The Dodgers (20-11) continue their assault on the NL West and look to get some revenge on the Rockies (13-17, 6.5 GB) after dropping two of three last week, including a heart-breaker in which Scott Elbert surrendered a game-ending grand slam to Jason Giambi. We face Juan Nicasio and Drew Pomeranz for the second time, but we get our first look of the season against 49-year old Jamie Moyer.

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Two years ago, the Giants had just won their first world championship in 50 years. Their catcher, Buster Posey was exceptional in his rookie season, winning the ROY award.

Their star ace, Tim Lincecum had won two of the previous three Cy Young Awards, and their closer Brian Wilson had managed to convince a nation of idiots that he was interesting.

Their long-time rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, were kind of a mess. After failing to capitalize on two repeat NLCS appearances, the Dodgers finished the 2010 season with a losing record, a an owner in a Divorce, and a bunch of money spent on the Chicago White Sox outfield.

Let's not even talk of Matt Kemp's 2010 season.

Fast forward to 2012.

The Giants are 4.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers and a game below .500. Their catcher, Buster Posey has moved to first base. Meanwhile, the Dodgers "young" rookie catcher is out OPSing Posey and is tough enough to continue playing the position.

Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers recently crowned Cy Young Award winner went 4-0 against Tim Lincecum last year, and has continued his dominance while The Freak proves that he may be The Fluke after all, with an era above 5. Meanwhile, Brian Wilson is likely out for his career while Kenley Jansen continues to absolutely dazzle.

The Dodgers of 2012 are full of optimism. They ended 2011 on a very strong note, and started off 2012 with the news that Magic Johnson, the greatest sports star that the state of California has ever seen, would be taking over as owner of team.

Let's not even talk of Matt Kemp's 2011 & 2012 season.

So yeah, let's be fair to old Hank and the Gnats fans. Of course they're bitter & miserable. For a few short years, they mattered, and now they don't again. It's only natural that they'd hate us like they do.

Contest Rules:
Pick one of the choices from each of the questions below. The answers to each question are worth a certain amount of points. If you answer the question correctly you get that many points. The person with the most points at the end of the week wins the weekly contest. Please make your picks before the start of the first game.

MammothDodger won the Week 1 contest.
Vegas Blues won the Week 2 contest.
Taylor Maricle won the Week 3 contest.
Vegas Blues won the Week 4 contest.

This weeks games. vs San Francisco (3) and vs Colorado (3)

1) How many runs do the Dodgers score this week (6 scheduled games)?
A) Less than 20 (18 points)
B) 20-21 (14 points)
C) 22-25 (6 points)
D) 26-29 (10 points)
E) more than 29 (18 points)

2) Which Dodger hits the most HR this week?
A) Matt Kemp (5)
B) Andre Ethier (10)
C) Juan Rivera (15)
D) James Loney (25)
E) Other (30)
F) Tie (5)

3) How many games will the Dodgers win this week (6 scheduled games total)
A) 0 (40 points)
B) 1 (30 points)
C) 2 (15 points)
D) 3 (7 points)
E) 4 (12 points)
F) 5 (20 points)
G) 6 (35 points)

4) Which day do the Dodgers score the most runs?
A) Monday (12) - Zito
B) Tuesday (15) - Vogelsong
C) Wednesday (30) - Lincecum
D) Friday (10) - Moyer
E) Saturday (18) - Nicasio
F) Sunday (20) - TBD

5) Which day do the Dodgers give up the most runs?
A) Monday (15) - Lilly
B) Tuesday (40) - Kershaw
C) Wednesday (22) - Billingsley
D) Friday (18) - Capuano
E) Saturday (10) - Harang
F) Sunday (15) - Lilly

6) How many earned runs does Kershaw give up on Tuesday vs SF?
A) 0 (20)
B) 1 (11)
C) 2 (10)
D) 3 (20)
E) More than 3 (25)

7) Who do the Dodgers score more runs against this week?
A) Giants (25 points)
B) Rockies (14 points)

8) How many games does Tony Gwynn Jr. start this week?
A) 0-1 (15 points)
B) 2 (15 points)
C) 3 (15 points)
D) 4-6 (15 points)

9) Potpourri
Make up your own crazy or not so crazy event to happen this week. If it comes true I will assign points to it fairly subjectively based on the following criteria. Please don't make it too hard for me to calculate it.
< 10% chance of happening (50 points)
< 25% chance of happening (25 points)
< 50% chance of happening (15 points)
> 50% chance of happening (10 points)
> 75% chance of hapenning (2 points)
ie - Ted Lilly gives up zero earned runs on Monday (30 points)
ie - Matt Kemp has a multiple HR game (40 points)
ie - Clayton Kershaw pitches a CG shutout (40 points)
ie - The Dodgers sweep the Rockies (35 points)

10) Pick the sequence of wins (W) and losses (L) for the six games this week.
ie - WWWLLW
Each pick is worth 5 points, but you are not eligible for more points once you miss a game. If the Dodgers win their first four games the picks in the example above would net you 5+5+5=15 points.

Tie-breaker:
How many at-bats will Dee Gordon have this week?

First thread from me.

When the Dodgers sale agreement was first announced, I was overjoyed to the point of following Magic Johnson on twitter. Now that the sale has been finalized, I'm surprised to see the tweets coming out from him.

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Hey kids, do you like charts? Well here's a chart and it says that I'm like better at this stupid game then most of y'al. Just look at me burning up the table standings:

Rank		Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
1.		Frogtown Tadpoles	25-10-5	.688	-	7-1-2	3	11
2.		Hollywood Stars	25-12-3	.663	1	8-1-1	4	4
3.		Doobie Snacks	23-14-3	.613	3	5-4-1	7	7
4.		Eric's Pimp Suit	19-16-5	.538	6	3-5-2	11	5
5.		RBIs are for suckers	19-18-3	.513	7	4-4-2	6	5
6.		XEInsanity	19-18-3	.513	7	1-7-2	5	7
7.		OC Angelenos of LA	19-19-2	.500	7.5	4-4-2	12	11
8.		Inverted W's	19-20-1	.488	8	4-6-0	9	13
9.		Down's Syndrome	17-21-2	.450	9.5	4-5-1	2	8
10.		Houston Memes	14-21-5	.413	11	5-3-2	1	6
11.		Powers Of A Mod	14-24-2	.375	12.5	6-4-0	10	1
12.		The Blue Bombers	8-28-4	.250	17.5	1-8-1	8	12

We need more charts to validate my goodness! Barkeep, bring me the fixtures results:

• Hollywood Stars	8	Final
  The Blue Bombers	1

• OC Angelenos of LA	4	Final
  RBIs are for suckers	4

• Houston Memes	5	Final
  Eric's Pimp Suit	3

• Down's Syndrome	4	Final
  Doobie Snacks	5

• Powers Of A Mod	6	Final
  Inverted W's	4

• XEInsanity	1	Final
  Frogtown Tadpoles	7

Xeifrank with some major slippage last week. Powers of a Mod showing some resurgence. But even with Albert Pujols a shell of his former self, the Stars roll on! Just look at all those goals runs wins!

The end of April turns to the beginning of May with a trip to Coors field. The Rockies will try to narrow their already staggering 5.5 game deficit in the NL West by throwing Juan Nicasio, Jhoulys Chacin and Drew Pomeranz. Most interesting about these three pitchers is how they were all a product of the Rockies international scouting department. Even Drew Pomeranz was only acquired from the Indians by giving up Dominican Republic amateur signee Ubaldo Jimenez. Information provided by Fangraphs, Baseball-Reference and www.minorleaguecentral.com

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Contest Rules:
Pick one of the choices from each of the questions below. The answers to each question are worth a certain amount of points. If you answer the question correctly you get that many points. The person with the most points at the end of the week wins the weekly contest. Please make your picks before the start of the first game.

MammothDodger won the Week 1 contest.
Vegas Blues won the Week 2 contest.
Taylor Maricle won the Week 3 contest.

This weeks games. At Colorado (3) and at Chicago (3)

1) How many runs do the Dodgers score this week (6 scheduled games)?
A) Less than 21 (20 points)
B) 21 to 24 (12 points)
C) 25 to 30 (6 points)
D) 31 to 34 (11 points)
E) more than 34 (17 points)

2) How many HRs do the Dodgers hit in Colorado?
A) 0 (20 points)
B) 1 to 2 (13 points)
C) 3 (5 points)
D) 4-5 (11 points)
E) More than 5 (18 points)

3) How many games will the Dodgers win this week (6 scheduled games total)
A) 0 (40 points)
B) 1 (30 points)
C) 2 (15 points)
D) 3 (7 points)
E) 4 (15 points)
F) 5 (30 points)
G) 6 (40 points)

4) How many HRs does Ted Lilly give up in his Colorado start?
A) 0 (9 points)
B) 1 (7 points)
C) 2 (14 points)
D) More than 2 (20 points)

5) How many HRs do Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier combine for this week?
A) 0-1 (12 points)
B) 2 (12 points)
C) 3 (14 points)
D) 4-5 (18 points)
E) more than 5 (25 points)

6) How many triples does Dee Gordon hit this week?
A) 0 (11 points)
B) 1 (8 points)
C) 2 (15 points)
D) more than 2 (20 points)

7) Who do the Dodgers score more runs against this week?
A) Cubs (20 points)
B) Colorado (10 points)

8) What is the most runs the Dodgers score in a game this week?
A) Less than 4 (30 points)
B) 4-5 (25 points)
C) 6-7 (20 points)
D) 8 (15 points)
E) more than 8 (20 points)

9) Potpourri
Make up your own crazy or not so crazy event to happen this week. If it comes true I will assign points to it fairly subjectively based on the following criteria. Please don't make it too hard for me to calculate it.
< 10% chance of happening (50 points)
< 25% chance of happening (25 points)
< 50% chance of happening (15 points)
> 50% chance of happening (10 points)
> 75% chance of hapenning (2 points)
ie - Ted Lilly gives up zero earned runs in Colorado start (30 points)
ie - Matt Kemp has a multiple HR game (40 points)
ie - Clayton Kershaw pitches a CG shutout (40 points)
ie - The Dodgers sweep the Rockies (35 points)

10) Pick the sequence of wins (W) and losses (L) for the six games this week.
ie - WWWLLW
Each pick is worth 5 points, but you are not eligible for more points once you miss a game. If the Dodgers win their first four games the picks in the example above would net you 5+5+5=15 points.

Tie-breaker:
How many total bases will Matt Kemp get this week?

Note: If any game gets rained out, then tough shit.

So, this is another experiment, which will probably lead to me ending up even less desirous of creating a fanpost, but here we go, I guess. Who, on the Dodger current 25-man roster, do you like least? Name 1-5 players. You can say why if you want, but don't feel obliged. And by the way, sorry if you find it unpopular and not fun, guys. But I tried. Mine are:

1.Uribe: Sorry, but he's disappointed me.

2.Lilly:I was a fan for his first 6 starts, but since then, less so.

3. Kennedy:Maybe if he'd go out and do something, it would help

4. Capuano:Has been losing most of the appeal I thought he presented when he signed.

5. MacDougal:No. Just no.

How about you?

This weekend, the Dodgers welcome the NL East-leading Washington Nationals to Los Angeles. The Boys in Blue will be facing the best starting pitchers the Nationals have to offer in Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. Information taken from Baseball-Reference, Fangraphs and www.minorleaguecentral.com.

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2011 Post

2011 Results

2010 Post

2009 Post

These are not the best Dodgers, these are your favorite five Dodgers.

Matt Kemp - how often is the best player on the team the coolest player on the team? We all got to watch Kemp show up in 2006 and turn from an inconsistent five tool player into the best player on the planet. Luck does not even begin to describe how fortunate Dodger fans are.

Clayton Kershaw - how often is the best pitcher in baseball the most humble player on the team? We all got to watch Clayton from the time he was drafted in 2006 actually meet and exceed every expectation we put on his young shoulders. Luck does not even begin to describe how fortunate Dodger fans are.

Dee Gordon - one year ago I would never have guessed he would make my list. Seeing is believing. He still has lots to prove but from his speed to his defense I look forward to watching Dee.

Kenley Jansen - yeah, when he does not strike out someone I'm disappointed.

AJ Ellis - might be very short lived on my list, but right now I'm astounded with his success.

You can either just list your five or elaborate on why.