Extra! Extra! (8.29)
Just when it looked like the Dodgers would open their series against Cincinnati with a cakewalk, the Reds decided to make life difficult. In the end, L.A. got their 6-5 win, but it took a lot of work to get there. Brad Penny was laboring from the start, dancing in and out of trouble like a live-action Frogger game. Five walks and 104 pitches through only five innings. Perhaps he should have been throwing some of these? Yet somehow Penny managed to keep crossing the street and reach the lily pad without getting squished (three double plays turned by the Dodgers D didn't hurt).
Russell Martin and Jason Repko provided the O from the bottom of the lineup, but after a big-time Cincinnati comeback in the eighth, Jonathan Broxton was called in to nail down the win. His five-out save was enough to raise some statistical eyebrows (like the eyebrows raised when Pam Anderson was put on the Jumbotron...). Combine the Dodgers win with San Diego's loss to Arizona, and the Dodgers again lead the NL West by three games. (Magic Number, 29!)
Yeah, it was a little nerve-racking, but the Dodgers came through with an important win to open the homestand. Of course, many fans didn't actually see the game, because they were waiting in line for their hot dogs, popcorn and other delicious snacks. (Again, for the record we think Dodger Dogs basically suck — L.A. deserves better!) It's probably the fans that keep showing up in droves — the Blue again passed the three million mark for attendance on Monday — who should be ticked, as opposed to say, Brad Penny. Although tantrums at this point will cost him some money (for a good cause).
With J.D. Drew taking a scheduled day off, Grady Little had Julio Lugo in the three hole on Monday, which made the former Devil Ray happy. Dude wants to be in the lineup.
Across baseball, teams will remember Hurricane Katrina at Tuesday's games.
Monday's loss may have dipped his team deeper into the wild card muddle, but Todd Hollandsworth still enjoys returning to Dodger Stadium.
Tuesday night, the Dodgers will send Mark Hendrickson (seriously, this time, they will...) against Eric Milton for Cincinnati. Milton, who has been craptacular without the "tacular" part all year, is looking for his first win since August 8th. Hendrickson is coming off his best start as a Dodger (one earned over six IP last week in San Diego)...but he still lost. It's been that kind of run for the big fella.
Theoretically, absolutely nothing has got to give tonight at the Ravine.
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I hate to go against the words of Vin Scully. But you guys are right. Dodger Dogs (even the grilled ones) are not all its worked up to be. What's up with that?? We tout that's there's nothing better than a Grilled Dodger Dog at a Dodger game, yet I can get a way better tasting hot dog down at Costco. Or outside Staples for that matter. In my opinion, I think the best thing going at the concession stands are the garlic fries. I missed TWO Blue home runs one time waiting in line for that stuff.
Have you folks been to Petco or AT&T? Do they have better food?
Posted by: wasabi | August 29, 2006 at 10:34 AM
OK, I promise this is the last one. Maybe Brad Penny was off last night because Alyssa Milano no longer is heard singing She Loves You to him.
No more. On to better things. Eric Milton is the undisputed king of gopher balls. Maybe Lugo, who hit 12 for TB but has displayed only warning track power here can get one.
Anyone catch Jonathan Broxton's postgame interview last night? Probably the quietest, shyest guy I've ever seen. Seems genuinely thrilled to be in the bigs and playing in a pennant race. Listening, Julio?
Posted by: Dodgerdog | August 29, 2006 at 11:50 AM
BK or AK:
can you check to see if the Dodger/Padre game on Sat. Sept. 16th is a 1:10 or 7:10 start?
My tickets say 7:10 (as does the Dodgers' web site), but ESPN lists it at 1:10 (see http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/schedule?team=lad)
any confirmation you can get for me would be greatly appreciated!
thanks, CamTheFan
Posted by: CamTheFan | August 29, 2006 at 11:55 AM
I can understand Lugo's frustration at being moved around the diamond on defense, but (1) he should keep his feelings out of the press (it can't help the team when he or his agent spout off) and (2) it doesn't give him an excuse for not producing offensively, as he has since the Dodgers got him.
In addition, I noted that his agent said (in the linked article) the Dodgers traded their "best prospect to TB for Julio (i.e., Guzman). I guess Mr. Lozano has never guys like: Matt Kemp, James Loney, Greg Miller, Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young (should I go on?!?!?).
Clearly Guzman had dropped subtantially on the Dodgers' top prospects list, or they wouldn't have traded him away as a stop-gap measure to fill the void caused by the dealing of Izturis for Maddux.
Posted by: CamTheFan | August 29, 2006 at 12:08 PM
Nice of Penny to give the bullpen a rest. He is now our number 4 pitcher. I hope he can get it together before the post season (if we go, IhopeIhopeIhope).
It cracks me up that a second string ex Dodger catcher has more HRs than any on the Dodgers. I always liked Ross though.
It sure would be nice if the Dodgers could pass the Cards for home field advantage. I don't really trust us to win there.
Posted by: Andy B | August 29, 2006 at 12:09 PM
wasabi- mcdonalds is the best. carls jr is second
best. wendys is the third best. bk is fourth best.
ak is fifth best.
Posted by: iknow | August 29, 2006 at 01:22 PM
Dodgerdog- Don't feel like you'll just be able to quit. That Beatles thing is pretty addictive.
CamTheFan-
I'll see what I can find out. Yahoo has it as 1:10 as well. Interesting. Might have been a TV game originally scheduled for one time, then changed.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | August 29, 2006 at 01:43 PM
BK,
I think you have a stalker.
Posted by: LoLo | August 29, 2006 at 01:52 PM
actually the new BK Angus Burger has made my #1 list...so, I guess by association it applies here...
LoLo: I think it is just precious that BK has he own real stalker...he must be trilled!! hehehehe.... :p
Posted by: grumpy3b | August 29, 2006 at 02:00 PM
alway enjoy when we get to the magic numbers.
the blues own the reds
Posted by: sok | August 29, 2006 at 02:08 PM
BK,
I guess I Should Have Known Better.
Posted by: Dodgerdog | August 29, 2006 at 02:27 PM
Well, tonight's the night. The Dodgers have the chance to go 8 games over .500 for the first time this season. They've messed up the last couple of times such an opportunity arose, but in the spirit of 'pushing the envelope' and 'exploring uncharted territory', a win would do the Dodgers much good.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | August 29, 2006 at 02:57 PM
Makoto,
"Tonight's the Night" is a Rod Stewart tune. j/k
I keeeed! I keeed !
BK,
I heard the live version of "The End" played on the radio today. Actually it is from Paul McCartney's Back in the USA live cd. It started with Sgt Peppers and then broke into The End. This is the first time I've heard that version. That drum and guitar combo was awesome! Now I'm gonna have to buy that CD.
Posted by: MTI | August 29, 2006 at 04:51 PM
Enjoy the game tonight, but if you're planning on bringing your radio with you to the stadium, you should read this e-mail I sent to T.J. Simers this morning before you do.
.
When I went to the Dodger game last night, I had no idea that I’d be witnessing the end of an era. But KFWB has finally assured their place in Dodger broadcast history as the worst station to ever have covered the Dodgers since they came to Los Angeles.
I thought it kind of unusual as I walked to my seat last night that I was hearing so many radios. “Kind of like the old days,” I thought to myself. But as soon as I sat down, the guy in front of me said that it was really annoying trying to listen to the game on the radio as it seemed to be on a ten second delay. He was wrong. It was an eight second delay.
Nevertheless, I decided that surely this must simply be an oversight on the part of an engineer at KFWB, and decided to give them a call and let them know about it, thus solving the problem and making myself a hero to the other fans listening to the game on their radios at the stadium at the same time.
Imagine my surprise when Phil in the news room informed me that the station had started broadcasting in high definition as of last Wednesday, that it was necessary for their to be an eight second delay in order to do so, and that, annoying as it may be, we were just going to have to put up with hearing the game on an eight second delay from now on.
After I recovered from the state of shock that Phil had just sent me into, I began to consider my options. I knew that Vin Scully’s audio is piped into all the bathrooms and elevators, but neither of these places seemed like they’d be ideal for hanging out and hearing a game. I checked to see if 1330 AM was using a delay. They weren’t; but since I’m not a native speaker, listening to a game in Spanish tends to be more work than fun. Fortunately, I was able to pick up KABL 610 AM in Lancaster.
What can Dodger fans do about this? Nothing. At least not for the next two years, which is when the contract with KFWB which the McCourts, by the way, had nothing to do with, runs out. But Frank and wife have it in their power to solve this problem at virtually no cost to themselves. All they have to do is to broadcast Vin Scully’s TV feed over a low power FM transmitter so that people in the stadium will be able to hear the broadcast without any delay. Otherwise, my advice to Dodger fans for the next two years is to have a sensitive AM radio with them at night, and a Spanish/English dictionary with them in the day time. I would also submit that if we’re going to go back to the twenties when there wasn’t any such thing as a baseball game being broadcast on the radio, then we should also go back to those prices.
Posted by: athensdog | August 29, 2006 at 04:56 PM
Dodgerdog-
I'm So Tired of people thinking I'm not speaking honestly. I mean really, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except For Me And My Monkey.
BK
Okay, that was a stretch, but I've been itching to work that in for a day or so, now.
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | August 29, 2006 at 05:08 PM
A YOGI BERRA MOMENT "ITS GETTING LATE EARLY."
APPLIES TO THE PENNANT RACE? NO? NYET? NADA?
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:39 PM
ATHENSDOG- SOUNDS LIKE A COMMIE PLOT TO ME.
IF THEY CONTINUE TO DELAY THINGS LONG ENOUGH
THE PRESENT WILL NEVER EXIST AND THE FUTURE WILL
NEVER ARRIVE. ACTUALLY ON SECOND THOUGHT IT SOUNDS
LIKE ANOTHER YOGGI BERRA MOMENT.
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:42 PM
BK -YEAH WE ALL KNOW ABOUT YOU AND THAT MONKEY ALREADY.
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:43 PM
IS LIVE BLOG, NO???????????? FREE DODGER DOGS. NYET?
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:45 PM
bk-just between u and me, you might want to stay low key on the monkey thing.
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:48 PM
that "the honest truth" guy, he really crack me up.
Posted by: tHEhONESTtRUTH | August 29, 2006 at 05:50 PM
makoto-we are 3-4 in our last 7 games. what would are record have been 7 games ago?
Posted by: iknow | August 29, 2006 at 05:55 PM
hear it was elton john nite at the stadium tonite. no?
Posted by: iknow | August 29, 2006 at 05:56 PM
lolo is the best, grumpy3b is second best, monkey is third best.
Posted by: iknow | August 29, 2006 at 06:02 PM
sok- magic number 572.
Posted by: iknow | August 29, 2006 at 06:03 PM