LADodgerTalk.com – Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers

June 7, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog – OK, that guy some of you are so fond of calling Mr. Softee, or whatever, came up big again, his second walkoff hit in less than 24 hours. But Ethier’s heroics aside, don’t overlook Cory Wade. He might have been the real hero of this one. He [...]

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June 6, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog –  Missed most of the game tonight because I was at the gym — when you’re unemployed, you have time to do things like that — and I caught up with it just as James Loney was drawing that critical, seven-pitch walk in the ninth inning, which I [...]

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June 5, 2009 -Tony Jackson’s Blog – The boys got taken to school tonight by Cole Hamels, a complete-game shutout in 97 pitches. Ordinarily, I might say shake it off, it’s a complete-game shutout by Cole Hamels, it happens. But has anyone noticed that on this homestand, the Dodgers have scored runs in four of [...]

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June 4, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog -  Chad Billingsley walked four batters, constantly flirted with danger and threw 111 pitches through six innings. He was good — good enough to get the win, anyway — but it is that tendency to nibble that has plagued him since the day he arrived in the major leagues, [...]

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June 3, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog - This is what Torre said in his pregame: “Hudson’s beat up. We talked after the game, and we decided to take a day or two. He’s just beat up. We’ll take it a day at a time with him.”

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June 3, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog  - He made his first rehab appearance for high Single-A Inland Empire last night (that’s in San Bernardino, by the way). He pitched one scoreless inning and struck out one batter. There you have it.

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Bulletin: Orlando Hudson not starting tonight – That would be for the first time this season. The O-Dog started every single game through the one-third mark, which was last night. Not sure of the reason yet, but I don’t think he has any kind of injury. It definitely isn’t a matchup thing, as he is [...]

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June 3, 2009 – Tony Jackson’s Blog  – Watching the Dodgers these days reminds me an awful lot of watching those New York Yankees teams that Joe Torre used to manage. Granted, the Dodgers don’t have four World Series rings, or even one (yet) for that matter. But they approach the game almost exactly the [...]

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Dodgers head home with a series split and a 5-2 trip – Oh, and an opposing manager’s stuffed head to hang above the fireplace. The Dodgers swept Clint Hurdle right out of a job. Sorry about the inconsistency of posts the past few days. Figured I would let Mark take center stage while he was [...]

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If you’re reading this, it must have worked. This will be an integral part of this blog, the ability to post quickly when I’m not near the laptop (i.e., from the field or the clubhouse).

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Finding the negative in a three-game sweep – A Dodgers PR intern from a few years back — and she knows who she is — bestowed upon me the title of Captain of the Negativity Squad. I believe that arose right around the time the Dodgers were going 1-14 coming out of the 2006 All-Star [...]

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Oh, and I forgot to mention … … that Jason Schmidt’s rehab has been shut down because of “discomfort” he felt in his shoulder. This is to the point where you have to assume this guy is never going to pitch again until he surprises you and actually DOES pitch again.

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Get out those brooms again …. .. because if the Dodgers can win tomorrow’s getaway matinee at Coors, they will have swept a series of at least three games for the fifth time this season. Throw in that two-game blanking of the Snakes a few weeks ago, and they’re actually going for their sixth series [...]

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A long day’s journey into early evening  – Greetings from the beautiful Ozark Mountains. Finally arrived at my parents’ home in Fayetteville, Ark., at about 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning, slept til noon, then spent the rest of the day relaxing, visiting and NOT watching the Dodgers on mlb.tv. By the time I finally did [...]

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The trip continues, but not at the expense of Dodgers commentary Mom, Aunt Paula, Cousin Carla and I are all holed up at a Holiday Inn Express in a place called Shamrock, Texas, tonight, as we leisurely work our way from my daughter’s graduation in Colorado two days ago to a few days of R&R [...]

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Wasted opportunities, intentional and otherwise Just read Dylan Hernandez’s game story on the L.A. Times website, which included the following bit of wisdom from Orlando Hudson: “We had 50 guys in scoring position,” Orlando Hudson muttered as he raced past reporters on his way to the showers.

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Another (yawn) Dodgers-Angels series is upon us As a newspaper beat writer, I used to dread these crosstown matchups. First of all, I have pretty much hated interleague play since its inception in 1997, and now that the novelty has worn off, I pretty much hate it even more now. Second of all, whenever the [...]

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Guess they decided Eric Stults’ bad thumb was still too bad for him to pitch, even though he reported improvement in it yesterday after he played long toss. He ended up skipping his regular bullpen altogether because of the injury. The Dodgers still haven’t sent out the usual transcript of Joe Torre’s pregame media session, [...]

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 I think you can all relax now. These Dodgers are for real. Yes, they still have their stiffest challenge so far in the week to come. It starts with a three-game date with the New York Mets, who probably are the best team the Dodgers will have faced to this point, and it continues with [...]

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I’m baaaaaa-aaaaaaack. And unlike the last Dodgers-related person who famously uttered those two words, I don’t plan on being suspended for 50 games. Yes, it’s true, I have joined LADodgertalk.com, and I’m in it full-bore. Many of you are familiar with me from my work as the Dodgers beat writer for the Daily News and [...]

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