Results tagged “ladodgers”

Tomorrow from 5-6:30 p.m. the Los Angeles Dodgers are holding a rally at the entertainment mega-plex LA Live in Downtown as part of their 8-day preseason caravan. "Outfielder Andre Ethier, infielder Blake DeWitt, pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and recently signed catcher Brad Ausmus will join announcer Charley Steiner, former manager Tommy Lasorda and former players Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela, Tommy Davis and Rudy Law in signing autographs for the first 300 fans who obtain wrist bands," reports the Daily News. Other events this week include a Price is Right taping, a visit to Children's Hospital, a dinner at the Millennium Biltmore, a volunteer stint at the Midnight Mission, and a send-off for their equipment as the team preps to head to AZ for Spring Training.

Former Senate Majority Leader (and current Boston Red Sox director) George Mitchell just announced the results of his 20-month, $20 million investigation into allegations of widespread steroid usage in baseball. The long-awaited, 409-page Mitchell Report (document here) identifies more than 80 current and former players as being linked to using performance-enhancing drugs. While the report casts blame on the lack of institutional control within baseball as much as the players themselves that cheated, what everyone cares about are the names.

So what has been going on in Dodger land since I last posted? Well a big hearty congrats go to Russell Martin for winning the Silver Slugger Award for National League catchers. Voted by coaches and managers, Martin led the NL catchers in hits, homers, runs, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Only Mike Piazza (from 1993-1998) was the other Dodger catcher to win the award since its inception in 1980....

On Tuesday it was announced that Dodger catcher Russell Martin is joining a fraternity of National League catchers that include Johnny Roseboro, Johnny Bench, Benito Santiago, Tony Pena and even Mike Lieberthal. Russell Martin is now a gold glove winner. Since 1957, Rawlings have been giving out the gold glove award for best fielding performance at each position. Martin is the first full year Dodger catcher since Johnny Roseboro in 1966 to win this...

Am I the only person not drinking from the Joe Torre Kool-Aid? I’m hearing almost everyone gushing how Torre will bring credibility and a winning attitude to the Dodger organization. Even in Monday morning’s press conference Dodger owner Frank McCourt said, “Ned Colletti and I agree there is no substitute for a strong character to lead our team to the top.” It’s funny he brings up the character issue since the way Grady Little...

It took a couple of days, but it's official: Joe Torre is the new Dodger manager. The Dodgers and Torre have agreed to a three-year, $12 million contract. Torre was also negotiating to bring in bench coach Don Mattingly and third-base coach Larry Bowa which lengthened the negotiation time. Other coaches rumored to brought over are Jose Cardenal and Lee Mazzilli. The Dodgers were granted an exemption by commissioner Bud Selig from interviewing minority...

I go out to do some grocery shopping, and I come home to a shitstorm. As I'm typing these words, I'm listening to the Dodger's conference call announcing Grady Little's resignation. According to Ned Colletti, he has not offered the job to anyone yet. Grady Little took part in the call. He said there were a variety of reasons for this parting. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that. More on this as details come out....

While all the cheesy babybooming douches like Costas and McCarver harken back endlessly about the good ole days of the Boys of Summer before they left NY and moved to LA, keep in mind one thing - people in Brooklyn don't miss the Dodgers. They might miss Vin Scully, or decent National League baseball, but miss or care about the Bums? Faggitaboutit. "When Pee Wee Reese died," said Marty Adler, who has spent years...

I hesitantly went to the Dodger game against the Giants this past Friday. The only reason I went was because it was a fundraiser for my friend’s school. Thankfully the Dodgers won the game 8-3 which is a better result than the last several games I attended. But if you want me to remember anything about the game you’ve got me. Sadly the only memorable thing was seeing that High School Musical actorhomo being...

Fuck Bill Plaschke. Fuck TJ Simers. Fuck the LA Times. Fuck Grady Little. Fuck Ned Colletti. Fuck Frank McCourt. Fuck Jeff Kent. Fuck the Dodgers. When I read Plaschke’s column Wednesday morning that basically put Matt Kemp in the hangman’s noose, my blood started to boil. How does he have the unmitigated gall to scapegoat Kemp and let the veterans have a free pass just because they have “experience”? This entire mess became public...

At the beginning of the season I picked the Dodgers to handily win the division. The Dodgers had a starting rotation that most teams would kill for, and offensively they could overwhelm every other team in the division. Sure injuries took their toll especially on the pitching staff, but it’s pathetic that in the final week of the season I’m not caring at all what the Dodgers are doing. Last Thursday AM570’s reporter David...

After I declared the Dodger season over last week, they go and make me look like a complete asshole by winning the next four games in convincing fashion. But thanks to the Giants, I didn’t look like a complete asshole. As the Dodgers won game after game, the Giants tanked game after game against the wild card leading Padres. With each win instead of inching closer to the postseason, they were merely jogging on...

Photo by Jory'z Shotz via Flickr. Ex-Padre David Wells sent his ex-teammates on a loooooooong trip home to San Diego last night. Just when you thought the season was over, the Dodgers win two-in-a-row against the insanely awesome Padres. It was Maddux vs Wells (old vs old?). Wells allowed only 4 hits, Maddux allowed 11 including 2 from Wells himself (his first multi-hit game ever). Dodgers win 6-3. Saito made his impressive 38th save...

This has been a shitty night. I watched the first couple of innings of the Padres-Dodgers game to watch newly acquired hack Esteban Loaiza completely stink it up. He game up four earned runs in those two innings and couldn’t find the strike zone for the life of him. I then went to play some tennis with my new tennis partner. I couldn’t serve for the life of me, and my normally strong forehand...

With both college football and the NFL going ahead full steam, it’s been hard to really pay attention to the goings-on of the Dodgers. And there is a good reason for that. The Dodgers just plain stunk it up at Telecom-of-the-Moment Park against the Giants. Each game featured a Dodger pitcher giving up crucial runs late in the game. Jonathan Broxton gave up home runs in Friday’s and Sunday’s games, and David Wells managed...

Why are the Dodgers doing this to us? Yesterday’s come-from-behind victory in the ninth inning was great. Never could I have imagined the Dodgers would execute the Earl Weaver (a three-run homer) perfectly to take the lead. It was only the third time this season the Dodgers had won a game when trailing after eight innings; they had lost 59 times in that situation. As high of a high as that was, reality starts...

Guess who popped up with the Padres Tuesday? If you guessed Brett Tomko you would be right. Talk about tit for tat, the Padres acquired Tomko when he cleared waivers after being released by the Dodgers. If you remember, the Dodgers did the same when the bowling ball that is David Wells was released by the Padres. Collective dumpster diving much? Tomko, who had gotten the most boos at Dodger Stadium second to Barry...

Is it too little, too late for the Dodgers? I hope not. With four weeks to go, the Dodgers now trail by four games in the NL West after their 11-3 victory over the Cubs. This is not the same Cubs team the Dodgers faced at home in May. Then the Cubs were a bad team that couldn’t hold a lead for the life of them. It took manager Lou Piniella’s ejection and consequent...

The Dodgers squandered a good chance to gain some ground in the division and wild card races last night in a 6-4 loss against the Padres. Here the Dodgers faced starting pitcher Jack Cassell making his first major league start, and they did nothing to make him work in the first several innings. The first batter to get a three-ball count was Russell Martin in the fourth when he hit an RBI single that...

Back in 2004, Dodger’s owner Frank McCourt made the unpopular decision to get rid of radio play-by-play announcer Ross Porter. Porter had been on the job for 28 years, and considering he had to work with color commentator Rick Monday since 1993 he should’ve gotten hazard pay. Porter was by no means as eloquent and compelling as Vin Scully. With a few exceptions no one can enter the realm of Vin Scully. But Porter...

After the 2000 season, then Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone offered pitcher Darren Dreifort a five-year $55 million contract. Dreifort had come off of a 12-9 season with a 4.16 ERA. Contract in hand Dreifort made 26 starts, 60 relief appearances and 15 trips to the operating table. He did not pitch for the last two years of his contract. This past offseason GM Ned Colletti signed free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt to a...

The Dodgers are winning. They’ve won nine of their last 13 games crawling back to 4 ½ games within the NL West lead. It looks like a rosy picture, but I’m still not buying into it. The problem is the Dodgers are merely a singles-hitting team that can only run station-to-station. Of their 1,232 hits 225 are doubles (ranked 13th in the NL), 27 are triples (tied for 8th) and 96 are home runs...

Did anyone feel that earthquake and aftershock last night at around 6:30? According to seismologists the epicenter was the first baseline at Shea Stadium in Queens, NY. The rumbles started after the newest oldest Dodger pitcher David Wells laid a bunt down the third baseline and tromped to first base to beat out the throw. The aftershock occurred later in the inning when Matt Kemp hit a bloop single to right field. David Wells...

The Dodgers have a certain way of making me look like a complete asshole. Just when I proclaim that it would take a miracle for the Dodgers to make the postseason, the offense explodes as if some saintly being was guiding them in the outfield. You know, they should make a movie about that. Against the Phillies on Wednesday the Dodgers scored 15 runs in an obvious show of laziness since a horrible Texas...

Someone at work came up to me the other day sounding very optimistic about the Dodgers. “They’ve been winning games again,” he said. “They have a chance to get to the playoffs.” I really don’t like being the party pooper, but sometimes a situation dictates it. “Look,” I replied, “How many teams are in front of them in the wild card?” “Well there are the Padres, Phillies and Braves.” “And don’t forget about the...

The Dodgers hitters shortened up their swings. They were a bit more patient at the plate. They hit with runners in scoring position. And most importantly of all the Dodgers won a game! In fact Tubby got the first victory for a Dodger’s starting pitcher since July 26th when he posted a 5-4 at Colorado. Now Tubby didn’t have his best stuff. The Astros managed to get 10 hits off of him in six...

I know I said I wouldn't do a write up on this game, but what happened in the ninth inning just can't be left unsaid. Picture this. Andre Ethier doubled to right, and then moves to third on a wild pitch during Shea Hillenbrand's at bat. Hillie walks. Mark Sweeney hits a pinch-hit single that scores Andre Ethier. THE DODGERS SCORE ON A HIT WITH A RUNNER IN SCORING POSITION!!!! Dodger's are still losing...

I don't usually do a pre-write for a game, but since I won't be writing about the game tonight I just needed to put in my two cents. Nomar is sent to the DL with a strained left calf which means today is the start of the Shea Hillenbrand era. Excuse me if my optimism has died like my faith in the Democrats. To further muddle things, Grady inexplicably has put Juan Pierre back...

Now it’s so pathetic it’s just plain funny. Last week Grady Little was quoted as saying that the team had hit rock bottom. Obviously he didn’t see what lie ahead. Now that the Dodgers have a firm grip of fourth place in the NL West, it looks like the offense has completely collapsed. I knew that there would be games where the Dodgers wouldn’t be able to score since they have no power, but...

My did the Dodgers look horrible in their 5-1 loss against the Cardinals today. For that reason, I’m going to look forward to the future of the Dodger organization. One hope for optimism lies in 19-year old left handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw. With the single-A Great Lake’s Loons of the Midwest League, Kershaw struck out 134 batters in 97.1 innings pitched, a 2.77 ERA, 12.39 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and 1.25 walks and...