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

Aaron Harang is gone (thankfully).  Ted Lilly will likely never be what he once was (maybe a #4, but now he’s a # 8).  That leave Capuano and Ryu as part of the Dodgers rotation, but I see them as #4 and #5 starters (you pick the order).  It also leave the Dodgers without a [...]

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Q.  Hey Mark, guess who’s coming to dinner? Venice Glen is in town with family and we are going to get together and head up to the Slot Canyon area around Page on Monday. I’ll be sure and tell him you haven’t changed. He’ll get a kick out of that. – Badger A.  Of course [...]

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You can do nothing… and maybe that’s the right thing to do. Or, you can do something… and maybe that’s the right thing to do. Sure, you can say it’s not the hitting coaches fault, because the players have to actually hit the ball.  The coach can’t hit it for them.  You can say that [...]

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An ejected manager, 4 unearned runs, blown save, errors, stranded runners, leads squandered… and  a walk-off-walk – it was ugly and the Dodgers won because they never stopped trying.  Adam Kennedy went 4-4 (that’s not a misprint), James Loney was 3-4 and both Loney and Kennedy are above .250.  Tony Gwynn also had two hits, [...]

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They are dropping like flies:  First, it was Peter O’Malley and now it is Joe Torre and Rick Caruso, who are now also out of the bidding for the Dodgers.  It’s clear to me that McCourt is going to maximize what he can get for the Dodgers.  Long ago, I predicted he would get $1.5 [...]

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I’ve told you from jump that Mark Cuban would never own the Dodgers and now that prophecy has come to pass.  I knew that Mark Cuban was not ever going to pay more than $1.2 billion for the Dodgers, which Blackstone Advisory Partners has evidently established as the minimum bid the Dodgers would be sold [...]

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You hated FOX , and really, (admit it) you were starting to hate O’Malley before he sold to FOX. You hated McCourt. AND, you are going to hate the next owner. Let me introduce you to Time Warner! When this is over, Time Warner is going to own the Dodgers! How do you like that? [...]

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According to ESPN.com, Joe Torre has quit his day job and is joining half of Los Angeles in bidding for the Dodgers.  The money behind the bid is allegedly Rick Caruso, but I think there may have to be some more money backing that deal.  Evidently Joe is serious.  He would likely be team President [...]

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Here it is: March 31st, 2011 Opening Day. Kershaw vs. Lincecum. Dodgers vs. Giants. Us vs. Them. You all love to criticize me because I step out there and make predictions, but now’s the time to do that. Are you scared? I’m not. I’m going to make mine RIGHT NOW! We will re-visit these in [...]

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The Dodgers lost to the lowly Royals 11-5, but let’s not forget that the Royals are rated #1 by Baseball America with the most prospects.  In fact, they are loaded – that’s what averaging 96 losses over the past ten years does for you.   They have a bunch of arms and MOST of the [...]

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No – not with a gun, although he has been known to shoot himself in the foot on occasion. His arm could be shot – well, I am using poetic license because “shot” when referring to Vicente Padilla has more meaning than saying “he has a problem with his arm.”  I like shot better and… [...]

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If there was any idea that Don Mattingly was going to be a manager in the mold of Joe Torre, Donnie has managed to put that nation to rest right at the beginning of his Dodger tenure.  He has named Clayton Kershaw opening day starter, said that Thames and Gibbons are probably the LF platoon [...]

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Lately, we have been talking about “projections” – especially what Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Furcal, Uribe and Blake will do this year.  Over the years, it has become increasing more difficult to make predictions with this bunch, especially after nearly everyone on the team grossly “underperformed” last year.  Was 2010 just a freak “one-time-thing” or was [...]

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I have been accused of being a Frank McCourt apologist. Think what you want (because some of you manufacture your own reality), but no one buys me.    It has become a popular past time for LA Writers and Dodger fans to bash McCourt, but only some of what they write is rooted in reality.  I read every [...]

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OK, I have to admit that when it became apparent that Don Mattingley was going to be the new Dodgers manager, I was not happy. I wasn’t happy with the way he had handled the job as Dodgers hitting coach.  I wasn’t happy with what I perceived as a lack of knowledge about the rules [...]

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I have to ask: Why does Mike Singletary have a job? Why does Wade Phillips have a job? I mean, I could do better. Oh, same reason Joe Torre had a job… Lack of dumba$$ vaccine!

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I have a few things to says about comments I read here day-after-day.  I am going to deal with some of the biggest falsehoods I read: Frank McCourt is Running the Team into the Ground: Since 2004, when Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers, they have been in the playoffs 4 out of 7 years.  In [...]

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According to Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times, “the turning point for Jon Broxton this season was on June 27, when he threw 48 pitches in blowing a four-run lead at home against the New York Yankees.   Broxton recorded the last four outs of a 9-4 victory the previous day.  Broxton went into that June [...]

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Tony Jackson reported that this was what Joe Torre said when asked if Kenley Jansen could close next year: “Next year, I don’t think so,” Torre said. “He certainly has a lot to learn, so it would be tough for him to take the ball and simply run with it. There is no substitute for [...]

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Think how different the Dodgers might have been this year without the contracts of Broxton and Sherrill. They could have afforded another big bat or top-of-the-rotation starter. I begged them to trade Brox for two years and Sherrill after last season. Some people think that I am just a “Broxton Hater” and that there is no way that I can tell he is not a guy who thrives under pressure, Think what you want – don’t judge me by what you can do – but I have been saying that Broxton chokes under pressure for three years and that the Dodgers should have traded him.

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