Extra! Extra! (8.31)
At this point most fans are aiming higher, but it's still good to know that under no circumstances will the Blue lose more games this season than last. We'll start there, but the numbers get even more fun. Wednesday's 7-3 win over the Reds (Why do they have to leave town?), equaled their victory total from last year, gave the Dodgers a series and season sweep over the Cincinnati, plus ran their record in August to 21-7. That's more wins than they've had on one page of the calendar since the moving trucks left Brooklyn. The Blue maintained their three game lead over San Diego (magic number, 27!), and have everyone feeling so good, managers are giving gifts to T.J. Simers (dogs and cats living together!), who can't find anything to complain about. Can peace in the Middle East be far behind?
One big reason? Greg Maddux. Dude contributed offensively, defensively and on the mound over his seven strong innings. Even better, he preserved the pen and helped get everyone home in 2:35, a nice change from Tuesday's 16 inning ultra-marathon. 77 pitches in seven innings will do that. Maddux also notched another milestone in a career with a lot of them, passing Steve Carlton (Lefty!) for sole possession of 10th on the all time wins list with 330. Most people don't have that many victories on X Box. The only potential trouble spot? The offense. Wilson Betemit, Olmedo Saenz, and Rafael Furcal all went yard in the eighth, a lot of fun for fans, yes, but it's possible the Blue have now already hit their quota for September. Wouldn't one have done it? Why get greedy?
Anyway, it was all part of what the box score shows as a very balanced attack. Every Dodger starter save Kenny Lofton had at least one hit. Why the slacking, Kenny?
It's looking like the voices of Blue Notes readers have been heard (you are a mighty bunch!). Mark Hendrickson's grip on his starting spot is looking a little shaky, especially with Hong-Chih Kuo returning from Vegas. Little wouldn't say who will take Hendrickson's next scheduled turn on Tuesday in Milwaukee, but didn't exactly deliver a ringing vote of confidence for his forward/starter. He did, however, have a lot of nice things to say about the team effort Tuesday night. It was truly one of those all hands on deck type deals.
Intimidation, thy name is Derek Lowe With a Bat In His Hands (Which is actually a horrible name. Like something rejected from Dances With Wolves II: It's Baseball Season!)
Just out of curiosity, why do the Dodgers theoretically have to part with Loney, LaRoche, or Kemp to get David Wells, and the Padres have to give up this guy? Anyway, all the action needs to get done 9 pm PDT this evening for a hypothetical acquisition to be eligible for a hypothetical postseason run. Ironically, the fine work L.A. has done this week has been a major boost to San Diego. And we're not sure it's fair to punish the Reds when they've delivered fine ideas like this one. (One candidate for Best Line In That Feature? ""I really foresee this as being a huge opportunity for the girls to be involved and help make a difference in the community." Gandhi would be proud.)
The Dodgers are off today.
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I hope Ned is exploring possible trades for Hendrickson today. There are some teams that are so desperate for pitching that they may take a chance on him. Like St. Louis (sorry BK), the Mets, Minnesota, etc... Anyway, we would not be asking for much. With Sept 1st callups, I believe he is expendable.
Posted by: jim | August 31, 2006 at 10:51 AM
dodgers acquire maddux on aug. 1st. dodgers record
in aug 21-7. nuff said. trade that changed a season.
i hope they can resign him.dodgers would have still been chasing their tail without him. the dodgers needed a solid pitcher but even more so needed a leader and an example on how to do it. maddux just
plain gets it done. its no coincidence the performance of billz and d-lo since the maddux
acquisition.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 11:46 AM
hendrickson trade didnt work out. he has been a perfectly competent pitcher in his career but has
totally fizzled with us. some players don't respond to trades well.sometime the league change doesn't
work for some players. whatever the reason its time to cut and run. hes not going to produce for us.
colletti's obviously not shy about moving on- and
he will, if not now, then in the off season.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 11:52 AM
THE "STATUS KUO" WILL NOT WORK. WILL HONG-CHIH KUO
WORK? DUNNO. LETS FIND OUT.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 11:55 AM
DON'T GIVE UP OUR KIDS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
GUZMAN WAS A PLAYER WITH NO POSTION, WHO MIGHT HIT
ONE DAY. AYBAR WAS A VERY AVERAGE FIELDER WITH NO POWER. BUT LONEY, LAROCHE AND ESP. KEMP WILL BE
GOOD ML PLAYERS. LONEY AND KEMP ARE READY NOW.
LAROCHE WILL BE SOON. KEMP IS THE POWER PLAYER WE'RE
MISSING RIGHT NOW AND LONEY LOOKED VERY GOOD AT THE
PLATE IN HIS SECOND STINT.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 11:59 AM
the dodgers are off today and they deserve and need that day off. perfect timing. reinforcements on the
way. perfect timing. reload, refresh and come out
firing. rockies are the next victims. we need to continue to dominate at home.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 12:03 PM
LOLO is right. the lefty righty thing is way over rated. especially the lefty- lefty thing. ETHIER
is hitting .379 against lefties. i would like to see the overall lefty against lefty average . i think there is more difference on the righty lefty thing.
right handers like saenz that just eat up lefties.
makes sense to me- really get a better look at the pitch and breaking balls are moving toward the hitter.there is so much platooning, the average left
handed hitter doesn't get to face left handed pitching very often. i don't think your average left handed hitter is intimadated by your average
left hander.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 12:13 PM
STATS - i do know. the dodgers hit .396 at home and
hit .298 against lefties. i feel very confident play-ing lefties at home. our record against lefties
is deceptive because our pitching performances when
lefties have started against us has been poor but
our hitters eat lefties for lunch and we hit hard at home.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 12:27 PM
Has anybody seen the poll question on ESPN.com asking who should be NL Rookie of Year? They offer up Prince Fielder, Josh Johnson, Dan Uggla and Ryan Zimmerman. Andre Ethier is not even listed. What's up with that?
Posted by: penner217 | August 31, 2006 at 12:43 PM
my single biggest player concern is NOMAHHHHHH. he's hitting .212 since the all star break. either those batting gloves are too
tight or he needs a new OCD ROUTINE.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 12:59 PM
ANY TEAM WILLING TO GIVE WEAVER ANOTHER CHANCE
IS PAST DESPERATE. MY APOLOGIES TO AK AND BK.
IF NONE OF MY COMMENTS MAKE TO PRINT AFTER THIS,
I WILL UNDERSTAND.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 01:01 PM
penner217-
I'm sure it has something to do with how ESPN hates Kobe (hahaha).
BK
Seriously, though, he should at least be a choice, right?
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | August 31, 2006 at 01:04 PM
Did the Dodgers see Hendrickson pitch before they traded for him, or did they just that a big lanky lefty was available and jump?
He can't break a pane of glass with his fastball, and he just doesn't have the sort of nasty decptive stuff and mind set to overcome it. You could see it the first half inning he threw in blue. Dude got nothing.
Too bad. Guzman may be something one day, and he certainly had more trade value than that.
Posted by: Tom Daniels | August 31, 2006 at 02:04 PM
.296 AT HOME.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 02:55 PM
Guzman was traded for Lugo.
Navarro was the one who was traded for Hinder-ickson.
Posted by: LoLo | August 31, 2006 at 03:16 PM
Penner,
Of the 4 players ESPN listed in their ROY poll, Prince Fielder plays the farthest west, and he's in Milwaukee.
Posted by: Dodgerdog | August 31, 2006 at 03:23 PM
FREAKIN EAST COASTERS.GOT THOSE STUPID BLINDERS ON AGAIN. IF EITHER HAS 40 MORE ABS HE'S LISTED AS THE NO.3 BATTER IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE. YEAH HE GOT HURT
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T START THE YEAR ON THE ROSTER AND THEN PLAYED PART TIME BUT GIVE ME A BREAK. IF HE HAS THOSE 40 MORE ABS COULD THEY IGNORE HIM?
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 03:36 PM
PLUS ETHIER AN EXCELLENT LEFT FIELDER TO BOOT.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 03:37 PM
PLUS HE'S A BIG TEDDY BEAR OF A GUY.
Posted by: stargazin | August 31, 2006 at 03:38 PM
AK/BK,
I thought you guys had pull over at ESPN. How about hooking a brutha up (Ethier)? HAHA!
Posted by: LoLo | August 31, 2006 at 03:38 PM