Lesson learned from the Dodgers/Giants game yesterday.

No matter how much Giants fans can’t stand seeing you in Dodger blue, if they feel you have cute kids in Dodger Blue…they won’t rip on you near as much.  I had my boy in Dodger blue and my girl in Dodger pink and the Giants fans just melted.  I do love Dodger Stadium, but I now love that AT&T has an area for young kids…it bought me at least one more inning at the game.

Well – as one of my friends put it…if you can’t score, you can’t win.  The Dodgers pitched great (really liked seeing Dotel hold the score), but they couldn’t score.  The Dodgers look really different with three lead off guys in a row.  If those three can start hitting, the Dodgers could get really fast.

The missing link yesterday in my opinion was Matt Kemp.  He just doesn’t have it.  He’s not hitting well and he didn’t play centerfield very well yesterday either.  I was behind him in the bleachers and more than once he lost the ball in the sun.  I realize it is the sun, but he just seemed to get late breaks as well. 

You should have heard the fans booing him.  Among the comments I heard…

“Hey Kemp, how’s Rihanna?” and “Hey Kemp, Chris Brown hits harder than you do…”  Not a nice one, but they were definitely going for blood with him.

If Ethier can come back hitting and Manny can hit again, the Dodgers can make a good run as they have a solid team now.  Ned Colletti did his job and now they just need the offense to hit.  I read to day that Joe Torre said that he wasn’t worried, that they will hit.  I think that is true.  They picked a bummer time to slump, but I still think they will be in it at the end.  Will they win the division?  Not sure yet….but if they start hitting, they could go far in the playoffs.  I’m calling it now though – the Dodgers and Giants are going to have a dog fight at the end.  Should be fun.

To close, found a great article in the L.A. Times today (click here) on Casey Blake and Ted Lilly.  It seems that all is washed away when you become teammates.  Casey Blake called out Ted Lilly earlier in the year when he was on the Cubs for “cheating” on the mound by not properly stepping on it and getting a little closer to home plate.  Below is the excerpt when asked about his new teammate.

Among the new teammates Lilly met Sunday was Casey Blake, who accused him of cheating when the Dodgers faced the Cubs in May. Blake said Lilly was pitching from in front of the rubber.

“We joked around,” Lilly said. “I mentioned something about it.”

Blake smiled when asked about the incident.

“I’ll tell him to keep doing it,” he said.

So long until next time…Frankly I’m glad to see the Dodgers get out of town.

Tags: Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, Clayton Kershaw, Joe Torre, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Ned Colletti, Octavio Dotel, San Francisco Giants, Ted Lilly

Let’s just start by saying that it should be a “fun” day at the ballpark with my kids after the Giants have humiliated the Dodgers for two games. I’m hoping my cute son and daughter in Dodger gear will help dispel the wrath of Giants fans with me in my Dodger jersey. I’m also hoping I don’t scar them for life so that they never want to go back.

The first game, the Dodgers just couldn’t hit. Casey Blake had a chance and once again just can’t seem to be the clutch game winner.

Last night, Casey Blake came through…but then Jonathan Broxton didn’t. My apologizes to all of you fans as I have definitely gotten lax with Broxton. He seems to have shed his old ways…even against the Giants, so that I stopped telling Joe Torre to not play him in SF. Well, I’ve learned my lesson. He is overworked and the Giants have momentum right now.

Joe Torre – even if it is a 1 run game, DON’T use Broxton. Hopefully Dotel will arrive today. Let him finish it just until you can leave SF. The Giants have his number and yesterday was just embarrassing. It’s one thing to lose, another to give the Giants a highlight that they will replay over and over and over AND over again.

We’ll see how today goes. The Dodgers should win, but they just don’t look sharp. I like all the new signings. They definitely needed the pitching help.

It’s funny to me, that for the first time in a long time, I really miss Manny. I thought he was done, but we need him to come back and stay healthy and help this team. Kemp and Ethier miss him the most.

Well, wish me luck. My wife is a Giants fan so I’m sure she’ll be trying to unbrainwash my kids as we go. I’m worked very hard this week to remind them that “who do we want to win?” THE DODGERS!

Go Blue.

Tags: Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, Joe Torre, Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, San Francisco Giants

Ready for this one? The last series didn’t matter as much, this one does. The Dodgers are 7 games back, but only 3.5 back of the Giants. If they can gain some ground this weekend, then they can at least be closer to the wild card. They need to at least hold steady until Mad Colletti can add Ted Lilly to the troop. The pitching is strong right now, but he would definitely help the back end of the rotation.

Here’s my take on the games.

Tonight, 7:15 pm Tim Lincecum vs. Carlos Monestarios

I have to again give it to the Freak.  He’s not looking totally sharp right now (on my fantasy team), but I still think he will manage the game better than Monestarios.

Saturday, 1pm Fox

Chad Billingsley vs Barry Zito

I give this one to Billingsley.  He is looking sharp right now.  Zito doesn’t look bad either, but I give Billingsley the edge.

Sunday, 5pm ESPN (Going to the game)

Clayton Kershaw vs. Matt Cain

I give this one to Kershaw.  Kershaw has been really sharp of late and he should be able to beat out “tough luck” Cain. 

As always, the bullpens will come into play, but I like the Dodgers chances this weekend.

As mentioned, I’ll be at the game at 5pm on Sunday.  They changed the time, so be aware of that.  If you want to meet up before the game, shoot me an e-mail at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Also, I will be in San Jose on Saturday, so if you want to meet at a restaurant to watch the game down there, again, shoot me an e-mail.

Go Blue.

Tags: Barry Zito, Carlos Monasterios, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Cain, Ted Lilly, Tim Lincecum

Let me start by saying that I like the trade for Scott Posednik. The Dodgers needed depth in the outfield with a guy who could be a catalyst, and Scott fills that role. I tend not to focus as much on who is given away, as much as who is coming. I agree not to give up your top minor league talent, but too many times minor leaguers don’t develop into major league studs, so going with established major leaguers is a good policy. Picking up Scott Posednik is a classic Ned Colletti move as he is an established veteran who has previously won the World Series.

All right – now let’s get to the point. The Dodgers are now really missing Juan Pierre. I respect that Ned Colletti made a promise to Juan to try to trade him and John Ely has been a decent pickup. Having said that, everyone wondered this off-season who would come off the bench if Manny got injured. No we know the answer. No one.

Just for kicks, here is a comparison of Juan and Scott’s stats this year, Juan with the White Sox, and Scott with the Royals.

YEAR	TEAM	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
2010	Pierre –  White Sox	.257	100	393	57	101	11	0	23	.330	.290
2010	Posednik –  Royals	.310	95	390	46	121	8	5	44	.353	.400

If you look at Games, At Bats and runs, they are really similar.  Thankfully though, it looks like Ned Colletti went for an upgrade in the other categories.  I definitely like the average, RBI’s.  I also like that he can occasionally hit a home run….something Juan Pierre really couldn’t do.

bottom line though…the Dodgers needed help and now had to give up two minor leaguers, plus pay Juan’s salary, rather than just keep paying Juan his salary….Such is modern baseball.

I had a friend who is a Royal’s fan thank me for taking Scott off their hands at his highest value and helping fill their farm system.  He also feels that there is no chance the Dodgers will re-sign him at the end of the season.  (Many thanks for rubbing it in Ryan…by the way, how does it feel to be 21.5 games out every year?)

I do have to give Ned Colletti credit as he is a great fans general manager.  He is always active at this time of year and you know the Dodgers are trying.  Not all his trades work, but he’s got a pretty good average at this point, and he definitely keeps the fans interested.  They didn’t get Oswalt (Phillies win again…and may in the NLCS again), but I like that he is obviously trying to improve the team.

Stay tuned for my next post, a pre-view to the Dodgers/Giants this weekend.  By the way, I’m betting Ted Lilly is a Dodger by the end of the day.

Tags: Chicago White Sox, Juan Pierre, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Ned Colletti, Phillies, Roy Oswalt, San Francisco Giants, Scott Posednik, Ted Lilly

Well, my hope came true. The Dodgers silenced the Giants last night and proved that Tuesday night’s game was just something random.

I like what I saw from the Dodger pitchers of late. Padilla, Kershaw and Billingsley strung together some good outings. My boy Casey Blake couldn’t get it done on Monday, but he sure did it last night. He just does his job quietly, but he was a huge lift to the Dodgers last night.

It was funny today because the talk of Giant fans was still the umpire call from Tuesday night. I didn’t realize it, but there was even some debate in major league baseball as to what should happen. It really seems like Jonathan Broxton should have at least gotten to finish the one batter.  Either that, or Don Mattingly should have been tossed.  Either way, I’m confident that Don Mattingly won’t ever make that mistake again.

The Dodgers now face New York before coming back up here next weekend.  If you’re going to the game on Aug 1, drop me a line at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.  I”ll be there with a whole troop from my company.  They changed the game to 5:05pm so ESPN could pick up the game.  The Dodgers will dominate the weekend as they are on Fox on Saturday and ESPN on Sunday.  They need to come out strong from here as the Padres and Rookies don’t seem to be losing much.

Go Blue.

Tags: Casey Blake, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Don Mattingly, Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Vicente Padilla