Phillies at Dodgers, 12:10 p.m.
Kershaw CXXXVI: Kershawmdog Millionaire
Tony Gwynn Jr., RF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Rivera, 1B
Jerry Hairston, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Luis Cruz, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Tuesday night, when Carlos Ruiz was hit by a pitch in the Dodgers’ dreary eighth inning, I got to thinking about what a constant thorn in the team’s side Ruiz is.
Still, he’s no Jim Eisenreich — the biggest nemesis to the Dodgers in my memory.
In 232 plate appearances from 1993-98, Eisenreich had a .405 batting average, .468 on-base percentage and .620 slugging percentage against the Dodgers. And then, when he signed with the team in ’98, he batted .197/.266/.244.
Eisenreich, who famously overcame a struggle with Tourette’s Syndrome, was a great story in baseball — except when the Dodgers were involved.
* * *
- The most thorough review of Dodger Stadium beer options that I’ve seen is delivered by Eno Sarris of NotGraphs. “Depending on your goals, Dodger Stadium is either a boom or a bust from a beer perspective,” he writes.
- Also on NotGraphs: Patrick Dubuque on baseball Shrinky-Dinks.
- Here’s a nice feature on Dodger prospect Angel Sanchez by Chris Martinez for MLB.com.
… Sanchez put school before baseball and attended the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the only public university in the Dominican Republic. There he studied accounting and put school ahead of baseball, even as he dreamed of playing in the big leagues.
“I had to go to school first because baseball is not forever,” Sanchez said. …
- Buster Olney’s assessment of the Dodgers at the trading deadline for ESPN.com:
… In my opinion, the Dodgers’ new ownership shouldn’t feel pressure to make the playoffs. The question that should be asked, in the midst of L.A.’s month-long slump, should not be “What the hell is wrong with this team?” Rather, it should be, “How the heck did these guys win so many games early?”
It’s a flawed team, and the new ownership really hasn’t had much time to apply its vision of roster reformation. Overpaying to improve the 2012 Dodgers feels like an overreaction.
But L.A. is being aggressive in trying to make the team better. Other execs continue to view the Dodgers as the front-runners to land Dempster. The club’s new owners seem intent on bolstering the team after its improbable early success. …
- Stephen Fife has been sent back to Albuquerque, while Javy Guerra has been activated from the bereavement list.
- Ted Lilly will throw a bullpen session Friday, reports Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
Anonymous
Is Fife Obscure yet Memorable yet?
Jon Weisman
He is. The question is whether he can remain so …
Jason Ungar
I don’t think I have the heart to tell my son the dodgers are on. Poor kid thinks loosing is normal.
Anonymous
Following a baseball season is good for a child. Teaches him/her that life isn’t always perfect and it has a lot of highs and lows. And if you can pull yourself out of the low, you’re doing very well.
Jason Ungar
This is true, but in some context. He just really started obsessing about the dodgers about 4 weeks ago. Or like 20 losses outta the last 25. But I caved already, he’s watching it. But he says things like, I just wanna see if the dodgers can score more than 2 this time or I just wanna see if maybe they can win this time. Makes me sad :)
Anonymous
Maybe if he watches enough, he will get to the point where he can see how the Dodgers should improve.
There are worse things in the world than having your child become a baseball fan.
Jason Ungar
I kinda say it as a joke. He cheered Rivera’s home run. He’s only 4..He is already hooked. He has always watched me watch the dodgers and we have been to a handful of games..but now it’s like obsession. Like in the car out of the blue he will just say something like, Dad did you know, the dodgers have 3 and the other team has 1. Or like in the yard when hitting everytime he hits the ball he says, now the dodgers have 2. etc…
peter drysdale
Fast moving game so far
Anonymous
As much as I’m trying to remain optimistic, part of me is cringing and waiting to see what will happen in the closing innings to lead to an “L.” . . . I hope the players aren’t similarly cringing.
peter drysdale
Maybe we can manage to somehow score 5 or 6 and make that a moot point
Anonymous
That would be nice.
Anonymous
Works for me!
Anonymous
Clayton’s looking way sharper than he has in a while.
Anonymous
The ball was there, and AJ just missed the tag.
Jason Ungar
it seemed like he needed to at least block the plate.
Anonymous
Agreed. He’s not a wimp like Posey, who would have bailed out.
KT
He needs to learn to block the plate from Mike S down the I-5
foul tip
Old friend Hiroki has allowed 4 hits through 7 scoreless v Toronto.
Anonymous
By the numbers — During their current 6-19 skein, the Dodgers have scored runs as follows:
Zero — 6 times
One — 3 times
Two — 6 times
Three — 5 times
Four — 2 times
Five — 1 time
Six — 1 time
Seven — 0 times
Eight — 1 time
Nine and above — 0 times
That totals 57 runs in 25 games, or an average of 2.28 runs per game. The opposition has scored 107 runs during that period, an average of 4.28 runs per game.
Anonymous
A Ross Porter fan.
Anonymous
Actually, that’s true. One of things that I appreciated about Porter was his utter civility on the post-game talk show, even when the Dodgers were playing badly, regardless of what the caller had to say. He was always a gentleman.
Jason Ungar
I totally miss Ross Porter. This was him on dodger talk as they were playing terrible and listening to a rant:
“yep…..welp….uh huh, ya…yep, mmm-hmm..ok. well Fred you have a good night now. Hang in there”
Anonymous
He used the word ‘skein’. I for 1 am a member of the Ross Porter Marching and Chowder Society.
Anonymous
B Arroyo, C Billingsley, T Hudson, R A Dickey.
All guys with a better average than Juan.
Anonymous
I am truly tired of Carlos Ruiz.
Jeffrey Thomas III
Hey Jon, any thoughts to upgrade to the new Disqus format? I had seen it used on a few other blogs and today MLB trade rumors implemented it. It looks nice, also allows live comment updating which could save us all from a lot of refreshing.
Anonymous
We Dodgers fans DO need to be refreshed . . . but something automatic on the site would be wonderful!
Anonymous
A W would be very refreshing right about now.
Anonymous
Kemp was 1 for 13 with 7K vs Lee before today
peter drysdale
Big surprise. Uribe struck out
Jeffrey Thomas III
I get that Donnie has to say he stands behind him because he’s still on the roster, but man I hope they trade for a third baseman quick. Maybe once he’s cut free Donnie will tell us what he really thinks of Uribe.
Anonymous
You can’t trash your players publicly, even when they’re as bad as Uribe.
Anonymous
Donnie kinda does it all the time. He doesn’t trash him, but he doesn’t publicly support them.
Anonymous
He managed to lay off a pitch over his head before missing one down the middle. I guess that qualifies as improvement.
Anonymous
I was thinking about this the other day….
….
DT Opinion Poll: For anybody who wishes to indulge…..
….
As a DT’er, which name / terms “bugs” the most?
.
1. Juan Pierre
2. “Closer’s Mentality”
3. Sacrifice Bunt
4. Juan Uribe
5. “Grit”
Anonymous
4
Anonymous
4. And I like Joe Morgan as a sportscaster.
Anonymous
I liked Morgan’s skills as a player, but he’s irritating behind the mike.
Anonymous
I’m sure most people here would agree.
I like him, I’m old enough to remember Cosell and thought he was great, too. Bloviation is a good angle when you can really do it, much like a knuckleball.
peter drysdale
4
Anonymous
Kenley’s hit a rough patch, but he’ll recover.
peter drysdale
Hope so. With this offense, no wiggle room
Jason Ungar
this guy is hitting .185 with RISP. when Jansen walks him in a second you gotta pull him
Jason Ungar
oh thank god. i think i still would have pulled him, but that’s why i’m at home commenting on the internets
KT
I’m glad I could FFWD through the 9th
Anonymous
25% of his AB’s have been with RISP; seems like a high %
Anonymous
Deja vu all over again!
Anonymous
Get the K!
Anonymous
I’ll take that!
peter drysdale
Whew!
Jon Weisman
Kenley Jansen’s devious plan to get Cliff Lee out of the game succeeds.
Jason Ungar
LOL!!! that’s good stuff right there.
Anonymous
Lee is 204
.209
.285 in almost 150 ABs, btw
Jeffrey Thomas III
Wow, two terrible strike calls in a row.
Anonymous
Gwynn gazed at a perfect third strike.
Jeffrey Thomas III
I don’t have replay but that sure looked like two balls low and outside to Gwynn to me.
peter drysdale
C’mon Kemp! Let’s score and finish this thang off
peter drysdale
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jeffrey Thomas III
How do the Phillies have so many left handed relievers? I think Ethier will have faced about all of them after this next at bat.
Anonymous
/sigh
Ethier vs a lefty in the ninth… another day in mendoza-land.
peter drysdale
WOOHOO
Anonymous
We might actually win! Of course with our current luck we may hit into a play where the tying run is taken off the scoreboard.
Anonymous
On MLBTR: Dodgers chairman Mark Walter told Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times that the Dodgers won’t pass up ways of improving their team this summer, even if it means boosting payroll. “I’m not trying to save a dollar,” Walter said. “I’d rather say we have a great team and maybe spend a little too much.”
Anonymous
Go James! …
…
However…
…
Juan could have “Totally Redeemed Himself”… :-)
peter drysdale
So, anyone surprised by how that ended?
Jeffrey Thomas III
Ouch.
Anonymous
Loney’s best (or worst) Uribe impression.
Anonymous
Probably so, WBB…. :-)
…
A good impression indeed.
…
Probably went like so…
…
Donny: James, grab a bat…If Ethier gets on…you’re going to hit for Uribe…
James: (gulp) … Ok.
Donny: Go ahead and put this pillow inside your jersey over your belly…
James: Why?
:-)
Linkmeister
Striking out the side, no less. Way to go, ineptitude.
Jason Ungar
Oh James, I thought you had it all figured out. That includes not swing at a ball on your shoelaces.
Anonymous
Unfortunately, this game illustrates the ESPN story Jon quoted in the original post:
” The question that should be asked, in the midst of L.A.’s month-long
slump, should not be ‘What the hell is wrong with this team?’ Rather, it
should be, ‘How the heck did these guys win so many games early?’
Jon Weisman
Cliff Lee through eight innings: two hits, one walk. Phillies relievers in ninth inning: two hits, one walk.
Anonymous
Great, Javy Guerra pitching to the old lollipop guild.
Anonymous
This is getting so tiresome.
Anonymous
Time (past time, actually) to rid the roster of Gwynn, Kennedy, Loney and Uribe.
Jason Ungar
as far as I am concerned the whole roster can go other than Kemp/Kershaw and Ethier.
Anonymous
There are a few others I would keep, but besides Kemp and Ethier and the Ellises, no other position players are worth retaining. Oh, yea, I’d keep the DL’d Gordon, but I would have put him at Albuquerque this year for development.
Jason Ungar
They aren’t worth keeping if you can get something good for them. Both are nice players don’t get me wrong. I’d probably keep Gordon too but I am not impressed with him as others are.
Anonymous
that’s silly; Jansen and Belisario are at least as good at their role than Ethier is at his.
Jason Ungar
you wouldn’t trade relievers?
Anonymous
you are letting recent disappointment get to you; Belisario has a BA against of
144, Jansen is 24 could be here for 10 years or more.
Jason Ungar
No I am not! I have no problem with their recent performance…It’s just I don’t think the shelf life of relief pitching last long. Sorta like RB’s in football. There are always exceptions though.
Anonymous
The whole bases-loaded thing kind of complicates the whole unintentionally walk the short guy and intentionally walk the tall guy master plan.
Well, the “pitch to a guy with 55 RBIs with a righty” plan will have to work.
Jeffrey Thomas III
Hey, I’ve seen this before. Only last night I had to witness the disappointment in person.
Jason Ungar
its like Deja Vu.
Anonymous
Agonizing to watch.
Anonymous
I stopped after the 9th inning.
Anonymous
At the moment I’m happy I’m so far away
peter drysdale
Maybe I’m lucky that I can’t watch ’em here in MS. Can’t afford to pay to watch
foul tip
Where in MS?
peter drysdale
So much for the playoffs. I think this team is done. Too many holes to fill
Anonymous
It could set up a nice longshot. The cards were 300-1 at the bottom of their fortunes 11 months ago.
peter drysdale
true, not to mention 1 strike away from losing twice
Anonymous
Javy seriously needs to stop looking into the his dugout and focus on the guy at the plate….
…
“Hey Javy, if Donny’s gonna pull ya, he’ll pull ya…..just worry about trying to limit the damage.”
Anonymous
…Having kept him in vs a guy with 46 RBIs versus a righty. He just took the NL lead in that split from Votto with that one.
Donnie is just a more subtle part of the problem, but definitely part of it.
Anonymous
RHH were batting 193 vs Guerra before the Pence hit so splits work both ways
Anonymous
Not only that, but, according to mlb.com’s stats Beltran has the NL lead in RBI vs RHP, Votto is tied for 18th, and Pence is still second.
Anonymous
It figures, DP one batter too late
Anonymous
The ball Pence hit was a DP ball but the IF was in. That I admit is a tough decision, but, Pence had hit into 11 DP’s in 75 opportunities which, while not nearly up to Loney’s rate, is above mlb average.
Anonymous
That’s a start. Papelbon is perfectly capable of giving one away.
Anonymous
Paitence, kids!
Introducing your and our 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers of Chavez Ravine’s starting kick-ass lineup…
1. Flippin’ Hawaiian CF
2. Walkin’ AJ C
3. Hambone Hamilton LF
4. Oklahoma’s Bison RF
5. Dining off Righties w/Dre 1B
6. Probably Headley but perhaps Uribe with a weight clause
7. What the hell? The Solution (BDW) 2B (I kid)
8. Speeedee Gordon SS
Season ticket sales will be off the charts. I’m in! :).
Anonymous
You mean if Uribe can hit his weight? Unlikely.
Anonymous
And later it’s Vogelsong vs Mike Minor, who has like 6.0 ERA and is walking a guy every other inning. It looks like we are going to NY and STL 4 games down. We could be 6-8 games down by the time we go to SF.
Anonymous
Birdsong’s coming back down to earth, and will probably be out of baseball by this time next year. Minor has done well v. the Gnats, if I recall correctly.
Anonymous
Do we dare to dream?
David Farinella
I just don’t even know what to think anymore.
Anonymous
Bobby doing his Dee impression!
Anonymous
Abreu = nice enough get
peter drysdale
Wish Steiner would quit calling him Tony Abreu
Anonymous
Steiner’s the worst.
Anonymous
As soon as Scully quits calling him Chris Gwynn.
Jeffrey Thomas III
Is that a glimmer of hope I see?
David Farinella
I wish Vin was still calling the Phillies’ closer Papelbone.
peter drysdale
LOL
Anonymous
Ouch
Anonymous
Yeehah!
Jeffrey Thomas III
Wow, looks like Matt had it by maybe a millisecond.
Anonymous
Close, but he beat it.
Anonymous
What hamstring problem?
Anonymous
I wonder if any bad thoughts were in his head about halfway along?
Anonymous
Obviously, you don’t work in hollywood if you let the numbers get in the way of a good narrative.
Anyhow, I was factoring in the 3 run HR next inning by Hunter.
Anonymous
I thought Treanor beat it.
Anonymous
Not a lot of confidence in Wright.
Anonymous
What was our start time today?…. Marathon.
Anonymous
Welcome all the way back!
Jeffrey Thomas III
That’s that swing we’ve been looking for Matty!
Anonymous
I’ve been working on ambient sound effects all day. That wooden sound just there was definitely my favorite one of the day.
Anonymous
Patience pays off, but I need a day away from baseball.
Anonymous
A special post game message ! …. :-)
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxvdvoQgAy8
Anonymous
Couldn’t he have done this in the ninth? LOL Or the seventh, so Clayton could have gotten the win?
–Heavy sigh of relief–
Anonymous
Very refreshing. One of my friends went with some guys today. Good for them.
Anonymous
did they stay ’til the win?
Anonymous
O yeah. This guy would stay there all night if he had to.
Anonymous
So would I. I don’t leave games early.
Anonymous
Turning point in our whole season
Anonymous
question for Jon: At some point since reading here I formed the impression that you read all the comments. Was this impression correct and is it still?
questions for all that saw the game today: How is it possible that Abreu stayed on first on the pop-up PH single he had in the 10th.
If you watch the Pence hit in the top of the 10th at mlb.com you will hear the Phillies announcer very surprised that the Dodgers have the infield in. It is a very tough decision but what do others think?
Jon Weisman
I read 99% of them. Occasionally a bit slip by if I’m too busy.
Anonymous
I thought the right decision – you have to cut off the go-ahead run if at all possible.
Anonymous
Yeah, they coulda turned the DP in hindsight. But six of one, half dozen of the other.
KT
MATTY!!!! just caught up…good come from behind win….glad I could ffwd through the rough innings
Jon Weisman
NPUT
Anonymous
That was torturous. Back to Loney’s PH AB in the 9th. God knows I root for the guy to a fault, but that was SUCH a poor at bat. Pitcher came in and threw 4 straight balls to Hairston (3 of em unintentional), and then Loney came up and swung at 3 pitches out of the strike zone. It’s not a stretch to say a modicum of discipline woulda won the game on an easy bases-loaded walk, thus sparing us the additional 3 innings.
But then again, maybe it’ll prove to have been good for the Dodgers to have gone thru that, and put up the fight they did.