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

If the reports are true, and Reed Johnson is going to sign with the Dodgers, I would think that Jason Rekpo is the “odd man out.”  While I like Jason Repko, he has not “seized the day” and shown that he can hit major league pitching.   Johnson is the not the equal of Repko on [...]

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With the Dodgers pitching rotation settled (1-4 and #5 from a plethora of in-house candidates), Ned has now turned his attention to 2B and the utility players.  At last glance, we had Blake DeWitt and Jamey Carroll at 2B, and I am fine with that, but I doubt that Ned is.  Felipe Lopez and Ronnie [...]

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I made my plans and got my tickets yesterday for Camelback Ranch.  I will be there on March 20th through March 27th.  My wife and son will be flying in on the 25th to see the last 3 games with me.  I haven’t gotten the away game tickets, but I’ll work on that next week.  [...]

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Here’s a great analysis about Jason Repko from Phil Gurnee of TrueBlueLa: Based on what Ned Colletti is saying, Jason Repko appears to be staying around for the moment. With the Dodgers trying very hard to trade Juan Pierre and his contract for either a starting pitcher or a 2nd baseman the battle for who [...]

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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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… of hitters!  I mean, think about it – who do the Dodgers really have that is a major league hitting prospect who looks like  Gordon, maybe Lambo – that’s it.    Gordon has a crazy huge upside, and while I still like Lambo, this is his “make or break” year.  He has to start raking.  [...]

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Just in case you haven’t figured it out, attendance at Dodger Stadium is not the only source of income for the Dodgers.  While their have attendance has been stellar,  most other teams  have seen substantial declines in attendance, which means that the Dodgers get a smaller cut of the gate and concessions.  It is not clear [...]

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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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Now that we have clinched a playoff spot and are within two games of  clinching the NL West Championship, I think it is time to shift the emphasis from our starters, namely Russell Martin, James Loney, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, and recognize the Stuntmen.  Actually, this [...]

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It’s tempting to only write about Chad Billingsley’s meltdown in the 5th inning, but really, what lost the game for us was again a lack of hitting.   Andre Ethier had 3 hits and the rest of the team didn’t show up.  We do have a new LH pinch hitter: Doug Mientkiewicz.  With Jim Thome on [...]

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After James Loney doubles up Andre Ethier in the bottom of the 8thinning with the score tied 3-3, Matt Kemp patiently worked the count to 3-2 and waited for his pitch.  Patiently!  Easy…  Then BOOM!   HR by the Bison who is becoming an Animal.  The Bison scored all 4 Dodger runs to dis-mantle the Astros [...]

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… which is why it’s a good thing we don’t have to play any “perfect teams.”  Yes, we have flaws, and so does everyone else, but I am going to suggest that while we have a pretty good group of players, the sum of our parts is greater than any other team, and our record happens [...]

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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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In 1988 we had Dave Anderson, Mike Davis, Pedero Guerrero, Rick Dempsey, Tracy Wooden, Danny Heap and the head stuntman, Mickey Hatcher. This year it’s Juan Pierre, Juan Castro, Xavier Paul, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mark Loretta and Brad Ausmus. They currently go by the name “Bomb Squad,” but I think that “The Stuntmen” are back. Bomb Squad may be more 2009, but The Stuntmen are timeless.

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.344, .381, .500, .438!!!
Those are the batting averages of our bench players so far this season. INSANE! Excuse me for my enthusiasm but that is just freakish, and the incredible thing about that is that Xavier Paul hit a pinch home run in today’s game, currently rain delayed in top of the ninth.

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