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

By criticizing some Dodger players the past few days, Don Mattingly has all but admitted that he has lost this team.  He is frustrated as we all are and wants the team to fight, not just play.  That sums up what is wrong with the Dodgers more than anything else.  Donnie said what he said [...]

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Let’s talk Dodger baseball.

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I have been gazing into my crystal ball and here is what I see as the Dodgers Opening Day Starting Lineup: Crawford  LF Ellis  2B Kemp  CF Gonzo  1B Ethier  RF Ramirez  SS Uribe  3B Ellis  C Kershaw OK, I know you think I have been hitting the crack pipe way too much by saying [...]

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I mean “done… for now.” By “done” I mean “done acquiring players.” Maybe it is good to be done, because it’s quite likely that any signing or trade would mean overpaying at this juncture. But, if the Dodgers are indeed “done” then what can we expect? I have been working on a “Best Case – [...]

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OK, I am going to try and put away my doubts about this team and since the Dodgers allegedly have “deep pockets,” I am going to make a few suggestions.  Read them at your own peril.  I have a “wish list” of players that I think the Dodgers would do well to acquire: Sign Zach [...]

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Champs or Chumps.  The 2013 version of the Dodgers could win 105 games or lose 85 games.  Which team will show up?  There are lots of questions (at least 25).  Here’s a few: Will Carl Crawford be able to come back and be the player he was 4-5 years ago or will be be the [...]

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I am happy that the Dodgers are winning, but they started winning when they no longer had control of their own destiny. Don’t pretend you don’t get that.  Don’t hate on me – I am just pointing out the obvious. The first order of business in the offseason will be to sign Zach Greinke.  It’s [...]

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RIP James Loney and the Dodgers’ Offense We all knew that James Loney was loved and respected by his fellow Dodger teammates, but there was no way anyone could predict that almost the entire Dodger team would dedicate the season to James and  decide to all do their best James Loney impersonations since the trade.  [...]

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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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Tonight I literally thought I was in Los Angeles in 2006 against the Padres. First Hanley to center, then Poney to right, and my boy Luis Cruz to left. I was still waiting for Nomar to come up and then I saw AJ Ellis step to the plate and snapped back into reality. Defense Harang [...]

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Some games, you have to win with pitching.  The Dodgers didn’t do that last night.  Chris Capuano continued to pitch extremely well… well enough to win.  Maybe Donnie should have kept him in, but it’s easy to second guess.  At any rate, he brought in Belisario who allowed both runners to score, preventing Capuano from [...]

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… and rolling.   One at a time.  Just win the series.  Smell the rare air of the penthouse. As I predicted over a week ago, Yasiel Puig is going to Rancho.  They play tonight. Let’s see how he handles their final 21 games. Nice win last night, Shane Victorino paid dividends.  Kemp remains hot, Ethier [...]

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Kevin Youkilis is hitting third for the White Sox and has raised his batting average to .249.  He hit the game winning homerun last night and scored two runs, but the Dodgers weren’t interested.  They were stupid then and they are stupider now.  Here’s the deal:  my son-in-law is a Red Sox fan and he [...]

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Dee Gordon’s injury is bound to keep him out of the lineup until after the All-Star Break, likely longer.  The MRI today will tell the tale. The Junkyard Dogs are back after a brief vacation.   Next man up! Nate Eovaldi who has struggled of late, goes against LH Wade Miley who has been great this [...]

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The game was blacked out on MLB.com last night (Indy is too close to ChiTown I guess) so I was relegated to watching the highlights on MLB.com.  Drat! Junkyard dogs never say die.  You gotta’ kill ‘em or they will kill you in the end.  What a motley crew!  They just keep on winning.  They [...]

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For the record, I like Kenley Jansen – I especially like his demeanor on the mound.  I like that he glares at the hitter and is ready to throw the ball as soon as he gets it back from the catcher.  The Dodgers had a previous closer, also a rather large man, who sometimes looked [...]

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In the Spring of 2011, I predicted that the Dodgers would win the NL West – that didn’t happen and since then many fans have really been down on the Dodgers, some even predicting last place finishes in 2011 and 2012.   I have no doubt that some of your judgement was clouded by your immense [...]

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You laughed (some of you even mocked me) at me when I said Chris Capuano would win 20 games, but here he is 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA.  Maybe he won’t win 20 games, but would you rather have him or Hiroki Kuroda?  Nuff said!  Chris Capuano is showing that he just might be a [...]

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One of the biggest differences in Clayton Kershaw and other pitchers is how he reacts when his teammates let him down.  In the first inning, Juan Uribe commits an error and Keshaw responded with two strikeouts.  In the fifth inning, Gordon and Loney committed back-to-back errors and Kershaw again pitched out of the jam.  Not [...]

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The Brewers went hungry when Billingsley and Jansen were on the mount, but when anyone whose name started with “Guerr” pitched (Guerrier & Guerra), the Brewers ATE them up.  This is not a column about Tony the Tiger. It would be a knee-jerk reaction to call for a new closer right now – after all, [...]

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