Over the past few days, a couple of the most well-known names in the world of basketball have opened their collective mouths, and shown the world that they are in fact a couple of the great egos, and idiots, in the world of basketball.

As previously described here, the long-overdue resignation of the brain surgeon AD was a welcome occasion this week, as was the selection of San Marino’s only registered Democrat, Pat Haden, to succeed him. Is there anyone who could possible disagree with this change? Anyone who would, or could, laud the stellar work of of the disgraced mike garrett? Why yes, there is. And that person is: None other than Laker owner and celebrated over-grown preppy, Jerry Buss.

While the world, including the new sc Prez. and AD, have slowly come around to realize the extent of the criminal enterprise run by the garrett-carroll-floyd triumvirate, the good doctor Buss - who oh, so proudly wears his sc ph.d in chemistry as others would an M.D. from Harvard - has seen fit to submit his beliefs to the LA Times, who, strangely enough, printed his message in today’s sports section, to wit:

There doesn't seem to be much love shown for Mike Garrett and I would like to correct this if I may. I think in the future, the last 17 years will be known as one of the Golden Ages of USC sports. It is doubtful to me if we will ever win as many NCAA championships in such a short period of time as we have done under Mike. The football was fun; the basketball was fun; the track & field a glimmering of its past glory under impossible circumstances (the limitation of scholarships imposed on USC).I would also like to point out that for 50 years as a loyal Trojan, I prayed for someone with the ability, foresight and courage to attempt to build our own sports arena. This was accomplished by Mike Garrett even though there were numerous predecessors who attempted unsuccessfully to do the same thing.Let's not kid ourselves — things were wonderful under Mike and although I hope things will be even better under Pat Haden, I think we owe Mr. Garrett a very deep debt of gratitude.Jerry H. BussEl Segundo

All I can add is this: Had buss accepted comperable conduct from his LA Laker leadership and athletes, he would have been suspended by the NBA from any participation in the operation of his franchise, the employees directly responsible would have been removed, and the athletes involved fined unprecedented sums.

Then there is the case of the ego of Mr. Chris Paul, registering this week a solid 9.8 on the LeBum-Ego-Meter scale of ten.

What G-d damn arrogance! The mighty Mr. Paul wants to be a Magic, a Knick, or, heaven forbid, a LAKER?

By the way, isn’t he under contract to New Orleans? Why doesn’t that “no tampering” policy stuff apply to players who are under contract, as well as team representatives?

Well, Mr. Paul, with the recent moves the Lakers have made, signing Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, and Theo Ratliff, the two-time NBA Champs are just fine without your services, and, in fact, now possess a roster far stronger than that which, as just noted, has won the NBA Championship the past two seasons WITHOUT YOU!

The very idea, incredibly favored by many equally idiotic commentators, that the Lakers should break up their winning combination by trading the vastly talented and still developing Andrew Bynum for Paul, is absurd.

After painfully enduring the LeBum event (actually, I’m still nauseous from it all), who would have thought that yet another mindless ego would so soon emerge from the pro basketball world, with similar headline-grabing arrogance and impunity.

Come on, it’s BASEBALL SEASON with the trade deadline coming up and pennant races around the corner.

theHoundDawg

Tags: sc brain surgeons |Lakers |pete carroll |Timmy Floyd

Only a couple of days into the season’s second half, some of the returning walking wounded are making their presence felt.

In Chicago, the Phillies were in danger of losing two out of their first three to the pathetic Cubs, when a four run ninth inning gave them a 4-1 win, with the catalyst to the comeback win being a leadoff hit from Placido Polanco, in his first game back.

In Boston, Kevin Youkllis, fighting numerous injuries but staying in the lineup most of the time, doubled in the ninth to tie up their game against Texas, (stealing a win from Cliff Lee) then won the game with a sac fly in the 11th. The winning pitcher? Manny Delcarmen, returning form the DL and making his first appearance of the month.

The big news on the comeback front, however, came in Cincinnati, where Edinson Volquez made his first appearance in one and one-half seasons. In his return from Tommy John surgery, Volquez showed he was really healthy, throwing six innings, allowing only one run, and striking out nine. A healthy Volquez might be what the Reds needed to stay ahead of St. Louis, and make the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

But then, there is the Dodgers’ situation. No Manny, again, and now Russell Martin has joined the hurt list, and the Dodgers have started the second half 0-3 against St. Louis.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

The Good: The National League, as predicted here, tonight snapped their 14-year, 13-concluded All-Star game losing streak, stunning the arrogant American Leaguers, 3-1, in the House that Autry build. The dead steinbrenner insipidness was kept to an acceptable minimum, and lo and behold, a member of the scumstripes was the losing pitcher.

the Bad: Dodger Hong-Chi Kuo's horrible throw halfway to the Honda Ponda cost the NL a run and gave the AL a 1-0 lead, and the Met's David Wright had a fifth-inning meltdown when he stole second and had his head up his ass as an errant throw from Joe Mauer went into right fied. Wright stood scratching his aforementioned ass instead of going to third, and when Dodger Andre Ethier singled to short right, Wright could then only go to third, instead of scoring, and the NL was denied the run when the next two batters made outs. Angel Torii Hunter went 0-2 and left three men on base.

the Ugly: Not since the dulcet tones of Carl Lewis and Roseanne wafted across stadiums and arenas has the National Anthem been so assaulted, diced, sliced, shredded, and crapped out, until this evening, when Fox, in their ever-vulgar self-promotion, put some 18-year-old talentless Fox TV performer center-stage before the sports world to fall miserably on her face.

That had to be the worse performance of the Star Spangled Banner ever performed by a supposed professional singer at a major sporting event.

But the game was, in the words of C. Montgomery Burns, Excellent!.

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes |Dodgers |Angels

With the game only a couple of hours away, I need to say that the managers and their boss made the right choices in adding some really deserving players in the last group of replacements, in particular Dodgers Rafael Furcal and Hong-Chih Kuo, and Angel Jared Weaver.

And the streak will end tonight - NL to win, NL to win!

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels

After putting up, seemingly for months, with World Crap pre-emption of real sports all over TV and radio, now for several days, we have been faced with yankee scumstripe babble, again taking over the airwaves, first with tear-stained story after tear-stained story about a guy who spent his life saying “Jeter. Number 2. Jeter”, and now with the the deification of convicted felon and significant financier of richard nixon’s dirty tricks brigade, the dead Steinbrenner.

Listen to ESPN and you’d think Abraham Lincoln had just died.

I can hardly wait for the All-Star broadcast tonight. It figures to be a sappy, sickening tribute to dead scumstripes. OK, give Sheppard a brief moment, but I do not want to hear tributes to the dead steinbrenner - a man who used his inherited fortune to 1) transform baseball into “Lot A goes to the Highest Bidder”, and 2) finance a portion of the illegal activities of Herbert Kalmbach, Donald Segretti, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Colson, and the rest of Richard Nixon’s band of crooks who disgraced America and stole the 1972 Presidential election.

Put THAT on the Angel Stadium message board!

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes |World Crap

How about an infield of Vic Martinez at first, Dustin Pedroia at second, Jed Lowrie as short, and Mike Lowell at third. You’ve got Jason Veritek behind the plate, and Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida in the outfield. Starting pitchers are Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz, and there are Manny Delcarmen and Junichi Tazawa in the bullpen. Not to shabby of a major league team.

Well, it’s not a team, it’s the current Boston Red Sox disabled list.

How about this list of players: Jake Peavy, Grady Sizemore, Kendry Morales, Josh Fields, Greg Zahn, Joe Nathan, Kelvim Escobar, Justin Duchscherer, Travis Buck, J.P. Howell, Dustin McGowan, and Joel Zumaya.

Pretty good nucleus for a team? Or two?

Those are some of the major league players who this year have suffered season-ending injuries, some as early as spring training, some as recent as Jake Peavy’s injury this past week.

The Philadelphia Phillies played a big chunk of the season without Jimmy Rollins, and J.A. Happ has pitched 10 innings. Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, and Chase Utley are currently disabled and will be for some time.

Starting pitchers Brandon Webb, Edinson Volquez, Eric Bedard, Chien-Ming Wang, and Jordan Zimmerman have yet to throw a pitch on a major league field this season, and Carlos Beltran has yet to step foot on CitiField this year.

The Braves are still in first despite injuries to Nate McLouth and rookie sensation Jason Hayward; the Orioles are still last despite injuries to Brian Roberts, Mike Gonzales, Luke Scott, Jim Johnson and Kevin Millwood. Injuries in the past few days have thrown the AL Central askew, with the White Sox losing Peavy and the Tigers losing Zumaya, for the duration, as did earlier the Twins lose Nathan. Had the last place Indians not lost Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera, and now Shin-Soo Chu, they might have been in that race.

I’ll hold off mentioning Dodger starting pitchers, Manny, and the Angels and Morales and Maicer Izturis, and..... Do I really have to go on?

When has there been a season with this number of major injuries? None that I can remember in the more than 50 years that I’ve been a fan.

A final note: HE DID IT AGAIN TONIGHT! Mario Solis on tonight’s late news sports segment, talking about the possibility of Derek FIsher signing with Miami, “quoted” Kobe regarding Fisher being indispensible to the Lakers, thusly: “Fisher’s significance cannot be understated.”

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Manny |Mario Solis |Sports Announcers |Lakers

Compare these two sets of stats:

PItcher One: W-L 9-4 IP 116.2 Ks 131 BB 48 ERA 3.16
Pitcher Two: W-L 9-4 IP 112.1 Ks 128 BB 50 ERA 2.96

Pitcher One is a National League All-Star. Pitcher Two will spend the All-Star break fishing back home in Texas.

Pitcher One is two-time NL Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum. Pitcher two is LA Dodger Clayton Kershaw. Did the “name” Tim Lincecum or all that hardware enter into the selection? Explain that, Charlie Manuel. And while you’re at it, Omar Infante? And Michael Bourne?

Oh, and also compare these stats:

Center Fielder One: HR 15 RBI 59 SB 16 AVG. .267
Center Fielder Two: HR 16 RBI 49 SB 14 AVG .264

Not a whole lot of difference. Neither one screams out “All-Star”. But, while Center Fielder One is All-Star Chris Young, Center Fielder Two is much maligned Dodger Center Fielder Matt Kemp, who has been criticized all season for his underachieving and overall poor play.

Joe Girardi, you’re worse. You left off the AL’s best healthy pitcher, Angel Jared Weaver. (See my July 1, 2010 post.) Who is on the AL staff? Why Matt Thornton is. And Fausto Carmona. No Jared Weaver. And no Felix Hernandez.

You can’t please everyone; there are always worthy players left off, but there are some really bad selections this year - players that do not belong.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Clayton Kershaw

Despite what you may think after reading about Mario Solis, there are other bad announcers. Take for example, former Seinfeld star, Keith Hernandez:

theHoundDawg

Tags: Sports Announcers

What a guy! What a player. Amazing! Hiroki Kuroda was the Dodger starter tonight in Arizona, and then somehow he managed to get to Angel Stadium to come to the plate in the 10th, and make the final Angel out in their loss to Kansas City!

Well, that’s what Mario Solis told his audience tonight on the Channel 4 late news.

Looking at the film, I could have sworn that last batter was Hideki Matsui.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Mario Solis |Sports Announcers

With Zack Greinke having returned to earth, Josh Beckett injured, and Ray Halliday in the National League, the AL's best pitcher could well be the Angels’ Jared Weaver. The 27 year old Weaver leads baseball in strikeouts, has an ERA of 2.82, and is the stopper every team needs to both avoid a long losing streak and prevent three-game sweeps at the hands of the team you’re chasing in the standings. After badly losing two in a row to the first-place Rangers, Weaver was dominant tonight, even to the point of blanking the red-hot Angel-killing Vlad the Destroyer.

The team chose not to re-sign the recently injury-plagued and aging Vlad, and he is paying off big-time for Texas, especially in their showdown with the Angels. But tonight he could not touch Weaver, and the Angels are back to within 3-1/2 of Texas.

Texas made a big move today, though, substantially upgrading their previously weak catching, by acquiring former Angel Benjie Molina from the Giants, for a journeyman middle reliever and a prospect. Vlad’s sensational comeback year coupled with the Angels’ loss of Kendry Morales may be more than even Weaver can overcome. By trading Molina, the Giants open up that spot for their phenom of the decade, Buster Posey, who had been playing out of position at 1B.

In another matter, on May 8, 2009, approximately 14 months ago, I wrote the following:

“Bob Melvin - 2007 Manager of the Year is Now Arizona Scapegoat
“In 2007, the season before last, the Arizona Diamondbacks had the NL's best record, and manager Bob Melvin was Manager of the Year. Now, with the team off to a 12-17 start, behind the stellar hitting of Chad Tracy (.221), Stephen Drew (.205), Chris Snyder (.204), Conor Jackson (.191), Chris Young .177), and Eric Byrnes (.139), and a team batting average of .222, plus the loss of ace starter Brandon Webb, on the DL with an era of 13.50, he no longer knows how to manage.“He brought the team back from oblivion in his first season as the Diamondbacks' manager, leading a 51-111 2004 team to 77 wins in 2005. His 2007 team won with mirrors, and Melvin's rare managerial talent, compiling a 90-72 record, despite being outscored for the season, by 20 runs. “GM Josh Byrnes and owners Ken Kendrick, Paul Schloss, and Jason Ellis should be ashamed of themselves. Melvin's replacement, former catcher A.J. Hinch, has zero managerial experience anywhere. Learning on the job, a team batting average of .222, and a disabled list loaded with key players, makes for a long season for Hinch and, unfortunately, for the D'Back fans.“All I can say is that what certainly seemed to be no worse than the second most talented team in the NL west is now no longer a threat to overtake the Manny-less Dodgers.”

Well, today, Arizona team ownership fired not only Manager A.J. Hinch but also former golden boy GM Josh Brynes. The D’Backs will pay handsomely for last season’s impetuousness. Not only is the team in the dumpster, but they owe Hinch for 2-1/2 years, and Byrnes for 5-1/2 years, respectively, on their contracts.

One bit of nice news out of the newest disaster in AZ., the D’Backs’ interim manager is to be Dodger icon Kirk Gibson.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels |Kendry Morales

The three games in SF to start this week provided a monumental step up for the Dodgers, on several fronts.

Since briefly pulling into a tie with the Padres a couple of weeks ago, the Dodgers have been floundering, including the almost total tank in interleague play. The bullpen had been in shambles, and the 48-pitch losing effort by Jonathan Broxton on Sunday seemed to foretell worse days approaching. The horrible play and subsequent benching of the team’s most talented player, Matt Kemp, seemed to be a microcosm of the entire team as far as overall play and attitude.

With all this, the Dodgers headed to SF and three games with the second-place Giants, likely without the option of Broxton in the bullpen, and the big question of the health of Chad Billingsley coming off the DL to start game one, followed by the recently inconsistent John Ely in game two, and then with Vicente Padilla making his thirdd start since returning, in game three.

Well, game one saw Billingsley pitch an excellent six innings, with fine relief following him, including a save from Hong-Chih Kuo. Tuesday saw Ely in fine form, plus a save from Ronald Belasario. But, the game also saw an injury to Manny, who is now likely day-to-day for a couple of weeks. But that injury meant a return to the lineup for Matt Kemp. He responded with two hits yesterday, but he followed that up today with three hits, including his 13th HR, 3RBI, and perhaps a re-awakening. Padilla was also in top form, giving up three hits and a run in seven. The bullpen, no thanks to George Sherrill, managed to hold on to most of an 8-1 lead.

This series could be a turning point in a so far erratic season. Healthy returns by Rafael Furcal, Billingsley and Padilla have been key, but Matt Kemp has to be the offensive leader the rest of the way.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny |Jonathan Broxton

Throughout his tenure with the scumstripes, Joe Torre was perhaps criticized more for his handling of his pitching staff, and in particular his bullpen, than for any other aspect of his game. As the Dodgers looked like they were assured of taking two-out-of-three from those same scumstripes this weekend, it was Torre’s handling of the pen that again did him, and the Dodgers, in.

Totally wasting a fine effort from Clayton Kershaw, not to mention 5-0 and 6-2 leads, Torre chose to leave usually stellar closer Jonathan Broxton in throughout a disastrous ninth inning, throwing 48 pitches, and allowing four runs. Even a casual observer knew Broxton did not have it tonight, when he entered the game throwing 92 and 93 MPH fastballs, rather than his usual 96-98 “warm-up” throws. I don’t think he ever exceeded the occasional 97, let alone his usual upper-level range of 99-100. I guess Joe just didn’t see it, or was hoping Broxton would suddenly “click”, but the only “clicking” that was heard was the sound of scumstripe cleats hitting the plate, as they scored the four tying runs in the ninth.

Besides blowing a key game the Dodgers seemingly had locked up, Broxton now should not be anywhere near the mound for perhaps the first two games of the important series against the second-place Giants. The good news is that Chad Billingsley is back from the DL and rehab to start tomorrow.

The Angels start a series with Texas, that getting close to the midway point and the All-Star break, is key to their team morale, not to mention the numbers game, as they continue to trail the Rangers by 4-1/2. Eric Aybar returning much sooner than anticipated was a big boost, as was the return of Jeff Mathis from his group of injuries. The Angels should now settle down with a more steady lineup of Mathis behind the plate and Mike Napoli at 1B. And, that grand slam hit by Brandon Wood should give him some confidence, and just maybe it will be the start of some consistent offense form the perennial can’t miss untouchable prospect.

In a season that has seen my pick to win it all, the Red Sox, go into the season with health issues involving key players, that saw them lose new CF Mike Cameron for an extended period, that saw them lose LF Jacoby Ellsbury for basically the entire first half, if not more, and that saw an ineffective Josh Becket go on the DL with no real timetable for his return, it got much worse the past couple of days. Frist, Dustin Pedroia, who also had missed a few games with minor injuries, broke a bone in his left foot. Then Clay Buchholz hyper-extened a knee on the basepaths, where he should not have been and would not have been were it not for interleague play, and then to top it all off, today Vic Martinez broke his thumb.

The Angels have a steep mountain to climb without Kendry Morales, but the Red Sox have Mt. Everest to climb with their hospital list.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |scumstripes |Clayton Kershaw |Angels |Jonathan Broxton |Joe Torre |Kendry Morales

Well, theHoundDawg just got back last night from four days in the bay area. Thanks to satellite radio and Tommy’s fabulous Mexican restaurant in SF, I didn’t miss too much LA sports.

Thursday eve in SF, I was able to hear some of the Laker finale on SiriusXM, and then at dinner at Tommy’s I had an excellent view of the TV for the fourth quarter. A great margarita, a great meal, and a sensational final quarter to the NBA season. As it was the City, as the game ended, the Warrior, Celtic and anti-LA fans that populated the place broke into a sustained round of silence, with a few rationed applause sounds from me and a couple of other brave souls. MrsHound remained silent so as not to enrage the masses.

On Sunday, as the afternoon turned into evening, driving home on the aromatic five, the sounds of Dodger baseball helped pass the time, though losing that third in a row to Boston was painful.

Even more painful was the fact the SiriusXM broadcasts of both the Laker-Celtic game (and the post-game we listened to after leaving Tommy’s) and the Dodger-Red Sox game were feeds of the Boston broadcasts, with Boston’s homer announcers, including the basketball color guy, the never-to-be forgotten Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Lakers |2010 NBA Playoffs

In this electronic age, where most human activity is monitored, recorded, and evaluated, where technology is able to observe and record minute actions millions of miles away, where the NFL can show an instant replay of every movement on their field, from 20 separate angles, within seconds of the plays’ completion, how can it be that:

1) An experienced MLB umpire’s blown call - shown to be incorrect seconds afterward, can deprive a pitcher of the immortality of a perfect game, and

2) In what could have been a decisive play in the closing minuted of an NBA Finals game, NBA refs, unsure of a call, can use that same replay to determine which player last touched a ball knocked out of bounds, but when that replay shows an obvious but previously missed foul, that would change possession, they must ignore the obvious foul, but award possession based on the content of the replay.

This is absurd.

We all know the extremely limited use of replay in major league baseball, and how that ridiculous position deprived, barely a week ago, Armando Galarraga from registering a perfect game. There is no justification for archaic rules that prohibit using everyday equipment to overturn what is wrong, to produce the correct outcome.

In the final couple of minutes of tonight’s Laker-Celtic game, with the score close and the outcome not yet determined, under the Celtic basket, a ball was knocked out of bounds. The referees gathered and agreed it was a play to view on replay in order to determine ONLY who last touched the ball. As millions of TV viewers watched, the referees saw two things - that the ball last went off the arm of Laker Lamar Odom, and that he lost the ball out of bounds because he was fouled.

What did the rules of the NBA require? That the ball be awarded to Boston, because the refs had to use the reply to see who last touched the ball and that the refs had to ignore the obvious foul that caused the ball to leave Odom’s grasp and tumble across the out-of-bounds line.

Why can’t the concept of GETTING IT RIGHT be the most important factor in refereeing and umpiring sporting events where millionaire players are performing at the behest of billionaire owners, for the entertainment of hundreds of millions of fans.

theHoundDawg

Tags: 2010 NBA Playoffs

The steroid era of major league baseball is officially over.

Rest in peace, hitters. Pitching is king.

With a bare third of the season having been completed, Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga today came within a single out (and a clearly wrong umpire’s call) of pitching the third perfect game and fourth no-hitter of the season.

The much maligned Dodger pitching staff is currently on a streak of 31 consecutive scoreless innings, after completing consecutive 1-0 extra-inning 1-0 wins.

Four teams currently have team ERAs lower than last years major league low 3.41, which was posted by those same Dodger pitchers.

There will still be a lot of home runs hit, and a lot of long home runs, but overall the tide has turned, and the days of multiple 50+ home run totals in a single season are history; the days of a Brady Anderson breaking that 50 level are over. It’s doubtful that there will be a return to the pitching dominance of 1968 when a single American League hitter broke .300 (Carl Yastrzemski at .301) and the National League’s league ERA was 2.99, led by Bob Gibson’s 1.12, but when the Mets can throw three consecutive shutouts against the Phillies as they did last week, hitters are struggling and there is no quick, or legal, remedy in sight.

The great pitching being turned in by Clayton Kershaw, with little to show for it, is reminiscent of another great pitcher of the pitching-dominant 60s - former Dodger Claude Osteen. Last season Kershaw made 30 starts, compiled a 2.79 ERA, threw consistently well, had a solid offense behind him - solid by 2009 standards - yet won only eight games. This year he started out with similar results: good efforts, few wins. Overshadowed by Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, Osteen was one of the finest pitches of his era. Season after season he started 37, 38, 39, 40 games per season, pitched 250 to 300 innings, compiled stellar ERAs (3.30 lifetime ERA), yet struggled to end most seasons at .500. His lifetime won-lost record? 196 wins, 195 loses. Kershaw deserves a better fate.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Clayton Kershaw

Through decades of watching sports, and literally thousands (I guess) of great finishes and brilliant comebacks, I’ve always felt while seeing out-of-control celebrations, that someone was going to get hurt. Bad.

Well, it happened to today, and the Angels season might be over because of it.

The Angels slow start was never a worry here, due to their outstanding roster and great manager. Brandon Wood not hitting? Doesn’t really matter. Joe Saunders under .500? Relax, it’s still early. Brian Fuentes blowing saves? Par for the course.

But today, when Kendry Morales followed his walk-off grand slam home run with an awkward jump next to home plate, the Angels season blew up just like a BP gulf oil rig.

Morales suffered a broken left leg, and chances are he’s played his last game for this year at least.

When Juan Rivers broke a leg in winter ball a few years back, it took him almost two full seasons to heal and return to form.

After waiting a near-eternity for Morales to mature as a major leaguer, he rewarded the Angels with a brilliant 2009 (34, 108, .306) and was off to a sizzling start in 2010 (11, 39, .290 in the first 51 games). There is no one on the current roster that can replace Morales, and even if the injury is “not that bad” and he can return late in the season, they will miss his bat terribly until then. Neither Texas nor Oakland has the personnel or experience to compete for a full season with a healthy Angel team, but these upstarts just got a new life, and for the first time in almost 10 years, I can see the Angels finishing second or third behind one or both of them, and out of the playoffs.

In a couple of other notes from an immense day in baseball, another player suffered a major injury when Indians’ pitcher David Huff was lucky to have not been killed when the scumstripes’ Alex Rodriguez hit a line drive off Huff’s forehead, hard enough to ricochet into right field. It will be a surprise if Huff returns any time soon, if at all this season, and there will be a big question as to what success he will be able to achieve in the future.

And in the piece of good news today, Roy Halliday pitched the 20th perfect game in baseball history, a scant 20 days after Oakland’s Dallas Braden pitched the 19th. This would be the first season ever to see multiple perfect games. No disrespect to Braden, but it’s great to see one of true veteran stars of the game achieve this feat after years of competing at the highest level, rather than a young guy like Braden who was a virtual unknown until May 9.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels |scumstripes |Kendry Morales

There is nothing more disgusting than a self-indulgent fan who thinks nothing of the tens of thousand of other fans in the stands or the millions watching on TV when he decides to interrupt the game by running out onto the field. I’ve seen it in person, and hated the delay, and on TV they cut away from the fan so it’s even more boring and time-consuming.

For decades this has been happening, and the result had always been the same: Security guards or police tackle the guy in center field, or on the 50 yard line. Wild cheers always greet the security guards when the fan is apprehended, and the fan is booed as he is “escorted” off the field.

Something changed yesterday in Philadelphia. Outnumbering the renegade fan by about six to one, a Philadelphia police officer chose not to tackle the guy, or surround him, or chase him off the field. Instead, he decided to use a taser on the fan. The 17-year-old fan who was playing hooky from high school. Not a robber. Not a burglar. Not a murder suspect. Certainly not a suspected terrorist. A 17-year-old high school kid on a ball field.

There is absolutely no justification for that to have happened, despite Philiadlphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey saying the officer “acted within department guidelines”, and despite the validation given this morning by the likes of ESPN’s First Take commentators.

Its annoying, its a pain, but its not a felony. Validation in Philadelphia, and it will become the standard law enforcement response across the country. That will be a big mistake.

theHoundDawg

Pitching ruled baseball yesterday.

There were five shutouts yesterday among MLB’s 15 games, but the most incredible pitching performance ended in a 2-1 score. IF you missed it, the Cardinals and Met played 18 innings before a run was scored by either team. Both teams managed runs in the 19th, and NY finally put the game away by scoring a second run in their 20th frame.

Met pitchers struck out 19 Cards, while the Mets struck out an additional 16 times themselves. The Cards emptied their bullpen and had nowhere to go, using infielder Felipe Lopez, who shutout the Mets in the 18th. Pulling Lopez, they then put outfielder Joe Mather on the mound, and he allowed the Mets their solo runs in the 19th and 20th innings. The Mets went another route. When Frankie Rodriguez, their last reliever, was pulled, Jerry Manual stayed with professional pitchers, using starter Mike Pelfrey, who, despite pitching seven shutout innings only two days earlier, had enough to give the Mets a shutout 20th, and save the victory.

This was a remarkable game that comes along only once every few years.

Among the more mundane feats of the day - largely ignored - was the no-hitter pitched by Colorado righty Ubaldo Jimenez, the first no-hitter ever recorded by a Rockies’ hurler. Also of note was the complete game shutout thrown by 75-year-old (ok, MLB lists him as 35, but come-on) Livan Hernandez, whose combined ERA over the past four seasons is north of 6.00 and was complied as he bounced back and forth with six different teams.

What a day for pitchers.

theHoundDawg

AL 2010

East:
Boston - Unmatched pitching depth, great defense, and a veteran bench full of guys who can play make them best in the AL.
New York - Vasquez can't pitch when it means anything and Johnson should wear "DL" instead of 26. Lack of depth will be killer.
Tampa - Too much reliance on young pitchers and no proven closer keep them behind NY.
Baltimore - Major offensive additions help them overtake Toronto, but big pitching questions keep them far behind top three. Expect big rebound from Atkins.
Toronto - Step back from this time last year - no Halladay and still big questions with Marcum and McGowan. Lind and Hill can't keep them ahead of Baltimore.

Central:
Minnesota - Solid offense and deep pitching, if not for loss of Nathan, could be in WS.
Chicago - Good mix of vets and youth on the field, solid pitching, especially addition of Peavy, make them solid contender.
Cleveland - Lots of aging vets ready in case gaggle of youngsters can't cut it, but whether they contend or end last depends on pitching, starting with Westbrook and Carmona.
Detroit - Scherzer, Willis & Bonderman mean too many questions on starting staff, new CF Jackson yet to bat in majors, and can expect adventure with Damon in LF (he and DH Guillen will try switch before May 1).
Kansas City - Lots of lineup changes but doubtful that means team has improved, though great arms in pen plus development of young starters could pull them closer to middle of division.

West:
Los Angeles - Losses of Lackey and Figgins tough to fill. Make or break for Brandon Wood. Wasted $$ on Pineiro. Still, no one close in AL West.
Seattle - Big bucks won't buy title. Lee starts season injured, and still need healthy Bedard to contend. Like I said about Cubs last year, no team relying on Milton Bradley will ever win anything. Note - Figgins out of position at 2B; his best spots are 3B & CF.
Texas - Still big questions on pitching staff, but again solid offense, especially if Vlad happy and healthy at DH spot.
Oakland - "Experts" have A's overrated; way too many wusses like Chavez, Crisp, and Sheets to contend.

Division series - Minnesota over Los Angeles and Boston over Chicago
Championship Series - Boston over Minnesota


NL 2010

East:
Philadelphia - Polanco at third is plus, Halladay slight improvement over Lee but there for whole season. Nobody in NL can touch them.
Atlanta - Same hype this spring for Heyward as last year for Schafer, result likely the same, but will contend due to solid staff. Healthy Hudson ad Glaus could mean playoff spot.
New York - Bay big plus in OF, as is no Sheffield, but Beltran and Reyes injuries and no pitching depth help to doom season from the start.
Florida - Looks like step back from surprising 2009; Maybin, Sanchez, 3-5 starters, pen all need big years to approach 87 wins again.
Washington - Solid infield and top of rotation needs lots of help from young starters and pen. Ok start and arrival of Strasburg in summer could make for interesting year.

Central:
St. Louis - Good bullpen and two great starters, but big questions after Carpenter and Wainwright (Lohse, Penny and Garcia 18-20 last year). A problem 90 HRs from Puljois and Holliday can help with.
Milwaukee - Disappointed last year due to immature staff, added vets should help this year; solid offense could get boost with encore from Edmonds.
Chicago - Still see as overrated though no Bradley a big plus. Will go as far as pitching takes them; big comeback from Zambrano is essential.
Houston - Too many questions to break .500 - Oswalt's health, is Manzella a major league SS, is Myers a major league starter, and more.
Cincinnati - Much is the same as what I said last year: Overrated pitching staff won't keep up with improved offense, plus too many questions in outfield.
Pittsburgh - Not nearly the talent they had two years ago, and that team was bad. Going in wrong direction.

West:
Los Angeles - What I said last year: Top-notch offense, defense, bullpen, and will go only as far as their starters will take them.
San Francisco - Solid front-line pitching and improved offense make Giants contenders again, but lack of depth will take toll in late summer.
Colorado - Let some keys guys go and starting season with Street and Francis questionable. No repeat of last year's surprise.
San Diego - Will battle Arizona for last, but stronger pitching staff will be difference.
Arizona - Haren only reliable starter: Jackson trade big mistake, Kennedy and Lopez are not major league pitchers, and Webb is question mark.

Division series - Los Angeles over St. Louis and Philadelphia over Milwaukee
Championship Series - Philadelphia over Los Angeles

Boston over Philadelphia in World Series (repeat of last season's pick - but this year it WILL happen.)

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |scumstripes

In January, I wrote:

"Orlando Hudson. Ron Belliard. Vicente Padilla. Brad Asmus. Juan Pierre. Jim Tome. Juan Castro. Mark Loretta. Jamie Hoffmann. Randy Wolf. Jon Garland. Doug Mientkiewicz. Tony Abreu.All gone from last year's roster.Not one addition to the pitching staff, and overall only reserve infielder Jamey Carroll has been added. .....Unless some major work is done pretty soon, the Dodger roster figues to be filled out with a host of minor leaguers and guys who have spent their careers on the Albuquerque-LA shuttle, like Eric Stults, AJ Ellis, Chin-lung Hu, Scott Elbert, and of course the talented but always injured Jason Repko."

In the following weeks, Ned Colletti re-signed Padilla, Asmus, and Belliard, added veteran position and bench players Garrett Anderson, Reed Johnson, and Nick Green, and brought in a handful of veteran pitchers to compete for the fifth rotation spot.

These LA-Alburquerque shuttle guys have been the resultant casualties, in particular Eric Stults and Jason Repko. After several brief chances to be part of the rotation, Stults' Dodger days are now over, as Stults is now the property of the Japan League's Hiroshima Carp. He showed flashes of major league talent, but never any consistency. Chances are he'll be back in the US and likely fighting for a major league job in a couple of years, but with some other team.

Repko unquestionably has major league talent, but injuries have riddled his career. This spring, an outfield log-jam, and likely lessening patience with his physical ailments, have now lead to his release. Hopefully even at this late date in the spring he will find a major league fit. If not, a new perspective in a new organization could still lead to major league at bats later in the season.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers

The amount of information that Mario Solis does not know about sports in general and baseball in particular is mind boggling.

On tonight's KNBC-TV late news coverage of today's Dodgers' preseason game, he demonstrated new levels of incompetence, even for him.

In describing a late-inning hit off the bat of a young Cleveland Indian's outfielder by the name of Constanza, Mario showed a clip of Dodger Xavier Paul having trouble retrieving the ball in center field, and even said, out loud, that Paul bobbled the ball, not once, but twice. Then what does Mario say? Well, that it was an inside-the-park home run for Constanza. An inside-the-park home run! Solis not only showed film of not one, but possibly two errors on the play, he also described the mistakes by Paul. And then he called the triple and error, an inside-the-park home run.

In a much more important note, Vin Scully was back in the booth, with no evidence of any lingering problems after the fall a couple of nights ago that scared all of Los Angeles. At the time, my thoughts, which I'm sure were shared by thousands of LA sports fans, were of how similar the event at first sounded like the fall suffered eight years ago by Chick Hearn, from which he never recovered.

Finally, a word about Cleveland and their evolving pitching staff. In the past decade, they have developed three great starting pitchers. CC Sabathia developed into a star with Cleveland, and when it became obvious that he would take the money and run, they dealt him to Milwaukee. Cliff Lee followed a similar pattern, going last year to the Phillies. The third of this group, and just about as talented as the others, is Jake Westbrook. Westbrook had his best season in 2007, and has pitched little since, missing part of the 2008 season, and all but five games last year. He appears to be healthy and regaining his form, and in 4-2/3 innings against the Dodgers today allowed one run and struck out three. National league teams that need a quality starter this coming August, you know where to look.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Mario Solis |Sports Announcers

Word came last night that longtime Dodger Center Fielder Willie Davis, who Vin Scully usually referred to as "The Three Dawg", has died at the age of 69.

Davis, of whom former Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi described as having Hall-of-Fame talent and a 10-cent head, was the Dodger center fielder for 14 seasons, and holds many team records. He was a great talent, possessing blinding speed, and though he had several excellent years late in his career, he never developed into the great player envisioned early in his career.

In fact, Davis will always be best remembered for his defensive lapses in the last game ever pitched by Sandy Koufax, Game Two of the 1966 World Series, which Sandy and the Dodgers lost to Baltimore, thanks in great part to Davis' World Series Record Three Errors in one inning.

Besides that, I will always remember Davis for the stats he compiled in the 1968 season. Playing 160 games in center field and coming to bat 643 times in the number three slot, and though recording 161 base hits, including ten triples, Davis managed to drive in the absolutely incredible number of 31 runs.

He was a personable guy, and his deep, resonant voice lead him to a part time career of guest-spots in a handful TV sitcoms. Later in life, he made the news a few times due to some erratic behavior, including threatening his parents with a Samurai sword and Ninja-type weapons.

He made games, and life, interesting. So-long, Three Dawg.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Deaths

17 consecutive losing seasons are not nearly enough for the Pirate brain trust. They have just taken steps to destroy their productive minor league system, guaranteeing more years of mediocrity.

The dolts now running the Pirates have chosen to place the development of the team's future players in the hands of one Bernie Holliday, a "mental conditioning expert" who spent the last five years at West Point, injecting his methods into the training of the US military. In my research for this post, I found not a hint that the current leadership of West Point, or the Army at any level, made any attempt to persuade this "mental conditioning" guru to stay.

What amazing new methods does he plan to utilize to turn young ballplayers into major league stars? Get a load of this:

"We’re introducing technology into the process. We will create personalized visualization scripts for the players. They’ll come up with the way they want to play the game, put together the scenario they want to experience and the way they want to perform in that scenario, and we put it on an iPod or iPhone and they can listen to it and rehearse it." Can a military mind whip Pirates into winners? Yahoo Sports, March 1, 2010

Wow. Listening to scripts on an iPod. (Note - The Pirates could have gotten some old Tony Roberts, Dr. Phil, or even Dale Carnegie tapes at a swap meet and saved a bundle.) Who would ever have thought that you could become a major leaguer by thinking about doing well, not to mention listening to yourself talk about it. No more wasted hours practicing. Why bother. Oh, Holliday says that the success of this program will depend on getting all of the Pirate coaches to get on board. You know, coaches - veteran baseball people, who, well, actually have played and taught the game. Sure, they'll be more than willing to help with this madness. Though they will be shaking in their spikes that they will be iPoding themselves out of their jobs.

This idea is just as brilliant and has just as much chance of success as the Cub's plan of rotating managers, circa 1962.

theHoundDawg

Following an eight year period during which he was twice traded, twice claimed on waivers, and once outright released, Gary Matthews, Jr. had one good year for the Texan Rangers in 2006. As seems so often to be the case, that was a free agent year, and Matthews cashed in big-time, as the Angels gave this career wash-out a five-year, $50 Million contract.

Matthews rewarded the Angels by reverting to his career performance levels, averaging just under .250, 10 homers and 56 RBI for the three years he's played in Anaheim, and played barely good enough to keep his starting spot for the first year only. Cutting their loses, the Angels have now traded Matthews to the NY Mets, for underachiever Brian Stokes (6-11, 5.02 over four seasons). That, folks, is the GOOD news. The Angels also agreed to pay the Mets $21.5 Million to pay all but $2 Mil of Matthews' salary over the final two years of his contract.

Well, at least the Angels learned a lesson from all of this. Presumably that lesson is that it is not wise to hand over several million dollars to a journeyman player who has one solid year after several mediocre years. Right? WRONG!

The Angels have repeated the same mistake by signing the mediocre Joel Pineiro to a two-year, $16 Million contract, the same Pineiro who has bounced between three other teams, and before his decent 15-12 2009 season with St. Louis, had been 35-47 with an ERA over 5.00 from 2004 through 2008.

When Pineiro goes 6-13 this year, maybe then the Angels will actually learn something.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

Orlando Hudson. Ron Belliard. Vicente Padilla. Brad Asmus. Juan Pierre. Jim Tome. Juan Castro. Mark Loretta. Jamie Hoffmann. Randy Wolf. Jon Garland. Doug Mientkiewicz. Tony Abreu.

All gone from last year's roster.

Not one addition to the pitching staff, and overall only reserve infielder Jamey Carroll has been added.

Spring training is in five weeks, isn't it?

The McCort divorce was seen as a major roadblock to improvement over last year, but letting all of these players go with no replacements is somehing that was not foreseen. Granted, this week Chad Billingsley and Matt Kemp were signed to big raises, but if this were a year earlier, maybe both would have gotten longer-term contracts.

The Giants and Arizona will both be greatly improved over last season, and San Diego may also be even better than what they showed the last few weeks of the year. Colorado, as good as they were last season, has yet to put together two goods years in a row, and they have lost a couple of key guys, most importantly, Jason Marquis.

Nevertheless, the NL West overall will be substantially improved throughout, with one glowing exception as of now: the Dodgers.

Unless some major work is done pretty soon, the Dodger roster figues to be filled out with a host of minor leaguers and guys who have spent their careers on the Albuquerque-LA shuttle, like Eric Stults, AJ Ellis, Chin-lung Hu, Scott Elbert, and of course the talented but always injured Jason Repko.

Aren't there a few bucks in the coffer to bring back a Vicente Padilla, or even Orlando Hudson (though he probably would not consider it, with what the team did to him the end of last season), or how about a Jarrod Washburn or Erik Bedard? Wouldn't Eric Byrnes or Endy Chavez make a great fourth outfielder on this team, and how about a Jose Molina for the back-up catcher?

Come on Frank, let Ned do something!

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers

The Angels have dominated the AL West for most of the past decade, but free-agent losses in Anaheim and open checkbooks in Seattle and Texas may mean tougher times for Mike Scioscia's guys this coming season.

The Angels can still field a dangerous offensive team and stellar defensive crew, despite the losses of Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. Maicer Izturis won't miss a step defensively at third, but he is not the top of the lineup catalyst the team has had for so long in Figgins. With a history of yearly injuries limiting the playing time of Howie Kendricks, Erick Aybar, Figgins, and Isturis himself, not having an Isturis as a fill-in for all three positions will be a major detriment to the team. Perennial prospect Brandon Wood may finally see some playing time in that role, but can he do the job defensively? Guerrero suffered through an injury-plagued 2009 and replacement Hideki Matsui who also limped through a poor early 2009 contributed significantly to the scumstripes' stretch run and was, somehow, World Series MVP.

It is on the mound where the Angels 2010 fortunes will be decided. Since he was brought up form the minors in July, 2002 and led the Angels to the World Championship, John Lackey has been the warhorse and ace that the Angels have relied on to anchor their starting staff. They now have to make due without him. Jared Weaver will have to step into the "Ace" role, and Joe Saunders and a hopefully healthy Scott Kazmir will form a formidable top three. A return to form for Earvin Santana could take care of one of the other starting spots, but there is no answer on the current roster to adequately fill the final spot. Trouble will we brewing if May comes around and the fifth starter comes from among Sean O'Sullivan, Bobby Mosebach and Anthony Ortega, who appear to be in line for the spot. A far better choice, from pitchers currently on the roster, would be Matt Palmer.

Questions also abound in the bullpen, where the hot and cold Brian Fuentes is still the stopper, and the very questionable Fernando Rodney has been signed to keep him on his toes while filling the set-up spot, though a healthy Scott Shields should be able to re-take that spot.

More troubling than foreseeable Angel deficiencies is the improvement made in Seattle and Texas.

Throughout his AL tenure, Guerrero has done more offensively against the Rangers than any player has against any other team in baseball. He loves to hit in Arlington, and if he stays healthy, he should have a monster season. Texas' young starters were very impressive the last half of 2009, and their young staff anchored by 17-game winner Scott Feldman figures to continue to improve. Former Angel spot lefty Darren Oliver returns to Texas and will be a big addition to their pen.

The question mark that they will also rely on is Rich Harden. More on that later.

Seattle traded for Cliff Lee and now boasts probably the top one-two starting punch in the AL in Lee and Félix Hernández. They've added Figgins and another former Angel in Casey Kotchman for the infield corners, and will get a full season from one of the most underrated players in the game, shortstop Jack Wilson. They've also added Milton Bradley to the outfield. More on that later.

Both these teams should be vastly improved, but is what they did enough, and were all of the acquisitions wise ones? Enough - no. Wise - no. The Angels still feature significantly more talent across their roster than either Seattle or Texas, and with Mike Scioscia calling the shots have a built in advantage. But the real reason the Angels will repeat as AL West champs is this. A year ago, all the experts said the Chicago Cubs were the team to beat in the National League. I said - and you can look it up in my pre-season picks from last year - that "No team that relies on Milton Bradley or Rich Harden will ever win anything." This proved correct last year, and will be true again this year. Seattle cannot win a division title if they have to rely on Bradley, nor can Texas relying on Harden.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

As last season ended, the future looked good for the Dodgers and Angels, despite the disappointment of the post-season. The past month, however, has been a disaster, on all fronts.

As the season came to a close, the news of the McCorts' breakup and its effect on the team was an unknown poisonous cloud, darkening every aspect of the Dodgers' ability to improve for next season. At this point, they've lost Randy Wolf, and are totally silent on the free agent acquisition front, and the trade rumor mill is also pretty silent, save for the one mention of Cub interest in Juan Pierre. The Dodgers have a serious need to add two quality starters, and it does not look like they will be opening the McCort vault to pay for a Lackey, Pineiro, or Marquis, and after the first few free agent starters, the pickings are very thin, and full of injury prone Nick Lowrys and Erik Bedards, too similar to the Jason Schmidts and Eric Miltons they paid so dearly for over the past three years. Time will only tell if the Dodgers will pay out anything to improve the staff, or will Billingsly, Kuroda, and Kershaw be followed by the likes of Charlie Haeger and Eric Stults?

The Angels have now lost Chone Figgins, and do not seem to be making any headway in re-siging John Lackey. Instead, the talk seems to be of further depleting the now-thin infield with a deal for Roy Halladay that would see Erick Aybar, Joe Saunders and Mike Napoli all going to Toronto. Despite the benefits of an absolute stellar number one starter in Halladay, this trade would be a loser for the Angels. They would need to make several additional moves in order to maintain their great defense and vastly improved offense if they go into next season without Figgins, Aybar and Napoli, and in giving up the guy who is probably now their number one starter (assuming Lackey is gone) to get a number one, this still leaves the starting staff woefully short in the numbers game. From what we saw of Anthony Ortega and Sean O'Sullivan last season, neither one of them can fill a regular sport in a major league rotation. Maybe a Mark DeRosa, or even an Adrian Beltre, can fill the void at third, with Maicer Izturis taking over as the regular at shortstop, but this overall picture is a major step back from last year's team.

All of this is with the backdrop of the scumstripes ripping off not one, but two teams, in one of the biggest steals of the 21st century. I can see Detroit's rationale in giving away developing superstar Curtis Granderson for the pile of pitching they received, but what are they doing in Arizona? How can they possibly rationalize giving up one of MLB's best arms and top young pitching talents in Max Scherzer, and only receiving the overrated career dud and one-year-flash Edwin Jackson, and yankee-wanna-be/never-will-be Ian kennedy? As far as this affects the Dodgers, I'm very glad o have Scherzer out of NL West, and am ooking forward to feasting off of Jackson and Kennedy.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |scumstripes |Clayton Kershaw |Jason Schmidt

Convicted felon George Steinbrenner has for years used the gunpower of the family fortune he inherited to enable those trained monkeys he hires, the ones that could - given enough time and paper - reproduce Shakespeare, to buy every free agent they coveted. In the 70s and in the early Torre years, they got it right a fair share of the time. In the past few years, though, the monkeys spent way too much on Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Jaret Wright, among others, but the right spaghetti strands stuck to the wall this off-season, and the monkey's choices of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and the like, paid off with a title. Congrats to the monkeys, and to the dead steinbrenner (soon?). Ko-Ko hank and Chita brian will continue to do well without him.

Before the series, it seemed that they had written off Hideki Matsui for next year, especially since they seem to want the old Posada to be the primary DH next year. Now, however, he's a bona fide WS MVP and hero, so how do you fire him? Also, if Damon stays, how could they even consider letting him anywhere near left field again? Too many DHs for one team to deal with. Go to it, monkeys.

One more note on the World Series:

Contrary to what many commentators have said, while Cliff Lee's game one masterpiece was a great game, it was by no means one of the 10 best-pitched World Series games ever. Number one was Don Larsen's 1956 perfect game, and number two of all time was Johnny Podres' shutout in game 7 of the 1955 series. After that, you can easily find eight more top-teners from games pitched in the 1960s by Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Don Drysdale. Add to that, two or three of the great games, including, I believe three shutouts, pitched decades ago by Babe Ruth, and the REAL top-ten is full. By the way, Koufax's 1965 game 7 and 1963 game 1, and Drysdales' 1963 game 3, would be my next three, and maybe I'd even stick in Claude Osteen's 1965 game 3.

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes |2009 MLB Playoffs

The Angels began the season with a makeshift starting staff as 4/5 of the rotation were injured. I always felt they could still win the West, if for no other reason than there was little real competition in the division. Little did I realize that the re-built Rangers were for real, and would not go away.

But, behind baseball's first half MVP Torri Hunter, the team withstood the injury plague, stayed close to Texas, and as the starters began to filter back, they re-took first place and never really faltered in their quest to meet the Red Sox once again in the playoffs. Despite the total absence of Kelvim Escobar, by the end of the season, the starting staff, bolstered by the acquisition of Scott Kazmir, had once again become baseball's best, as the BoSox saw over the past few days.

With healthy starters, a resurgent Vlad, the streaking Kendry Morales, the solid play of Figgins, Isturis, and Aybar, and a bullpen hopefully just good enough, bring on the scumstripes!

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels |scumstripes

In last year's Division Series, the Dodgers looked invincible against the Cubs, but then went down in flames in the Championship Series against the Phillies. Why will this year be different? There are many reasons, but one sticks out.

The first few all revolve around the Dodgers. The starting staff is similar to last year's, but it doesn't matter this year. A Randy Wolf, a Clayton Kershaw (not to minimize the development of Kershaw and the fact that he can dominate a game), a Vicente Padilla, who can provide five good innings is all they need, with the solid bullpen they now have. The return to health of Hong-Chih Kuo and the acquisition of George Sherrill combining with Ronald Belisario and the now more experienced Jonathan Broxton is a powerful component they did not enjoy last season. The additional year of experience that Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp have gained cannot be over-emphasized. These guys are now full-fledged major league stars, producing stellar defense, key hits, and those little intangibles, game after game. And take a look at second base. Last season, the soon-to-be-retired Jeff Kent was injured through the end of the season and missed the playoffs, replaced by the likes of the displaced Brad DeWitt, Angel Barroa, and Pable Ozuna. Today, the Dodgers' lineup features the all-star play of Orlando Hudson and the late-season heroics of veteran Ronnie Belliard. All of these reasons foretell a better outcome for the Dodgers in the Championship Series.

But what else?

Easy. This year they won't be facing the total dominance of Brad Lidge. Lidge was THE reason the Phillies knocked off the Dodgers and went on to the title. Whether it is the Phillies again or the Rockies, neither team has at this time, a closer who can compare to what Lidge used to be - neither Ryan Madson nor Lidge himself with the Phillies, nor Houston Street with Colorado.

I'll take the Dodgers' chances to make it to the World Series for the first time since 1988. And there is a real chance that there could be a Freeway Series, with the Dodgers facing the Angels.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels

A few things stick out when perusing the final 2009 stats:

NO pitcher in either league won 20 games. Three American Leaguers won 19, Sabathia, Verlander, and the hottest pitcher down the stretch, though that is tempered by the fact hat he was not in a pennant race, Felix Hernandez. To me, the AL Cy Young award would be a toss-up between Hernandez and Zack Greinke. In the National League, Adam Wainwright was start to finish a model of consistency, leading the league with his 19 wins, two more than any other NL hurler. But, his teammate Chris Carpenter, coming back from yet another carer-threatening injury, and missing the start of the season, deserves the NL award, with his 17-4 record and league-leading 2.24 ERA.

For much of the year, the experts were saying the Albert Pujois had the triple crown locked up. Well, the rest of us fans waited for the season to end before anointing him, and he barely won one-third of a triple crown, hanging on to the home run title by one, over a charging Prince Fielder, and just behind him one more back, Ryan Howard. Those two tied for the RBI title with 141 each, six more than Prince Albert, who also finished third in the batting race.

The best season-long batting fete goes to Joe Mauer, who missed the first month of the season, and then never stopped hitting from his day one, ending with a league-leading .365 average with 28 HR and 96 RBI. Mauer is setting offensive records for a catcher at a greater pace than even Mike Pizza did, now becoming the first catcher ever to lead a league in batting three times. His stats overshadowed the continued sensational numbers that Ichiro continues to put up. Ichiro was second in the batting race at .352, and collected a MLB high 225 hits. In his nine years in the majors, his lowest hit total in a season was 208, and he raised his lifetime .331 B.A. Also in the AL, Carlos Pena missed the last month of the season, but his then-total of 39 home runs was never surpassed, and he ended in a tie for the AL lead with that rich guy from ny.

A striking non-stat is the fact that NO National League pitcher had as many as FIVE complete games.

theHoundDawg

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Any sane person would have to pick the scumspripes and Cards to get to the World Series, but I think there will be more surprises along the Division and Championship Series route. No expert gives the floundering Dodgers a chance against the dominant St. Louis pitching, but that series will decide the NL title, as the Phillies cannot make it without a closer and the Rockies will not see a repeat of history. In the AL, right now the Angles have the dominant starting staff and a hot-and-cold closer to compliment their great offense and stellar defense. The charging Twins may or may not have enough pitching to continue their run, but that will be an interesting series. If only Justin Morneau could play, and where is Francisco Liriano?

I loved the over-rated Tigers' collapse, which came a few weeks later than I anticipated.

Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw and Hiroki Kuroda will have a lot to say about who moves on in the NL.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Angels |scumstripes |2009 MLB Playoffs

Once again, Mario Solis has shown that he is the worst announcer currently reporting sports news in the western world.

This evening on the Channel 4 News, he told listeners, to their shock, that budding star Clayton Kershaw injured his shoulder during batting practice before today's game, and that he would miss his next start.

Frightening news. Terrible news. Could it be serious? Will he miss the rest of the season and the playoffs? Is his career in jeopardy?

All unanswered questions, but likely too early to have any answers.

But wait! Solis never said which shoulder was injured.

A quick turn to Yahoo! Sports, and it was immediately seen, with great relief, that he hurt his RIGHT shoulder, so all those thoughts of a career-threatening injury to his pitching shoulder were eased.

Solis, of course, probably doesn't even know that Kershaw is lefty.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Sports Announcers |Clayton Kershaw |Mario Solis

During the past off-season, the Angles were a minor player in the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, after giving up Casey Kotchman as rent for a few weeks of Teixeira's services in late 2008. Maybe the Angels did know something. I, for one, was not thrilled with going into the season with basically one option for first base - Kendry Morales.

Well, as August comes to a close, the stats for the two are shockingly similar:

Kendry Morales HRs: 30 RBI: 94 Avg.: .311
Mark Teixeira HRs: 32 RBI: 101 Avg.: .284

Shockingly similar, with one little exception - Morales isn't earning quite as much as Teixeira's $180 Million.

Hopefully, the move they did make will turn our as well as the one they didn't. This week's deal for Steve Kazmir looks like a gem, assuming Kazmir stays healthy. Healthy, he may well be the ace of the staff, and is the dominating number one guy that could lead a team to a WS title.

A key to the deal, though, is who is that player to be named. Giving up two top prospects for a 25-year-old established star is a no-brainer, but that third name figures to end up being an established player as well.

Well worth it, if Kazmir anchors the rotation for the next five years, or more.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Angels

Very interesting happenings with that other NY team.

When Billy Wagner had Tommy John surgery near the end of last year, two things seemed pretty clear: He would not pitch in 2009 and he would never again pitch for the Mets, if he ever did return to baseball.

Well, the 38-year-old Wagner has made a super-quick recovery, and as of yesterday, was back on the Mets' active roster, and appeared in the Mets' game against the Braves, pitching a shutout inning with two strikeouts. The Mets had previously said, after paying almost the full $10.5 million that Wagner had due for 2009 under his $43 million deal that began with the 2006 season, that they would not pick up his $8 million option for 2010 (they have a $1 million buyout available.) So, if he CAN still pitch, he is likely trade-bait, and it looks like Tampa Bay is the front-runner in the Wagner sweepstakes.

Also, in the past couple of days, the Mets' love affair with the biggest jerk to play in the major leagues in the past three or four decades, gary sheffield, has now ended. He has worn out his welcome with team number eight. Reports (rumors?) are that he has threatened to walk out on the team. (Typical sheffield behavior.) The Mets can easily retain their fourth-place spot through the rest of the season without him.

theHoundDawg

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Entertaining video from a minor league contest between the Winnipeg Goldeyes and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Apparently several batters had been hit in games between the two teams, and bad blood had been brewing. Ump warns the benches, and then the managers have at it:

theHoundDawg

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The Philadelphia Phillies are World Champs because of Brad Lidge. Their chances of repeating are up to ....... Brad Lidge.

His phenomenal season, playoffs and World Series carried them to last year's title, but for all the Cliff Lees, Pedro Martinezes, and Ben Franciscos they acquire, they will go only so far as Lidge takes them, and with his major league leading eight blown saves, 7.27 ERA, and total unreliability, that does not look like it will be too far.

Similarly, the biggest single reason for the Dodgers' recent slump, has been the bullpen, and specifically, Jonathan Broxton, as last night deomonstrated. They had another good outing from the starter (which ended prepaturely with Hiroki Kuroda's injury), and some timely hitting, but another disasterous outing from Broxton lost the lead and the game.

As I have said before, whether it's his sore toe (most likely), fatigue, or the league just catching up with him, Broxton needs some time away from the closer's role. The Dodgers now do have another option, with an experienced, suffessful closer on the roster, thanks to the asquisition of George Sherrill, and if Broxton is hurting, put him on the DL and let Sherrill close until Broxton is well. If Broxton is not hurt, then just the mental aspect of less pressure for a couple of weeks, setting up instead of closing, may do the trick.

It's no coincidence that the scumstripes recent streak has coincided with the vast imporvement in their bullpenn, in particular remaking Phil Hughes from an awful starter into a valuable set-up man.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |scumstripes

This past March, I wrote a lengthy post on theHoundDawg Blog entitled "Snoop Dogg and Farrakhan", describing the rise of Snoop Dogg as a cultural icon despite his sociopathic history and his association with Louis Farrakhan.

Now, the Dodgers have chosen to use Dogg in the marketing of their new "Ticket Truck" campaign. Following is a comment I left on the Dodgers' official website, folowing the article announcing this campaign:

The Dodgers now have their own Michael Vick - a man who spent several years in prison, has had numerous drug and firearm related arrests, has been on trial as an accomplice to murder, has been sued for allowing (or ordering?) his "crew" to assault a fan, and who has been a driving force in making obscene, violent, and misogynistic lyrics a mainstay of popular music, and worse yet, who has admitted his membership in the Nation of Islam and of his fervent support for the most miserable, disgusting anti-Semite on the American scene, Louis Farrakhan, who, during a lifetime spewing lies and hatred, was quoted in the New York Times as calling Judaism a "gutter religion", and who in a 1984 speech broadcast on a Chicago radio station stated unequivocally that "Hitler was a very great man". Jamie McCourt, as Dodger CEO and as an active member in the Jewish community, you should be ashamed of yourself in associating the Dodgers with Snoop Dogg.

There is not much more that I can say about my disgust with this situation, other than how much I resent his soiling of the noble "Dogg" ["Dawg"] name.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Crime |Humanity

A few teams really helped themselves in late July and early August deals, especially in each leagues' Central division.

The White Sox did the most to upgrade their shot at a division title, or wild card, getting Jake Peavy, healthy enough they hope for a September and playoff time boost. Now, they have added a bat in center field, in Alex Rios, and they look like they could be the AL central's best bet for a September-October playoff run. Detroit did booster their staff with the addition of Jarrod Washburn, but I never felt the Tigers had enough to win their division, and I don't see Washburn alone making the difference, especially because my pre-season pick for the wild-card, Minnesota, has helped themselves as much by adding Carl Pavano, and with the return of Nick Punto from the DL. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in the batting title and home rune races respectively, figure to keep the Twins' power going strong to the bitter end.

In the National Leagues' Central, my pre-season pick, Milwaukee, did little to help their stretch run, acquiring only Claudio Vargas, on a team with a disappointing starting staff. St. Louis, who I felt needed a bit more, including a healthy Chris Carpenter, to take the division, now feature not only an 11-3 Carpenter (with a 2.26 ERA), but Matt Holliday in the outfield, and Julio Lugo at short. The Cardinals figure to ride their current roster to a division title. The Cubs are a sinking ship, and will finish fourth or fifth. Their best hope is that Lou won't blow a gasket and be able to return to make another run at it next season.

The Red Sox also need mentioning. The team that looked so solid in every facet only a few weeks ago, now seems to be floundering. The many deals Theo Epstein pulled of in a short time make little sense. Of course Victor Martinez is a great addition, but injuries to the staff make the trade of Justin Masterson seem like a mistake. The crown around first base is also hard to comprehend, especially since offensive leader Kevin Youkilis should be there every day. But where does that leave Martinez, let alone Casey Kotchman?

The return of Jason Bay - out of the lineup during much of the Sox' slump - and the combination of the Red Sox' overall talent, the managerial capabilities of Terry Francona, and the liklihood that the staff will get healthier, still, however, makes me think that the ship will be righted, and that it will be Boston on top of the East come October 4.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Angels

Roy Halladay is still in Toronto, but Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, Jarrod Washburn, Carl Pavano, Justin Masterson, Ian Snell, Clayton Richard, and even Pedro Martinez, all have new major league homes. While I emphatically said that there is no way the Dodgers should or could trade Clayton Kershaw, a deal for one of these starters could have been worked out, but the Dodgers felt they did not have to make a move, because they had, ............ Jason Schmidt.

Well, after four 2009 starts, bringing his lifetime total as a Dodger to 10 ($4.7 Million per start), Schmidt is back on the DL, and his Dodger and MLB career are quite likely finis'.

The Dodgers may be in first, but they have lost the distinction of having baseball's best 2009 record, and their division lead is shrinking. Chad Billingsley has been hurting, Hiroki Kuroda has been inconsistent, the rotation now includes Scott Elbert, whose next start will be his first, and Jonathan Broxton has not been the consistent given he was before the All-Star game - is it his sore toe, overwork, or what? What this adds up to, is that the Dodgers, as dominating as they have been in so many aspects of the game, and for virtually the entire season to date, today do not look like a team that can win a playoff series against teams like Philadelphia and the oh-so improved Cardinals.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Jason Schmidt |Clayton Kershaw

The Sporting News pretty much stays out of the news these days, but they did raise some controversy this week when they released their poll of the 50 greatest coaches of all time. I absolutely agree with their choice of John Wooden as the greatest coach in any sport. As should be the case, the vote was not even close, with the Wizard receiving 57 first place votes, from the TSN panel of 118 "experts". Unfortunately, many of their last 49 choices miss the mark.

The list includes only six additional college basketball coaches and five NBA coaches, and none of them, incredibly, is Larry Brown. His omission is the most glaring misstep on the list. The list contains ten NFL coaches, and eighth among them, and number 20 overall, is Bill Belichick, who should be the second-ranked pro football coach, following the list's number two, Vince Lombardi. Also as to NFL coaches, the bottom two, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells, at numbers 26 and 33 overall respectively, should be above the higher-ranked Paul Brown, George Halas, Joe Gibbs, and Tom Landry.

Their ranking of college football coaches is not too badly composed, but I would elevate Bud Wilkinson, number 29 overall, from the seventh spot among college football coaches, to the third spot, behind only Bear Bryant and Knute Rockne, and I'd make Rockne number one, not Bryant.

As to the five NHL coaches that made the list, perhaps Scotty Bowman deserves to be higher overall than number seven, and there are dozens of coaches from other sports who deserve the last spot, over Herb Brooks. He's listed as an NHL coach, and that does not merit him a spot on the list. Call him an Olympic Hockey coach, and there is at least a sentimental and patriotic basis for his selection.

The list includes ten MLB managers, with the over-hyped, over-indluged, and over-rated Casey Stengel on top, at number nine overall. Give him Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and the like, and he can win pennants. He managed three other teams, before and after the scumstripes, and to call his performances mediocre would be overly generous. He still owns, at least until the Washington National's current season comes to a close, the worst single-season record in major league history, with the 1962 Mets. For my money, in following MLB as close as I have for more than 50 years, and in reading and studying much of early baseball history, the four best managers I have seen, are Walter Alston, Tony La Russa, Sparky Anderson, and Joe Torre. Their listings at numbers 35, 41, 38, and 32, respectively, are absurd. The four should all be in the list's top 20 overall.

Finally, how could the panel waste valuable, limited positions on the list with the inclusion of not one, but two, woman's basketball coaches?

theHoundDawg

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Tags: UCLA |Dodgers |sc brain surgeons |scumstripes

Well, after a very shaky first inning, Jason Schmidt gave a decent impression of a major league pitcher for another four innings last night, and tonight Randy Wolf got the run support missing from his starts most of the season, and suddenly the Dodgers have a four game winning streak and have their best overall record in 19 seasons.

The one downside of the Dodgers' great overall performance tonight was the hand injury Manny suffered when hit by a Homer Bailey pitch, but as they say, x-rays were negative and he's day-to-day.

In three games today and tonight, Los Angeles averaged 10 runs per game, with the Dodgers scoring 12 against the Reds, and the Angels taking two from KC, 8-5 and 10-2. The Angels are 5-1 since the break, and are weathering the losses of Vlad and Torri Hunter quite well, thanks in large part to the schedule maker, loading them up with KC, Oakland, and Cleveland while 2/3rds of the outfield is healing.

Injuries are affecting the current complexion of the AL East, with TIm Wakefield joining Dice-K Matsuzaka on the Boston DL, and the Red Sox falling into second, with a four game losing streak, despite the return of Jed Lowrie. The current success of the scumstripes not withstanding, I'm sticking with my pre-season picks that two playoff teams will come out of the AL East and neither will be from NY. With a healthier Scott Kazmir and a new ace in Jeff Niemann, Tampa will finish the season in second, behind Boston.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Manny |scumstripes |Jason Schmidt

On December 6, 2006, Dodger starting pitching woes were forever resolved, with the signing of Jason Schmidt to a three-year contract, at the bargain basement price tag of $47 Million, a mere $15.5 to $16 mil per season.

What a deal! As of today, Schmidt has cost the Dodgers a mere $47 Million PER VICTORY.

That's right, fans, in case you forget. In two-and-one-half years, he has produced exactly ONE WIN for the Dodgers.

He makes his return to the Dodgers' rotation tonight, having not pitched in the majors in two years plus a month, and with a lifetime Dodger record of six appearances, a 1-4 won-lost record, and a 6.31 ERA.

Not to say that the Dodgers cannot use a new, live arm on the staff, especially in the rotation now that Eric Milton's comeback has been derailed by back surgery. But, realistically, what are the chances that Schmidt can even be competitive, let alone be good enough to improve upon Jeff Weaver or Eric Stults?

And, Weaver and Stults are not getting paid $7.83 Million per start.

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Jason Schmidt

The Dodgers started the season's second half by being embarrassed in back-to-back losses to Houston. Lack of timely hitting, Chad Billingsley's continued recent struggles, and an overall aura of complacency, all colored what appeared to be two lackluster performances.

Then, up stepped Clayton Kershaw. Last night, he continued, and even improved upon, his streak of impressive outings, this time becoming the guy to end a short, but potentially unsettling, losing streak. Kershaw is now 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA over his last seven starts, has lowered his season ERA to 2.95, and most important of all, stretched last night's outing to seven full innings.

Any more of those "experts" out there still want to see the Dodgers trade him?

theHoundDawg

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Tags: Dodgers |Clayton Kershaw

As the second half of the season is set to begin, pitching is, as always, the key to success down the stretch.

First, and in consideration of rumor number one, which may just be speculation and defective, stupid controversy created by certain second-line radio commentators, is the ridiculous theory that the Dodger would even consider trading Clayton Kershaw and/or Matt Kemp, in order to obtain Roy Halladay. Kershaw and Kemp are rare talents that come along infrequently. At the start of the year, I felt that Kemp would put it together this season, and become a star, and that is happening before our eyes. He deserved to be on the All-Star team. Kershaw has more ability than any pitcher to reach the majors in many years, but I did feel it would be at least until next season before he took his place as a number one starter, and Cy Young contender. Well, he has just about reached that level over the past six weeks, with only his penchant for making too many pitches and being able to only go an average of six innings per start keeping him from reaching that level. The fact is, though, that he has been scored on in only two of his last six starts, giving up a total of three runs in his last 36 or so innings, lowering his ERA from 4.50 to 3.16.

He is on the verge of becoming the ace the Dodgers have been seeking, and only more experience and more consistent control stand in his way.

Trade him or Kemp? Never, for any current player in the majors, save that Albert guy in St. Louis.

Second is that other rumor that indicated that Toronto would commit franchise suicide by trading Halladay to the Redsox or scumstripes. Trade the AL's reigning pitching star within your division, to one of the best teams in the league, whose only weaknesses relate to pitching? No way. If so, through, fire the GM and pack the trunk and move to Moose Jaw.

Toronto does not realize their situation. Their limited success this season is due to Halladay, their vastly improved offense, which is due to the maturation of several of their young players, and the development of several young pitchers, such as Ricky Romero. Add back injured young stud starters Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum, and the 2010 Blue Jays are a real contender. Don't screw that up and hand the division to one of those other teams.

The seemingly healthier Angels' staff now has to not only compensate for the loss of Vald and Torri Hunter, but for the continued struggles of Earvin Santana. He starts opening night of the second half, and has to show that he is regaining last year's form, or else he might need a Howie Kendrick Triple A vacation.

Overall, at the mid-point, four of my six division picks are in first place, and all of my picks except Cleveland are in the running for the playoffs. And, Torri Hunter is the AL's MVP at this point in the season.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |scumstripes |Clayton Kershaw

A little more than two years ago, before the beginning of theHoundDawgSportblog, I wrote in another forum about the following:

The NY Yankees, in their efforts to force patriotism on their fans, not only do not allow fans to leave their seats during the playing of the National Anthem before games and during the playing of God Bless America during the 7th-inning strech, but they go so far as to put up chains, preventing fans from moving about. No bathroon visits, no trips to concession stands, no going home. The scariest part of this, is that it is a policy carried out by a billionaire owner with a captive audience of lemmings who see nothing wrong with this absurd conduct, restricting the rights of the paying fan.

Well, that all ended today, thanks to a Boston Red Sox fan, who, after being forcibly removed from Yankee stadium by uniformed NYPD cops for daring to try to use the restroom during the playing of God Bless America, settled a lawsuit he had filed in Federal Court, against the Yankees and the City of New York.

As part of the settlement, with the Yankees and the City of New York agreeing that they could not, and would no longer, prevent fans from leaving their seats during God Bless America, the Red Sox fan received $10,000 in damages and $12,000 in legal fees. News reports note that the City of New York settled with the fan, due to him being physically removed from the stadium by two uniformed NYPD cops, one of whom who also said to him "Get out of my country.”

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes

The Angels miraculously weathered the early season storm of monumental injuries to the starting staff. John Lackey and Ervin Santana worked through their cobwebs and have rounded into form, and Kelvim Escobar has now also re-appeared, and pitched well in his first start. With Jared Weaver pitching lights out, and the solid work of Joe Saunders and Matt Palmer, as I thought would happen, the Angels again have the strongest and deepest starting staff in the AL. But that bullpen!

The Angels decided to let Frankie Rodríguez leave in the off season, and they compounded that mistake by paying good money for the over-rated, under-talented, and inconsistent Brian Fuentes. His 15 saves are much less of an indicator of his effectiveness than is his 4.95 ERA. Even more troubling, however, is the state of the rest of the pen, with long relief and set-up men one more awful than the next.

The Angel brain trust decided that besides letting Rodríguez leave, that they would build the rest of the crew around the inconsistent Scot Shields, the disappointing Justin Speier, and the inexperienced but potentially outstanding Jose Arredondo. That too, has worked real well. Shields has taken his 6.62 ERA to the DL, while Speier and Arrendondo each have ERAs over five. Out of necessity, the likes of Jason Bulger, Kevin Jepsen, Rafael Rodríguez, and Daniel Davidson have been given bullpen roles, with even less success. Today's game in Detroit is a prime example of the bullpen woes. The Angels came back from a one-run deficit to take a one-run lead into the eight inning, when Arredondo and Bulger combined to allow five runs and hand Detroit a 9-6 victory.

The Angels can almost certainly again win the West with their current staff, but any hopes of getting to a World Series are mere dreams unless some major help for the bullpen arrives by September.

One thought: While Escobar has had his best success as a starter, he has considerable experience in the bullpen, and with the starters now six deep, perhaps they should leave Palmer as the fifth starter and give Kelvim the closer role, with Fuentes the set-up guy.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

Wow. First, one of the most ridiculous publicity stunts in recent memory - press, celebs, Dodger executive, and lots of TV cameras, to announce that Dodger Stadium now has its own ZIP code; the only stadium in the country so honored.

Now, the team announces, with far less fanfare, something of actual interest and moderate importance - a three game series at the stadium, where fan parking is (yea, no joke) FREE! For the three interleague games against Oakland on June 15, 16, and 17, fans can park in general parking lots for free. Of course, there is no refund for fans with season parking, but, it's still an amazing gift from management to the fans, even if these figure to be three lowest-interest games on the schedule.

Thanks, Frank and Jamie. Now go look for some more bullpen help.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers

Its been a tough few days for sports fans to remain in their fantasy bubble, keeping the realities of "real" life out of the toy department. In the past three days, 44 year old former NBA star Wayman Tisdale died, ex-Charger QB, first round pick, Div. II assistant coach, and all-time bust Ryan Leaf was arrested on drug and burglary charges, golfer Phil Mickelson left the PGA tour upon learning that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, the 39-year-old wife of Arizona Diamondback lefty and former Angel Scott Schoeneweis was found dead by her 14-year-old daughter, and today the airwaves were full of discussions about a second chance for the scum-of-the-earth Michael Vick, who is scheduled to be released from prison tomorrow.

Words cannot described the tragedy of the deaths of people like Tisdale and Gabriella Schoeneweis, nor the ordeal that Phil and Amy Mickelson and their family will now have to endure. But as to the other two events, the track record of Leaf was pretty strong evidence that his so-called rehabilitation and re-entry into civilized society would be short-lived, and his return to his prior lifestyle could be readily anticipated, and as far as VIck is concerned, well.....

That miserable scum should never play another down in the NFL and should never collect another red cent from any pro football owner. On the field, he was the most over-rated performer in the modern history of sports, and off the field one of the true evil, vile, disgusting excuses for a human being to ever enjoy the fruits of an over-paid, over-rated athletic career. It is disgusting to hear commentators, such as former coach Herman Edwards, fawning over Vick, and anticipating which team will win a sweepstakes for the right to pay him to return to football.

Well, hopefully the next few days, with the NBA playoffs and MLB interleague play, will see a return to on-flied excitement and no more off-the-field stories at the top of the sports news.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Crime |Humanity

The Angels' early-season nightmare is over.

With Earvin Santana back in the rotation, John Lackey about to be back, with Joe Saunders and Jared Weaver pitching outstanding, consistent ball, and with the emergence of Matt Palmer, the Angels' decimated rotation is now back to AL dominance. With the anticipated return of Glad, the consistent play of Kendry Morales, and the tremendous defensive improvement of Chone Figgans at third base, and with a division full of early-season pretenders, the Angels should now be on their way to another year of regular-season dominance.

Whether or not they can, for the first time since 2002, carry that over to the post season and actually win something of importance, is another matter.

Yet another matter is the Dodgers. Despite winning two-of-three on the road from the Champion Phillies, the Dodger mess is still not pretty. Andre Ethier continues to struggle, Juan Pierre is coming back to earth, and the previously dominant Jonathan Broxton "vultched" his fourth victory of the season yesterday, after blowing his second save of the season.

With Jeff Weaver entrenched in the rotation (at least for now), Eric Mitlon's recall, Jason Schmidt's beginnng rehabilitation, the demotion of John McDonald, and Clayton Kershaw's struggles, the face of the Dodger staff is seemingly in the process of a dramatic change from reliance on strong, young, healthy arms, to being composed of tired, old, questionable, injury-prone retreads.

This could, in the long run, be more of a problem then the loss of Manny.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Manny

In 2007, the season before last, the Arizona Diamondbacks had the NL's best record, and manager Bob Melvin was Manager of the Year. Now, with the team off to a 12-17 start, behind the stellar hitting of Chad Tracy (.221), Stephen Drew (.205), Chris Snyder (.204), Conor Jackson (.191), Chris Young .177), and Eric Byrnes (.139), and a team batting average of .222, plus the loss of ace starter Brandon Webb, on the DL with an era of 13.50, he no longer knows how to manage.

He brought the team back from oblivion in his first season as the Diamondbacks' manager, leading a 51-111 2004 team to 77 wins in 2005. His 2007 team won with mirrors, and Melvin's rare managerial talent, compiling a 90-72 record, despite being outscored for the season, by 20 runs.

GM Josh Byrnes and owners Ken Kendrick, Paul Schloss, and Jason Ellis should be ashamed of themselves. Melvin's replacement, former catcher A.J. Hinch, has zero managerial experience anywhere. Learning on the job, a team batting average of .222, and a disabled list loaded with key players, makes for a long season for Hinch and, unfortunately, for the D'Back fans.

All I can say is that what certainly seemed to be no worse than the second most talented team in the NL west is now no longer a threat to overtake the Manny-less Dodgers.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

At this time last evening, the Dodgers, led on the field, as well as emotionally and spiritually, by Manny Ramirez, possessed the best 2009 won-lost record in baseball, the record for most home wins at the start of a season, and looked to most observers as the team to beat in the NL, if not in the majors.

24 hours later, the team is demorzlied and fans disgusted, as Manny is gone for 50 games under baseball's baned substance policy, and after a valient offensive effort failed due to a total meltdown by the bullpen, the Dodger's home win streak is now just a piece of historical fluff.

The young Dodger nucleus, of Andre Ethier, of Matt Kemp, of James Loney, of Russell Martin, of Chad Billingsley, of Jonathan Broxton, needs to focus on the game and nothing else, and play as if there is and there was no Manny. They cannot feel that his loss is a reason, an excuse, to lose. The Dodgers can, and should, win the West Division, without Manny. The team needs to prove that to the fans and to themselves.

Joe Torre needs to show why he is one of the game's great managers, and that he belongs up there with Walter Alston as the best the Dodgers have had. He needs to convince his team they had their bad day, and that the season starts tomorrow, with a new winning streak, and a drive to still be in first place, and maybe they'll even have the best record in baseball on July 3, when that guy with the long hair returns.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

With word that John Lackey and Ervin Santana are beginning rehab, that Vlad may be back as DH in a few days, and with good outings by Matt Palmer and Shane Loux, things are looking up for the Angels' recovery. They've won three in a row and are only two games out of first, after weathering what is hopefully the worst of an historic stretch of pitching staff injuries.

It looks like Seattle's hot start is over, and though Texas has been on a role, they still do not have the pitching to compete with LA, so long as at least half the Angel staff remains on the active roster.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

Among the great sports announcers we've had in LA over the years, from the play-by-play superstars like Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, Bill King, and Ralph Lawler, and the reporting stars, like Jim Healy, Dick Enberg, and Fred Roggin, there have been quite a few incompetents, most of whom have come and gone rather quickly. However, for some mysterious reason, the totally inept Mario Solis goes on and on in his job at KNBC.

His lack of knowledge of virtually every major sport is more than evident in each of his broadcasts, but the worst parts of his segments are the regular mispronouncements of the names of athletes and others. Sure, there are the occasional foreign or especially difficult names that any announcer may occasionally mispronounce. But, with Solis, it is more often than not either the name of a local player, or an easy name of another athlete in the news.

Last night, for example, on his broadcast on the late news on Channel 4, KNBC, within about a minute, he made not one, but two egregious errors. First, he totally butchered his pronunciation of long-time Dodger and current Seattle Mariner third baseman, Adrian Beltre, and then, in describing the Dodger-Rockie game, he called Rockie infielder Clint Barmes, Clint Barnes. Not only that, but in the repeat of that same broadcast aired early this morning, he cleaned up the audio tape so that his mispronouncement of Adrian Beltre sounded not nearly so bad, but having no clue about anything to do with seven-year major league veteran player Clint Barmes (pronounced Bar-Mess), he left that as it was.

My local news channel of choice is Channel 4. I really like the late news with Paul Moyer (recently retired after decades in LA news), Colleen Williams, and now Chuck Henry, but I dread the days Fred Roggin is off.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Sports Announcers |Mario Solis

After being away from SoCal, and much of the sports world, for almost nine days, some random thoughts:

The Angel pitching woes just keep getting worse. Since April 14, they have now also lost Dustin Moseley, Darren Oliver, and Kevin Jepsen; Brian Fuentes, Scott Shields and Jose Arredondo have ERAs of 13.50, 14.40, and 7.20, respectively, and tonight they are starting Matt Palmer, whose Triple-A ERA this season was approaching 12. Paul Byrd, Pedro Martinez, and maybe the late Art Fowler, are you busy at the moment?

Manny is heating up, and the Dodgers are still in first place, despite one reliable starting pitcher. As I'm writing this, Chad Billingsley is on his way to becoming the first pitcher to reach 4-0.

I saw a game at SAFECO Field in Seattle, and it's a great place to watch a game. Friendly, really helpful staff, great food, and wonderful site lines, seating, and other accutremonts make it one of the best partks I've been to. As an aside, as I saw Mike Sweeney go 3-for-3, I commented to one of the people I was with what a great hitter he could have been if not for so many debilitating injuries the past few years. Then I saw that he got injured yet again the next night.

The scumstripes are feeling the pressure from so many empty premium seats, and, according to Yahoo Sports are considering lowering their pricing from the obsene $2625 price tags they have been trying to extort from the rich and famous. If they don't improve attendance, and revenue, it would be real nice if the scumstripes have their new house that greed built forclosed.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Manny |scumstripes

Eric Stults did a great job tonight, replacing now-injured "Ace", Hiroki Kuroda, but with Kuroda out and James McDonald's poor performance last night, the Dodgers' starting staff is again in awful shape. Pedro Martinez wants $5 million and the Dodgers' reportedly have offered $1 million, but I really doubt he would be the answer they need. Other free agents out there include Paul Byrd, and though no savior for the staff, he might be just as effective as Pedro, at a less steep price tag.

Though Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, and rookie Ronald Belisario have done well, overall the bulllpen has been disappointing. In particular Guillermo Mota and Cory Wade have had some rocky performances,

The first week is coming to a close, and the NL West looks much more competitive than the experts told us it would be. San Diego and Colorado may have more balanced teams than were expected, and San Francisco may just have enough offense to give their great staff more success than figured during the spring. It may be more than a two team race with Arizona, and the Dodgers have to make a move to add at least one more arm, even anticipating more quality starts from Stults.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers

For decades, there appeared to be a curse hovering over the the Los Angeles-California-Anaheim-Los Angeles Angels, who suffered through one tragedy after another. Young and talented players, including some stars and many potential stars, died tragic deaths, many during the season. From the shooting death of Lyman Bostock, to the brain tumor that took Dick Wantz within a month of his major league debut, to the numerous traffic fatalities including Mike Miley, Bruce Heinbechner, and Chico Ruiz, and to the suicide of former star Donnie Moore. Career changing injuries were also part of the curse, exemplified by the beanings suffered by Paul Schaal and Don Mincher. Add to this, the devastating injuries suffered by Bobby Valentine and the kidney disease that derailed the career of Rick Reichardt. If something bad happened, it seemed to always happen to an Angel.

After years of seeming calm, the curse has returned.

For a couple of years, we heard that Nick Adenhart had the tools to be a star. In three games last year, he pitched poorly, but this spring, with so many injured pitchers, he earned the opportunity to begin the season on the Angels roster, and in the rotation, and he started last night's game, showing everything that the team had said about him. He pitched six shutout innings, and appeared to be just what the Angels needed with three starters on the disabled list.

Then, a couple of hours after the game, he was killed in a Fullerton, CA traffic collision.

At this time, it is being said that another unnamed member of the Angels' organization was also killed in the accident.

And, this just two days after a fan died at Angels' Stadium, following the opening night game.

Our condolences to the Adenhart family and to the Angels' organization. Let's hope these are isolated incidents, to be followed by years of business-as-usual at Angels' Stadium.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

As the 2009 season is about to start, I think...

1) I underestimated the Royals. They should overtake the Tigers, and maybe even Chicago.

2) In perusing the 2009 Award Winners as picked by the experts at Yahoo, I think they're crazy. Milton Bradley? Kevin Slowey? Joey Votto? Huh?

MVP in the NL will be between Manny Ramirez and Ryan Braun. In the AL, between Dustin Pedroia and Grady Sizemore.

Cy Young in the NL will be between Cole Hamels and Tim Lincecum; in the AL between Roy Halladay and Josh Beckett.

3) season starting - no time for more.....

theHoundDawg

Tags: Manny

AL 2009
Boston - A healthy Beckett and a return to form from Brad Penny, and the BoSox won't be caught.
Tampa - Last year was no fluke, but not enough with Boston in their division.
New York - More bucks, more losses. Girardi may not last the season. Pressure on Teixeira won't be pretty.
Toronto - Could have been vastly improved but for injuries to Marcum and McGowan.
Baltimore - By July, theHoundDawg may be their fourth starter.

Cleveland - Healthy Martinez, Hafner, and Pavano, and the Tribe is back.
Minnesota - Baker, Bonser and Neshek - too many injured pitchers.
Chicago - Would need BIG comebacks from too many to challenge.
Detroit - Best thing going is no more Sheffield, but pitching is too suspect
Kansas City - They seemed to be building on their young starters, but sending down Bannister and Hochevar while giving spots to Ramirez and Ponson are major steps backward.

Los Angeles - Second Best team in AL when healthy, and starting season with injuries to three starters should not effect division runaway.
Oakland - Much improved but too much depends on totally inexperienced starters.
Texas - As always, questionable pitching, but no longer the offensive machine of past few seasons.
Seattle - Ten more wins still means last place. Outfield was a disaster before Ichiro got sick.

Division series - Los Angeles over Tampa and Boston over Cleveland
Championship Series - Boston over Los Angeles


NL 2009
Los Angeles - Top-notch offense, defense, bullpen, but will go only as far as their starters will take them.
Arizona - Pretty much the same as with LA, but D'Backs have no Manny.
San Francisco - Reverse of division's top teams - starting pitching and lots of question marks. OF and catching are set, but that infield?
San Diego - Improved from last year, but young talent not ready to compete for top three spots.
Colorado - Not the power-laden team of the past, and questionable pitching depth, but biggest problem is no more Matt Holliday, plus Jeff Francis gone for the season.

Milwaukee - Outstanding offense and despite loss of Sabathia and Sheets, staff has good mix of savey, dependable vets and young talent.
St. Louis - Return of Chris Carpenter solidifies starters, but big voids in bullpen, and infield looks like Pujols and three guys from central casting. Glaus return from injury is always tenuous.
Chicago - No team depending on Milton Bradley and Rich Harden will ever win anything.
Houston - Only health, depth of starting staff keep then behind Cubs.
Cincinnati - Overrated pitching staff won't keep up with up-and-coming offense, plus too many questions in outfield.
Pittsburgh - Lots of young talent on the field, but lack of same on staff will keep them in cellar, unless Karstens and Ohlehdorf suddenly become major league pitchers.

Philadelphia - Improved pitching from start of season and except for Ibanez for Burrell, same team on field as last year's champs.
New York - Addition of great closer more than offset by signing of worst person in baseball, G. Sheffield.
Atlanta - Will go as far as totally revamped pitching will take them, plus rookie CF Jordan Schafer must be for real.
Florida - Health of returning starters, poor defense, big question marks at 3B and entire outfield, all point to disappointing season.
Washington - Addition of Adam Dunn not nearly enough.

Division series - Los Angeles over Milwaukee and Philadelphia over Arizona
Championship Series - Philadelphia over Los Angeles

Boston over Philadelphia in World Series

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |scumstripes |Manny

Despite losing Jon Garland and Frankie Rodriguez to free agency this past off season, pitching still remained an Angel strength coming into the 2009 season.

As the start of the season fast approaches, holes in the starting staff are reaching epoch proportions.

First, it became clear that Kelvim Escobar is not yet fully recovered from last year's surgery, and will not be ready at the start of the season. Then, we learned of Ervin Santana's arm problems and his status remains totally unclear. Now ace John Lackey has been shut down, and will not be available to start the season. That's 60% of the starting staff on the shelf! It is now clear that the Angels' rotation in in worse shape than the Dodgers', with only a few days left before opening day.

On another, slightly related note, I stumbled upon a very interesting article today, Rouen Huskies Sign Former LA Angels Pitching Prospect, detailing how former Angel minor leaguer Travis Stanton has signed to pitch for the Rouen Huskies of the French Baseball League. I find this fascinating not becasue of Travis Stanton, but becasue of the fact that there is a baseball league in FRANCE!

theHoundDawg

Tags: Angels

The numbers game has apparently hit the 2009 Dodger outfield hard, as it looks like Joe Torre will be carrying only four outfielders to start the season. Starters Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier will be joined by only one more outfielder, and that will have to be the un-deserving but big-buck contracted Juan Pierre. The more deserving and eventual major league regular Delwyn Young is thus on the way out, as is super-talented but injury-prone Jason Repko.

All this because Torre feels he needs seven infielders. The inf now figures to include the four regulars, Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal, Orlando Hudson, and James Loney, plus free-agent pinch hitter, inf and of sub Mark Loretta, slick-flelding Doug Mientkiewicz, who can also play third and right field as well as first, and the return of middle infielder Juan Casto, who came up with the Dodgers seemingly decades ago. Thus, on the outs are Chin-lung Hu and last season's rookie sensation at third (and later second), Blake DeWitt.

The starting staff seems still in limbo, though the Dodger stay for Shawn Estes was short and un-sweet. Former Dodger Randy Wolf has solidified his spot in the rotation, and apparently Eric Milton has impressed Torre enough to still be in the running for a spot, though it seems that James McDonald now has the edge over the earlier front-runner Jason Schmidt, for the fifth rotation spot.

The Dodgers unloaded Andruw Jones. but they are sabotaging this year's roster by keeping big-contract under-producers like Pierre and Schmidt, causing talented players like Young, Repko, and others to find work elsewhere. With Manny's big contract and this off-season's acquisitions, the Dodgers look like they can go really far this season, and by signing Manny, Wolf, Hudson, and others, it seems like management was doing all it could for that end. They need to pull the plug on some other contracts if the players involved cannot contribute as much as others could, and put the best 25 in the dugout.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

Word this morning is that nim-rod's hip (read "ass") is sore and he needs surgery and will miss at least the next ten weeks, which will include at least the WBC, the rest of the grueling spring training schedule, and hopefully much of the season.

'Roid medicos have said that a cyst like this is consistent with all those "roid" injections in the ass. Will his cousin actually do the surgery, like he did the injections, or will he just bring in the scalpels and band-aids, fresh off the streets of Santo Domingo?

Since I wrote about being unable to enjoy spring training, this is the second uplifting story to develop.

This video could have been shot in the scumstripes', or or the Giants', clubhouse:



theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes |Crime

Well, it took an extra month from when I said it should happen, but the deal is done, and on the same basic terms as were on the table then, and months earlier. Months of aggravation for the fans, gamesmanship by Boras, and lounging by Manny. All just a ploy for Manny to avoid spring training? Can we enjoy spring training now? No, but the season looks a bit more promising. Rafeal Furcal Orlando Hudson Andre Ethier Manny Ramirez Matt Kemp James Loney Russell Martin Casey Blake Not too bad a lineup. The bench as well looks powerful, with Mark Loretta, Blake DeWitt, Juan Pierre, Brad Ausmus, Jason Repko, and Delwyn Young. Now about that starting staff .........

Manny Ramirez Dodger T-Shirt $21.95

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

We should be enjoying spring training - seeing the prospects play above their heads, visions of "This Year" in our heads, the thought of Opening Day!

But we are not; at least, I'm not.

What am I thinking about?

The hole in left field and in the batting order, that may only be filled by paying out as much as $55 million over the next two years to the spawn of Scott Boras. The stigma of steroids that has totally eveloped baseball. Jim Bowden's resignation in light of allegations of skimming of bonus money from third world prospects. The scumstripes new rotation. The Dodgers no longer in Vero Beach. The Brad Penny-Larry Bowa he-said-he-said absurdity.

Some things are, however, as they normally are: Andruw Jones struck out in eight of his first nine abs with Texas and Milton Bradley is injured.

Somehow, that's just not enough to make it good.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Angels |Manny |scumstripes

Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, nim-rod, the list goes on.

Forget about the Mets' "Citi Field", the new Bronx stadium needs to be named "The House that 'Roids Built"

In listening the nim-rod yesterday, what struck me the most was his continual excuse of him being “young and stupid”. “Young and stupid” may be an excuse for a lot of things, and for a lot of people, especially people who are young, who are stupid, and who are struggling to get by in society - what nim-rod conveniently left out was the fact that while he and his "cousin" were young and stupid and injecting "unknown" substances into their bodies (for three years), mr. nim-rod was making $20 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR! For that kind of money, you hire someone not young and not stupid, to provide some intelligent direction to your life, your career, your choice of injectables.

And exactly where were the team coaching, training, and medical staffs when all this was going on?

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes

I've written a few posts this off-season about the makeup of the Dodgers' starting staff, basically referring to the lack of experience and depth. In the past week, Ned has gone the other extreme, signing every out-of-work cast-off he could find.

This characterization does not include Randy Wolf, who is a capable starter, and should fit well as the number four or five starter. His one prior year with the Dodgers started well, but ended early due to injury, but given his effectiveness and history, I felt then he should have been re-signed despite his missing half of that 2007 season. He was decent last year with a bad Padre team, and then went 6-2 down the stretch with Houston.

The same cannot be said for the other two out-of-work re-treads signed this week, neither of whom saw the majors last year - Jeff Weaver and Eric Milton. Milton was 0-4 with a 5.17 ERA in Triple-A last year, and Weaver, who went 7-13 with a 6.20 ERA with Seattle in 2007, sat out last season altogether. The chances of either making the team and contributing are below minimal, but the cost is low, and who knows, it might be worth the gamble.

Meanwhile, there appears to be no progress with Manny, and Adam Dunn is off the boards.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

With the report of a-rod's positive 2003 test for illegal steroid use, we had to go back and post the video of his interview with Katie Couric, where he DENIED ever using the stuff:



Breaking News
See Peter Gammons' exclusive interview tonight on ESPN Sportscenter
where rodriguez admits to three years of illegal steroid use!

theHoundDawg

Tags: scumstripes

Now is the time for Boras and the Dodgers to get together and get this done. It seems after Boras rejected the Dodgers' one year - $25 M offer, that their original offer of around $45 M for two years is about to be put back on the table, and would look much more attractive to the agent, after months of hype, but no actual offers from other teams. Boras needs to stop dreaming, look at reality, and get a deal done now.

If not, then maybe the Dodgers do need to look elsewhere. Adam Dunn looks pretty good from here.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny

Way back when, like last year, when banks ruled the world, Citibank decided to commit $400 Million to put their logo atop the new ballpark that would be home to the Mets. Since that commitment by their over-paid, under-ethiced leadership, their stock has tanked, they have had net losses of $28.5 billion, they've announced layoffs of 53,000 employees, and they gladly accepted $45 billion in federal bailout aid.

It's time to pull the plug on this, and other such naming-rights deals, by corporations that can't maintain their primary business in a stable, profitable fashion, and certainly by corporations that accept Federal aid.

Use that $400 Million to keep a few of those 53,000 employees working, to keep a few thousand hard-working American taxpayers enduring hard financial times in their homes, and to lower those 25% credit card interest rates and $39 late fee charges.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Crime

Minnesota Twins' owner Carl Pohlad died today at age 93. He is universally adored in the Twin Cities as the savior of Minnesota baseball, for his purchase of the Twins in 1984 and keeping them in Minnesota. Adoration and the glossing-over of some important facts are rempant in the Minnesota StarTribune article.

We try to keep politics in theHoundDawg Blog, and not in theHoundDawgSportsBlog, but sometimes there is spill over.

Minnesotans and the StarTribune gloss over Pohlad's financial beginnings, but with today's economic climate and the bare fact that millions of American's have lost or are in the process of losing their homes and/or their livelihoods due to predatory and unsympathetic lending practices and Laissez-faire governmental ideology, it is more than fair to point out that Pohlad began on his road to accumulating one the hundred or so largest fortunes in the US by foreclosing family farms during the Great Depression.

Maybe he was a great influence on baseball, but in other more important areas, he came up very short in the grand scheme of things.

theHoundDawg

All across the blogosphere and, seemingly, the entire net, scumstripe fanatics are laying claim to having won the 2009 World Series.

NY Daily News Blogger Jesse Spector, and others, are pulling for more deadsteinbrenner dollars to sign Manny, for added insurance for this inevitability. While you're at it, Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn are still available, and so is Trevor Hoffman. How about Milton Bradley, and Joe Crede? There's also Ken Griffy and Jim Edmonds, as well. Just sign everyone out there, and continue your efforts to destroy major league baseball. As the bronx pseudo-brain surgeons (sorry, sc) continue their best efforts to price real fans out of major league stadiums, the rest of mlb, and probably even Scott Boras, sit dumbfounded.

This holiday season, I'm thankful that the Cashmans and Steinbrenners, and the others pulling the scumstripe strings are such incompetents. If anyone with actual baseball knowledge or expertise had that kind of $$$$$ to spend, they would be working on a string of world championships, rather than acting out of desperation to crawl back into the playoffs.

With over 100 free agents still unsigned, two things are for sure: teams will continue to overpay, and overpay considerably, for mediocre talent, and it's far too early to make any 2009 predictions.

Oh, and by the way, Manny will re-sign with the Dodgers.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |scumstripes

The Angels cut off Frankie R and have a giant hole at Closer. For years, they nursed Casey Kotchman along through false starts, injuries, and illness, and just as he became a consistent major league regular, they traded him for the 2 month rental rights to Mark Teixeira. That would have been a solid deal if they retained Teixeira's rights beyond last October, but they did not, and now they have ended their efforts to resign him, leaving Kendry Morales as the number one roster candidate to play first base.

The rest of the infield is solid and deep, as is catching. If Kelvim Escobar comes back healthy, despite the loss of Jon Garland, the starting staff is still solid, as is the outfield. But, those big holes at first and in the bullpen could mean another disappointing season in southeast LA.

If Bill Stoneman were still in charge, you'd have to think he had a plan B lying in wait. But, Tony Reagins has no track record yet, and while he seems to have learned pretty well from Stoneman, what he and Arte do in the next few weeks will be keys not only to the 2009 season, but the Angels long-range success with Reagins at the personnel helm.

theHoundDawg




Edit - not 60 seconds after publishing this post, I heard ESPN report that Mark Teixeira had agreed to terms on a contract with the scumstripes of the bronx. Crap.

Tags: Angels |scumstripes

On another forum on which i am an active member, someone posted how he feels that it is time for Pete Rose to be welcomed to the Hall of Fame.

Despite my being an almost life-long Dodger fan, I always admired Pete Rose as a player and manager, and I believe that had his gambling been the key factor, that would not have kept him from the Hall of Fame. However, it was his reluctance to admit to his gambling on baseball, and his outright lying about it, that was the nail in the Hall of Fame coffin, that will likely keep him from the Hall, forever.

He chose denial, in his efforts to remain active in baseball, and he lost that bet, badly. That wager turned out to be not a job in baseball, but rather, the Hall of Fame. Well, he cannot get his wager back now, and he is unlikely to in the future.

For the 2009 Hall of Fame election, the BBWAA voters have the following players on their ballots:

First timers: Rickey Henderson, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Jay Bell, Jesse Orosco, Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn and Matt Williams.

Holdovers: Jim Rice, Mark McGwire, Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell.

The regular Veteran's Committee will have the following 10 old-timers to vote on: Gil Hodges, Joe Torre, Ron Santo, Jim Kaat, Dick Allen, Luis Tiant, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Maury Wills, and Vada Pinson.

In addition, the Pre-World War II Special Veteran's Committee that votes only once every 5 years will be voting on additional inductees in 2009.

It is about time that Jim Rice and Bert Blyleven make the Hall of Fame, and Gil Hodges should have made the Hall long ago, but among first-time eligible ex-players, I feel that only Rickey Henderson deserves induction.

The holdover list includes a lot of great players, and I could see any of them among Andre Dawson, Tommy John, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell getting close or making the cut. Mark McGwire, on the other hand, probably has about as much chance as Charlie Hustle has to gain entry. Unlike with Rose, though, time might make a difference with McGwire.

theHoundDawg

Well, the staff might have just gotten a lot thinner with word today that "Ace" Chad Billingsley slipped on some ice at his Pennsylvania home, and suffered a broken leg. He had surgery to insert a plate, but the medicos say he'll be out of his cast in two weeks, rehabing in less than two months, and ready for spring training.

Sure.

The Dodger starting staff now features veterans .......... ??

OK - this is it:

Hiroki Kuroda - Major League Starts: 31
Clayton Kershaw - Major League Starts: 21
James McDonald - Major League Starts: 0

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Clayton Kershaw

In this morning's LA Times, Chris Erskine wrote an interesting piece on the egos of sports personalities, All-Ego Sports Team starts here.

Most of Erskine's selections are right on: Al Davis, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Lasorda, Shaquille O'Neal, the Williams sisters, Isiah Thomas, to name a few. But, there are some that I do not think really belong in this group, and most notable is Mark Cuban, who Erskine includes because of his referee-baiting and due to his recent problems with the SEC. The SEC allegations are only that, and yet to be proven, and even if true, do not amount to an ego-driven event, but rather a profit-driven event. As to his referee baiting, I respect and applaud his refusal to kneel down to the powers-that-be who refuse with their power of the checkbook to allow any rightful criticism of incompetent officiating.

In reading this commentary, I was struck by the vast group of ego-driven sports personalities who Erskine failed to include. The likes of the late George Steinbrenner (I know, I know), Peter Ueberroth, who ran baseball, and the LA Olympics, as his own little dictatorships, Pete Rozelle, who did the same with the NFL, Michael Vick, Stephon Marbury, that 85 receiver guy with the Bengals, not to mention a couple of other current wide-outs, TO and R Moss, all need to be included in ANY such list, as does every single person ever associated with NASCAR (I know, I said in my first ever post here that I'd NEVER mention that group, but, common, ego, dictionary, picture, NASCAR ....).

But, the trophy has to be named after the University of Spoiled Children conglomerate of wide receivers that they passed on to the NFL, or at least tried to. Keyshawn Johnson and Curtis Conway broke records for egotism that no professional athlete could ever even dream to equal. However, proving that there is some justice in the world, or at least in the world of sports, they were actually exceed in their egotism by two brain surgeon wide-outs who did not make it in the NFL, R.J. Soward and Michael Williams.

But, the trophy goes, unanimously, to another trojan brain surgeon, the most egotistical, conceited, megalomaniacal jerk who ever transgressed the LA sports landscape - John McKay, the king of the put down, who never let pass an opportunity to ridicule another coach or a player from another team.

theHoundDawg

Note: I know its been too long since my last post, but the work and pressures of surviving in today' society have kept me away from here. I'll try my best to not let it happen again.

Tags: sc brain surgeons

It looks like the Dodgers are taking the initiative and making an offer to Manny, but what is up with the Dodgers' starting staff? What does Ned Colleti have in the works?

With Derek Lowe a free agent and little being heard about re-signing him, and now with Brad Penny gone, is this the Dodger's starting staff:

Chad Billingsley - Major League Starts: 68
Hiroki Kuroda - Major League Starts: 31
Clayton Kershaw - Major League Starts: 21
James McDonald - Major League Starts: 0
??

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny |Clayton Kershaw

Like a lot of people I'm sure, I turned off last nights Rays-Red Sox game when it was 7-0, and was mesmerized to find later in the evening that Boston had come back to win, scoring 8 runs in the last 3 innings, for an 8-7 come-from-behind-victory, extending the series to at least 6 games.

When down 3 games to 1, and falling behind 5-0 the night before, the Dodgers could muster only a single run (thanks to Manny - see 10/16/08 post).

I thought game 3 in the Dodger-Phillies series was a turning point, and I was wrong, but last night's game might be for Boston, and I wouldn't bet against them winning games 6 and 7 in the Trop.

theHoundDawg

Tags: 2008 MLB Playoffs

The Dodgers have to sign Manny, whatever the cost.

Pre-Manny, they were a moribund team, underachieving, fighting a slew of injuries, aging veterans competing with great but raw young talent, and a frustrated Joe Torre. The under .500 second place Dodgers were playing before unenthusiastic but hopeful fans.

Then Ned Colleti saved his job by trading for Manny.

Manny Ramirez Dodger T-Shirt $21.95

With that move, following the trade for Casey Blake, the Dodgers were a different team. It was more than the home runs, more than the clutch hitting, more than the excitement, it was a new attitude, not seen in LA in years. The team, and the fans, came together, and the whole was greater than the parts. For more than a month, the Dodgers were the best team in baseball. They played that way through the Division Series against the Cubs, but it didn't last, and a solid Phillies team is champion of the National League. They can continue that compassion, that excitement, and be that team for the whole of next season, if Manny returns. With him, the continued development of Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, James Loney, Andre Either, Blake DeWitt, Chad Billingsley, with a healthy bullpen, led by Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton, and no more Andruw Joneses, this team can jump that final hurdle and be play until the final out of the season.

They need to rid themselves of the albatross that was Andruw Jones, the contract of the never-to-be-seen Jason Schmidt, the worst throwing arm in baseball in Juan Pierre, the attitude of Jeff Kent, and, unfortunately, the walking hospital ward, and no longer defensively adequate, Nomar.

They need to keep, along with Manny, the other guy that played so well once he came on board, Casey Blake, and Rafeal Furcal. Unless they pull off another coup and sign C.C. Sabathia, and maybe even if they do sign him, they also need Derek Lowe back. The success of the pitching staff, however, depends on the health of Takashi Saito, and Brad Penny. A healthy Saito means a great bullpen, a questionable Saito means question marks, and dependence on a yet unreliable and inconsistent Jonathan Broxton. A healthy Brad Penny means a stalwart to grind out innings, win games, and maybe even re-establish himself as the ace of the staff.

theHoundDawg

Tags: Dodgers |Manny