No, you take it. Please, we couldn't. Seriously, we insist...
Nobody seems to want first place in the NL West. The Arizona Diamondbacks have spent most of the last couple months trying to give it away, but the Dodgers haven't really seemed all that willing to accept the offer. Such was the case Thursday night at the Ravine, when for the second time this week the Dodgers ceded their share of the top spot back to the Snakes after an 11 inning, 5-4 loss to Florida. As extra inning losses tend to be, this one was plenty frustrating for the home team. Twice the Dodgers came from behind to tie the game, first with a dodo-rare three run, two out rally in the third, then on a Russell Martin homer in the sixth, but despite opportunities to win couldn't come through. By the time Hanley Ramirez drove the first pitch he saw from Brian Falkenborg over the centerfield wall with two out in the 11th, it was too late.
The box score will show a nice night for the pen, a bad one for Chan Ho Park, and a slow one for the Dodger bats, who only generated three hits after the third. The standings will show the Dodgers once again two games below .500, one behind Arizona. The owners box might show a frustrated man in charge, perhaps ready to make some changes, writes Bill Plaschke. This cardboard box is just a handy thing to have around.
Rafael Furcal was in the clubhouse yesterday for the first time since his back surgery, and says he's feeling better. The hope is he'll return in September. The Dodgers hope those games might still have some meaning (which they likely will, if for no other reason than no team in the West seems capable of making a serious run...).
The Dodgers signed their first round pick, righthander Ethan Martin. Drafted by the Blue as a pitcher, Martin put on quite a show Thursday in BP.
Lest there be any confusion, Barry Bonds will not be a Dodger.
Florida rookie Ryan Tucker, a Temple City product, is biding his time with the Fish.
TONIGHT'S GAME: Eric Stults gets the call for LA, and will face the top pick from Florida's '05 draft, righty Chris Volstad.
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And Frank McCourt finally appears and at least show us that he somewhat is thruthful when he says he wants to win now. When he says that some young players might not be here, i wonder who he is he talking about (Kemp)?
Posted by: dcerros | July 11, 2008 at 11:53 AM
You kind of knew Falken-stein was going to give up the winning hit...
Looking at the Marlins you see the sharp contrast between them and the Dodgers. Florida has a payroll less than 1/5 of the Dodgers and they clearly have the greater upside. Their problem is keeping teams together. Think of where this Marlins team could be if they had LA's resources. They also poop on the idea youth can't win as they seem to be doing okay with it (so far anyway). Who here wouldn't love to have over 130 HRs so far this season? They have more than doubled the Dodgers in that dept.
A little part of me actually wishes we could swap teams. Maybe with all our money we could steal the person assembling all this talent. Or is the Marlins front office just lucky?
http://thesetupman.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/06/the_florida_marlins_why_the_fu.html
Posted by: Andy B | July 11, 2008 at 12:42 PM
my gawd!..........that ethan martin is a cutie!!!!
i am a (very) "healthy" 20-yr-old college coed (ucla -- go bruins!!!) and w/signing of "H.E." (i.e, "hunkie ethan"), i thought it would be fun to select an all-youngster, dodger organization all-star team, with the all star weekend now upon us..........i have intentionally limited the players selected to the lower 4 teams in organization, i.e., inland empire, great lakes, ogden, and gulf coast dodgers.......for the 8 "position" (wonder what "position" they like best?) players, i have intentionally chosen 2 players each from each of the 4 teams.......also, i have selected 4 pitchers, one from each of 4 teams.......again, i am a life-long (just 20 yrs) dodger fan, but this is my "first time" doing something like this, so all you guys out there gotta promise to be "gentle" w/me,.....'K?.........listed below are these all-stars, w/their respective ages in parentheses (these guys are all so dreamy and just in their early 20's, and one a mere "boy" of 17!!! - yummy!!!!)
catcher: carlos santana (22) -- inland empire
1B: chris jacobs (19) -- gulf coast
2B: rafael ynoa (20) -- gulf coast
SS: devaris gordon (20) -- ogden
3B: joshua bell (21) -- inland empire
OF: andrew lambo (19) -- great lakes
OF: kyle russell (22) -- ogden
OF: alfredo silverio -- great lakes
LHP: victor garate (23) -- great lakes
RHP: javy guerra (22) -- inland empire
LHP: roberto feliciano (17!) -- gulf coast
RHP: robert boothe (22) -- ogden
and i saved the best for last, the "closer" : miguel ramirez (24) -- great lakes...........i just luv older guys who know how to "close".......mmmmm.........
Posted by: dyOla | July 11, 2008 at 02:15 PM
And for those of you keeping score at home, that's not one, but TWO "Dodo Bird" references on Blue Notes Blog this week!
Posted by: DodgerBlueBalls | July 11, 2008 at 02:30 PM
DBB-
Damn. Both by me, too.
The All Star break can't come soon enough...
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | July 11, 2008 at 03:00 PM
Does Plaschke just believe everything McCourt tells him? Am I really supposed to believe that McCourt didn't kill the proposed trade for CC due to money reasons? McCourt has consistently shown that he is not comfortable with a payroll much above $100 million and at the same time he is absolutely going to raise prices every year and continue to whore out Dodger stadium so it looks like a minor league ballpark/yellowpages. According to the reports on who we would have had to give up to get CC, there is only one reason that trade didn't happen, McCourt is only concerned with maximizing his profit not with winning.
Posted by: DodgerBlueBlood | July 11, 2008 at 05:43 PM
How timely.
BK, forget about the All Star break Can you dedicate a thread to discus all the hunky ballplayers out there?
I guess I forgot how important that is!
Posted by: Andy B | July 11, 2008 at 05:56 PM