Dodger Thoughts

On July 4, 2011

From ESPN on Sunday …

Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com has more on the state of the Dodgers.

Sunk

On July 4, 2011

In Game wrap

Did I already mention how heartbroken I was that Chad Billingsley’s one-hit shutout turned into a complete-game 3-1 defeat? No, I didn’t, because 15 hours later, I’m just now pulling together the wherewithal to do so. That Russell Branyan home run brought on the funk, and not the fun kind of funk.

A public catharsis

On July 3, 2011

In Game chat, Ownership

Dodgers at Angels, 5:05 p.m.

Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
Rafael Furcal, SS
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, DH
James Loney, 1B
Aaron Miles, 3B
Trent Oeltjen, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Jamey Carroll, 2B
(Chad Billingsley, P)

The first batch of Dodger stories solicited from the fans by ESPNLosAngeles.com have been published. Check ’em out.

* * *

Saturday at 12 noon, some Dodger fans have scheduled a demonstration to voice displeasure “with Frank McCourt, MLB, and Bud Selig for allowing the collapse of this once proud franchise.” It’s taken me a while to understand the point of this type of protest – fan disgust with the state of Dodger ownership is already an international story, one that has been conveyed through the daily decline in Dodger attendance more effectively than any single-day action could ever hope to do. It’s the silence, not the screaming, that speaks volumes.

However, I do realize that for some fans, staying away from the games (whether by conscious protest or simple apathy) is not exactly a catharsis. On that level, a demonstration makes sense to me, with like-minded people coming together to make their statement clear, even if it’s a statement that otherwise goes without saying.

There might be media coverage of the demonstration, but it will be media coverage that reiterates a story already being told – there’s a baseball crisis in Los Angeles, and fans are anxious to have it resolved. It’s not my place to tell the participants that the media coverage won’t matter, but only speaking for myself, I imagine the most important part of the gathering will be the camaraderie, the shared spirit of Dodger fans who have always cherished their team.

Kemp earns All-Star starting spot, Kershaw also makes team

On July 3, 2011

Never among the leading outfielders in the fan vote until the very end, Matt Kemp’s outstanding 2011 has been rewarded with a starting spot in the 2011 All-Star Game. Clayton Kershaw has also been named to the National League All-Star roster.

Kershaw hexed and vexed in 7-1 defeat

On July 2, 2011

In Game wrap

It’s not as if Clayton Kershaw didn’t have a role in the Dodgers’ 7-1 loss to the Angels tonight, but he wasn’t alone.

With the game scoreless in the third inning, Dee Gordon’s decision to throw home after backhanding a grounder with a runner on third and one out backfired, with the runner being safe and the inning extended by the fielder’s choice for Vernon Wells’ two-out, two-run homer to give the Angels a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Kershaw might have been cheated of a double play when Gordon was ruled to have missed a tag at second base. Softly hit singles by Erick Aybar and Bobby Abreu drove in three more runs, making the score 6-0.

And in the sixth, the Angels added an unearned run thanks to Gordon’s second throwing error of the game.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers mustered only four hits and two walks off Jered Weaver, who easily won the rematch of the two staff aces.

On the bright side for Kershaw (who also made his own flub in the first inning by covering first late on a grounder to James Loney), he struck out 10 in six innings, boosting his K/9 average this season to double-figures at 10.12. Pretty incredible.

Hiroki Kuroda’s streaking … but probably not to the All-Star Game

On July 2, 2011

In Game chat, Uncategorized

Dodgers at Angels, 6:10 p.m.
Kershaw CI: Kershaweois Gentilhomme

Tony Gwynn Jr., LF
Casey Blake, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
James Loney, 1B
Aaron Miles, 2B
Trent Oeltjen, DH
Dioner Navarro, C
Dee Gordon, SS
(Clayton Kershaw, P)

Friday, Hiroki Kuroda took over the Dodger lead in ERA at 2.90, moving ahead of a pitcher most assume will make the National League All-Star team, Clayton Kershaw. In his past six starts, Kuroda has a 1.72 ERA, and opponents are batting .191 against him. So has Kuroda pitched his way into All-Star consideration?

In 2010, there were eight starting pitchers on the NL roster until injured Yovani Gallardo of Milwaukee was replaced by San Diego reliever Heath Bell. In 2009, there were also eight starting pitchers, with Pittsburgh’s Zach Duke replacing San Francisco’s Matt Cain. So top-eight is the neighborhood you want to be in, if not even better.

Here’s where Kershaw and Kuroda currently rank in certain categories that might matter to the various selectors for the NL, which is making its All-Star roster announcement Sunday:

ERA: Kuroda ninth, Kershaw 10th
Strikeouts: Kershaw first, Kuroda 27th
Innings: Kershaw third (tie), Kuroda 16th (tie)
Wins: Kershaw ninth (tie), Kuroda 27th (tie)
WHIP: Kershaw third, Kuroda 20th
Complete games: Kershaw third, Kuroda has none
Shutouts: Kershaw second (tie), Kuroda has none
Quality starts: Kershaw seventh (tie), Kuroda 17th (tie)
Strikeout/walk ratio: Kershaw fourth, Kuroda 25th
Strikeouts per nine innings: Kershaw first, Kuroda 32nd
Fielding-independent ERA: Kershaw third, Kuroda 34th
Wins Above Replacement: Kershaw fourth, Kuroda 36th
Opponents OPS: Kershaw second, Kuroda 29th
Losses: Kuroda first (tie), Kershaw 75th (tie)

As you can see, outside of ERA, Kuroda’s case is very slim. Now, I wouldn’t completely rule out Kuroda sneaking onto a roster at the last minute, the way Hong-Chih Kuo and Rafael Furcal did a year ago, if a need for a substitute player arises. ERA might be the pitching category that has the most importance for All-Star selectors, plus Kuroda seems to be a popular player in baseball and one who might be in his last year pitching Stateside. But, it’s a tough year to pitch your way into the elite.

No doubt, many Dodger fans would be just as happy to see Kuroda get the All-Star break to rest.

* * *

Could the 37-46 Dodgers win nine games in a row? Perhaps they’ll find some odd encouragement in the play of their Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, where the once 42-30 Isotopes have lost nine in a row.

Dee Gordon steals second, (third), home and the show

In Game wrap, Uncategorized

Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesRoadrunner escapes again.

On a night that featured Tony Gwynn Jr. reaching base six times and Aaron Miles five, and Hiroki Kuroda pitching seven shutout innings, the spotlight was swiped by Dee Gordon, who stole second and home in the seventh inning and should have been credited with a steal of third in the same frame as well, if not for an arcane official scoring decision. Dodgers 5, Angels 0.

With Rafael Furcal due to return to the majors Sunday, Gordon, who also made a fantastic catch in the ninth, might be headed back to Albuquerque, though at this point that looks more like a career detour than a final destination.

Turn that beat around for Kuroda

In Game chat

Dodgers at Angels 7:10 p.m.

Tony Gwynn Jr., LF
Casey Blake, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Matt Kemp, CF
James Loney, 1B
Aaron Miles, 2B
Trent Oeltjen, DH
A.J. Ellis, C
Dee Gordon, SS
(Hiroki Kuroda, P)

On the day that Esteban Loaiza is getting his well-deserved place on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, our thoughts turn to Hiroki Kuroda, who as Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. notes, could use a little homage.

… Despite pitching relatively well in his five starts (2.12 ERA, 3.65 FIP, and 3.46 xFIP; his best month of the season in all three categories), Kuroda never won. The Dodgers scored a total of seven runs in his five starts, and Kuroda was saddled with an 0-4 record during June.

Kuroda starts tonight for the Dodgers as they open a three-game series in Anaheim against the Angels. With just 2.9 runs per start, Kuroda ranks 67th among 71 qualified pitchers in run support in the National League. He will look to snap a dubious streak tonight, as only two Dodgers since 1919 have had more consecutive starts allowing two earned runs without picking up a win. …

… His adjusted ERA (ERA+) is 111 in his career. There have been 31 pitchers in baseball since the beginning of 2008 to put up a 110 ERA+ or higher in at least 500 innings, and Kuroda is the only won with a losing record. There are 37 starting pitchers with at least 10 FanGraphs WAR during that span, including Kuroda and his 11.1 Wins Above Replacement. Of those 37 pitchers, only Kuroda and Javier Vasquez (41-44) have losing records. …

* * *

Idle thought … I’m wondering what the attendance would be at Dodger Stadium if there were any games during Carmageddon Weekend on July 16-17:

Dodger Thoughts’ Tragic Illness chat

Hey kids! Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness and I joined forces for this coast-to-coast, blog-to-blog chat on the Dodgers. Enjoy Mike’s nicely groomed beard and my compellingly shifty eyes as we talk about your favorite last-place team!

The first commercial Dodgers broadcast, 70 years ago today

In History, Television, Uncategorized

Cynthia Littleton of Variety and Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News have pieces on today’s 70th anniversary of what’s said to be the debut of commercial television – with both noting that a Dodgers-Phillies (Brooklyn loses, 6-4) game was part of the original programming. The Dodgers also played in the first televised baseball game, in 1939.

… Television sets had been available in Gotham department stores such as Macy’s since the 1939 World’s Fair broadcast got early adopters excited about the potential of television. But most of the sets in use in 1941 were set up to receive 441 lines of picture while the FCC had set the commercial telecasting standard at 525. That made for some muddy visuals early on.

Variety was unimpressed by the overall presentation, the hucksterism and production value.

“It was all pretty corney,” Daily Variety reported on July 2, 1941. “Especially a crowd of announcers and radio hangerson eating chocolate layer cake made with Spry and yumyumming. Practically all the sets in the New York area were picking up 525 line images on old sets adjusted to 441 lines. This cut down definition, but it was not engineering definition that was hard to bear. It was the low grade showmanship.”

WNBT and WCBW broadcast about 15 hours a week in those first few months. But the flagship stations for the Peacock (NBC) and the Eye (CBS) didn’t get much time to refine their product before the U.S. entry into WWII put the kibosh on virtually all commercial telecasts. The technology and resources that David Sarnoff and William Paley were plowing into TV were immediately diverted to the war effort.

The growth of TV would be stymied for the better part of the 1940s, until a manic vaudevillian named Milton Berle hit it big with “Texaco Star Theater” in 1948 and TV sets starting flying off the shelves.

* * *

Ken Arneson, retired Baseball Toaster chieftain, has a guest piece on Baseball Prospectus today. As I always say, ‘nuf said.
Here’s a new baseball cartoon blog: Gary Finkler’s 7th Inning Sketch, complete with requisite Frank McCourt image.
The Collected Sins of the Frank & Jamie McCourt era, by Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness. Unenjoy!

Missed opportunity for Dodgers

On June 30, 2011

Union head: NBA locks out players

What a time to have the spotlight all to yourselves this fall …

Dodger Cogs and Dogs 2011: Edition 6

On June 30, 2011

In Dodger Cogs and Dogs

Gary A. Vasquez/US PresswireAaron Miles, .311 hitter.

Painful. Just painful to try to rank these guys. It is a dog-eat-cog world.

Anyway, remember: We at ESPNLosAngeles.com would still like to hear your stories (approximately 500 words) of how you became Dodger fans, what the team means to you and how recent events have affected you and that fandom. Send your stories to this mailbag link. We’ll publish a great sampling of them.

If you’re having any trouble submitting, quit your web browser and try again. That seems to help in several cases.


Today	6/16	5/26	5/5	4/28	4/7	Player	Comment
1	1	1	1	1	2	Matt Kemp	OPS has not dipped below .920 at any point this season.
2	2	2	4	4	1	Clayton Kershaw	In innings 1-2 in 2011, opponents are 13 for 115 (.113) with five walks, 42 K.
3	3	3	3	3	4	Hiroki Kuroda	Has 3.10 ERA but on pace for 18 losses, most by Dodger since Don Sutton in ’69.
4	5	4	2	2	3	Andre Ethier	Has .392 OBP; L.A. Dodgers have had 17 players finish at .400.
5	4	5	9	6	5	Jamey Carroll	Since going 7 for 10 in Colorado, he is 5 for 31.
6	7	13	20	21	20	Aaron Miles	Meet June’s NL batting champ (.419).
7	16	6	6	7	18	Chad Billingsley	Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP) of 3.31, compared to 4.22 ERA.
8	14	23	32	23	17	James Loney	.365 OBP since May 1. Bat him second, Kemp third, Ethier fourth?
9	8	22	—	—	—	Rubby De La Rosa	6.75 ERA at home, 2.50 ERA on road.
10	15	15	10	15	22	Blake Hawksworth	Since coming off DL: seven baserunners, two earned runs in 10 2/3 innings.
11	22	17	18	20	24	Kenley Jansen	Opponents 1 for 19 with three walks, nine strikeouts since return from DL.
12	10	19	—	—	—	Javy Guerra	Needs six saves to pass Broxton for team lead. In 82 games, Dodgers have had 21 save opps.
13	9	—	—	—	—	Dee Gordon	Objectively, should be optioned when Furcal returns. Subjectively …
14	11	—	—	—	—	Josh Lindblom	Has really Lind-bloomed this year – looks more like future relief mainstay.
15	12	16	7	5	10	Casey Blake	Even with three-hit game Monday, had .250 OBP, .261 slugging in June (73 PA).
16	30	—	—	—	—	Trent Oeltjen	Raised OBP to .481 in 28 plate appearances.
17	6	10	17	18	14	Ted Lilly	37 HR allowed in past 12 months; Kershaw has allowed 39 HR in career.
18	29	28	14	17	12	Tony Gwynn Jr.	Tied for NL lead in OF assists with eight.
19	13	9	13	9	6	Rod Barajas	Steady as ever: eight homers, eight walks.
20	20	12	8	10	25	Juan Uribe	Probably the Dodgers’ most valuable defensive player this year.
21	23	21	—	—	—	Scott Elbert	Has faced seven batters since June 14 (0 for 6 with BB).
22	17	7	16	14	—	Jerry Sands	.398 OBP, .603 slugging in AAA since demotion.
23	19	8	11	11	13	Mike MacDougal	Spent 10 minutes looking for an interesting note, came up empty.
24	18	11	5	8	—	Jon Garland	So, who remembers Garland’s complete game this year?
25	28	20	21	22	15	A.J. Ellis	Career .355 OBP now. Let him start.
26	21	14	12	12	8	Matt Guerrier	Nine of past 14 baserunners allowed have scored.
27	25	18	30	—	—	Jay Gibbons	One HR in first 25 G with Albuquerque, two HR in his past three G.
28	34	26	22	13	19	Marcus Thames	Since starting season 6 for 42 (.143), has gone 7 for 22 (.318).
29	26	24	15	19	—	Vicente Padilla	Still second on Dodgers in saves with three.
30	27	25	19	16	9	Jonathan Broxton	Could have fewest saves (7) for team leader since Bobby Castillo in 1979.
31	24	33	35	33	—	Ramon Troncoso	Full name is Ramon Landestoy Troncoso. Like the former infielder, was born in Peravia province of Dominican Republic.
32	35	27	27	29	—	Dioner Navarro	In past 64 PA, has seven hits, five walks (.194 OBP).
33	31	36	23	24	7	Rafael Furcal	Looking good in rehab: 18 PA in four games, .444 OBP.
34	41	38	24	25	16	Hong-Chih Kuo	Could be first Dodger pitcher whose ERA multiplies by 10 in one year (1.20 to 11.05).
35	32	31	—	—	—	Juan Castro	2,849 career PA, one HBP.
36	33	30	29	—	—	Russ Mitchell	Endured an 0-for-7 for Isotopes on Monday.
37	36	29	25	27	11	Xavier Paul	Batted .297 in June, but with only two walks.
38	37	32	26	26	—	John Ely	On June 29, 2010, Ely had his eighth and final quality start of season.
39	38	37	33	27	26	Ivan De Jesus Jr.	Doesn’t seem to be a there there.
40	39	34	28	30	21	Hector Gimenez	Has .747 OPS for Double-A Chattanooga.
41	40	35	31	31	—	Jamie Hoffmann	Second on Isotopes with 13 homers.
42	42	39	34	32	23	Lance Cormier	Has 3.14 ERA for Durham in 14 1/3 innings.

Rubby a gem, Dodger offense a hologram in 1-0 defeat

On June 29, 2011

In Game wrap

Jesse Johnson/US PresswireRubby De La Rosa went a career-high seven innings.

Well, you knew this was coming.

It took less than two days for the Dodgers to go from scoring 15 runs in one game to being shut out in another — a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Twins.

It was not an entirely sad day, thanks to the progress shown by Dodger rookie Rubby De La Rosa, who completed a career-high seven innings in 99 pitches, allowing six hits and two walks (one intentional) while striking out four. The low walk total was also a career-best for De La Rosa as a starter.

On his third pitch of the game, De La Rosa gave up a triple to Twins leadoff hitter Ben Revere, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka drove in Revere with a groundout. That was it for Minnesota against the Dodger rookie, but it was more than enough for Minnesota against the Dodger offense.

The Twins could have made things worse, but they went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers’ biggest missed opportunity might have been in the third inning, when Dee Gordon stole third base with one out. But Casey Blake missed a chance to push Gordon the final 90 feet by fouling out, and then Andre Ethier struck out.

In all, the Dodgers had eight baserunners, three of them in scoring position. The eight baserunners were spread across seven different innings. Twins starting pitcher Scott Baker (3.15 ERA) struck out nine and walked one in 7 1/3 innings.

Fans in Los Angeles ended their lunch hours with the Dodgers alone in last place, 11 games behind National League West-leading San Francisco on the penultimate day of June, edging closer to the point where even general manager Ned Colletti might start to concede the season.

Most games behind in National League West by Dodgers after 82 games

Year	After 82 games	Final
1979	17 GB	11 1/2 GB
1990	12 1/2 GB	5 GB
1992	14 1/2 GB	35 GB
1998	12 1/2 GB	15 GB
1999	11 1/2 GB	23 GB
2011	11 GB*	—

*pending outcome of today’s remaining games

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