Please send your best thoughts to Dave Cameron of Fangraphs and U.S.S. Mariner, who revealed this morning the shocking news that he has acute myeloid leukemia. This is a nightmare come to life. A major part of the rise of baseball blogging, Cameron has been an online friend to me and this blog for years, and I’m happy to say that I’ve gotten to know him offline a bit over the past two summers. Just numbing news. This is a big battle, and I’ll be pulling hard for him to get through it.
Category: Uncategorized (Page 30 of 63)
From time to time I think back to when I was most in despair about my personal life, in large part because I honestly wasn’t sure that the bad times would end. A bit melodramatic mixed with self-pity, sure, but the feelings were real.
You can always imagine the light at the end of the tunnel, and if you’re a positive-thinking person, imagining is all you need. But if you waver, then it’s not. Even today, the relative joy in my life is dotted – on some days even clouded – by worry about things that could go wrong.
That, I believe, is where Dodger fans find themselves today. A bad season is one thing. But it’s the uncertain future that dims Dodger Stadium.
A therapist, I believe, would tell Dodger fans to believe that joy is not on some unattainable height, not trapped in some remote snow cave on Mount Everest, but within reach. You’ll keep going, and eventually it’ll be there. I think that’s the theory to go with. And when we get there, the reunion will be all the sweeter.
The thing to remember is that a rebirth of baseball at Dodger Stadium is truly possible. If it weren’t, that would be another matter entirely. (At which point, at least we’d be able to walk away to alternate pastimes.)
In the meantime, don’t forget to enjoy the smaller pleasures. And Vin Scully.
* * *
Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. has a surprising number of good notes from Friday’s stumbling 7-2 loss to Washington, while Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote about how Hiroki Kuroda having to pitch through all the trade rumors.
Despite giving up the Dodgers’ second home run to a pitcher this week, Kuroda rallied to put together another decent outing, before getting his 12th loss of the season. He has a 6-12 record despite 13 quality starts. He made a couple of mistakes, but with this offense, you just can’t do that.
From ESPNLosAngeles.com:
Two men suspected of beating San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow into a coma on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium have been arrested by Los Angeles police, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the LAPD no longer considers Giovanni Ramirez, who was initially tagged as the prime suspect, as responsible for the attack.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said that if the district attorney’s office files a case against the men, Ramirez would be exonerated.
The arrest marks a dramatic turn in the case. Since Ramirez was arrested May 22, police have consistently restated they believed they had their man.
The Los Angeles Times was first to report the arrest of the two new suspects.
The LAPD officer in charge of media relations wouldn’t confirm nor deny the Times report.
“The Stow investigation continues,” LAPD spokesman Andrew Neiman told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne. “We’re making good progress. As information becomes available we’ll make that public.”
He said that Ramirez, a convicted felon, remains in custody on an unrelated parole violation after police found a gun in the house where he was staying when he was arrested. Ramirez’s lawyers contend that he was not at Dodger Stadium at the time of the attack. …
Happily coinciding with the ninth anniversary of Dodger Thoughts, I am a guest on The Jonah Keri Podcast, hosted not as coincidentally by the Canadian Crusher himself, Jonah Keri (author of “The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First” and the upcoming “The Definitive History of the Montreal Expos”). Here’s the rundown:
- 0:30-2:16: This episode is brought to you by the comedy stylings of Wyndotte Street (on Twitter @WyndotteStreet)
- 2:17-7:44: The Moneyball movie
- 7:45-11:26: Friday Night Lights
- 11:27-18:42: This year’s Emmy nominations
- 18:43-25:43: Baseball blogging O.G. Dodger Thoughts, celebrating its 9th anniversary today!
- 25:44-26:59: Having a dual baseball-entertainment persona
- 27:00-33:09: Frank McCourt
- 33:10-36:15: The Dodgers’ salvation: Clayton Kershaw
- 36:16-41:08: Food Pick of the Week
- 41:09-end: Funny how Clark Kent and Superman are never in the same room: The time that Jon interacted with Michael Schur and his secret identity Ken Tremendous without realizing they are the same person
Player embedded below. To download, right click here.
Thanks again to everyone for joining me on this ride with the Dodgers for any part of the past nine years. Today, as always, it really has meant a lot.
Right now, I think we’re near the end of the second reel …
This poll was originally planned for this morning.
Then it was held for Tuesday.
Then I felt, with the Dodgers down 5-0 to the Giants in the seventh inning, what better time than the present?
Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesOne-man band gets a hand.
In a down season, at least the Dodgers had the best-hitting pitchers in the National League. They couldn’t take that away from them, could they?
Meet Daniel Hudson of Arizona. Nine innings pitched, one run allowed, three runs driven in. While throwing his complete game, Hudson went 2 for 3 with a home run and a two-run, two-out, bases-loaded single to manhandle the Dodgers today, 4-1.
Dan Haren might be a distant memory for the Diamondbacks, but they’ve found his replacement and don’t even have to change the monogrammed spikes.
The hits gave Hudson a .375 on-base percentage and .513 slugging percentage this season, not to mention 12 RBI, in 47 plate appearances. That puts the 24-year-old righthander, who also lowered his ERA to 3.56, in prime contention for the pitchers’ Silver Slugger award that, along with Matt Kemp’s, figured to be one of the few consolation prizes arriving at Chavez Ravine this year.
Did I mention consolation prize? San Francisco defeated San Diego in 11 innings today, dropping the Dodgers to 12 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West. The Dodgers’ five-game winning streak ended just Saturday night, and yet Los Angeles now faces its biggest deficit of the season.
The Dodgers avoided a shutout only after Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew failed to catch James Loney’s hit-and-run line drive in the seventh inning. Instead of a double play, it put Loney on first and Matt Kemp (1 for 4) at third. Kemp then scored on a wild pitch.
That cut the Dodgers’ deficit at the time to 2-1, with Arizona scoring its runs on solo homers by Ryan Roberts in the second inning and Hudson in the sixth off (this won’t surprise you) Ted Lilly, who otherwise pitched well enough, striking out nine and walking none unintentionally. In fact, Lilly was in better position than Hiroki Kuroda on Saturday to find a way to win when the bottom of the seventh came, but after a single and ultimately two intentional walks, Blake Hawskworth allowed Hudson’s big hit.
* * *
This is truly neither here nor there, but Juan Uribe’s batting average stubbornly refuses to drop below .200. He has ended every game since June 24 with a batting average between .210 and today’s .204.
Brent Davis/US PresswireRafael Furcal has a .217 on-base percentage and .210 slugging in 107 plate appearances this season.
Rafael Furcal’s post-disabled list slump has reached 3 for 34 (.088) with three walks and no extra-base hits. It’s the kind of slump that can happen to the best of ’em – and as far as the 2011 Dodgers are concerned, consistently seems to.
On balls hit beyond the infield this entire season, Furcal is 16 for 40 (.400) with a .900 OPS. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, compare that OPS to his previous five seasons as a Dodger on balls to the outfield.
2010 1.573
2009 1.388
2008 1.817
2007 1.222
2006 1.494
It’s probably not overstating to say that Furcal is not hitting the ball with much authority this year. Is it physical? And if so, how permanent?
Hey kids! It’s time for another chat between myself and Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness. It’s kid-tested, mother-approved!
Getty ImagesMatt Kemp walked, singled and scored, Andre Ethier drove in a run with a single and Clayton Kershaw pitched a perfect fifth inning on eight pitches with a strikeout, helping the National League build a 5-1 lead over the American League in the 2011 All-Star Game after seven innings.
Mark Goldman/Icon SMIJuan Rivera has a .700 OPS in 730 plate appearances over this season and last, but he’s been better against lefties.
In a less-than-inspirational exchange, the Dodgers have acquired outfielder Juan Rivera from Toronto, plus cash, in exchange for a player to be named later or cash (presumably if the organizations can’t agree on the player).
In a separate but related move, the Dodgers designated Marcus Thames for assignment. Here’s more from my news story:
Rivera, who turned 33 last week, was batting .243 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 275 plate appearances this season. He had a .305 on-base percentage and .360 slugging percentage for the Blue Jays after coming to Toronto from the Los Angeles Angels in the January trade that sent Vernon Wells west. The year before, Rivera had a .312 OBP and .409 slugging for the Angels in 455 plate appearances.
He is in the final year of a three-year, $12.75 million deal, making $5.25 million this year.
The 34-year-old Thames, who signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Dodgers the same week as Rivera went to Toronto, was hitting .197 with two homers and seven RBIs with the Dodgers over 70 plate appearances in an injury-marred season that showed him ill-suited to play in the field. He had a .243 OBP and .333 slugging after posting .350/.491 numbers with the New York Yankees in 2010, playing the majority of the time as a designated hitter.
Rivera will join a left-field mix with the struggling Dodgers that includes Tony Gwynn Jr., Trent Oeltjen and Eugenio Velez, with Jerry Sands and Trayvon Robinson in the minors.
Dodger left fielders have two home runs and a .618 OPS this season, the worst in the National League.
There will be a lot of panic in some parts about whom the player to be named later might be, though I don’t have much fear on this front that it will be a significant prospect. And the cash from Toronto should cover a good part of what Rivera is owed this season.
So, this seems mostly to be a concession that Thames can’t hack it as a National League, non-designated hitter, whereas Rivera might fill the Thames’ role and contribute in the field a little.
At the same time, Rivera is pretty clearly a player in decline offensively — much more than Thames was going into this season — so I get no joy out of seeing him taking up space on the roster on the odd chance that he’ll bash a homer against a lefty once in a while. (Rivera has two home runs and a .909 OPS in 65 plate appearances against lefties this season.)
Of course, the Dodgers are still carrying Eugenio Velez, but that’s another story.
Clearly, Ned Colletti hasn’t quite given up on the divisional race, though this hardly means he’s gone all in.
Courtesy HBOLarry David (Larry David) and Marty Funkhouser (Bob Einstein) in Dodger Stadium.
In the alternate universe that is Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” let’s just say there is some Dodger content in tonight’s season premiere that would be considerably more amusing than the reality we’re in. Sure, it’s unrealistic, but who wants realism in this case?
Let’s see if this episode ends up in court.
Jon Weisman/ESPNLosAngeles.comDodger Stadium at the first pitch.
Jon Weisman/ESPNLosAngeles.comScene minutes earlier at the corner of Sunset and Elysian Park
The crowd Saturday at the first fan-organized protest against Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt might have been small, though nothing felt as sparse as the inside of Dodger Stadium.
About 75 people gathered at the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd. and Elysian Park Ave., down the hill from the ballpark, in the hour before Saturday’s Dodgers-San Diego Padres game for the “We Take Our Team Back” demonstration, designed to draw more attention to the frustration a number of Dodger fans have with the team ownership situation.
That turnout was less than organizer Roger Arrieta of West Covina, Calif., anticipated, but perhaps reflected a crowd that largely chose to avoid all things Dodgers on a vintage Southern California summer day.
“It’s a step,” said participant Joe Gonzalez of Boyle Heights.
As galvanized as the boycotters were by their protest, they might have been even more heartened by what was happening inside the stadium. The season-long attendance decline, amped by a national TV broadcast of a game originally scheduled for the evening, led to swaths of empty seats for the first pitch, at a level that even the cliche of late-arriving Dodger fans couldn’t explain.
Dodger attendance this season, amid increasing dissatisfaction with ownership and a team that has fallen into last place, is more reliant than ever on discounts just to mitigate the decline, something that wasn’t lost on protester Jesse Delgado of Monrovia, who manned the megaphone with equal parts anger and levity.
“Do not support the McCourts!” chanted Delgado. “Do not fall for his $1 hot dogs!”
Delgado earlier commented that while fan grievances toward McCourt might be well-known, there was an urgency for a solution.
“Our biggest concern as fans is, is it going to be in a timely manner, before (Matt) Kemp and (Andre) Ethier leave as free agents?” Delgado said. “How long can McCourt damage our team?”
Noting the declining attendance, Gonzalez believes that non-Dodger fans should take up the cause.
“The teams back East are used to getting revenue sharing,” he said. “They’re used to getting 40-45,000 a game (at Dodger Stadium). … They should be out here.”
With fans chanting, holding signs and buying and selling anti-McCourt T-shirts, Arrieta monitored reaction to the protest on his cellphone. The rather soft-spoken organizer calmly discussed his amazement at the state of the franchise and its fans.
“I just want to keep drawing more attention at this,” Arietta said. “Frank comes out and says, ‘I just keep doing this for the best interests for the community.’ Does he not see what’s going on?”
Kirby Lee/Image of Sport/US PresswireAaron Harang
Twenty years ago this month, Montreal pitcher Mark Gardner no-noed the Dodgers for nine innings before losing the game on three hits in the 10th, 1-0.
Three years ago in June, the Dodgers defeated the Angels without ever getting a hit at all.
Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesDioner Navarro exults.
Today, the Dodgers came so close to duplicating one of those scenarios, then wrote a third. No-hit for 8 2/3 innings, the Dodgers got back-to-back hits by Juan Uribe and Dioner Navarro for their third straight shutout victory, 1-0.
The Dodger pitchers’ 27-inning scoreless streak is the best in the majors this season, and they have three consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1991.
Padres righty Aaron Harang, coming off the disabled list today for his first game in one month, threw six no-hit innings, walking three and striking out six on 95 pitches. After Harang left, the Dodgers threatened to score on San Diego’s bullpen thanks to errors and walks in the seventh and eighth innings, each time getting runners to first and second. But the five hitters who batted with the runner in scoring position went 0 for 5.
Rubby De La Rosa himself took a no-no past the fourth inning for the second time this week, with Cameron Maybin’s fifth-inning knock the only one against the Dodger rookie in six innings, during which he struck out a career-high eight while walking four on 98 pitches. Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal and Blake Hawksworth followed with perfect innings, taking the Dodgers into the bottom of the ninth.
And after Luke Gregerson struck out Matt Kemp, you could feel this game rolling straight into extra innings. But with one out to go before the no-hitter went into extra innings, the high-average bat of Uribe laced a double over Chris Denorfia’s head in left field.
And then, none other than Navarro and his sub-.180 batting average drove home Uribe with a gapper to right-center to, yes, win the game.
The final linescore:
SD 000 000 000-0 1 2
LA 000 000 001-1 2 0
