Category: Dailies

Time to salvage a victory…

A win today in St. Louis would be big, needless to say. Been pretty busy lately and hadn’t had the chance to post much in depth, but will try to post more this weekend from SF.

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Berroa, SS

Ardoin, C

Kershaw, P

Tonight's game

Spent the morning at a Public Relations Society of America event where I was on a panel with my counterparts from the Lakers, Clippers, Angels, Sparks, Avengers, Ducks and Chivas USA. Pretty cool event that was held at Angel Stadium, where one of my mentors, Tim Mead was the host.  It’s always cool to hear best practices from the other leagues and learn a little something from people who have been in sports for a long time.

Here’s tonight’s lineup in St. Louis:

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Ozuna, 2B

Berroa, SS

Lowe, P

I Love the 80s

For anyone who grew up in the 80s, today’s luncheon was undoubtedly a huge success, as Fernando, Sax, Welch, Leary, Garvey, Russell, Cey, Monday, Mota…well, how ’bout just posting a photo so you can see all the guys that were there. There was even an appearance by Diamondbacks’ coach Kirk Gibson. You can check out the whole photo gallery from the event.

80s.jpg

Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the luncheon, as I was at a memorial this morning for Matt McHale, the former Daily News reporter who passed away a few weeks ago. Many of his colleagues organized a gathering at Encino Little League and everyone got together to tell stories about an incredible guy.

On a lighter note, despite last night’s loss, the clubhouse seemed loose, with Manny Ramirez cracking up a large group of reporters for a good 10 minutes. Not quite like yesterday’s full-on news conference, but as of today, Manny is staying with No. 99 and says he wants to be in LA for the rest of his career. He says he’s only seeking peace. After just 48 hours, I can safely say that the guy definitely cracks me up.

Joe Torre said that though Juan Pierre is in the lineup tonight, nothing is permanent and that he’s not burying Andre Ethier. He’ll play here and there and Joe has yet to figure out exactly how it will play out.

He also said that there’s a chance we’ll see Furcal next month, which would obviously be a huge boost.

Here’s tonight’s lineup: 

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Martin, C

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Kent, 2B (first time hitting sixth as a Dodger…last time was Aug. 7, 2004)

Blake, 3B

Berroa, SS

Kuroda, P

Mannymania

Dodger Stadium is buzzing like I haven’t seen in quite some time. Tonight’s game is now sold out and while there’s tickets for tomorrow and Sunday still available, I’d bet there won’t be for long. We had about 150 media members on the field for Manny’s first media availability and needless to say, it’s been an interesting 30 hours or so.

Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel seemed to dominate a lot of the news conference on the field, but that’s ok. He also got Manny to give him a hug. Plus, our TV producer Brad Zager found a funny way to show “Manny being Manny” in tonight’s broadcast on FSN Prime Ticket so tune in to check it out. KABC 790 came down from 3 p.m. on and broadcast live with Larry Elder and Doug McIntyre, then went straight into an early edition of DodgerTalk at 6 p.m. and they’re practically going all Manny, all the time.

There’s been so much media coverage the last 24 hours, our daily clips packet looks like a movie script. I’ve got to imagine this will slow down eventually, much like craziness surrounding Joe Torre did shortly after his arrival, but it’s definitely keeping everyone on their toes.

To make room for Manny, Nomar heads to the DL…Joe Torre said he wants to make sure he’s 100 percent before he comes back which is why we were extra cautious.

Joe also said that Juan Pierre will likely get the bulk of the time with Kemp and Manny for now, taking nothing away from Andre Ethier. Not tonight, though, as Andruw is in the lineup against a tough lefty like the Big Unit. I seem to remember the last time we had a 20-year-old phenom square off against him, Edwin Jackson did pretty well. Of course, I’d like to think that Clayton’s future will take a different path than Edwin’s did, but only time will tell.

Here’s the lineup:

Kemp, RF

Blake, 3B

Martin, C

Manny, LF

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B

Jones, CF

Berroa, SS

Kershaw, P

What can I really say?

Yesterday was an insane day from start to finish and we expect more of the same for today. At some point I’ll try to post a little more about all that went on yesterday, but right now I’ve got to clear through the endless emails and phone calls that have come into our department.

But, at the very least, you’ve got a new thread to comment.

The desert comes to Hollywood

It’s hard to believe that the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have had the exact same outcome for eight straight days. I had really hoped we’d be tied going into this showdown, as that would’ve made it even more exciting, but it’s going to be quite a weekend around here. With the WBC announcement, the trade deadline and four games that will determine who is in first place by Sunday, I hope those of you who are local get a chance to come down here to be part of it.

Chad Billingsley’s performance last night was downright dominating. The finish was pretty exciting, too, so much so that Retrosheet’s Dave Smith (a Dodger fan from the Brooklyn days), got curious how many times a shutout has ended with a tag at home plate. Here’s what he sent me this morning:

“I looked at all games from 1954 through last night and find the following:

1) 146 games have ended on a tag play at the plate (no force plays included).

2) Only 12 of those 146 were shutouts

3) The Dodgers have been involved in 3 of the 12:

They lost 4-0 in Philadelphia on 6-07-1975

They beat Montreal in Canada 1-0 on 8-15-2002 Last night’s win 4-0 over the Giants.”

As they say, when the Dodgers and Giants meet, you never know what is going to happen and last night was a very memorable game. Let’s hope it’s the first of many shutouts in Chad’s career.

Deadline is in less than four hours…we’ll see if anything goes down. With everything going on, I might not get to post until much later in the day so keep an eye out for breaking news from Ken Gurnick on the front of the site (I honestly don’t know if we’ll do anything, so that’s not a hint that something is coming…)

 

 

Tonight's game…

Lots of preparation going on today for tomorrow’s news conference regarding the World Baseball Classic. There’s some pretty cool stuff on tap and if you have a TV in your office (or if you’re not quite of the working age yet), tune in live at 1:30 p.m. PT on MLB.com or FSN Prime Ticket (if you’re in LA) to watch the goings on.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Kemp, RF (16-game hitting streak is longest since Nomar hit in 22 straight in ’06)

Blake, 3B (.357-.400-.571 since coming to LA)

Martin, C (back in after a day off)

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B

Jones, CF

Ethier, LF (his Before the Bigs Premieres tomorrow night on Prime Ticket after the game)

Berroa, SS

Billingsley, P