Pitbull Junior

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 17, 2008 9:41 AM PDT in News

If you heard the story about Tommy Lasorda calling Chad Billingsley a Pit-bull you might think this story has something to do with the BS that Tommy likes to spout about, where he takes credit for Orel's success all because he bestowed a nickname on the timid pitcher. Now Tommy is pulling the same bull with Chad. Nice timing Tommy, since anyone who follows the game is picking our boy Chad to be the staff ace in 2008. I wonder how much credit he will take for Chad's breakout?

Anyway this story is not about Tommy but about Orel's offspring. 6-4-2 gives us the heads up that Orel's son Jordan is playing for USC this spring. Jordan lists his Dad as his biggest sports hero. Since he's a freshman he wasn't even born when his Dad became the stuff legends are made of while pitching the Dodgers to their last World Championship. Still as he was growing up his Dad was pitching in plenty of playoff games and I guess that is what made him list his Dad as his greatest sports hero.

I think for many Dodger fans, Orel might be our greatest sports hero. While Kirk Gibson continues to get well deserved accolades for his role in our last World Championship, it was Orel who was step in step with him all the way until the end. Unlike Gibby, Orel continued his excellence beyond the 1st game of the World Series and made sure the A's never got off the ground. While Jordan Hershiser probably picked Orel because he is his father , it would be a befitting choice for anyone who watched Orel pitch for the Dodgers. Not just in 1988 but from 1984 - 1989, he gave us the 5 best years of any Dodger pitcher since Sandy Koufax was in his heyday. His 1985 season was actually the best season ever by a Dodger starting RHP, based on ERA+ as the metric.

Don Sutton and Don Drysdale are HOF Dodger pitchers, and Fernando is the guy who gets the biggest applause when ex-Dodgers are announced, but none of them could hold a candle to Orel during the late 80's. With Dodger Vice Presidents showing up faster then NBA offspring you would have hoped that they could have found a spot for Orel. Hey, he's an ex-Giant, doesn't that give him a leg up over ex-Dodgers in this new regime?

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Can Jordan Boogie Like His Father?

by Rich @ True Blue LA on Mar 17, 2008 12:00 PM PDT reply actions

You are correct

That Orel seems under appreciated by Dodger fans, but check out Kevin Brown. It never ceases to amaze me that most fans think of him as nothing but an expensive injury ridded bust for the Dodgers, yet he gave us three great years.

by schoffle on Mar 17, 2008 5:10 PM PDT reply actions

Re:

People like to use Kevin Brown as an example of a bad contract but he was worth his deal and then Evans flipped him at the right time.

Darren Dreifort he wasn't.

I was however glad to see that Orel bested Grumpy by one point in ERA+ to take the title of best season by a Dodger right hander.

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 18, 2008 7:17 AM PDT up reply actions

Re

Yeah it is nice to have Dodger records held by true Dodger legends. I think that the whole Mr. Grumpy thing really affected how people perceived Brown through out his career, no Cy Young's' despite some great years (esp with the Marlins).

by schoffle on Mar 18, 2008 8:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Seriously...

How did we not give Orel a job in baseball operations? The guy knows so much--love him on ESPN doing color. Someone needs to hire that guy.

There is a suspicious number of Vice Presidents in the Dodgers, I worked there last season and I knew of three but there were about 12 in the organization.

by wiffle ball legend on Mar 18, 2008 2:43 AM PDT reply actions

It Sounds Like

Frank McCourt's silent partner in ownership is the mob. His main duty is to give guys no-work jobs. Which is why there are 12 VPs.

by Rich @ True Blue LA on Mar 18, 2008 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions

Except ...

Since he's a freshman he wasn't even born when his Dad became the stuff legends are made of while pitching the Dodgers to their last World Championship.

B-Ref says his dad's scoreless innings streak started Sept. 5 (it actually started in the previous game, but B-Ref only counts whole games in their streak finder). Jordan was born September 15, 1988, the day after the Dodgers beat Atlanta 1-0 behind Hershiser and a walkoff double by Mike Marshall; appropriately for that season, Kirk Gibson, who reached on a leadoff walk, scored the winning run.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

by scareduck on Mar 18, 2008 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

RE:

I hate it when dates get in the way of the story. Thanks for the heads up on Jordan.

6'8 wow

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 18, 2008 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions

Alejandro

I love that Alejandro Peña shows up twice on the Baseball-Reference list above. He really was a very good pitcher for the Blue in the 80s. He was never really the closer; maybe his title was "ace reliever" though. But the list linked above shows us two very good years as a starter in his age 24 & 25 seasons.

After leading the NL in ERA (and ERA+) in 1984, he pitched all of 4.1 IP in 1985. I was a young Dodger fan at the time (9 years old) -- was Peña a victim of Lasorda? I don't remember the nature of his injury.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 4:53 PM PDT reply actions

More Peña

I forgot to add that I'll always remember Peña as the winning pitcher of the greatest game of my lifetime...so far.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions

130 ERA+

ToyCannon, using your list above, the 1985 team was the only Dodger team after 1947 to have three 130+ ERA pitchers (Hershiser, Welch, Fernando). Man, that 1985 team was good.

Stupid Jack Clark.

-Eric

by Eric Stephen on Mar 18, 2008 10:16 PM PDT reply actions

Fanerman

I deleted your comments about the email.
Andrew doesn't clear out his email address that he uses for this site and it fills up. Just leave a question for him in the comments section and he can reach you via your email in the profile.

Hopefully he reads his own site's comments.

by Phil Gurnee on Mar 19, 2008 7:25 AM PDT reply actions

by fanerman on Mar 19, 2008 8:21 AM PDT reply actions

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2012 Dodgers Payroll

Italics denote estimates
Pos	No	Player	2012 Salary
C	17	Ellis	$500,000	team control
1B	7	Loney	$6,375,000
2B	14	Ellis	$2,500,000
3B	5	Uribe	$8,000,000
SS	9	Gordon	$485,000	team control
LF	21	Rivera	$4,000,000
CF	27	Kemp	$10,000,000
RF	16	Ethier	$10,950,000

IF/OF	6	Hairston	$2,250,000
OF	10	Gwynn	$850,000
2B/3B	3	Kennedy	$800,000
C	18	Treanor	$850,000
IF	12	Sellers	$485,000	team control

SP	22	Kershaw	$6,000,000
SP	58	Billingsley	$9,000,000
SP	29	Lilly	$12,000,000
SP	35	Capuano	$3,000,000
SP	44	Harang	$3,000,000

CL	54	Guerra	$485,000	team control
RHP	74	Jansen	$500,000	team control
RHP	55	Guerrier	$4,750,000
RHP	60	Coffey	$1,000,000
RHP	66	MacDougal	$650,000
LHP	57	Elbert	$485,000	team control
RHP	36	Hawksworth	$500,000	team control

TJ	41	De La Rosa	$485,000	team control

		Manny	$8,087,432	deferred
		Andruw	$3,375,000	deferred
		Pierre	$3,050,000	deferred
		Furcal	$3,000,000	deferred
		Kuroda	$2,000,000	deferred
		Garland	$1,500,000	option buyout
		Blake	$1,250,000	option buyout

Totals			$112,162,432
For more detailed information, click here.
Players on 40-man roster used as roster fillers until moves are made. Current 40-man roster count: 40 (not including Belisario)

2012 Non-Roster Invitees

No	Player	Age*
63	Jose Ascanio rhp	27
61	Alberto Castillo lhp	36
56	Matt Chico lhp	29
33	John Grabow lhp	33
59	Angel Guzman rhp	30
47	Wil Ledezma lhp	31
72	Shane Lindsay rhp	27
62	Fernando Nieve rhp	29
73	Scott Rice lhp	30
70	Will Savage rhp	27
71	Ryan Tucker rhp	25
28	Jamey Wright rhp	37

30	Josh Bard c	34
82	Griff Erickson c	24
81	Matt Wallachc	26
67	Jeff Baisley 3b/1b	29
65	Luis Cruz ss/2b	28
37	Josh Fields 3b	29
64	Lance Zawadzki if	27
56	Cory Sullivan of	32

*Age on June 30, 2012
NRI count: 20 For more info, click here.

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