Ugh. That's pretty much all I have to say. With all of this talk about needing a staff Ace, we've just seen Vicente Padilla, Hiroki Kuroda, and Clayton Kershaw pretty much own the American League All Star team. As bad as the hitting has been, Rafael Furcal seems to be his old self. Manny is, well, being Manny (finally) and  Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp are going to have to show up at some point, even if its because they're both worried about contracts. The bullpen, as shaky as it has been, seems to be shaping up. I'm as comfortable with Kuo, Bellisario, Weaver, and Troncoso as I would be with anybody. 

But the big guy. Jonathan Broxton. He obviously cannot handle clutch situations. He has had enough chances to prove himself, and every time he needs to really, really come through he just blows up. IMO, that means it's time to add a new closer to our very long list of needs. I'm not even really sure who to go to. 

Thoughts? 

Sorry if I've already missed the boat on this thread...

Who's going? Who's looking forward to hearing a bunch of Red Sox fans boo Manny while they conveniently pretend that he isn't the reason they started following the team in the first place? Who's excited to talk shit to all of the Celtics fans?

I'm driving up from NYC on Friday night with my wife. Meeting four others there. We should all pick a bar and do a little get together before the game. Roll into Fenway in a sea of Dodger Blue.

Any thoughts? i don't really know Boston all that well. All i know is that

Thanks to Passover, an amazing wife, and a ton of coffee I spent the last two days doing the 7 hour drive from NYC to Pittsburgh and back to watch baseball in my 12th major league stadium, including my 7th that I was actually watching the Dodgers play. 

I figured as it was opening day, it might be worth reporting this one back to you guys. As you can imagine, there were some highs and lows. I'll start with the lows first. 

Lows

The city of PIttsburgh. I don't know how to describe it. The people of this town move around like ghosts with blank, depressed stares on their faces. Having spent nearly all of my life in Los Angeles and New York, two cities with separate but equal reputations for not being all that welcoming to guests, I was blown away at how unfriendly Pittsburgh was. There were multiple instances of people just not talking to us at all - completely ignoring questions or friendly conversations and staring the other way. 

I have seen the Dodgers play in San Francisco, Denver, New York, and Philadelphia and I've always been treated nicely by most. Sure there are the occasional trash talkers, but that's part of the fun.  It's the being ignored thing that I thought was so strange. Anyways. 

The game. If you think it was tough watching the Dodgers lose to a team with a payroll worth less than the Yankees starting rotation on TV or on ESPN gamecast from your desk, try waking up at 430 am, driving 7 hours and doing it surrounded by 35,000 Pirates fans who haven't seen their team above .500 in who knows how long, and probably won't for the rest of the season. As you all saw, the bats looked good (5 runs on 12 hits), the fielding looked lazy, and the pitching looked shaky at best. As a longtime Dodger fan, it's tougher to watch the Dodgers give up 11 runs to a bottom tier team than it is to watch their bats struggle against a mediocre pitcher. 

Primanti Brothers. I've wanted to try this legendary Pittsburgh burger for I don't know how long, and it was absolutely awful. No flavor at all. Just like the rest of the town. Snap!

Highs

PNC Park. It is pretty much exactly how it looks on TV. Absolutely flawless with stellar views of the city, perfect weather, and a great walk over the Roberto Clemente bridge. $43 (marked up on StubHub) got us about 19 rows behind the Dodger's on deck circle with great views of the plate and of first base. This was on opening day, mind you. I can't imagine what tickets go for mid season. In case you were wondering, I only saw maybe 50 Dodger fans. In comparison a game at Shea Stadium or Citi Field will bring out a few thousand, easily. 

via i527.photobucket.com

view from my iPhone - objects in camera are closer than they appear. 

PNC Park's location. And you'll see why. After walking around the stadium taking some pictures (and dealing with some really obnoxious hecklers), we walked back over the bridge to downtown Pittsburgh. The first building on the left was the Renaissance Hotel in Pittsburgh. I immediately noticed a couple of cops standing outside and thought "hmm, I wonder if the Dodgers are staying at this hotel." They were. No less than 20 minutes (and a trip up the street to Starbucks) a white bus pulled around to a number of young kids and autograph seekers waiting outside the hotel. 

Out walked a miserable bunch of millionaires - Vicente Padilla, Don Mattingly, Andre Ethier, Jonathon Broxton, Jeff Weaver, and Manny Ramirez. None of them acknowledged any of us, except for Mattingly after I screamed "Donny Baseball!"

Being severely disappointed (though not at all surprised) we went back to our hotel, showered, changed and grabbed an outdoor spot at a bar/restaurant about 8 buildings up across the street from the hotel. A lot of players came and went, most not so recognizable from afar, though Manny was. He ignored fans again on the way in, kind of a dick move to be honest. About 30 minutes later, one Ned Colleti walked by. Here was our conversation. 

Me: "Can I take a picture with you?"

Ned "Um, who do you think I am?"

Me; "You're Ned Colleti."

Ned "Um, sure."

Me: "You did a great job putting the team together this year" (a lie, but I don't blame him, I blame his budget)

Ned: "Yeah, it would've been nice to win today."

Me: "There's 161 games left - I wouldn't stress."

Ned: Blank stare.

Me: "Thanks!"

About ten minutes later Andre Ethier walked by and into the 7-11 across the street. A bunch of kids followed him and waited outside for autographs, but I didn't want to bug him. Plus I think my wife would leave me for him. 

Anyways - I hope you all enjoyed the read. Would I suggest the trip to Pittsburgh? Not in particular, at least not unless you're trying to complete a list or get some autographs or  something. Think Blue!

Reposting this from the beginning of the month!

I've been wanting to do this for a while but have never gotten around to it. The goal is to get every Laker fan in NYC in one place (I know that won't ever happen) and watch a Laker game. That simple. 

I decided to choose this game because 1. It's the Celtics, 2. it's on a Sunday so it's easy, and 3. there's no NFL that weekend. 

Feel free to invite anybody you know who would want to come. 

This game's in the refrigerator: the door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jello's jigglin'!

Details:

January 31, 2010 

3:30 pm EST

Mullhulland's 

312 Grand St. 

Brooklyn, NY 

HopStop It. - Right off the L - cheap drinks, very safe neighborhood for those of you who never leave Manhattan. 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=384574895021&index=1

I've been wanting to do this for a while but have never gotten around to it. The goal is to get every Laker fan in NYC in one place (I know that won't ever happen) and watch a Laker game. That simple. 

I decided to choose this game because 1. It's the Celtics, 2. it's on a Sunday so it's easy, and 3. there's no NFL that weekend. 

Feel free to invite anybody you know who would want to come. 

This game's in the refrigerator: the door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jello's jigglin'!

Details:

January 31, 2010 

3:30 pm EST

Mullhulland's 

312 Grand St. 

Brooklyn, NY 

HopStop It. - Right off the L - cheap drinks, very safe neighborhood for those of you who never leave Manhattan. 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=384574895021&index=1

I was just looking at the schedule for this year. If we faced the top of every rotation in June we could be facing the following pitchers in June of 2010. 

Brandon Webb

Dan Haren

Edwin Jackson

Derek Lowe

Jair Jurgens

Javier Vasquez

Chris Carpenter

Adam Wainwright

Brad Penny

John Lackey (I think he'll be an Angel again)

Joe Saunders

Ervin Santana

Aaron Harang

Edwin Volquez

Bronson Arroyo

Josh Beckett

Jon Lester

Clay Bucholz

CC Sabbathia

AJ Burnett

Andy Petite

Tim Lincecum

Barry Zito

Matt Cain

What does this mean? Not a whole lot. I just thought it was pretty crazy. That's 5 different Cy Young winners in one month, one of them who won it twice and a few of the most consistant, best pitchers from the last 10 years that haven't won Cy Young's as well. If only strength of schedule counted for something!

Hopefully the Dodgers won't blow their load in the first 6 weeks of the season again and can pace things out this year, because June will be a tough, tough month. 

In the last month the Dodgers have come out on top of some pretty impressive pitchers, why stop now?  Here's what we've done since September 19th. 

Tim Lincecum (2008 Cy Young Award Winner) - Dodgers win

Chris Carpenter (2005 Cy Young Award Winner) - Dodgers win

Adam Wainwright (2009 Cy Young Finalist) - Dodgers win

Cole Hamels (2008 World Series MVP ) - Dodgers win...almost

Pedro Martinez (1997, 1999, 2000 Cy Young Award Winner) - Dodgers win

Cliff Lee (2008 Cy Young Award Winner) - Dodgers Win!!!!!!

This is all just preparation for CC Sabathia. I aint scurred. 

via assets.nydailynews.com

Comment where you feel you need to. 

1. Loney cutting off that throw reminded me an awful lot of the Jeter/Giambi play...You know besides the fact that it won't be hyped as the greatest play in the history of sports because it wasn't made by the intangible adonis of the way the game's supposed to be played.

2. I blame that collapse more on Franklin than on Holliday. Even after Loney's AB, there's still two outs for the bottom of the order and you're still up by a run. 

3. It was weird how much they talked about that game on the news today - I guess when the Red Sox lose and the Yankees are off, they need something to fill space. 

4. I really, really (for his sake) hope that Vicente Padilla doesn't nail Matt Holliday in the junk tomorrow. 

I really appreciated this morning's Rally or Whine post by Phil. After staying up until nearly 2am EST last night watching the game, I was bummed but decided that no matter what happens the Dodgers are going to the post-season for the third time in four years and I should be pretty excited. 

I also decided to think of things that make me feel good about this year's post-season. Please add yours in the comments. Its like a stress-relief exercise. 

• Joe Torre. Sure, the last time he won a World Series he had a rotation of Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, El Duque, and David Cone and a team so stacked that David Justice, Jose Vizcaino, and Jose Canseco were on the bench; but the guy has managed 6 different teams to the World Series. He understand the preparation, attitude, and attention that successful post-season play requires. 
• The Veterans. Whether or not they play in a single inning or not, guys like Manny Ramirez, Jeff Weaver, Jon Garland, Jim Thome, Brad Ausmus, Doug Mienkiewicz, Ronnie Belliard and Juan Pierre have either won a World Series or at least played in one. Experience should speak for something. 
• The Young Guns. James Loney, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Jonathon Broxton, Chad Billingsley, and Clayton Kershaw. They all have real post-season experience. They know what its like to win, and what its like to lose. They (hopefully) won't have their first-time jitters. 
• The Team. Everybody on this team from the starting rotation to the 8 starting position players to the bench has at some point played amazing baseball. In other words - if everybody is at their best, there are little holes in this team. 
• Hot and Cold. They can't possibly play any worse than they did last week. We can only hope they all heat up like Rafael Furcal has over the last few weeks. 

Assuming the Dodgers can not blow a 3 run lead with 1 out in the bottom of the ninth against the worst team in baseball win this morning and clinch the division title, we're left with a few options. If the Braves continue this tear, they could end up winning the WC which means we would play them. If not, its either the Cards or the Phils. 

Well you can't always look at regular season match-ups as a true preview for a series, they are still a good thing to look at.

The Cardinals have absolutely owned us this year. We went 2-5 against them scoring 19 runs in 7 games, 12 of which came in the two wins. To face a rotation of Chris Carpenter/Adam Wainwright/Joel Peneiro is pretty scary. 

The Phillies we did a bit better against this year, going 4-3. This was of course before they added Cliff Lee, but also before Brad Lidge took a huge dive. If Hamels is as lights out as last year, this team is even scarier in the post-season. 

The Braves we went 3-4 against this year, but they don't scare me as much. Lowe owned us, but I think we have the better team and the upper hand. 

Leave your "why" in the comments. 

Assuming the Bums can go wire-to-wire and finish up on top, or at least stay in the race with a WC birth, anybody have any thoughts on what the starting rotation will be? With the way Bills has been recently, and the way he did last year in the post-season, I'm not sure that he makes it over Garland who's got WS experience. 

My thoughts:

Randy Wolf (10-6, 3.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP)

Clayton Kershaw (8-8, 2.89 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)

Hiroki Kuroda (6-6, 4.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) 

Chad Billingsley (12-10, 3.99 ERA, 1.32 WHIP)

- - - -

Jon Garland (9-11, 4.23 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)

Vicente Padilla (11-6, 4.42 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)

Any thoughts? 

Tonight's game, to me, is exactly why we signed Garland. An inning eater when we're facing top-tier pitching like Haren. If Garland lasts 6-7 innings and keeps us within 3 runs we're left with a fresh bullpen as well as Pierre, Thome, Loretta, and whoever doesn't start between Hudson, Blake, and Belliard. 

With possible post-season matchups against guys like Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Cliff Lee, or even CC Sabbathia, we're going to need somebody like this. 

I'm not sure what it was.

Maybe it was the way you ended last year, giving us faithful a glimpse of hope.

Maybe it was Broxton hitting 103 two pitches in a row in the WBC. 

Maybe it was O-Dog's opening day Cycle.

Maybe it was the record breaking home winning streak to start the season.

Maybe it was Ethier's 3 homeruns against Seattle.

Maybe it was Bobbleslam.

Maybe it was the return of Mannywood.

Maybe it was the return of form for Randy Wolf

Maybe it was Ethier's 5 walk-offs, Kershaw's second half, or Kemp's HOFish numbers.

Maybe it was the trades for Sherril, Garland, and Thome.

Maybe it was the confidence you showed in staying away from Lee and Halladay. 

Maybe its having the best team ERA in baseball. 

Maybe Vinny's announcement that he's almost done. 

Maybe it was Joe Torre's second chance. 

Maybe it was the Lakers teasing us with hopes of a 1988 repeat. 

Whatever it was, I was pretty sure that this was the year. And now you can't even score against the Padres? With that lineup? Nothing? 

All I can hope for now is a Hollywood Ending. 

In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody who leaves the house looking like this shouldn't be allowed to represent the Dodgers. And I'm not talking about how stoned he looks, either. 

I'm not sure why we need a new "I Love LA" anyways, as the original is such a classic. Besides, Ozomatli already did a Dodgers song. 

I'd love to see some of the other big sports starts of LA show their Dodgers support....Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Landon Donovan, Oscar De La Hoya, Pete Carrol, John Wooden etc.