Derek is feeling low
And who can blame the fella, what with the way he's entered a rut of tossing good ballgames and getting little offense at his back? Yesterday's 1-0 loss to the Angels presented no hiccup in this trend. His seven innings on the mound featured five hits, one run, seven strikeouts and likely some time spent reminding himself that he did just about everything he could to get his squad a victory. His only blemish was Mike Napoli's sixth inning RBI double, which sent Juan Rivera across the plate without a throw from Andre Ethier, who insisted a play wasn't there. Also not available was any Blue prowess with the sticks. John Lackey, the Angels' resident hoss, took apart his opponent like one of them ER docs, limiting the Dodgers to just three hits over 8.2 frames. With an out remaining, Frankie Rodriguez took over and things got a little interesting. But James Loney's bases load opportunity came up dry, leaving the Dodgers staring at yet another box score low in the scoring department.
Yesterday's loss also featured literal injury added to insult. While trying to swipe second base, Juan Pierre collided with Erick Aybar, who came down on the thief's leg. The result was Pierre hobbling about before finally agreeing to leave the game. An MRI will go down today and while the Dodgers are hoping for the best, they're expecting an absence of sorts from their iron man. Given how they're already without an about-to-rehab-and-soon-to-be-starting-again Andruw Jones, a call up is likely in order.
With Interleague play now a none-too-nostalgic memory, the Dodgers resume their contests against National League foes. Normalcy will take them to Houston, where Eric Stults, he of the recent complete game shut out, battles Roy Oswalt, who ain't having the Oswalt-ish kinda season we've come to expect from him.
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REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!REPKO!!! REPKO!!!!!
Hooray for Repko!!!!
All other teams fielding mere mortals will quiver at the sight of lofty Jason Repko, he of the "Iron MIke" arm who challenged the steel hammer and won, nailed the golden spike into the transcontinental railroad, leaps tall buildings in a single bound, hits balls fair out of Yankee Stadium, runs so fast that he has to dodge the ball he hits up the middle as he's rounding second base, throws Sidd Finch fastballs with either arm,hits home runs from both sides of the plate, needs only two fielders behind him (a la the king and his court), and signs autographs for the kids all night (Gotta wonder about the parents who let thteir kids stay up all night to receive a Repko autograph, but hey, he's one in a million).
Where Chin Lung Hu grew up, if you were one in a million, there were still 1,000 other guys just like you.
Let's hope against all hope that this derails plans to make Pierre the everyday LF when Jones returns. What a stupid concept. The only move more idiotic would be to make Berroa the starting third baseman when Furcal returns. Or how about we send Billingsley to the bullpen when Pierre comes back.
Honestly, does Torre even watch the games? Pierre has been the starting left fielder ever since Jones went on the DL, and the team has been in the toilet since then. Does that characterize him as a sparkplug? No, it makes him a dead battery that can't jumpstart this terrible offense. Getting rid of Pierre in the one spot, the two spot, or any spot but the leopard-print parking spot garage outside of LAX can only help.
Posted by: SaMo | June 30, 2008 at 10:39 AM
adios, Ned.
Posted by: dave m | June 30, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Interesting question...which Dodger will be named to the All Star team? Martin is not even in the top 5 for catchers and no one else is remotely worthy.
Of course, Repko could change all of that.
Posted by: Chunkdog | June 30, 2008 at 01:08 PM
martin will be the token pick cuz' every team has to have at least one representative but serisously do perennially bad teams like the pirates and royals, and this year's mariners and the five games under .500 dodgers even deserve to send somebody to yankee stadium. no. the nl west as a whole doesn't deserve to send anybody save for danny haren or brandon webb of arizona. on the other hand, saunders, santana, rodriguez and even lackey despite missing the first six weeks all deserve a ticket. if their offense could manage to consistently score four, let alone five runs a game the angels would be running away with their division and in command of the american league. three days at the old stadium and difficulties scoring runs rubbed off on them. for a second i thought they had become the singles hitters. all ribbing aside, the reason i have become so fed up with the dodgers and too many of their fans is demonstrated by the lack of any respect and decency shown to players as if they were robots and deserving of being injured. why so many continue to rip on juan pierre who until yesterday had never been hurt in nine major league seasons is beyond me. there was a time when dodger fans liked guys who played hard and played nearly every day. and don't give me any recitations about his poor ops and slugging percentage, juan pierre wasn't brought here to hit home runs. james loney and matt kemp are failing on that count and until they even see five years in the bigs, let alone nine and an actual world series ring, take your kid loving, no franchise player paying, small market mindedness where it belongs--to oakland where the rest of the stat geeks have yet to resign a bona fide major leaguer and have yet to realize how to win games that really matter. oh wait, you can trek to the other side of town and see them play this week against la's better team and amongst fans who know the difference between a hall of famer in vladimir guerrero and a career journeyman/minor leaguer in jason repko. proudly thinking red instead.
Posted by: christopher marc | June 30, 2008 at 03:00 PM
The Angels are LA's better team? C'mon Christopher. If someone bought the Angels and moved them somewhere else, would anyone even care? They will forever be the afterthought, the bridesmaid, the also-ran of LA baseball (and calling them an LA team is a gift).
Angels fans may know plenty about judging the quality of baseball players, maybe even more than Dodgers fans. But your post just makes my point. You know all about Pierre (and I think you're right) because the Dodgers matter more. Dodgers fans don't know much about Angels players, because the Angels aren't a big deal.
Posted by: VeroHero | June 30, 2008 at 06:45 PM
The worst thing about the NBA finals being over is that TJ Simers can now focus on the Dodgers. Ugh. We need that like a colonoscopy.
Posted by: CW Shelley | July 01, 2008 at 01:02 AM
vero~
with the exception of this weekend and their pathetic offensive output scoring all but one run (and still winning one game no less) yes, the angels are the better team. not even close.
the halos are fifteen games over .500 and once again in control of their division. the dodgers are six games under .500 well on there way to another october drought. if this were the first or second year of the tables being turned you would be right. but they aren't. this will be the angels fourth division title in five years and if they add another bat to their lineup (i propose trading juan rivera, erick aybar and nick adenhart to colorado for garret atkins, a legitimate third base power threat that the haven't had since troy glaus and move chone figgins to ss) they are the best team in the american league in which the red sox aren't as good as last year, the yankees are still in transition and the tigers and indians have been a disappointment. another world series would be number two in six years. to put that in a little context, the last lakers title was six years ago. and given how good and young their pitching is, they are set up to be good and contend well into the future. this did not happen by accident or by luck. get used to it dodger fans.
why the animosity and disrespect from dodger fans?? i remember back when i first learned about baseball listening to vin scully and following the likes of gibby, orel and fernando the giants were the hated ones. unanimously. this has less to do with the fact that barry bonds, an easily dislikeable figure, no longer wears black and orange and more, much more to do with the fact that the dodgers have been overtaken in their own back yard. if the angels truly were from another world with no connection to la then why the jealousy by dodger fans? why does the extra large scoreboard in right field at angel stadium say los angeles times on top and no longer orange county register?? why is every angel game just as accessible on tv and on the radio as every dodger game??? the answer is simple. because the angels are just as much our home team as the dodgers are. why can't so many dodger fans accept that simple truth?
as the latest round of interleague games makes clear, the american league is clearly superior to the national league in almost every way. they should win the all star game again this july. they will be favored to win the world series as well. if you like baseball and want to see the best players and best pitchers and best teams you are going to find them much more at angel stadium over the course of the season than at dodger stadium. red sox, yankees, tigers, indians, white sox all come to the big a with all of their all star level players. the only time i even have a desire anymore to go to dodger stadium is to see someone like an albert pujols, ryan howard, or the cubs powerful and interesting lineup.
this wasn't always so, and doesn't have to be so. but right now it is so. there was a time when the dodgers were the gold standard of major league baseball. the lakers were always sexier but the dodgers were our pride and joy. vin scully, tommy lasorda, walter alston, so many of their players from the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s were more than just dodgers, they were like family. the constant that linked all of them together was the o'malley family. the fox dodgers and the mc court dodgers are like donald sterling compared to walter and peter who are more like jerry buss. the day the dodger traded away mike piazza is the day my love affair with the dodgers came to an end. like most impressionable kids, i understand trades, free agency, long term contracts much better now than i did in 1998. except that what the dodgers got in return and have become since, is much less than what they used to be and no longer represent. twenty years since 1988 and the dodgers have yet to win a single playoff series.
to those now almost old enough to drink, they have no memory, no shared consciousness of the dodgers succeeding in october. in the world of geologic time that is a nano second, but in the world of modern day sports that is half a lifetime.
the worst part about it is that i see no signs of that changing any time soon. can you blame people like me whose patience is tried and have found a more than suitable, and local, replacement?? get past the rally monkey and the red and the angels resemble the way the dodgers used to play baseball better than any other team in mlb today; emphasis on pitching and defense, speed and aggression, taking extra bases, the occasional home run, a likeable fan favorite, and good guy of a franchise player in vladimir guerrero. who is the dodgers franchise player? they don't have one. who was the last one?? mike piazza. no wonder the dodgers are irrelevant in the baseball world of espn, fox, si, etc. and every place outside of chavez ravine. they have become like the ny knicks, a one time great franchise that has become a shadow of its former self.
if it were simply a matter of time with their younger players, with the direction they are going in that would be one thing. however, the reluctance to trade any of their young players is the single greatest obstacle to the dodgers improving their current roster. that doesn't mean trading all of them, or most of them, but for how much longer do the dodgers need to keep three third basemen? trade one of them and package him with a veteran who won't be resigned at the end of the year and get (i.e., andy laroche and jeff kent) and get something in return. if the dodgers continue to stockpile on prospects and don't strategically deal some of them, they are doomed to signing aging former super stars like nomar, andrew jones and jason schmidt. what has this gotten them? six games under .500
it's about more than the players however. i remember a time when going to dodger stadium didn't involve shootings in the parking lot and fighting in the stands. i remember when dodger stadium was a family friendly place and not primarily a night out for singles who curse every other word out of their mouths regardless of the fact that a five year old is sitting in front of them, and where the guy sitting next to you didnt' look like he just got out of chino and had no problem speaking english. the dodgers of my youth are not the dodgers of today.
so i have no problem rooting for another team. i don't know about all of you in here who bleed blue and while admirable for your loyalty, ask yourself this, for what are you loyal to? a color? a name?? a uniform??? the dodgers are no longer owned by the o'malleys. they no longer are a model of stability. they have gone through more managers in the five years of frank mc court than they did in thirty-nine years under o'malley. they go to great lengths to tell fans how much they have improved the stadium regardless of the fact that it costs fifteen bucks to park your car, takes longer than ever to get to your seat, requires waiting for two innings to get a hot dog and a beer and then pay ten dollars for watered down bud light. it's faster and cheaper at angel stadium. that has nothing to do with history or longevity or tradition or loyalty, but everything to do with the people running the angels, and the people running the dodgers. the dodgers have the more storied history than the angels, but so what? arte moreno for the last five years has been running in circles around frank and jamie mc court and will continue to do so. no franchise in baseball has appreciated in value over the past five years like the angels have. my guess is frank will be heading back to boston before arte decides to cash in his fortune. just a guess. mike scioscia will continue to manage the angels when the dodgers hire a replacement for joe torre. the angles will win their second world series before the dodgers win their next playoff series. and by the time jered weaver wins the cy young award, matt kemp will be playing for his third major league team. the angels are not only the better team than the dodgers, they are a much better team, a better organization from top to bottow and in time will be the more valuable franchise.
there's a reason that los angeles is known as the city of angels. frank and joe can take the dodgers back to brooklyn. i could care less about their organization.
thinking red instead.
~cmh
Posted by: christopher marc | July 01, 2008 at 02:31 AM
SaMo,
Excellent post. I just cannot believe we didn't pull out last nights game with REPKO in the lineup. 1000 other Hu's, LOL.
Vero Hero,
You are right on the money. He does know more abouit the Dodgers than the Angels because it is the Dodgers that matter.
Posted by: TimDodger | July 01, 2008 at 06:00 AM