Obviously losing seven in a row in the middle of the pennant race isn’t really what we needed to do going back East. But, at least there’s still time to recover. With a month left in the season and six games against Arizona, all hope is not lost. At least I don’t think it is…

That said, Joe is mixing it up tonight in the desert. For the first time in his career, Russ is atop the order. Hope to see some of you at the sleepover tonight.

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Kent, 2B

Kemp, CF

Loney, 1B

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Kuroda, P

and much more importantly, get the Dodgers a much needed victory. Here’s the lineup:

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Maddux, P

Also, we are designating Pablo Ozuna for assignment and recalling Blake DeWitt from Las Vegas.

For those who haven’t seen, Joe Torre recently entered the blogosphere with his own MLBlog called Torre’s Stories. He joins Andre Ethier, who should be adding a new entry to Dining with ‘Dre soon.

Hopefully a change of locale will change the results, as our four-game sweep of the Phillies last week was negated by their own sweep this weekend. We are fortunate that the D’backs only picked up one game in the standings since Friday and we have to fare well against Washington to build some momentum going into the huge weekend series in Phoenix.

Here’s tonight’s lineup in the Dodgers’ first-ever game at the new stadium in DC.

UPDATED LINEUP (Kent back in the lineup)

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Lowe, P (FYI – Derek has made five career starts against the Nationals and is 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA while Washington’s hitters are batting just .195 against him. In his career in August, Lowe is 28-12 (.700), his best winning percentage by far of any month. His 3.28 ERA in the month of August is also his best with September (3.42) ranking second).

Well, I was very much looking forward to posting after last night’s game to talk about the great win and the incredible reaction that the two online auction packages received in the final hour or so of bidding.

We all know how last night’s game turned out, so there’s no use in trying to sugar coat it. That one hurt. We need to get on a roll now before it’s too late.

But what I can say is that I’m extremely grateful that so many of you got involved in the ThinkCure auction online. Inside the Dodgers reigned victorious over KABC in the battle of the Joshes, but the real winners were City of Hope and Childrens Hospital, which will get more than $2,500 directly for cancer research based on two people who won the chance to follow myself and Josh Suchon around for the day.

What started as Josh joking around on the air really helped drive up the prices and I know that several people who post here were among those bidding on the packages. Plus, we got nice help from the guys over at Sons of Steve Garvey.

Hopefully we’ll do this again next year and of course, you can always donate out of the goodness of your heart at thinkcure.org. But again, thanks to everyone who was involved, one way or another. I’ll try to get a list together of how much everything went for…

Here’s tonight’s lineup in Philly:

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Blake, 3B

Berroa, SS

Billingsley, P

 

Thanks to everyone

For those who will be home tonight, be sure to tune into ESPN, as we’re on the Sunday night national game against the Phillies. There’s no question, we’ve got to start winning series now and dropping the first two of this four-game set hurts. But, with three games back and 33 games to go, the D’back could go 20-13 (which is seven games over .500…what they’ve done all year) and we’d have to go 24-9. Doesn’t seem likely, but it’s not impossible.

Now, consider if the D’backs go 17-16 and we go 21-12…we’d still win the West by a game.

Bottom line…there are plenty of games left to play and many of them are against teams that are under .500, but we’ve got to start winning now!

As for the ThinkCure auction, to answer a couple questions, it is for just one person (I can’t really have an entourage at work!) and six years old is probably a little young for this. I don’t believe there’s a formal limit on the site, but I’d say 16 is about as young as we can probably go and get away with it.

There’s about six hours left and we’re beating KABC’s Josh Suchon…it goes until 9 p.m. PT tonight, so make Inside the Dodgers proud and help find the cure for cancer! 

UPDATE: Tonight’s lineup

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Martin, C

Kuroda, P

The ThinkCure auction is down to its final 48 hours and KABC is beating Inside the Dodgers.

The latest thing that is included in the Inside the Dodgers package is a behind-the-scenes look at the Dodger archives, where you never know what you might find. Perhaps a photo with the World Series trophy or running into a Dodger legend from the team’s history. No, we don’t store them in the archives! But they’re in the offices almost every day and we see them all the time, something “the other Josh” can’t lay claim to.

That’s on top of what’s already out there…

– Meeting Joe Torre and taking part in his pregame media session

– Spending about an hour in the clubhouse during pregame, where we interact with numerous players each day, including possibly dealing with potential Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Manny Ramirez or Jeff Kent

– Standing on the field at Dodger Stadium for the National Anthem

– A private tour of the stadium, including areas that the public tour doesn’t go (underground batting cages, player’s lounge, Dodger offices, press box, broadcast booths, DodgerVision booth…remember, as an employee, my badge allows you to goes places where “the other Josh” from KABC can’t go!!) 🙂

– I can’t make any 100 percent guarantees, but I’m going to quietly mention that just about every day of my job requires me to interact with all of the Dodger broadcasters, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday, Charley Steiner, Fernando Valenzuela, Pepe Yniguez and Steve Lyons.

– Your name in the daily notes that are distributed to the media for a one-of-a-kind souvenir

AND IT’S ALL FOR CANCER RESEARCH. I think I might have mentioned that a few times.

My final plug would simply be to say that if this package were known to a much wider audience, I get the feeling it would be going for thousands of dollars. But, it’s basically only known to the small community here on ITD and the audience of DodgerTalk.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Maddux, P

It’s a 12 o’clock game here to finish out the homestand and a win would be great to send the team off on a 10-game road trip. Six out of 10 in a homestand is good, but seven is a lot better.

As for the ThinkCure auction, it’s still going and there are just three days left.

Here are just some of the things you’ll get if you bid on this package:

– Meeting Joe Torre and taking part in his pregame media session

– Spending about an hour in the clubhouse during pregame, where we interact with numerous players each day, including possibly dealing with potential Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Manny Ramirez or Jeff Kent

– Standing on the field at Dodger Stadium for the National Anthem

– A private tour of the stadium, including areas that the public tour doesn’t go (underground batting cages, player’s lounge, Dodger offices, press box, broadcast booths, DodgerVision booth…remember, as an employee, my badge allows you to goes places where “the other Josh” from KABC can’t go!!) 🙂

– I can’t make any 100 percent guarantees, but I’m going to quietly mention that just about every day of my job requires me to interact with all of the Dodger broadcasters, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday, Charley Steiner, Fernando Valenzuela, Pepe Yniguez and Steve Lyons.

– Your name in the daily notes that are distributed to the media for a one-of-a-kind souvenir

And the latest…

After the game, my job includes opening the clubhouse to the media but there’s a 10-minute cooling off period where really the only people allowed in that area are club employees and the actual team. So, if we win, it’s a celebration that no fans ever get to see. If we lose, it tends to be a much more quiet atmosphere and while I can’t promise a win, I can promise that you won’t forget the experience.

I’m going on the assumption that all of you are just waiting until the very end to start bidding, otherwise I just can’t imagine an opportunity like this going for so little money. And remember, it’s ALL GOING TO HELP FIND A CURE FOR CANCER.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Nomar, SS

Manny, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Berroa, 2B

Lowe, P

 

Auction is still going for ThinkCure…KABC’s bid is quickly growing and ours is somewhat stagnant right now. The latest thing to add is that you’ll get a one-of-a-kind souvenir to take home – your name in the Dodgers’ Daily Media Notes. Who knows, it might get read on the air, too.

Here’s the lineup:

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Nomar, SS

Blake, 1B

Martin, 3B

Ardoin, C

Billingsley, P

Greg Maddux is coming back to the Dodgers. The deal is done and we hope to see him here in an hour or two.

UPDATE: That reminds me, the ThinkCure auction is still going on this week and it just so happens that I spend about an hour of each day in the Dodger clubhouse, as would the fan who purchases the package to go Inside the Dodgers.

So, while I can’t make any promises that you’ll definitely meet the newest Dodger, Greg Maddux, it’s always possible that him, Manny or any other future Hall of Famers will wind up in a conversation with me on that day and if you’re standing there, well…

The price is still just at $430 and as you know, there’s currently a battle with KABC’s Josh Suchon to see who can raise more money for cancer research.

I hate to point this out, but Inside the Dodgers is currently losing the battle…

Here are a few of the things I’ve mentioned that are part of my typical day, in addition to the interaction with numerous players on the team:

– Meeting Joe Torre and taking part in his pregame media session

– Standing on the field at Dodger Stadium for the National Anthem

– A private tour of the stadium, including areas that the public tour doesn’t go (underground batting cages, player’s lounge, Dodger offices, press box, broadcast booths, DodgerVision booth…remember, as an employee, my badge allows you to goes places where “the other Josh” can’t go!!) 🙂

– And of course, while I can’t make any 100 percent guarantees, I’m going to quietly mention that just about every day of my job requires me to interact with all of the Dodger broadcasters, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday, Charley Steiner, Fernando Valenzuela, Pepe Yniguez and Steve Lyons. You might take note that the package to visit Vin in his booth is now over $3,000 while this one is still under $500.

LINEUP UPDATE

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Nomar, SS

Blake, 3B

Kuroda, P