It’s been four plus two years since the 4 + 1 game. Here’s the reminiscence I wrote a year ago:
Statement from the Dodgers at 3:30 p.m.:
Today, Clayton Kershaw was examined by Dr. Bryan Kelly at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Dr. Kelly is one of the premier hip specialists in the country and agreed with Dr. ElAttrache’s opinion that Clayton has an impingement of the right hip. (This is when the joint is pinched during rotation of the hip while pitching) Dr. Kelly feels that Clayton can continue to pitch if pain allows without doing further damage to his hip. However, Clayton will not be allowed to pitch if he continues to have hip pain. He will re-start his throwing program today.
We will continue the process of seeking other hip specialist’s opinions and have already sent his MRI’s and other tests to those doctors for their opinions.
WIth the news from Dylan Hernandez of the Times that hip surgery might keep Clayton Kershaw sidelined for the start of the 2013, I’m wondering if the problem arose from Kershaw compensating for his plantar fasciitis.
Stephen Fife is starting for the Dodgers today in place of Clayton Kershaw. If he pitches well, he might keep starting. There is also talk of the Dodgers using a four-man rotation for the stretch run, though that would mean some guys going on three days’ rest.
Anyway, given the possibility that Fife might not stick in the rotation, leaving only Josh Beckett, Joe Blanton, Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano, I was wondering what the Dodgers’ record is for most consecutive starts by a non-homegrown player. That is your research assignment for the day …
Two runs with two out in the bottom of the ninth – on hits by Andre Ethier, Luis Cruz and Juan Rivera – win it for the Dodgers, who are now tied for the second wild-card spot with St. Louis.
Incredibly, however, the Dodgers might be moving forward without their top three starting pitchers, now that Clayton Kershaw is sidelined indefinitely with a hip injury. And Matt Kemp is walking wounded as well, though he made a key assist in the top of the ninth to keep the Dodgers close.
Wrap your troubles in a two-run home run from Andre Ethier and a three-run home run from Luis Cruz, and dream your troubles away.
The current National League West Fourth-Place standings
Team L W GB Last 20 (L-W) Padres 75 69 - 5-15 D’backs 72 71 2 ½ 11-9 Dodgers 70 74 5 13-7
As you can see, the Padres have gone into a winning slump, allowing the Dodgers to make up eight games in a hurry and get back into the race.
The Dodgers will have a big chance to catch up to San Diego in the loss column with a three-game series September 25-27 in San Diego. But first, the Padres must avoid not having trouble with Arizona from September 18-20.
Los Angeles holds a tiebreaker advantage over San Diego, nine losses to six.
I haven’t been watching the Dodgers.
I was out of town and couldn’t watch. And then I returned and could. And still haven’t been.
Here and there, I flip over to the channel, catch the latest treadmill moment, and flip away.
Half the time I do it, I do it just to hear Vin Scully’s voice, because I know I can’t take that for granted. But neither that, nor the stuff that’s typically interesting about baseball to me, has kept me on board.
Eight straight games without scoring more than three runs. Seven losses in that time. It feels like I’ve got better ways to spend my time right now. I’ve slipped into being a frontrunner who has put the games on the backburner.
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From the Times:
Pedro E. Guerrero, a photographer whose early work with architect Frank Lloyd Wright sparked a long, distinguished career in the worlds of fine art and glossy magazines, died Thursday. He was 95. …
The list of Dodger home run leaders of 2012 is kind of fascinating. Let’s just say that getting in the top 10 is not a major feat:
18 Matt Kemp
17 Andre Ethier
11 A.J. Ellis
10 Hanley Ramirez
7 Juan Rivera
5 Mark Ellis
4 Jerry Hairston Jr.
4 James Loney
4 Luis Cruz
2 Bobby Abreu, Adam Kennedy, Matt Treanor, Juan Uribe, Scott Van Slyke
Bubbling underneath are Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Elian Herrera, Justin Sellers and Shane Victorino with one apiece.
To some extent, I wish the Dodgers were out of the playoff hunt. Then the Losers Dividend would kick in, and we could all relax and enjoy our new Cool-a-Coos. But it’s not that simple, as I write at Los Angeles Magazine’s CityThink blog.
Boring ol’ no-introduction game chat – I’m back, baby!
Thanks so much to Bob Timmermann for providing such rich content during my absence at the Toronto International Film Festival. He did a wonderful job.
You can read my Toronto writings at my Variety blog The Vote, and see the edited interviews I conducted with filmmakers and actors here.
This pinch-hit Dodger Thoughts post is dedicated to Mark Sweeney.
Two days after getting shut out in San Francisco, the Dodgers traveled to Arizona. This time, they would have their ace, Clayton Kershaw on the mound. Their best hitter, Matt Kemp, would be back in the lineup. And, it didn’t matter, as the Diamondbacks picked up an unearned run in the 7th on a Hanley Ramirez throwing error and a Miguel Montero RBI double to win 1-0.
The Dodgers had only one look at the game. That came in the fifth after Andre Ethier hit a two-out double. Luis Cruz then sent a drive deep to left that Jason Kubel leaped for, and, to the surprise of many, actually caught. In the seventh, Cruz reached on a one-out single and was pinch run for by Dee Gordon. Gordon never tried to steal and A.J. Ellis hit into a double play. Shane Victorino got a two out double in the ninth off of David Hernandez, but Adrian Gonzalez was caught looking to end the game.
It may finally be time for the Dodgers to retire their “the Dodgers are challenging for the NL West title” commercial. The Giants won a very Coors Fieldish 9-8 game against the Rockies to increase their lead to six games. The Rockies were mathematically eliminated from NL West contention, but they are still alive for the wild card.
But, there was good news down in San Diego. The current owner of Wild Card #2 in the National League, St. Louis, lost again, 6-4. The Cardinals lead over the Dodgers remains at one game. Even the Pirates, who have lost 11 of 16, are still just 2 1/2 games back. Even more surprisingly, the Phillies and Brewers both got to the .500 mark and they are just four games out of a playoff spot. However, if your team still needs to pass up the Pirates this late in September in order to make the playoffs, there is something inherently wrong with your team’s late season surge.
And with this I bid you adieu and go back to the world of commenting. Sorry I didn’t have better news to relate to people. But, if it were all good news, it would have been boring right? No, it would have been more interesting. Life doesn’t let you pick your spots that often.
The Dodgers, somehow, still have a decent chance at a playoff spot. All they need to do is score a run. Not a run or two. We’ll settle for one and go from there.
Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.
Kershaw CXLVI: Kershaw Among the Ruins
Mark Ellis, 2B
Shane Victorino, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Andre Ethier, RF
Luis Cruz, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
This pinch-hit Dodger Thoughts post is dedicated to Johnny Frederick. (Please not his 1932 HR Log.)
Today, I got a customer survey from the Dodgers, which I filled out. I do this mostly in hopes that there will be some sort of prize at the end. There usually isn’t. (For some reason, I filled one out from Southwest Airlines that took an hour to fill out and I got bupkis.)
One question asked which Dodgers figure I wanted to see on a bobblehead in 2013. I said, “Dazzy Vance.” For a guy who did not become a regular in the majors until he was 31, he put up numbers that were incredible. In 1928, he had an ERA of 2.09 when the league ERA was 3.99. In 1930, the league ERA was 4.97 and Vance’s was 2.61.
The next best ERA on the 1930 Dodgers was 3.40 by reliever Sloppy Thurston (who apparently was a neat person, but had a father who liked to give out free soup to the indigent.) The next best ERA for a starter was 3.95 by Jumbo Elliott, who was officially listed as being 6’3″ and 235 lbs (other sources put him at 6’5″, 250 lbs), which makes him smaller and lighter than me. And nobody calls me Jumbo. To my face. Twice.
The 1930 Dodgers also had Babe Herman in the outfield. He batted .393. He hit 35 home runs. He drove in 130 runs. And what did he lead the league in? Nothing.
Oh what were we supposed to be discussing today? Oh yeah, a Dodgers-Diamondbacks game. The Dodgers have brought in reinforcements from Albuquerque, to bring the active roster total up to 34. Elian Herrera (who can make it less likely that Juan Uribe will play), Stephen Fife (who will be waiting around to see if another starting pitcher gets hurt), and Dee Gordon (who will get to pinch run if Juan Rivera is fortunate enough to reach base) are all back from Albuquerque. Since Gordon was on the 40-man roster, another player had to be taken off. And that was …. Adam Kennedy, exiled to the 60-day DL.
Adam Kennedy looks to have taken over Orlando Hudson’s spot as “Dodger who homered in his last at bat with the team.” Hudson had taken over that spot from Tom Wilson. The last Dodger to homer in his last at bat with the team in the regular season, also did it against the Giants, Tony Brewer back in in 1984. Of course, I’m piecing this facts together mainly using my memory and some poorly-sourced websites. But, Philip Roth and I agree on these facts at least.
But Kennedy’s homer could very well be the last one in his major league career. I need to reanimate John Updike and have him write “Kid Bids Angeleno Fans Adieu.” The last player to homer in his last MLB at bat was Jim Edmonds, who like Ted Williams, was taken out of the game early after hitting a home run.
Per Jon’s request, I’m reposting his piece that he first published nine years ago today.
* * *
Twenty years ago today, Dodger Stadium hosted its greatest game.
It began swathed in bright blue skies and triple-digit temperatures. When it ended, 228 crazy brilliant minutes later, shadows palmed most of the playing field, and every Dodger fan who witnessed the spectacle found themselves near joyous collapse.
The game was between the Dodgers of Steve Sax and Pedro Guerrero, of Greg Brock and Mike Marshall … and the Braves of Dale Murphy, of Bruce Benedict, of Brad Komminsk.
In the end, however, it came down to one man. A rookie named R.J. Reynolds.