Mattingly, get rid of those sideburns! 2011 Dodgers thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHv3aDa8n_A

This will be the thread in which I post to myself nonsense about the Dodgers.

Such as this nugget of truth from Jamie's lawyer

“The thing that would be best for Frank and Jamie and their children, in my opinion, isn’t necessarily the best for Los Angeles and for the Dodgers,” Boies said.

kinda like this tshirt even tho the timing is a little on the late side

http://oi51.tinypic.com/210ngh2.jpg

Kershaw officially announced as opening day starter. March 31: Kershaw v.Lincecum. My god.

Bud Selig rejected proposal for Fox to loan $200 million to Dodgers' owner - The deal called for Frank McCourt to use the Dodgers' cable TV rights as collateral, extending the team's current TV contract with Fox.

fuck both of these assholes. selig for foisting frank on la and frank for existing.

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_mlb_experts__75/ept_sports_mlb_experts-309809482-1299449531.jpg?ym7qZqEDKonpNAfA

Shitking, get rid of that

Class title. <relurks>

Kim Ng joining MLB executive operations

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110308&content_id=16860564&vkey=news_la&c_id=la

Would have preferred it if she was our GM instead of Colletti.

heres an interesting look at whats going on in Joe Torre's new fiefdom

With Joe Torre now in place as executive VP of operations, Major League Baseball has undertaken a major restructuring of the department. Three senior officials were fired, while former Arizona Diamondbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr. maintains his title of senior VP but accepts a demotion from a supervisory role to the "dean of discipline" position.

In what one MLB employee described as a "bloodbath," VP of umpiring Mike Port and longtime VP of administration Ed Burns were fired on Thursday, along with ex-Met outfielder Darryl Hamilton, the senior specialist of on-field operations. ...

Replacing Port, Garagiola and Burns as the senior officials working directly under Torre are Kim Ng, the former assistant GM of the Yankees who has been serving in the same position for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2002, and Peter Woodfork, former assistant GM of the Diamondbacks. Woodfork, who also worked in MLB's labor relations department under executive VP Rob Manfred, is slated to be Torre's "point man" with the umpires, while Ng's primary responsibilities will be in the players' area. ...

Although much was made of Torre's hiring by commissioner Bud Selig on Feb. 26 at a reported salary of $2 million, all the changes within operations were said to be in the works before he came aboard. Of the new people, only Ng had ever worked with Torre before and, like him, she was eager to flee what has become a Dodger cuckoo's nest under battling owners Frank and Jamie McCourt, who are in the midst of increasingly messy divorce proceedings.

Proof you can never have too much pitching: Dodgers were going to start the season with 6 potential starters - Kershaw, Billingsley, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland and Padilla. 2 Weeks into spring training theyve lost Padilla to some weird nerve impingement surgery and Garland went down yesterday for 4-6 weeks with an oblique strain.

at least it's their #5 and #6 guys that went down

Yeah and its good to get these things out of the way early. John Ely should do the trick. Ill be super pissed if they burn a 40 man roster space on Tim Goddamn Redding.

Too early to worry but this line from Broxton is epic

0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 runs (all earned), 1 HR, 3 SB against

Heard this..

Per @dodgerscribe: Dodgers close to 3-year-deal with Chad Billingsley. Deal would go from 2012-2014 at more than $30MM. Possible 2015 option

a steal for the best pitcher in the NL ( / plaschke )

lol -- $10m a year for him is a pretty good deal tho

Chad is a great #2 and will reliably give you 190 innings and 170 ks. Dude is also built like dump truck and can only put so much strain on his arm when his big ass is bearing the brunt of his delivery.

I cant believe Aaron motherfucking Miles is going to be on our opening day roster.

In case anyone forgot, according to baseball-reference.com, Miles is the 1,712th best hitter in MLB out of a total of 1,726.

HA ha ha!

how much does a pitcher's weight matter anyways?

i'm not saying it isn't something to think about when evaluating a pitcher - but it obviously doesn't matter as much as it would for, say, an outfielder (or princefielder).

I feel with Billingsey the odds of him getting an elbow injury are slightly (and I mean slightly because we're talking about pitchers arms here) less susceptible to getting blown out because he doesnt rely on as much whipsaw action with his arms because hes getting alot of drive and torque with his sizable thighs.

Then again I am no scout so perhaps I am full of shit.

Kuo is their only leftie reliever? WTF!

The Padres only have one lefty reliever.

Pads get a smdh too, then.

Fuck t padres

Ha

Mattingly said he wasn't going to carry a lefty just because he's left-handed and sucks. If he wanted to do that we'd have Ron Mahay on our roster right now. Cormier has decent splits against lefties in spite of being a rhp.

In other news

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/giants-fan-critically-beaten-after-dodgers-home-opener-team-rivalry-may-be-factor.html

Dodger fans still ghetto. Sun still rises in the east. Feel like once the raiders left town the element that likes to kick the shit out of people in parking lots became dodger fans.

"I do that very well," Vin says when asked if he spent a relaxing off-season. "I broke my toe, and that was fun — slipping on a wood floor in my stocking feet. I had a root canal, and that was fun. Oh, yeah, I had something that's one less than having a colonoscopy. So yes, I'm looking forward to coming to the ballpark."

SSS but kemp is looking really good so far. Key at bats the last two nights..

agreed

this will become a cliche but hiring davey lopes is going to be massive for him... If anyone needed to be keyed into smart baserunning it's kemp, but I look forward to lazy commentators like bobby valentine to keep talking shit..

itt we toss beach balls, do the wave

Kemp's first-to-third on the grounder the other night was dope.

dodgers are 3-2 so far this season. both losses have been shutouts. playing games against the giants defense made me forget that my team sucks.

was watching the live show that mlb network does at night & whoever the host is was talking about how the versatile jamey carroll was arguably the dodgers mvp last year

lol. tbf Carroll had a good year for a backup/spot starter for the perennially injured Furcal. he had a solid .350 obp.

now Aaron Miles on the other hand is fucking worthless. and the post Kemp spots in the order of Loney-Uribe-Barajas-Thames or whoever is pretty much garbage..

Chad Billingsley pooped his pants in Colorado to the line of 3IP, 6H, 5ER, 3BB, 3Ks =(

Dodgers are now 3-3 and I anticipate them playing mediocre .500 ball the rest of the year.

hey, they finally started this game in SD, and EI has the Vin Scully feed.

lol, it's raining again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pyC7WnvLT4

why the hell did they keep restarting this game

the umpires should've taken into consideration the fact that none of these teams can hit for shit & there's at least a 65% chance that this is going into extra innings

hahahahahahahaha they're calling the game off now

wait, nevermind

will vin be able to survive this

still up, it's 1:15, tie game in the ninth, raining like cats and dogs and just right now in another rain delay.

can anyone explain to me why the umpires doing the first game of a three game series in april between two division opponents are about to go through their fourth hour of rain delay as if this is some cross country interleague match up

Will Venable to survive this

still it was fun to hear Vin say "The latest I've ever been at a ballpark was at old Forbes Field, when a transformer blew and the crowd sat in the dark for a few hours..."

shitty way to start a stretch of 20 games in a row..

nl west had some crazy long games yesterday..

Matt Kemp is hitting a cool .409/.519/.727 so far this season

Matt Kemp has been picked off twice but ended up stealing second anyway both times. He's got 7 stolen bases so far..

Ok were kinda fucked now.

Furcal has a broken finger. Said he's pondering retirement. #Dodgers
12 minutes ago from web

dylanohernandez

Who retires over a broken finger?

you sure it's not a manny joke?

I think hes just venting. Either way he could be out a month, maybe two and when he does come back who knows what he'll do..

what the fuck did I do to deserve aaron miles starting any number of games for my team let alone like 3 already? :(

the final three in the ninth inning was actually a joke right

when casey blake is out, this team sucks. then again, if youre pinning hope on a 37 yo 3B, your team is fucked.

meanwhile I take solace in this dude easing my pain later this season:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=RF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=543742

.417/.429/1.000 with 2 doubles, 4 home runs and 14 RBIs in 6 games.

mayor, what are your thoughts on Lincecum vs. Uribe and Lilly vs. Posey.

i think all situations were innocent, no intent in hitting those batters.

the media will BLOW this up...

that first pitch that hit Posey was a breaking ball that he lost and there was no way that was on purpose.. Second pitch I didnt see but I would assume it was the same sitch..

normally when you retaliate you hit the equivalent player on the other team.. Lincecum hit the second shittiest guy in the lineup.. Lilly should have responded by hitting uh.. I dont know.. Tejada or something.

xxxp keep in mind that the dodgers AAA team plays in the best hitters' park in all of baseball, and most of their road games are played in extreme hitters parks too because of the division

sands seems to be considered a legit prospect but not an elite prospect

matt kemp stealing off the jaime garcia + yadier molina combo = locked in

Yeah I am aware abq is like hitting on the moon. But Sands only has struck out twice so far and has walked.. twice? Dont have it handy. One of the walks was an IBB but if youre hitting .500 you dont need to walk. Going into this season I felt Sands needed to absolutely destroy abq to make me feel good about his future, and he has done just that.

All you need to do is look at who is playing left field for the Dodgers to figure out why my hopes are high for this dude.

ps was at that game last night. Dodgers are outscored 19-5 when I am in attendance. =\

my dog:

Team: Triple-A Albuquerque (Pacific Coast)
Age: 23
Why He's Here: .424/.454/.909 (14-for-33), 4 HR, 2 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBIs, 9 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0-for-1 SB
The Scoop: Sands burst onto the scene last year, slugging 35 home runs in low Class A and Double-A to tie for third in the minors. If anyone thought that year might be a fluke, Sands is putting those ideas to bed quickly. He hit .313 with two homers in 32 Cactus League at-bats, and has done nothing but mash in his first week against Triple-A pitching. His numbers do come with the caveat that they were all achieved in Albuquerque, home of one of the minors' most notorious launching pads. Nonetheless, Sands has opened the season on an eight-game hitting streak, homered in four consecutive games from Saturday through Tuesday and his 15 RBIs lead the minors.

"My friends have come up to me and said 'Hey, let's put a group together and buy the Dodgers,' and I said, 'Or, we could just go to a few games this year and go home and not worry about it and just enjoy them."

Charlie Sheen, April 12 2011, 98.5FM in Boston

Rare moment of lucidity.

Jesus: McCourt gets second loan from Fox,k this time it is $30 million:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/04/frank-mccourt-dodgers-fox-bud-selig-loan-payroll.html

cowboy joe west: terrible ump

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zoneplot.php?pitchSel=all&game=gid_2011_04_16_slnmlb_lanmlb_1/&sp_type=1&s_type=7

yeah he should be fired

Dodgers' pythag win % has to be around .300 now

IT BEGINS

@BillShaikin: Sands playing LF, batting 7th tonight for #dodgers

Hopefully he does better than Belt

someone in LA needs to start a service that allows dodger fans to sign up for a text message whenever andre ethier/matt kemp come up to bat

this has gotten out of hand

this Sands giddiness is kind of tragic cuz we finally have a possibly legit left fielder but we still have Loney, Uribe, Miles, Blake, and the bullpen to worry about..

Selig expected to announce this afternoon MLB will take over Dodgers financial operations.

Just saw that. We are the expos now right?

@BillShaikin
Bill Shaikin
Breaking: Selig expected to announce this afternoon MLB will take over #dodgers financial operations. More soon at latimes.com

I still see the McCourts coming out of this with some $$$. Dude bought the team for like $400 million-something and the franchise has been valued at $800m. Even with the divorce I assume the shithead will have had a good run.

fuck dude

"Pursuant to my authority as Commissioner, I informed Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt today that I will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Club. I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball. My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership. I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days.

"The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future."

looking fwd to buying some ballpark fixtures on my July trip to Chavez Ravine

I wonder if moving Kim Ng and Torre to MLB offices were Selig thinking a couple steps ahead in case this thing went down..

this is weird to me

o_0

the LA Buds born on 4/20

lol

this is the best thing that could happen to the Dodgers, fans were not happy.

these brooklyn throwbacks are rad

I thought Belt got sent down but apparently he's playing LF for the Dodgers now.

At least he didnt K today. Fwiw dude has been hitting the ball hard..

LA Dodgers of MLB 3-0 under their new enlightened ownership group.

Great article about the Dodgers' financial woes in the 20's and 30's:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=13668

disband this team

broxton lol. sadly nobody else in the pen is any better..

or on the left side of the defense

altho walking bonifacio is unconscionable

Mattingly, get rid of that goatee!

@dylanohernandez
Dylan Hernandez
Mattingly shaved his goatee. Said he grew it because he had a cold sore on the left side of his lip. #Dodgers

gross

Andre Ethier has the longest April hitting streak in the history of MLB. Basically he didnt get a hit on opening day and hes been killin' it ever since.

he would've been high up in mvp consideration last year imo if he hadn't fucked up his finger & it looks like this year could be that year provided he stays healthy

Casey Blake out for 4 weeks now. The old man we signed to replace him in case of injuries is injured as well. Now Aaron Miles plays third base. Fuck this team.

James Loney is off to a terrible start and was benched against a left-handed pitcher yesterday, so in an effort to snap the first baseman out of his slump manager Don Mattingly has decided to fine him $1 each time he flies out to left field.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/03/don-mattingly-will-fine-james-loney-for-fly-outs-to-left-field

According to the WSJ the dodgers will be insolvent by July. Lol?

Dodgers are actually playing a game right now with this lineup. OPS+ in parens.

1. Tony Gwynn Jr LF (80)
2. Aaron Miles 2B (62)
3. Jay Gibbons RF (--)
4. Matt Kemp CF (184)
5. Jamey Carroll SS (97)
6. James Loney 1B (33)
7. Dioner Navarro (13)
8. Russ Mitchell (--)
9. Ted Lilly (-100 lol)

9. Ted Lilly

According to the WSJ the dodgers will be insolvent by July. Lol?

― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, May 4, 2011 12:43 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark

you didn't read their plan to amend the situation in the post directly preceding yours.

July? I read this morning they're not gonna to make their May 31st payroll.

Yeah Shaikin from the LATimes moved the insolvency timetable up to this month..

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0504-dodgers-mlb-payroll-20110504,0,6806500.story

This season is the best.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-05/61352198.jpg
"Where's your money? Whelp..."

Ethier's hitting streak stopped at 30 one game shy of matching Davis' 31-game hitting streak, the Dodger record. Andre Ethier failed to get a hit in five trips to the plate against the New York Mets on Saturday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=29eHAjDD2bU#t=84s

(Dee Gordon scoring from first on a bunt [w/ an error, but still])

I'm digging on the isotopes/
This metaphysics shit is dope

how did my team get this fucking bad..?

― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, May 11, 2011 10:04 PM (9 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

man... loney is hysterically bad

He actually is really hot right now, you should have seen him in April.

at least he had an extra base hit in april!

I think everyone in the organization would be happy with him continuing getting on base and hitting the ball rather than being an out-machine with a fluke XBH.

they should just bat him lead off

Dodgers have scored less runs than the padres this year

anyone taken the Dodger Stadium tour? I figure it would be fun to at least visit Vin's booth, but SABR hasn't scheduled it. (They are doing a bus tour of historic LA ballpark sites, which does not appeal to me cuz I think the Coliseum is the only one still standing! Otherwise they'll be standing in parking lots and listening to historians' monologues.)

I have this odd affinity for DS, it is an ugly concrete monolith, but if it's clear and sunny out, the view is about as nice as it gets.

I used to live down the hill way back when it was "edgy", "gay", and "ethnic" now it is yupsterville. RIP

We are going to a Friday night game and they're busing us there from Long Beach. Traffic issue, or reverse-commute factor?

People might be going the opposite way from downtown to LBC but it could be a nightmare. Are they busing you guys out there an hour before or more?

http://www.vinscullyismyhomeboy.com/2011/05/andre-ethier-gives-you-middle-finger.html

The dodgers are historically shitty in interleague. Especially playing in AL parks. Here are the candidates to DH this weekend in Chicago (OPS+ in parenthesis):

Aaron Miles (78)
Jerry Sands (71) - still love you kid. has more doubles than singles at 23 in the majors.
Tony Gwynn Jr (65)
Dioner Navarro (55)
Jay Gibbons (24)
Russ Mitchell (-5)
Juan Castro (-56)

Perfect synopsis of the Dodgers interleague record:

http://www.truebluela.com/2011/5/20/2181427/dodgers-interleague-play-american-league-parks-white-sox

11-37! Almost as bad as the Pittsburgh Pirates. And check out that illustrious list of former DHs - Olmedo Saenz! Mark Loretta! Kenny Lofton!

Jamey Carroll is

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/images/2006/12/18/xxlr9eQx.jpg

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef014e88bdf03c970d-500wi

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/dodger-stadium-fire-marlins.html

the most interesting thing that has happened all game, by far

lol

wait, aren't you a Marlins fan Jordan?

clayton kershaw:

9ip, 0r, 2h, 1bb, 10k

also 2-for-4 with an rbi and twice went first-to-third on a single

that's like a gordie howe hat trick or something

"Through Sunday, attendance was down 7,013 per game, 196,367 for the season. In a tough economy, nearly half the Major League teams have suffered attendance drops. But nothing like the Dodgers' slide. On average, league attendance has fallen 302."

the marlins announcers said on saturday that it was the smallest sat night crowd they'd ever seen at dodger stadium

the Dodger situation is all about the owner. those fans are not going to go to games as long as the McCourt's own the team. it's going to get a lot worse as this year goes on.

yeah i don't really buy that -- they're just a particularly unexciting team this year -- they have two hitters out of eight that you'd want to watch -- if they were 10 games over .500 right now i'm sure the attendance would be just fine

i live in Los Angeles and what i keep hearing is that they are not going to games because of the owner. there is a boycott and it seems to be catching on. fans tell me they won't be back until things change at the top.

from tomorrow's LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-sp-dodger-fans-20110531,0,6355762.story

Rawitch (the Dodgers' vice president of communications) wouldn't go into specifics, but the team can choose from several likely causes: a backlash against owners Frank and Jamie McCourt; the team's punchless performance at the plate; the brutal opening day attack on a Giants fan; an unseasonably cool spring; the poor overall economy and the fact that school isn't out yet — always a turning point for attendance.

Each of those bears part of the blame for the swoon. But in the hardball world of fan opinion, the ultimate target of disenchantment is owner Frank McCourt. Were there such a thing as owner approval ratings, his would be Hooveresque.

generally speaking i subscribe to the theory that winning cures everything, so that's where i'd place my blame

of course these things are tied together -- it's easy to go "fuck the owner, what an asshole!" when the team is boring & bad, less so when the team is doing well

blame loney

the biggest component of the low attendance is season ticket holders. they lost a couple thousand people between this year and last because of the shit owner situation that affects attendance for every game.

looking fwd to the seat upgrades on SABR night in July

man, watching the game tonight, the stadium has never looked so fucking empty: (
reminded me of shea circa 1979!!

Through Monday, attendance through the Dodgers’ first 29 games was down a total of 207,612 -- accounting for most of baseball’s overall decline of 237,983. And that includes what the Dodgers called their biggest walk-up crowd of the season (4,200) on Memorial Day.

Attendance is down for 19 teams, but most by a marginal amount. The Dodgers are down an average of 7,159 per game (16.7%).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/05/as-dodgers-declining-attendance-continues-to-gain-media-attention-its-time-to-recognize-the-main-rea.html

Whats really crazy to me is the tv ratings for dodger games. 81,000 people? Are you kidding me? Really dont see how that turns into a 2-3 billion dollar tv deal with fox, but its not my money to give to Frank I guess.

Speaking of which - going to the game tonight. Will enjoy the short lines for concessions and ease of getting in and out of the park.

yo don't let me die 2nite

Try not to get Stowed.

we gonna ride tonight, my little homie jeff died tonight

Rafael Furcal is hurt.

Rafael Furcal is hurt.
--A Chuck Person's Guide to Mark Aguirre (Andy K)

He had a good 2 week run. He's only played in 18 games this year.

Kemp is hitting 318/395/576 this year. Dude needs to be an all star.

time to stop pitching to him

This too. Dodgers #5 hitters are putting up a sub-600 ops.

time to stop pitching to him

― b.o.s.e. (banned ones still envy) (J0rdan S.), Saturday, June 4, 2011 9:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
time to stop pitching to him

― b.o.s.e. (banned ones still envy) (J0rdan S.), Saturday, June 4, 2011 9:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
time to stop pitching to him

― b.o.s.e. (banned ones still envy) (J0rdan S.), Saturday, June 4, 2011 9:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
time to stop pitching to him

― b.o.s.e. (banned ones still envy) (J0rdan S.), Saturday, June 4, 2011 9:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Dee Gordon is a Dodger

Hes basically Juan Pierre who plays short instead of center field.

i think the dodgers still owe pierre like 12x what they'll be paying gordon

That major league minimum is the best part. If he uses that time to bulk up from 150 lbs maybe he'll develop the ability to hit the ball out of the infield..

Gordon did not play baseball until his senior year of high school?

MiLB.com: You didn't play baseball competitively until your senior year of high school. How did that happen?

Gordon: My dad just said he wanted me to play, so I gave it a try. He said he saw there'd be a career in it for me, and it would be in my best interest to play. I started playing, hoping it would work out for me, and thank God it has.

3-for-3 thus far off Oswalt (w/ Flash in the first row)

time to stop pitching to him

― b.o.s.e. (banned ones still envy) (J0rdan S.), Saturday, June 4, 2011 9:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

kemp is in the tulo zone right now

If he keeps this going he could 40/40 this year. Probably wont be in MVP discussions because this team ain't going to the playoffs.

going into this season the plans was a jay gibbons/marcus thames platoon in left field. injuries intervened (gibbons being blind, thames being old and shitty) and a bunch of others had to fill in.. the end result for the group is a whopping .216/.282/.314

heckova job colletti..

Matt Kemp going for a the cycle in a bit if y'all got extra innings.

this guy is superman

he crushed that

yeah that ridic

that WAS

how far is he from getting another ab here

he was up after ethier

I feel bad.. When I said the dodgers #5 hitters were putting up a sub .600 ops I lied. I meant they had a sub-.650 ops.

kemp is a beast

Matt Kemp is 5th in all star voting. MLB fans are fucking retarded.

More ammo for hating on Ned Colletti and his off-season work. Dude is so going to get a free pass for all the unjuries we got this year. But its not our fault that he peppers the rosters with old motherfuckers (who suck).

Dodgers catchers this season rank dead last in the National League in batting average (.216) and on-base percentage (.269), 11th out of 16 teams in slugging percentage (.356), and are 15th in both OPS (.625) and adjusted OPS (78).

Rod Barajas and Dioner Navarro have combined for 252 of the 274 plate appearances at catcher for the Dodgers this season, so they are the main culprits in the lack of hitting by Dodger backstops this year. Navarro (seven) and Barajas (six) have also combined for 13 plate appearances as a pinch hitter this season.

http://www.truebluela.com/2011/6/14/2223867/dodgers-pinch-hitting-catchers

The cash-strapped Los Angeles Dodgers must pay Manny Ramirez $8.33 million by June 30, a source said on Monday.

Matt Kemp is 5th in all star voting. MLB fans are fucking retarded

5th is surprisingly good, considerin the Cardinal Nation's assiduous ballot casting

Crazy that there is no "No-PED" provision on MLB contracts, or does the Union not want that?

I would imagine the union is against anything that involves taking money away from players.. Im surprised they didnt get involved when Mattingly was fining Loney $1 for hitting pop ups.

Frank and Jaimie settle, but everything is contingent on MLB approving the Fox deal, which I guess is like structuring a divorce settlement around winning the lottery

There's also this:

McCourt settlement calls for $385m up-front “loan” from Fox, incl. $235m used for #dodgers, $80m for debt payments

BillShaikin Bill Shaikin
MLB notified McCourt this afternoon that Selig has rejected #Dodgers’ TV deal with Fox.

MLB tells McCourt to eat shit.

Great analysis here:

http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2011/06/20/commissioner-selig-frank-mccourt-must-go-a-petition/

Nice to see kershaw in the top 3 in ks in the nl up there with lee and halladay..

Saw this on the twitternets

Kemp+Ethier: .321 / .403 / .540 / .944,
all other #Dodgers position players: .243 / .300 / .332 / .632

That article from IATM is the best thing I've read about the Dodgers/McCourt saga.

Chapter 11

Frank McCourt is a fucking scumbag.

"According to Monday's filing, the team's largest unsecured creditors include former Dodger outfielders Manny Ramirez and Andruw Jones, owed $21 million and $11.1 million, respectively.

Ramirez retired this year after learning he had violated baseball's drug policy a second time. Jones plays for the New York Yankees."

They also owe the White Sox 3.5mil for transporting the corpse of Juan Pierre to Chicago.. What an outfield that would have been in 2003.

looking fwd to soaking up the bankrupt vibes on July 8

So that was a pretty fun game tonight.

don't spend em all in one place

Dodgers only 9 games back!

You can't stop Trent Oeltjen; you can only hope to contain him.

SI_JonHeyman
MLB filing on mccourt cites "financial mismanagement, extreme leveraging, personal distributions, community's extraordinary unhappiness"

http://larrybrownsports.com/baseball/mlb-blocking-fans-from-buying-chapter-11-dodgers-jerseys/74746

someone at no mas is dreaming up that t-shirt right now.

RIP fatboy. Scott Proctor will speak at your funeral.

dylanohernandez
Mattingly said that if Broxton pitches again this year, he would consider it a bonus. #Dodgers

this made me laugh

The hearing opened with Bennett, representing McCourt, telling the judge that the Dodgers had won, 15-0, Monday night in their first game since the bankruptcy filing.

"I think this convincingly disproves the argument bankruptcy is bad for baseball," Bennett said.

i can't wait this this guy is out of baseball.

proof that the dodgers lack of respect for the small sample size starts at the top

lol u got branyan'd

Dodgers give up 3 hits, lose

AARON MILES IS BATTING THIRD TONIGHT FOR THE DODGERS. THERE IS NO GOD.

well, that was quite a 9th -- a standard Guerra save? Reminded me of Armando Benitez in his Mets days.

Was on field level down leftfield line, where they were batting beach balls around through 8 innings of a scoreless game. Fuckin' Angelenos.

I do not know what to make of that game that just happened.

Contract both teams imo

Dodgers just acquired Juan Rivera for some reason..

The Dodgers acquired outfielder Juan Rivera from the Blue Jays for a player to be named later or cash considerations

STEAL FOR THE J'S!

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/08/mccourt-divorce-201108?printable=true

WHOOPS

When Jamie’s lawyers began looking through Silverstein’s files, they found the mother of all snafus. Silverstein, it seemed, had inadvertently allowed the McCourts to sign three of the six documents with an error in the exhibit: instead of saying that Frank was the sole owner of all their property “inclusive” of the Dodgers, the L.A. copies said that he was the owner of all property “exclusive” of the Dodgers. Silverstein eventually caught the mistake, which he claims was a simple drafting error, but instead of having the McCourts sign corrected documents, he simply switched out the exhibits for ones with the correct language. It was a decision made for efficiency’s sake—but it cost Frank the case against Jamie, at least in part. The post-nup was thrown out in December 2010.

ha ha whow!

Once Frank is done litigating the shit out of MLB, Bingham McCutcheon is his next target.

btw, the most hilarious element of a game at Dodger Stadium is Lasorda's video warning not to use foul language.

Why is Kuo still in the majors?

The fact that Kuo and Broxton turned into complete shit when we could have used them for dope trade pieces makes this season even shittier..

Dodgers fire hitting coach for failure to properly polish the turds that are Loney, Furcal, Blake, Uribe, etc etc etc

ps would kill to be at the game today. Kershaw/Lincecum in SF at 1230. sweet god.

I'm going to the game! :)

awesome. have a good time. I would be so drunk.

it's actually a really nice day which is pretty rare for the past 6 months.

can't imagine many things better than seeing a lincecum-kershaw showdown in person on a beautiful day in san fran, but watching vin scully call the game is not too bad itself

kershaw outduels timmeh. 12:1 k:bb

Man, I got a lot of sun but it was pretty glorious.

Dodgers 22 yo starting pitcher phenom Rubby de la Rosa who throws 100mph diagnosed with sprained ucl. This is the worst season ever.

Meanwhile Kershaw battling Halladay for best pitcher in the NL honors..

AARON MILES IS BATTING THIRD TONIGHT FOR THE DODGERS. THERE IS NO GOD.

― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Tuesday, July 5, 2011 10:43 PM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark

this is happening again

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/global/swapper/201108/110824.15.jpg

omglol

this man (and some chinamen) has offered $1.2bil for the dodgers

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-09/64414418.jpg

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-mccourt-sale-20110902,0,3026247.story

It's one of the closest Cy Young races ever, every start counts, and the Dodgers are involving Kershaw in beanball wars and getting him ejected?

Kershaw was yapping at Parra after Parra's home run the other night. It seems like he involved himself.

Parra's behavior on that home run did not seem all that demonstrative. Does the conflict run deeper than that?

Halladay has the reputation and the 2.34 ERA, I think he nearly has it in the bag.

I also thought that Parra's gesturing wasn't such a big deal, and Kershaw was definitely yapping from the bench. But the team usually decides if they're going to let it carry over into the next game. Kershaw wouldn't have hit Parra if he thought his teammates and his manager wouldn't back him up.

This kind of posturing/schoolyard vendetta stuff doesn't really bother me one way or the other, but this seemed like the perfect instance where Mattingly should have said "just forget about it, you're trying to win the Cy Young award, winning is the best revenge, etc."

I'm not sure Halladay has the award wrapped up (even with his SO yesterday) because he'll split a lot of votes with Cliff Lee.

the first ab against Parra resulted in a double.. Kershaw wasnt playing that shit so he tried to get him off the plate in the second ab and he missed, simple as that. you can see barajas setting up inside. if he meant to hit him he would have put it in his back.

Clayton Kershaw

Matt Kemp

Holy Shit

Gotta hand it to Mattingly for keeping the team competitive when they were the walking wounded earlier in the summer. Last nights game was like a playoff atmosphere. Hopefully Kershaw wins the Cy, but if he doesnt I wont be too mad (and will appreciate not having to pay him 20 mil in arbitration).

FYI: matt kemp is tied for the NL lead in HR, in first place by a few in RBI, and .03 off the lead in the race for the batting crown.

or is it .003? anyway.

After a season where I was totally involved in Pujols and Votto going for the Triple Crown, I was completely oblivious how close Kemp was till I saw a little filler piece in the paper today. How did I miss this? I don't think he's gotten nearly as much attention as the two guys last year. Is it only the last week or two where he's gotten himself in position to do this? Would love to see it, except I feel like I've missed all the fun.

He was 16 pts away in BA a couple weeks ago.

Kershaw basically locked up the triple crown unless Cliff Lee strikes out 17 in his next start.

kemp likely to get rbi & home run title but he's 10 points behind reyes with a couple games left

I think Braun has passed Reyes? he had a pinch hit tonight

they're both at .334 according to the latest box scores but braun is playing after not starting so will get one or two at bats tonight

one or two more

Kemp needs to hit like .800 and Reyes and Braun to go 0-fer to get it. Kemp has to be the closest to the triple crown in a long time right? You always hear "oh maybe votto/chipper/whoever can get there" in July but this is the last week of the season..

Kemp dropping bombs on unsuspecting fools in az

http://files.upit.me/1317113057.gif

Kemp has to be the closest to the triple crown in a long time right?

Closest since at least Dick Allen in '72. I wrote about this on my site once, the year Delgado made a run at it. Allen took HR and RBI, and finished 0.010 behind Carew for the batting title; using the same system, I think Kemp will do a bit better than Allen.

Just remembered that we went through this last year. Somebody said he thought Bonds had come the closest the two years he won the batting title, since he undoubtedly would have also led in home runs and RBI had he not been walked a zillion times; but to me, all the walks ensured that in actual fact, he wasn't really close at all.

lol kemp almost killed that dude

dante bichette wasn't close in '95 thanks to gwynn's .368 (and piazza's .346) but in another year his .340 BA would have won it. actually it seems like a minor miracle that one of those colorado dudes didn't walk away with a triple crown in the '90s. rockies have had 7 batting title champs, 7 RBI champs, and 3 HR champs.

but to me, all the walks ensured that in actual fact, he wasn't really close at all.

lolwut

I think it was you, yes...The walks were real; how can you be close when you only win one out of three categories, and finish 18 RBI behind one year, and 30 RBI behind the other year? You can argue, as many have, that a Triple Crown is an overrated achievement, but I don't see how you can argue that Bonds came close because he "would have" done something if reality had been different. It's like saying about a dozen guys would have won Triple Crowns if only they'd played in Coors Field. They didn't.

232 walks.

Two Hundred and Thirty Two.

Missed omar's post above--yes, there were a few years there in Colorado where the conditions for a TC were probably optimum (somewhat mitigated by the fact that offensive numbers everwhere were inflated).

I get the 232 walks--I really do. And that's what prevented him from coming close to a Triple Crown...it's not a complicated point!

but he was getting walked at that clip because he was such a good hitter, you see...

I guess it just matters what you consider "close" then.

The triple crown is comprised of 1 rate stat and 2 counting stats.

In 2002, Barry Bonds finished:

#1 in BA (.370)... +.032 to Larry Walker in 2nd.
#2 in HR (46)... -3 to Sammy Sosa who had 153 more at-bats
#6 in RBI (110)... -18 to Lance Berkman who had 175 more at-bats

Okay, fair enough--as I clearly stated, arguing that the Triple Crown is overrated is a different (and legitimate) argument than saying Bonds came close when he very clearly didn't. The Triple Crown is not a rate-stat achievement.

In 2004, Barry Bonds finished:

#1 in BA (.362)... +.015 to Todd Helton in 2nd.
#2 in HR (45)... -3 to Albert Pujols who had 225 more at-bats
#3 in RBI (101)... -30 to Vinny Castilla (!!! haha, see how useless and arbitrary counting stats are Clemenza?) who had 210 more at-bats

I get it Clemenza, you live in a world of black and white where conditional counting stats like RBIs bring you some traditional comfort.

but he was getting walked at that clip because he was such a good hitter, you see...

Understand that, too. Surprisingly, the opposing pitchers did not exhibit any special concern for his Triple Crown chances.

I'm in the bizarro world here. You keep throwing stats at me that I already know, like they have anything to do with something that, as you point out, is 2/3 purely a counting-stat accomplishment. You keep conflating two entirely different arguments (close vs. overrated/meaningless).

you live in a world of black and white where conditional counting stats like RBIs bring you some traditional comfort

Not to be rude or anything, but Jesus, that's a stupid thing to say. I "live in" the same world that most baseball fans live in: I take an interest in things like Triple Crowns and awards and hitting streaks, even though I'm fully aware that they come with all sorts of flaws and should never be taken at face value. Same world that Bill James and Joe Posnanski live in. But not Steve Shasta--duly noted.

I simply think that you're idea of "close" is a bit skewed, and maybe not now, but when you were on your RBI crusade whenever that was, it was as if you were caught in this binary, black/white hokey corny mode that seemed to me like cherishing dead ball pitching stats.

There's a fundamental misunderstanding here. When I put out a music fanzine in the '90s, I wrote a detailed six-page thing on how overrated Joe Carter was, going through all the old Elias books to show how empty his RBI counts were. I get all that; I get it today, I got it then, I got it in the early '80s, when I first started reading James. I was never on any crusade for RBIs. I think my basic point was that they weren't meaningless, and that as long as you had a basic understanding of how they were compiled--in what park, hitting behind who, etc.--then they had some value in arriving at a complete picture of a player, along with 30 or 40 other metrics. It just seems to me that some of you guys get stuck on "counting stat, counting stat," and that your belief system or whatever is as inflexible as people in the '70s who were forever saying Tony Perez was a great clutch hitter just because everybody said he was.

Just so I don't contradict myself, it was clear that Carter's RBI counts reflected three things, one a positive (his ability to stay in the lineup), one a negative (his generally terrible walk totals), and one circumstantial (hitting behind the likes of Brett Butler, Gwynn, Henderson, Alomar, etc.). So not completely empty, but neither, as the Elias data clearly showed, did he have any special ability to hit with men on base. He's an extreme example, though. Another point I was making on that thread last year was that with somebody like Pujols, or Kemp this year, their RBI counts are probably just one more meaningful indicator that they're great hitters. Unless you think Kemp's leading the league in RBI because he's been exceptionally lucky, or he's hitting clean-up in the midst of Murderer's Row.

Yes, and my answer then as is now is that an RBI is completely situational, the condition is whether there is a runner or runners on base or in scoring position when a batter gets a hit (or grounds out/flies out). It is also conditional on a player's position in the batting order.

I'm much more interested in RBI-rate (RBIs/chances) than straight RBIs as there is far too much noise in the data: e.g., Vinny Castilla was a marginal batter who was slotted behind guys who had massive OBPs playing half their games with superballs in thin air. Yet he was the 2004 NL RBI champion and in your eyes, just as "close" (perhaps closer!) as Bonds was to the Triple Crown in 2004.

This will be good news for Obama--he can ignore the prosaic reality of 9% unemployment, remind people that if he'd presided over ideal conditions things would be much better, and he'll surely be reelected in a landslide. (He probably will end up campaigning on the first two, but never mind.)

As expected: Kemp is .331/.446/.636 with runners in scoring position, and .343/.422/.619 with runners on. So: is it not fair to say that his 123 RBI serve as fairly reliable shorthand for how well he's hit with guys on base this year? That far from being meaningless, they're one more indicator of what a great season he's had?

You left out one conditional: whether or not the guy at bat gets a hit.

You need to make an appointment with your optometrist.

I guess that'll stand in for actually answering the question.

clem, I am going oldschool and rooting for Reyes to win the batting title.

...because it will jack his price up and the Mets can spend their money on more cost-effective players.

I doubt if I've seen Reyes play five times in my life, and I haven't a clue anymore what counts as cost-effective (beyond Barry Zito-types), but following him from a distance, he sure looks like someone I'd want to keep. He's on track for HOF consideration, no?

He's deceptively brittle

Nice bullpen implosion with 2 outs in the 10th. You're welcome Arizona.

clemenza, sure the RBI statistic can tell you something, esp if you know the "context" (tho a lot of ppl don't) but i think the general point is that other stats can tell you those same things but more accurately?

and anyway, i would probably even disagree w/ the idea that you can know the context of someone's rbi stat unless you watched every single one of their games and had an encyclopedic knowledge of the situations in which they hit

merely knowing that ryan howard had victorino, rollins and utley hitting in front of him doesn't give you the actual "context" of his ABs

Kenley Jansen: 93 Ks in 52 IP this season. 41 in 27 last season.

96 in 53, that is.

Sorry for hijacking the Dodgers thread; it all started as a simple two-line post on Matt Kemp. For what it's worth, pretty much the only time I ever notice RBI counts anymore is when the possibility of a Triple Crown arises. And yes, I'll admit that that's something the little-kid fan in me wants to see before I shuffle off, maybe because the last one was Yaz just before I became a fan; the Triple Crown has acquired an irrational mystique for me. Otherwise, RBI are just a quick and easy stat that (I believe) serve as a generally reliable--and I do stress "generally"--shorthand for a whole bunch of things that, as you say Jordan, you won't necessarily have access to: what the player did with runners on, with runners in scoring position, etc. I fully realize there are cases like Joe Carter, Dante Bichette, so on and so forth (or, at the other end of the spectrum, Brook Jacoby's bizarre 1987 season), and I'd never take RBI at face value without stopping for a second to ask if they jibe with everything else I know about the player. That's all...um, go Dodgers!

I doubt if I've seen Reyes play five times in my life, and I haven't a clue anymore what counts as cost-effective (beyond Barry Zito-types), but following him from a distance, he sure looks like someone I'd want to keep.

The question, as always, is at what price? To sit there when he's missing 60-100 games with leg issues at age 32, at $22 mil a year, and think, "Wow, we only have 4 more seasons of this?"

As expected: Kemp is .331/.446/.636 with runners in scoring position, and .343/.422/.619 with runners on. So: is it not fair to say that his 123 RBI serve as fairly reliable shorthand for how well he's hit with guys on base this year? That far from being meaningless, they're one more indicator of what a great season he's had?

Those lines are identical! IMO it makes about as much sense as judging a QB by how many yards he's throwing for, it's usually an indicator of good performance, but it depends so much on teammates that it doesn't say anything conrete (I can't think of anyone who had a BAD season w/ 100 RBIs, but I think that's because 100 RBI guys typically hit 3rd or 4th and therefore are usually the best hitters anyway, even Posada could have 100 RBIs if he hit 4th in the NYY lineup)

Can definitely name one horrible year with 100 RBI: Joe Carter's 1990. .232/.290/.391, 115 RBI.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=cartejo01&year=1990&t=b

He was better with men on and RISP, but nothing special at all. I'm guessing he had Gwynn (subpar year), Alomar (still developing), and Jack Clark (lot of walks, as always) ahead of him, but truthfully, I'm mystified as to how he did it.

Matt Kemp has had way more opportunities to hit with men on base than Braun. Ethier's power kinda disappeared this year but he was an obp machine.

What impresses me is how Kemp has scored so many runs with the pile of shit hitting behind him most of the year - Aaron Miles, James Loney, etc. Juan Rivera got kinda hot at the end of the year and leads the league in RBIs since August (I think this is correct..) but still hes no great shakes either.

I can't think of anyone who had a BAD season w/ 100 RBIs,

There are plenty of examples of this, Joe Carter had a number of them, so did Garret Anderson. You're right that 100 RBI seasons are generally good seasons, but with counting stats there are always exceptions and they're not all that rare. Guys who get 180+ hits in a season are generally good players, but Ichiro this year and Juan Pierre's career show that it's not always true.

Kemp did seem to be "closer" to the Triple Crown than anyone has in a long time. When he was three points back in BA before the weekend I really thought he had a chance. And yeah, winning the TC is cool and interesting, even though it doesn't mean that someone had a better year than Bonds in '04. Ted Williams would have won ten TC if he hadn't been walked all the time and/or Boston's offense wasn't crap with the exception of him in the 50's. Everyone agrees with that, so I don't know what the argument is about.

yeah I think in general I would have to think of some really bad 3-or-4 hitters, but couldn't think of anyone offhand

I mean it's kind of in the same realm as pitcher wins, whereas a pitcher who wins 15+ games a season is generally going to be good, I can definitely name some bad 15 win seasons

baseball reference has a blog entry discussing the worst 100 RBI seasons ever. joe carter has 3 of the top 7 but the #1 worst is dante bichette's impressive-seeming 1999: 34 HR, 133 RBI, .298/.354/.541, 104 runs, -2.8 WAR. ruben sierra's terrible 1993 is a close second.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/7948

wow, I've never seen anyone with a -34 RField

you've never watched brad hawpe play the outfield?

even taking into account his shitty, shitty defense, bichette only had an offensive WAR of 0.5 that year.

huh? .298/.354/.541 is similar to Mike Stanton's .263/.357/.540 line and he's worth 4.5 WAR, and he's not a great fielder either

bbr has stanton as #2 in the NL in defensive WAR and superior in lots of the stats they mention. but also i think bichette playing half his games at coors field was taken into account somehow, maybe.

so I don't know what the argument is about

Swear to god, I don't know what half the arguments I get into on the baseball board are about.

Ted Williams would have won ten TC if he hadn't been walked all the time and/or Boston's offense wasn't crap with the exception of him in the 50's.

I'm guessing you're right about most of the '50s, but in the back of my mind I remembered that there was one team that was awesome. It was the 1950 Red Sox team--they scored over 1,000 runs, with Williams around for only 89 games.

https://msti.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/gordon_barajas_baby.gif

WAS JUST ABOUT TO POST THIS

huh? .298/.354/.541 is similar to Mike Stanton's .263/.357/.540 line and he's worth 4.5 WAR, and he's not a great fielder either

― frogbs, Wednesday, September 28, 2011 5:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that was pre-humidor coors, league average there was something nuts like .860 OPS

THE MAN WHO CRADLED DEE GORDON

looooooooooove that gif

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/29/kenley-jansen-broke-the-all-time-strikeout-rate-record

The Dodgers' bankruptcy trial has been postponed for one month so Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball can explore a possible settlement under which McCourt would agree to sell the team, multiple people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1027-dodgers-bankruptcy-20111027,0,2390406.story

http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2011/10/27/dodgers-say-stow-responsible-for-beating/

The civil complaint also insinuates that (Brian) Stow owns some of the blame because, according to McCourt’s attorney Jerome Jackson, "I've been doing these cases for 23 years and I have never seen one yet in which it didn't take at least two people to tango."

Haha. jeez, dudes.

Its totally insensitive and tone deaf on the lawyers behalf but I find it hard to believe that the dude did absolutely nothing whatsoever to get those hoodlums attention.

Kershaw, Kemp and Ethier win gold gloves. Who needs to go to the post season when you receive such prestigious awards?

HOLY FUCK

McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers. Team to be auctioned in bankruptcy court. More soon at latimes.com/sports.

Dumb question -- if the Dodgers sell for $1B, how much of that ends up in Frank McCourt's pocket?

you thinking of buying?

He bought the team for 420 mil, owes his wife 130, and the team allegedly has like 300-400 in debt. Thats a thumbnail sketch obv.. If it sells for 1.2 bil then he'll be in the black for sure.

Would what's left of the Dodgers actually be worth $1? I thought he'd basically dismantled the organization...

the media rights are getting pried from fox after next season and should be worth a shitload of money. fox will probably have to pony up to compete with time warner who threw a jillion dollars at the lakers to start their own network.

But I thought he spun off parking, concessions, etc, into different companies as well?

All that stuff is included in the sale. The real estate too.

Reading more it looks like McCourt basically has to sell the team for $1B just to come close to breaking even and that's without getting into possible back taxes he owes.

Definitely. Alot of theories around the time of the announcement was that MLB would guarantee a price floor, but since then we've learned thats not true.. You'd have to assume they'd get more than the 850m the cubs sold for..