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

This 2011 version of the Dodgers may be hard to figure out, but I saw a bunch of happy excited young ballplayers last night when Tony Gwynn, Jr. drove in the winning run.  In a season where victories have been few and sometimes, far-between, the Dodgers got another command performance from their Ace, and Tony [...]

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The Knucklehead:  Getting shot in the leg is enough to cause you to get branded as a knucklehead, but there’s a lot more to it than that.  Vicente Padilla arguably has some one thebest stuff you will ever see, but it’s his “knuckle-headedness”  which has kept him from achieving his potential.  Obviously, something happened in [...]

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… and nothing but the truth!  That’s why you come here, because I am going to tell you the truth.  God knows it’s not because I’m a writer.  At any rate, let’s consider the following and see if what is happening is true or false. True or False:  Ned Colletti, Frank McCourt and Dennis Mannion have [...]

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Maybe it is business as usual.  Maybe it’s really not “the divorce” that is keeping the Dodgers out of the Free Agent Market. Maybe the Dodger brass has concluded that paying big bucks (in most cases) for Free Agents simply isn’t worth it. The Dodgers sought a CF for a few years and signed Juan [...]

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Look, it is apparent that the Dodgers are trying to stay around $100 mil in payroll.  The Angels are not spenders either, and I would not be surprised if their payroll was lower than the Dodgers.  While attendance was good, I think that other revenue streams in LA have receded.  It apparent from the (in)activity [...]

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It’s no secret that the McCourts are in the midst of a messy divorce, but would things be any different if Frank and Jamie were still together? Would that have caused the Dodgers to offer arbitration to Randy Wolf and/or Orlando Hudson?  Would that have caused the Dodgers to sign Wolf?  Well, no one can [...]

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The Baseball Winter Meetings are being held in Indianapolis beginning on Monday, December 7th thru Thursday, December 10th.  While MLB would not issue me a credential, I will be there and hopefully get lucky.   The only thing that credentials really do is get you inside the interview room when there are news conferences. I can [...]

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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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Rumor has it that after Tuesday’s extra-inning loss, the reporters were not allowed into the Dodger clubhouse for quite some time as Ned Collottimet privately with Joe Torre.   What was said?  Look, Ned could have called Joe or had a beer with him later, but he chose to come to the clubhouse and talk to [...]

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I wanted a sweep, but I’ll take 2 out of 3, especially since Lincecum was pitching yesterday.  But, dag-nab-it, we could have won.  Our bullpen guys were nearly as good as the past Cy  Young Award winner… until Mota!    One other thing – Russ Martin will fight!  So will James McDonald.  I like James McDonald [...]

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After last night’s debacle of the pen, the Yankees led by a walk off home run by A-Rod, claimed the best record in baseball from Joe Torre and the Dodgers.   That says it all. I felt early in the game that Billingsley was still favoring his hamstring and did not have his normal “follow-through” during [...]

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It’s been a while, but unless you havn’t checked, Tony Abreu is back… with a vengence! What is a player who is switch-hitter, can play all the infield positions (shoot, probably all the outfield positions), has decent power and above average speed, worth? Tony Abreu (former TOP 5 Dodger Prospect) is back and better than [...]

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Chad Billingsley was roundly criticized last year in the playoffs against the Phillies for failing to hit a  batter after manny had been hit.  I can see the logic, but do you really want your starter ejected in that situation?  Maybe, maybe not, but someone does have to hit their guy at some point.   Russ [...]

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Dear Joe, First of all, I respect your record and the air of professionalism you bring to the Dodgers.  I know we have the best record in baseball and the players like you.  I just have a laundry list of things I want you to consider: Don’t bring Mota in with runners on base.  He’ll [...]

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After his last start I had relegated him to the scrap heap and if anyone says that they thought Jason Schmidt would pitch 6 innings of 1 hit baseball last night, they are either lying or delusional!  But, he did it  and I couldn’t be happier – maybe that’s a tear in my eye.  If [...]

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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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Clayton Kershaw was 7th in innings pitched in all of major league baseball and 1st in ERA for the month of July.  Spin it how you want – that’s pretty impressive! The Dodgers are not as good as you think. The Dodgers are not as bad as you think. The Dodgers would be better if they [...]

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Does anybody still think Billingsley can’t step up in a big game?  He stepped up big time, and then when he failed to get a call on Pujols (WHICH WAS A STRIKE AND BOTH CARDINAL ANNOUNCERS SAID SO), he lost concentration.  That is not good by any measure, and Chad has to be able to [...]

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The Dodgers had 11 hits but, 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position coupled with 4 twin-killings doomed the dodgers.  We hit, but not when we needed to.  Wasted opportunities was the games’ byline, and finally it was sad to see the wasted opportunity that was James McDonald.   After James McDonald was re-called from [...]

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… some days the bear gets you!  The bear got us yesterday, but I see it as no big deal.  It’s just another game, and we just need to get them tomorrow.  Move on… Jason Schmit was lucky his first start – he’s toast.  It was a valiant effort to come back and his son [...]

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