SB Nation - Hideo Nomo

Dodgers Wanted To Wait For True Blue LA Night

Eric Stephen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:01:02 -0000

This is starting to get a little comical. Nine times the Dodgers had a chance to win the National League West, with either a win or a Rockies loss. Nine times they have been denied. Tonight becomes divisional match point number 10, and it just happens to be True Blue LA night at Dodger Stadium!

The Dodgers' playoff situation is pretty simple:

Win one of the next two games, and they are the top seed in the NL playoffs, with home field advantage during the first two rounds.
Lose both games, and the Dodgers are the number four seed, likely traveling to Philadelphia to start the NLDS

The Cardinals can no longer get the top seed. They can only max out at 93 wins, and the winner of the NL West will have at least 94 wins. Any win by the Phillies or loss by the Cardinals locks the Cardinals in as the number three seed, meaning they will play the winner of the NL West in the NLDS.

If the Phillies win one of their two remaining games, they are guaranteed at least the number two seed, by virtue of having the tiebreaker over the Cardinals, and would play the wild card winner in the NLDS.

If the Rockies win both games, they will win the West, and are guaranteed at least the number two seed. If the Rockies end up tying Philadelphia at 94 wins (Phillies would also have to win their final two), the Phillies would get the top seed by virture of winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Rockies. If the Rockies lose a game, they are the wild card, and the number four seed.

As bad as the Dodgers are playing, they still just need one win. One win will fix everything. it really is that simple.

Team	W-L	GB
Dodgers	93-67	---
Phillies	92-68	1
Rockies	92-68	1
Cardinals	91-69	2

The Dodgers' fate rests in the hands of young Clayton Kershaw. It seems like a tall task for a 21-year old who hasn't pitched past four innings in a game for over four weeks, but if anyone is up to it, it's Kershaw. Kershaw will be the game two starter in the NLDS, so what better way to prepare for the playoffs than winning the division clincher?

The Rockies counter with Jorge de la Rosa, an under-the-radar 16-game winner this season. It's easy to discount his 4.45 ERA or his 0-5 record and 7.12 ERA against the Dodgers in his career, but like Ubaldo Jimenez, it's important for the Dodgers to not overlook de la Rosa. On the road, de la Rosa is 6-3 with a 3.45 ERA and a 3.93 FIP. Actually, his overall FIP is just 3.98, so he has enjoyed a nice season.

More importantly, tonight is True Blue LA night at the stadium! It is our second trip this season. We showed up 20 strong in San Diego on July 3 for the return of Manny Ramirez (more pictures here), and tonight we increase our throng from one Hall of Famer (Sutton) to another (Koufax), as 32 seats in the reserved level, section 44, rows K through N, will be filled by True Blue LA faithful.

We will plan to meet at the seats before the game. We have a few fun things in store, including some prizes to give away. A fun time shall be had by all, especially if the Dodgers are able to clinch the division.

I have seen the Dodgers clinch twice in person:

September 30, 1995: a win in San Diego on the penultimate day of the season behind Hideo Nomo gave the Dodgers the NL West crown
September 30, 2006: a win in San Francisco, also on the next-to-last day of the year, gave the Dodgers a playoff spot (the division was still in play, but they ended up as the wild card) behind Greg Maddux

I lived in San Diego for about 14 years up until I moved earlier this season, but if I didn't move maybe I could have been there in person for another road September 30th clinch on Wednesday. That didn't happen, so I'll have to settle for clinching the division at home in the company of friends and family.

The Dodgers before the game will honor Juan Pierre for winning the organization's Roy Campanella Award for being the Dodger who "best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late Hall of Fame catcher." In addition, the Dodgers will honor their minor league player of the year (Dee Gordon), and pitcher of the year (Scott Elbert). To help mimic a game situation for Elbert, the Dodgers can have a person stand in the left-handed batter's box as Elbert receives the award, then have Elbert come off the mound after an all too brief ceremony.

Kathy Ireland will throw out a ceremonial first pitch, an interesting choice on a night featuring Star Wars fans and blogger fans. Remember folks: no Lightsabers will be allowed into Dodger Stadium.

Game Time: 7:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket, MLB Network

Baseball Reference Preview

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:39:22 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Ryan Braun, Jody Gerut and Frank Catalanotto celebrate after completing a sweep of the Pirates Sunday.

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Some things to read while waiting for a bartender.

The Brewers have a day off today to prepare for what might be their last opportunity to prove themselves relevant in the NL Central in 2009: A nine game stretch against the Cardinals, Giants and Cardinals again. Ken Macha says the Brewers have to be realistic about their position in the standings (which is why he's passing on the opportunity to skip a spot in the rotation this week), but also acknowledges that things could change if the Brewers can get hot this week and next. The Brewers are 23-24 this season against teams they'll see in September.

With roster expansion on the horizon, J.J. Hardy is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow, and we'll see if the issue with him blows over or boils over. Mike Seal, Hardy's agent, obviously appears to disagree with the decision to demote Hardy, but also called it "a shrewd move" by the Crew to send Hardy down and delay his free agency. J.J. Hardy's Nashville bio picture says a lot about his thoughts on the situation.

As you may have noticed, Hardy is swinging and missing a lot this season. In fact, he's also consistently failing to make weak contact: Plunk Everyone noticed that Hardy has the eighth lowest foul ball percentage in baseball. Jody Gerut, by the way, was tenth.

The Brewers are only expected to call a handful of players up from AAA, and they're expected to stagger the callups over the next few days. With that said, the Brewers also have three players getting ready to return from injury, as Corey Hart is getting ready to go out on a rehab assignment and Seth McClung and Jesus Colome both threw off a mound this weekend. If the Brewers call up six players from the minors and these three all return, they'll have 34 players on the active roster.

The Cardinals have opened up a ten game lead on the Cubs, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where they don't win the NL Central at this point. Murray Chass has a look at what happened to what was one of baseball's closest divisions a few months ago.

This race might be closer: With one month left to play, the Brewers rank 24th in wins in the 2000's. They're four games behind the Reds for 23rd, and 13 games ahead of the 25th place Tigers.

As hopes of contending in 2009 drift away, Doug Melvin is continuing to take a fair amount of heat for not assembling his roster differently, fair or unfair. Melvin responded to critics over the weekend, asking what they would have done differently. He's right, to a point: There weren't really any quick fixes available to the Brewers this offseason that would have dramatically improved this team. With that said, as many commenters have previously noted, Melvin was also responsible for the drafting and developmental strategies that left the Brewers with this hole in the first place.

Felipe Lopez had a rough weekend at the plate (2-for-17) but is continuing to try to play through a sore tendon in his foot. The most recent Elias rankings are out, and they have Lopez as a Type A free agent for the first time. If Lopez continues to struggle and the Brewers aren't careful with him, they could cost themselves a compensation pick next year by allowing him to play his way back down to Type B status.

The Brewers got a pretty good outing out of Jeff Suppan yesterday, as he gave up just one earned run in six innings and lowered his 2009 ERA to 5.20. In a world where we make near daily jokes about Sidney Ponson and Livan Hernandez, mgl wonders if Jeff Suppan is the worst veteran pitcher you never hear about. Meanwhile, Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk says the Pirates, who couldn't beat Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra or Braden Looper over the weekend, will win the NL Central in 2011.

How much impact will Chris Bosio have on the Brewer pitching staff? Casa de Machado was at Thursday's game and saw Bosio doing some things with pitchers he never saw Billy Castro doing. The results haven't necessarily shown up yet, but that doesn't mean they won't.

Coaches are also working with Manny Parra to develop a cut fastball. As TheJay noted in this Fanshot, that's a bit of a philosophical switch from the past coaching direction.

In the minors:

Chris Capuano is taking one small step back up the ladder to the major leagues. Now that the season has concluded for the Arizona League Brewers, Capuano is moving up to Helena to get a few more innings in before the minor league season concludes.
Several Brewer farmhands are getting ready for the Arizona Fall League. Prospects Paradise has an AFL preview, and lists Zach Braddock, Lorenzo Cain and Jonathan Lucroy among the top prospects on the Peoria Javelinas.

I mentioned The Book Blog's Fan Scouting Report once before as an opportunity for you to weigh in on the defensive abilities of individual Brewers. I'll mention it again, because so far only 35 Brewer fans have added their opinions. Take a moment to do so today, if you're so inclined.

On Power Rankings, playoff odds and miscellany:

Baseball Digest Daily ranked the Brewers #17 in their ASTRO Rankings.
CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances holding steady at .3%.
Justin Inaz of Beyond the Box Score ranked Jason Kendall as the 22nd best catcher of all time.

Last week I mentioned Trent Durrington's 34th birthday, but forgot to acknowledge that he was the last Brewer position player to pitch in a game, back in 2004. Recondite Baseball has updated the full list of the last position players to pitch for each team.

Around Baseball:

Angels: Acquired Scott Kazmir from the Rays for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL that could be Brandon Wood.
Astros: Placed reliever Alberto Arias on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Dodgers: Acquired Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for a minor league reliever.
Indians: Acquired minor league pitcher Johan Pino as the PTBNL in the trade that sent Carl Pavano to the Twins.
Mariners: Placed Russell Branyan on the DL with a herniated disc.
Pirates: Signed Jorge Julio to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed Ryan Freel to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Acquired Joey Gathright from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash.
Twins: Claimed Ron Mahay off waivers from the Royals, acquired Jon Rauch from the D-Backs for a PTBNL and designated R.A. Dickey for assignment.

Today, they're reserved for making up rainouts, but at one point doubleheaders were a key part of the baseball schedule. Seamheads has a look back at September 7, 1903, when all 16 major league teams were scheduled to play two.

If you watched the Cubs play over the weekend, you might have seen Ryan Dempster trying on the new helmet MLB is promoting to help decrease head injuries suffered via HBP. Player reviews of the new helmets have been almost universally negative, but baseball is going to require all minor leaguers to wear them next season.

The Brewers had pretty good luck convincing draft picks to sign this season, including one player, fifth rounder D'Vontrey Richardson, who had to be convinced to give up football at Florida State. Jonathan Mayo has a look at the decision two sport athletes face.

Ever wonder what broadcasters do to prepare for games? Alyson Footer has the details and pictures.

Before you go any farther, take a moment today to be happy for what you have and to remember how quickly it can all go away: Jonah Keri has the story of a rollover car accident he somehow survived over the weekend. Keri is due to become the father of twins sometime in the coming weeks.

Apparently it's been a good week for harrowing experiences: Hal McCoy has the story of Aaron Harang and a Reds' equipment manager's drive from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati prior to Harang's appendectomy.

Hall of Very Good recently interviewed Jeff Cirillo, who spent many years as a Brewer position player and one day as an opposing pitcher. It's a good read.

Speaking of Jeffs, if you need a Jeff Sackmann fix, he's got three posts up on his personal blog previewing the US Open, which begins today.

On this day in 1996 the Brewers made a pretty good trade, sending Kevin Seitzer to the Indians for Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 165 home runs over six season as a Brewer. On this day in 2002, though, they made a pretty bad trade, sending Mark Loretta (who would go one to become a two time All Star) to the Astros for Wayne Franklin and Keith Ginter.

Happy birthday today to former Brewers Gabe Kapler (34), Hideo Nomo (41) and Tom Candiotti (52).

Oh, and with summer coming to a close, you're running out of opportunities to use your car as a dehyrdrator.

Drink up.

Baseball Stadiums And You

Eric Stephen — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:06:54 -0000

Watching the Dodgers at another stadium is fun, especially when they win.

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Yesterday, Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts took his first trip to AT&T Park in San Francisco, and what followed from that in the comments was a nice discussion of various ballparks people have attended. It made me do some digging and reminiscing about the stadiums I have been to. What better way is there to spend the off day today than to look back at all the stadiums you have been to? Feel free to give us your ballpark memories in the comments.

Outside of Dodger Stadium, here is my list:

Angels Stadium

I have been here on numerous occasions, but the few that stick out for me are these:

July 18, 1991: This game was one of the reasons I almost never leave early. I was 15, attending the game with both of my older brothers, and thus not exactly in full control of the transportation opportunities. Once Albert Belle broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth off Bryan Harvey, my brothers started to get up and leave. Stunned, and without a ride home if I stayed, I had to leave too. By the time we got to the car, it was 4-1 Indians, which had justified the decision by my brothers...until, that is, the Angels stormed back for four runs off four Indians pitchers (including former and future Old Friends Shawn Hillegas, Jesse Orosco, and Jeff Shaw) to win, 5-4.

August 8, 2000: Sitting one deck up behind home plate, I got to see the tremendous movement on the pitches from Pedro Martinez at his peak, which was a treat. The Angels somehow scratched together two runs to beat Pedro that night.

October 16, 2005: The White Sox won the pennant by taking Game 5 of the ALCS, as Jose Contreras pitched the fourth straight complete game of the series for Chicago. The final out of the series was an unassisted groundout to Old Friend Paul Konerko. The highlight of the game for me was seeing a family friend -- a huge Notre Dame fan -- at the stadium and showing him my USC shirt one day after the Leinart Sneak / Bush Push game.

Petco Park & Qualcomm Stadium

I lived in San Diego for the better part of 14 years, and saw numerous games here. The Dodgers never seem to do well with me in attendance in San Diego, as they are 7-19 lifetime (they did win on July 3 this year though, so I'm on a hot streak). Two games that stood out:

June 11, 1993: The very first game I went to in San Diego. Kevin Gross pitched eight scoreless innings, but the Dodgers -- including rookie Pedro Martinez -- blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth, and the Padres won 5-4.

September 30, 1995: This was the first time I saw the Dodgers clinch anything, as they won 7-2 behind Hideo Nomo to clinch the NL West over the Rockies (who would win the Wild Card). There were quite a few Dodger fans at the park that night.

Coors Field

July 27, 2000: I have only been to one game in Denver, and it was during a family reunion in Colorado. My cousins and I got picked up at the airport and went straight to the stadium. This game was nearly four hours long, yet only nine innings. The Dodgers won 16-11, behind the greatest game of Alex Cora's life. Cora had two home runs, and a double that hit high off the wall.

Chase Field (Bank One Ballpark)

I have been to three games here, only one of which was against the Dodgers.

July 24, 1999: I made the unwise decision to drive to Phoenix from San Diego and back in one day, and was rewarded with Brian Anderson outdueling Darren Dreifort. The D-Backs rode home runs by Steve Finley and Bernard Gilkey to a 3-0 win.

August 22, 2003: The only no-hitter I ever saw, only it wasn't a no-hitter. Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs allowed no hits into the eighth inning, then with two outs future Old Friend Shea Hillenbrand was awarded an infield single even though it was painfully clear from my nosebleed seats that he was out at first base. Zambrano got the next three batters out, so he has a no-hitter in my mind.

AT&T Park

September 30, 2006: I took a detour on my way home from a business conference to see my first two games in San Francisco. The first game was the next-to-last day of the season, and Greg Maddux beat the Giants to clinch a playoff spot for the Dodgers (they would end up as the Wild Card, although at this point that was undetermined). Thanks to Stub Hub, I was sitting in the same row as many of the Dodger family section, including Mia Hamm, Russell Martin's dad, and Carolyn Hughes (who is stunning in person, by the way).

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

August 23, 1996: I have been to a total of four games at Camden Yards, and truthfully none of them really stand out as memorable games, but the park is awesome. This game was a 2-0 Angel win, behind home runs from Chili Davis and Jim Edmonds, but I mostly picked this game because I forgot David Wells was once an Oriole.

Network Associates Coliseum

May 12, 2000: This is a late-inning Matt Stairs home run of which I actually have fond memories, and the only reason was that there are few things better than calling the guy who has a closer who just blew a save in your fantasy league -- in this case Kaz Sasaki of the Mariners -- and letting the crowd noise do the talking.

Safeco Field

October 1, 2004: This game was memorable because Ichiro Suzuki broke the single-season record for hits in a season with his 258th hit, in the first inning. Ichiro, who broke George Sisler's xx-year old record, added two more hits in this Friday night game, and went on to collect two more over the season's final weekend to settle the record at 262 hits.

Wrigley Field

June 4, 2003: My only trip to Wrigley was for a night game, but it was still a great experience. There are really only a few lights there, so it has a surreal effect of having the stands dark and basically only the field lit up. Its almost like watching an outdoor play. This game was the day after Sammy Sosa got ejected for having a corked bat, and the Cubs' faithful, including Jesse Jackson, gave Sosa a rousing ovation before his first at-bat. Five future Old Friends started this game: Julio Lugo, Marlon Anderson, and Toby Hall for Tampa Bay; Hee Seop Choi and Paul Bako for Chicago.

That's my list. A total of 10 stadiums (including Dodger Stadium, and counting both San Diego parks as one). What's yours?

Tuesday Rockpile: If you're not a Dexter fan, you are not paying attention

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:00:13 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Dexter swipes one of his five bases Monday night, more than doubling his career total in four innings of work.

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Dexter Fowler is more than just an awesome name

The evolution of Dexter Fowler has reached ~~light~~ ~~ludicrous~~ Dexter speed. It has been barely a month since the Purple Row community voted that Fowler should not even be on the roster. Yet here he is, a day after tying Willy Taveras for second in SBs in a game with five as a Rockie (all in the first four innings). He could have had six if relief pitcher Glendon Rusch didn't single in front of him in the fifth.

The five stolen bases left him one short of the franchise and modern era record by Eric Young against the Dodgers. Young and Co. took advantage of the exaggerated delivery time of Hideo Nomo that day, just as Fowler and Co. took advantage of Chris Young's long delivery last night. Chris Young is an exceptionally easy target - all 44 attempted thieves were successful against him in 2007.

The Rockies pilfered eight bags as a team last night alone. In case you're curious, that catapults Colorado from 11th in the NL in SBs to first. That's right - first. And to think speed was to be this offense's weakness...that is, until Fowler showed up. Fowler ranks second in MLB in steals, behind only Jacoby Ellsbury. The steals helped him become MLB.com's number one fantasy star of the night. ------>

Not just that, but he is hitting over .300, ranks third on the team in OPS behind Brad Hawpe and Seth Smith and is one home run away from being tied for the team lead. The world is taking notice. Fowler is featured prominently bloggers and more bloggers, Tracy Ringolsby, and Patrick Saunders.

Even the four letter network featured Fowler yesterday....seven hours before his big game. From ESPN's Jason Grey:

"They give me the green light whenever I get on base," said Fowler, who has four steals already. "If I can get a good jump, I'll go whenever I can go."

"He has the green light, but right now he trusts that I know the good situations for him to run," first base coach Glenallen Hill told the team Web site. "Pretty soon, I'm not going to have to tell him when it's a good time to run."

Pretty soon? REALLY soon.

Reasons for Optimism

The Rockies scored 22 runs in the last two days, and they did that while facing two very tough pitchers in Chris Young and Clayton Kershaw. The last time they scored at least 22 runs in consecutive double digit games was July 4 and 5 last season vs. Florida. The outburst has launched the Rockies' previously anemic offense to 4th in the NL in runs.

Despite being four games under .500, the Rockies actually have a Pythagorean win percentage right at .500, which is good for second place in the NL West. In fact, that is a better showing than the Yankees or NL East leading Marlins. And we're still waiting on Cook, Jimenez, Street, Corpas, Buchholz, Helton, Iannetta and Tulowitzki to contribute anywhere near their capability.

Brad Hawpe

After Brad Hawpe was hit in the neck by a Nick Hundley pickoff attempt, he was taken to Rose Medical Center for evaluation. Nothing has been confirmed, though rumor has it he suffered a concussion. That's all we know now, but for what it is worth, our resident medic believes he'll be just fine.

NL West Musings

Dave Cameron at FanGraphs says the Diamondbacks are "in serious trouble."

They couldn’t win the division with quality play last April, but they very well could have lost it with their struggles this April.

The All-Time LA Dodger Team: The #2 Starter

Eric Stephen — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:35:59 -0000

All-Time Lineup: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers: #1

via imdb.com

The vote for our ace starter went about as expected, with Sandy Koufax enjoying a walk in the Park.

All-Time LA Dodger Starting Pitchers
No	Player	Pos
32	Sandy Koufax	LHP

Now it's time to see who follows Koufax in the rotation. To determine the #2 starter, the voting is the same as before, except that Koufax is no longer eligible since he is already the #1 starter.

Eric's Pick

This is between two pitchers, both of whom pitched at least 58 consecutive scoreless innings. Both Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser are more similar than you may think, especially as LA Dodgers. Both had nearly identical ERA+ as an LA Dodger (117 for Big Don; 116 for Bulldog), and both had a roughly 55% winning percentage in LA. Hershiser broke Drysdale's own record for consecutive scoreless innings, during a pennant race no less.

Here are their best five seasons by ERA+:

Drysdale	Hershiser
149	170
139	148
128	148
127	133
122	131

Here are the postseason numbers for each:

Pitcher	Gms	Starts	IP	W/L	BB/K	ERA
Hershiser	8	7	58.0	4-0	19/37	1.71
Drysdale	6	6	37.2	3-3	11/35	2.63

The one postseason non-start for Hershiser came in Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS, during which Hershiser -- who started and threw 7 innings the day before -- famously snuck down to the bullpen to warm up without Tommy Lasorda's knowledge. Hershiser came in with the bases loaded and got Kevin McReynolds to pop out to John Shelby in CF to preserve the amazing extra-inning win.

Both Hershiser and Drysdale were great pitchers in their primes with LA. Comparing them, it just seems like Hershiser was just a bit better. I may be biased since Hershiser was my favorite Dodger before Eddie Murray came along, but I have to go with The Bulldog here, and not just because I met him while working at In-N-Out Burger in high school.

Phil's Pick

HOF Don Drysdale is well known for his 58 scoreless innings in 1968 but he was much better during his Cy Young 1962 season and twice as good in his 64 season. When you look back at Big D's career you seem some strange things. Just one year after throwing 58 scoreless innings he was done. You hear alot about Sandy retiring at 30 but Big D was also finished at an early age as he threw his last pitch at the age of 32. Then again he had been pitching for a long time because he was in the Brooklyn rotation at the age of 19. In fact his first two seasons produced his two best ERA+ seasons of 155 and 154. However this is about his time in LA and while he was one of the best LA Dodger Hurlers, was he the 2nd best?

Kevin Brown for some reason has a reputation as a someone who didn't earn the gargantuan contract bestowed upon him by The Sheriff. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the five seasons that Brown pitched for us he had three seasons that rank among the best seasons of all time for the Dodgers. He may have been a curt SOB but the man could pitch. His 2000 season might have been the best season ever for a RH Dodger pitcher. Only Drysdale's 1964 season and Messersmiths 1975 rival it. The table below shows the VORP leader for every season. Eric has been using ERA+ but I wanted to get a look at what Baseball Prospectus thinks of our Dodger Seasons.


Year	Name	VORP	Year	Name	Vorp	Year	Name	Vorp
1958	Podres	34	1974	Messersmith	67	1992	Candiotti	25
1959	Drysdale	52	1975	Messersmith	85	1993	Candiotti	43
1960	Drysdale	62	1976	Rau	51	1994	Gross	34
1961	Koufax	45	1977	Hooten	58	1995	Nomo	56
1962	Drysdale	65	1978	Hooten	52	1996	Nomo	50
1963	Koufax	88	1979	Hooten	34	1997	Valdez	54
1964	Drysdale	80	1980	Sutton	58	1998	Park	34
1965	Koufax	87	1981	Valenzuala	44	1999	Brown	72
1966	Koufax	100	1982	Valenzuala	49	2000	Brown	82
1967	Drysdale	38	1983	Welch	39	2001	Park	50
1968	Drysdale	38	1984	Pena	42	2002	Perez	58
1969	Singer	74	1985	Hershiser	57	2003	Brown	64
1970	Osteen	34	1986	Valenzuala	45	2004	Perez	49
1971	Sutton	51	1987	Welch	59	2005	Penny	30
1972	Sutton	61	1988	Hershiser	64	2006	Lowe	49
1973	Sutton	62	1989	Hershiser	59	2007	Penny	61
			1990	Martinez	44	2008	Billingsley	51
			1991	Morton	45

As the chart shows Big D had six seasons as the top dog in the rotation. Sutton had 4, Kevin Brown had 3, , Hershiser had 3, Fernando had 3, and shockingly Night Owl Burt Hooten had 3. Messersmith had 2 along with Welch, Nomo, Perez, Penny, and Candiotti. At the beginning of this exercise I was prepared to create a case for Kevin Brown or Andy Messersmith or Orel against Big D. However it looks to me like the Big D really is the man for the Number two spot in the rotation so it is fitting that he join his old holdout mate Sandy Koufax in our rotation.

Also just my own two cents. There is a blog dedicated to bringing a statue of Sandy Koufax to Dodger Stadium. I think it would be more fitting to see a statue of Sandy / Big D back to back one throwing from left and the other from the right. They were a deadly pair from 62-66 and we shouldn't separate them now.

Who's your pick?

Poll

0 votes

254 votes | Poll has closed

The All-Time LA Dodger Team: The #1 Starter

Eric Stephen — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:57:26 -0000

All-Time Lineup: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8

Thanks to all of your votes -- over 1,500 in all -- our All-Time LA Dodger starting lineup is now set:

All-Time LA Dodger Lineup
No	Player	Pos
30	Maury Wills	SS
19	Jim Gilliam	2B
31	Mike Piazza	C
28	Pedro Guerrero	RF
6	Steve Garvey	1B
10	Ron Cey	3B
12	Dusty Baker	LF
3	Willie Davis	CF

Now that we've decided who will score the runs, it's time to find out the primary factors to preventing runs: the starting pitchers.

To decide the five-man starting staff, we are using only pitchers who have started 100 games for the LA Dodgers. There are 29 such pitchers, more than enough from which to choose an excellent starting staff. There are some good pitchers left off the list -- Rick Rhoden and Mike Morgan, for instance -- but none whose absence will affect this list. The only notable name missing really is Chad Billingsley, who is 32 starts shy of the magical 100-start mark, so his 3rd best ERA+ in LA Dodger history will have to wait for future polls.

Here are the 29 starters, ranked by total LA Dodger starts (stats include all games pitched):

Pitcher	Starts	W-L	Win%	ERA+
Don Sutton	533	233-181	.563	110
Don Drysdale	424	187-152	.552	117
Claude Osteen	335	147-126	.538	106
Fernando Valenzuela	320	141-116	.549	107
Orel Hershiser	309	135-107	.558	116
Sandy Koufax	286	156-77	.670	135
Bob Welch	267	115-86	.572	114
Burt Hooton	265	112-84	.571	113
Ramon Martinez	262	123-77	.615	109
Johnny Podres	220	95-74	.562	104
Jerry Reuss	201	86-69	.555	113
Hideo Nomo	191	81-66	.551	104
Doug Rau	184	80-58	.580	106
Chan Ho Park	181	84-58	.592	109
Bill SInger	179	69-76	.476	105
Tommy John	174	87-42	.674	118
Tom Candiotti	159	52-64	.448	106
Ismael Valdes	158	61-57	.517	115
Derek Lowe	135	54-48	.529	122
Pedro Astacio	132	48-47	.505	104
Kevin Brown	129	58-32	.644	147
Stan Williams	129	57-46	.553	105
Andy Messersmith	123	55-34	.618	129
Odalis Perez	120	45-40	.529	102
Al Downing	120	46-37	.554	107
Tim Belcher	119	50-38	.568	118
Brad Penny	115	46-33	.582	108
Darren Dreifort	113	48-60	.444	95
Rick Honeycutt	108	33-45	.423	100

Here's how the voting will work this time around: simply vote for the best starter among all the choices. For instance, now we are voting for the #1 starter. The head honcho. The big cheese. The big kahuna. The guy who will start games 1, 4, and 7 in the World Series. Once that winner is decided, he gets dropped off the poll, and a new poll will commence for the #2 starter, choosing the best from the 28 pitchers remaining. The process will continue until we have chosen five starting pitchers, our all-time starting rotation.

Eric's Pick

This is a no-brainer, right? Sandy Koufax is without question the top starter in Dodger history. His 1963-1966 run represents four of the top nine ERA+ seasons in LA Dodger history, including the top two.

Kevin Brown actually had a higher ERA+ than Koufax (147 to 135), but Brown simply wasn't healthy long enough to come close to this spot, having only been healthy for 3.5 seasons in Los Angeles. Let's face it, if Sandy Koufax -- he of one of the classic short careers in baseball history -- has you beat on longevity, you aren't going to win that battle.

Don Sutton has all the counting stat records, with 15 full seasons with the Dodgers, but he doesn't hold a candle to Koufax. Of the top 25 game scores in LA Dodger history, Koufax has 13 of them. Sutton has two.

Don Drysdale was a great pitcher, but Walter Alston made the choice for me in the 1965 World Series. In Game 7 in Minnesota, Alston had the choice of going with his star RHP Drysdale, on three days rest, or his star LHP Koufax on only two days rest. Alston chose Koufax, who proceeded to win the title by throwing a shutout.

Tom Verducci, otherwise known as Joe Torre's co-author, described Koufax this way for Sports Illustrated in 1999:

Koufax was God's template for a pitcher: a prizefighter's back muscles for strength, long arms for leverage and long fingers for extra spin on his fastball and curveball. The baseball was as low as the top of his left ankle when he reached back to throw in that last calm moment of his delivery—like a freight train cresting a hill—just before he flung the weight and force of his body toward the plate.

I'm comfortable with God's template for a pitcher leading our staff.

Phil's Pick

After getting whacked in my Beltre support I'll slide over today to the guy who should win every vote except those who just want to be different. As we get down to the other spots I'll have plenty to say. Big Don may be in the HOF but will he make our rotation? The starting lineup may not be all I imagined but whoever we put together for our rotation, these guys aren't going to be giving up many runs.

Who's your pick?

Poll

0 votes

Brad Penny

0 votes

Darren Dreifort

0 votes

Rick Honeycutt

0 votes

207 votes | Poll has closed

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Phil's Pick

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Don Sutton

Don Drysdale

Claude Osteen

Fernando Valenzuela

Orel Hershiser

Bob Welch

Burt Hooton

Ramon Martinez

Hideo Nomo

Jerry Reuss

Bill Singer

Tommy John

Tom Candiotti

Derek Lowe

Kevin Brown

Andy Messersmith

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Brad Penny

The All-Time LA Dodger Team: The #1 Starter

All-Time LA Dodger Lineup

Eric's Pick

Phil's Pick

Who is the #1 Starting Pitcher in LA Dodger History?

Don Sutton

Don Drysdale

Claude Osteen

Fernando Valenzuela

Orel Hershiser

Sandy Koufax

Bob Welch

Burt Hooton

Ramon Martinez

Johnny Podres

Jerry Reuss

Hideo Nomo

Doug Rau

Bill Singer

Tommy John

Tom Candiotti

Ismael Valdes

Derek Lowe

Pedro Astacio

Kevin Brown

Stan Williams

Andy Messersmith

Odalis Perez

Al Downing

Tim Belcher

Brad Penny

Darren Dreifort

Rick Honeycutt