Dodger Thoughts

Major League Baseball handed out suspensions to Dodgers and Diamondbacks personnel for Tuesday’s brawls.

For the Dodgers:

• J.P. Howell and Skip Schumaker were suspended for two games each.
• Ronald Belisario was suspended for one game
• Don Mattingly was suspended one game (to be served tonight)
• Mark McGwire was suspended two games (tonight and tomorrow)
• Yasiel Puig and Zack Greinke were fined an undisclosed amount.

For the Diamondbacks

• Ian Kennedy was suspended 10 games.
• Eric Hinske was suspended 5 games.
• Kirk Gibson was suspended 1 game (to be served tonight)
• Miguel Montero and Gerardo Parra were fined.

Also, because multiple players on the disabled list left the bench to join the fight, all of those players will receive some discipline and neither team will be allowed to have any players on the disabled list sit on the bench during their weekend series.

All players can appeal their suspensions. Coaches and managers cannot.

Update: Ken Rosenthal has more explanation about the suspensions.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has more details on the Dodgers $6 billion TV deal with Time-Warner.

The Dodgers would retain more than $6 billion from their new television contract under a tentative agreement with Major League Baseball, according to two people familiar with the agreement.

In the first inning of today’s game at Coors Field between the Rockies and Nationals, Colorado left fielder Carlos Gonzalez had to leave the game in the first inning after Jordan Pacheco lined a ball off Gonzalez’s left foot. Gonzalez was standing in the on deck circle when this happened. CarGo (If Vin can say it, I will type it) had to leave the game, but X-rays were negative.

Then in the fifth inning, center fielder Dexter Fowler left the game after the pain in his right ring finger was too bad for him to continue. He had been hit by a pitch by Ross Detwiler in the third. Fowler’s X-rays were negative.

In the eighth inning, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki dove for a grounder by Ian Desmond. He hurt his ribcage and left the game. Tulowitzki’s X-rays were not negative. He has a broken rib and will be out 4-6 weeks.

Pitcher Jhoulys Chacin was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh. And he drew a walk. But the Nats won the game 5-4.

To sum up other major injuries in the NL West: Arizona is without its two best relievers in J.J. Putz and Matt Reynolds, who have arm injuries. San Francisco is missing Pablo Sandoval (foot) and Angel Pagan (hamstring). Also, Marco Scutaro may have to go on the DL with a finger injury.  San Diego is missing closer Huston Street, first baseman Yonder Alonso, infielder Jed Gyorko, and outfielder Cameron Maybin.

Maybin’s replacement is Jaff Decker. His parents named him after an uncle, who died in the military, and the name is pronounced Jeff.  I am trying to anticipate one of Vin’s anecdotes.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today thinks the Dodgers-DBacks brawl will be a boost to the the Dodgers spirits.

Maybe this wasn’t Pee Wee Reese putting his arm around Jackie Robinson, but rookie Yasiel Puig was not only accepted by his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Tuesday, he also was embraced.

The Dodgers, a dysfunctional and underachieving team that has resembled a bad reality TV show all season, became an actual team during their fight night with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In fact, the brawl might have saved the Dodgers’ season.

In one night, pitcher Zack Greinke became a hero to his teammates, outfielder Andre Ethier showed some life, manager Don Mattingly was fiery and catcher Tim Federowicz proved he belonged. Heck, even hitting coach Mark McGwire was intimidating again.

And Puig, who rubbed some teammates and coaches wrong in spring training with flamboyant behavior, was officially welcomed into the Dodgers family.

 

Sure, whatever you say Bob. The problem still remains that the Dodgers, as presently constituted, are not very good. They are 28-37, 8 1/2 games out of first and three games behind the Padres, who are in fourth. And the Dodgers are 13th in the NL in runs scored. (Ken Rosenthal was definitely not a fan of the brawl.)

Those big graphics that are hung outside the stadium with players pictures on them? You know what they’re for? To remind you, who is supposed to be on the team. Because it is easy to forget.

The Dodgers will be losing players to suspensions. It’s possible Yasiel Puig could be hurt more than we thought. Hanley Ramirez, in theory, should play Friday, but he didn’t look great on Wednesday. A.J. Ellis and Matt Kemp may be back soon. Chris Capuano could come back soon, but he will likely be suspended because he left the bench to participate in a fight while on the disabled list. Carl Crawford seems to have no timetable. And Andre Ethier is the center fielder.

And there was Bill Shakin’s report in the Times about how the Guggenheim Group set up their purchase of the Dodgers in such a way that if an NFL franchise were to go in Chavez Ravine, the landlord would be… that guy. Whoops, wrong image, this guy. Oops, wrong again, here it is.

May your Thursday not be as bleak as mine.

Wednesday’s game at Dodger Stadium thankfully had no brawls, with all the hitting coming off the bats of the Diamondbacks and Dodgers bats.

Arizona banged out 20 hits, 17 of them singles, to break through against Ronald Belisario and Brandon League in the 12th to win 8-6.

The highlights for the Dodgers all came in the fifth, when they erased a 3-0 lead, scoring four times, highlighted by a Hyun-Jin Ryu triple (helped out by an ill-advised dive by Gerardo Parra).

Then the Dodger bats fell silent. Rookie Chris Withrow made his MLB debut in the 7th and couldn’t hold the 1-run lead.

After the Diamondbacks scored four times in the 12th, the Dodgers tried to come back with a home run by Ramon Hernandez (who also stole a base), a single by Yasiel Puig (who did not start because of a shoulder strain, although he appeared OK in his limited action), followed by a walk to Skip Schumaker. Nick Punto grounded to first and may have been able to beat the throw at first, but he opted for the headfirst slide, and he was out.

Puig scored on Mark Ellis’ ground out. Adrian Gonzalez walked, but pinch hitter Tim Federowicz grounded in to a force play to end the game.

Thursday is an off day for the Dodgers as they head off to Pittsburgh. The Pirates are the only team the Dodgers have swept at home this season. The Pirates are 39-26 on the season and 23-11 at PNC Park. The Pirates go for a series sweep against the Giants Thursday.

Disciplinary action for Tuesday’s Pier One brawl (I think there was a lot of rattan involved) should be handed out Thursday.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph of Sydney, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are scheduled to open the 2014 MLB regular season at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In a $13 million coup for the state government, the opening series of the MLB will be held at the SCG on Saturday March 22 and Sunday March 23 – the first time a competitive US baseball fixture will be held in Australia and only the sixth time one has been staged outside America.

The games have been described as the biggest internationally recognised event in this country since the 2003 Rugby World Cup final and come exactly 100 years after the Chicago White Sox played against NSW at the SCG.

“Sydney will host the first two games for the opening series of 2014 Major League Baseball at the Sydney Cricket Ground,” Premier Barry O’Farrell said.

“The opening series will feature the LA Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks playing the first two games of the season.

There is no official announcement from either team, MLB, or the Players Association.

If the plan goes through, both teams would likely start spring training very early and then fly back to the U.S. after the two games that count and then play more exhibition games before their respective home openers.

The Dodgers have never played a regular season game outside of North America.

According to weather.com, the average temperature in Sydney for March 22-23 is a high of 76 and a low of 63.

From Ken Gurnick at MLB.com last night.

Mattingly wavered on whether League (who saved his three previous chances but has blown four overall this year) would remain the closer.

“Tonight the numbers said to go with Brandon,” he said. “Does that mean keep the guy? I don’t know. It’s hard to make that decision 12 minutes after the game.”

But he defended his decision to use Kenley Jansen in the eighth inning against Bloomquist, Goldschmidt and Cody Ross (Jansen retired all three) and use League for the bottom of the order. He pointed to the statistical matchups and said if the batting orders had come up the other way, he would have used League in the eighth and Jansen in the ninth.

“If you want to play sabermetrics, those were the best matchups,” he said. “The guys Kenley got are the guys he gets out better than Brandon. The matchups should have been exactly the way it was. But if it doesn’t work, it’s a bad decision. We talked before the game, the eighth and ninth [innings] were up in the air depending who comes up.

“I understand people boo when it doesn’t work out. It doesn’t make the game any less painful. Look up the numbers. I know it was a solid decision. The fact a solid decision doesn’t work, it’s a bad decision. Brandon has done the job in the past. If he gets them out, nobody says anything. As soon as he doesn’t get outs, it’s my fault he doesn’t.”

No. 3 hitter Goldschmidt is 3-for-3 with a homer against League and 2-for-7 with a homer against Jansen. No. 6 hitter Martin Prado, who had the first hit in the ninth off League, is now 1-for-2 against him, but was 3-for-3 with two homers against Jansen.

A debate who should pitch the ninth inning for a team that’s in last place is somewhat ridiculous when you think about it. The Dodgers are 27-36 with 99 games to play. They’ve got a lot of issues. Their issues have issues.

One of them may be teaching Don Mattingly (who, in his defense is like just about every other manager) about relevant sample sizes. I miss Jim Tracy talking about arm angles.

Hi, Bob Timmermann, sitting in for Jon for a few days. He’s off in the Middle East making a movie about a courageous Iranian journalist.

Oh, he’s not. But he’s on a vacation that requires a great deal of courage.

Anyway, I was out of town myself. But I’m back. And here’s how we can sum up tonight:

• Yasiel Puig moved to the cleanup spot. He went 3 for 4, but didn’t drive in a run.
• Clayton Kershaw held the first place Diamondbacks to one run over seven innings.
• The Dodgers led 3-1 in the 8th and had the bases loaded with no outs with Jerry Hairston, who was 3 for 3 on the night at bat. Hairston bounced into a 5-2-3 DP, a call which likely no one agreed with.
• Brandon League could not hold a 3-1 league, giving up three straight hits, then a walk, and then an infield hit by Willie Bloomquist to score two runs. Peter Moylan was called in to stop the bleeding, but he had to face Paul Goldschmidt, who singled in another run to make it 5-3.
• But, there was hope in the bottom of the ninth. Juan Uribe led off with a home run off of Arizona closer Heath Bell. Tim Federowicz doubled to right as Gerardo Parra, the archnemesis of the Dodgers, couldn’t quite catch the ball.
• Skip Schumaker, of 15-game hitting streak fame, sacrificed pinch runner Scott Van Slyke to third and reached first himself when Martin Prado couldn’t come up with the ball. Schumaker’s hitting streak lives another day! First and third and nobody out.
• It was Nick Punto’s turn to be the hero. But he popped out to short left.
• Then it Mark Ellis’ chances to be a hero. He had already homered. He was 3 for 4 against Bell in his career. As soon as you could say “small sample size warning,” Ellis struck out.
• But there was still Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers best hitter over the course of the season with runners in scoring position. All Gonzalez could do was bounce back to Bell, who knocked the ball down and threw to first in time to send the Dodgers down to a 5-4 loss, their sixth in seven games against Arizona this season.
• Yasiel Puig watched from the on deck circle.

And yet, we’ll probably still watch tomorrow.

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.