Fave 5

With five days left until the season starts for our boys, we're about to begin a long journey that hopefully wont end until November. I think this is a very good team with lots of fun and exciting players. With that in mind, I have a question for all Dodger fans. Who are your five favorite current Dodgers? This can be anyone on the team or in the minors, provided they are somewhere in the organization. It can even be a coach if you want. Lets just have some fun with this before we get down to business. Here's my five:

1. Manny Ramirez

I love everything about this guy, from his hitting, to his attitude on the field (usually), to his hair. Not to sound too cliche, but he brings a presence and attitude to the team that we're legit and we need to be taken seriously. Not only is he awesome, but he's also very funny. Even when he was in Boston, he was always one of my favorite players, but now that he's with us, he sits squarely at number one.

2. Matt Kemp

I have a predisposiion for outfielders because I play outfield for my school's team. But the Bison is one of the most exciting outfielders you'll ever see. I love watching him on the field whether its running, fielding, throwing or hitting. This guy just has so much talent and makes everything look so easy, he is truly a pleasure to watch. He's also got a great personality, and in every interview I've ever seen of him he seems like a class act.

3. Hong-Chih Kuo

Kuo is my favorite pitcher because of his absolutely dominant left-handed stuff. I'm left handed too (its funny how we tend to like guys who are like us) so I love seeing a fellow lefty shut everyone down, especially because lefties always get picked on in baseball. One of the best things about watching Kuo is that he's a relative unknown, so his stuff always surprises people when they first see him. Since I live in the Bay Area I had to buy the MLB Extra Innings package to watch the Dodgers play so I often watched the game on the other teams' TV feed. Like clockwork Kuo would come into the game and the announcers would talk about how he had pretty good numbers but not really think much of it. Then he would blow a few of their hitters away and the announcers would be shocked at how well he pitched. Also, at a couple of Giants-Dodgers games last year i got a chance to talk to Kuo for a minute, and the guy is pretty good with fans. I hope Kuo can stay healthy, because he has the stuff to be as good as anybody.

4. Russell Martin

Russ is the heart and soul of the Dodgers. He should be the team captain because he seems to be a great leader. Russ always seems to be the most excited when we play well and I love seeing him get pumped after a big homerun or strikeout. He doesn't have the talent of some other guys on the team but he sure makes the most out of what he has.

5. Clayton Kershaw

Clayton is not only blessed with terrific stuff, he seems to be really poised as well. It is going to be extremely exciting watching this guy blossom into one of the best pitchers in the game before our eyes. Its also amazing to me that a guy this young could already be so good. He's only a year older than me to the day, and i just could not imagine playing in the majors and doing interviews and all that. He handles all of that stuff tremendously and im convinced he will be truly special when its all said and done (Now don't go all Mark Prior on me).

It feels wierd to list those guys and still feel like there's so many guys that i love to watch left off of the list. There's Raffy, Ethier, Loney, Billz, Broxton, Kuroda, Dewitt, and even Hudson. They're all great players who are fun to root for. We are very lucky to be fans of a team with so many exciting and likable players. So next time Ned makes a bad move and you think you think you have it bad, just remember, you could be a Giants fan. That's my list, who's in your fave five?