With an off-day on Thursday, and a big series coming up this weekend against the Giants, it felt like the right time to begin introducing our readers to the new members of the 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers. So, with apologies to Stephen Colbert, below is Part One of our 436-Part Series, "Better Know a Dodger". And who better to start with than perhaps the most anonymous of Dodgers, shortstop Wilson Valdez. Not to be......

We've kind of danced around it in the past couple of weeks, but now we're outright concerned about the recent performance of the Dodgers. After losing 5-2 to the Braves yesterday, the Dodgers have lost first place in the NL West and now sit behind both the Diamondbacks and Padres. It's disconcerting that the Dodgers were outclassed this week by both the Cardinals and Braves, arguably the NL's two best teams. "The competition has......

LAist felt the Dodgers would be good this season. But now we're really impressed. With an 8-6 come-from-behind win over Milwaukee, the Dodgers now are a Major League-best 11-2! Now, LAist knows not to make too much of a great early season start. But consider that the Dodgers have managed to play fantastic baseball without Eric Gagne, Brad Penny, or Wilson Alvarez yet. To all of those Dodger doubters, who think using new innovations......

According to reports, Derek Lowe could be a Dodger for four years at $36 million as early as today. This would probably conclude the most bizarre Dodger offseason in recent memory (and there have been quite a few contenders). LAist only hopes Paul DePodesta knows what he's doing. LAist confesses that its always been a Derek Lowe fan. The guy has great stuff, and rose to the occasion in the postseason this year for......

Jim Tracy may want to rethink his decision to pull Kaz Ishii from the rotation. In yesterday's 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers saw the reclamation project of Hideo Nomo take a step backward. Nomo sputtered, giving up six runs in 3 2/3 innings, leading one to wonder if his shoulder can hold up against any team not called the Arizona Diamondbacks. So with Nomo a question mark, Brad Penny still......

Hideo Nomo has clearly lost his ability to pitch effectively on the Major League level, and the Dodgers need to end the charade of sending him to the mound every fifth day. Last night was a typical 2004 Nomo start, as he gave up seven earned runs in just four and two-thirds innings, raising his ERA to 8.06 in the Dodgers 7-1 loss to the Giants. His fastball was clocked in the mid-80s. Makes you......

Arte Moreno has been getting a lot of praise for opening up the checkbook this offseason, but teams like the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Dodgers could tell you that spending money does not always guarantee success. You have to spend wisely. So while Vladimir Guerrero is making Moreno a SoCal icon, LAist wants to know why the Angels haven't been criticized for the acquisition of Bartolo Colon? By any measure, Anaheim overpaid for the......

These are tough times for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They just went through their second long losing streak of the season, finally beating the Angels 10-5, but find themselves three and a half games behind the Giants and in third place. LAist is particularly concerned that in the past week the Dodgers have given up more than seven runs a game. Duaner Sanchez, Darren Dreifort, Wilson Alvarez, and even Guillermo Mota have struggled in......