I Agree with Joe...

THIS JUST IN... Joe Torre has more faith in Eric Stults than Juan Pierre (courtesy of Dodgers.com):

Dodgers manager Joe Torre, taking a page from St. Louis manager Tony La Russa's playbook, batted outfielder Juan Pierre ninth in Wednesday night's lineup against the Giants.

-snip-

"I almost did it [April 12 in Arizona], but I changed my mind," said Torre. "It seems like a situation, with a player like Pierre, he'll be freer to steal and stuff and have Furcal behind him instead of the pitcher."

-snip-

"I'll bat 11th if that's the way to get in the lineup," said Pierre. "I ain't never done it [bat behind the pitcher], but I'm happy to play today and that's it."

Ah, yes, the old "it seems like a situation... he'll be freer to steal and stuff..." line. In reality, Joe knew Juan was essentially an out waiting to happen, as he has been since he got to LA 2+ years ago, and figured it was worth a shot to let Stults hit in front of him. As it turns out, Stults barely lasted long enough to hit at all, but the point was made.

I hope that, going forward, Juan gets his wish to bat 11th. The only way that will happen is on some rec league softball team where everybody bats. Lord knows the only way he can help the Dodgers is to be playing left-center and batting 11th for the Westside Bombers of the City of Northridge Wednesday Night D-League and staying as far away from Dodger Stadium as possible.

The A-Rod Saga

Other than the Mitchell Report and the ties that various former Dodgers have had to steroids, that is really the only relevance the Dodgers have to the following words of pure genius you are about to consume. I have no desire to hear about A-Roid or any other Yankee for that matter. I hate the Yankees, I hate the East Coast bias that gets shoved down my throat every time I tune into the ESPN mediums of communication, and I hate A-Rod. Frankly, I purposely try to avoid any article that has anything at all to do with A-Rod, the Yankees, the Red Sox, or any other self indulgent dribble that they media moguls in Bristol might subject me to, yet for some reason, today I read an A-Rod article... about steroids of all things... another subject in which I wage a daily quest to avoid, and I could not be happier I read the article. It may have made my year, until I get married later this year... that may be only slightly more exciting... maybe. The fact that the Yankees have been as bad as I could have ever hoped for, the most ridiculous contracts totaling over half a billion dollars, and that is only C.C., Tex, and A-Rod. I am sent in a most wonderful land of jubilee every time Chien Ming Wang takes the mound and when Nick Swisher is by far their most exciting player, I could not be happier with the state of that franchise, coupled by the tyrade that Jack-O went on in his recent podcast in the B.S. Report, I love it, DIEHARD Yankee fans... are dying hard and turning on their team.




Let me explain something about myself that you may not know, I am not nor have I ever been someone who is ever surprised by the self edifying sins of man. I am not surprised by any name that comes out as a steroid or former steroid user. During that era the practice was widespread and probably still is, cheaters are always trying to stay one step ahead of Johnny Law and now the P.E.D.s are harder to detect, that's all. Of course, I respect the players who were legit and never had to resort to shady back alley drug deals so they could compete, the Greg Madduxes, Ken Griffey Jr.s, Hank Aarons, Cal Ripken Jr.s, Nolan Ryans, and Pete Roses. These guys played the game right, and played for the love of the game, and they played every game like they were happy to be there. They respected the game. Before you freak out and tell me Pete Rose disrespected the game, save it, he gambled on the game, so what. He played his more passion than perhaps any player every and deserves 100% to be in the Hall, he ran catchers down in All-Star games, why? Because that is how you play the game. He didn't care that it was an exhibition game, it was his life. He IS Charlie Hustle, the anti- J.D. Drew.



So the purpose of this exercise, steroids... eh ... whatever, the whole era was tainted so if A-Rod was as bad as everyone else, spare him the crucifiction, but if the allegations about pitch tipping are true, get the tar and feathers and let's send this guy to be drawn and quartered. You may think betting on your team in professional baseball is wrong... I disagree... but if you willingly tell the other team what is coming next, how could this not be punishable by banishment from the league. This goes against everything that is sports and competition, baseball is a metaphor for llife, and this is no different. If I sold trade secrets to another company and my current employer found out, I would be fired, possibly have charges brought against me, both civil and criminal, and never be able to show my face in that industry again. Yet if I say, purchased stock in my own company... uh hmmm... especially in this economy, explain to me how that is not gambling on my own team, I would be considered a man making an investment. Explain to me now, how Pete Rose is bannished from baseball, yet Alexis, is still allowed to show up every day and not only that, gets paid more than anyone else in his respective industry.



Now if you will, relax and enjoy the ever so sweet taste of justice as served up by those same peers and teammates who were betrayed whenn A-Roid tipped hitters and cheated the game of baseball far beyond that of any steroid abuser.



If you are not sitting down (which would be really wierd since you are reading this on a computer) do so now. I am sure some maybe all of you have read the "breaking news" on ESPN (every time A-Rod farts it is breaking news, not to mention kisses himself in the mirror and says, "Mirror, mirror on the wall... damn you're fine, wanna screw?") it has been reported that back in 2005 when Alexis came into camp with a few extra lbs after the offseason, coupled with the side effects of steroids, (which if you did not know about them, consider yourself informed upon completion of this read) his uh... chest area was... hmm... let's say a little saggy. So what, I mean guys always come in to spring training out of shape, well doesn't matter, this is A-Rod and nobody likes him, so what happened... teammates were calling him.... wait for it.... BITCH TITS!!!! Arguably the best player in baseball at the time and his teammates called him BITCH TITS!!! I read this and almost fell off the couch, I was cackling like a wild hyena. Seriously, this is unfathomable to me. His skill level as one of the best offensive producers EVER, is so overpowered by his level of wierdness and douchey-ness (new word) that his collegues openly referred to him as BITCH TITS. I am still laughing by the way, every time I write it, I laugh. Unbelievable!




Now kids, let this be a lesson. Do Not Use Steroids. You may produce some of the finest numbers the game has ever seen and these numbers include your contract and bank account, but at the end of the day you can be the best of all time and still, your "friends", collegues and peers will refer to you as Bitch Tits. Without the roids you would not have the money or the fame, but you also would not have the C-cups, and to top it off you WOULD HAVE your respect and dignity. When at last we shed this mortal coil, the only thing that matters about the man is his character, kids, don't let one of those characteristics be BITCH TITS. And you can put that in your syringe and stick it in your derriere.

joe torre...

you are an idiot. although the beloved blue put together a nice win courtesy of some awesome hitting in the 9th, billingsley had NO BUSINESS pitching even 1 pitch in the 8th inning to give up the lead. he was due up first in the top of the 8th after his pitch count was in the high 90's with the score at 3-2.  PINCH HIT FOR HIM YOU RETARD and send out some reliever with the bases empty in the bottom of the 8th. instead, joe the retard overworks billingsley, exhausts big fat jon in the process and promptly gives up the lead. 

although bills put up a solid line through 7 innings, anyone who watched the game could see he was not putting on an epic performance. i fail to see the danger of sending out ohman or even the dreaded guillermo "i'm shockingly average" mota with the bases empty in the bottom of the 8th and trotting out big fat jon a little bit later.

billingsley should have started the year 5-0. but thanks to the incompetence of joe torre, he'll have to settle for 4-0 with a no decision.

good one, joe. despite your valiant efforts the dodgers somehow won.

a humble request for joe torre...

please stop having matt kemp bat 7th in the lineup. has he not done enough to prove that he deserves better? does the .388 OBP or the 1.005 OPS not impress you? how about his 156 OPS+?  do you not understand these new baseball stats? should i break it down into simple baseball terms? matt kemp has 5 doubles, 2 triples and 3 home runs to go along with his .333 average and 6 walks.  those are all good numbers.  however, you must think loney's impressive .693 OPS with a team worst 3 extra base hits (with no home runs or triples) merits him batting 5th in the lineup.  

if you ever feel crazy and decide fill out your lineup card after throwing back a 11 shots of bacardi 151 or some wheatgrass beverage from those terrible commercials, consider batting kemp in the 5 spot... just to see how that works out. i don't know how many more times i can tolerate watching him stranded at 2nd base with the pitcher or some garbage pinch hitter flailing at a pitch outside the zone to end an inning.

this needs to be stopped. 

ps. 

if you have time joe, tell ned colletti to immediately sign chad billingsley and matt kemp to long term extensions. im not too sure what he is waiting for.

Runs Lost Part #4

Game 16 versus Houston

This will be brief...

First inning, after a ManRam single scores Raffy, Andre hits a flyball to center that's deep enough to move the O-Dawg to 3rd. Russ strikes out swinging and James grounds out to 1st. It didn't end up hurting the Dodgers as they won 2-0, but I will remind you that the Astros had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs in the ninth. A base hit there ties up the game; however, if that second run had been pushed across in the first inning, it would have rendered those two base runners in the ninth inconsequential. Let's thank Big John that it didn't end up mattering.

That's five "Runs Lost" due to poor execution in three games versus the Astros. The result? Dropping 2 out of 3 games to one of the worst teams in baseball.

Runs Lost Part #3

Game 15 versus Houston

Well, this one really stings. This is two games in a row with two "Runs Lost". And tonight, those two runs made the difference between winning and losing.

First inning, no score in the game. Raffy and O-Dawg get to 2nd and 3rd with one out after a ManRam ground ball. Andre proceeds to strike out, followed Not-So-Big-Game James flying out to center. The game stays 0-0 when the Dodgers had a chance to take hold early.

In the 8th inning, after James doubled Andre home with no outs, Russ moved him to 3rd with a ground ball. One out, James on 3rd, and Matty Kemp grounds out to short with the infield in. Once again, a flyball to the outfield scores an insurance run, one we proved to desparately need come the bottom of the 8th.

That's two runs lost, which would have given the Dodgers a 3-run lead heading to the 8th. Two runs that would have made the difference between the actual 6-5 loss and a potential 7-6 win. Another loss due to poor execution.

If you're keeping track, in three of our five losses, the Dodgers failed to execute in situations that could have put them in position to at least tie, if not win, the game. That's now 8 runs lost in 15 games.

Runs Lost Part #2

Game 14 versus Houston

Matt Kemp triples with one out in the 4th. Casey Black is hit by a pitch. Clayton Kershaw bunted in front of the plate and Blake was thrown out at 2nd by Pudge Rodriguez. I understand that the pitcher was up, and all the Dodgers were trying to do was move Blake to 2nd to have two runners in scoring position for Raffy. But, and those of you that watched the game will note that Steve Lyons made a great point of this, the Astros third basemen, Jeff Keppinger, came all the way down the line almost to the plate. THIS MEANS NO ONE WAS AT 3RD TO KEEP MATT KEMP THERE. There was absolutely no reason for Kemp to be retreating to 3rd, but as soon as Pudge picked up the ball, he was on his way back. As Lyons pointed out last night, Kemp could go down the line as far as Keppinger did because as long as Keppinger was in front of him, there was no one to beat him back to 3rd. If he had been half way down the line where he should have been, he would have scored easily to tie the game at 4-4. Instead, Raffy grounds out and the inning is over with the Dodgers still trailing 4-3. It really was a TERRIBLE baserunning mistake that directly cost the Dodgers a run.

Top of the 9th with the Dodgers down 8-5, Raffy gets to 3rd with one out. After Andre walks to load the bases (O-Dawg moving to 2nd), Not-So-Big-Game James strikes out, followed by a Russ strike out... game over. This is a little more understandable as, most likely, both were trying to drive the ball to score multiple runs. A flyball for Loney only closes the deficit to two, so why not swing for the fences?

Two more runs lost in one game, a game the Dodgers lose. That's 6 runs lost in 14 games so far.

a hint of optimism...

in light of recent events (the dodgers continued dominance of the NL Worst), i decided it was about time to revel in these wonderful moments. although the baseball season still has its hymen intact, optimism reigns supreme. why? because the dodgers play in the worst division in all of baseball.  but more imporantly, the blue crew boast a +42 run differential (given that today's game score holds).  how good is a +42 run differential? well, its good for #1 in all of baseball. and hopefully, its good for an eventual world series title. (here's to hoping)

here is another boner inducing stat. as of april 18, the blue crew also have the fewest runs allowed in the NL. Kershaw looks amazing, C-Bill's thunder thighs will vault him to a Cy Young and Big Fat Jon looks like he's got what it takes. (the legitimacy of the pitching staff will be addressed in the future). but for now, i'll sit back and enjoy this lovely run. im sure we will all be blue balled soon enough.

Cause For Concern

You might think it is hard to complain when your team has just reeled off the longest active win streak in the major leagues (6), and has an 8-3 record, good enough to hold the top spot in their division and tied for second in all of baseball. Seems like a pretty good start right? Especially considering how well the pitching staff is performing, because they were the big question mark before the season, and now they are holding it down, that is great right? NO, things are not as good as they seem, the Dodgers are living on credit, sub prime, interest only loans right now and it is all going to catch up with them when their rates come back to a sustainable level... I mean, when their pitchers regress to the mean. (I write for the Wall Street Journal on the side and forgot this was not their article.)

Allow me to explain, currently the Dodgers pitching staff is greatly over performing, which is great for the time being, but mark my words this will not remain. Please view some of these ERA+ numbers and tell me I am wrong, Clayton Kershaw, 303 Eric Stults, 174 Ramon Troncoso, 185 Ronald Belisario 387!!! John Broxton, 337 Will Ohman, 202 Chad Billingsley, 219 Randy Wolf, 116 and Hiroki Kuroda's one start 286. Let me briefly explain ERA+ if you are unfamiliar, it is based off of 100 being league average so for instance, Eric Stults right now is 74% better than the average pitcher in the league right now... this should all be sinking in right about now, why we are in trouble that is. These numbers are all obviously inflated considering we played seven of the eleven games against the Padres and Giants unsurmountably inept offenses, this will not hold up against even decent teams, I promise. We know some of our staff really are premier pitchers (Billingsley, Broxton, possibly Kershaw and Kuroda) but not that much better than the rest of the league, there is no way. Now we get into the meat of our problems and the real cause for concern. The pitching staff may be able to hold up some what and continue to deliver serviceable starts and relief innings. Obviously not as good as it has been, but it can remain better than league average as a whole, no problem, not unrealistic at all.

Now let's all forget about the 8-3 record for a moment and the runs that the other teams have scored as compared to the runs the Dodgers have scored in those respective games, as was previously mentioned, the teams the Dodgers have played are ummm... how do I say this, CANINE FECES, and let us look at the Dodgers offensive output. Seems pretty good right, 5.36 runs per game to be exact, OK, fine. but now take a look at the some of these numbers and tell me you are OK with this output.

April 6th: 9 hits, 3 walks, one error, this equals 13 baserunners. 2 for 8 WISP (with runners in scoring position) Runs scored, 4.

April 7th: 5 hits, 5 walks, 2 for 9 WISP. Runs scored, 2. LOSS

April 8th: 10 hits, 8 walks, 2 for 12 WISP. Runs scored, 5.

April 9th: 8 hits, 7 walks, 1 for 9 WISP. Runs scored, 3. LOSS

April 10th: 8 hits, 3 walks, one error, 3 for 8 WISP. Runs scored, 4. LOSS

April 12th: 6 hits, 4 walks, one error, 2 for 7 WISP. Runs scored, 3.

April 15th: 13 hits, 6 walks, 1 for 7 WISP. Runs scored, 5.

April 17th: 11 hits, 5 walks, 2 for 15 WISP. Runs scored, 4.

The Dodgers are hitting .200 in these games WISP.... Andruw Jones-esque... completely unacceptable. These are the lines from 7 of the 11 games the Dodgers have played so far and all three of their losses occurred during games where they had ample oppurtunity to score runs but did not, go figure. The only acceptable loss and underperformance here is the April 10th game, in which James McDonald was touched up real naughty like, real early. Even with better performance from the offense this game is probably still a loss. Oddly enough that was the one game they were 3 for 8 WISP and it did not even matter. Fact is, with 7 more hits WISP that would make their BA with runners in scoring position .293 in these 7 games, which would extrapolate into at least one run and possibly two in some situations. That one or two runs would have been good enough to tie 2 of the 3 games that were lost. Batting Average WISP aside, looks at all the baserunners, to score so few runs with that many baserunners... the execution here... it is lacking, can we fix this, please? It is driving me nuts.

So what do we know? We know that the pitching will not continue on this most torrid of streaks as much as we would love for that to happen, but it should not have to if the hitters can perform at even a respectable clip with runners in scoring position. Despite what the W-L columns and BA and OBP and OPS+ is telling us right now, this team has kind of sucked, this team should be hitting the blackjack tables at the Mirage hard right now, because this kind of under performance with runners in scoring position will not continue to sustain a .727 winning percentage and it can only be attributed to luck, let it ride and pay the LADY. And you can take that to the bank.

Runs Lost Part #1

As you can see on the left, I have added a new box totalling up all the runs the Dodgers have not scored this year when they should have. You can read the full explanation there, but as of today, the Dodgers have lost 4 runs this year. Here is a very quick run down of how they happened (or didn't happen, I guess):

Game 3 versus San Diego

Orlando Hudson reaches 3rd with one out in the top of the 3rd inning. The Dodgers lead 2-0 at this point. Russ strikes out swinging, followed by James Loney lining out to 1st base.

Game 4 versus San Diego (see my rant below)

O-Dawg reaches 3rd with NO OUTS in the top of the 9th inning. The Dodgers have just lost a 3-1 lead and now trail 4-3. ManRam grounds out to short with the infield up. Andre Ethier takes a walk because he was too scared to swing. Russ steps up and promptly hits into a double play. Game over. Keep this one in mind if we miss the playoffs by a game.

Game 6 versus Arizona

Casey Blake reaches 3rd with one out in the 5th inning. Dodgers lead 3-0. Raffy grounds out to short and O-Dawg lines out to center.

Game 8 versus San Francisco

ManRam reaches 3rd with one out in the 6th inning. Dodgers have built up a healthy 8-1 lead. Matt Kemp pops out to second followed by Blake flying out to center.

All in all, the Dodgers ended up winning 3 out of the 4 games. But, as we all know, they can't keep leaving runs out there and expect to win games. We will keep track the rest of the way and see how much their inability to execute properly actually hurts them.

initial reactions

After following the Dodgers for the 1^st week, here are some random thoughts on some random players.

 

1. Russell Martin - His OBP (on base percentage) is inexcusably low, but so is his BABIP (batting average of balls put in play). It should get better.
2. Andre Ethier – where are the extra base hits?
3. Matt Kemp –his average will probably float around the low .300’s. unfortunately, so will his OBP.  he’ll probably strike out over 150 times…again. At least he’s good enough to hit 20 HR’s and steal 30 bases.
4. James Loney – See Andre Ethier
5. Clayton Kershaw - I still think he’s a year away. But if he can locate that fastball and work in that change some more, his ERA should be in the mid 3’s… I hope.
6. Rafael Furcal – please stay healthy.
7. Chad Billingsley – he will either be in the top 5 in the NL Cy Young or he will be the Dice-K of the NL.  Too many 5-6 inning starts, lots of K’s and lots of walks.
8. Orlando Hudson – worth every penny. So far.
9. Casey Blake – extremely average.
10. Big Fat Jon Broxton – he’s got the stuff to be a prototypical closer. And it looks like he got the stones.
11. Hiroki Kuroda - I hope the DL stint isn’t a sign of things to come.
12. Ramon Troncoso – he’s good. Needs to be used when Cory Wade has pitched the previous day.
13. Manny Ramirez – slow start. But mark it down… .300+ BA. 30+ HR. 100+ RBI’s.
14. The rest of the pitching staff – thank God it’s the NL West.

And so it begins...

Look, before any of you get your panties in a bunch, I realize it was just one game. I know, in the grand scheme of things, this one game probably won't make or break the season. We are bound to lose a couple heartbreakers this year; that's just baseball.

No, what pisses me off is it's the same old Dodgers. The same Dodgers who have a history of failing to execute in the most crucial of spots. The same team who caused me to break my dresser drawer 2 years ago after failing to score in a bases loaded, no-out situation.

So, today the bullpen blows a two-run lead with one out in the eighth. After Will Ohman gave up a homerun to Adrian Gonzalez, Cory Wade came in with one out got a line drive (ripped, by the way) out to James Loney. He then proceeded to give up a single, double, and triple (not in that order) to the next three hitters. Hell, Padres almost hit for the cycle without making an out. Now, I can only partially blame this one Wade... Joe Torre deserves a heavy share of the blame as well. Wade threw well last night in relief, but he has a history of not performing well when pitching on consecutive days. Last year, he pitched on back-to-back days eight different occassions (including playoffs). His ERA in those eight appearances? 4.82. His ERA when he had a least one day of rest? 2.08! You know who should have known this? Joe Torre, Rick Honeycutt, Stupid Ned Colletti, bench coach Bob Schaeffer. One of them should have known that it was a hell of a lot more likely Cory Wade would get hit hard today. It took me all of 10 minutes to figure it out. What do we have Ramon Troncoso and Guillermo Mota in the bullpen for if not for situations like this, to take the stress off of guys like Cory Wade on days when we know they probably won't have it?

Anyway, that's not even the point of this post. The point of this post is basic execution. After falling behind 4-3, Orlando Hudson led off the ninth with an absolute shot to deep right center for a triple. All we could have asked for from the newest Dodger. He gives us three chances to tie the game. And, best of all, we didn't even need a hit... just a fly ball to the outfield. And we had our best hitter, one of the best hitters in baseball, coming up. And Manny proceeds to hit a weak groundball to short. Next up, Andre Ethier, who looked terrified of the pressure. He takes two pitches just off the plate to work a walk. Great, awesome, fine. If he had put together a strong at-bat where he took some good hacks and then walked, I would be fine with that. But he looked timid, nervous, even scared. Either way, he walked and the winning run was on base. Russ came up, and if anyone could have used a good at-bat in that spot, it was him with the way he has struggled coming out of the gate. Nope. He takes two quick strikes and then roles over a fastball to short. Double play. Game over.

All we needed for one of these guys to get a ball relatively up in the zone (which is where Heath Bell pitches, by the way), put an easy swing on it, and hit a fly ball... anywhere. It's just not that difficult to do. I would have rather had a couple of basehits and taken a lead to the bottom of the ninth, but the absolute MINIMUM that needed to be done there was a fly ball to the outfield. Both Manny and Russ swung at balls down in the zone, which naturally lead to groundballs, and Andre was to0 scared to even put a decent swing on anything.

This team may win the 90-93 games it's projected to, and it will probably win the NL West. But until I see differently, I will continue to believe it is a team that fails in the most important situations in a games. It's time for the so-called "kids" to grow up and embrace the big moment, to live to be the hero, and not shy away from pressure. I can't handle another team that refuses to execute and is scared of that moment.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit here and repeat "It's only one game" in my my head until I manage to calm down. Or until tomorrow night's start time. I suggest you do the same.

Kershaw's Curve

The young lefty has the hopes and dreams of millions on shoulders, will he be able to carry the weight of Chavez Ravine locals through the season into the playoff and dare I say, into the Fall Classic? We know that Chad Billingsley is an absolute stud, if you have ever heard a DBB podcast you know there is nothing but man crush coming from the Balls on this guy. Bills is going to be considered after this season one of the premier NL pitchers, mark the words of the Dodger Blue Balls now. We also have a pretty good idea of what Hiroki Kuroda is capable of, last season he was very consistent, showed good control had a roughly 3 to 1 K:B ratio and he was absolutely lights out in August and September with a 2.29 and 2.96 ERA respectively. The question here is what is Clayton Kershaw going to do?

We know he is a brilliant young talent with tremendous potential, a high 90's fastball, (if you don't believe me, I am watching him pitch right now and he just got clocked at 97) a curveball that buckles even the wiliest of veterans. He still has some work to do with honing that change-up of his and his command has been suspect at times. Currently has over 70 pitches against the Padres in the bottom of the third. All things considered, the guy is 21 and his only real red flag is minor control issues, at age 21 there is plenty of time for him to work on this. By most reputable accounts, the upside predictions indicate he becomes a top five starter in the majors... that sounds SEXY!!! Now, all of this sounds great for the Dodgers future hopes so long as they can hold onto Bills and Kershaw's Curve, but we want to know about this year.... UPDATE (Oh my!!! He just caught Adrian Gonzales by the short hairs as public enemy no.1 rung him up backwards! ) ... if the Dodgers have any ideas of making a playoff run it is all going to hinge upon Kershaw's progression throughout THIS season.

If the Dodgers expect to be relevant come September and October there is no way they can do that with only Bills and Kuroda, Randy Wolf and James McDonald / Jeff Weaver / Eric Stultz / whoever the heck you want to plug in the 5th spot. If Kershaw starts the ascent to his plateau of potential this season, the three man playoff rotation of Billingsley, Kuroda, and Kershaw can get the job done. We might see another blowout like last years series with the Phillies, but there is also the possibility the staff looks like it did against the highly touted Cubs in the divisional series. Frankly, I have not the slightest clue how Kershaw will end up progressing this year, I have high hopes that I believe are reasonable, ERA in the 3.4 to 3.6 range, based on his stats last season there is no reason he should not be able to continue or improve upon his 8.4 K/9 ratio. His WHIP last season hovered right around 1.49, which is not so good, but again this can be traced to his 52 walks, which we are hoping he can reduce this season as he matures and gets more command of his fastball and change. If he can bring that WHIP down into the 1.20 to 1.30 range his whole stat line will reflect that change and he will undeniably be in the upper echelon of NL starters at that point.

Bottom line, command, command, command. Kershaw's Curve will gain more control of his piches this season, and barring injury will have a better season this year than he did last year, which was just dandy for a 20 year old rookie by the way. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how much he might improve this season and if he will in fact be able to solidify the Dodger rotation as a force of three more than capable pitchers, only time will tell. So as we wait for that time to pass by and we witness the progression of possibly the best young pitcher in the game, let's all sit back, enjoy his starts, and marvel at the beauty of Kershaw's Curve.

technical difficulties...

for the countless devoted fans out on the inter-web, we need to apologize for the delay. until we figure out how to put the podcasts on itunes, you need to go to  feed://dodgerblueballs.com/podcast.rss (copy and paste) to get the latest musings. this site will be posted under the links section as well. 

on a related note, this website will also be able to be accessed via dodgerblueballs.com once we figure out the technical aspect of this whole internet thing.

Sunflower Seeds and Keystone Light

It’s officially baseball season. I saw a Dodger game for the first time since October, which is great in and of itself, I’m not really used to watching Dodger games in October, and the boys looked pretty good. Every baseball fan across America has hope, nobody’s team is out of the race, anything can happen, even with a lackluster first half there is still hope for your team to make a late trade and turn things around (please reference Dodgers 2008 acquisition of Manny Ramirez). The media analysts and newspapers are abuzz with all their stories about the mind-numbing statistics from spring training that have never and never will matter and they swamp us with Opening Day predictions for the season, which East Coast team is going to win it this year and which curse is going to be extended or broken, who will be the home run king this year, A-Roid, Tex, or Big Papi… you know this story, you’ve watched ESPN more than once.

Forget about the hours of time you could spend (or did spend) researching spring training stats, or arguing with the jackass at the bar wearing a Red Sox hat because he has always been a Sox fan…. You know, since like 2003. All the preseason predictions about how this is the year that the Steinbrenner’s have finally bought the best team in baseball (C.C. got shellacked by the way, I know small sample size, I know he is like really good, but always fun to watch the Yanks get crushed) , or how the Red Sox have the smartest management ever in baseball, feel free to plug in your over the top descriptions of one of the East Coast teams here. So since we have all looked past the pomp and circumstance that is media coverage of the MLB season before the first pitch is ever thrown and the outrageous predictions and embellishments of mostly arbitrary facts, lets settle down and get ready for a season of baseball.

From a Dodger perspective things could not have gone any better, Kuroda dealt it dirty, continuing upon his success from last season, the bullpen was solid, Matt Kemp struck out on a slider so far down and away that he reminded me of Andruw Jones, Matt Kemp came back to mash an absolute rod over the center field fence, Matt Kemp had his first web gem of the season on Baseball Tonight with a well executed diving catch in center, and to top it all off Casey Blake went 0-4 with three strikeouts. All pretty exciting, minus the pillar at third base part, but I am not going to get into that, this is supposed to be an uplifting fluff piece about the excitement at the start of a new season. All is well in Tinseltown, the offense looks great, the defense looks great, the pitching staff appears to be serviceable, with the potential to be very good, I am ecstatic.

The time off was nice, we saw a football season come and go, the NBA is on the home stretch into the playoffs and the Lakers are in the driver’s seat in the West and despite what ESPN tells me, I will take Kobe over LBJ for every game they play in the finals this year. The days are getting longer and warmer, soon enough I will be able to go play a quick nine after work and get home just in time to catch the first pitch of the Dodger night games, things could be worse. I started training a couple weeks before Opening Day, and I think I am ready for a full season of ups, downs, in betweens, crying, laughing, screaming, cursing, and all the other usual activities that come with Dodger baseball. Hopefully the rest of America is ready too, but if you’re not, never fear. Go ahead, take a couple weeks to get into the swing of things, and when you do, you can follow the trail of ranch sunflower seeds and Keystone Light cans to watch a game with me and the rest of the DBB.