Week Recap: 05/04/09 - 05/10/09

So, a pretty uneventful week, huh?

Let's just jump into it.

The week started out pretty good. A two game sweep of the Diamondbacks, and a win in the first game of a two game series against Washington. With those three wins, the Dodgers went 13-0 in their first 13 home games to set a new Major League record.

Then Manny Ramírez got suspended for 50 games.

Then, maybe coincidentally (but not really), the Dodgers lost three of their next four games.

They went 4-3 during the week.

Ok, then, Round 5 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE coming up!

COLD:

• Manny Ramirez - Only three hits this week? Wow. I'm going to suggest Manny take the next 46 games off, and then come back refreshed and ready to hit. But seriously folks, I think we've discussed Manny enough this week.

• Cory Wade - 0-1 (3 games), 2 blown saves, 12.00 ERA (4 earned runs in 3 innings) - Wade has been one of the two major problems in the bullpen this week. His two blown saves this week bring him up to three in just nine appearances this season. He hasn't been nearly as effective this year as he was last year. So, what do you do with him? He's still young, and maybe he's just going through a slump. I say let him try to pitch out of it, but maybe don't use him in high pressure situations for a little. At least until he proves he's got his stuff together.

• Guillermo Mota - 0-1 (4 games), 8.44 ERA (5 earned runs in 5.1 innings) - ...and here's the other major problem this week. Mota has walked the tightrope in almost every appearance he's made this season. In 14 appearances, he's only had three 1-2-3 innings, and none of them have been in any sort of pressure situation. He capped this week off by giving up the lead in extra innings during the May 10th game (a 7-5 loss against San Francisco), twice! Simply put, Mota has not been good, and frankly, I'm not sure why he's even on the team. There has GOT to be someone better. I mean, he's a right handed short reliever for God's sake. If that isn't a replaceable spot on a major league team, then I don't know what is.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• James Loney - .172 (5-29), 3 runs, 4 RBIs - I wasn't sure what to do with Loney this week. He does this to me a lot. He stops hitting, yet, in some weird way, he manages to knock in and score runs with his limited chances. Eh? What are you gonna do?

• Andre Ethier - .207 (6-29), 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 5 walks, 4 runs - Ethier started the week out pretty strong but faded in the last couple games. He's currently riding an 0-10 streak, though he does have a walk in his last 11 plate appearances, so I'll give him that.

HOT:

• Orlando Hudson - .308 (8-26), 4 2Bs, 7 walks, 5 runs, 4 RBIs - Have I mentioned how pleased I've been with the Hudson pickup? He just continues to perform.

• Russell Martin - .500 (9-18), 1 2B, 2 RBIs, 8 walks, 5 runs - Boy, wouldn't it be great if Martin started hitting? His bat has been slow all year, but this week, he's been excellent. Hitting, getting on base, scoring runs. That's the All-Star Martin we all know and love.

• Casey Blake - .391 (9-23), 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 4 walks, 8 runs - This week is really an odd week for players labeled "HOT". Other than Hudson, the four other players that I've dubbed "HOT" this week have been strangers to said category. This includes Casey Blake, who I called out last week as being perpetually "ROOM TEMPERATURE". Well, he responded this week. Now we have to see if he can keep it up.

• Juan Pierre - .474 (9-19), 3 2Bs, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 4 runs, 2 SBs - Pierre has really stepped up in the absence of Manny. Yes, he's still done a few infuriating things this week (he was caught stealing twice this week) and he killed a few rallies, but I have to give credit where credit is due. He's been good this week.

• Eric Stults - 2-0 (2 games), 1.23 ERA (2 earned runs in 14.1 innings), 9 Ks, 1 complete game shutout - Who would've thought the Ace of the pitching staff this week would be Eric Stults? He had a good enough start to get him a win during our 13-0 home streak at the beginning of the week (a 7-2 win, May 4th against Arizona). Then an excellent start to halt a two game skid near the end of the week (an 8-0 win, May 9th against San Francisco). Good job Stults, keep it up and you might finally stay in the majors for a full season.

Alright folks, off-day today. Big East Coast road trip coming up Tuesday. Our bullpen really needs to come around, they've cost us two games this week. Other than that, the hitting hasn't suffered too badly without Manny.

Just in case though, 4 games down, 46 to go...

Thank You, Jon Weisman

After reading another couple stories in the L.A. Times about how Manny is a cheater, and how the fans are idiots if they choose to cheer him (Kurt Streeter, and surprise surprise, Bill Plaschke's 2nd article on the subject, following his two-day anti-Manny crusade all over ESPN), I was ready to come on here and write an article about how I wish someone would get off their high horse and look at this from the perspective of most fans.

I mean, can you imagine? You open up a copy of the L.A. Times, flip to the sports section, and the story you see is headlined: "Manny Got Suspended For Drugs, Who Cares?" I can't imagine anyone on the Times columnist staff speaking out in that way. Yeah, that's over-dramatic, but can you imagine anyone doing something half that bold?

Nope, they are respected journalists, and they take the high road. Ban cheaters! Shame on Manny! And please, won't somebody think of the children!?


Is it any wonder why more and more readers are moving away from newspapers and to the blogosphere for their news and articles?

The bloggers talk from a fan's perspective. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather read stuff from a person who knows what I'm going through, rather than someone who sits on their throne and wags their fingers down at the reader.

So, in steps Jon Weisman. The connection between both worlds.

Wiesman runs Dodger Thoughts (see the link section), arguably one of the most respected Dodger blogs on the internets. Weisman's been doing it a long time, and has a ton of readers.

So much so, that Weisman got his own section on the L.A. Times website.

Imagine that, a blogger on a newspaper's website.

And all credit to Jon, he's been keeping it real. He hasn't changed his style. He hasn't started writing articles degrading the fans. He still is a fan.

Look, there's not been a lot of standing up for Manny. And sure, that's understandable for the most part. I'm not going to say people can't have a negative opinion on the whole Manny scandal. You feel he cheated, you feel he tainted the game, whatever. Write an article about his now tarnished career. Write about how it hurts the Dodgers chances until he gets back.

But don't start doing stupid things like saying he should be banished from baseball. Nor drop some cheesy line about protecting the children from cheaters.

And, worst of all, don't you dare start spewing ridiculous garbage about how the fans should feel bad for cheering Manny. Or insinuate that we are ignorant or any less of fans for doing so. Yeah, Plaschke, I'm talking to you.

Which brings me to why I'm thanking Jon.

Jon wrote a piece standing up for the fans who still want to cheer Manny when he comes back. And in it, he also calls out Plaschke and Streeter on some of the crap that leaked out of their minds and into their columns.

And Jon, I really appreciate that. Thank you. Sincerely. You are the highest ranking member of the media who's taken a stance that most fans can understand.

Yeah, it's sooo shocking that Dodger fans want to support a player who made a mistake and is being punished for it. A member of the team they care about. One, especially, who's a major part in helping that team win. Yeah, really shocking to see support for that...

Jon, you called out the columnists on their own website. You did it to their face, the way we all wish we could. Thank you so much for that.

That brings me to this one last thing, since Plaschke brought it up. You see, the article Plaschke wrote that got under my skin so badly was entitled: "Manny Ramirez supporters resemble Giants fans"

OH NO! He compared us to Giants fans. *shame*

See, here's the problem with all this.

For all those years when Barry Bonds was with the Giants, I always booed him. Every game, every at-bat, and every time he trotted out to left field. I booed him because he was the best player on the Giants. I booed him because he always seemed to hit a crippling homerun against us. I booed him because he was a jerk. And I booed him because I felt, in my heart, that he was a steroids user.

But you see, the point is, I booed him because he was the combination of all these things. Not just for one in particular.

And I never booed a Giants fan. I never questioned why they cheered him. He was their guy. He was a San Francisco Giant, and as long as he was, they would cheer him. And they still did, when he showed up at a game earlier this season in San Francisco. Because he was still a Giant to them. And they can cheer him if they want, because that's their prerogative.

So, yes, when Manny returns to the Dodgers, I will cheer him. He's a Dodger, and he's there to help us win. He's there to help the team that I care about win. So I can, and will cheer him.

That's my prerogative.

And, quite frankly, I'm also going to probably stop reading most of the trash that comes from the columnists in the L.A. Times.

That's definitely my prerogative.

Some Manny Reaction

Here's Bill Plaschke:


EDIT: Sorry guys, looks like that video was only temporary. But check out the edit at the bottom of this article for the recap from MikeSciosciasTragicIllness.


Bill Plaschke needs to get off his high horse. This is the same Bill Plaschke who pushed soooo hard to get Manny last year (at the expense of our top 3rd base prospect). Then we got him, Plaschke was so happy that we listened to him, and then Manny led us to the playoffs. Then, for some reason, Plaschke jumped onto the screw Manny bandwagon and has been riding it strongly since.

Plaschke, stop it, you are embarrassing yourself. The Dodgers aren't firing Manny. The Dodgers need Manny. I know it's going to hurt, but we're going to have to not listen to you this time around.

Secondly, on a lighter note, Kate from "Jon and Kate Plus 8" has sounded off on the Manny controversy, and she has a message for Dodger fans:

Let's all take a page out of Kate's book. We can weather this storm together.

Oh, and, by the way, one last thing... if I hear the expression "This is another black eye for baseball" one more time, I'm going to lose it.

EDIT: Mike at MikeSciosciasTragicIllness.com did a full dissection of the Plaschke meltdown. He basically did what I wish I had the time and energy to do, and did it better. It's a good read.

Wow...

So, you guys heard any good news stories recently? News seems so slow today. Nothing to talk about.

Oh, Manny something or rather has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for... something...

Ok, let's talk about this, but only a little bit, because the story details aren't totally out there yet.

Manny says he got something from his doctor, and that he didn't knowingly put performance enhancing drugs in his body.

And I want to believe him... I really do.

But I've heard this all before.

So I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait for Manny to provide evidence of this doctor and this medication and I'll wait for him to prove this was all a mistake. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

Frankly, Manny has 50 days to clear his name, and for his own Hall of Fame chances, he's better get that doctor to say something. I really hope he can.

But that's for another day. That's kinda all I want to say about that for now. Let's talk about other things right now.


Our season still continues. It will continue now for another 50 games without our best hitter, and there are some important things we need to do.

1. We need Juan Pierre to bat 8th. Juan Pierre is going to play the majority of our next 50 games in left field. Joe Torre is going to want to put him at the top of the lineup (though he has been better about that recently). That is absolutely wrong. Our lineup needs to remain nearly unchanged. Manny's spot needs to move from 3rd to 8th (or possibly 9th) and we need to otherwise leave the lineup alone.

2. We need to beat the Holy Hell out of the Nationals tonight. We need to make a point. There will be a lot of eyes on us tonight to see how we respond to the Manny news, and we need to come out and make a statement. We need to show that we can, and will, win while Manny is gone. And we need to do it tonight.

3. Regardless of whether or not Manny ends up able to prove this to be a mistake, we need to cheer him. And we need to accept him back.

Look, fans always protect their own. Really, since the steroids accusations started flying years ago, this has happened. Barry Bonds was booed everywhere except San Francisco. Manny is still a Dodger, and when he returns in early July, he still will be. And we should support him as long as he is.

And so, now we wait. We wait to see how our team responds. We wait to see if Manny can clear his name. We just wait and see.

Remember, this is the NL West, we have a good set of kids, a good manager for getting through this sort of thing, and some real team chemistry.

Who knows?

Like I said yesterday, we are truly living in a world where anything is possible.

EDIT: Yahoo! Sports says that a source near Manny is saying that the substance he took was a sexual enhancer. Jesus. I don't know if it's better or worse if Manny gets banned 50 games for Viagra. That would, at least, clear his name. I just hope he didn't put our season in danger for sex pills, but honestly, it's Manny. Would it really shock you?

2ND EDIT: This is what I'm talking about. Bill Plaschke is flipping out on Manny. Ken Rosenthal is basically calling Manny an idiot. We have no idea what Manny took to get banned. If it is just sexual enhancers, are these two going to apologize? We're so quick to freak out and throw people under the bus. Before we pass judgment, maybe we should give it a little. I understand there are deadlines, but how about a little restraint?

3RD EDIT: Here's another thing I'm talking about. Barry Zito, on Twitter, says "Manny's gone for 50 games. time for the Giants to capitalize." And a bunch of Giants fans agree. They are using this as a rallying cry. They think they can come back now. This goes back to my earlier 2nd point. We need to beat up the Nationals tonight. And we need to beat the Giants this weekend. We have to show that just because we don't have Manny doesn't mean we are going down. We are still a good team, and we can still win this division. By the way, guess who we face Friday night? Barry Zito. No better person to prove this point against...

12-0

Just a quick post to say: Nice, eh? 12-0 at home. Ties a major league record.

But you know what my favorite thing about this is?

We've swept every single team in the NL West en route to the 12-0 record. We're 19-6 against teams in the division this year.

That's a quick route to the playoffs...

Ok, now we've got Washington for two games. They are 7-17.

Can we do 14-0? I think so.

Then the Giants for three. Can we do 17-0? Sure! Why not?

When Jeff Weaver is pitching lights out, we are truly living in a world where anything is possible.

Week Recap: 04/27/09 - 05/03/09

So, I had an illusion snapped yesterday. I mentioned on this blog a couple weeks ago how I had enjoyed the Jr. Dodgers broadcast.

It seemed like such a cool idea, let two kids into a press box and allow them to call a Dodger game to be broadcast on the internet.

I thought the idea was so cool, in fact, that I was even looking forward to listening to it a little bit during Sunday's game.

So I tuned in, and to my surprise, the same kid who was calling play-by-play two weeks ago was doing it again. Interesting, I thought, why does he get to do this twice? So I did some digging and found a Dodger press release about the program:

"The play-by-play duties will be split amongst regulars Nick Berman and Jake Reiner, while the analyst position for the two-person team will feature a rotation of Jr. Dodgers Kids Club members."

Really? How do I become a "regular"? How did these two become "regulars"? It continues:

"Berman is a senior at Harvard-Westlake High School...

Reiner is currently a senior at Los Angeles' Wildwood High school."

And this is where my illusion was shattered. For those of you that don't know, Harvard-Westlake High School is an incredibly hoity-toity school. I mean really hoity-toity. One of the top hoity-toity schools in the state. Top 3 in hoity, at least top 5 in toity. The hoitiest of the toitiest. You get the point? Berman's family has got to have money.

Well, what about Reiner? Does that name sound familiar? Like Rob Reiner? You know, incredibly rich director and Dodger season ticket holder Rob Reiner? Yeah, that's his son.

So... how in the world did these two end up as regulars?

And they get to call all Sunday Dodger home games this year? Totally unfair. I'm going to start a protest.

My only other route into this is color commentator and the color commentator is always a kid from the Dodgers Jr. club, a club open only to kids 14 and under.

I'm furious with envy. I need to follow up on one of my two plans: get rich, or find a convincing way to make myself seem 14. Both seem easily doable.

Anyway, enough with my complaining, let's get to recapping.

The Dodgers started the week by losing a three game series in San Francisco to go 4-5 on their road trip.

They followed that up by coming home and sweeping the Padres in a four game series at home.

It was the first ever four game sweep of the Padres in Dodger Stadium, and with those four wins, the Dodgers have started the season 10-0 at home. Nice.

The Dodgers went 5-2 for the week.

Round 4 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE? Yes, please.

COLD:

• James McDonald - 0-0 (1 game), 16.19 ERA (3 earned runs in 1.2 innings), 2 hits, 4 walks - A pretty bad start (an 8-5 win, April 30th against San Diego) and now a demotion to the bullpen, McDonald's had a bad week. Jeff Weaver, who relieved him in that game is going to take his next start against Arizona on Tuesday. Let's hope a trip to the pen will do McDonald some good.

• Matt Kemp - .190 (4-21), 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 walks, 2 RBIs, 9 Ks, 1 Caught Stealing - The grace period for Kemp is gone. Sorry. I allowed last week's poor performance to go because of the residual heat coming of the week prior to that. But the second bad week in a row for Kemp gets him a bump down to "COLD". That, and more strikeouts in less at-bats. Yeesh.

• Russell Martin - .182 (4-22), 2 walks, 1 RBI, 4 Ks, 1 SB - Martin has really been slow out of the gates. He showed some signs of life a couple weeks ago, but he's since faded. The weird thing about this week? Three of those four hits this week came in one game (the 2-1 win, May 2nd against San Diego). Otherwise, Martin didn't collect a hit in four straight games (an 0-14 stretch). Double yeesh.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Rafael Furcal - .240 (6-25), 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 Walks, 4 Runs, 7 Ks - Furcal has been consistently "ROOM TEMPERATURE" all year. I felt, though, like this week has been a good microcosm of his season. He's scoring runs, but he's been hovering in the mid-.200s all season. He has more strikeouts than walks, and very few extra base hits. Luckily, Orlando Hudson has been picking up the slack (more on that later).

• Casey Blake - .208 (5-24), 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 1 Walk, 7 Ks - Speaking of "ROOM TEMPERATURE" all year and microcosms... Blake's been in the low .200s all season. He's had a bunch more strikeouts than walks this season. He has been driving in runs, however, with the occasional homerun now and then. Seriously, though, .222? Blake's never been a high-average guy, but this is ridiculous. You know who's been out hitting Blake the last couple weeks? Andy LaRoche (.321, 7 2Bs, 10 RBIs since April 16th). No I still haven't forgotten and no I won't let it go!

HOT:

• Orlando Hudson - .300 (9-30), 3 Runs, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 1 Walk - I have to reiterate what a pleasant surprise Hudson has been this year. I thought he'd be good, but he's been one of the best hitters, consistently, on the team this year. He's scoring runs, he's driving in runs, and he's still playing solid defense. Gotta like that...

• Chad Billingsley - 1-0 (2 games), 2.51 ERA (4 earned runs in 14.1 innings), 7 Walks, 16 Ks - And now for the most consistently good pitcher on our team. Billingsley has really stepped into the role of Ace for our staff. He has been excellent. Six quality starts in six appearances. He's keeping his walks down, and he's striking out a ton of guys (42 Ks in 40.2 innings). His five wins are first in the National League, and tied for a first in all of Major League Baseball. Gotta like that...

Alright, four weeks in... a whole bunch to go. I think I'm settling into this, getting into a groove. It's good. We're good.

Dodgers have another seven games at home now, where they are "HOT". Let's see how long this streak can go.

Let's Talk

Let's talk about a couple things.

First of all, in not very good news, Hong-Chih Kuo has arm issues. That's putting it lightly. That same arm that's had four, count 'em four, surgeries on it, is not feeling good. Kuo's on the DL now and they say he's just going to take a week off from throwing and then assess the situation. That's better news than hearing he's going to need his third Tommy John surgery, but it also doesn't necessarily mean he won't. I suppose we're in a wait and see period, but I'm just not holding a lot of high hopes that we are going to see something pretty.

Secondly, why the hell do we have an instant replay system if things like what went down in the bottom of the 7th inning of last night's game are allowed to happen.

If you missed it, Casey Blake laid down an excellent bunt down the third base line with the intent on legging it out for a single. Kevin Kouzmanoff charged, barehanded it, and made a nice throw to first to make it a close play, but it was fairly apparent Blake was safe. 1st base ump Jeff Kellogg disagreed though, and called him out.

Still, I guess we won the game, so maybe I shouldn't complain. All's well that ends well I suppose...


Wow. Ok, so that was a pretty bad call, but I guess in the scheme of things...


Oh Sweet Jesus! How do you botch a call that badly?!

Look, I understand baseball is a subjective sport when it comes to umpires. Balls, strikes, check swings (which by the way, I learned today there is no rule in the rule book on, it's entirely the umpire's choice as to whether or not it's a swing), these are all the umpire's calls. I don't want to take that away from them.

But a bang-bang play at first like last night is not subjective in the least. Either the throw beat him, or it didn't. In this case, it REALLY didn't.

So if we are going to have instant replay, we should at least give the managers a challenge flag or two like in football, or have someone in the booth watching the game who can make a call down to the field and tell somebody that the man was safe.

I mean, for God's sake, the man was safe! Dammit! Listen to me! He was safe! Soylent Green is people! You maniacs! You blew it up! The man was safe!

I wish Charlton Heston was still alive. The man knew how to yell a shocking truth like no other. But I digress...

And finally, in some almost sad news. Tanyon Sturtze was released. Look, I do feel bad for the guy. He's just chasing a dream, trying to make it as a pitcher in the big leagues again, working his way up from the minors. It's a nice thought, and I wish him well.



That said, I am soooo glad he's gone. I know he's not causing us too much trouble in AAA, but as long as he was there, and Joe Torre was here, managing, there was always a lingering possibility of hearing the news that Sturtze was called up to be in the pen.

But he's gone now. That threat is gone, too.

And the (Dodger) world is a safer place...