Dodgerblogs

While the Dodgers might admit the Padres and Pirates are weak teams, the team will enjoy the wins and take their best start since 1981 at 9-1 on the road to face the Brewers, starting on Tuesday. 

Why the great start? (1) Matt Kemp; (2) Matt Kemp; (3) Andrew Ethier; (4) Dee Gordon; and (5) Chad Billingsley, and not really in that order.

Kemp is making the case early in 2012 why he should have been the MVP in 2011.  Given the player of the week honors again last week, Kemp is showing why he could be the 2012 MVP with 6 home runs, 16 RBIs, and a .487 batting average after 10 games.

Ethier seems to benefit batting behind Kemp.  With 2 home runs and 13 RBIs, Ethier appears to be getting the batting stroke back prior to breaking his pinkie finger in 2010 and being disciplined at the plate.  In Friday’s walk off win against the Padres, Ethier took a walk, which resulted in the winning run.  He has also been making strides in getting extra base hits.

Gordon is benefiting from working with 1st base coach Davey Lopes and Dodger great Maury Wills.  With seven stolen bases, he is the leader in stolen bases in the National League.  On Sunday, he also proved his batting in the clutch as he made the game winning RBI.  Starting pitcher Billingsley has started 2-0 with a .63 earned run average – quite impressive.

The Dodgers head to Milwaukee to face the Brewers this week.  This six game road trip will include three game series against both the Brewers and Astros.

Welcome back to Vin Scully who broadcast the home stand finale on Sunday.  Continued good health Vin!

Share on Facebook

For a record $2 billion, Magic Johnson’s group, whom just hours ago was approved as one of the three finalists to become the new owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, bid was accepted by owner Frank McCourt.  The Johnson group could assume ownership of the team by the end of April.

The Johnson Group includes Stan Kasten, former General Manager of the Atlanta Braves and the Guggenheim Partners, whose CEO would be the controlling owner.  The price for purchasing the team is a record for any North American team franchise.

There is a caveat:  Frank McCourt might be able to keep his parking lots.  There is a possibility he will be able to purchase surrounding property for $150 with the “Controlling Group,” which is Guggenheim.  Stay tune for more drama and excitement.  Watch and see if the NFL gets involved with building a stadium in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, a goal of Peter O’Malley’s prior to selling the team in 1998.

Share on Facebook

The Dodgers started the last full week of spring training in Arizona with a 4-3 come from behind victory over the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.  Jerry Sands provided the game winning RBI for the Dodgers, who improved to 12-8 in the Cactus League, only 2.5 games behind the A’s in the standings. 

So, as we look to the regular season, who are the starters on Opening Day?  Manager Don Mattingly has named 2011 Cy Young Winner Clayton Kershaw to take the mound  April 4 when the Dodgers travel to San Diego to face the San Diego Padres.  The following appears to be the starting lineup.

SS- Dee Gordon

2B- Mark Ellis

CF – Matt Kemp

RF – Andre Ethier

LF- Juan Rivera

1B – James Loney

3B – Juan Uribe

C- A.J. Ellis

P – Clayton Kershaw

Final spots for bench players and relief pitchers appear to be happening this week.  By the time the Dodgers face off against the Angels in the annual “Freeway Series” next week, the roster should be set.  The Dodgers are attempting to improve on their 82-79 mark from 2011.

Share on Facebook

Dodgerblog Fans,

2012 will be a fun year for Dodgerblogs.  More podcasts, video, analysis and news on the Dodgers and MLB.  Watch Dodgerblogs from Arizona during Spring Training, during the ownership bidding process and much, much more.  Wishing all of you a great 2012!

Share on Facebook

It’s a brand new year and baseball season is just around the corner.

Let’s get ready for Dodger Baseball!

Share on Facebook

Duke Snider, the “Duke of Fallbrook”, who played 16 of his 18 major league seasons with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980, died this morning in Escondido, California.  He was 84.

Snider, whose best days as a player was during the heyday of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950′s until the team’s move to Los Angeles in 1958, hit 407 home runs during his career with a career .295 batting average.  389 of his 407 career home runs were in a Dodger uniform. 

Snider was only a handful of players who hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive years from 1953 to 1957.  In Brooklyn’s only World Series victory in 1955, Snider hit .320 with four home runs and seven runs batted in.  Snider also hit .309 with 42 home runs and a career-high 136 RBIs during the 1955 season. 

In Terry Cashman’s 1981 song, “Talkin’ Baseball,” Snider is immortalized by the line “Willie, Mickey and the Duke,” the three outfielders of the three New York teams who played for pennants and World Series titles every year from 1951 to 1957, the years those three outfielders contended, played against, and were always compared.  Duke Snider once said of the comparison, “The newspapers compared Willie, Mickey and I, and that was their thing,” Snider said several years ago. “As a team, we competed with the Giants, and we faced the Yankees in the World Series. So we had a rivalry as a team, that was it. It was an honor to be compared to them, they were both great players.”

Snider’s number 4 uniform is retired at Dodger Stadium.  He played his last season in 1964 as a San Francisco Giant.

Share on Facebook

Don “Donnie Baseball” Mattingly, the 1985 MVP and standout player for the New York Yankees, who, for the last three years has been the Los Angeles Dodgers batting coach, was names the ninth manager in Los Angeles Dodger history.

Mattingly will replace Joe Torre starting in the 2011 season.  Torre, whose contract expires at the end of this season, had begun to negotiate an extension during spring training, but had called off the negotiations during the season.  It is unclear what role, if any, Torre will have with the team.

Mattingly was a finalist for the Yankee managerial job when Torre left the Yankees following the 2007 season.  When Joe Girardi was named the manager for the 2008 season, Mattingly followed Torre to Los Angeles.

Mattngly does not have previous managerial experience at any level, and will manage minor leaguers in the Arizona Fall League this fall.

Since Peter O’Malley sold the team to the FOX group in 1998, there have been six managers in 12 years.  In the prior 38 years of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there were only three managers.  Mattingly has signed a three year contract to manage the team.

Share on Facebook

While the Dodgers enjoyed a 5-4 victory tonight in Milwaukee, persistent rumors continued to clog the Internet about whether Dodger outfielder Manny Ramirez was placed on waivers.

According to the Los Angeles Times, it appears five Dodgers were placed on waivers today.  The source, who of course claimed to be speaking anonymously, said, besides Ramirez, Casey Blake, Hiroki Karoda, Scott Podsednik, and Jay Gibbons were placed on waivers today.  Being placed on waivers does not necessary mean a team will automatically pick up that player if the player is claimed by a team.  Rather, a trade usually needs to be worked out within 48 hours after a team claims a player on waivers. 

In the case of Ramirez, the Chicago White Sox is the team appearing interested in Ramirez’s services.  If the White Sox claim Ramirez, the Dodgers and White Sox would have 48 hours to work out a trade, and the White Sox would probably pick up the remaining $3.3 million tab on Manny’s contract for this year.  If Manny clears waivers, the Dodgers could still trade him.  This can be confusing.

If tonight was one of Manny’s last starts as a Dodger, he helped the team out by going 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Share on Facebook

Vin Scully announced on Sunday he will returnfor an unprecedented 62nd season broadcasting the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scully, 82, has called many major sporting events over the last 60 years, including the 1956 perfect game in the World Series by Don Larsen, the 1988 World Series home run by Kirk Gibson, several Masters golf tournaments, including wins by Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, and countless other major sporting events.  For 49er fans, you may remember “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys.  Scully called that name.

Scully, on coming back in 2011, said “I just love it so much,” he said. “It’s like a very good marriage. I found when push came to shove, I just did not want to leave.  My wife understood it, God bless her.  She said, ‘If you love it, do it.’ So I love it, and I’m going to do it.”

He will continue to broadcast all nine innings of Dodger home games, as well as games on the road against National League West and American League West teams.  Scully has no plans yet on broadcasting beyond 2011. 

Scully’s 61 years of broadcasting is the longest tenure of any sportscaster in the history of broadcasting.

Share on Facebook

The Dodgers pulled off a minor upset on Monday in signing LSU Quarterback and high school pitcher standout Zach Lee to a $5.25 million contract.

Lee, from McKinney, Texas was an excellent pitcher with a 95 MPH fastball, a changeup and breaking ball.

The surprise was the fact the Dodgers spent the contract amount at the time the McCourts are currently in divorce proceedings.  The $5.25 million contract is a record signing bonus by the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez continues to work out in Phoenix at the Dodger complex to prepare for a rehabilitation assignment, which could occur later this week. 

Ramirez, who has missed over 116 games in the last two years, is possibly on his way of Los Angeles, and depending on the Dodgers’ ever-slim playoff hopes, could be placed on the waiver wire later this month.  While Manny is hitting .317, he has just eight home runs and 39 runs batted in.

What are the chances Manny will return to the Dodgers in 2011?  Probably less than slim…

Share on Facebook