Plenty of programming for today…

As you’ve probably heard by now, the ThinkCure radiotelewebethon is underway…

It started this morning on KABC 790 at 5 a.m. with Hiroki Kuroda matching the first $25,000 in donations and continues all the way through the postgame show.

PRIME TICKET has eight straight hours of programming starting at 11 a.m. and there is some amazing stuff that you can watch while you’re at the office or home today.

KCAL, which has been running touching stories all week, picks up at 6:30 for the pregame show and then throughout tonight’s game.

And for those who didn’t hear, this is an amazing way to donate and get something back. From 5-6 p.m. tonight at Dodger Stadium, you can pinch hit for Davey Lopes and take your picture with Garvey, Cey and Russell for a donation of $100 or more at the ThinkCure suite (221) on the club level. And, during the seventh and eighth innings, for a similar donation, you can take your picture with Fernando Valenzuela and the 1981 World Series trophy in the same location.

Now those are two photos you’ll save for a lifetime.

And of course, the online auction is going straight through the weekend and in the battle of the Joshs, we’re winning, $510 to $367 as of this minute.

So please, if it’s at all possible, find a way to take part this weekend and help find a cure for cancer. The dollar value isn’t important. It’s contributing something that matters. In fact, for those in the texting generation, if you text JOIN to 90999, you’ll make a $5 donation through your phone bill (standard messaging rates apply). Everyone can afford that, right?

Thanks to all of you for supporting ThinkCure and remember to tune in today and tomorrow to Prime Ticket, KCAL, KABC and KLOS.

Busy days…

So much going on these days, I didn’t have time to post anything yesterday so throwing a new thread out there for everyone.

Might not have time until game time tonight, either, as we’re gearing up for the ThinkCure radiotelethon this weekend (don’t forget the Battle of the Joshs benefiting ThinkCure), an afternoon news conference today with the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, and lots of other random things that fill our days just like the rest of you in the business world.

Let’s hope we can make this series like last year’s NLDS…we’ve got to get back on the horse! Fortunately, no one downstairs seems to be panicking despite our recent struggles, which is big.

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Hudson, 2B

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Weaver, P

 

Battle of the Joshs

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The ThinkCure radiotelewebethon is this weekend and once again, two of the auction items online hit close to home. You can now bid online for the opportunity to spend a day following yours truly around the stadium. You can also bid to follow KABC’s Josh Suchon around the stadium and of course, all of the proceeds go to ThinkCure!, our official charity.

Last year, a battle ensued between the “other Josh” and myself, with Inside the Dodgers coming through and beating KABC in the end. We’ll have to do it again this year, so I’m leaning on those of you who have the money and inclination to give to a great cause.

Here’s what I can tell you about last year’s winner…after the fact, the winner sent a letter to ThinkCure saying that even though she paid only about $1,500, the experience was worth closer to $10,000. My typical day takes me to the Dodger clubhouse, on the field, into the manager’s office, into the broadcasting booths of a couple Hall of Famers, and countless other really cool things. So if you have the means, now’s the time to step up and show what Inside the Dodgers can do! (Of course, there are tons of great items to bid on that have nothing to do with either Josh).

And please forgive me if there are shameless plugs throughout the week, as the auction ends next Monday.

And on that note, here’s tonight’s lineup against the Cards.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF (Kemp’s been a little under the weather)

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Hudson, 2B

Billingsley, P

As for Thursday, Jeff Weaver will start for us. Joe Torre said that the DL is becoming more apparent as an option for Kuroda, but we’ll wait a few days and see. He expects that Haeger will get at least another start at this point.

Homestand kicks off…

Hiroki Kuroda still has slight interrmittent headaches so he won’t start Thursday. Joe Torre still isnt’ sure who will be throwing for us that day and we don’t know if he’ll go on the DL. According to Joe, Kuroda had a big smile on his face today and Elbert is one option. He hopes to know by the end of the game today who will start on Thursday.

Obviously he needs to be 100 percent before he goes back out there. He will be reevaluated by a doctor tomorrow but the medical department sent him home to ‘rest the brain.’ All the things out here overstimulate the brain, according to Stan. Tomorrow he might stay out here longer and we can see how he responds to the stimulus.

Aumus is in the lineup because he has more experience catching a knuckleballer.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Hudson, 2B

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Kemp, CF (live chat with him tomorrow at 2 p.m. PT)

Loney, 1B

Ausmus, C

Haeger, P

 

Hiroki on our minds

What a tough game last night and a hard thing to watch…I’m sure many of you longtime fans had immediate flashback to Kaz Ishii and fortunately, the CT scan came back clear, so hopefully Kuroda will be okay. It’s a scary game and sometimes we can lose sight of that until we’re jarred back to reality.

On a much more positive note, Eric Collins is in town on an ESPN assignment so he hit up a game for the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers and weighed in over at Psychollingy.

And for those who didn’t see yesterday’s post, Lil Matt has hit the town. It’s on YouTube, too.

 

Clayton's Place

Here’s a cool note from Jayson Stark of ESPN…

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but 21-year-old Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw seems to be under this nutty impression that he’s never supposed to give up a hit. He’s now made SEVEN starts this year in which he’s gone at least five innings and allowed either two hits or one.

And according to baseball-reference.com’s fabulous Play Index, only one other pitcher, age 21 or younger, in the last 55 years has cranked out that many starts of two hits or fewer in a season. That was the Giants’ Matt Cain, who also had seven in 2006.

But no one else that young has had more than FOUR in a season. The group at four: Dennis Eckersley (1976), Storm Davis (1983), Steve Avery (1991) and CC Sabathia (2001).

And in case you’re wonder about the most starts like that by a pitcher of any age in the division-play era, it’s 10, by Nolan Ryan – age 44 at the time – in 1991.

Here’s the lineup for tonight’s opener at Arizona…

Furcal, SS

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

Hudson, 2B

Kershaw, P

Where in the world is Tommy Lasorda?

This week, he was in Midland, Michigan to watch the Single-A Loons and you can read about it here on his blog.

And this weekend, he heads to Brooklyn to be inducted in the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame!

Meanwhile, from what I understand, despite yesterday’s tough loss the team’s spirits are pretty high. They managed to come back when they were down to their last strike against one of the game’s top pitchers and still took two out of three from the charging Giants.

Tomorrow we kick off the weekend in Arizona where we need to continue to win series. Safe to say that if we take two out of every three games from here on out, we’ll be just fine!

 

Going for the San Francisco sweep

It’s been a little while since we broke out the brooms up north, but we have a chance to do that today. Lincecum vs. Weaver…on the surface, people will count us out because he’s the reigning Cy Young Award winner but given how well we’ve played the last two days, I’ll take our chances with this lineup:

Furcal, SS

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

Castro, 2B

Weaver, P

According to Joe Torre, Orlando Hudson is available today if needed but with the off day tomorrow, he figured we’d give him the extra day off to get better.

We showed some heart in San Francisco…

The lame headlines have to end at some point, but why start now. Believe it or not, this blog is the feed for the Dodgers’ Facebook page, too, so we have to make sure it’s something remotely exciting, right? I’m assuming you’re all Facebook friends of ours by now, but in case you’re not…

Also, for those of you so inclined to listen, KABC’s DodgerTalk is now being podcast online. It’s usually up within 24 hours of the show, so listen in the next day if you’re not in Los Angeles or just want to hear Ken and Soosh talk about the team with your fellow fans.

And don’t forget, Friday is the sleepover. Have any of you been to this before? It’s a pretty cool annual event and this year is even better because we’re showing Field of Dreams after the Dodger game (and then you and dad can have a catch on the field, right?)

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

Castro, 2B

Wolf, P