Happy Birthday
Two key members of the 1981 World Champion Dodgers are celebrating birthdays today.
Best wishes go out to Steve Garvey and Kenny Landreaux! Also Al Ferrara, who came back to Dodger Stadium for the first time in nearly two decades earlier this season and has been back in the mix with the team ever since. In fact, he even came out to our company holiday party last week, as did Kenny.
Inside the Dodgers 
Happy Birthday Steve and Kenny!
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Jhall ~ from the last thread, right on! 🙂
Groovy Trumom!!!!
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Well said on the last thread Wally! Godspeed on your trip as well!!
Happy birthday to Garvey, et. al. Some random comments about the Garv: I prefer to remember him for what he did as a player because his off the field exploits, at least what has been made public, are contrary to the image he had as a player. That being said, Garvey represents an interesting story because he met the challenge once given the chance to play first base. Had that not happened, no telling what might have been his fate since he could not throw worth a darn as a third baseman. I was going thruough some old scorebooks some time ago and came across a game from 1970 in which Garvey made two throwing errors while playing third base. But he could hit and he could out work everyone else to become what I like to call a money player. He was the type of player a fan came to see play. You knew you would get his best effort every game and no matter how many times he failed at the plate, he would come up with a big double to drive in a key run. The best thing I remember is how he reacted to a close pitch, especiall one that knocked him down. No charging the mound, no gestures, nothing like that. He got back into the box and usually slammed the next pitch in the gap. So yes, him reputation may be a bit tarnished but I will forever be grateful to his playing days as a Dodger. It was really hard seeing him in a Padre uniform but here is another interesting point. As I recall, he wanted a four year deal but the Dodgers were only willing to give three. Some in the organization did not want him at all. Anyway, he had three decent seasons with the Padres but it was during that fourth year that his playing skills declined drastically, and I don’t think he completed the season. That was his last year in the game as a player. Draw your own conclusions.
I always liked Garv, and he saved Cey and especially Russell countless errors scooping throws out of the dirt.
Speaking of diminished skills, does anyone really think Manny is going to be any better than last season? I think he’ll be lucky to see 80 RBI.
That is, assuming he plays the whole season and doesn’t take a 100 game vacation.
Do you guys remember the throwing woes of Sax? He went through a spell where he could not throw the ball from 2nd to 1st!
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I also liked Garvey….in fact, I loved that entire team!
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I’m hoping that with a full Spring Training, Manny will have something to prove. And, I hope he does well to compliment Dre and Matty.
E, I am not sure what to expect from Manny. Will he come into camp in shape and ready to go? Will his legs hold up? Will he have the drive to be the best and if so, will his body cooperate? I guess I have to say I will be pleasantly surprised to see him hit his career average and 20-25 home runs. Frankly, I do not expect him to finish the season.
Sax’ problem was mental. Garv’s problem was physical. He could not grip the ball very well and if you remember, he often avoided making throws as a first baseman.
As I remember Garvey, once he played himself out of 3B, he became utility/pinch hitter. He got on a pinch-hitting run in ’73 and just kept getting key hits game after game…and with power, too. And so the old adage came into play: if you can hit, they’ll find a place for you. Wes Parker had retired after 1972 and Buckner was the heir at 1st base. A little position juggling and the rest is history.
Landreaux had been a hitting machine in Minnesota, but it never quite translated to L.A. Still, he had a good career as a Dodger.
Thirty years from now (God help me live so long…) what will I remember about 2010? Jamie’s divorce settlement?
I used to like watching Buckner play. Too bad he broke his leg and too bad all anyone remembers about him is a ball going through his legs. He deserves better.
Out of this articles comes a new meaning for the acronym DL.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, even in sports:
A:The Dodgers lose Randy Wolf to the Brewers in free agency, cut ties to Orlando Hudson and sign utility man Jamey Carroll to platoon with Blake DeWitt at second base.
R:Right now their rotation is Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, Charlie Haeger and maybe Scott Elbert. Billingsley was 3-7 in the second half with a 5.20 ERA. “We’re going to have to be creative,” general manager Ned Colletti said last week. “But, this time last year, we didn’t have Casey Blake signed, we didn’t have Hudson, and we didn’t get Manny Ramirez back until March. There’s a lot of time to get some things done. We still have a good bullpen and a pretty solid lineup.”
A: The Dodgers have nine arbitration-eligible players.
R: And that’s probably why the Dodgers haven’t been more aggressive in the market. All they have to do is deal with Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, Russell Martin, George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo and Billingsley. Whatever happens, the Dodgers will have to make this lineup play better than last year’s did in the second half, because San Francisco and Colorado are coming ? and, maybe, Arizona, with Edwin Jackson backing up Dan Haren and Brandon Webb in the rotation. These are the problems you face when your franchise winds up on the DL (Divorce List).
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dodgers-225245-play-gerhart.html&ct=ga&cd=JoQuC5-uglU&usg=AFQjCNHY498prfuAC__IXC-4-uZUMfO6vg
Wouldn’t you just love to know what Ned means by being creative?
Didn’t I see somewhere the Dodgers led the bigs in attendance? Doesn’t that translate to a lot of money? Isn’t
that what it takes to get the players we need to compete on the top level in today’s game? Why are we marking time while the best teams are getting better?
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Colletti is right. There is a lot of time left, but will any of the players we need be left for us?
Read the LA Times interview. The team is obviously on the verge of losing money in spite of leading the league in attendance. That’s what happens when you’re totally leveraged in debt and facing a divorce to boot.
Now in addition to dealing with people like the
McTurds and Moron Ned, and Idiot Joe, we have the pleasure of getting acquainted with Porta-Potty Mannion.
The comments made by Dennis Mannion in today’s LA Time article scare the heck out of me. All I can hope is that the McCourts are forced to sell the team very soon.
Well, that article was very interesting and not convincing to me, a fan, that things are going well with our organization, but then again, this ITD group (readers and writers) will definitely need to see the proof that things are better.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-mannion23-2009dec23,0,3023943.story
Here’s the article if you don’t have immediate access to it.
Who’s this Ned that Mannion’s talking about?
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“Ned has demonstrated a fantastic ability to read the talent market.”
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“So I have a lot of confidence, and Frank has a lot of confidence, in Ned’s ability to work the system and come up with the right opportunities for us.”
Certainly not Ned Colletti. Doesn’t the system play Ned? JP, AJ, Schmidt, Sao, Bombko, Lurch, Nomar II, Carter, Baez, and a cast of thousands rather belies the “judge of talent” as well.
As far as Mannion goes, this pretty much sums up everything: “If the opportunity is in buying more portable concession stands, then that’s what you do.” Backpedal as he might try, he’s the one that brought it up in the first place. As an old friend of mine told me, “you have to think it before you can say it.” And therein lies the rub – it’s more PROFITABLE to fleece the fans by adding more concessions than it is to put the money into baseball operations.
Spin, spin, spin, but you don’t need to strain too much to read between the lines. Frank’s regime is fatally flawed from the top on down.
Has a major league ballclub actually been put in bankruptcy?
I’m waiting for the day when the Dodgers’ front office cannot make payroll. Not everybody will be willing to defer their pay as Manny and even Carroll have done.
Think that’s impossible?
Don’t listen to what Porta-Potty Mannion wants to tell you about the team finances.
From the home office in Vero Beach, Flori… I mean, Glendale, Arizona, Top Three things that comes to mind when reading Dennis Mannion’s LA Times interview. (probably Not Safe For Work)
Number 3: Tie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIP_KDQmXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M
Number 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9MxTRspXpQ#t=27s
And the Number 1 thing that came to mind when reading Dennis Mannion’s LA Times interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG5cf9azqU4&NR=1#t=3m26s
Merry Christmas ITD!
I have to totally agree with enchanted and bear regarding Mannion.
2 interesting (scary?) tidbits from the Times article on Mannion:
1. Dodgers led the league in attendance. – $$$$$
2. Dodgers just about broke even. – huh?
I’m hoping McCheap gets visited by 3 Christmas spirits tomorrow night.
LOL North!!
May I be so presumptuous as to file an ITD group response to the Mannion article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeV-DI09Q3w
you folks know how screwed we are, don’t you? I mean seriously. Maybe not now, but soon. We should be talking about locking up our young players, not divorces and ******* concession stands. Josh get you’re resume ready.
Have to agree with you jungar!
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I imagine Benjamin’s getting pretty big now?
As soon as I finished reading the Mannion interview in today’s Times this morning I laughed to myself thinking, “this should get some interesting comments from ITD”. I agree, Mannion’s comments did not enlighten anything even though the interviewer tried. But what did you really expect to learn? Does anyone really expect someone whose checks are signed by Frank McCourt to say anything negative about the day to day operations of the organization or to give any information that could be used against it? It is starting to look as if the front office is being run the same way the team played last year: with smoke and mirrors.
Here’s to the new chief A**Hole, Porta-Potty Mannion!
Down the hatch!
And again!!!
Thx for asking Enchanted. Yeah he is just over 2 now. Sorta why I bailed for awhile…no time.
Happy Holidays everyone