Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Page 173 of 381

Here we are again: 9 1/2 games behind in the NL West

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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Kershaw CXC: Kershawll the Right Moves
Chone Figgins, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Jamie Romak, RF
Miguel Rojas, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

And there it is: 9 1/2 games.

In two contests decided by the final swing Saturday, the Dodgers lost and the Giants won, pushing the Dodger 9 1/2 games back in the National League West and matching their largest deficit in the 2013 season.

In addition to this moment coming two weeks earlier this year than last, there are two key differences. One is that unlike the 2013 Diamondbacks, who were seven games over .500 at the time, the Giants are roaring: 20 games over .500, 30-11 (.731) in their past 41 games.

The other is that unlike the 2013 Dodgers, who were 12 1/2 games behind in the wild-card race when they hit rock bottom, this year’s team is only a half-game behind Washington and Miami.

There is a growing similarity between this year’s and last year’s Dodgers, however, and that’s injuries. While the hip problems that developed Saturday for Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig might not be serious, it’s becoming harder to find Dodgers who have escaped the trainer’s room. Already, pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brian Wilson have missed significant time. So have outfielder Carl Crawford, third baseman Juan Uribe and catcher A.J. Ellis, not to mention second baseman Alex Guerrero, who you expect would be with the Dodgers by now if he weren’t still recovering from his ear bite.

Saturday could have been a rousing day for Los Angeles: a four-run, seventh-inning comeback, capped by Tim Federowicz’s three-run home run, combined with a Giants loss. Instead, the Dodgers are as far back as they’ve been in 50 weeks, and try to fight back today with only five regular starters in the nine positions of today’s lineup.

Maury Wills’ advantage over Dee Gordon

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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Dee Gordon is on pace for 93 steals and has an outside shot at Maury Wills’ team record of 104, but Wills ended up with an edge that Gordon won’t have.

Because the Dodgers played in a three-game playoff with the Giants that counted in the 1962 NL regular-season standings – and because Wills was an iron man that year – Wills played in 165 games in his record-setting season.

Wills stole four bases in those extra three games, with three of the steals coming in game 165, when he went 4 for 5 in the Dodgers’ ill-fated, thank-goodness-Twitter-didn’t-exist, 6-4 loss to San Francisco.

Wills scored the Dodgers’ final run of 1962 in classic fashion: he singled to left, stole second, stole third and came home on a throwing error by Giants catcher Ed Bailey.

That gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead, which they took to the ninth before they allowed four crushing runs.

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Dodgers replace Arruebarrena with Rojas

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers have called up Miguel Rojas and optioned Erisbel Arruebarrena, in a move no doubt partly designed to allow Arruebarrena to continue his development.

Arruebarrena went 4 for 13 with a double, walk and .742 OPS in four starts for the Dodgers, subbing in when Hanley Ramirez was sidelined, but had played only four innings with no plate appearances in the Dodgers’ nine games since May 26.

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Yasiel Puig, do you wanna build a snowman?

By Josh Tucker

By now, you know Yasiel Puig is a big kid – he loves toys, teddy bears, and minions. Puig really likes minions.

Anyway, the Dodgers landed in Colorado last night, and the first thing on Puig’s itinerary was to find and play with snow. So this morning, he took an adventure to the mountains — and without further ado, here is video of Puig building a snow castle:

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It turns out, Yasiel Puig was building a giant “L.A.” because he loves you. Watch:

Screen Shot 2014-06-06 at 11.37.25 AM

Clayton Jansen and Kenley Kershaw

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj42yyIBpXE]

Hard not to love these moments of Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen impersonating each other. Video via Dodgerfilms, aka Bobby Crosby, who was profiled in the May issue of Dodger Insider magazine.

— Jon Weisman

The Dodgers’ second-round pick: Alex Verdugo

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The Dodgers took two-way player Alex Verdugo from Sahuaro High School with plans to start the 6-foot, 200-pounder in the outfield.

Here’s the report from MLB.com:

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Vin Scully remembers D-Day

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Spoken on June 6, 2013.

– Jon Weisman

Logan White talks about Dodger first-round pick Grant Holmes

By Jon Weisman

Minutes ago, Dodger vice president of amateur scouting Logan White spoke about first-round pick Grant Holmes.

“We feel fortunate to have gotten the player of Grant’s magnitude at pick 22,” White said. ““He’s a mature, young and strong-bodied pitcher who throws hard and has a great breaking ball, but what separates him is he is a fierce competitor.”

When 2014 began, the Dodgers didn’t necessarily expect that Holmes would last as long in the draft as he did.

“If you look going into the season at most of the early season publications, he was ranked to go in the first 10 picks,” White said. “He certainly has that type of stuff to have been considered there. I think that the way the draft played out, it worked in our favor that you have a rash of Tommy John injuries, and sometimes people get a little squeamish with right-handed pitchers, and I think that may have added to it. But I don’t think there’s any question that he’s a mature physical player. He has now stuff – it’s not like we’re taking a player that’s projecting out. He’s got the now stuff.

“The sentiment from myself and all of our scouts, we feel we have an upgrade for the 22nd pick.”

White also noted that Holmes’ ability at the plate (.494 on-base percentage his senior year) followed in the tradition of such current Dodger pitchers as Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, and that bodes well.

“I think the thing all of us note with him, he’s a terrific competitor and a really impressive athlete,” White said.

More on Holmes can be found here from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

When Kings were fools

STADIUM SERIES-LOS ANGELES KINGS VS ANAHEIM DUCKSBy Jon Weisman

The Los Angeles Kings, the darlings of the city and a sports league right now, played at our fair Dodger Stadium on January 25 and, despite no small amount of pomp and electricity surrounding them, more or less stunk it up. They were shut out, 3-0. It was the Kings’ fifth straight loss, midway through a stretch when they would lose nine out of 10.

If you ignored the NHL’s scoring system for overtime losses and looked strictly at won-lost records, the potential Stanley Cup champions were 30-28 four months ago.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, darlings of no one right now, were 30-28 four days ago.

With many more games to play.

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Video: Vin Scully remembers Don Zimmer

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Video: Vin Scully and the Dodgers’ 10,000th NL win

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Tonight, the Dodgers celebrate the franchise last month’s 10,000th National League victory with a commemorative pin giveaway. The video above, narrated by Vin Scully, seals the deal.

— Jon Weisman

Memories: 42 years since 42

72_retired_numbers

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the Dodgers retiring No. 42 (in addition to Nos. 32 and 39), on June 4, 1972.

Here’s to Jackie, Roy and Sandy.

— Jon Weisman

Josh Beckett no-hitter: Game-used ball up for bid, benefiting Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation

Beckett No-Hitter Ball Front

By Erin Edwards

It’s time to win a Dodger baseball. Dodger fans, this is your chance to own a piece of Dodger history and help the youth of L.A.

We all held our breath May 25 when Josh Beckett threw the 11th no-hitter in Los Angeles Dodgers history. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is auctioning a game-used ball from the no-hitter, autographed by Beckett — along with a special Dodger Stadium experience — at dodgers.com/auctions.

The benefits from the auction will help fund programs such as Dodgers RBI, which gives underserved youth the opportunity to play baseball and softball, School Fuel, which provides breakfast to for Los Angeles Unified School District students, and much more.

Act now! You have the opportunity to bid on a one-of-a-kind experience to mark this amazing moment in Dodger history. The winning bidder will receive the following:

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Sandy Koufax at the plate, age 8

Dare we ask: Is the Dodger bullpen back?

LOS ANGELES DODGERS V CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Monday’s Jon SooHoo photo highlights can be found at LA Photog Blog.

White Sox at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Andre Ethier, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Chone Figgins, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Dan Haren, P

By Jon Weisman

Drew Butera hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since May 17, and while there was romance to the idea that he was an untapped weapon as a backup reliever, I think the Dodgers are happy that he hasn’t had to shed the catchers’ gear lately.

In fact, since the Dodgers were blown out by Arizona, 18-7, on that Saturday 17 nights ago, the Dodger bullpen has started to find itself.

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