Results tagged “joetorre”

ESPN's hall-of-fame baseball analyst Peter Gammons went on The Michael Kay Show based in New York City to talk about postseason baseball. What came out of his mouth at the end of the interview was both shocking yet not surprising.

The Dodgers really weren’t supposed to win tonight’s game. “It just comes down to one really weird inning,” said Saint Louis Cardinals Cy Young candidate, pitcher Adam Wainwright, of the bottom of the ninth. “We were in the driver’s seat there. They had two outs, nobody on base.”

It’s come down to this - a heavyweight divisional slugfest to duel for the National League West division title between the defending champions Los Angeles Dodgers and the little engine that could Colorado Rockies.

X-Dodger Brad Penny gave the Dodgers Stadium crowd of 52,438 quite a thrill on Saturday afternoon. And in doing so he lost his first game as a San Francisco Giant, 12-1.

6’4” power-pitcher Brad Penny was a Dodger. He had a few good years in Dodgertown, and even dated Hollywood starlets. Today, he returns to Chavez-Ravine as a San Francisco Giant.

In a highlight-laden game, a storm of Dodger-good and Padre-bad netted the Los Angeles Dodgers (81-56) a 7-4 victory.

It was supposed to be an easy week at Chavez-Ravine. The NL West’s two cellar-dwells were coming to face the Dodgers for seven games.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (80-55) 4-2 victory charge over the Arizona Diamondbacks (61-74) was led by two players who started the week on other teams. Jon Garland (9-11,) the game’s winning pitcher, came to Dodgers Stadium on Monday as an Arizona Diamondback. Last week, Ronnie Belliard, whose 3 RBIs accounted for 75% of the Dodgers' offense, was a Washington National. LA-native Garland, pitched seven economical innings. The newest Dodger hurler allowed two runs (both earned,) while letting up five hits, and walking one of his old teammates.

For the second straight game, the Los Angeles Dodgers (74-50) need but only two runs to defeat the Chicago Cubs (61-60) -- the league rival they made quick work of in last season’s Division Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs lather up the sunscreen for a not-too-common Saturday-day game, in their third contest in a series of four. A win would give the Dodgers their third in a row, and perhaps the momentum which Dodgers manager Joe Torre seeks.

Today and tomorrow, ThinkCure!, the Dodgers’ official charity hosts its second annual Radiotelewebethon. ThinkCure! aims to bring Southern Californians together to work towards curing cancer. Their efforts are in conjunction with City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Now that the Lakers season is over it’s time to get caught up on all things Doyers. At just about the halfway point in the season the Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 47-24. They are 23 games over .500 and hold an 8 ½ lead in the NL West over the San Francisco Giants. What’s remarkable is that they’ve done this with their best slugger Manny Ramirez

Dodgers Skipper Joe Torre, not yet done promoting his Yankee tell-almost-all, stopped by Universal City on Monday to visit another New York City transplant. As Conan mentions at the top of the video, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball right now. Hopefully we'll all get to say that in October.

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email.

Dylan Hernandez, the 28-year-old Dodgers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, is set to embark on his second full season covering the team. The native Southern Californian and graduate of UCLA has worked for a slew of papers before the Times hired him in 2007. He recently ended one of the more difficult periods in his professional life: covering the Manny Ramirez saga for the Times through sleepless nights and hundreds of stories. I recently caught up with him about the rigors of covering the sport, how traditional sports journalism has been affected by baseball bloggers and what has to happen for the Dodgers to resign Manny Ramirez.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube, the only things aspiring broadcast journalists need to show off their talent are a camera and an Internet connection. That's it. Talent, an ability to read and a studio that isn't your parents' basement are all optional. In such a crowded space, though, it's difficult to stand out among the crowd and bring in the page views, especially with a gifted wordsmith like Kige Ramsey winning over the hearts and minds of Internet viewers around the world.

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Clippers 113-88. The Clippers were hoping it would be like their last meeting up in Portland where the Clips escaped with a one-point victory, but with almost all their starters in the infirmary there was no chance. Brandon Roy led the way for the Blazers with 33 points while Al Thornton led the Clips with 23 points. Amazing the Clippers were very much in the game trailing by only six points in the fourth quarter. But the Blazers blew the Clippers out 36-15 in the last quarter.

           

On Saturday, the gorgeous grounds of Santa Anita Park in Arcadia hosted sports’ second richest day, the Breeder’s Cup. Over $17 million in prize money was handed out on Saturday, which is about $16.5 million more than you’d typically find being handed out on pretty much any other Saturday in Santa Anita.

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 10-1. It was over in the first inning when Padres starter Wade LeBlanc got his first out when the eighth man Angel Berroa came to the plate. By then the Dodgers had already scored five runs. Dodger's starter Chad Billingsley came to bat after that with a squeeze play for the second out and the sixth run. While Billingsley had a somewhat shaky performance, he only gave up one run. Meanwhile the Padres managed to get a hit in every inning but just couldn't string together the hits. It's much like it has been all season for them. With the Diamondbacks losing 7-4 to the Cardinals, the Dodgers magic number is down to three.

It’s very very tempting to bury the Dodgers right now. With their lack of run production, bad defense and shaky pitching, the Dodgers should be dead. But being in the Loser’s Division, they still have a shot to play October ball.

Manny-mania has hit Southern California.

Every fear I had going into Friday night’s Dodger game against the Washington Nationals came true.

Notable Notes

The Dodgers first half was, as Project Runway 4 winner Christian Siriano puts it, “A hot tranny mess.”

In 1989 I was chewing on the strings of my glove while patrolling the infield for the North End Little League Tee-Ball Padres in my hometown of Bridgeport, CT. We didn't lose a game. We didn't win either - they don't keep score in tee-ball.

After this weekend's exposition games against the Boston Red Sox (the highlight being Saturday's Coliseum game), today was the first season game of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Playing against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers took it home at 5-0.

So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.

• With exactly one year to go until a new president is inaugurated (and one more year of Jon Stewart's hilarious Bush headlines), the field of Republican hopefuls just got smaller. After poor showings in, well, every primary, caucus and poll, San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter is ditching the presidential race. No word on what he will do now, but rumors are flying that Hunter will continue to build that fence along the Mexican border he started months ago.
• And speaking of the election, Gov. Arnold is holding off on endorsing a Republican candidate, preferring to stay "neutral." For now. Some are postulating that Schwarzenegger is waiting to endorse someone in the Republican field to see if his friend and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independent, will enter the race.
• It's been a rough Saturday night/Sunday morning in LA County as 11 people have been shot at two separate parties in Long Beach and Compton. The first shooting happened late Saturday at a birthday party in Long Beach, when several gang members apparently crashed the party and started a fight. The second shooting took place early Sunday in Compton, when four or five men turned up to a party and started shooting partygoers, shooting eight and leaving three in critical condition.
• Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to address the Chatsworth/Porter Ranch State of the Community Breakfast next month. It's the first time the mayor will speak to the group about issues affecting the area. Yawn. The interesting thing about this is that in the the Daily News headline, they referred to the mayor by his first name: "Antonio to speak to area chamber." I didn't know the Daily News and the mayor were such good friends.
• The Dodgers will play two March exhibition games against the Padres in Beijing. While some veteran players are privately saying they don't want to go, Matt Kemp sounds downright giddy about the trip. I hope the old versus young rift that ripped through the clubhouse late last season does not carry over into this season. Isn't this why we go Joe Torre?
• Several gay porn sites have posted pictures of under age water polo players from Orange, LA and San Diego counties without them knowing. Authorities think a campus police dispatcher may have played a role in taking the pictures. Gives a whole meaning to block that ball, doesn't it?

The symbol of the new year is a baby, and what better baby to ask for predictions than LAist's own sports editor?

So what has been going on in Dodger land since I last posted? Well a big hearty congrats go to Russell Martin for winning the Silver Slugger Award for National League catchers. Voted by coaches and managers, Martin led the NL catchers in hits, homers, runs, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Only Mike Piazza (from 1993-1998) was the other Dodger catcher to win the award since its inception in 1980....