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

At the age of 24 J.A. Happ of the Phillies was in AAA where he complied a 4-6 record with a 5.02 ERA.  At the age of 25, also in AAA, he improved to 8-7 with a 3.60 ERA, and also had a “cup of coffee” with the Phillies where he went 1-0 with a [...]

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It’s still about 14 degrees out – who was the genius who picked Indy for the Winter Meetings?  I’ll bet he’s fired! We are editing the Logan White/De Jon Watson interview – I hope to have it up tomorrow. Hey, how come nobody says anything when the Dodgers have 2 other teams pick Rule 5 [...]

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I am not going to mention any names (Gammons, Rosethal, Stark, Heyman, Morosi, et al), but I am convinced that some (most or all) of these guys sniff around all their contacts every day and when they hear “Well, we have some interest in so-and-so,” they conclude it’s a done deal.  Most of the rumors [...]

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I have been at the hotel for a couple of hours and this I know: Several teams are trying to get Juan Pierre, but they are wanting the Dodgers to pick us a substantial portion of his contract.  That won’t happen.  If the Dodgers have to pay to get rid of him, they will keep [...]

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I think that Frank and Jamie McCourt need to learn that hate is not the opposite of love, because right about now they are loving to hate each other.   When you get to apathy,  then you are at the opposite of love.  Look, I don’t know who did what to whom… and I don’t care.  Move along.  [...]

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The Dodgers have improved over 2008.   They won more games, but they still couldn’t get past the Phillies, and the Phillies will still be good next year.  I suspect that Raul Ibanez had his career year and will slip back to reality next year and the Phillies will have some holes to fill, just like [...]

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 This team is far from needing rebuilding, but any good team needs to ”retool” every year.  Last year, the Phillies won the World Series with Pat Burrell in LF.  They evidently decided  that he wasn’t the answer this year, so they signed a guy even older who ended up having his career year.   The Phillies may yet be [...]

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Some people have said that you have to get Carpenter early or you don’t get him.  Not true – for the past three years, the league is hitting .305 against Carpenter after 61 pitches. The Dodgers need to be patient… and then NAIL Carpenter.  POUND him!  HAMMER him!  SAW him off!  SCREW him!  If that doesn’t [...]

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If there was any doubt, it is painfully apparent that Chad Billingsly has deep-seated psychological problems.  Fear of success can be just as paralyzing as fear of failure. Many people fear success because it tests their limits and makes them vulnerable to new situations. Even worse, success can expose weaknesses and force people to deal with [...]

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“We know we are a good team.”- Andre Ethier “The one thing I found out about them, is every time they’ve been tested they’ve done all right.” – Joe Torre “We’re just going through a bad stretch right now.”  – Russell Martin “We’re all right.  We’ll come back tomorrow and have a better game.” – [...]

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I know that we are in the midst of a pennant race, but it always is important to look ahead, and plan ahead.  I have a few ideas as to how the team will look next year and I’m sure Ned has some of the same thoughts, but first:  Ronnie Belliard for Minor League pitcher Luis [...]

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It no secret that Jon Broxton has been my whipping boy lately, but it’s only because I think he can be so much better than he is.  In fact, we saw how good he could be in the 8th inning yesterday.  It was a smart move to bring Broxton in to face the heavy RH [...]

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Jon Broxton is a big, big man and has proven to be an excellent set up man, but I’ll just get right to the point:  Jon Broxton is not a very good closer.  Case in point was again last night.  Given a two run lead, Broxton coughed up back-to-back home runs and for the fifth [...]

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It’s good that we have a nice lead, because we might stumble a little down the stretch, but did it ever occur to you, that with the extra days of rest in the playoffs,  this team is built for just such an occasion?  As it stands right now, Clayton Kershaw would probably start game #1 of [...]

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We didn’t get Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay, or for that matter Jared Washborn, but we did get George Sherrill.  Big deal you say?   I am going to suggest that it is bigger than the Phils getting Cliff Lee – here’s why:  The Phillies are heavily left-handed and another solid lefthander on our pen, who can [...]

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That was phrase attributed to Winston Churchill, but Jason Schmidt must have adopted it as his mantra as well.  Admittedly, he’s not the same pitcher he once was.  His fastball was 87-89, with 89 being his fastest pitch.  He claims that he can pitch 91-92, but can’t control it, so he backs off a little.  [...]

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