accommodation? I don’t think so. Another thing that frustrates me is the media’s almost universal failure to note Pierre’s decline in June and their gall to actually make the case that Pierre should continue to start after Manny comes back. They keep pointing to Pierre’s average and steals over the entire 50 games, but fail to note that he hit about .400 in the first 25 games and about .250 in the last 25 games. Anyway, I can’t wait for Manny to be back in the lineup and for Pierre to go back sulking on the bench.
But 32, having a power hitter up 4-5 times a night is better than once.
Juan performed beyond all expectations the first month, then far below this last month. To say you’re going to sit a 5-tool player and your team leader in homeruns and RBI once a week in favor of JP is insane. I don’t have any problem resting a guy once every three weeks or so, but how much rest does a 24 and 26 year old need in favor of a 31 year old?
We went through this last year – Juan’s just not one of the three best OFers. His skillset is so unappealing to other GMs that his own agent couldn’t find any takers.
He also never tries to improve himself – he’s happy with Juan being Juan. That’s why you get two out of the last three games where he bats 4 times and doesn’t even see 10 pitches. He bunts with two outs and runners at third. He hits to the left side with a runner at second. He’ll hack at the first pitch so his pitcher doesn’t even get a chance to sit down.
Marty I’ve given grief to because I think he’s highly overrated. Furcal I haven’t given much because who’s going to replace him – Castro? Hu?
But by God we sure as hell have three better OFers than Juan Pierre.
Cat ~ please don’t take this the wrong way but I have to agree with Kho and Enchanted. However, you are a very important part of our ITD family and I respect what you have to say, so please keep doing so.
By the way, Mitch Jones is gone (maybe forever) and so is Ellis to make room for Manny. There will probably be other moves before Friday or we are going to end up with 13 pitchers and only 4 bench players……..not a very pretty scenario.
I just hope Manny is fully healed from his hamstring tweak and fully stretched out and ready to go full bore. He did not get as many ABs in the minors as I thought he would so I hope his timing is not too far off. Let’s just hope Furcal and Hudson turn it around so they can set the table for Ramirez.
I’m tired of playing small ball. I got enough of that in the days of 32 and 53.
I’m really sorry mitch Jones wasn’t given a better chance. He was only given 13 ab’s and batted .308. Better than Pierre was doing and a little more power.
Crap. Cards 1 Giants 0 Giants batting in the top of the 8th. Bases loaded and 0 outs.
Wainwright falling apart.
Damn you just couldn’t hold them one more inning.
Dewitt over Hu and Castro.
DeWitt’s hitting under .250 though at Albuquerque.
DeWitt = Trade Bait
To be honest I thought Hu and Dewitt were both trade bait.
32and53, I am REALLY tired of small ball too. The Dodgers are so much more exciting, not to mention more productive, with Manny, Andre and Matt all in the lineup. How can Joe not see that? Enchanted, you’re probably right about Dewitt, but I really like that kid. I hope he’s able to hang around. I didn’t get to watch the game since I was at work, but I don’t think I missed much.
You didn’t BCG.
Agreed Shad.
Maybe Luna?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=41346
Well Castro was batting .182 in a small sample size and he’s a career .237 hitter but we know he got here because of his glove.
Cat, I’m in agreeance with the Juan Pierre bashing. I’m not going to lie and say I think he should be playing ahead of the other 3 after July 3rd, because we all know what Manny can do (regardless of the situation, New York can cry all they want, but they had no problem playing Giambi then and A-Rod now…), and Kemp and Ethier are better at what they do.
But for bashing, I do it at times when I’m frustrated, but I’d much rather enjoy bashing the dopes and lunkheads of other teams (And I do, in abundance). If Juan was getting booed at the stadium (which he doesn’t), we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot.
But I understand the concept of tough love, and just because people don’t like Juan Pierre doesn’t make them any less “True Blue” than any other Dodger fans. The “bashers” are doing it out of love, obviously, otherwise, they wouldn’t be such an integral part of this Dodgers community. The Dodgers are like our… um… 18 year-old daughter, and when we feel that a suitor is a little off, we hold that Louisville Slugger within eyesight to let ’em know we mean business, that this team isn’t some cheap floozy where we accept suitors to the Dodger name throwing water bottles at the crowd, complaining about the Front Office mistreating them while having no problem taking that same FO’s millions, or saying that a team that is paying you $9 million dollars is “sticking it to me”. While I too had enough of the negativity while looking at the standings and seeing a vastly different picture… I understand it now moreso.
The people sipping on the Pinot Grigio in the Dugout Club, the people sitting in the Pavillion who downed their beers in the parking lot, The people in the Loge section catching their peanuts from Roger Owens, the people sitting in Row JJ in the Reserve Section and not thinking twice about that ticket price, the people in the Top Deck taking in the beautiful view for a pauper’s price, and the people at home listening to Vin in front of their TV’s, Radios, PC’s, Laptops, etc… they all have one thing in common, a bond that is tighter than any disagreements that may arise amongst ourselves: We are Dodger Fans. We Think Blue, Drink Blue, Bleed Blue, Breathe Blue. As Danny Kaye sang, “They may be bums, but they’re MY bums”.
This Is Our Town. This Is Our Blog. Dodgertown: Inside the Dodgers.
And a little disagreement on Juan Pierre isn’t going to change that. As for me, I have always felt if we were going to win, Juan Pierre is going to play a huge role in it. The key to that happening is Juan Pierre accepting what that role is.
And I’ve been VERY tempted to enjoy what we have, and I am, to a point. But I remember two of LaRussa’s teams that had 100 wins, best record in the league, and went on to the Series with higher expectations than hopes: The ’04 Cardinals and the ’88 A’s. If we lose sight of the prize, and are content just leading the regular season, we risk coming up against someone who’s hungrier than us.
That being said, I am enjoying my Bud Light tonight, knowing that for now, out of the few teams who have given us fits this year, only the two from California have any chance at being a factor in the Second Season. And one of those is a t-bA.L.l team who we wouldn’t see until the Series anyway, if we both made it. I’ll Rejoice, but I won’t Relax just yet (no matter what Frankie says).
GO DODGERS!
Looking at Luna defense at SS he’s terrible.
Come on Cards let’s get a walk off.
Well said Northstateblues. Just testing the waters. 🙂
I actually think that having Furcal back at the top of the order will help him. He has no idea how to hit second. O-Dog back hitting second in front of Manny will help him too.
Where I part a little from other’s thinking is that I would prefer seeing Blake bat clean-up. With Loney, Dre and Kemp interchanging 5-6-7. Marty or Ausmus can bat 8th.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?playerId=4243
Furcal number leading off an innings interested.
310 .396 .429 .825
I don’t disagree with that, Enchanted. I prefer Andre either batting 3rd in front of Manny or 6 or 7, depending upon the pitcher. I think he hits for better average and relaxes more not hitting clean up, but I won’t complain as long as he’s in there. I agree about Raffy too. He’s not a #2 hitter. I have nothing against Pierre personally and don’t have a problem with him getting a periodic start, but there’s just no way he should take significant playing time away from Andre or Matt. I really wish they could find a team that would want him. Too bad he’s left handed because his skills are really more suited to an infielder and he could spell Raffy on his days off.
This what scare me look at Pierre batting average against lhb and Ethier to.
This what scare me look at Pierre batting average against lhb and Ethier to.
Good job Cards
Cards=walk off hr in the 10th
oops I mean lhp
I know Andre’s not hitting lefties very well so far this season, Shad, but he always has in the past, so I think he’ll figure it out. I think his batting average will be up to his normal .300 range by season’s end and he’s on a pace to hit over 100 rbi’s and 25 or more hr’s, so I can’t complain about that. I read today that Kobe is not going to opt out of his contract with the Lakers and will probably sign an extension, so that’s good news.
Furcal has the 3rd most ab’s batting 8th in his career before this year? I’m surprise Torre only let him bat there one time this year.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6404/situational;_ylt=AnTxnoHCQnWf6ZtNyU3aStGFCLcF?year=career&type=Batting
Cards won :))))
Yeah I know but you know Torre is not going to listen to us lol.
Yeah I’ve heard Kobe would get a 3 years extension.
Ethier have always been a better hitter in July and when Manny back they should improve big time.
July numbers .336/ .400 /.552/ .952
Wow 9/66 against the Mets? Ethier is a great hitter but didn’t know he was batting .136 against the Mets in his career. Ethier numbers .136/.194/.182/.376 and Kuo have there number.
Hey Nelly how was that double header? I thought High School was done over there?
Big win against Rockies- Coupled with Giants loss. Nice way to end home stand.
Northstateblues – a wonderful piece of writing as always 🙂
I really hope the Cards can get the split tomorrow.
Nelly, I read about your family’s car accident on another thread. I hope they’re all ok.
This debate between JP and Andre is the reason I started posting on this blog in the first place, and to realize it is not going to go away for another two and a half seasons or until one of them is traded is just heartrenching at times. If this were a case where both talents were equal, then I guess I would still be on Andre’s side. I have never spent any significant time with either of them, but just from what I have read and what I have observed, Andre just seems to be the person I would want on my team, if the talents were equal. And, Juan has said he wanted to be traded.
However, the talents are not even close to being equal, and in my head it is a matter of statistics and probability. Statisically, I want Andre playing in Right Field and Matt in Center Field. Andre has 32 extra base hits, 15 of them being Home runs. Matt has 25 extra base hits, 10 of them being homeruns. Juan has 18 extra base hits, 0 of them being homeruns.
Just in case your are thinking I am playing my Ethieraholic Card, I am not. I checked every outfielder in our division, and all of them have at least one homerun. I stopped at our division since we are considered the weakest division,and he still doesn’t have a homerun. Actually the lowest number of homeruns in our division is two, and those are from Brian Giles (SD) and Randy Winn (SF). Dexter Fowler (COL) is next to the bottom with three, and all the others have 5 or more. Also, you do have to realize when JP comes in to play, he will be playing centerfield. For the current centerfielders in our division, Matt leads them in homeruns. So, you bench Matt and you just benched the leading homerun hitter amongst the centerfielders in our division. So, you bench Andre to move Matt over, and you have just benched the leading homerun hitter amongst right fielders in our division. So, statistically, it’s a lose, lose situation if you are going to routinely sit Matt or Andre every week. Neither one of them can hit homeruns sitting on the bench.
Enough about statistics, how about probability. What is the probability that Juan Pierre will hit a homerun in his 4 or 5 at bats when he plays?………………zero. What is the probability that Juan Pierre will thrown down a runner at home?………………….zero. I will take a home run, extra base hit, walk-off basehit, walk off homerun, grandslam over a bunt single and a stolen base any day of the week. That is what JP brings to the table…….stolen bases. Well, Andre and Matt(which Matt can steal bases too) don’t have to worry about stealing bases. They rather just trot around the bases as the crowd goes crazy when they launch the ball out of the park.
bluecrewgirl – everyone is great, thank goodness and thank you. My car was the only victim, but my insurance company is working pretty fast and I already have another car….not the same though, mostly unexpected expenses, and the person who hit them was uninsured. So, I am sure this is not the end of the ordeal.
Well said, Nelly. I so thought were were done with this debate after last season and now here we go again. I know you said it before and I agree, Manny is partially to blame for it. If he hadn’t done what he did, we probably would be done with it. I’m glad he’s coming back to the team, but also annoyed that he’ll come back like nothing happened and Andre and Matt are paying the price for it.
How can you bench a guy who has 52 RBI’s for somebody who only has 24? How can you bench a guy who has 41 RBIs for somebody who only has 24? It must be great to be James Loney because he won’t have to sit for somebody with 24 RBIs when he has 49.
The Dodgers are off tomorrow while the Giants play the Cards. If the Giants win they will be 6 1/2 back…exactly where they were when Manny was suspended. It’s the Rockies who have made a move. But for every reaction, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. I see the Rocks and the Giants cooling off as the Dodgers heat up.
Yes, I am still mad at Manny. I want him back, but I am still mad at him for bringing this whole debate to light again, and I will blame him everytime Andre or Matt sits for JP.
Kahli – the Giants don’t even care what we are doing. They are shooting for the Wild Card. The don’t expect to catch us. There are rumors in their camp that they are going after Jermaine Dye. However, like us, they don’t want to give up the farm to get him either.
RIP Karl Malden
Nelly, I’ve been hit by someone with no insurance before and it is a pain. I don’t know why they have the mandatory insurance law when it’s not enforced at all. Too many people just get it to register their cars and then let it cancel after, or don’t bother to get it at all. Back on topic, I can’t think of any other team in the league that would not play guys with Andre and Matt’s production every day. I love James and Russell too, but they never even have any competition at their positions. I’m not saying a little competition isn’t good, but I think Andre’s been worn down by it. He can never even take a breath.
Nelly, don’t blame manny when JP starts over Matt or Dre. Blame Joe for being that stupid…I for one can’t wait for Manny to get back. I’m really sick of watching Juan Pierre ground out to second 3 times a game. Manny is probably a huge A-hole but as long as he continues to mash the ball like he can I’ll gladly have him back.
I heard he passed away. 97 years old. I used to love that show The Streets of San Francisco with him and Michael Douglas.
bluecrewgirl – I am sure Andre is not complaining about this one bit, but I guess his fans need to do it for him because this just pisses me off that he is going to get screwed again. And not that he cares, but he has a chance to be an award winning right fielder this year if he continues at this pace.
aeversw – point well taken, and I will blame Ned as well then since he is the one who signed Juan in the first place.
I can’t believe there people out there with no insurance. Do all states have this law?
I though it was mandatory.
Most states do, Shad, but not all. California doesn’t do crap to enforce it, so they may as well not even have the law.
They so fast with the seatbelt law.
Isn’t it funny? Until I read enchanted saying that Furcal doesn’t know how to bat in the two-hole, I totally forgot that the Furcal led off last year until he went down. It wasn’t until then that Pierre started leading off.
2008
Furcal batting 1st (34 games)
.353 .434 .568 1.002
As a matter of fact, I forgot that Furcal led off this year until Ramirez went on vacation. Torre put Pierre in left and into the ninth slot for the first two games. Game 3 sans Manny he put Pierre into the leadoff role and he’s been there for the other 48 games.
Unfortunately as poor as he has been in the leadoff position in ’09, he’s been much worse in the two-hole:
Batting 1st (27 games) .250 .313 .317 .630
Batting 2nd (32 games) .201 .272 .276 .548
Damn it enchanted, don’t you hate being right all the time?
And in the spirit of positiveness, I want to be referred to as an Ethier/Kemp supporter – not a Pierre basher.
G’nite, and may God Bless you all!
Pierre IS the 4th OF’er. The JP bashing that drives me crazy is when people wanna bench Pierre in favor of a Hoffman, Paul, Jones, D. Young, Repko or any other unproven/unproductive minor leaguer. Pierre is an excellent table setter, w/ great speed. He’s been a productive player his whole career, but on this team, yeah he is #4. Just try not to bash him so much. If one of the other 3 go down, it’s good to have a productive vet to fill the void.
Holy crap look at are bullpen and the Red Sox fall apart 2 days ago.
Team Aggregate Stats: 2009
RK TEAM GP W L ERA Sv CG SHO IP QS ER R BB SO BAA
1 Boston 72 12 7 3.24 22 0 0 228.0 0 82 89 97 197 .238
2 Cincinnati 72 7 8 3.29 19 0 0 232.2 0 85 91 107 180 .230
3 LA Dodgers 77 21 9 3.29 23 0 0 265.1 0 97 101 111 230 .228
We have the number 1 team ERA in the league and tied with the Reds for 2nd in bullpen ERA.
1 San Francisco 76 32 24 3.70 0 7 0 464.1 0 191 200 189 426 .243
2 LA Dodgers 78 28 20 3.78 0 1 0 442.1 0 186 196 188 371 .238
Damn Giants starting pitching and if wasn’t for those CG they would be #2
The numbers that scared me and all of us here is that out bullpen pitchers have pitches a total of 265 1/3 innings in relieved.
Joe for the love of god please go easy on the bullpen in the 2nd half and are starters really needs to go deep into ballgame.
out=*are
Belasario projected innings as 96. Troncoso projected innings as 105.
I never have understood why some folks are so dead set against Pierre. He’s the 4th out fielder on this team and if he could be traded for a quality starter all the better. But meanwhile he is ours and we’ll need him before this is over. He’s already shown his worth.
I agree completely that he is the 4th outfielder right now and as long as it stays that way, then I have no problems with him being on this team and coming into games when needed. However, at the beginning when he was the 4th outfielder, he was not happy being in that role. So, as long as he accepts his role as the 4th outfielder again and is happy with it, then he can sit that bench as much as he and Joe wants him too and come into the game when needed. The “when needed” is what I have issues with I guess. He won’t be needed 2-3 times a week to give Manny, Matt and Andre rest.
NellyJune ~ we can all talk about the Juan issue until we are blue-in-the-face and some people will think we are bashing him. When all we are doing is stating the facts. I for one, am not going to mention his name ever again, because I get upset having to defend my position on him. I take that back, I will be miffed if he gets more playing time than is warranted, then, and only then will I speak out!
I submit that Juan isn’t even a 4th OFer.
What a 4th OFer needs to be in a true 4th OFer role:
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1. A capable defensive replacement.
2. Have pop off the bench in a PH roll.
3. Speed to pinch run.
4. Play all 3 OF positions.
5. Come ready to play.
6. Know and accept his roll.
JP can only cover 2 of those necessities. Xavier Paul covers 5 if not all 6. Repko covers all 6. Hoffmann covers 5 if not all 6.
Other than pinch run, JP is worthless as a bench player. I doubt he could even bunt a runner over PHing with any proficiency. His skillset is only semi-useful as a starter if you have the bats to cover his deficiencies. Watch him bat lately and you can see his veteran experience counts very little for anything.
Might JP help win a couple games off the bench? – sure. But I’d much prefer a guy that can go into LF as Manny’s defensive replacement late in a game. I prefer a LH bat off the bench to have some pop, not pop-gun ability. I prefer that if they get a start you don’t have to move another OFer from his normal position.
What’s truely unfortunate is that the Manager and GM prefer to keep 13 friggin pitchers so that Juan is the 4th OFer and primary LH bat off the bench. Pierre, Loretta, Ausmus and Castro – ooh s-c-a-r-y!!!
As an Ethier/Kemp supporter – lol , I agree with you enchanted, but he is the only other outfielder on the 25 man roster, so until Paul, Hoffmann or Repko are up here, we are stuck with him being the 4th outfielder.
Have to agree with enchanted’s qualifications for the 4th OF’er, and Pierre’s lack in that capacity. Pierre is only a leadoff man in most opinions, and we signed Furcal to be that. In fact, it can be said that Furcal has been miscast in his role as #2 in the lineup, and that no doubt contributes to his miserable showing this season. When it comes to Paul, Repko and Hoffmann, I don’t see, however, where any of them have proved to be major league worthy. You could argue that none have received the full opportunity to show what they can do at the major league level. Paul could have been the guy until he came down with the infection. Repko proved to me at least that he’s incapable of being a good major league hitter, and he should be traded to anybody who thinks otherwise for somebody of value.
I think that we’re dreadfully short of capable outfielders in our minor league ranks. Some may show the power, but hit for a low average – Van Slyke seems to be the only one who can hit over .300 and has power, but that’s at the single A level. I would love to see Pierre traded, something that’s not likely to happen with Ned and Joe around, but as part of that kind of a deal, we should get somebody who has some track record of performing as an OF’er at the major league level. That really begets another subject, and that is that our draft results over the past several years with the exception of Kershaw have produced no hot prospects. All of the first round picks are struggling in the minors, so I have to dismiss the value of getting on board with all these hotshot high pitchers that we’ve been after.
I meant to say “hotshot high school pitchers”
And that’s thanks to Joe and Ned who just have to keep a 13 pitcher or 3 catcher roster.
Hey if Paul or any of the others were on the team and Joe wanted to “rest” an OFer, I’d stick JP in there as the 5th OFer for the start. He’s virtually useless coming off the bench anyway. What we really need is a MonkeyWhiskers type that can field and throw coming off the bench for in game situations, and let JP have the occasional start. That’s the only trouble with Paul et al. is that they need to be playing in the minors and not languishing on the bench like Young did.
Not that any of it matters though because even if JoJo had Babe Ruth available, he’d still play JP.
Yes, I think that JoJo would play JP – therefore, let’s just call him “Little Babe”.
Ah, I detect a little streak of wicked there, tru.
Love it.
I’d like to call him something but it isn’t “Little Babe”! In fact, I’d probably get bleeped!
Well dammit, now we need a candy bar for Little Babe. They can sell it at the stadium. Who’s my marketing director? Where’s my secretary? Is anybody working today??
NEW CONTEST: Name Little Babe’s candy bar.
Good morning everyone, hope everyone is doing well on this day off! Mannywood starts tomorrow, hopefully he can help us put even more distance between us and the rest of the west.
BUNT & RUN – metamucil bar covered in chocolate Ex-lax. A little wood a lot of running.
Seriously, don’t you guys have anything else to discuss about this team? Every time I check this blog.. and I mean EVERY time.. it is nothing but JP sucks posts.. I’d say 95% of the posts on “Inside the Dodgers” the last couple of years have been that… I mean come on.. the guy did a good job as a fill-in outfielder.. hes hit .322 this season for petes sake… What was Hoffman’s average in his stint with the team? .182, Paul hit .214.. Repko is hitting .253 against AAA pitching.. Why on earth would you rather have these guys? Oh sure what knowledgeable baseball fan would prefer a .182 hitter over a .322 hitter? Defensively these guys aren’t that much better.. and JP is better than Manny on defense.. so he is credible as a defensive replacement…
Seriously, if our 4th outfielder hitting .313 is our biggest problem then we are in pretty good shape…
More serious issues for this team… the lack of a lefty in the bullpen other than a rookie (Leach), some shaky starting pitching, Furcal’s lack of production… he’s only hitting .240 right now.. and is about to be our leadoff hitter…
The $10,000,000 Fantasy Bar ~ another two years in Fantasyland!
Sigh of using Hoffmann sample size of 22 AB’s to someone that has 245 official AB’s really? Repko could played all 3 OF’s positions just like Werth could and if he was healthy we would probably had resigned him and had an outfielders of Werth, Kemp and Ethier and this could’ve been the best trio in the league. How many homeruns those Repko have in the minor right? Repko does have 11 career homeruns in around 424 AB’s in the major. Pierre has 13 career homeruns in 5,398 ab’s which is terrible for an outfielder. This team should have at least 3 guys with 20+ homeruns in the outfielders and we do but Pierre going to steal at bats from both Ethier and Kemp which is a totally joke. I would rather have Repko as are 4th since Manny would be replace for a defensive replacement. I’m still trying to figure out how Pierre had 13 assists in 1999 in the minor. Repko has more homerun this year than Pierre had in his entire minor league career.
I wish we could voided Pierre and even Schmidt and give those money to Mitch so he could signed Brown, Ariza and Odom.
Shad ~ that’s okay! lol I almost did too! I’m glad you said that.
Oh no I just engaged.
Crap……..I’m in a time warp again!!!
Oh my I was wondering where the heck Dessens has gone to but he overthere in NY.
Enchanted ~ How about Slappy Taffy?!
That’s a s-t-r-e-t-c-h Tru!!! (nyuk nyuk)
Since May 28, JP has done the following: .278/.283/.244 That sucks in anybody’s book, especially leading off.
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While Manny’s been gone (and I’ve said this before), JP is the third best OFer. But for Joe to state that he’s going to give him 1-2 starts a week in place of Manny, Kemp or Dre is absurd and not good baseball by any stretch of the imagination.
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As for JP being a good 4th OFer, my post above says all I have to say on that.
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And of course, the whole point is moot because we only carry 4 OFers and JoJo’s and idiot so basically, I’m just claiming my God given right to bitch.
Is that because he hits like a weiner 32? LMAO
NEW CONTEST: Name Little Babe’s candy bar.
.
I would just call it “Little Oscar”
Now, now boys, we may be accused of bashing! LMAO!!!! Like I give a rats a**!!!!
Jhall likes “Pile”……..how about PileOmite?!
Tru is in a bad mood today!
Sorry sir, I was out of the office. What can I do for you?
Wow you rarely seen that happen and I know Dusty like to used Owings as a PH but him using him for another position player and not another pitcher is crazy.
Someone spiked Tru’s fiber today – she’s a bit fiesty!!!
She has been drinking your koolaid :))
It was spiked with your Bunt and Run, Enchanted!!! LMAO!!
I wouldn’t touch that line with a 10-foot pole!!!
LMAO!!!!!
LMAO!!!!!!!
I wonder who was the last person to hit for the cycle in his major league debut because this guy Jones for the Pirates just need the easy hit in the game and that the single.
…but you know you want to enchanted – LMAO!!!!!!
I hate it when that happens!!
lol Young must had a Bradley melt down.
I love seeing Krod failed.
How about the “Everlasting Juan Peanutty Bar” ?- a chocolate peanut butter bar that is good for a day or so, but once the flavor is gone, you just want to get rid of it but it just doesn’t go away no matter how hard you try.
LOL!!!!