A Couple Of Must-Read Interviews
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 7:53 PM PDT
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PrintHere are a couple of links to read on this fine Saturday night.
Our own Phil Gurnee was interviewed before the series by Dan Podheiser of NESN:
NESN.com: Now that Ethier is back, and the offense is healthy, does this Dodgers team have enough starting pitching to come out of a much-improved NL West?
P.G.: Well, we did win three 1-0 games in the just-concluded homestand, beating such aces as Dan Haren, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright along the way. Now that the Giants realize that keeping one of your best hitters in Triple-A is not the best way to win a pennant, it should get very interesting. I’m of the opinion that the Rockies are still the team to beat, but the Padres have done this long enough that it has gone beyond fluky. It should be a great battle the rest of the year, with all four teams taking turns at weakening each other's midsections. If the Dodgers’ current rotation stays healthy, the answer is yes, but we just received word that Chad Billingsley is headed for the DL. Hopefully, it’s just a 15-day stint.
I’d be perfectly happy with Clayton Kershaw, Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Vicente Padilla and Ely, as the first three are as good a threesome as any team has. For some reason, Kuroda does not get much media play, but when healthy, he’s been an above-average pitcher every year of his contract. Everyone should have heard about Kershaw. You can bet the NL West knows about him. Billingsley is an enigma -- great arm, All-Star pitcher in 2009, then couldn’t even make the playoff rotation in 2009. He’s had a great May/June until his last start, which might explain why’s he’s on the DL. Padilla should fill the fourth role adequately. Ely has given the rotation a huge boost in the arm, but the question will remain: Can he at least be average for the rest of the year? I don’t know of any team other than the Rays who don’t have a question mark in the fifth spot of the rotation.
Now that the dreaded Ortiz twins have been exorcised from the team, the bullpen is back to the dominating group it was in 2009. Broxton gets all the headlines because he’s the closer, but Kuo has yet to allow a hit to any left-handed hitter this year. Ronald Belisario started slow but is now looking like the excellent setup man he was in 2009.The only downside to the bullpen right now is that George Sherrill has completely lost his way, and they don’t have that second lefty, which was a great weapon last year.
Caleb Bacon of LAist (and Gentlemen's Club podcast fame) interviewed Josh Rawitch, Vice President of Communications for the Dodgers. This passage was especially relevant:
6) The Dodgers have been the first baseball club to credential bloggers as regular media. How come that came about?
I could literally go on for hours about it. Those of us who deal with media relations have to realize that the media world around us is changing and we can't try to stop it from changing. Nothing’s going to stop the fact that anyone with an Internet connection can basically go online and cover the Dodgers.
It’s not any person with a website can come out here and have clubhouse access and talk to players, but I think if sites are proving that they’re willing to cover this team in a journalistic fashion, not in a profane way, and are putting hours and hours of time into covering the team, to me, they deserve access.
To me, it’s better than to ignore all these sites that are out there and hope that they write something good about you. It’s better to give them at least the ability to interact with you and let them know what’s going on. We want them to have the ability to ask questions of the people who make the decisions and interact with the team.
There are some rules that they adhere to. If you started causing problems in the clubhouse, you’d be bounced in a heartbeat. Plus, the process has kind of weeded itself out. People think: you show up, you watch the game, you write about it, and you call it a day. It’s not that. It’s a huge time investment for somebody.
The other thing I’d say that made us change this policy was that the Dodgers are such an international brand. The three cities that visit Dodgers.com the most, are LA, Riverside and Taipei.
If you’re a Dodger fan in Taipei, you don’t know what the LATimes.com is versus TrueBlueLA. Whoever gives you the best coverage of the baseball team you like, that’s where you’re going to go.
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I remember talking to Josh about this at Camelback in 2009
He had said that the Dodgers were going to start doing this and I believe the club followed up with this at their blogger night during the first month of the season.
It is a great tribute to TBLA (and I think to Jon at DT) that the blogs that cover the team have the respect of the team to continue to allow them access that really very few MLB teams do.
US Open
Dustin Johnson matched Tiger’s 66 and now sits at minus 6.
Three shot lead over Graeme McDowell, and five-shot lead over Tiger.
Tiger will be paired with Gregory Havret, who is at even par, tomorrow.
listening to the Padres game now
Like everyone else, I was disappointed with the outcome of the Dodger game this afternoon, but still appreciated what a great game it is. However, if the Orioles lose ANOTHER lead in the 9th inning, I will be very thankful that there is no living creature within 100 feet of me right now.
I'm sure this is more painful to listen to for us than Oriole fans
they have nothing to root for, other than a really outstanding draft pick (in which case they’d be on our side, anyway).
groundout to 3B
run scored, now 5-4 Baltimore.
Runner on 2B, 1 out for Eckstein
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions
fans are booing a foul ball call that would've tied the game if fair
Oriole fans insist that it looked foul
Potential Suitors
Nets, Knicks, Heat, Bulls…
Louise Bourgoin: The hottest French actress I've ever seen <3
Very Unlikely
I guess Bosh and James will be very expensive…
But a starting lineup with James, Bosh, Lee, Mc Grady and Gallinari will be awesome…
And Tony Parker is another Knick rumor…
Louise Bourgoin: The hottest French actress I've ever seen <3
Look!!
http://www.nba.com/knicks/roster/team.html
Louise Bourgoin: The hottest French actress I've ever seen <3
McGrady and Lee are free agents
That lineup will NEVER EVER happen lol
by SeanMillerSavior on Jun 19, 2010 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions
Corey Hart hit #18.
Fielder up, Braun on deck, down 8-7 with 2 outs
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Double for Braun
cutoff by Hawpe.
2nd & 3rd, 2 outs for McGehee
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:35 PM PDT up reply actions
IBB to McGehee
Lucroy up with the bases jacked, down 8-7, 2 outs
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Lucroy
4 straight swings, 4 straight foul balls. Not good.
by Julio Nievas on Jun 19, 2010 8:42 PM PDT up reply actions
Lucroy not going down without a fight. 10th pitch coming
by Julio Nievas on Jun 19, 2010 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions
I never would have imagined saying this 3 months ago
but I’m slightly happier about a Padre loss than disappointed at a Rocky win.
Not me
Rockies will be there in the end.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Crazy game in Miami too
Rays scored 4 in the top of the 11th.
Marlins have 3 in the bottom, and have 2nd & 3rd, 0 outs
Andy Sonnanstine threw 55 pitches last night, and is now pitching tonight
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Anibal Sanchez now pinch hitting with 1 out
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:41 PM PDT up reply actions
He struck out.
Uggla up with 2 outs, 2nd & 3rd
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Uggla flew out to RF.
Rays win a crazy game.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions
fun day, results notwithstanding
at least we didn’t have a day like the Phillies. I didn’t see the score or the line until just now. Shocking.
BTW
Not to say the Dodgers don’t have issues but I do wonder if the Phillies are wondering what is going on after losing a game where they had a 5 run lead in the 9th inning.
Also, the Phillies have had a brutal interleague schedule with the Red Sox, Yankees and Twins so far.
Now listening to Inland Empire.
Aaron Miller gave up one run in 6 innings, with 7 strikeouts. 2 hits, 1 walk allowed. The run was a solo homer.
I just started listening, so I’m not sure if he’s still in there or not
Miller finishes the 7th with a K. His night appears done. Great outing.
7 IP, 2 hits, 1 HR, 1 walk, 8 K
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:00 PM PDT up reply actions
A couple of good performances by Dodger pitchers
wished Padilla could have one of those games but I am guessing all in all he wasn’t that bad.
Monday was really perturbed about Kemp getting thrown out attempting to steal against Wakefield and Varitek.
Padilla was OK
I was all ready to say good job had he finished the 6th. I had a story all worked out about Padilla being good this season save for just one pitch in his last three starts (HRs to Sanchez in FLA, Bruce in CIN, and V-Mart today), but then he had to give up that bomb to Youk to ruin the story :)
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Geison Aguasviva is in now for IE to start the 8th
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:10 PM PDT up reply actions
one HR allowed (tonight) since April 30, a span of 49 2/3 IP.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:30 PM PDT up reply actions
You should see what Kenley Jansen did today. He has 25 Ks in his last 15 IP with only 6 hits allowed.
Awesome, awesome relief prospect.
Very, very good game for Miller
Withrow also had a seriously great game. It’s incredibly relieving to see the Dodgers pitching prospects doing so well. Well, some of them anyway.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Pedroia on Broxton, per Quick Pitch
It definitely was a tough at-bat, facing a guy like that, he got on the mound and looked like he was nine feet tall, and that first pitch, I was like, ‘jeez, I better wake up.’"
Then, an old reporter said something like, “to you, everyone looks nine feet tall,” and everyone laughed, including Pedroia.
I'm very surprised James Loney's catch didn't make the sportscenter top ten
especially when number 10 was Joe mauer making a routine play on a pop up behind the plate, then again, this is BSPN
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
Within about 2 miles from me is a “Laker” liquor store. They are all decked out in purple & gold, have a few flat screens inside to watch games, and even the L in Liquor is the Laker style L.
I stopped by after the game Thursday (wearing my Kobe jersey) to see how they were celebrating, and it turns out they had closed for the night so they could watch the game. Now that’s dedication!
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions
well, perhaps if he'd played for the Red Sox
I’m also pretty sure that after the game, Fox talked about the standings for the AL East being affected after the game, but not the NL West. Part of that was probably a function of the Red Sox winning, but had the Dodgers won, I’m guessing they would have shown both.
Part of it is also that the 3 best teams in baseball are likely all in the AL East
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions
How can this be?
Withrow and Miller with gems on my watch?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Ha
outstanding. You deserved a good day to recap.
I can’t wait to read silverwidow and lvdown sniping at one another in the comments. Oh wait, yes I can.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:03 PM PDT up reply actions
There’s a preview in the game recap thread before this one ;)
And idk, I’ve got the excuse for being young and immature, what is his excuse :P
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
What are you, 20-21? At that age, there were times when I said immature things on the internet. It’s normal. But the main difference, for me, is that when I felt strongly about a point, it was backed up reasonably well. And I also made sure to really know the subject before saying anything on the subject.
That being said, I am done with this issue.
Dude, lighten up and get the stick of you know where
That’s your problem, you can’t take a joke. And I guess Russell’s stats aren’t any proof of anything to what kind of player and prospect he is? Gotcha, that makes a ton of sense.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
That damn Dee Gordon I'd imagine, haha
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
They must have thought it was coolguy's night
Glad they did though :)
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Roberto Baly is in Boston this weekend
and he chronicles some of his events so far on Vin Scully Is My Homeboy. I thought this pic was great. Boo hoo Celtics:
Troy Glaus
at the end of April the Braves, like the Dodgers, were 9-14. Troy Glaus was hitting .194/.310/.294 with 2 homers and 9 RBI.
Since then, all Glaus has done is hit .318/.399/.582 with 12 HR and 46 RBI in 46 games (the Braves are 32-14 in those games), including a walk-off HR today against the Royals.
He leads the league with 55 RBI, and more shockingly has played all 69 games this season.
Glaus was healthy in 2005 and 2006, was hurt for about a third of the season in 2007
Then was fine in 2008 until really going down in 2009.
But from 2005-2008, after A-Rod, Wright, Cabrera and A. Ramirez, he was still putting up really solid numbers and was probably worth what he was being paid.
I feel for the Reds
down 5-1 in the 9th, they are about to succumb to a second straight CG by a Mariner pitcher. Last night Cliff Lee shut them out, and tonight King Felix struck out 8 while giving up 4 hits and a walk.
Felix completed the CG. 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 9 K
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 9:32 PM PDT up reply actions
pretty interesting segment on baseball tonight about the mud applied to game balls
I had no idea
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
ya thats what they were mentioning
and that some pitchers might pay the clubhouse guys a tip to make sure they are extra dark and rubbed up
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
If that's what i think you are talking about
Only one person in the world knows how/where to get that mud, and he’s very, very old. He may have died and told a family member, but I’m not sure.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Our of University of Arizona/Arizona State alum and fans might be as annoyed
As these commenters to this story
From Lookout Landing
Another walkless performance from Cliff Lee last night puts him at four unintentional walks and zero hit batters of 305 batters faced. That’s 1.31% of hitters.
against a mere 67 strikeouts. Decent, I guess.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 10:09 PM PDT up reply actions
Peter Gammons via twitter
2 years ago only 2 teams would take Manny w/ Sox paying $. Marlins, LA said no on Stanton, Ethier
I saw that this morning
I was going to retweet it with a smartass comment but decided against it.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 10:37 PM PDT up reply actions
The Pirates
while gaining some salary relief now have a utility infielder (Laroche) , a pitcher with an injury (Hansen), an outfielder that Juan Pierre can look down to (Moss) and probably the best prospect (since he has not advanced yet to the majors to show any problems) in Morris.
The Red Sox got a year and a half from Bay and netted some draft picks, they lost in the ALCS in 2008 and lost in the ALDS last year.
The Dodgers won back to back NL West titles, Manny got consideration for NL MVP for half a year and with Manny, the Dodgers have been a top NL team.
I just don’t know how to spin that deal anyway but positive for the Dodgers, okay for the Red Sox and a maybe for the Pirates.
by bhsportsguy on Jun 19, 2010 10:50 PM PDT up reply actions
The clear implication of Gammons’ tweet was that Manny is/was a pariah and likely murdered 17 people.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 19, 2010 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Here's the part I don't get
Unless Manny’s behavior was clearly different in 2008 than it was from 2001 to 2007, I blame the Red Sox for basically tolerating it until it became convenient not to.
Obviously the team tried to deal him for years, heck they put him on waivers every August after Theo got there.
And really, if the incident with the traveling secretary is true, why didn’t they at least suspend Manny. You know why, they had to keep some value for him because they knew if he stop producing on the field, no would take him and they would have real problems filling his spot in the lineup after 2008.
by bhsportsguy on Jun 19, 2010 11:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Manny didnt play 2 games vs the Yankees that season complaining of knee problems..
When asked which knee was bothering him, he couldnt remember. Red Sox ordered MRIs on both knees and found nothing.
I cant remember Manny ever literally quitting like that before. That was the last straw to getting him out of Boston.
It was a much better deal for Boston than the Dodgers. Bay was cheaper than Manny, and Manny also had the steroid suspension in 2009.
Pittsburgh was the big loser, but generally that happens when you trade great players in their prime. Its almost impossible to get equal value out of prospects.
Age + steroids + salary..
There’s probably reasons besides “Manny being Manny” that he wasnt heavily pursued by many teams.
It was very bad for the Pirates. Huntington hinted that he regrets accepting that offer and in hindsight had something better on the table. My guess is that was from the Rays (Hellickson or Davis + Brignac).
by silverwidow on Jun 19, 2010 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions
You mean for Bay
Well I don’t know, I mean Andy Laroche was certainly still considered a player albeit there were probably concerns, Morris was hurt so that was a risk. As for the Red Sox players, I thought the Hansen/Moss combo was fairly week, it didn’t affect Boston’s MLB team (with Bay going back). Probably asked for Bard and was turned down.
by bhsportsguy on Jun 19, 2010 10:56 PM PDT up reply actions
The Red Sox got a better deal than the Dodgers did out of it..
Red Sox found a younger cheaper player in Jason Bay to replace Manny, and got draft picks when he left.
According to the twitters of Kensai & Jon Heyman
Silvino Furcal, father of Rafael has passed away this morning. My condolences to him & his family.
From Buster Olney
Heard this: The Los Angeles Dodgers and Joe Torre are headed for a divorce after this season. Torre broke off negotiations over a contract extension this spring, but there are a couple of folks in power who are ready to turn the managerial page. Remember, things can change in a short time, feelings can be altered, but right now, it seems unlikely that Torre will be back.
Manute Bol died?
WTF! He wasn’t 50 yet, was he?
Good sports day.
Brazil vs Ivory Coast….US Open….CBWS….some pretty good pitching matchups today (Johnson vs Price; Sabathia vs Santana; Marcum vs Sanchez; Halladay vs Pavano). And we end the day with Dodgers/Sox.
Thanfully I won’t get to watch any of it because I have to go to work in 45 minutes. I will get to see part of the Dodger game, I guess. Anyways…
Happy Fathers Day out there to the Dads and Grand Dads.
From ESPN’s Buster Olney, on Baseball Tonight this morning:
“Vicente Padilla had to step into the rotation yesterday because of the injury to Chad Billingsley…”
Umm, what?
In the 80's,
Arkansas had 2 statewide newspapers. The Arkansas Democrat bought out the Arkansas Gazette and combined it into one name. At the time, the Arkansas Gazette was the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi.
I know, you didn’t ask! :-)
Not sure if we realize just how lucky we are that things have worked out so well with Kershaw
Rick Porcello (P) DET – AAA 6/20/2010
Porcello has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo, the Tigers’ official site reports. There are a few things to consider here. First, he’s only 21 years old, so the long-term outlook for those who own Porcello in keeper leagues is still favorable. Second, he skipped Double- and Triple-A en route to his big league debut with Detroit in April of 2009, so perhaps some time to polish his game against lesser competition will actually help his long-term development. In most one-year formats, you have to consider letting him go depending on what’s available on your league’s waiver wire, but keep an eye on how he fares at Toledo as you never know when exactly everything will come together.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
What were expectations for Porcello coming up? Obviously they were huge seeing he skipped the two toughest divisions of minor league ball. I don’t really remember hearing about him before he was called up like I heard about Kershaw. I guess if I were a Tiger fan I would have. Could you let guys that don’t know some of these answers what he was projected to be or how hyped he was coming up before last year?
Good stuff Phil! Happy Fathers Day. if it applies.
I wanted to give a shout out to my Dad on Fathers Day.
He doesn’t read TBLA, although I have told him about it and emailed the link! I realized how much I loved the Dodgers when I realized how much HE loved the Dodgers. We were in St Louis sitting in the resturaunt that is in the National Bowling Hall of Fame one Saturday afternoon. I was 12. The Dodgers were playing the Cardinals. The NBHOF is right across the street from the old Busch Stadium. My dad, who didn’t curse a whole lot in front of me until I was in High School, drops his spoon and says, “Fuck Me!” I asked him what’s up and he says, “Don Drysdale and Vin Scully are eating lunch right over your shoulder.” He stared at them for probably 45 seconds. I took that as my cue to go over and ask for an autograph. Bad move when someone is eating, but I was 12! DD asked me, “Who sent ya, kid?” I said “no one.” He said, “How in the hell do you know who we are then?” I told them my Dad told me. They both signed a napkin for me. Sweet ass shit.
When we went to leave, my Dad asked for the check and the waiter said, “Mr Scully took care of it.”
Unbelieveable. I thought you guys would like it. Good Dad’s Day story.
Happy Fathers Day, Pops! Go Blue
by keithc13 on Jun 20, 2010 11:58 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
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