Great American Ball Park

I like the line up tonight. Let see how Andre does in the 5 hole. Let's get back on track tonight!!

Has Little been reading my post. This is by far our best Line up!!!!!
Go Dodgers!!!

I'm excited again can't wait to watch the game.

All right, we got some changes, still got to get the hits. Pierre finally leading off, I really like Ethier in the five hole, but it's only for one game because Gonzo has the game off. It's a start, but we still gotta get the job done!

GO DODGERS!

w0w...
the lineup look so good..

but again... i hope furcal doesn't hit with alot of double plays...

i hope JP gets to leadoff every game...

i don't want him and furcal changing place anymore...

i don't care if it is a left handed or a right handed pithcer all i know is JP can hit leadoff...

Gonzo should just sit out the rest of the year. He's been incredibly awful since the beginning of July.

Great lineup!!! Today is the day to win. I haven't been to very many ball parks, maybe 4 altogether. Dodger Stadium is the best. No one can beat a Dodger dog!!!

Hey Josh, to answer your question about stadiums, well I have gone to Dodger Stadium, San Diego (the old one and new one) San Francisco (At&t Park) Arizona (chase field) Florida (Marlins Stadium) and Anaheim (Angels Stadium) I have gone to 1 minor league stadium (Cashman Field, Las Vegas)

I do plan in visiting all the MLB Stadiums. That's my goal. Have fun Josh.

hey...
speaking of ball parks..

since i have only been here in L.A for 2 years coz im originally from the philippines, i never been to any, even dodger stadium... =(

im planning to go this year though...

that lineup is a breath of fresh air. cant wait to see kemp face harang.

Good to see Ethier move up a little in the lineup.

Just to say, it seems like the rest of especially the NL West have kicked themselves into a high gear and they're pulling away. It really is time for the guys to step up right now, or this year will be an also-ran season. I'm listening to the Rockies destroying the Brewers right now.

Good Job with the lineup...

I could not hope for much more than this...

Griffon
Did you hear that one of the Rockies pitchers broke his leg with a line drive last night? Hirsch.

ouch. that's bad for Hirsch, good for us. He's a decent pitcher.

Hey, that's the exact line up that i proposed this A.M. our fortunes are about to change. GO DODGERS!!

Pads just DFA'd David Wells...

I think he'd be a patented Colletti pick-up.

Not sure if he could help us much though.

manny3vee,

im not sure he is better than hendrickson. and there is no way he is taking tomko's spot.

Interesting--I did not even realize that Pierre was leading off until alex pointed it out. However you line them up, Pierre and Furcal still need to get on. This probably is better--if Pierre gets on, he steals, and a basehit from Furcal scores him. Furcal has not been running nearly as much, so if he gets on, you risk a DP (even with Pierre's speed), and a basehit still only gets him to third.

Big night for Billingsley. In his on-again-off-again relationship with himself, this is the night that we are supposed to see Bad Chad. Hopefully, Good Chad (or, max is right, Ace Chad) comes out for a second-straight start. That would be huge.

I've been to 15 major league parks, including 4 defunct parks, and the best one--undoubtedly, Dodger Stadium. A summer evening at Chavez Ravine is where God intended for Baseball to be played. It's like Tiger at a major--everyone else is just trying to be in second.

Don't forget guys, tomorrow's game is at 0930PST. A matinee.

I have a good feeling about Chad tonight, he is pitching at home, remember guys he is from Ohio, so he should be use to this weahter, and probably have a bunch of friends there also. Let's only hope Ace Chad shows up tonight.

Josh - I've been to Dodger Stadium countless times, Petco Park, Anaheim, and Seattle Safeco (or whatever its called now) besides Doger Stadium Seattle is my fav... for one simple reason. The ushers won't let you go down the aisle and block it during an at bat... What an idea... I hate having to constantly bob around fans moving in the aisles during an at bat! BTW... Dodger Stadium was much better when the only advertisement was for 76 at the top of the scoreboard. Now theres more ads than space and it looks like a minor league field.

Im always nervous playing in that joke of ball park and Bills is HR prone but tonight hopefully he breaks the Jekyll and Hyde thing. Oh jeez please don't up Wells. I can't believe we were almost going to trade for him last year...ugh.

With Tomko pitching tomorrow in a hot day game the balls will be flying out of the ballpark...

Either C-Bills steps up or the Reds will take the broom to us...

Yeah, Dodger Stadium looks like a minor league field. Great observation. *rolls eyes*

Dodger stadium is the best. No one can beat the weather. I have been to Candlestick Park in San Francisco. You could get blown away during a game. I doubt that A T and T is any better. San Francisco is just cold. Petco is gorgeous but a little cold because it's close to the Pacific Ocean. Ameritex Stadium in Arlington Texas is okay. Camden Yards in Baltimore is beautiful. But Dodger Stadium is Dodger Stadium. #1. Go Dodgers.

I was kinda hoping Russell would be moved, I've gotten sick the last few games seeig him up with runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs or one out and him hitting into a DP. Not trying to be nitpicky because everyone is struggling right now.

I would also have to agree Dodger Stadium is the best. I live in the Bay Area but do make it down 3 to 4 times a year. I have also been to Oak Coliseum, At&t Park, Metrodome, Shea Stadium, Wrigley and old parks Comisky, Candlestick and Qualcomm.

kinda ***** that im at work, I enjoy wearing my Bills jersey when he pitches, not appropriate attire in a "professional" atmosphere im afraid. Nice to see all the kids in the line up tonight. I hope I can get tonight's game on mlb.tv.

Not to complain too much, my brother is a huge Angels fan and I was catching the last couple of innings of the game last night, I hope the Dodgers were too. The team knows how to play small ball and how to win doing. They are a team who is very capable of moving players along and players who can run... almost all of them are agressive.

simbajazz, how can you doubt Russell Martin? The guy is a stud and he has been in a drought, who isn't, but he will deliver. Hang in there, let's not abandon ship just quite yet. Remember, we're chasing the DBacks not the RedSox.

I think that finger pointing is useless at this point. Everyone is struggling. As soon as the team gets it together, they will triumph. I still remember those 6 runs in the last couple of innings and that was just a week ago. The team had just been losing by one point!! Go Dodgers.

David Wells has been given the option of retiring by the Pads. Let's hope that for our sake, Dodgers, he does so that Ned doesn't consider him a viable option.

I really like the way this lineup looks. And xoxrussell, I agree. Blame has been heaped on just about every player, the manager, GM, etc., but the bottom line is that the players the Ds counted on for offense around the All-Star break have been pretty much silent for the last week. Hopefully this shuffle can shake some life into them all.

Wells would be better then Tomko as the 5th starter.

Lets hope it all we click tonight or 4th place will be all ours.

Well, let's see their last start , I don't have Tomko's #'s but i know Wells gave up 7 or 8 straight hits in a 10 run 5th.

I'm not doubting Russell I did say at the end that everyone is struggling, I think there must be something magical about that 6th spot this year and something about that 3 spot, Nomar was moved down and he's thrived the last month or so, maybe Russell just needs that extra boost to get his confidence going again. That's all nothing against the guy at all.

Ethier move up in the lineup is LONG LONG overdue.

Atleast this gets Pierre out of everyones way for one inning.

"Wells would be better then Tomko as the 5th starter."

nope. BK Kim would be, joe Kennedy would have been but the D'Backs picked them up. DAvid Wells needs to retire and worry about getting healthier so he doesn't die in 5 years.

thats a pretty dark outlook Doc Max :P

He's got diabetes. It's a miracle that Boomer can still pitch.

Hey max, i want him to retire, not die!!! Wow. Let's hope he retires, or at least doesn't become a Dodger, and lives for many more years. Yeah?

After the July 31 deadline, Ned Colletti went on vacation, while the D-Backs grabbed anyone and everyone that possibly could help them.

The D-Backs organization and players are on top of their game, only Ned Colletti is to blame!

Do you honestly think BK Kim or Joe Kennedy would make our team much better? Our problem over the last week has been scoring runs, not so much the pitching.

I never said i wanted him to die. I want him to retire and get his life together. Please God NED DON'T SIGN BOOMER! Maybe 10 years ago!

Thats whats wrong with Ned. All of his signings this offseason would have been brillant 5 or 6 years ago.

"Wells is owed just slightly under $1 million for the rest of the season and is earning approximately $170,000 per start in incentive bonuses. He could appeal to another contender in need of starting pitching, including possibly the Padres' NL West rivals, the Dodgers."

Fox Sports

Max he did learn his trade under Sabean, just look at all the has beens they have signed over the years.

Ok we can keep Lurch and Tomko as the 4th and 5th and pray to god we win every Penny, Lowe and Bills start from here on out.

"contender"

HA

As much as it pains me to say this, Tomko is better than Wells. Wells, for all intensive purposes, is done. He'd have been cut sooner if he didn't get to pitch in a cavern.

why scrutis? thats just saying "eh who cares if we really don't have a chance 2 out of 5 games"

Especially with this offense. We can't have a pitcher go out there who is going to give up 4 or 5 runs all the time. It's just not possible. We got down 4-0 last night and we all knew the game was over.

I dont know whats a bigger problem, the fact that we knew the game was over or that the team knew.

its not like they didn't have a *chance* to score yesterday. they ran themselves out of every opportunity they had. somebody needs to clutch up, or something like that.

We need to score first tonight, if we give up some early runs we are looking at the same problem as last night. The way the team looks to be pressing an early lead would be nice. Try a little small ball Grady!

The line up today is a good start, things are being shaken up. Bills has been pitching well. If we can get everything to click for ONE game maybe it opens the flood gates..We're not done yet.

That's because Lurch and Bomko are killing us. Even though Lurch pitched well after the 1st last night, but we need real pitchers for the pennant chase.

ugh this is frustrating

At this point in the year there isn't much out there to upgrade one, let alone two starters. Our only chances are Wolf making a surprise return or someone down on the farm.

Pierre is moving the wrong way in the lineup. He needs to be down in the 8 spot not up in the 1. At least Andre got moved up. Good to see Kemp and Ethier both starting as well.

We gone through two seasons of running out Bomko and Hendrickson...

By bringing in fresh blood, even if the players are just marginally better, it can shake things up and show the players that management is not content to just sit back and lose!

Kim is better than Tomko

Kennedy is similar but no worse than Hendrickson.

As for Sanez and Hernandez, it surprising they are still in the Major Leagues, no less on would be contender?

scurtis, I haven't seen a single rotation in our division that doesn't have serious rotation issues right now, the Pads have suspect starters, as well as the D-Backs and Rockies so really we just need to get our offense going.

I've been to Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium,Connie Mack Stadium,Shea Stadium, Veterans Stadium,Wrigley Field, Fenway Park & Citzen Bank Park. I only was in one dugout. The Yankee dugout on a tour of the stadium. I hope to someday go to Dodger Stadium.____ Yes the got to get out of this slump and they will____LET'S HOPE FOR A REPEAT OF LAST YEAR'S RUSH.

The team that gets hottest with the BATS in this division will win it. Pitching amongst the DBacks, Pads and Dodgers is to close to decide the division.

true the division rotations are stuggling. Pads do get Young back don't they next start?

Rockies win today over Brewers 19-4..We are now in 4th place..unless we win tonight and then we are tied.
I have been saying these for the last few weeks..Sorry to say, Rockies have a better team and I expect them to be ahead of us in the standings..Very difficult to say that, but our line up is far inferior to theirs, and they now have pretty good pitching...Let's hope Ned makes better decisions next year..Hopefully it doesn't get worse..but we have Pierre for another 4 years..

Don't count out the Rockies...that would be shortsighted of Dodger fans...I like the Dbacks and Pads have pretty good pitching, but I think the Dbacks and Rockies have the best lineups.....Will Bills pull out the win tonight?..or if they score a run, do we lose?????

Yes Young will come back for his next but he has been a historically bad second half pitcher, Germano and Wells replacement will be shaky at best and Maddux is a coin flip this year. But for some reason I'm still more worried about the Pads than I am the D-Backs.

The Rockies also just lost Hirsch to a fractured leg so they will start to see some issues with their pitching depth as well.

Almost game time, I predict 2 for us in the first!

Yeah, giving Pierre more PAs is the answer.

Pierre is solid at 2. Im more worried about Martin at 3. Hopefully he can get some hits with RISP tonight and get off to a quick start.

Set the tone Furc!

Pierre is not solid at #2. He's an out producing machine. If he needs to be in the lineup it needs to be in the 8 hole.

and if my aunt had bawls she'd be my uncle...can we please stop beating this dead-horse with Pierre.

JP's first at bat bunt to the mound. Nice!

I have a lot of respect for the Rockies. They've developed a heck of a young team. Their only veteran Helton they would like to get rid off, but there's been nobody wanting to take on his contract. Actually Helton has performed better than any of our veterans. If we don't win the division, I would even root for the Rockies to do it. That would be a real underdog move up. If you could put their lineup together with our three front line pitchers, you would have a team that would run away from the division.

This slump has been a downer, especially hearing all the Giants fans acting like they beat the Yankees in October last night. But I'm betting the Dodgers aren't going out like this. There's too much talent on this team to just fade away like the Angels teams of the mid-90's.

As for baseball trips, the only one that I can say was a multi-park baseball trip was when I still lived in SoCal, and went to visit family up in San Jose. The Dodgers and A's were starting the first series of interleague that weekend, so we caught the second game. Not knowing what we all know now, it was great to see the Bash Bros., McGwire and Canseco, for my first time and their last (probably apocryphal) season together. It was also the big league debut of Karim Garcia, which many Dodger fans held in high esteem as a prospect. We won that one, and I actually had to dodge an angry old lady on the way out threating to take any Dodgers fans on the way out.

Then, on the way back to SoCal a few days later, my dad figures, what the heck, let's stop by The Stadium for the Dodgers Angels series (the first time it meant something). When I was growing up, the Angels were like my second favorite team, and their only matchups with the Blue consisted of exhibition games where the infielders would draw and write in the clay in between batters. That night, all bets were off in the right field pavillion. Angels fans who stood and cheered their team were met with full cups of soda and nacho remnants, while random fans chastised those poor O.C.'ers with lines like "GO BACK TO DISNEYLAND YOU STUPID F---S!!" Shigetori Hasegawa came in for Anaheim (or was it California) in relief, and the whole stadium started chanting "NOMO! NOMO!" Then, as we were up in the top of the 9th with two outs, the whole stadium greeted Anaheim's last hope with the arm-flapping salute from Disney's "Angels in the Outfield" remake. Good times.

(Other parks I've been to: Jack Murphy, the Big A, and the outside of SF's Phone Booth twice)

People have the right to discuss the problems the Dodgers have. Pierre is one of the major problems. As long as Colletti is saying things like, "Our expectations were for him to be on base over 200 times and steal 50-plus bases" then it's not a dead horse.

Yeah im happy for the rockies. Ill root for them if we fall out of contention but I don't believe we will.

Nice 1-2-3

NO JP at 8. Kemp belongs there right now.

Go get em CBILL

MARTIN has a tough looking mustache.

i blinked... what happened?

How's that for a start?
Pierre bunts to pitcher

Furcal strikes out

Martin ground out to shortstop.

Now we're facing the Reds best pitcher and we couldn't hit their worst..Who likes our chances??

Wow...what out of the box thinking by the Reds! A guy with a good OBP leading off! What a novel concept!

Quick work in the first inning once again. While we're berating Pierre, how about that overpaid impostor named Furcal. He should have been on DL two months ago, and he could have been back healed and performing at something closer to 100%. I hope that Hu can take his job next year, so maybe we can deal Furcal to somebody for a decent bat.

sanga, You're definitely entitled to talk about whatever you want but if you had spend any of the past 6 months at this blog, you'd know that most of us aren't happy with the Pierre signing and that a number of us have expressed that time and time and time and time again. So really nothing new or insightful is being brought to the table with the negative Pierre commentary. We're stuck with him, so we all need to just deal with it.

The Official Chad Billingsley Pitch Counter:

22 Pitches

15 Strikes

7 Balls

Well, we got out of the first inning without them scoring.
Doesn't everything look like a struggle for the Dodgers?

I'm praying someone in this lineup can break out tonight, but I'm not sure we have the best chance with their ace..

HOPE I"M WRONG.

Harris: Fair enough.

One good inning and a lead will get things back on track hopefully!

Heck a nice long HR might do the trick!

The game will probably only be worth following until the Reds score, though. Bills using plenty of pitches, as is usual on his Bad Days, and the Dodgers not seeing a whole lot of pitches at the plate as is usual on their ... well, most days!

GO, Dodgers! How about a win!

Scurtis

HR....LOL...our best hitter just struck out...kent..gone.

next.

sanga, I didn't mean to harp on you as most of us feel your pain there but any discussion at all of the guy and 2 or 3 people will turn this thread into As the JP Turns episode.

nice inning...2 strike outs and one groundout to shortstop.

not looking good guys..this is their ACE...and with the way the Dodgers are not hitting, they don't even have to face an ace to look bad.

Depressing.

my friend just asked me what happened to the Dodgers, my response, "they broke their wee-wees"

I would love to blame our offense, because it's an easy target. But, Harang looks pretty good out there. At least when Arroyo was out there, I could at least tell it was on us with some of the pitches we missed. But, Harang looks sharp and he's got some filthy stuff.

lol...or their bats fezzik

alex

You are right about Harang..but the Dodgers don't need good pitchers to look bad...

They're an easy target right now, you don't look cool by attacking what everybody already knows. It's stating the obvious. They're either going to get it together or they won't. All we can do is sit back and hope.

The Official Chad Billingsley Pitch Counter:

38 Pitches

25 Strikes

13 Balls

At least I'm liking the fact that both Ethier and Kemp are playing. Ethier deserves it because he's got one of the best averages, and Kemp needs to be in there to make his adjustments and become productive. Gonzo is not going to bring anything to the party, so he needs to sit back the rest of the season.

Kemps gonna go yard

At least I think that Kemp had a decent AB, particularly since he got screwed on the first two called strikes.

I'm sitting back relax watching and I can't believe my eyes. It's like watcing a 30 inning shitout.

At least the score is tied, 0-0.

Never mind. They scored first. Doesn't look good now.

That's just good, smart fundamental baseball right there.

Indeed, there's the death knell for today.

At least Kemp did have a good at bad. That is heartening. He still has work to do before he'll be a consistent producer, but he has ability.

Bad Chad. Too many pitches, leadoff double, and now a run. Hopefully he will settle in, and eventually we're going to see Ace Chad show up every (or nearly every) time. But we need runs no matter what.

Funny that pierreseastmeetswest's typo was not caught. But I kind of agree with the unedited version.

I'm getting quietly smashed on gin and tonics tonight (actually early evening), so much that I say from now on may not make much sense. But before I fade out, I just want everybody to know what a terrible job Colletti has done this season.
LOGAN WHITE IN 2008!!!

LOL, I couldn't agree more leekfink

Big batter here. He needs to get Mr Lack of Hustle EE

Unrelated to the game--Josh, Jon on Dodger Thoughts mentioned that a reader would send him tapes of Vin Scully's call of ballgames throughout the years. Do the Dodgers have a collection of all the games archived somewhere? This would be a huge treasure, and I am probably not the only one who would happily pay for recording of old games. Put them on iTunes, and you could download some of the great games (whole games are preferable--Vinny's call of Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series was great, but his call of the whole game was great--it was his scanning the dugout that drive Gibby to start hitting).

Just a thought.

The Official Chad Billingsley Pitch Counter:

57 Pitches

36 Strikes

21 Balls

That 1 run is gonna cost us.. i think Harang is gonna throw a perfect game today.

Can somebody think of something to change the luck. Like have the whole team stand on their heads.

This 1-0 deficit feels like a 10 run lead for Cincy to me.

Yay! No perfect game!

Hey... a guy on base... thats new... maybe they should have martin bunt him over so he doesnt hit into ANOTHER double play.

If Kent hits into a DP here Im leaving!

Please give us at least a deep flyout

As far as baseball trips go, my husband and I have set ourselves the goal of going to at least one new MLB stadium a year. We were going to go over to Phoenix for this year's new trip, but with the Dodgers nosediving there is no sense in spending so much money.

I've only been to Dodger Stadium and the Giants' stadium. Sad to say the Giants have some real good concessions, much better than Dodger stadium ( Dodger Dogs excepted! ). And they also keep fans from moving down the aisles while an at bat is in progress, eliminating the awful craning required to get around people who are happy to stand up and chat right in front of you during an at bat. With the good sight lines in Dodger Stadium, why can't people stand there and watch the action and then come down between at bats, with users keeping them in place between at bats? That way everybody wins.

I guess that is not workable because of the number of isles that need to be blocked off. Giants' stadium has more obvious choke points between concessions and seats.

Anyway, Bills, sorry you're going to lose the game now, man. Never should have given up that run.

Jeff Brantley is so annoying!

No, we find other ways no to score...

can our offense be any further from fundamental baseball?

HAHAHAHAHA

GAME OVER

I think I'm gonna go throw up now, are you kidding me???

Yeah that was a joke

Apparently this game of baseball is a lot harder then it looks.

lol. these team is so bad.

what is going on here?

billingsley is awfully wild today.. thats not good.

im gonna stop watching this game and maybe it will be just my luck to miss the team turn things around. Im taking one for the team here. Hope it works out.

are they warming houlton up yet?

Houlton will get hit harder in this ballpark

It may be Bad Chad, but he's a magician at getting out of bad jams he puts himself in.

Wow I think I just chewed off my fingernails that last inning.