Category — Dodgers
Manny Happy Returns
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Kinda looks like Stevie Wonder, huh?
Manny Ramirez and the White Sox are doing just fine. Ramirez got a bloop single, but Paul Kornerko, another former Dodger you might have heard of, delivered the biggest blow as the White Sox rallied Wednesday for another victory in Cleveland, Manny’s former home. The Sox head to another one of Manny’s old stomping grounds with a 3-game series in Boston this weekend. Fran Fenton and the boys will probably meet Manny with a limo at the airport.
Chicago Sun-Times
September 1, 2010 1 Comment
Flirting With A No-No, Kuroda Upstages News Of The Day In L.A. As Dodgers Smack Phillies
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On a day dominated by the opening day of the McCourt’s divorce trial and Manny Ramirez heading to the White Sox, Hiroki Kuroda no-hit the Phillies for 7 1/3 innings before former Dodger Shane Victorino singled to spoil it all in the 8th inning Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Still, the Dodgers came away with a 3-0 victory, cutting the Phillies wild-card advantage to 5 1/2 games.
ESPN LA
D-backs 7, Padres 2: Former Angel Joe Saunders shut down the Padres as San Diego stumbled to their 4th straight loss.
Rockies 2, Giants 1: The Rockies seem to thrive down the stretch. They stole one from the Giants tonight. Carlos Gonzalez, who has taken a back seat to Albert Pujols and Joey Votto in the race for NL MVP, hit an RBI triple off closer Brian Wilson in the 9th and scored on a throwing error to boost Jim Tracy and the Rockies.
August 30, 2010 No Comments
In Court: McCourt Vs. McCourt
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Dodger fans would win big if a judge forces the McCourts to sell the club. Obviously, the worst-case scenario would be if either Frank McCourt or Jamie are awarded control of the Dodgers. Oh doctor. No one even wants to imagine that, particularly Bud Selig and Major League Baseball owners. This is the same group that doesn’t want Mark Cuban in their little clubhouse.
The McCourt proceedings start today, but they surely will be drawn out past the playoffs, World Series, etc.
Yahoo Sports
August 30, 2010 No Comments
Up Next For Dodgers: Phillies
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They swept the Padres in a 3-game set over the weekend and now the Phillies open a series against the Dodgers on Monday. It’s a big series for both clubs. The Phillies, who are 2 games back of the Braves in the NL East, will try to widen their lead in the wild-card race, while the Dodgers, who are 6 1/2 games behind Philly, will try to stay in it. The Dodgers will be challenged right off the bat as they face Roy Halladay.
FanHouse.com
August 29, 2010 No Comments
Waive Goodbye
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All signs point to Chicago, where Manny Ramirez could join the White Sox as early as tomorrow. Timing is everything. Coincidentally (or not), Monday also is the start of the divorce trial for Dodger owner Frank McCourt and his estranged wife Jamie.
Manny split Sunday’s Dodger loss to the Rockies early. After coming up as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, Ramirez was ejected after 1 pitch for arguing that a called strike was a ball.
L.A. Times
August 29, 2010 No Comments
Are Dodgers Throwing In The Towel?
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While the former world champion focuses much of its attention on smacking Matt Kemp and my former comrades march into another brainwashing session (most of them aren’t programmed for it anyway, it’s just comedy central) on Friday, we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Specifically, what are the Dodgers doing? They get Manny Ramirez back for the stretch run and now they put him on waivers? Though its a fat chance they will catch the Padres for the NL West crown, the Dodgers, who completed a sweep of the Brew Crew today, are only 5 games back of the Giants in the wild-card race.
The Dodgers open a 3-game set in Colorado Friday against the Rockies, a club they’ve pretty much owned this season. They follow that with a 3-game series against the Phillies, beginning Monday in L.A., where the stakes will be significant since the Phillies, who suffered a 4-game sweep by the lowly Astros, are on a serious fade job. Actually, they look like the Dodgers a week or so ago, having trouble generating much offensively. But that outstanding rotation that the Astros employ will do that to the best of them sometimes.
The Giants visit L.A. on Sept. 3. And considering the Dodgers get the Astros for 4 games in the middle of September and close the regular season against the horrible D-Backs and Rockies, they might just have enough gas in the tank to earn a wild-card berth.
So why deal Ramirez now? Just to save some coin?
If Ned Colletti and Joe Torre believe they can advance to the postseason playing small ball, someone might want to tap them on the shoulder. And despite all the chaos the Dodgers have experienced this season, it surely would be a shame to watch them gag in September because they didn’t have a big bat such as Manny’s in the lineup. Just to save some coin? Please.
Image courtesy of BlueJayHunter.com
August 26, 2010 No Comments
End Of An Era?
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With the Dodgers putting Manny Ramirez on waivers today, it appears his 2-year run with the club is all but over. The White Sox and Rays are 2 of the clubs believed to be suitors, though we can’t help but wonder about the Red Sox, who were rejected this week by Johnny Damon. Regardless of where Ramirez goes, his short stay in L.A. was an entertaining one to say the least.
ESPN LA
August 25, 2010 No Comments
Our Times And Tired Storyline
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Finally, someone other than us has come out to question the ongoing bias by the L.A. media, the former world champion (a.k.a. the Los Angeles Times) in particular, regarding Matt Kemp. Bob Timmermann is one of the few writers to have the balls to come to Kemp’s defense, wondering why the Times continues to frequently pile on Kemp and make him the scapegoat for all of the Dodgers’ woes. Where’s Casey Blake when you need him? James Loney? George Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton? Frank McCourt?
Sunday’s piece by T.J. Simers regarding Kemp, and more directly Dave Stewart, was another hack job. Typical Simers though. For a while, it was all fun and games with the sarcastic and acid tongue Page 2 columnist, who left San Diego years ago in another attempt by the Times to fill the void left by the late Jim Murray, at a tune of more than $160,000 per year (what does inflation blow that up to now?).
We all got a good laugh with T.J., but like any comic, the laughs get old. Simers, like the Tribune doorknobs who employ him and the ones who have run Times into the ground, has a leash with no bounds. And for the past year or so, his stitch has become jaded, even with readers who found the act funny but now could care less. We were one of them.
In Sunday’s hatchet job of Kemp’s agent Stewart, Simers sarcastically referred to an incident involving of an arrest of Stewart 25 years ago for soliciting a prostitute, who happened to be a transvestite.
All is fair in love and war, right?
On Aug. 19, Steve Dilbeck, the Times’ emotionally-lacking (yep, sarcasm indeed) baseball blogger, upped the ante with this gem regarding Kemp: “Is it even possible for anyone to say or write anything remotely critical of Matt Kemp without his hoard of oversensitive defenders screaming: ‘They’re making him a scapegoat! It’s unfair! He’s being singled out! They only yell at Matty!’
“Wah-wah-wah.”
Yep, cry me a river. Dilbeck went on to defend Simers’ piece. But since he’s playing defense attorney for the home team, let the record show that Dilbeck got his job at the Times because of Simers. Plenty of writers were more qualified. But in sports journalism, it’s who you know, not necessarily who or what you’ve done.
While the Times was laying off writers and editors left and right, Simers wrote a real tear-jerker about the L.A. Daily News laying off Dilbeck. We’d be the first to tell you how the newspaper business sucks and those in charge have no clue about their most productive employees, but to write a column on a friend and not defend your co-workers is lame in our book. How about that for a teammate?
We’ll let Mr. Timmermann tell the rest of the story. We’re getting a bit nauseous.
L.A. Observed.com
August 25, 2010 No Comments
Staying Put
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Despite all the chaos with the Dodgers, at least the great Vin Scully will return next season. We got worried reading earlier reports about the press conference he was holding today to address the issue. Thank goodness he’s returning. Greatest of all time.
ESPN LA
August 22, 2010 No Comments
Johnnie B. Good
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Vincent Bonsignore suggests the Dodgers hire Johnnie B. Baker, better known as Dusty, if Joe Torre retires after this season. It beats the alternative of bring in a rookie manager such as Don Mattingly or Tim Wallach, he writes. Sounds good to us.
Baker, who has the Reds in the driver’s seat of the NL Central, has experienced success every place he’s managed. He led the Giants to a World Series in 2002, when the Angels beat them, and had the punk-ass Cubs on the brink of advancing before the infamous Steve Bartman incident in 2003.
Another criticial element is that Baker would be the right tonic for the struggling Matt Kemp.
L.A. Daily News
August 22, 2010 No Comments
