The first pitch Chad Billingsley made in the bottom of the fourth inning went a couple of feet short of being deposited into McCovey Cove. Nonetheless there was no doubt that ball was a home run from the instant it left Pablo Sandoval’s bat. And there was never any doubt that despite the Giants only taking a 1-0, there would be no way for the Dodgers to mount a recovery. more ›

If there’s something that Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti is at, it is public relations. After all his first forays into the world of Major League Baseball was working in PR for the Chicago Cubs. So it comes as no surprise that he pulled of a PR coup over the last couple of months here in Los Angeles by opening the wallet for Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda, Rod Barajas, Jon Garland, Juan Uribe, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Vicente Padilla, Blake Hawksworth, Dioner Navarro and most recently Eugenio Velez. more ›

For the second straight year it was raining at Dodger Stadium the day after their season ended. I pointed this out to Dodger Talk co-host Josh Suchon on Monday as we were walking from the parking lot and he gave an over-the-top reply: “It’s God crying that there’s no more baseball here in LA this year.” more ›

In a move to help bolster the bullpen, the Dodger promoted right-handed pitcher Kenley Jansen from Double-A Chattanooga and designated right-handed pitcher Justin Miller for assignment. more ›

Ned Colletti is mad at Matt Kemp. Matt Kemp and his agent Dave Stewart are made at Ned Colletti. Dodger fans are mad at Ned Colletti. And in this circle jerk of madness the Dodgers at 8-13 are off to their worst start since 1993. While Colletti’s rant on KABC Radio has exploded through the Dodger blogosphere, everyone here at Dodger Stadium is over it. more ›

LA Lakers defeat New Orleans Hornets 110-99. The Lakers hang on just long enough defensively to give the Staples Center crowd their tacos. Andrew Bynum led all scorers with 21 points and nine rebounds while Kobe Bryant scored 18. The Hornets who were without Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic were led by former UCLA point guard Darren Collison who scored 20. The Lakers blew the game open in the second quarter taking a 20 point lead going into the locker room at the half. While the Lakers dropped off the intensity a little bit in the fourth quarter, it’s yet another win for the Lakers who take the lead in the conference thanks to the Phoenix Suns losing to the New York Knicks. more ›

The Dodgers and their general manager Ned Colletti agreed to a contract extention the Dodgers announced today. The terms of the contract extension has not been announced yet. In the midst of the McCourts' impending divorce it is just one sign of reassurance for the Dodger faithful. Colletti is the first Dodger general manager to see his teams reach the playoffs three times in four seasons, and is one of three active general managers to do so in his first four seasons: New York Yankee's Brian Cashman and Boston Red Sox Theo Epstein being the other two. more ›

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. more ›

Am I the only Dodger fan who wants to see Frank McCourt and Scott Boras bound and gagged Pulp Fiction style and fisted until they can come to terms in the Manny Ramirez negotiations? more ›

Agent Scott Boras sent a letter to the Dodgers this morning on behalf of Manny Ramirez rejecting the Dodgers' latest two-year offer. Resigned to starting over from scratch, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said, "When [Manny's] agent finds those 'serious offers' from other clubs, we'll be happy to restart the negotiations." more ›

LA Lakers defeat NY Knicks 126-117. In his 13th season in the NBA Kobe Bryant continues to astound people. Not only did he break Michael Jordan's record of most points scored by an opponent at the new Madison Square Garden (55 points), he also surpassed Bernard King's mark of 60 points for any player which was set on Christmas Day 1984 with 61 points. This marks his 4th highest scoring game in his career. Clearly upstaged was Pau Gasol's 31-point, 14 rebound effort filling in the void left by Andrew Bynum. more ›

Orlando Magic defeat LA Clippers 95-88. Man Dwight Howard has a tiny head, but boy can he play. He had a monster of a game scoring 22 points a notching 20 rebounds with six steals. And the Magic needed every point from their big man because at the end of three quarters the Clippers were leading by nine. Then the fourth quarter happened when the Clippers scored only two points in the first eight minutes. Now I've actually watched a couple of Clippers games recently, and they're not horrible. They have great shooters in Baron Davis, Al Thornton and Eric Gordon. It's just something happens in that fourth quarter where it falls apart. more ›

Two years, $55 million? Really Ned? more ›

Manny-mania has hit Southern California. more ›

So by now everyone knows the big Dodger news today. more ›

LA Angels over Boston Red Sox 7-5. The Angels crushed Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka to the tune of six runs on seven hits in five plus innings. The small ball team went big ball as Casey Kotchman hit a two-run homer and Torii Hunter hit an Earl Weaver to account for five of the six runs in that fateful sixth inning. The Angels relievers did just enough to get the win for Jered Weaver who went 5 2/3 innings giving up three runs on six hits and three walks. Francisco Rodriguez despite giving up a solo homer to Manny Ramirez notched his 44th save of the season. The Angels have now defeated the Red Sox six consecutive times, the best record and best road record in baseball. more ›

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

Notable Notes more ›

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

The Dodgers are in a lot of trouble right now, and all the trouble is coming from the front office. more ›

The Dodgers are quite the lucky team. The Lakers’ attention in the media have deflected most of the focus away from how putrid the Dodgers are. more ›

I really keep hoping the Dodgers would break out and show they are a team that could contend for a World Series, but I have to face the fact they are making me look like an oracle. The Dodgers are a team that will make things interesting for a while but will come up short in the end. more ›

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

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.... more ›

Am I the only person not drinking from the Joe Torre Kool-Aid? I’m hearing almost everyone gushing how Torre will bring credibility and a winning attitude to the Dodger organization. Even in Monday morning’s press conference Dodger owner Frank McCourt said, “Ned Colletti and I agree there is no substitute for a strong character to lead our team to the top.” It’s funny he brings up the character issue since the way Grady Little... more ›

I go out to do some grocery shopping, and I come home to a shitstorm. As I'm typing these words, I'm listening to the Dodger's conference call announcing Grady Little's resignation. According to Ned Colletti, he has not offered the job to anyone yet. Grady Little took part in the call. He said there were a variety of reasons for this parting. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that. More on this as details come out.... more ›

Ducks 4, Kings 1 - After Los Angeles shocked Anaheim 4-1 in Saturday's season opener in London (yes, London), the defending champs showed who really is king. Despite 10 goals in two days, British fans were reportedly most excited about a good ol' fashioned hockey fight. Welcome back, NHL. Welcome back. A's 3, Angels 2 - The AL West champion Halos hit a skid when they clinched the pennant, but they saved face in their... more ›

Fuck Bill Plaschke. Fuck TJ Simers. Fuck the LA Times. Fuck Grady Little. Fuck Ned Colletti. Fuck Frank McCourt. Fuck Jeff Kent. Fuck the Dodgers. When I read Plaschke’s column Wednesday morning that basically put Matt Kemp in the hangman’s noose, my blood started to boil. How does he have the unmitigated gall to scapegoat Kemp and let the veterans have a free pass just because they have “experience”? This entire mess became public... more ›

After I declared the Dodger season over last week, they go and make me look like a complete asshole by winning the next four games in convincing fashion. But thanks to the Giants, I didn’t look like a complete asshole. As the Dodgers won game after game, the Giants tanked game after game against the wild card leading Padres. With each win instead of inching closer to the postseason, they were merely jogging on... more ›

After the 2000 season, then Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone offered pitcher Darren Dreifort a five-year $55 million contract. Dreifort had come off of a 12-9 season with a 4.16 ERA. Contract in hand Dreifort made 26 starts, 60 relief appearances and 15 trips to the operating table. He did not pitch for the last two years of his contract. This past offseason GM Ned Colletti signed free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt to a... more ›