2009 Official Los Angeles Dodgers Thread

[PMJackson21 0]

lol Dodgers bullpen.

The bullpen has been awesome the last few games, and overall it could be much worse then it has been.I knew they couldn't trust Kuo to stay healthy though, sigh. Broxton will soon get overworked if they don't find a reliable 8th inning guy. A win today sets the franchise (Brooklyn and La) record for home wins to start the season. It helps playing so many games vs the nlw though obv lol. I went down and saw Kershaw vs Peavy on Friday night; good game, CK pitched ok but Jake was even better. It would be nice if there was some way for NedCo to work out a deal for him, but slim chance of that happening.

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

The bullpen has been awesome the last few games, and overall it could be much worse then it has been.I knew they couldn't trust Kuo to stay healthy though, sigh. Broxton will soon get overworked if they don't find a reliable 8th inning guy. A win today sets the franchise (Brooklyn and La) record for home wins to start the season. It helps playing so many games vs the nlw though obv lol. I went down and saw Kershaw vs Peavy on Friday night; good game, CK pitched ok but Jake was even better. It would be nice if there was some way for NedCo to work out a deal for him, but slim chance of that happening.

that must of been a fun and quick game patrick. :)nothing like winning on a walk off walk. Also, didn't the Dodgers win a game last year or a few years ago without getting a hit? lol

[TheCinciKid 0]

that must of been a fun and quick game patrick. :)nothing like winning on a walk off walk. Also, didn't the Dodgers win a game last year or a few years ago without getting a hit? lol

Historically speaking, that's Dodger baseball at it's finest. We've always been a franchise that wins with pitching and not that much hitting. I'm really excited about this year's team. Looks like we're going to set the franchise record today for home wins to start a season. If we can just find one more consistent starter we should be able to go even farther than last year.

[PMJackson21 0]

Ship the record, it's nice playing crap teams though. I'm still not sold on the pitching (mainly end of rotation and middle relief) and they haven't played anyone really, but there is nothing wrong with beating the teams you should.Weaver looked decent yesterday but you get the feeling that if he is off by a bit or is up against a good lineup like the Mets or Cardinals, he'll get lit up. Kershaw still throws too many pitches. Ethier is my new fav player I think (has a bulldog too named Lil Wayne lol) but it's hard not to love Odawg.

[PMJackson21 0]

Now batting 9th and playing LF, Juan Pierre!!!!!!!!

[CaneBrain 95]

Now batting 9th and playing LF, Juan Pierre!!!!!!!!

lol. I would never have suspected that Manny would have the commitment and dedication to take PED's.it will be interesting to see their runs per game total over the next couple months.

[Good Tom Hunting 0]

Now batting 9th and playing LF, Juan Pierre!!!!!!!!

seems pretty bs to me...but then again, YAY! I'm tired of hearing the dodgers keep winning at home.

[PMJackson21 0]

lol. I would never have suspected that Manny would have the commitment and dedication to take PED's.it will be interesting to see their runs per game total over the next couple months.

Yeah, it will be. It will be interesting to see what kinda of fall off Ethier and Hudson experience without Manny between them. Meh, I have the mb ticket, watch every game, and I'm obviously a huge fan of the team; this really will make the next few months of my baseball fan life be less enjoyable.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

Just enjoy your rest Manny, and get ready to drop bombs on people's faces in the playoffs.

[timwakefield 68]

Pretty good article on the Manny situation, from the Boston Globe.Just another act in the Manny sideshow Bob Ryan

Be careful. Manny could be telling the truth.If any baseball superstar is capable of taking a medication in all innocence, and then finding out that something in it is included on Major League Baseball's banned list of substances it is Manny Ramírez. It certainly fits the profile.After all, who should know better than us?Manny is certainly taking this thing like a man. No whining. No crying. No appeal. He's swallowing hard, saying bye-bye to almost $8 million in salary and going off who-knows-where to await the second half of the baseball season. Fortunately for the Dodgers, they are in the National League West. No one will run off and hide while they wait for the mayor of Mannywood to return to the lineup.I must admit, when I first heard the news that Ramírez had tested positive for use of a banned substance, I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I was filled with a lot of I-told-ya'-so anger directed at the people in Los Angeles, most notably the fawning media that had bought into the whole Manny act and that had apparently decided that we Big Meanies in Boston had made it all up.We tried to tell them that in time the true Manny would surface, that he is incapable of 162-game serenity. We tried to tell them that history has clearly taught us that Manny is many things. Manny is a great hitter. Manny is a student of batting. Manny is a free spirit. Manny is kind to the clubhouse guy. Manny is a great hitter. Manny is an indifferent fielder. Manny is not always inclined to run out ground balls, even in situations where he might be breaking up a no-hitter. Manny is a great hitter. Manny cares about Manny. Manny is a great hitter. Manny plays when Manny wants to play. Manny is a great hitter.But having seen the Absolute Best of Manny last August and September, our journalistic friends out West chose to ignore our advice not to buy completely into the act. After all, said one, the problem with those East Coast writers and fans is that they take this baseball thing way too seriously. After all, it's only a game.I never even thought about the idea of Manny doing naughty stuff. This would come as a bonus.But there is always the possibility he is not telling the truth.A baseball source told the Globe that Manny failed a drug test for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is said to be similar to another fertility drug callled Clomid, which has been tied to Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and other BALCO clients. This is used, we are told, by men using steroids to restart their bodies’ testosterone production after ending a steroid cycle.If there's a profile of a banned substance abuser -- and I'm not sure there is -- Manny does not fit it. Sudden change in body configuration? Nope. Big surge in power output? Nope. Manny never even hit 50. He did have a homer jump from 26 in 1997 to 45 in 1998, but that was after hitting 31 in 1995 and 33 in 1996. He was a maturing young slugger; that's all. I think.But Manny has otherwise been a consistent power hitter for the last dozen years. There have been no red flags.It's very easy, and logical, to accept the idea that Manny has just messed up. Consider that the reason pitcher J.C. Romero is currently serving his 50-game suspension for use of a banned substance is that he swears he had absolutely no reason to think there was anything sinister in what he was given. J.C. sure wasn't getting by on his heat. I'm inclined to believe him.But if Manny isn't telling the truth, then we are once again reminded that this quest of ours to evaluate baseball in both its recent past and its present may be a fruitless endeavor. If Manny has done something bad knowingly, we can assume he's not the only one, and then we are back in the business of suspecting anyone who hits a home run (Well, maybe not in Yankee Stadium). I hate that.If we can believe Albert Pujols when he bellows that he's clean, then we can sympathize with him for feeling the frustration of being falsely accused. By "accused" here I simply mean that because he is so relentlessly great (and powerful) he is an automatic object of suspicion in the eyes of some, just because. I really hate that.If Manny is lying, and we discover that he's been juiced for a long time, the ramifications for Boston and the Red Sox are enormous. He was a major part of what went on in 2004 and 2007. He was, after all, the MVP of the 2004 World Series. Any implication that a juiced Manny helped end the 86 years of misery and trauma would not be good.If Manny is telling the truth, shouldn't it be easy to prove? There would be some kind of doctor's record, correct? We really should be able to get to the bottom of it, correct? This doesn't mean that if Manny has indeed innocently ingested a no-no product he shouldn't do the time. Players are ultimately responsible for what goes in to their bodies, and they all have to know the rules. But if that really is what happened, at least we can breathe the big sigh of relief and go back to focusing our wrath on real cheaters, like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.Anyway, we tried to tell you folks in LA that you didn't just get yourself a great slugger. You got yourself a 24/7/365 reality production entitled ‘‘The Manny Ramírez Show,'' produced, directed, written by, and starring Manny Ramírez. This is a man around whom things just seem to, well, happen.As for the baseball itself, the Dodgers will still be in the race when he returns and it seems to me that a two-month Mannywood season worked out well for everyone concerned last year.P.S. Hey, A-Rod: don't think this means we won't be keeping an eye on you.

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

yay. Since manny has been suspended...Giants 1-0Dodgers 0-1:)

[PMJackson21 0]

yay. Since manny has been suspended...Giants 1-0Dodgers 0-1

Yay, since the Dodgers and Giants moved to the West Coast....Giants 0 WS titlesDodgers 5 WS titles

[PMJackson21 0]

Bullpen sucked last night. Offense w/out Manny wasn't a problem, but who knows how it affected the team's attitude. Semi-glad they lost a home game before the series with the Giants so breaking the streak won't be a feather in the cap of the Giants.Zito v Bills tonight, hopefully they can right the ship and win 2/3.

[CaneBrain 95]

Yay, since the Dodgers and Giants moved to the West Coast....Giants 0 WS titlesDodgers 5 WS titles

oooooooooo, angry Patrick.

[PMJackson21 0]

oooooooooo, angry Patrick.

Lol, I won't let fans of a franchise that supported Bonds all those years give me shit about Manny. Anyone else can, but f Giants fans.

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

yay. Since manny has been suspended...Giants 2-0Dodgers 0-2

fmp

[gobears 0]

Giants come away with a tough win - all I saw Today was Juan Pierre almost single-handedly winning the game for the Dodgers. A good time for Colletti to tell everybody he's a genius for signing Pierre.

[TheCinciKid 0]

2 out of 3 on the road against the defending champs. Excellent!

[PMJackson21 0]

2 out of 3 on the road against the defending champs. Excellent!

Yeah, not a bad start to the road trip. It would be nice if Raffy and Andre could start hitting again. Kuroda finally threw off a mound and Manny finally manned up and addressed the team.To be honest though, this Manny ordeal has pretty much ruined the season for me, regardless of what happens. Let's say that the best case scenario happens on the field, and after Manny returns they go on to win the WS. All that Dodgers fans will hear from the media and other baseball fans is how the title is tainted because of Manny's actions, and I would have a hard time disagreeing with them. A part of me thinks 'everyone was/is using, so thats ok', but the baseball 'purist' in me finds the whole debacle hard to swallow. They had a really good chance at being a special team this year, and even if they go on to be successful on the field, they most likely will be remembered for less than positive reasons.I of course will continue to support them because I am a true fan, but to say the wind has been taken out of my sails would be a bit of an understatement. Man does the rest of the NL west suck though. I guess the Giants are going to be the main competition, and although I like their pitching a lot and think Bengie Molina deserves to play for a contender, the rest of the team does not worry me really. The young guys haven't seemed to re-adjust well to the adjustments the league has made vs them, and guys like Rowand, Renteria, and Aurillia are good for quite a bit of comical value per game. Their offense seems to rely on infield singles a bit more then you would like (lol), but anytime you have a rotation like that you will stay close in a lot of games. Shit, I'd take Zito at this point to be my team's 3rd or 4th starter, as long as I only had to pay him 5-8m per.

[TheCinciKid 0]

Yeah, not a bad start to the road trip. It would be nice if Raffy and Andre could start hitting again. Kuroda finally threw off a mound and Manny finally manned up and addressed the team.To be honest though, this Manny ordeal has pretty much ruined the season for me, regardless of what happens. Let's say that the best case scenario happens on the field, and after Manny returns they go on to win the WS. All that Dodgers fans will hear from the media and other baseball fans is how the title is tainted because of Manny's actions, and I would have a hard time disagreeing with them. A part of me thinks 'everyone was/is using, so thats ok', but the baseball 'purist' in me finds the whole debacle hard to swallow. They had a really good chance at being a special team this year, and even if they go on to be successful on the field, they most likely will be remembered for less than positive reasons.I of course will continue to support them because I am a true fan, but to say the wind has been taken out of my sails would be a bit of an understatement. Man does the rest of the NL west suck though. I guess the Giants are going to be the main competition, and although I like their pitching a lot and think Bengie Molina deserves to play for a contender, the rest of the team does not worry me really. The young guys haven't seemed to re-adjust well to the adjustments the league has made vs them, and guys like Rowand, Renteria, and Aurillia are good for quite a bit of comical value per game. Their offense seems to rely on infield singles a bit more then you would like (lol), but anytime you have a rotation like that you will stay close in a lot of games. Shit, I'd take Zito at this point to be my team's 3rd or 4th starter, as long as I only had to pay him 5-8m per.

I totally understand where you're coming from. As a displaced Dodger fan who had the chance to come back to California for a few months and watch Dodger games every day (and have them be good) this has been a dream season for me. Or it was until the Manny thing happened. Now, I don't know. I will continue to watch the games and root for them to win, but this season (and last season for that matter) will be forever tainted because of what happened. We're stuck with Manny for another year after this one and I'm not sure I even want him anymore. Sure, he brings the best chance we've had for a title in a very long time, but at what price. It's painful to be a Dodger fan right now.

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

I totally understand where you're coming from. As a displaced Dodger fan who had the chance to come back to California for a few months and watch Dodger games every day (and have them be good) this has been a dream season for me. Or it was until the Manny thing happened. Now, I don't know. I will continue to watch the games and root for them to win, but this season (and last season for that matter) will be forever tainted because of what happened. We're stuck with Manny for another year after this one and I'm not sure I even want him anymore. Sure, he brings the best chance we've had for a title in a very long time, but at what price. It's painful to be a Dodger fan right now.

You guys will be fine when Manny comes back in July. As for having Manny next season, he can opt out of his contract if he chooses. But with all the steroid controversy that will fallow him for the rest of his life, I think he will probably pick up his option.

[slink 1]

Andre Ethier was hit on the toe with a pitch on Saturday and is not expected to be in the lineup for Sunday's finale with the Angels.Really? Whatever happened to the men that played this game? I guess now they are all on estrogen replacement regiments.Pete Rose, Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig, and Steve Garvey must be turning in their graves.

[PMJackson21 0]

Andre Ethier was hit on the toe with a pitch on Saturday and is not expected to be in the lineup for Sunday's finale with the Angels.Really? Whatever happened to the men that played this game? I guess now they are all on estrogen replacement regiments.Pete Rose, Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig, and Steve Garvey must be turning in their graves.

Lame I know, but to be honest he was overdue for a day off. He has been really struggling so I wouldn't have been shocked if Torre had given him today's day game off after a night game regardless if he was banged up.I'm happy to have a chance to win the series vs your Angels though; every year they kick the Dodgers' asses in interleague seemingly. I'm obviously an NL guy but I do enjoy watching the Angels play since they are mostly built and ran like a NL team...and I still have <3 for Scioscia, Hatcher, Griffin, etc.As for the Dodgers, they are flawed at this point still and are winning mostly with smoke and mirrors. Kuo being hurt (shocking) and Wade regressing to mediocrity makes getting to Broxton an adventure, and I'm still not sold on their starting pitching. The offense has really fallen off since the cheater in my avatar got suspended as well. It feels like watching the 06-08 Dodgers, which wasn't nearly as enjoyable as watching the team w/ Manny. At this point they look like a team that would lose 1st round of playoffs, regardless what their record is.

[slink 1]

Yeah and it's not just the Dodgers obv. Abreu stubs his toe running to first base. Lackey strains his forearm and is out for 6 weeks. Santana has a minor injury and is out for longer than....The only real injury was to Gayarrow and he's coming back Monday to start hitting into double plays and grounding weak singles up the middle.On another note, I used to absolutely h8 the Dogs until they got Manny and was actually rooting for them in the playoffs last year. I guess I'm less jealous of them now that Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles has been fielding real teams the last 8 years.GL to your Dogs (not today tho) and hope we meet in the series.

[PMJackson21 0]

Yeah and it's not just the Dodgers obv. Abreu stubs his toe running to first base. Lackey strains his forearm and is out for 6 weeks. Santana has a minor injury and is out for longer than....The only real injury was to Gayarrow and he's coming back Monday to start hitting into double plays and grounding weak singles up the middle.On another note, I used to absolutely h8 the Dogs until they got Manny and was actually rooting for them in the playoffs last year. I guess I'm less jealous of them now that Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles has been fielding real teams the last 8 years.GL to your Dogs (not today tho) and hope we meet in the series.

Hunter is so good in cf.