Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.
Kershaw CXLVI: Kershaw Among the Ruins
Mark Ellis, 2B
Shane Victorino, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Andre Ethier, RF
Luis Cruz, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
This pinch-hit Dodger Thoughts post is dedicated to Johnny Frederick. (Please not his 1932 HR Log.)
Today, I got a customer survey from the Dodgers, which I filled out. I do this mostly in hopes that there will be some sort of prize at the end. There usually isn’t. (For some reason, I filled one out from Southwest Airlines that took an hour to fill out and I got bupkis.)
One question asked which Dodgers figure I wanted to see on a bobblehead in 2013. I said, “Dazzy Vance.” For a guy who did not become a regular in the majors until he was 31, he put up numbers that were incredible. In 1928, he had an ERA of 2.09 when the league ERA was 3.99. In 1930, the league ERA was 4.97 and Vance’s was 2.61.
The next best ERA on the 1930 Dodgers was 3.40 by reliever Sloppy Thurston (who apparently was a neat person, but had a father who liked to give out free soup to the indigent.) The next best ERA for a starter was 3.95 by Jumbo Elliott, who was officially listed as being 6’3″ and 235 lbs (other sources put him at 6’5″, 250 lbs), which makes him smaller and lighter than me. And nobody calls me Jumbo. To my face. Twice.
The 1930 Dodgers also had Babe Herman in the outfield. He batted .393. He hit 35 home runs. He drove in 130 runs. And what did he lead the league in? Nothing.
Oh what were we supposed to be discussing today? Oh yeah, a Dodgers-Diamondbacks game. The Dodgers have brought in reinforcements from Albuquerque, to bring the active roster total up to 34. Elian Herrera (who can make it less likely that Juan Uribe will play), Stephen Fife (who will be waiting around to see if another starting pitcher gets hurt), and Dee Gordon (who will get to pinch run if Juan Rivera is fortunate enough to reach base) are all back from Albuquerque. Since Gordon was on the 40-man roster, another player had to be taken off. And that was …. Adam Kennedy, exiled to the 60-day DL.
Adam Kennedy looks to have taken over Orlando Hudson’s spot as “Dodger who homered in his last at bat with the team.” Hudson had taken over that spot from Tom Wilson. The last Dodger to homer in his last at bat with the team in the regular season, also did it against the Giants, Tony Brewer back in in 1984. Of course, I’m piecing this facts together mainly using my memory and some poorly-sourced websites. But, Philip Roth and I agree on these facts at least.
But Kennedy’s homer could very well be the last one in his major league career. I need to reanimate John Updike and have him write “Kid Bids Angeleno Fans Adieu.” The last player to homer in his last MLB at bat was Jim Edmonds, who like Ted Williams, was taken out of the game early after hitting a home run.
Tycho
Who backs up Hanley and in what order – Punto, Cruz, or Gordon? I love Dee’s range, which the eye test is about 2x better than Hanley’s, but I don’t trust his arm. Here’s to a great rest of the season.
Anonymous
In other news, James Loney is hitting cleanup against the New York Yankees. Who’d a thunk it?
Jim Hitchcock
Make us proud, James.
Jim Hitchcock
Nope, GIDP.
foul tip
What?…..oh, you said cleanup, not cleanout. Since Loney’s hitting long ago went in the tank, I thought….never mind.
foul tip
And facing old friend Hiroki as he does so.
Anonymous
He’s been hitting cleanup pretty much from the getgo in Boston. That’s how thin they are now.
Anonymous
When I click through to Tom Wilson’s career stats, BR doesn’t show him hitting one for the Dodgers that year.
Anonymous
It was in the Division Series against the Cardinals.
Anonymous
Ah, missed that
Anonymous
Another team plays for its life tonight. The US Men’s Soccer team about to get under way against Jamaica. After a horrible performance at Jamaica they badly need win in Columbus to aspire to the final round. Fingers crossed..and the sign of the cross as well.
Anonymous
Three Old Friends starting for the Yankees tonight (Jones, Kuroda, and Martin) and two for the Red Sox (Loney, Ross)
Anonymous
Loney hit into a DP
Anonymous
Also, Podsednik for the Bosox.
Anonymous
Then we have a standoff.
Anonymous
Of Czech origin
Anonymous
Like Elmer Valo.
Anonymous
We hit the crossbar! That’s like Kemp hitting to the deepest part of CF only to be an out. Still early but as we all know you can’t waste opportunities.
Onlyatriple
Was the Philip Roth reference about his recent angry complaint regarding the Wikipedia entry for The Human Stain? If so, bravo. In fact, bravo for any Philip Roth reference.
Anonymous
What was Roth’s complaint about the entry for “The Human Stain,” which was one of the finest novels I have ever read? Among Roth’s writings, I consider it second only to “American Pastoral.”
Anonymous
Roth said the protagonist was based on a different real-life character than what the Wikipedia article stated.
Anonymous
Thanks for spelling “bupkis.” Although i have heard the word for decades, I don’t think that I ever saw how it is spelled.
From Wikipedia, here is more information about bupkis. (In observing Rule No. 1, I have modified one word):
Alternative forms
bobkes, bopkes, bubkes, bupkes, bupkiss, bupkus
[edit]Etymology
From Yiddish באָבקעס (bobkes, “(large) beans”), from קאָזעבאָפּקעס (kozebopkes, “goat droppings”), from Proto-Slavic *koza (“goat”), and diminutive of Slavic rootбоб (bob, “bean”).
[edit]Noun
bupkis (uncountable)
absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substanceWe searched for hours and found bupkis.
[edit]Usage notes
Often translated as meaning small round fecal pellets, referring to the shape of goat droppings. A colorful usage, though more emphatic expression (in Yiddish more so than in English) is “Bupkis mit Kuduchas” (באָבקעס מיט קודוצ׳ה), translating roughly to “shivering s–t balls” – kuduchas referring to the condition of generalized shaking palsy.
[edit]Synonyms
See also Wikisaurus:nothing
[edit]Translations
[show ▼]absolutely nothing
Anonymous
Now we hit the post. Still 0-0
Now we sent one over the post!
Anonymous
Now we hit the other post. Impressive shot by I believe Jones. But still 0-0.
Anonymous
Loney has an admittedly slim chance of doing something in baseball that I don’t know has ever been done before, or at least must be very rare — ground into at least 10 DPs in each league in the same season. With the Dodgers, he grounded into 16 DPs in 334 ABs, a percentage of 4.8. With the Red Sox, including his two ABs tonight and his 1 grounded into a DP, he has accomplished the feat 4 times in 46 ABs, a far superior percentage of 8.7. I will keep watch.
Anonymous
more importantly, imo, Loney’s 16 DP’s for the Dodgers were in 68 opportunities about double (note the double entendre) the ML average. He had 3 DP’s in only 8 opportunities for Boston before tonight.
Anonymous
Those are remarkable numbers, particularly with the Red Sox.
Anonymous
Oh well duty calls: back to school night and ballet class. Good luck to both the USMNT and our boys in blue.
Anonymous
How ’bout a Zack Wheat bobblehead?
Anonymous
I wonder what Victorino would have to (fail to) do before Donnie would drop him from the leadoff or No. 2 spot in the order.
Anonymous
Apparently nothing. Was that a condition of the deal or something?
Anonymous
I wish they would offer a Brooklyn Dodgers bobble head series. I always go with Pistol Pete first.
KT
1-0 Rocks and raining in the bottom of second in Colo
Anonymous
We get Kershaw tonight!
In retrospect, it sure is fortunate that the Dodgers held him out of the game this past Sunday.
Time to start a winning streak!
KT
going to the bottom of 3rd…raining hard in Colo…tarp might come out during cmmercial break
KT
Completely different announcing team for the Snakes…gonzo and someone else…I might just listen to them
Anonymous
Mark Ellis has been hot lately raising his slash line vs RHP to 241/335/316. The BA is better than 8 position players who have appeared for the Dodgers in 2012 but better than only one of tonight’s starting players namely Victorino. Mark’s OBP in this split is not bad thus is better than 13 but only 2
of tonight’s starters Victorino and Cruz. His SLG is better than only 4 of the many position players who have appeared this season for the Dodgers: Punto, Treanor, SVS, and Herrera.
On the other hand, AJ Ellis has a slash line of 297/399/439 vs RHP. AJ is worse than only 3 players in BA, one starter Ethier, only 3 in OBP one is Ethier, and 8 in SLG including Ethier, Hanley, and Kemp.
KT
Still think Gonzo and Victorino should be dropped in the order
Anonymous
Agreed.
Anonymous
Let’s go Padres! *clap* *clap* *clapclapclap*
Anonymous
Inauspicious but familiar start.
Anonymous
Jonathan Broxton with the save tonight for the Reds as Aroldis Chapman is being rested for a few days.
Linkmeister
Huh? The Royals traded him? Oh, I see. I just missed it. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8219387/cincinnati-reds-acquire-reliever-jonathan-broxton-kansas-city-royals
And what’s the pun in the game title: “Kershaw among the ruins?” Can I get a clue, Alex?
Anonymous
Giants tie the Rockies on a 3-run homer by Madison Bumgarner.
Anonymous
The Giants are relentless, I hate to admit.
KT
OMG…the pitcher…who pissed off the Baseball Gods…fess up gents
KT
Nice move Clayton
Anonymous
Still clueless at the plate so far against a guy coming in with a 4.39 ERA.
Kershaw may need to throw a shutout tonight to have a chance.
Anonymous
Yeah—put that in the bank Homer!! Although the D-backs announcers are not bad homers, I’m so spoiled by Vin that many look that way.
KT
Good hit Luis
Anonymous
Clay is great.And he gets it done
But Jeez, I fear he’s not quite the guy he was last year.
KT
now 6-4 SF
Anonymous
Jason Kubel eases the pain.
Giants take a 6-4 lead in Denver.
Cardinals take 1-0 lead in San Diego.
Anonymous
The Phillies won tonight to get back to .500. The Brewers are leading the Braves 5-0 and they would reach .500 if they hold on.
Anonymous
Wonder what was said in the players meeting . . . obviously no magic words were found.
Let’s hope they said they can break out after 4 innings — luckily Clay has kept the pressure of being in the hole off them.
Anonymous
Well, through 4, Kershaw’s influence on the Dodgers hitters has been nil.
Maybe he can come up and hit it out next time up….
Anonymous
For those so inclined, the Pirates recent slide has made it possible again for the Dodgers to win all their remaining games and make the playoffs. The Dodgers control their own destiny.
KT
Yea right as if that will happen
Anonymous
That would require winning at home . . . it’s not where their heart is this 2nd half.
Anonymous
I’m not sure how Kemp could look much worse.(although I think he got sqeezed on one pitch!
KT
long at bat for Hanley…Now make it hurt by getting a hit
KT
13 pitches
Anonymous
Brewers win to reach .500 mark. Nationals increase lead in NL East to 7.5.
The Reds, at the moment, lead the Cardinals by 10 in the NL Central.
Anonymous
A pair of Everth Cabrera errors give the Cardinals another run. 2-0 St. Louis.
Anonymous
Man, so close!
KT
needed to turn the a/c vents to blow out on that pitch
Anonymous
I wish that I could say that I am surprised by the Dodgers’ continued failure to do much of anything at bat, but I have come to expect it — 25 runs in our last 10-plus games, including tonight.
Anonymous
Just tuned in, Kershaw allowing only 2 hits – not surprised, Dodgers only getting 2 hits – not surprised!
Anonymous
How’s your weather this (tomorrow) afternoon?
Anonymous
nice and sunny, beautiful spring day 21 degrees (Celcius) (so we are not only on different days, but different seasons :)
Anonymous
Bases loaded, one out for the Padres, with Yonder Alonso at bat in the fourth
Anonymous
Wainwright walks Alonso to force in a run. Cardinals 2, Padres 1 in the 4th. Bases loaded for Logan Forsythe with one out.
Anonymous
Forsythe doubles home two runs to put the Padres up 3-2.
Now, let’s get back to this one.
KT
Now 5-2
Anonymous
This is simply beyond belief.
KT
Come on DP
Anonymous
We should reverse the order for next game, 8 to 1 then the pitcher (I’m semi-serious)
Anonymous
Bison!!!!!
KT
MATTY!!!!!
Anonymous
what happened?
KT
fly ball to medium CF…Montero tagged and Matty threw a perfect throw on the line to the plate to get him at the plate for a DP
Anonymous
thanks
Jibin Park
He looked somewhat safe. Umpire did not have a good look, but we’ll take it.
KT
I’ve got to stop pulling for other teams to win…The Dodgers need all my help they can get
Anonymous
Ellis blocked the plate nicely – Montero never touched the dish – out without a doubt.
KT
Come on Dre
Anonymous
Boy, that guy Kershaw sure is a bum. Doesn’t he realize that he cannot give up any runs — unearned or earned — for us to have a chance for a tie!
KT
Nice swing Dre you were robbed
KT
Come on Luis
Nice hit
KT
Come on Dee take second
KT
I choose Herrera to replace cruz
KT
Dee still has problems reading pitchers
Anonymous
You wouldn’t want to risk and hit and run, of course.
Jason Ungar
they would have figured out how to run into a double play anyhow.
Anonymous
I would be inclined to agree with you this time. There’s little point in having Gordon pinch run if he’s going to stay anchored to first.
KT
he still having a lot of problems reading pitchers…right before he went down he was caught a few times in a row and it has made him hesitant
Anonymous
Did Dee just stop in between first and second thereby making the double play easier?
Anonymous
He should have done the Reggie Jackson on that one.
Anonymous
The alternative was running into the tag.
Anonymous
There was no alternative. The SS was going to step on the bag and throw to first. Dee’s job was to slide into second to at least try to make the DP difficult. But I guess he felt it wasn’t necessary.
Anonymous
Why burn thru Dee like that? Leave him in Cruz’s spot, move Hanley to 3B, and lead off the inning with Rivera in the pitcher’s spot. All we can hope for with this offense is to tie it up with one swing.
Anonymous
BTimmer: I just read the Wikipedia entry about Roth’s “The Human Stain.” I see that Roth clarified who the protagonist was based upon. I guess that was added after the original Wikipedia posting.
KT
ump got the call right…1 more guys
Jason Ungar
If I was Mattingly my lineup tomorrow would not include one starter.
Anonymous
Gordon 6
Ellis 4
Rivera 3
Ramirez 5
Ethier 9
Abreu 7
Herrera 8
Federowicz 2
(gotta keep the, ahem, hot bats in there)
Jason Ungar
may as well.
Anonymous
But just watch, he’ll stubbornly trot out the same batting order again, just like he has for the last 2 weeks, after fielding a different lineup every day for 4 months. And it will keep losing.
Anonymous
The D’backs are apparently reassigning old Padres pitchers’ names to their centerfielders. First Chris Young, and now Adam Eaton? Fishy. Or snakey, or whatever.
Anonymous
Paco Rodriguez 15 games?
But he did his job!
KT
Nice Paco!!
KT
his swing is terrible
Jibin Park
Man, this offense stinks.
Anonymous
The amazing thing is that almost the entire offense has been rebuilt and it stinks in the EXACT SAME WAY.
Jibin Park
A Gonzo bomb might unstink it.
Jason Ungar
you kid (and you are right) maybe it’s not the hitting ability but the game plans they put together or something. I don’t know. I can handle losing, but losing for a few months like this has gotten old fast.
Anonymous
Actually, I think that it stinks even worse than it did before we made the “big” acquisitions. Also, why does it seem that the count is almost always 0-2 when Gonzalez bats?
KT
that was a fair ball
Anonymous
I thought it was a fair ball.
KT
I slowed it down and it hit right behind the bag on the line
Jibin Park
Teasing us why don’t you?
KT
Nice hit Shane
Come on Gonzo
KT
That was low
Anonymous
I didn’t see the pitch, but what I know is low, very low, extremely low, is how this team plays day after day.
Jibin Park
That was a strike. Can’t take that 0-2.
Jibin Park
Maybe the other Gonzo can hit a bomb for us to tie the game…
Anonymous
Since it’s 9-8 and Gonzalez is up fourth, that will not happen.
Anonymous
Vinny says its where the ball passes through the strike zone, not where the catcher receives it. I still thought it was too low to be a strike.
KT
it was a borderline low strike but still low
Anonymous
I like off days better.
KT
9-8 in Colo
KT
Final Gnats win
Anonymous
I am reminded how disappointed I was many years ago when we had both Daryl Strawberry and Eric Davis in the lineup and how I expected great things.
plaza23
Them or the fox years.
Sheffield is Kemp. Green is A-Gon. Kevin Brown is Kershaw. Yet, the pieces just dont fit.
KT
Now 5-4 Pods in SD
Anonymous
We have ONE hit with RISP in the last four games, and that hit produced our only run — Ramirez’ 9th inning double on Saturday — in those four games.
Anonymous
So there ya go, Package – that puts the argument to rest – Kershaw starting against the Giants would not have miraculously transformed the Dodgers into a team that can score a run. Whether you lose 4-0 or 1-0, you still get yer arse shut out.
If you want to blame Sundays loss on the fact that the Dodgers started Blanton – you can also blame tonights loss on the fact that Kershaw pitched.
Go right ahead, be my guest.
Anonymous
Not that it matters now but there is an adage in baseball that if you lose you lose with your best pitch. Given that it was basically the game to save any hopes of winning the division you want to go with your best pitcher…which is Kershaw. I didn’t care about the final score, it’s who do you want on the mound with “everything” on the line. That’s why it stunk that we had Blanton start, in the same way that it still stinks Tommy started Dave Goltz in the playoff game in 1980.
Anonymous
Gee, and I had hoped never to be reminded again of the Dave Goltz start in 1980.
plaza23
Not that it matters…but looks like Ned lost the Sherrill for Bell/Johnson trade. Steve Johnson is doing some things for the Orioles.
Anonymous
So many hours of life wasted following meaningless, unfulfilling baseball games. Thanks, Dad.
Anonymous
Would that be Daedalus? On a serious note, I understand what you are saying. Baseball was a major bond between my late father and me while I was growing up, so the sport drew me in. But I became a much greater fan that he ever was, and I also wonder about all the hours spent following the Dodgers. I have curtailed my other sports interests. I won’t watch the NFL this season, and I have never been much of an NHL fan. I like the NBA, but don’t follow the Lakers as I do the Dodgers, and I enjoy college football. Never got much into soccer. Lost interest in boxing many years ago.
Anonymous
My addiction to the outcomes of Dodgers, Lakers, and Rams games is the sun that has melted my wax-based wings.
Anonymous
6-4 Padres over the Cardinals going to the 9th.
veryolddodgerfan
Bad karma kills
Anonymous
NPUT
Anonymous
http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/2012/09/11/another-dry-day-in-the-desert-for-the-dodgers