Monday, March 31, 2008

Wows!

Wow! Andre Ethier gets the start in left field tomorrow when the Dodgers open against the Jints. Juan Pierre, aka Slappy McPopup, goes to the bench. As recently as a week and a half ago, I didn't think Torre, who said going in that said going in that PVL (proven veteran leadership) would have the inside track, would pick Ethier over Pierre, despite the fact that Ethier is clearly the better all around player. But Ethier had by far the best spring on the team, and Pierre had by far the worst. So, Pierre will make $9M each of the next four years to sit on the bench. At some point there will have to be a trade, because there is too much baggage there.

Still waiting to see if Blake DeWitt makes the team. He's really, really young (21) and has played very few games even at AA, but he's the only guy left standing at third. The organization would probably really like to get him some more seasoning, but unless Ned makes a trade there's really no one else.

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Dodgers - Sox, 3/29/08 Wow! That was quite the entertaining game in the LA Colosseum last night. I especially liked the Dodgers' choice to not even bother with a left fielder (since the fence was so close to the shortstop), but to instead play Andruw Jones just behind second base. That decision lead to the extremely rare scoring notation, "CS 2-8," (caught stealing catcher to center fielder) when Jacoby Ellsbury was nailed trying to steal second.

More pictures here.

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Wow! Hiroki Kiroda and Clayton Kershaw looked terrific as they took the Sox to school today, taking a combined no-hitter into the eighth. Pierre celebrated his demotion by having his best game of the spring, although he did manage to get picked off first.

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Wow! Two ex-Dodger pitchers I couldn't wait to be rid of are the opening day pitchers for their respective teams. This says much more about the teams than the pitchers. Odalis Perez opened the season for the Nats tonight in their new park, and amazingly enough was pretty good. But the stunner is that Mark Hendrickson will start for the Marlins tomorrow against the Mets. And if that wasn't unbelievable enough, Luis Gonzales will be patrolling right field for the Marlins, as well. Gonzo doesn't have the arm to play left anymore, much less right. The management of the Marlins should be ashamed. They're not, of course. They're laughing all the way to the bank.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Daddy, I've Got Cider in My Ear...

Hideki Matsui Hideki Matsui got married yesterday.

This was apparently about a week after he made bets with both Derek "Sky Masterson" Jeter and Bobby "Nathan Detroit" Abreu that he would marry before either of them.

But it seems to me that in focusing on Jeter's and Abreu's sticky earlobes, the media have missed the real story here — Matsui's new bride is apparently a cartoon character.

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Sunday, March 09, 2008

Breakfast with Vin

There is nothing better than having coffee and Dutch apple pie for breakfast while watching the video feed of yesterday's Dodger game with Vin Scully at the mike. It was Scully's first game of the year, and the Dodgers responded by absolutely pounding the Cardinals, 20-6. This was much better than Friday's game.

The Dodgers went into camp with only a couple of questions about who is going to play where. One of them is who's going to play third. The candidates are Nomar Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche. Nomar is the often injured fading star coming off a terrible season (only 7 HR and an SLG of.371). LaRoche is the often injured number one prospect in the organization, who put up terrific numbers in the minors, but who also didn't especially impress in his brief trial with the big club last season. Most of Dodger fandom, at least in the places I hang out, want LaRoche to get the job because of his youthful potential. Meanwhile, the people whose opinions count the most, Joe Torre and Ned Colletti, seem to have decided in favor of Nomar because of his proven veteran leadership (PVL). On the field, both players were having good springs.

Then for about five minutes on Friday it appeared as if fate had decided to intervene. Nomar was hit on the wrist by a pitch and left the game in obvious pain. LaRoche fans rejoiced as Andy pinch ran for Nomar, figuring that here was his shot to take the job. It was not to be. In the very next inning, the Dodger catcher (Danny Ardoin, who has no shot to make the team) threw wildly to third in an attempt to pick a runner off the base. The ball ricocheted off the runner's helmet and struck LaRoche on the base of his right thumb, tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. Bozhe moi!

LaRoche will have surgery, and will be out for at least two months, probably more. Nomar, fortunately, was only bruised and will be out for only a few days. Supposedly. You never know with Nomar. The Dodgers will now look at Tony Abreu (also oft injured), Ramon Martinez (Noooo!!!), and Delwyn Young at third.

The switch-hitting Young is an interesting possibility. He's a heck of a hitter. He started out as a second baseman, but wasn't much of a fielder, so the organization moved him to the outfield. He came up last September and hit .380. He already figured to stay with the team as the fifth outfielder. This spring they put him back at second, and suddenly he started making all the plays. I don't expect him to emerge as a third baseman just as suddenly, but if he can spell Nomar occasionally until LaRoche gets back, that'd be great. Certainly it's better than the reports that Colletti has been shopping around for Brandon Inge.

The Dodgers play the Sox today at Vero, the last Sunday game ever at the old camp.

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