Tag: Los Angeles Dodgers

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Los Angeles Dodgers

August 10 in Sports History: Have you see my baseball?


In 1995: One of the worst ideas for a promotion (right behind Disco Demolition Night and 10-Cent Beer Night) took place at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers thought it would be a good idea to hand out free baseballs to all fans, but didn’t follow one of the golden rules of promotions:

“Don’t give away anything the fans can throw on the field and possibly kill someone”

The Dodgers failed to listen, and fans repeatedly tossed hundreds of baseballs onto the playing field after disagreeing with a few umpiring calls and Dodger ejections during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. After the third time the umpires stopped play, crew chief Jim Quick felt he had no choice but to forfeit the game to the Cardinals in the ninth inning, 2-1. The Dodgers protested, but the N.L. upheld the forfeit the following day. Another umpire blamed L.A. manager Tommy Lasorda for inciting the crowd, saying, “Lasorda instigated the whole damn thing by waving his fat little arms out there.” link

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MLB General

The Full Count: Dodgers chugging along


1. The wins keep on coming: The LA Dodgers have been the most inconsistent team in baseball for the last month. After losing 12 out of 13 games, the team has now won 11 in a row. Last night they won 4-2 over Colorado, with former Braves Rafael Furcal and Wilson Betemit hitting homers. Greg Maddux, in his second start with the team, pitched well but got a no-decision. Los Angeles is suddenly a half-game back of the slipping Padres for the NL West lead. They have the best offense in the division, while inexplicably the Rockies have allowed the fewest runs in the NL.

2. Blown away: The Yankees-White Sox series looked entertaining on paper, and last night’s kickoff game didn’t disappoint. New York, via a homerun by Alex Rodriguez, was leading 5-4 going into the ninth inning. Of course they put in Mariano Rivera, but he faltered by blowing his third save of the year. Rivera allowed a homerun to Paul Konerko, sending the game into extras. The White Sox won on Jermaine Dye’s RBI single in the 11th, giving them the AL Wild Card lead once again. The Yankees, due to a Boston loss, are still two games ahead in the AL East.

3. Red Tide: The Reds, after being crushed 13-1 in their series opener against the Cardinals, retaliated with a 10-3 victory of their own. Ryan Freel had 3 of the Reds’ 17 hits, and also made a spectacular diving catch that saved a run. Adam Dunn and Rich Aurilla hit 2 hits and 3 RBIs apiece, while Eric Milton cruised through six innings. For the Cardinals, Jason Marquis was saddled with his 10th loss of the season. He only lasted 60 pitches and 2.2 innings, even though he only was charged with 4 runs. The loss put the Cardinals back to 3.5 games ahead of the Reds, who are still tied with Los Angeles for the Wild Card lead. Both teams have only 3 wins in their last 10 games.

4. Can you pitch?: The Braves have asked that question to numerous players this year, and few have worked out. Their bullpen troubles have been well-chronicled, though their starting pitching has been equally awful lately. Tim Hudson in particular has been mediocre; coming into last night’s game he had allowed 4 earned runs or more in 8 of his last 9 starts. But he finally was able to pitch well yesterday, allowing no runs in 7 innings against the Phillies. He struck out 8 as the Braves won 3-1, their least runs allowed as a team since July 23.

5. We knew it was a bad trade: Almost everyone was in agreement over the Reds-Nationals trade in mid-July: the Nationals got the better part of the deal. They received Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for relievers Bill Bray and Gary Majewski. Now, after Majewski was placed on the DL, even the Reds’ GM is questioning the trade. According to numerous news sources, Wayne Krivsky called Nats GM Jim Bowden to ask why the team hadn’t told him about Majewski’s sore shoulder. Majewski had received a cortisone shot right before the transaction was made, and apparently the Reds didn’t know about it. Naturally, Bowden declined that he was even contacted by the Reds, and he claims that the Nationals provided all the medical information they were asked for. Krivsky might file a grievance over the deal, and this could get nasty.

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MLB General

The Full Count: It’s some sort of no hitter… right?



6 no-hit innings

1. You can’t hit me: What a tumultuous year Greg Maddux has had. After going 5-0 in April, Maddux lost 11 of his next 16 decisions. Then, he was traded to the Dodgers last week. Maybe that will start another upswing, as last night in his LA debut Maddux was almost perfect. He allowed no hits in 6 innings against the Reds but was taken out after only 72 pitches due to a rain delay. He won his 10th game of the season and 328th of his career as the Dodgers blanked the Reds 3-0. Takashi Saito recorded his 11th consecutive save chance of the year, and Los Angeles in now on a roll. The team has won 6 in a row and they are now three games back of San Diego for the division lead.

2. Let there be losing: The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds still have control of the Central division and Wild Card leads. But neither team has really helped their stock lately. After last night’s 8-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Cardinals have lost seven in a row. Chase Utley of the Phillies recorded three hits to extend his hit streak to 35, while Cole Hamels struck out 12 in the best start of his young career. St. Louis is still up by 3.5 due to the Reds’ five-game losing streak (see above). Milwaukee and Houston have hardly gained any ground either, with .500 play in their last 10 games. Some could even make a case now that the Central division is worse than the West.

3. Where was this?: Mark Teixeira puzzled fantasy owners and Rangers fans alike with his muddling 9 homerun, 49 RBI first half. But in the second half, he has shown the power that gave him 43 homers last year. Tex has equaled his first-half homerun total already with 9 since the break. He has a 1.15 OPS in that time, shaming his first-half .797. last night he hit probably his most important homer of the season, a 12th inning shot that lifted the Rangers 7-6 over the Angels. The win put Texas just a half game back of the Angels for second place in the division, and there are still three games left to play in this series.

4. Welcome to the Club: After Toronto took 3 of 4 from the Yankees in July, New York was ready to roll the next time these two teams met. They just swept a series from the Jays, showcasing their new acquisitions in the process. Yesterday Cory Lidle won his first start in a Yankees uniform, Bobby Abreu went 3-5, and Craig Wilson hit two RBI. The Yanks have now won 8 of their last 9 to take first place from the stunned Boston Red Sox. They will have an easy series next as they face the pitiful Orioles, though after that they play the White Sox and Angels.

5. The Next Best Thing: After losing team captain and leader Jason Varitek, the Red Sox will get help at catcher. The team is close to a deal with the Orioles for Javy Lopez. Lopez is upset because of his lack of playing time, and is only hitting .265 with 31 RBI. The catcher was an All Star in a record-breaking 2003 season in which he hit 43 homeruns. Now he is in the final year of a contract signed with Baltimore after that season, and he is not happy. Lopez will be traded with cash for a player to be named. The O’s are fine at catcher with near-All Star Ramon Hernandez.

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Soccer

June 30 in Sports History: Brazil wins 5th World Cup title

In 2002: Brazil won its record fifth World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Germany in Yokohama, Japan. Ronaldo beat German keeper Oliver Kahn for both Brazilian goals. They were the first team to go undefeated and untied on the way to the championship since 1970. The 25-year-old Ronaldo would net eight goals during the World Cup (and just recently became the all-time leading scorer). (Planet World Cup)

In 1962: Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches his first of four career no-hitters with a 5-0 victory over the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. Koufax struck out 13 and walked five batters. He also accomplished the rare feat of striking out the side on only nine pitches in the first inning. Koufax would go on to pitch no-hitters in four consecutive years from 1962-1965. The Dodgers always struggled offensively in those years; so when teammate Don Drysdale was told about of Koufax’s gem, his immediate reaction was to ask, “Did he get the win?” (baseball-almanac.com)

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MLB General

The Full Count: Is it too early to talk playoffs?

1. One will miss out: Out of the following four teams, one will not make the playoffs in the AL: the Tigers, White Sox, Yankees, or Red Sox. Each of these teams has at least 31 wins, and all are significantly better than the AL West-leading Rangers. It’s very early to speculate, but our money will go to the Detroit Tigers as of now. They only have four wins against playoff-caliber teams, and three of those are against those Rangers. We’ll see how it plays out, but no matter what, one of these teams will be complaining by the year’s end.

3. Eye of the Tiger: After dropping three games in a row to the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers weren’t going to let another game just slip by. Trailing 6-5 heading into the ninth inning, the Tigers scored two runs off Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth to win the game. Why wasn’t Mariano Rivera in there, you might ask? He injured his back before the game putting on his cleats, making usual setup man Farnsworth the closer. Earlier in the game, Tigers starter Justin Verlander pitched his worst start of the year, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings, including a homerun to Jason Giambi. The Tigers are now up 2.5 on the White Sox in the AL Central. The Yankees fell a half game behind Boston, who had an off day.

3. Who’s #1?: Before last night’s start against the Cleveland Indians, there was no question about who the best starter in the AL was this year–Jose Contreras. He was 5-0 and had never allowed more than 4 runs in a start–until yesterday, when the Indians gouged him for 6 runs in 5 innings pitched. But that was just half of the Indians’ scoring in their crazy 12-8 victory. Though Cleveland trailed 8-7 heading into the seventh inning, Ronnie Belliard and Ben Broussard homeruns helped them get the win. Belliard had 4 RBIs on the night, while Broussard went 4-5 and Grady Sizemore drove in two. The White Sox lost despite three Jim Thome RBIs and two homers and five driven in by Jermaine Dye. (By the way, the answer to the question would be Mike Mussina, who has a 2.42 ERA and 7 wins.)

4. Simply offensive: Coming into last night’s game against the Braves, the Diamondbacks hadn’t scored in 24 innings, which resulted mainly from no runs in 13 innings on Wednesday. They finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth, with a two-run single. The Braves answered next inning with Andruw Jones’ 14th homerun of the year, but it wasn’t enough and the D-Backs prevailed 2-1. Arizona starter Juan Cruz had the best start of his career, pitching 7 shutout innings. The Braves’ Horacio Ramirez was charged with the loss, though both of his runs allowed were unearned. The D-Backs are still clinging to a slight division lead over the LA Dodgers.

5. The DL’s favorite team: The Dodgers, despite being second in the NL West, have probably had some of the worst luck of any MLB team this season. Jeff Kent was placed on the disabled list Thursday, becoming one of many Dodgers who have missed time this season. Shotrtstop Cesar Izturis hasn’t played this season, and neither has stud closer Eric Gagne (though he was taken off the DL yesterday). Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Lofton are among the other Dodgers who have missed time this season. In other DL news, Tigers starter Mike Maroth will have elbow surgery, though there hasn’t been an announcement of how much time he will miss.

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Grady Little gets criticized for pulling a pitcher too early?

Brad Penny loves his Ws. Though the Dodgers got the win, Penny had a meltdown on the mound because Grady Little pulled him in the fifth inning before he qualified for the win. Even though he had given up 6 straight runs, 4 of them in the 5th inning, Penny decided to show up his manager and the water cooler by hitting it with a bat. The cooler, not the manager.

Grady Little said that pulling Penny early was key to the Dodgers’ win but Penny disagreed.


I wanted a chance to get that inning out of the way. I’m out there pitching hurt. … I don’t appreciate not getting the chance with a three-run lead to finish the inning.

Little defended his decision by saying, “I didn’t want to pull a ‘Grady Little’.” Oh, if only that last sentence were true.

Links:

[Tennessean.com]: Little’s hook angers Penny