No real shock here, but the Dodgers have officially left AM 980 KFWB for AM 790 KABC, the radio broadcast home for the Blue between 1973-97.  The deal includes games, pre-and post game shows, and a "weekly talk show for fans."  The broadcast team (Scully, Steiner, Monday) remains the same.

Click below for the press release from Dodgers P.R. 

BK

I'll be honest. As someone who covers baseball for at least part of my living, I'm a little ashamed at the incredible apathy I feel towards the National League Championship Series.  Here we have the Rockies and the D-Backs, two teams who beat out the Dodgers for the NL West and Wild Card (or at the very least, got to watch/benefit while L.A. dissolved) duking it out for a chance to represent the NL in the Series.  No matter which team makes it, there will be some serious Cinderella potential, because either will be a serious underdog against Cleveland or Boston.   

But while I'd like to see Colorado win (A: I think they'll match up better against the AL's representative in the next round, which I'll watch because it's the World Series, and B: you have to love a team that wins a billion games in a row to get where they are), I just don't particularly care to tune in to see them try.  But that's just me.  Which leads to tonight's very simple QOTD: Do you care about the NLDS?  If so, why?  Does it go beyond the simple notion of hoping to make the best possible World Series?

BK

Having taken a look at the pitchers, it's time to find out which position player gets to put his 2007 report card on the refrigerator door.  I can tell you if some of these guys have parents like mine, they could lose some television or video game privileges.  It was, overall, a frustrating year with the bats for the Blue.  Frustrating with the gloves as well (the lack of quality D being an often overlooked aspect of L.A.'s collective failure).  Both, with the pitching issues we've discussed, go a long way toward explaining why "blue" wasn't just a nickname but a description of the Dodger Nation's collective mood when the season was over.

So without further ado ...

NEWS UPDATE (10-5): The Pirates have fired Jim Tracy after two seasons.  Guess that arrangement didn't work out well for anyone.

For all the talk of clubhouse dissension and mutiny, the beginning of the end for the Dodgers this season really came when the back end of the rotation dropped like the muffler on a rusted out '79 Malibu. For a team built on pitching, one that seemed forever incapable of meeting generally modest offensive expectations, it was too much to overcome. The ripple effect was profound.  Not only did it mean trotting ineffective guys like Brett Tomko and Mark Hendrickson out every fourth and fifth day, but it had a residual effect on the bullpen.  More pitchers throwing more innings, and, necessity being the mother of invention, taking stabs at players like Roberto Hernandez for "help."  Add to that a less-effective-than-in-the-first-half Brad Penny and Derek Lowe at the top end, and the ugliness makes even more sense. 

They'd have been better off losing two or three bats to injury (and of course, more reliable production from the offense would have made a profound difference, too).  But regardless of what went wrong or didn't break L.A.'s way, evaluations still have to be made.  So without further delay, here are my grades for the '07 Dodgers pitching staff:

Hey, y'all.  After much work and preparation, AK and I, along with a couple of partners, are ready to launch SportsHubLA (www.sportshubla.com).  The idea is to create a one-stop shop for L.A. sports fans, providing news, original content, and all the information (ticket info, team and media websites, blogs, etc.) that fans need on a day-to-day basis.  Because we value your opinion, we'd appreciate it if you would check out the site and give us some feedback.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be tweaking and modifying the site to make it even better and to work out the kinks.  No suggestion is too small or too out there.

Hopefully, you'll find it a valuable resource in your local sports universe.  Thanks for checking it out and letting us know what you think.  Post comments here, or e-mail us at our kambrothers@yahoo.com address, or at ak@sportshubla.com or bk@sportshubla.com.

-- BK

NEWS UPDATE (10.3)- Dodgers IF Tony Abreu will undergo abdominal surgery today.

PROGRAMMING UPDATE (10.3)- Be sure to join us for Purple, Gold, and Blue at www.nowlive.com.  Sign in, and you can call the show or chat on the boards. We'll have a little Dodgers postmortem to go along with the Lakers news this week.

Yesterday, we posted the last bit of Grady Little audio for the season.  Today, in front of what will no doubt be a busy offseason, we have the smooth, velvety sounds of GM Ned Colletti.  Needless to say, the disappointment over the Great '07 Meltdown was strong.  That it came on the heels of a promising if slightly confusing first half (which came on the heels of some high preseason expectations) makes it more acute.  No surprise, then, that Colletti isn't at his most jovial.

Click below the jump for the sound.

BK

Before Sunday's less-than-stirring finale (or finally, depending on your mood), the Dodgers' brain trust -- and yes, I am aware that some of you object to the use of that term -- spoke to the media.  There was obviously plenty to talk about.  There was disappointment, disappointment, misjudgment, a little more disappointment, some optimism about the future (a fair amount, actually), and a healthy dose of disappointment to cap everything off.

Obviously, all of yesterday's talk doesn't mean a whole lot until this winter, when it comes time to fix the problems, but it still provides a little insight into what the Blue think went wrong and where they might go from here.  Today, it's Grady; tomorrow, Ned.  That's the plan, at least. 

Click below for the audio.

And one imagines the fans are already looking forward to coming back in 2008, since an 11-2 loss to the Giants is no way to cap off an already disappointing 2007.   As for the Dodger folk themselves, it remains to be seen who'll stay part of the box scores come April.  It's pretty safe to assume a fair share of young blood (like perhaps Matt Kemp and Delwyn Young, the suppliers of yesterday's offense) will be on hand.  Old Man Kent is under contract and expected to remain, although he hasn't ruled out retirement and skipping out on the youth movement.  It's been formally announced by Frank McCourt that Ned Colletti and Grady Little will remain, even while acknowledging that better results will be expected from both.   From there, the search for a big bat and other reinforcements will continue, but whoever gets issued a blue uni in 2008 will hopefully help create a clubhouse that rolls with the punches (and learns from the experience of being punched).