Since my last post, Twitter has exploded into a legitimate rival for Facebook, Kanye West has gone from a dick to a pariah to a respected artist to a dick again, Kim Kardashian has gone from dating someone to being engaged to being married to being divorced to dating someone again, and almost nobody blogs anymore because of the existence of Twitter AND Facebook AND Google+ AND flickr and like a million other things. Keeping with my usual tendency of doing things in a way just slightly varied from "normal," I'll stick with the blog.
Also, fuck the NBA. Fuck it forever. That is all for now.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, August 17, 2009
Conclusive proof that Brett Favre reads SBS
Because I've been lazy and coasting on my posting duties lately, the current tagline for this blog ("Where we're convincing Brett Favre that he's still better than like 20 starting QBs") has been left up for 10 days now. Any coincidence, any at all, that Favre's once-dead career has now been mysteriously revived in the form of comeback rumors from his Viking teammates? I say no. Like always, Brett: I don't know if you're really back or not, but welcome back (maybe)!
Friday, August 7, 2009
A tribute to Dr. Dre
Well, here's a quick bombshell to drop before I really start this: That Joe Blanton-for-Andre Ethier/James Loney/Clayton Kershaw trade that fell through in July 2007 is the best thing that's happened to the Dodgers since 1988.
You think I'm kidding? If that happens, the Dodgers gain a very serviceable #4 starter for the next few years, and lose their best power hitter and best starting pitcher from this current team. And they don't really have a future either. So yeah, advocating that trade at the time is probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. That'll haunt me till the day my Dodger fanhood dies.
And the main reason why? Andre Ethier. Doctor Dre. Or, as he should be known by now, Doctor Clutch. Of course, "clutch" doesn't really exist (or at least to the point that most people think it does), but Ethier does seem to have a knack for coming up big in big moments. Over the last calendar year, Ethier has seven walkoff hits, a positively Ortizian feat (only without the steroids...or at least, I pray to God that it's been without the steroids, because nowadays you can never take anything for granted). Now, this isn't going to be a fawning, lovestruck, man-crush, Simmons-like post on Ethier (although, ironically, Simmons recently declared Ethier his favorite Dodger on a podcast, of course citing his "clutchness" as the reason why). Although Ethier is my favorite Dodger, I do know that I have to take everything in stride, and I know that he could easily be playing for the Giants in four years with the way baseball works now, so I can't get too attached to any particular player. All this post will be is a simple recap of Ethier's numerous walkoff adventures. Without further ado:
1. May 25, 2008; The Legend Is Born
With the score tied at 3 in the tenth, Ethier ripped a single to right to score Juan Pierre from second and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win. This was where it allllllllll started. Years from now, the only thing I'll remember Mike Parisi for is his giving up that hit. Well, until Jason Schmidt gets hurt and Ned Colletti signs him to a $100 million contract.
2. August 12, 2008; Against a Lefty, Even??!?!?!?
After the Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez, Joe Torre stupidly started playing Juan Pierre against lefties more than Ethier, apparently unaware that Pierre batted lefty as well. In a rare appearance against a lefthander (J.C. Romero) with the game tied at 3 in the ninth and Russell Martin on second, Ethier laced a single to left in the ninth, with Russ barely beating the throw and the Dodgers taking the win over Philadelphia. Not gonna lie, the clip of that hit got me through some dark Dodger fan days (namely, every minute that passed from "Matt Stairs goes deep!" to "AND THE PHILLIES ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!").
3. August 17, 2008; From Embarrassment and Dismay to Jubilation
After the Dodgers blew a 5-1 ninth-inning lead to the Brewers on a two-out, two-run homer by Ryan Braun, the entire stadium was silent as the bottom of the ninth got underway. But with Matt Kemp on first, Ethier brought the stadium to its feet with a walkoff two-run shot off Carlos Villanueva. This was Ethier's first walkoff of the home run variety, and the first time that the Dodgers had a dogpile at home plate that kind of seemed just a little awkward...of course, it wouldn't be the last one like that.
4. May 2, 2009; Who needs a sac fly when a single will do?
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the 10th against San Diego and the game tied at 1, most Dodger fans figured that the win was well in hand. They were correct, as Ethier drilled a Luke Gregorson pitch off the right-field wall to give the Dodgers the victory. Interestingly, the Padres would go on to lose nine of their next eleven to fully and completely slide out of playoff contention after a hot start, and they'd end up trading or nearly trading every cornerstone of their franchise that summer. So did Ethier destroy the Padre franchise with this hit? It's very possible.
5. June 5, 2009; The most dramatic of all?
Quite possibly. The Dodgers trailed 3-0 early and 3-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, and Brad Lidge quickly got the first two outs to all but give Philly the win. But then...a single by Casey Blake. A walk to James Loney. An error by Pedro Feliz to load the bases. And then...Dre Time. Ethier hit a line drive to the right-field corner that fell juuuuuust out of Eric Bruntlett's reach, scoring two and giving the Dodgers a victory that came completely out of nowhere and was deliciously sweet. Of course, if Matt Stairs had been the right fielder reaching out desperately for the ball and missing it would have been deliciously sweeter, but you can't have everything I guess.
6. June 6, 2009; Just one day later?
Yep. Bottom 12, game tied 2-2 thanks to a Rafael Furcal home run in the ninth, last seven Dodgers have come and gone without getting on base...and then Ethier steps up with two outs and blasts a homer to center off Chad Durbin to beat Philadelphia again. Incredible. And yes, there was another awkward dogpile moment, in case you were wondering.
7. June 29, 2009; The marathon ends
Whew. One of the craziest games of the '09 season was finally put to rest by Ethier in the 13th. The first twelve innings went by with the two teams combining to use seven pitchers, leave 16 men on base, steal five bases, go 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and have six pinch-hitters...and after all that, it was an Ethier two-run homer off Joel Peralta following a Casey Blake leadoff single that finished things. Go figure. This was another personal favorite of mine, as my dad's coffee table probably would have been thrown through the window if the Dodgers had lost. So I guess it's probably one of my dad's favorites, as well.
8. August 7, 2009; THE most dramatic of all?
Yeah, I'd have to say so, even though I didn't see it live. Down 4-2 in the ninth, facing a closer with a sub-2.00 ERA (Rafael Soriano), having had numerous opportunities to take the lead and squandered them, two runners on, home run would win it even though nobody could seriously, honestly, been thinking about or expecting one...and BOOM. Line drive over the right fielder's head that got out of the park by a foot, if that, and then of course there was Matt Kemp jumping for joy for his buddy, and Orlando Hudson being Orlando Hudson, and Manny playing along with everything although it's sometimes hard to take his playful emotions seriously anymore, and...well, everything else. Just another Ethier walkoff, this one better than all the others.
May you get a thousand more walkoff knocks as a Dodger, Dre. Just don't ever have one as a Giant.
You think I'm kidding? If that happens, the Dodgers gain a very serviceable #4 starter for the next few years, and lose their best power hitter and best starting pitcher from this current team. And they don't really have a future either. So yeah, advocating that trade at the time is probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. That'll haunt me till the day my Dodger fanhood dies.
And the main reason why? Andre Ethier. Doctor Dre. Or, as he should be known by now, Doctor Clutch. Of course, "clutch" doesn't really exist (or at least to the point that most people think it does), but Ethier does seem to have a knack for coming up big in big moments. Over the last calendar year, Ethier has seven walkoff hits, a positively Ortizian feat (only without the steroids...or at least, I pray to God that it's been without the steroids, because nowadays you can never take anything for granted). Now, this isn't going to be a fawning, lovestruck, man-crush, Simmons-like post on Ethier (although, ironically, Simmons recently declared Ethier his favorite Dodger on a podcast, of course citing his "clutchness" as the reason why). Although Ethier is my favorite Dodger, I do know that I have to take everything in stride, and I know that he could easily be playing for the Giants in four years with the way baseball works now, so I can't get too attached to any particular player. All this post will be is a simple recap of Ethier's numerous walkoff adventures. Without further ado:
1. May 25, 2008; The Legend Is Born
With the score tied at 3 in the tenth, Ethier ripped a single to right to score Juan Pierre from second and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win. This was where it allllllllll started. Years from now, the only thing I'll remember Mike Parisi for is his giving up that hit. Well, until Jason Schmidt gets hurt and Ned Colletti signs him to a $100 million contract.
2. August 12, 2008; Against a Lefty, Even??!?!?!?
After the Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez, Joe Torre stupidly started playing Juan Pierre against lefties more than Ethier, apparently unaware that Pierre batted lefty as well. In a rare appearance against a lefthander (J.C. Romero) with the game tied at 3 in the ninth and Russell Martin on second, Ethier laced a single to left in the ninth, with Russ barely beating the throw and the Dodgers taking the win over Philadelphia. Not gonna lie, the clip of that hit got me through some dark Dodger fan days (namely, every minute that passed from "Matt Stairs goes deep!" to "AND THE PHILLIES ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!").
3. August 17, 2008; From Embarrassment and Dismay to Jubilation
After the Dodgers blew a 5-1 ninth-inning lead to the Brewers on a two-out, two-run homer by Ryan Braun, the entire stadium was silent as the bottom of the ninth got underway. But with Matt Kemp on first, Ethier brought the stadium to its feet with a walkoff two-run shot off Carlos Villanueva. This was Ethier's first walkoff of the home run variety, and the first time that the Dodgers had a dogpile at home plate that kind of seemed just a little awkward...of course, it wouldn't be the last one like that.
4. May 2, 2009; Who needs a sac fly when a single will do?
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the 10th against San Diego and the game tied at 1, most Dodger fans figured that the win was well in hand. They were correct, as Ethier drilled a Luke Gregorson pitch off the right-field wall to give the Dodgers the victory. Interestingly, the Padres would go on to lose nine of their next eleven to fully and completely slide out of playoff contention after a hot start, and they'd end up trading or nearly trading every cornerstone of their franchise that summer. So did Ethier destroy the Padre franchise with this hit? It's very possible.
5. June 5, 2009; The most dramatic of all?
Quite possibly. The Dodgers trailed 3-0 early and 3-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, and Brad Lidge quickly got the first two outs to all but give Philly the win. But then...a single by Casey Blake. A walk to James Loney. An error by Pedro Feliz to load the bases. And then...Dre Time. Ethier hit a line drive to the right-field corner that fell juuuuuust out of Eric Bruntlett's reach, scoring two and giving the Dodgers a victory that came completely out of nowhere and was deliciously sweet. Of course, if Matt Stairs had been the right fielder reaching out desperately for the ball and missing it would have been deliciously sweeter, but you can't have everything I guess.
6. June 6, 2009; Just one day later?
Yep. Bottom 12, game tied 2-2 thanks to a Rafael Furcal home run in the ninth, last seven Dodgers have come and gone without getting on base...and then Ethier steps up with two outs and blasts a homer to center off Chad Durbin to beat Philadelphia again. Incredible. And yes, there was another awkward dogpile moment, in case you were wondering.
7. June 29, 2009; The marathon ends
Whew. One of the craziest games of the '09 season was finally put to rest by Ethier in the 13th. The first twelve innings went by with the two teams combining to use seven pitchers, leave 16 men on base, steal five bases, go 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and have six pinch-hitters...and after all that, it was an Ethier two-run homer off Joel Peralta following a Casey Blake leadoff single that finished things. Go figure. This was another personal favorite of mine, as my dad's coffee table probably would have been thrown through the window if the Dodgers had lost. So I guess it's probably one of my dad's favorites, as well.
8. August 7, 2009; THE most dramatic of all?
Yeah, I'd have to say so, even though I didn't see it live. Down 4-2 in the ninth, facing a closer with a sub-2.00 ERA (Rafael Soriano), having had numerous opportunities to take the lead and squandered them, two runners on, home run would win it even though nobody could seriously, honestly, been thinking about or expecting one...and BOOM. Line drive over the right fielder's head that got out of the park by a foot, if that, and then of course there was Matt Kemp jumping for joy for his buddy, and Orlando Hudson being Orlando Hudson, and Manny playing along with everything although it's sometimes hard to take his playful emotions seriously anymore, and...well, everything else. Just another Ethier walkoff, this one better than all the others.
May you get a thousand more walkoff knocks as a Dodger, Dre. Just don't ever have one as a Giant.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Schmidt = Babe Ruth
After Jason Schmidt's six shutout innings on Friday and his pinch-hit single on Sunday, I'm just floored. In a season where Manny Ramirez gets busted for steroids, Juan Pierre bats .900 for a month, Andre Ethier goes 0-for-June and still has a batting average above .270, Ramon Troncoso becomes Ron Perranoski, the Dodgers walk off with a win once a week, and Jason Schmidt throws shutouts and gets clutch pinch hits...I mean, can I get a "in a year that has been so improbable, the impossible can't stop happening?"
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The biggest emotional roller coaster of them all
Yep, the Trade Deadline. Every year now, it seems like the Dodgers' entire season revolves around the moves they make on July 31. In 2006, they were floundering in last place, with barely any pitching and half their team on the DL...and then Ned Colletti pulled Greg Maddux and (to a much lesser extent) Julio Lugo out of his ass, and the Dodgers went on to win like their next 12 games and eventually make it into the playoffs. And, of course, last year, the Manny trade ignited one of the dullest, most disappointing teams in Dodger history and basically won them the division. So, with the Dodgers up by 7 games in the standings on July 31, 2009 but still having some very glaring pitching problems, what would Ned Colletti do? And what would happen with the rest of the league? Here's a recap of what I can remember:
11 AM, EST: I wake up, unusually giddy. There are only a few sports days that I wake up feeling this way for. The first day of March Madness...January 1st for the bowl games...the day of the Super Bowl...the first day of baseball season...and the trade deadline. That's pretty much the list. Of course, today, I'm coming off a 4:30 a.m. wakeup which was then followed by 17 hours spent in airports or airplanes, all because I missed my initial flight, and basically ruined the days of every single one of my family members involved in the trip I was taking. So...maybe my spirits are dampered a little.
11:01: Nah. Screw it, I'm still excited.
11:45: I'm all showered and packed, and ready to just chill out and let the trades and trade rumors come. The biggest names rumored to be on the move are Roy Halladay, Victor Martinez, and Jarrod Washburn, with the Dodgers apparently feverishly pursuing Halladay to shore up their rotation. If they get him, I'm reacting like the little kid in the PS2 Christmas morning commerical.
11:48: MLBTraderumors is loading. Seriously, is there ANY better baseball website than this? I say no.
11:49: Already, a big trade: Jarrod Wasburn dealt to Detroit for two prospects, who are "fringe-good" according to most scouting websites. Not a bad one for the Tigers. Hmmm, wouldn't Washburn have been perfect for the Dodgers, considering their main competition in the NL is the lefty-loaded Phillies? No, I guess that makes too much sense.
12:30 PM: MLBTR has an update which indicates that the Dodgers are "pursuing relievers over starters," mentioning Mark Lowe, David Weathers, Matt Capps, Arthur Rhodes, and Jason Frasor as possible trade targets. When your bullpen is amazing, and your starting pitchers suck, the logical solution is, of course, to...get...more...relievers?
1:00 PM: Incredibly, there's still not much going on...and now my mom and stepdad are here (because my flight got in so late, and they were an hour's drive from the airport, I stayed with a friend of theirs), and frankly I'm scared to death of what their reaction is going to be of my missing my flight yesterday, since it cost them 50,000 travel miles and almost worried them to death. At the very least, I know that I can't be running to my room to check MLBTR every five minutes when they're at a friend's house. So I bite the bullet, and call my dad to tell him to text me updates whenever they come in. My Dodger fan life is now hanging on my dad's ability to text. Ugh.
1:07 PM: Tmobile online message from my dad (hey, it's something): "LET THE VINNY ROTTINO ERA BEGIN! ROTTINO FOR VARGAS!" I have to laugh. The Dodgerblues guys are probably getting a kick out of that. And Vargas wasn't important at all; this is almost definitely a cost-cutting move meaned to free up salary for a trade. My excitement builds.
3:04 PM: After waiting on pins and needles for the last two hours, another Tmobile text comes in: "RUMORS! GONZALEZ TO LA?!?!?!??!" I'm dying. DYING. Need MLBTR...Need MLBTR...
3:05 PM: No! I can't...have to put on a good show for the fam...have to put on a good show...UGH...
3:11 PM: We're now in the car on the one-hour drive to my mom and stepdad's house. Another Tmobile text comes in, and my hands are shaking as I open it, expecting a Shawn Estes-for-Adrian Gonzo trade...nope. "V-MART TO RED SOX FOR PROSPECTS." Eh. Good trade for the Sox, I guess, depending on the prospects. I relay the info to my mom and stepdad, both diehard Sox fans. Their reaction? "You've got to get to the airport earlier from now on!"
3:20 PM: New one: "ADAM LAROCHE TO BRAVES, JERRY HAIRSTON JR. TO YANKEES." Huh? Didn't the Braves just trade LaRoche to the Pirates like 5 minutes ago? And what the hell do the Yankees need with Hairston? AND WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON WITH ADRIAN?!??!?!?
3:25 PM: Another text. Okay, this has to be it. Maybe they had to throw in Loney or something, but this is definitely the Gonzo text..."ROCKIES ACQUIRE JOE BEIMEL." Or it could just be a trade that rips my heart out. I love Joe Beimel, and now he's playing for a divison rival? Great. Why don't the Rockies just sign Bono and trade for Bruce Springsteen while they're at it?
3:46 PM: "REDS TRADE FOR SCOTT ROLEN." Cool. What about the Dodgers????
4:00 PM: The deadline. And...nothing. It's alright, I tell myself, the Manny trade didn't offically come in till like an hour after the deadline. Surely, the Dodgers have completed some blockbuster, and Roy Halladay or Adrian Gonzalez is going to be throwing shutouts/smashing home runs for LA any day now. Right?
4:05 PM: A text! Okay, this HAS to be it. "Dodgers acquire Halladay, GONZO!, GONZO AND HALLADAY OMG!" or something like that. I smile as I open it up, get ready to party, and...
4:05 PM: ..."MARLINS ACQUIRE NICK JOHNSON."
4:06 PM: Yep, it's just now dawning on me that the Dodgers' big deadline acquisiton was Vinny Rottino, a 29-year-old Double-A catcher who was batting .250 in the Brewers' system. No Halladay, no Adrian Gonzalez, nothing. The Dodgers are now going to war with like 2 1/2 competent starting pitchers and a heavily overused bullpen. What a freaking cocktease.
It only gets worse a couple hours later, when MLBTR reports: "The Padres very nearly traded Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers for James Loney, Russell Martin, James McDonald, Blake Dewitt, and Ivan Dejesus, but the Dodgers backed away." Hmmm, so they almost had the World Series wrapped up (Manny and Gonzo in the middle of the order? Heath Bell, George Sherrill, and Broxton sharing the same bullpen? Yeah, I'd be getting advance tickets to the Dodgers' World Championship parade) but backed away at the last second. Awesome. Last year they managed to pull the trigger, but...not this year. Go figure.
Things improve later that night, when July 30 acquistion George Sherrill makes his first appearance as a Dodger with LA leading 4-0 in the seventh in a two-on, nobody out jam, and proceeds to strike out the side. Jason Schmidt picks up the win, throwing six shutout innings (no, really), Andre Ethier homers and doubles, and the Dodgers pick up a game on both Colorado and San Francisco...but I just can't shake the feeling that they blew a big opportunity. Adrian Gonzalez AND Heath Bell, for a few young guys that were either disappointing (Loney, Martin) or hadn't panned out yet despite numerous chances (McDonald, Dewitt)? That would have been a freaking steal, and possibly a championship-clincher. Alas...George Sherrill will have to do. Go Dodgers, and may Cliff Lee lose his next seven starts.
11 AM, EST: I wake up, unusually giddy. There are only a few sports days that I wake up feeling this way for. The first day of March Madness...January 1st for the bowl games...the day of the Super Bowl...the first day of baseball season...and the trade deadline. That's pretty much the list. Of course, today, I'm coming off a 4:30 a.m. wakeup which was then followed by 17 hours spent in airports or airplanes, all because I missed my initial flight, and basically ruined the days of every single one of my family members involved in the trip I was taking. So...maybe my spirits are dampered a little.
11:01: Nah. Screw it, I'm still excited.
11:45: I'm all showered and packed, and ready to just chill out and let the trades and trade rumors come. The biggest names rumored to be on the move are Roy Halladay, Victor Martinez, and Jarrod Washburn, with the Dodgers apparently feverishly pursuing Halladay to shore up their rotation. If they get him, I'm reacting like the little kid in the PS2 Christmas morning commerical.
11:48: MLBTraderumors is loading. Seriously, is there ANY better baseball website than this? I say no.
11:49: Already, a big trade: Jarrod Wasburn dealt to Detroit for two prospects, who are "fringe-good" according to most scouting websites. Not a bad one for the Tigers. Hmmm, wouldn't Washburn have been perfect for the Dodgers, considering their main competition in the NL is the lefty-loaded Phillies? No, I guess that makes too much sense.
12:30 PM: MLBTR has an update which indicates that the Dodgers are "pursuing relievers over starters," mentioning Mark Lowe, David Weathers, Matt Capps, Arthur Rhodes, and Jason Frasor as possible trade targets. When your bullpen is amazing, and your starting pitchers suck, the logical solution is, of course, to...get...more...relievers?
1:00 PM: Incredibly, there's still not much going on...and now my mom and stepdad are here (because my flight got in so late, and they were an hour's drive from the airport, I stayed with a friend of theirs), and frankly I'm scared to death of what their reaction is going to be of my missing my flight yesterday, since it cost them 50,000 travel miles and almost worried them to death. At the very least, I know that I can't be running to my room to check MLBTR every five minutes when they're at a friend's house. So I bite the bullet, and call my dad to tell him to text me updates whenever they come in. My Dodger fan life is now hanging on my dad's ability to text. Ugh.
1:07 PM: Tmobile online message from my dad (hey, it's something): "LET THE VINNY ROTTINO ERA BEGIN! ROTTINO FOR VARGAS!" I have to laugh. The Dodgerblues guys are probably getting a kick out of that. And Vargas wasn't important at all; this is almost definitely a cost-cutting move meaned to free up salary for a trade. My excitement builds.
3:04 PM: After waiting on pins and needles for the last two hours, another Tmobile text comes in: "RUMORS! GONZALEZ TO LA?!?!?!??!" I'm dying. DYING. Need MLBTR...Need MLBTR...
3:05 PM: No! I can't...have to put on a good show for the fam...have to put on a good show...UGH...
3:11 PM: We're now in the car on the one-hour drive to my mom and stepdad's house. Another Tmobile text comes in, and my hands are shaking as I open it, expecting a Shawn Estes-for-Adrian Gonzo trade...nope. "V-MART TO RED SOX FOR PROSPECTS." Eh. Good trade for the Sox, I guess, depending on the prospects. I relay the info to my mom and stepdad, both diehard Sox fans. Their reaction? "You've got to get to the airport earlier from now on!"
3:20 PM: New one: "ADAM LAROCHE TO BRAVES, JERRY HAIRSTON JR. TO YANKEES." Huh? Didn't the Braves just trade LaRoche to the Pirates like 5 minutes ago? And what the hell do the Yankees need with Hairston? AND WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON WITH ADRIAN?!??!?!?
3:25 PM: Another text. Okay, this has to be it. Maybe they had to throw in Loney or something, but this is definitely the Gonzo text..."ROCKIES ACQUIRE JOE BEIMEL." Or it could just be a trade that rips my heart out. I love Joe Beimel, and now he's playing for a divison rival? Great. Why don't the Rockies just sign Bono and trade for Bruce Springsteen while they're at it?
3:46 PM: "REDS TRADE FOR SCOTT ROLEN." Cool. What about the Dodgers????
4:00 PM: The deadline. And...nothing. It's alright, I tell myself, the Manny trade didn't offically come in till like an hour after the deadline. Surely, the Dodgers have completed some blockbuster, and Roy Halladay or Adrian Gonzalez is going to be throwing shutouts/smashing home runs for LA any day now. Right?
4:05 PM: A text! Okay, this HAS to be it. "Dodgers acquire Halladay, GONZO!, GONZO AND HALLADAY OMG!" or something like that. I smile as I open it up, get ready to party, and...
4:05 PM: ..."MARLINS ACQUIRE NICK JOHNSON."
4:06 PM: Yep, it's just now dawning on me that the Dodgers' big deadline acquisiton was Vinny Rottino, a 29-year-old Double-A catcher who was batting .250 in the Brewers' system. No Halladay, no Adrian Gonzalez, nothing. The Dodgers are now going to war with like 2 1/2 competent starting pitchers and a heavily overused bullpen. What a freaking cocktease.
It only gets worse a couple hours later, when MLBTR reports: "The Padres very nearly traded Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers for James Loney, Russell Martin, James McDonald, Blake Dewitt, and Ivan Dejesus, but the Dodgers backed away." Hmmm, so they almost had the World Series wrapped up (Manny and Gonzo in the middle of the order? Heath Bell, George Sherrill, and Broxton sharing the same bullpen? Yeah, I'd be getting advance tickets to the Dodgers' World Championship parade) but backed away at the last second. Awesome. Last year they managed to pull the trigger, but...not this year. Go figure.
Things improve later that night, when July 30 acquistion George Sherrill makes his first appearance as a Dodger with LA leading 4-0 in the seventh in a two-on, nobody out jam, and proceeds to strike out the side. Jason Schmidt picks up the win, throwing six shutout innings (no, really), Andre Ethier homers and doubles, and the Dodgers pick up a game on both Colorado and San Francisco...but I just can't shake the feeling that they blew a big opportunity. Adrian Gonzalez AND Heath Bell, for a few young guys that were either disappointing (Loney, Martin) or hadn't panned out yet despite numerous chances (McDonald, Dewitt)? That would have been a freaking steal, and possibly a championship-clincher. Alas...George Sherrill will have to do. Go Dodgers, and may Cliff Lee lose his next seven starts.
Friday, July 24, 2009
And at #11...Juan Pierre's first home run as a Dodger!
Usually, when Bill Plaschke thinks thoughts and then writes them down, bad things happen. That's never been more true than now, when Plaschke responded to Manny's epic grand slam from the other night:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke24-2009jul24,0,2198246.column
This time, it's not so much his writing style that's stupid and tired (although the one-word paragraphs make me want to puke), but it's what he's writing about. The Manny Granny apparently prompted him to think of other great Dodger home runs, and put them in a list according to, I guess, importance and impact. Or, what should have been importance and impact; in fact, I'm not really sure what he uses as the criteria for the list. Here's the whole thing:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke24-2009jul24,0,2198246.column
This time, it's not so much his writing style that's stupid and tired (although the one-word paragraphs make me want to puke), but it's what he's writing about. The Manny Granny apparently prompted him to think of other great Dodger home runs, and put them in a list according to, I guess, importance and impact. Or, what should have been importance and impact; in fact, I'm not really sure what he uses as the criteria for the list. Here's the whole thing:
10 The Giants Lose The Pennant, The Giants Lose The. . . . The Giants Lose The Pennant, The Giants Lose The. . . . Mike Piazza hits two home runs on the final day of the 1993 season to knock the Giants out of the playoffs and clinch his Rookie of the Year award.
9 Wrigleyville Blackout. . . . Wrigleyville Blackout. . . . James Loney hits a grand slam in the first game of the 2008 division series against the Chicago Cubs, silencing the Wrigley Field crowd, killing the Cubs' spirit, leading to a stunning three-game sweep and the Dodgers' first postseason series win in 20 years.
8 The Fergie FlashThe Fergie Flash. . . . On the final Friday of the 1980 season, Joe Ferguson hits a 10th-inning walk-off homer against the Houston Astros to spur the Dodgers to a three-game sweep, forcing a one-game playoff against the Astros for the division title.
7 Gibby Before Gibby. . . . Gibby Before Gibby. . . . Gibson could never have pulled off his 1988 World Series heroics if Mike Scioscia didn't nearly equal that feat in Game 4 of the National League Championship series with a ninth-inning, two-run tying homer against New York Mets' ace Dwight Gooden.
6 Sweetest Of All. . . . Sweetest Of All. . . . Sweet Lou Johnson hit a homer for a lifetime, in the fourth inning of Game 7 of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins, giving Sandy Koufax all he needed in an eventual 2-0 victory.
5 Monday, MondayMonday, Monday. . . . Although he's known more for saving an American flag, don't forget the time Rick Monday saved a National League flag. In the ninth inning of the deciding Game 5 of the National League Championship Series in Montreal, Monday went deep off Steve Rogers to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead and the eventual victory, which later led to a World Series title.
4 Four Plus One. . . . Four Plus One. . . . It was the first time in the history of Dodgers ninth innings that fans were fighting to get back into the stadium. Of course you remember the four consecutive homers to tie the San Diego Padres, but do you remember the order? Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson, with the final two coming on the first two pitches from future Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman. The only thing more Hollywood occurred an one inning later, when the Dodgers won the game on a walk-off homer by a guy who initially couldn't play because of a sore leg, one Nomar Garciaparra.
3 BobblebombBobblebomb. . . . The last thing you need to know about the impact of Ramirez's home run is that, in the clubhouse afterward, Casey Blake was boogeying to a celebratory rap song. Yeah, Casey Blake.
2 Disappearing Act. . . . Disappearing Act. . . . I've still never seen the ball that Finley hit to win the division over the Giants on the second-to-last day of the 2004 season, have you? I was there, I was watching, the hit disappeared into the sun above right-center field, Finley jumped up and down, the roar shook Chavez Ravine, I'll never forget the roar. But I never saw that ball, and I wasn't alone, with Vin Scully memorably noting that wherever it was, whenever it came down, the Dodgers would be champions. Of course, the Giants never saw it coming either, leading 3-0 entering the ninth inning before giving up seven Dodgers runs.
1 Gibby Being Gibby. . . . Gibby Being Gibby. . . . More than two decades later, is the improbable becoming the impossible again?
Allow me, on behalf of all Dodger fans, to say: Huh????? What???? I mean, of course Gibby and Finley have to be 1-2, but 3-10 are just...wrong. For one thing, his #10 home run is actually two home runs, and his #4 home run is actually four home runs. And the order is utterly and completely out of whack.
As great and as fabulous and incredible and unlikely as the Manny Granny was, it can't beat out other home runs that came at much more critical times. I'd say that Scioscia's has to be #3, because that was easily the second-least-expected big home run in Dodger history after Gibson, and it was what propelled the Dodgers to the upset NLCS win over the Mets. And Monday's has to be fourth, because it basically won the freaking pennant.
After that, it becomes pretty subjective. I'm strongly in favor of only considering one home run for each spot, and unfortunately there the four-home-run game gets devalued because you either have to pick Nomar's homer (that won the game) or Marlon Anderson's (that was the fourth of four to tie it in the ninth). So maybe you could sneak the Manny Granny in here, but I'm more in favor of this spot belonging to Loney's slam; I mean, all of the air went out of the Cubs' balloon after that. They never even threatened the rest of the series, and that allowed the Dodgers to pull off one of the most shocking playoff sweeps in history. So that's my choice for #5.
Number six is where I put Marlon Anderson's homer. Very few times in my Dodger fanhood have I actually leaped off the couch in joy. Loney's slam did it for me; so did Finley's. And so did Marlon's homer, probably the third-most unlikely big home run in Dodger history. And Plaschke points out that Manny got a "dugout dogpile" as if it had never happened before; Marlon got a much bigger and longer dugout celebration after his shot.
And number seven is where the debate comes in: Nomar's walkoff homer to win the four-home-run game, or Manny's slam? You know, I have to vote Nomar here. What many forget is that the Dodgers, after tying that game in the ninth, immediately fell behind 10-9 in the top of the tenth (and it could have been a lot worse if Kenny Lofton hadn't reeled in a long fly ball at the center-field fence with two on), and losing that game after such an incredible comeback would have scarred many Dodger fans for life. And yes, that was a "leave the couch" moment as well, one that's captured forever in an SI photo on my bedroom wall. So that's number seven.
Then you can stick Manny eighth, and then come the last two spots. I've only ever heard about the Sweet Lou homer in Game 7 in '65, but I guess Plaschke was there for it and knew how important it was, and I should take his word on this choice. (Wow that was tough to say). So that's #9. And at #10, I'm putting Dick Nen's home run against the Cardinals in the 1963 pennant race. Very obviously, I wasn't there to see it, but the story is great: The Dodgers' once-great lead over St. Louis in the NL pennant race falls down to just a couple games. They call up some nobody from nowhere named Dick Nen (father of Robb, by the way) purely to add a little depth to the roster. The Cardinals throw the great Bob Gibson at the Dodgers in an attempt to cut down the lead even more. It's 5-4 Cardinals in the top of the ninth, when Nen (who'd come into the game as a pinch-hitter a few innings prior) comes up with his first career hit and home run, a solo shot to tie the game at 5. The Dodgers go on to win in 13 innings, and the victory propels them to win five out of their next six to easily clinch the pennant. And get this: that home run was Nen's only career hit as a Dodger.
Yeah, Mike Piazza cracking a few homers to eliminate the Giants is cool, but can you really beat that?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Luckily, being a sportswriter means never having to admit you were wrong.
Unluckily, I'm not an "official" sportswriter yet (if you think that having this blog qualifies me in any way as a "writer," then I'm a little frightened for your mental health) and thus, I have to eat crow when I'm wrong. And trust me, after watching last night's game and all the magic that went along with it, I have to come to grips with the fact that I was wrong, dead wrong, about something very important regarding my favorite sports team.
Here's why. This is a link to a post I made on May 7, 2009:
http://allsportsbysam.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-dodger-fans-perspective.html
Jeez. "The Dodgers will struggle to keep a .500 record in Manny's absence..." "Without Manny, the Dodgers are only like 1% better than the rest of the NL West..." "I can see Ned and Frank doing all they can to keep Manny from exercising his player option for 2010..." "I can see myself agonizing over how I can root for the team without rooting for Manny..." (and the kicker) "So, in the end, I guess this steroid news has made me question my love of baseball, my love of the Dodgers, and my love of Manny, while basically ensuring that it's going to be a tough time for me to be a Dodger fan until the year 2011." Yeah, except it's only been my favorite year to follow the Dodgers since I started becoming a hardcore fan in 2002. That's all. That's all I was wrong about. And you wonder why the sports editor of my high school paper didn't like me.
In case you're wondering what all of this is about, then you obviously didn't see the highlights of their game against the Reds yesterday. Manny Ramirez was out of the game with a sore hand, as he'd gotten hit by a pitch in the previous game and even had to go to the hospital to get it checked out. Dodger fans across the country nearly died from holding their breath before tests came back negative and revealed that Manny would just be day-to-day with his injury. Still, it would be enough to keep him out of the starting lineup the next day against the Reds, coincidentally on Manny Ramirez Bobblehead Day (and if you don't think that ESPN played up that angle so much that it became simply nauseating to watch, you obviously haven't watched much ESPN). Dodger fans, of course, were initially disappointed that Manny was out of the lineup, as I guess simply being able to watch a 60-34 team rolling toward possibly the best regular season record in franchise history wasn't enough for them. But they would get satisfaction, and a lot of it. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Russell Martin singled to load the bases with one out and bring up the pitcher's spot. Mark Loretta had been standing in the on-deck circle, but when Martin got his hit, Manny emerged from the dugout instead as the crowd exploded. Dusty Baker tried to ice the fans with a pitching change, but it didn't matter. On new pitcher Nick Masset's first offering, Manny took a giant hack and hit a scorching line drive straight into the heart of Mannywood, giving the Dodgers a 6-2 lead and the eventual win. Vin Scully would later say that they he hadn't heard the crowd as loud as it was during Manny's home run trot for 20 years. The rest of the Dodgers reacted as if Manny had just hit the fourth of four straight home runs to tie a game in the ninth. Manny took an unprecedented two curtain calls, which according to Vin Scully had never happened before at Dodger Stadium. I'm telling you, this was an amazing, fantastic, incredible moment, one that makes you realize why you love sports in the first place.
And yeah, I cheered in my living room. I clapped. I had my hands behind my head in joyful disbelief. Does that contradict everything I wrote about Manny when shit originally when down on May 7? A little, yeah. I mean, if he'd played this entire season out without the steroids, I would have felt unabased joyfulness and complete satisfaction after his slam. But considering the circumstances, I'd have to say that my joy was somewhat...restrained. I wanted to take Manny back and forgive and forget, but some things you just can't forgive. He did something stupid and immoral, and I can never really accept him as a favorite player or even a favorite Dodger after what he did (in case you're wondering, yeah, Ethier's my favorite Dodger now just like he was on May 7; unlike most Dodger fans, I can forgive guys who slump every once in a while). In time, I have definitely softened my views on the matter; it's pretty clear that Manny wasn't cheating his whole career, because he never got huge one day like Barry Bonds and his numbers never really started jumping at one point. And even if he was...well, so what, there are steroid users on every team, and there are people that do things to get ahead in every job in every facet of life. I'm definitely not completely excusing him, of course, and I'm still mad at him, but to make him out to be a devil in a group of angels was definitely an exaggeration.
And the main reason why I've softened is this, which my dad helped me see: comparing Bonds to Manny is ridiculous because Bonds was a DICK. Everyone he ever played with hated him (his Arizona State teammates famously refused to play if he was let on the team). He was cold to everyone around him, pompous, cocky, and downright mean. He was a terrible teammate (when amphetamines were found in his locker, he blamed their presence on Mark Sweeney, only of the nicest and purest guys in baseball). He openly criticized reporters every chance he got, giving them no good quotes and acting like they were completely beneath him. He was just a dark shadow in every sense of the word, a walking embodiment of everything wrong with baseball and sports. Manny? He's a grown-up kid. He's nice to fans, all of his teammates adore him, he's polite and quirky to reporters (if you can win over TJ Simers, you're pretty fucking kind and accepting), and while he can be pompus and cocky, he comes off as still loving the game of baseball and working his ass off to stay good at it. Yes, he cheated like Bonds did, and that's bad. But because he's such a good and likeable guy, you forgive a lot faster. And it helps that Bonds cheated so that he could earn a lot of money and a lot of everlasting glory (breaking the all-time home-run record), whereas Manny probably did it just for the money. Still bad, but nowhere near as bad as Bonds' intentions.
So where do I come out on Manny after his most recent display of Being Manny? Well, after forcing myself to be restrained in my cheering for these first few weeks of him being back, I'll now go back to treating him like any other player on the Dodgers; I'll cheer him when he does something good and shake my head in frustration when he does something bad, instead of being nonchalant when he does something good and critical when he does something bad. Was it this one grand slam that did it? No; it's everything he's done since he returned, which includes a torrid hot streak and a handful of huge home runs...all clean, because even the biggest idiot in the world wouldn't continue taking steroids after already getting busted for them. He's showing that his entire career, and his entire Dodger career, wasn't a fluke, and that's been very reassuring to me and my memories of the 2008 squad. So I guess my opinion of Manny got a lot higher, although it can't ever go back to the way it was on May 6th, 2009 (which feels like 10 years ago, by the way). It's something, anyway. Go Dodgers...and Manny, too.
Here's why. This is a link to a post I made on May 7, 2009:
http://allsportsbysam.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-dodger-fans-perspective.html
Jeez. "The Dodgers will struggle to keep a .500 record in Manny's absence..." "Without Manny, the Dodgers are only like 1% better than the rest of the NL West..." "I can see Ned and Frank doing all they can to keep Manny from exercising his player option for 2010..." "I can see myself agonizing over how I can root for the team without rooting for Manny..." (and the kicker) "So, in the end, I guess this steroid news has made me question my love of baseball, my love of the Dodgers, and my love of Manny, while basically ensuring that it's going to be a tough time for me to be a Dodger fan until the year 2011." Yeah, except it's only been my favorite year to follow the Dodgers since I started becoming a hardcore fan in 2002. That's all. That's all I was wrong about. And you wonder why the sports editor of my high school paper didn't like me.
In case you're wondering what all of this is about, then you obviously didn't see the highlights of their game against the Reds yesterday. Manny Ramirez was out of the game with a sore hand, as he'd gotten hit by a pitch in the previous game and even had to go to the hospital to get it checked out. Dodger fans across the country nearly died from holding their breath before tests came back negative and revealed that Manny would just be day-to-day with his injury. Still, it would be enough to keep him out of the starting lineup the next day against the Reds, coincidentally on Manny Ramirez Bobblehead Day (and if you don't think that ESPN played up that angle so much that it became simply nauseating to watch, you obviously haven't watched much ESPN). Dodger fans, of course, were initially disappointed that Manny was out of the lineup, as I guess simply being able to watch a 60-34 team rolling toward possibly the best regular season record in franchise history wasn't enough for them. But they would get satisfaction, and a lot of it. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Russell Martin singled to load the bases with one out and bring up the pitcher's spot. Mark Loretta had been standing in the on-deck circle, but when Martin got his hit, Manny emerged from the dugout instead as the crowd exploded. Dusty Baker tried to ice the fans with a pitching change, but it didn't matter. On new pitcher Nick Masset's first offering, Manny took a giant hack and hit a scorching line drive straight into the heart of Mannywood, giving the Dodgers a 6-2 lead and the eventual win. Vin Scully would later say that they he hadn't heard the crowd as loud as it was during Manny's home run trot for 20 years. The rest of the Dodgers reacted as if Manny had just hit the fourth of four straight home runs to tie a game in the ninth. Manny took an unprecedented two curtain calls, which according to Vin Scully had never happened before at Dodger Stadium. I'm telling you, this was an amazing, fantastic, incredible moment, one that makes you realize why you love sports in the first place.
And yeah, I cheered in my living room. I clapped. I had my hands behind my head in joyful disbelief. Does that contradict everything I wrote about Manny when shit originally when down on May 7? A little, yeah. I mean, if he'd played this entire season out without the steroids, I would have felt unabased joyfulness and complete satisfaction after his slam. But considering the circumstances, I'd have to say that my joy was somewhat...restrained. I wanted to take Manny back and forgive and forget, but some things you just can't forgive. He did something stupid and immoral, and I can never really accept him as a favorite player or even a favorite Dodger after what he did (in case you're wondering, yeah, Ethier's my favorite Dodger now just like he was on May 7; unlike most Dodger fans, I can forgive guys who slump every once in a while). In time, I have definitely softened my views on the matter; it's pretty clear that Manny wasn't cheating his whole career, because he never got huge one day like Barry Bonds and his numbers never really started jumping at one point. And even if he was...well, so what, there are steroid users on every team, and there are people that do things to get ahead in every job in every facet of life. I'm definitely not completely excusing him, of course, and I'm still mad at him, but to make him out to be a devil in a group of angels was definitely an exaggeration.
And the main reason why I've softened is this, which my dad helped me see: comparing Bonds to Manny is ridiculous because Bonds was a DICK. Everyone he ever played with hated him (his Arizona State teammates famously refused to play if he was let on the team). He was cold to everyone around him, pompous, cocky, and downright mean. He was a terrible teammate (when amphetamines were found in his locker, he blamed their presence on Mark Sweeney, only of the nicest and purest guys in baseball). He openly criticized reporters every chance he got, giving them no good quotes and acting like they were completely beneath him. He was just a dark shadow in every sense of the word, a walking embodiment of everything wrong with baseball and sports. Manny? He's a grown-up kid. He's nice to fans, all of his teammates adore him, he's polite and quirky to reporters (if you can win over TJ Simers, you're pretty fucking kind and accepting), and while he can be pompus and cocky, he comes off as still loving the game of baseball and working his ass off to stay good at it. Yes, he cheated like Bonds did, and that's bad. But because he's such a good and likeable guy, you forgive a lot faster. And it helps that Bonds cheated so that he could earn a lot of money and a lot of everlasting glory (breaking the all-time home-run record), whereas Manny probably did it just for the money. Still bad, but nowhere near as bad as Bonds' intentions.
So where do I come out on Manny after his most recent display of Being Manny? Well, after forcing myself to be restrained in my cheering for these first few weeks of him being back, I'll now go back to treating him like any other player on the Dodgers; I'll cheer him when he does something good and shake my head in frustration when he does something bad, instead of being nonchalant when he does something good and critical when he does something bad. Was it this one grand slam that did it? No; it's everything he's done since he returned, which includes a torrid hot streak and a handful of huge home runs...all clean, because even the biggest idiot in the world wouldn't continue taking steroids after already getting busted for them. He's showing that his entire career, and his entire Dodger career, wasn't a fluke, and that's been very reassuring to me and my memories of the 2008 squad. So I guess my opinion of Manny got a lot higher, although it can't ever go back to the way it was on May 6th, 2009 (which feels like 10 years ago, by the way). It's something, anyway. Go Dodgers...and Manny, too.
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