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USC: The Trojans open their 2007 football season Saturday against Idaho at the Coliseum amid a Super Bowl-sort of atmosphere I am not sure the game warrants. OK, let’s pretend USC represents the AFC, and Idaho is kind of close to the NFC West. USC is favored by 46 points over Idaho, which would be close to the kind of AFC-over-NFC rout we have become accustomed to seeing in Super Bowls. All that’s missing is Rex Grossman. . . . Another similarity: The USC-Idaho game, which kicks off at 7:15 p.m., will be accorded eight-plus hours of pregame hype on 710 ESPN. How is this possible? According to the news release, this is how:
11 a.m.-noon: Trojan Talk of DKLA (a repeat of the Aug. 28 program).
Noon-2 p.m.: Trojan Chat Room (a repeat of the Aug. 29 program).
2 p.m.-5:45 p.m.: USC GameDay.
5:45 p.m.-7:15 p.m.: Trojan Warm Up.
According to the release, USC GameDay is “three-and-half hour pre-game program hosted by Steve Mason, Curt Sandoval and Dave Denholm; and features Insiders, Colin Cowherd, Harvey Hyde, David Newberry, Darrell Rideaux, Brandon Hancock, Steve Bisheff, Curtis Conway; along with Tailgate Reporter, Jason Pullman. Trojan Warm Up, with Steve Mason and John Jackson, begins 90 minutes prior to kick-off. Following the conclusion of the game, Trojan Download begins with a one-hour USC Network Post-Game with Pete Arbogast and two hours of local 710 ESPN Post-Game with David Newberry and Darryl Rideaux.”
More than eight hours of pregame talk! So much talk that they have to run two hours of canned talk so the talkers can rest up and carbo-load for the live talk. More than eight hours! That’s longer than Emmanuel Moody’s USC career. That’s longer than David Beckham’s first MLS season. Really. Before his likely season-ending injury on Wednesday, Beckham had played 310 minutes for the Galaxy -- that’s only 5 hours and 10 minutes.
The game itself is expected to last around 4 hours or so, unless you happen to coach, play or root for Idaho. In that case, the game will seem a lot longer than the pre-game shows.
UCLA: The Bruins open their football season Saturday in Palo Alto against Stanford at 12:30 p.m., and if Karl Dorrell had his way, there would be 0:00 minutes of pre- or post-game talk, and no media talking in the press box and especially on the sideline during game. Something along the lines of full-contact golf, minus the news conferences. Shhh! Quiet please!!! Sensitive artiste, feeling intense heat from the crass commercial success expected from him now after years of under-appreciated obscure renderings, at work!
Too bad FSN Prime Ticket and not Karl Dorrell TV is broadcasting this one. Along with limiting on-air noise to “game sounds,” KDTV would also edit out all footage of Bruins wide receivers running bad routes, Bruins quarterbacks throwing bad passes, Bruins defenders missing tackles and coverage assignments, and Bruins players limping off the field with top-secret classified bumps and bruises. KDTV’s over-the-air motto: “Why Can’t We Just Let The Football Do The Talking?”
We’ve already tried that. UCLA played 13 games of football last season and lost six of them. For a football coach trying to keep his job and recruit better players, is it really a good idea to have a 7-6 football season do the talking?
Angels: “We swept the Mariners in Seattle in August! We swept the Mariners in Seattle in August!” OK, settle down old-time California Angels fans, complete payback for the Haul-Down of ’95 is still a ways away -- not to be finished until the final out of the Angels victory (if, when) that reduces the magic number to none. . . . Until then, the Angels have a 5 1/2-game lead to protect and consolidate against the rest of the AL West -- starting with this weekend’s home three-game series against Texas. . . . Garret Anderson, scarred veteran of the ’95 shipwreck, is purging his own demons in a highly personal and constructive way, driving in 41 runs since the All-Star break. Those 41 RBIs are more than the season totals of the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp (33 RBIs), James Loney (35), Juan Pierre (33) and two fewer than Rafael Furcal (43). One more reason why the Angels began Friday 25 games over .500, and the Dodgers did not.
Dodgers: Late-season trip to San Diego! Late-season trip to San Diego! Code blue! Code blue! Hopes of their fans raised by their recent sweep of the Washington (.433 winning percentage) Nationals, the Dodgers now try to avoid dashing them on the Rocks of Despair -- aka Petco Park. The Padres trail the D-backs by one game in the NL West title race and lead the Dodgers by three games in the wild-card chase. After tonight’s well-well-look-who’s here reunion with David Wells, the Padres will start ace Jake Peavy (15-5, 2.18) on Saturday against Derek Lowe, back to .500 at 11-11 via three consecutive victories after his mid-summer 0-5 nightmare. On Sunday, Grady Little turns the series finale over to similar story Chad Billingsley, 9-4 after back-to-back victories following five consecutive losses. . . . Well-well-look-who’s-here reunion No. 2: Milton Bradley (5 home runs, 11 RBIs in his last eight games) meets up again with Jeff Kent (7-for-11 in the Nationals sweep). Fun times ahead, no doubt.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Echoes of Mo Vaughn and Joe Rudi and, well, Jason Schmidt rang ominously through the Southland heralding the news that David Beckham will be out six weeks because of the sprained knee he suffered in the first half of Wednesday night’s SuperLiga final against Pachuca.
Big-money free agents are always a risk, but Beckham arrived in L.A. with a flashing neon-red “HANDLE WITH CARE!” sign and warning sirens and an envelope with big bold lettering that read, “DON’T PUSH THIS.” He arrived at least five years past his Manchested United prime, owning much more experience in orthopedic examination rooms than on major tournament victory stands. He landed at LAX two months ago as damaged goods, hobbled by an ankle injury sustained in his last Real Madrid match, which he played at the advanced midfielder-age of 32.
Nobody in a power position paid much attention to any of this. Not AEG dream weaver/ daydream believer Tim Leiweke. Not overtaxed and overmatched Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas. Not can’t-win-for-losing Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop. And certainly not Beckham, who controlled much of his fate and playing time and just joined Kobe Bryant as the latest glaring example why players should not make coaching and/or front-office decisions while still on the (somewhat) active roster.
During his 310-minute MLS stint, Beckham appeared to be a hazardous-to-himself combination of a) Eager-To-Please; b) Dead-Set-On-Disproving-The-‘Too-Fragile’-Label; and c) I’m-The-Man. He took this Soccer Ambassador to the U.S. mission seriously -- except when asked to spread the word during postseason interview sessions, when everybody wanted to hear the word. That was a bad play by Beckham, but not nearly as reckless and foolhardy as the group decision not to give his ankle proper time to heal because . . . because . . . well, because MLS remains pathetically desperate for attention (remember the shameless “Freddy Adu Is Here!” campaign) and Leiweke convinced himself that the transition of soccer from U.S. niche sport to No. 3 American spectator sport behind football and baseball could happen overnight.
In 2000, Leiweke thought Luis Hernandez would make the Galaxy a world-class club.
In 2007, he thought Beckham would make the Galaxy a global brand.
As Big Soccer Ideas go, Leiweke is 0-2. Which is almost as lousy as the Galaxy’s current 3-10-5 league record.
It now appears Beckham’s first Galaxy season is over, before it barely begun. England, too, could go the same way as the Galaxy in its scuffling Euro 2008 qualification campaign. Seven games into a 12-game schedule, England is fourth in a seven-team group -- only the top two finish advance to next year’s tournament -- with matches soon against second-place Israel (Sept. 8) and third-place Russia (Sept. 12). They are pretty much must-win home matches for England, and Beckham will not be available for either of them.
It’s difficult to feel much sympathy for England Coach Steve McLaren, who played Beckham 90 minutes against Germany on Aug. 22, or anybody involved in the Galaxy (ahem) brain-trust who approved the ludicrous decision for Beckham to play 90 more minutes against Chivas USA on Aug. 23. Everybody who played a part in this fiasco is getting precisely what he deserved. Again, the real victims are the fans, who today have to be thinking, “If this is AEG’s idea of how to sell soccer in the U.S., that explains what’s been going on with the L.A. Kings.”
christine.daniels@latimes.com
During the days and nights of Aug. 27-28-29, the Dodgers and the Angels combined to sweep each of the six games they played. This warrants some sort of mention in the historical record . . . .
OPPONENTS SWEPT
Dodgers: Went 3-0 against the Washington Nationals, who are often confused with the patsy team that used to travel with the Globetrotters for the express purpose of losing every night. The confusion is understandable.
Angels: Went 3-0 against the Seattle Mariners, who had been pressuring them to step aside as the Second-Best Team In Baseball*. (*If you go by won-lost records alone. Before this series, anyway.) Angels deliver a three-day message to the Mariners then: Simmer down.
LOCATION OF SWEEPS
Dodgers: At home at Dodger Stadium. Clearing the parking lot after Wednesday’s victory took even longer than usual. Many fans, in a state resembling catatonia, were unable to drive.
Angels: At Seattle’s Safeco Field. Mariners’ fans arise in protest. “This would have never happened in the Kingdome!”
MARGIN OF SWEEPAGE
Dodgers: Won 5-4, 4-3 and 10-9 in 12 innings. Average margin of victory over the worst team in the National League: 1.0 runs.
Angels: Won 6-0, 10-6 and 8-2. Average runs per game by Angels: 8.0. Average margin of victory: 5.3 runs. Looking like a smart move not to trade away pitching for power-hitting help. Although, you know, it might be useful to package Ervin Santana in some sort of trade. Just for grins.
IMMEDIATE TANGIBLE RESULT OF SWEEPS
Dodgers: Produced an equation that could stump a few NFL hopefuls taking their next Wonderlic tests: The Dodgers went 3-0, did not gain an inch on the San Diego Padres, yet moved from 6 1/2 games out in the NL West to 3 1/2 games. How is this possible? (Answer below.)
Angels: Increased their AL West first-place over the M’s from two to five games in three days. Two days before the Safeco Series started, the Angels’ lead was down to one.
(Answer to Dodgers brain-teaser: The Arizona D-backs, formerly in first place, went 0-3 against the Padres, who have leapfrogged the D-backs into first place by percentage points. Dodgers picked a good time to do some NASCAR-style drafting.)
UP NEXT
Dodgers: Games Friday-Saturday-Sunday against the Padres. Not the Nationals. Games to be played at Petco Park. Not Dodger Stadium. Dodgers are 2-7 the last nine times they have played at Petco.
Angels: Start a 10-game home stand with games Friday-Saturday-Sunday against Texas, followed by games Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday against Oakland. Lots of winnable games, it would be appear. The Rally Rats are certainly amped with anticipation.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
It isn’t often a sports franchise missteps so badly it changes the dictionary, but that’s the Galaxy for you. Before 2007, the word was spelled “debacle.” But then the Galaxy got a hold of it, took it to stunningly new levels, redefined it, really.
And now it is spelled “de-BECK-le.”
Aside from a few million column inches of worldwide newspaper publicity and a couple glittering moments in a SuperLiga semifinal against D.C. United, has ANYTHING gone right for the Galaxy since it signed David Beckham? Beckham’s knee injury in Wednesday’s SuperLiga final against Pachuca -- Galaxy lost on penalties, of course -- was just the latest in a long and painful litany that all pro sports franchises ought to carefully study (course title: “How To Ruin Your Once-Respectable Team In 250 Million Easy Steps”).
A quick recap:
Jan. 11: Fourteen months removed from the 2005 MLS Cup championship, the Galaxy (with a considerable nudge from a desperate-for-any-kind-of-buzz MLS) announces the signing of Beckham, 32, injury-prone, with lots of hard mileage already on the odometer -- but worth a lot more mileage when it comes to getting MLS on “SportsCenter” and the front pages of America’s sports sections. It’s all downhill from here.
April 8: With Beckham due to join the club in mid-June, Galaxy opens the regular season with a 0-0 draw against 2006 MLS champion Houston. In retrospect, a Galaxy ’07 high-water mark.
April 12: Galaxy plays its second regular-season match, loses, 2-1, to FC Dallas. Panic sets in.
May 12: Galaxy loses to New England, 3-2, as its record slips to 1-2-1. In retrospect, things for the club were looking rather rosy then.
May 14: Concerned and convinced that the Galaxy roster has too many shrinking violets -- with life under the Beckham global magnifying glass closing fast -- GM Alexi Lalas begins tinkering. Figuring he needs more veteran players with Big Stage Experience, Lalas signs former Portugal international Axel Xavier, 34, infamous for his overtime hand-ball against France in the Euro 2000 semifinal. Ensuing penalty sets up Zinedine Zidane’s game-winning PK. Still, technically, it qualifies as Big Stage Experience.
June 17: After three seasons of underachievement at Real Madrid, Beckham starts Real’s regular-season finale against Mallorca needing a victory to clinch the Spanish League title. Real trails, 1-0, when Beckham limps off in the 65th minute with a rather substantial ankle injury. Beckham’s replacement, Jose Antonio Reyes, scores in the 68th minute, and again in the 83rd. Real wins, 3-1.
June 19-21: More tinkering by Lalas. First he signs forward Carlos Pavon, all-time leading scorer on the Honduras national team. Then he trades forward Robbie Findley, 22, and midfielder Nathan Sturgis, 20, to Real Salt Lake for midfielder Chris Klein, who is 31 but had 21 U.S. national-team appearances from 2001-2004. (With Lalas, this apparently qualifies as Big Stage Experience.) Findley now shares the Real team lead in goals with three. Pavon has made only four starts with the Galaxy, scoring twice in seven overall appearances. Klein had not done a whole lot before Wednesday’s highlight-reel bicycle kick -- which earned the Galaxy a chance to lose, 4-3, in the penalty-kick shootout.
July 21: Beckham’s ankle isn’t healed enough to allow him to practice with the Galaxy, but setting the tone for the next six weeks, that doesn’t stop the Galaxy from playing him in a meaningless exhibition against English power Chelsea. ESPN has hyped this exhibition as “Beckham Comes To America!” to embarrassing over-the-top extremes, apparently trying to make up for 11.5 seasons of abject MLS neglect. The Galaxy feels the pressure from the network, Coach Frank Yallop sends on Beckham late in the second half, Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell cleans out Beckham with an extra-time tackle and the MLS’ Great Meal Ticket comes up limping. Beckham escapes serious injury; you might guess the Galaxy would have thanked its lucky stars for a lesson not too expensively learned. You would have guessed wrong.
Aug. 15: In the SuperLiga semifinal against D.C. United, Beckham scores on a free kick and assists on a goal by Landon Donovan. For the first, and only, time with Beckham in the lineup, the Galaxy wins, 2-0. Everybody gets very excited. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, 2-0 SuperLiga victories do not count in the MLS standings.
Aug. 22-23: Over an absurd and surreal span of 36 hours, Beckham plays 90 minutes in London for England against archrival Germany, then flies 5,400 miles to L.A. to play 90 minutes for the Galaxy against Home Depot Center rival Chivas USA. Late in the first half, Chivas’ Jesse Marsch kicks Beckham in the stomach, brawl ensues, one player for each team is red-carded. Beckham loses both games by an aggregate score of 5-1.
Aug. 26: Beckham sits out the Galaxy’s 3-0 loss at Colorado. Turns out his ankle was a little sore.
Aug. 29: Beckham starts the SuperLiga final because we’ve seen the Galaxy and we all realize this could be their last chance to win a trophy for a very long time. Beckham, 32, injury-prone, with lots of hard mileage already on the odometer, collides with Pachuca’s Fernando Salazar, hurts his knee and limps off the field in the 30th minute. Beckham looks very concerned as he plops himself on the Galaxy bench. Eventually, the injury is diagnosed as a knee sprain. Unofficially, the Galaxy decision-makers are diagnosed with a brain cramp. About an hour later, Klein converts his game-tying bicycle kick, sending his team to the shootout, where the training wheels fall off. Galaxy goes a Shaq-like 50% from the penalty spot -- no-gos by Peter Vanegas (saved), Team Captain Donovan (saved) and Xavier (wide right).
In the Euro 2004 quarterfinal against Portugal, Beckham missed a shootout penalty kick by even a bigger margin. Obviously, Xavier was watching.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Who: Sixteen-Runs-In-Two-Days Angels, Suddenly Meandering Mariners.
What: Game 2 of a three-game series. Angels won the first, 6-0.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 28, one day closer to the resolution of this thing.
Where: Safeco Field. Or, as Angels continue collect runs in bulk, we ought to rename it Costco Field.
Final score: Angels 10, M’s 6.
AL West race at glance: Angels have doubled their lead, from two games to four, since arriving in Seattle.
Story line: This time, 12 years after The Great Collapse, the M’s are the ones who squander the big lead. This time, the Angels overcome a 5-0 first-inning deficit, brought to you by . . . .take one guess . . . yes, “Brutal Road Pitching Blowouts R Us,” courtesy Ervin Santana, who surrendered all five runs in one-third of an inning. Listen. What are the Great Northwest Winds whispering? I’m not 100% certain, but I think it’s “S-a-l-t Lake, S-a-l-t Lake . . . "
Sub-plot: Former Angels pitcher Jeff Weaver can’t hold Seattle’s 5-0 lead, yielding an unearned run in the third inning (not his fault), back-to-back home runs (!) by Gary Matthews and Kendry Morales (yes, this really happened) in the fourth, and two more runs in the fifth (he is pulled from the game after recording one out in the fifth). Enter the M’s bullpen, pretty much close to all of it. Five more Seattle pitchers are required to complete the final 4 2/3 innings. Brandon Morrow (3-3) gets the loss when the Angels break a 6-6 tie with a four-run eighth.
Key lesson learned from sub-plot: In case we all forgot, there were reasons the Angels gave up on Jeff Weaver.
Key to the rest of the race: Obviously, the Angels need to send more starting-rotation rejects up north to Seattle before their four-game Sept. 20-23 series against the M’s, and then have the M’s start them against the Angels. I believe Ervin Santana is now available.
Stat of the day: Guerrero went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, is now batting .509 (27 for 53) against the M’s this season. This is one difference between ’95 and ’07, it should be noted.
Season series: Angels lead, 10-4, and are 7-3 since May 15. Five more head-to-head meetings to go.
Tonight: Jered Weaver (9-6, 3.96) versus Felix Hernandez (10-6, 3.90). The Angels go for the sweep with the Weaver Brother They Wanted To Keep. Just a hunch: Final score will be somewhat smaller than 10-6.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
The Great Chase to be No. 4 in Baseball's Weakest League!
1. San Diego (72-59): Brandon Webb loses! Brandon Webb lasts only 5 1/3! Brandon Webb yields half-a-dozen! After his 42-inning scoreless streak hit the wall last week against Milwaukee, Arizona’s Webb lost his winning streak -- which had reached six -- in Tuesday’s night’s 6-4 defeat at San Diego. The Padres remain the National League’s reigning Webb-busters, now 7-4 lifetime against the 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner. The Padres, appearing tired of life in sub-first-place suburbs, are 7-2 in their last nine and back to within one game of Arizona in the NL West. Another game or two and the Pads could be moving out of here and the D-backs moving in.
2. Philadelphia (69-62, 3 games back): Phillies remain a half-game ahead of the Dodgers when Guillermo Mota serves up a 10th-inning home run to Ryan Howard. It's an old story. Just more ex-Dodger coming back to hurt his former club.
3. DODGERS (69-63, 3 1/2 back): In a holding pattern here. The Dodgers defeated the Nationals again, 4-3, but everybody does that. In related news, owner Frank McCourt announced a $70-million Dodger Stadium renovation plan, which immediately prompts a question from skeptical Dodger fans tired of falling asleep in between Dodgers home runs: How about a $70-million Dodger roster renovation plan? McCourt insists this big-money outlay won’t affect off-season player acquisitions, but, you know, hmmm. At any rate, it appears the stadium renovation can begin in earnest in just a few weeks. Say, early October.
4. Atlanta (68-65, 5 back): Nineteen strikeouts against the Marred-lins – the Braves should be ashamed. Florida’s 4-3 11-inning victory was the Marred-lins’ second in 14 games.
5. Colorado (67-65, 5 1/2 back): It was Giants 3, Rockies 1 as Cain gets the win, Winn gets 2 RBIs, Molina get a home run and, really, at this point, do we need to hear any more?
6. St. Louis (64-64, 6 1/2 back): Well, look who’s back in the NL Top 10. For this, the Cards can thank the in-disarray Astros (7-0 losers to the Cards) and, of course, the Contenders Who Used To Be The Milwaukee Brewers.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
National League Wild Card Race At A Glance . . .
1. San Diego Padres (71-59): They defeat Arizona, 3-1, as Milton Bradley homers, continues to annoy Dodgers from afar.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (68-62; 3 games back): Phillies pound Mets for 18 hits in 9-2 victory on the same day the Tigers rout the Yankees, 16-0. New York baseball teams lost by a combined 25-2 on Monday. To one team that has lost more than 10,000 games and another that lost 113 times in 2003.
3. DODGERS (68-63; 3 1/2 back): The Dodgers’ flight back from New York didn’t touch down until 3 a.m. on Monday, with some team members complaining they didn’t get to bed until 6 a.m. When you’re that tired, all you can do is think about getting some sleep. This has some therapeutic value. Thinking solely about sleep means you have no time or room to think about striking out, popping up with runners in scoring position, dropping baseballs and throwing away mid-game leads. Minds thus freed, the Dodgers regrouped and defeated the Nationals, 5-4, after trailing, 4-2, in the sixth. Sleep Deprivation Revives Dodgers’ Playoff Hopes! (How else to explain Juan Pierre’s 15-game hitting streak?)
4. Atlanta Braves (68-64, 4 back): Mark Teixeira Update: Since joining the Braves on Aug. 1, Teixeira, much coveted by way-too-hopeful Dodgers and Angels fans, has batted .316 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. Among Dodgers, only Russell Martin (16) Jeff Kent (16), and Luis Gonzalez (12) have hit more than 10 home runs this season. And yet, the Braves are one game below .500 (12-13) with Teixeira in the lineup. Evidently, they didn’t get enough help before the trade deadline.
5. Colorado Rockies (76-64, 4 1/2 back): No one cares about anything the Giants do anymore, No. 756 just sucking the life out of their season (and, really, MLB’s season too). In case you’re wondering, the Giants are still in the league and on Monday they ended the Rockies’ three-game winning streak, 4-1.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (65-65, 6 back): Remember all those Milwaukee-Detroit and/or Milwaukee-Boston World Series predictions just a few weeks back? Then August happened.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Who: Trying-Not-To-Look-Over-Their-Shoulders-Too-Much Angels, Not-Going-Away Mariners.
What: Game 1 of a three-game series. Kind of a big one.
When: Monday, Aug. 27, a dozen years after The Great Collapse.
Where: Safeco Field. Or, as Angels fans refer to it: Is It Safeco Yet? Field.
Final score: Angels 6, M’s 0.
AL West race at glance: Angels build lead back up to three games. Meaning that no matter what else happens these next two games, the Angels will leave Seattle in first place. It’s something.
Story line: Dehydrated Angels starter John Lackey dehydrates M’s attack with seven-hit shutout, leaving M’s feeling much sicker.
Sub-plot: Garret Anderson, stirring at last for the Angels at a fairly opportune time, hits his second home run in as many days, later adds a two-run double. Three RBIs for the night for Anderson. Big deal. Six days earlier, he had 10 against the Yankees.
Sub-plot sidenote: Six days after losing to the Angels, 18-9, the Yankees lost Monday at Detroit, 16-0. New York Giants send Yankees thank-you card for taking the heat off Giants defensive unit 13 days before NFL opener.
Stat of the day: Lackey in ’07 against Seattle: 3-0, 24 consecutive shutout innings, 18 hits allowed -- all of them singles.
Season series: Angels lead, 9-4, and are 6-3 since May 15. Six more head-to-head meetings to go.
Tonight: Ervin Santana (5-12, 6.03) versus Jeff Weaver (6-10, 5.51). Intriguing pitching matchup between former Salt Lake Bee and former Anaheim Angel.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Angels: Seattle, here they come. Somewhat impressively, and surprisingly, the Angels arrived in the Emerald City still clinging to a two-game lead over the M’s after salvaging a split in their latest head-scratching four-game set with Toronto (that’s T-O-R as in torment the Angels). After pulling a Galaxy and disintegrating in a 9-2 Saturday defeat, the Angels reconfigured on Sunday and won the finale, 3-1 -- Kelvin Escobar logging eight innings and his career-high 15th victory of the season. The Blue Jays’ offense momentarily morphed into the Angels’; all six of their hits on Sunday were singles. . . . Great stat from the Sports Network game report: Garret Anderson is the 17th MLB player with 250 home runs, 2,000 hits, 1,000 RBIs and 450 doubles. You find these kind of obscure statistical revelations only in baseball. I wonder how many MLB players have 250 home runs, 2,000 hits, 1,000 RBIs and 449 doubles.
Dodgers: So what was the most fall-down-with-eyes-rolling-and-head-spinning shocker on Sunday? David Wells winning his first start for the Dodgers despite dodging 10 baserunners in five gut-churning innings? Or Wells and gut churning out a fifth inning BUNT SINGLE to trigger as two-run rally that led to a 6-2 Dodgers triumph? . . . Hint: That BUNT SINGLE was Wells’ 20th basehit in 21 seasons. . . . This, ahem, rather inventive and eccentric performance by Wells moved the Dodgers to within 3 1/2 games of San Diego in the NL West wild-card chase. . . . Funny, this sort of thing never happened when Brett Tomko used to pitch. . . . Did you know Wells is the oldest pitcher to start for the Dodgers since they moved to Los Angeles? And Wells can tell you, he sure heard a lot of boos on that fateful day the Dodgers pulled out of Brooklyn.
Galaxy: I attended a wedding reception on Saturday evening where, after many celebratory libations had been enjoyed, the conversation in my group turned to “Is the Galaxy as presently composed the worst team in MLS history?” The no-contest consensus: Yes. Oh yes. . . . Certainly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger sieve of a defense in the league’s dozen years. On Sunday, the damage in Colorado was Rapids 3, Rapidly Decomposing Galaxy Nil. . . . Or, to put it another way: No Beckham. No Donovan. No Defense. . . . Poor Joe Cannon. I have seen rec-league backlines play with more composure and cohesion than the current Galaxy collection. Including some of the people at the reception shaking their heads in disgust about the current Galaxy collection.
Chivas USA: Tale of two Home Depot Center Tenants: Galaxy is 0-5 in its last five MLS matches, Goats are 3-0 in their most recent three -- including Sunday’s 1-0 triumph over Real Salt Lake. Goats are now 11-6-3 with 36 points, earning them a second-place West Conference tie with Dallas. . . . Footnote: Instead of using his foot to kick David Beckham in the midsection, Jesse Marsch converted his leg-swing power into the game’s only goal. Anger, when properly channeled and directed, can be power.
Kobe: He scored 20 points in Team USA’s 113-76 victory over Brazil. That Group B finale runaway included a first-half 59-17 blitz. . . . Who’s playing defense for Brazil? The Galaxy?
christine.daniels@latimes.com
This was the week the Baltimore Orioles were glad Garret Anderson doesn’t play for Texas . . .
1. Da Trojans: These days, “Trojans Chatroom” on ESPN Radio sounds as if it were commandeered by “Da Bears” Superfans of SNL legend (apparently dipping into da college ranks to do a little scouting). “Who is ever gonna score on Da Trojans? How is dat even gonna be possible?” Question for a future Chatroom: “What if Da Trojans were coached by DITKA?” Answer, of course: “All humanity would den bow at their feet.”
2. Texas Rangers 30, Baltimore Orioles 3: “OK, Rangers on a roll against Da Trojans with DITKA batting cleanup?” “Final score would be . . . oh . . . Trojans 46, Rangers 2.” “Da Rangers would score only two runs?” “Right. DITKA would also be pitching for Da Trojans. And den he would lose interest in da ninth inning.”
3. Kobe Bryant: “All right. Da Trojans and DITKA against Kobe?” “Would this be Kobe by himself? Or Kobe with Da Lakers?” “Without! Are you outta your mind?!” “OK. Just checking. But den he’d have nobody to inbound da ball.” “All right, all right. Coack K inbounds da ball.” “OH! Well dat makes a difference. In dat case, it would be quadruple overtime. No, wait, quintuple overtime!” “And den Bynum comes by and asks, ‘Can I play?’ And Kobe says ‘Get him outta here!’ And while he’s doing dat, Da Trojans grab da ball and DITKA scores da winning layup!”
4. UCLA: Curiously absent from the above discussion.
5. Garret Anderson: His 10 RBIs in one game are one short of the American League record, set by Tony Lazzeri in 1936. Lots of people wanted him to go for the record, but Anderson couldn’t get too worked up about it.
6. Angels-Blue Jays “Dugout View”: On Thursday, local baseball viewers had a choice: Watch traditional Angels coverage with Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler miked on FSN West -- or “Dugout View” with just cameras and “game sounds” on Prime Ticket. Either way, fans did not hear a discouraging word about the Angels.
7. Karl Dorrell: “Media coverage with only cameras and ‘game sounds’?! How do we get some of that over here?!”
8. David Wells: When does a 44-year-old overweight pitcher with a 0-3 record and 14.33 ERA in his last four starts sound like an upgrade? When he replaces Brett Tomko in the starting rotation.
9. Chivas USA: Guess what? L.A. has an exciting soccer team that has a chance to win the championship this season!
10. David Beckham: Sitting this one out of the Top 9 this week. He needs a rest.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Angels: Considering that they have a 6-3 record against the Yankees this season and are 4-3 in their last seven games against the Red Sox, the Angels would seem well-positioned for a successful run this postseason. That, however, assumes the Angels do qualify for a postseason position. . . . Once a sure thing, the Angels’ postseason hopes are wobbly, with the team awakening Friday morning with a one-game AL West lead over Seattle -- and a slew of wild-card hopefuls breathing down their necks. The Angels are the only AL contender that can honestly say they’d rather be playing the Yankees or the Red Sox this weekend than the Toronto Blue Jays. Thursday, the Blue Jays opened a four-game series in SoCal with a 5-4 triumph, improving Toronto’s 2007 record against Los Angeles of Anaheim of Orkin to 3-1. Scrounging with the rats for some shreds of optimism, the Angels will start Joe Saunders (7-1, 3.25) on Saturday and Kelvim Escobar (14-8, 2.85) on Sunday. As far as ERAs in the starting rotation go, that’s as good as the Angels can do.
Dodgers: Doing all they can to refute the notion that late is always better than ever, the Dodgers finally released Brett Tomko, after Tomko (2-11, 5.80) hung a five-month millstone around the necks of a team now struggling to stay afloat in the NL wild-card race. On the eve of a three-game series against the Mets at Shea Stadium, Dodgers announcing they were cutting ties with Tomko to make way for David Wells. Wells might be 44 with a bloated 5.54 ERA for San Diego this season, but any way you look at his signing, it has to be an improvement over Tomko. Then again, you could say the same had the Dodgers announced they were re-signing Carlos Perez. . . . Take a look at the names now dotting the Dodgers’ pitching staff: Well, Jason Schmidt, Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Randy Wolf. Once upon a time, that sounded like a World Series-caliber rotation. Of course, that time was somewhere around 2003.
Galaxy: Since announcing in January the acquisition of the world’s most famous soccer player, the Galaxy has become the most unsightly mess in MLS, losing ugly and often across the board -- losing games (their current MLS record is 3-9-5), perspective, credibility and apparently their minds. The club’s handling of Beckham since the midfielder’s June ankle injury with Real Madrid has been a textbook case of “How Not To Deal With A Precious Yet Fragile Mega-Million-Dollar Investment.” Or, if you prefer the made-for-TV title: “Becks As In Wrecks.” . . . Beckham has played three MLS game so far and the Galaxy has lost them all. The latest was Thursday night’s debacle against Chivas USA, a 3-0 defeat that disgraced the terms “Super” and “Clasico.” Sunday, the Galaxy plays at Colorado, but Beckham isn’t making the trip. After playing 270 minutes in six days -- 180 on back-to-back nights in London and Carson -- Beckham now needs time to rest his bad ankle, the Galaxy and Beckham (or is it Beckham and the Galaxy) have determined. As big-picture planning goes, this last week in the life of Galaxy Midfielder David Beckham is the equivalent of a back-pass -- with the keeper not paying attention.
Chivas: And now, for the right way to build an MLS contender. It took the Baby Goats only two seasons to eclipse the Galaxy in the West Conference standings, and in Season Three the competitive gap has become a chasm. After Thursday’s 3-0 victory -- it could have been 8-0 if not for Galaxy keeper Joe Cannon’s acrobatics -- Chivas (10-6-3) leads the Galaxy by 19 points in the standings. Maykel Galindo scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season in the rout and has clearly been the best international import to hit L.A. soccer in 2007. Sunday, Chivas and Galindo host Real Salt Lake at the Home Depot Center. Real’s team leader in game-winning goals, with two, is Robbie Findley, who played nine games this season with the Galaxy before being traded a month before Beckham made his Galaxy debut against Chelsea.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
So, in a span of about 36 hours, David Beckham played 90 minutes for England against Germany, lost, flew 5,400 miles from London to L.A., played 90 minutes for the Galaxy against Chivas USA, lost. The effort expended and the travel required were immense, but not nearly as great as the aggregate score of the two games.
Beckham’s Teams 1, Beckham’s Teams’ Archrivals 5.
Whoever’s calling the shots in this first leg of Beckham Galaxy’s career ought to look at those numbers and give it all a re-think. You don’t have to be a soccer expert to know that Beckham, operating on an ankle badly sprained in June, should not be playing 180 minutes in less than two days on two different continents. Throw in the 90 minutes he played last Saturday in New York and Beckham just played 270 minutes in a span of six days.
First impressions suggest that the Galaxy is irresponsibly desperate in wringing every minute, every cross, every pass out of the Beckham in hopes of turning the ignition in a hopelessly stalled vehicle. But now we’re hearing word that Beckham is pushing the envelope and the issue, essentially telling the Galaxy that he will play in this game, in this stadium, against this opponent. Either way, something is fundamentally wrong with the situation.
The kick that Chivas’ Jesse Marsch delivered to Beckham’s midsection in first half of Thursday's 3-0 Chivas victory was going to happen sooner or later, this being soccer, Beckham being the most-marked man in this league's history. When the inevitable occurred, Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse stepped up as Beckham Bodyguard and threw a punch at Chivas defender Alex Zotinca, who retaliated by head-butting Harmse. Which is about as close as a Galaxy-Chivas USA match is going to get to re-creating a Zidedine Zidane moment.
Double red cards for Harmse and Zotinca. (Lesson learned by Zotinca: This is what can happen when you don't stay out of Harmse's way.) Both teams play the rest of the game with 10 men. Curiously, Beckham remained one of those 10 till the end for the Galaxy. Worth noting: Galaxy forward Landon Donovan and Chivas defender Jonathan Bornstein also played in Europe on Wednesday -- representing the United States in a 1-0 defeat at Sweden. Both played 63 minutes in that game, then flew back to L.A. Chivas, which seems to have grasped the concept of running a coherent soccer operation better than their older SoCal brothers, wisely sat Bornstein out of Thursday’s match. Donovan sat out the first half-plus, coming on as a substitute in the 58th minute. And Beckham played every second.
Then, after the match, when every reporter in attendance needed comments from one man, the man of the hour, the man of three-hours-played-in-two-days, Beckham, self-proclaimed Soccer Ambassador to America, did not meet with the media.
Well, of course. All that travel and all those minutes on the pitch can tire a guy out.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
I just got off the phone with a sportswriter friend, giving him the news that Butch van Breda Kolff died.
My friend’s response was typical, and summed up the former Laker coach’s legacy in three words: “He benched Wilt.”
In the Lakers Pantheon of Forgettable Moments, that ranks right there with “He traded Shaq.” In Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, with the Lakers at home and on the verge of purging their Celtics curse with one of the greatest starting lineups of all-time -- Jerry West plus Elgin Baylor plus Wilt Chamberlain -- an untimely streak of stubbornness by van Breda Kolff low-bridged the Lakers at the worst possible time.
With 5:45 left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers trailing by nine points, Chamberlain injured his knee while wrestling for a rebound. Chamberlain was regarded throughout the sport as an iron man, an invulnerable giant. So his asking out of crunch time in Game 7 was a shocking sight, and van Breda Kolff reacted emotionally to a situation that required a cooler head on the Lakers bench.
Van Bred Kolff took Chamberlain out, sent in reserve center Mel Counts and watched as the Lakers pulled to within three points with three minutes to go. Then Counts, having an awful shooting night, hit a jumper and the deficit was one, 103-102. Chamberlain told van Breda Kolff he was ready to return.
It was Winning Time.
It was Wilt Time.
Van Breda Kolff told Chamberlain to stay put. “We’re doing well enough without you,” the coach said, and you want to talk about famous last words. With little more than a minute left, Don Nelson lofted his Foul-Line Jump Shot Too Far -- the ball hit the heel of the basket, ricocheted several feet above the rim, and then returned to Earth through the center of the hoop. Two more Celtics points. The Lakers’ dream was dead. Final score moments later: Celtics 108, Lakers 106.
Keeping Wilt on the bench was one of the costliest decisions in franchise history. It cost Baylor his best chance at an NBA title; Baylor retired nine games into the 1971-72, when the Lakers finally won their first championship in Los Angeles. It cost Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke credibility; his pregame decision to load the Forum rafters with celebratory balloons in anticipation of a Lakers victory has become a cautionary tale of hubris. And it cost van Breda Kolff his job; shortly after the 1969 Finals, the coach resigned.
In Chamberlain's autobiography, "Wilt,'' the Hall of Fame player called van Breda Kolff ``the worst coach I've ever had.''
In “The Show,” Roland Lazenby’s 2006 oral history of the Los Angeles Lakers, West bitterly recalled that critical moment in Game 7 of ’69:
“I just thought he was hurt. Not till afterwards did I kow that he should have been back in the ball game, that he asked to go back in the ball game. But if people thought we were better off with Wilt Chamberlain sitting on the bench, that’s a bunch of bull.”
Fortunately for a later generation of Lakers fans, Phil Jackson never petulantly benched Shaq in a big postseason game because Shaq was overweight.
Unfortunately for those fans, Mitch Kupchak traded Shaq after the championships dried up, thereby guaranteeing the franchise no more championships in the foreseeable future. Different era, different error.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
In National League action Wednesday night, the Dodgers scored more runs in a single game than they have all season in a 15-3 triumph over Philadelphia. Which sounds like an NFL defensive struggle, five goals beating one, against the Eagles. Except for the minor fact, of course, that L.A. has not had an NFL team since 1994.
In American League action, the Yankees and the Angels combined for 10 more runs after their Tuesday night 18-9 run-a-thon. On Wednesday, the Yankees, owned 80% of the runs to avoid a series sweep, 8-2.
Add up all those Wednesday runs: 15 by the Dodgers plus 3 from the Phillies plus 8 by the Yankees plus 2 from the Angels. And those 28 plate-crossings would still leave you short of the 30 runs Texas scored Wednesday against Baltimore.
Yes, Texas Rangers 30, Baltimore Orioles 3.
This happened after the Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Braves.
One team, nine innings, 30 runs.
So many runs by one team in nine innings that in MLB stadiums across the land, old-school scoreboards that allow no more than 19 runs were rendered obsolete by the eighth inning. (The old-school thinking was: “Why would we ever need to go to 20?” But old-school stadium planners never saw the 2007 Orioles pitching staff.)
Texas scored more runs in a single game than any big-league team in 110 years! In 1897, a team called the Chicago Colts defeated Louisville, 36-7. And afterward, Colts slugger Pete N. Manning celebrated by posing for still-life photographers while holding canisters of chewing tobacco and handlebar mustache wax.
What happened to the high-scoring Colts, you ask?
The following season, they changed their name to the Orphans; Louisville certainly didn’t want any more home games with them. Then, in 1902, they changed their name to the Cubs. And they never scored 30 runs in a game -- nor in most weeks -- ever again.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
The two biggest names in L.A. sports represented their respective countries in international competition Wednesday. Here is what happened:
COMPETITION
Kobe Bryant: USA versus Venezuela in FIBA Americas Championship group-play opener.
David Beckham: England versus Germany in a “friendly” soccer match. As if there is such a thing.
AT STAKE
Bryant: By reaching the tournament final, Team USA will qualify for the 2008 Olympics. And maybe apply a little bleach to its badly stained international reputation.
Beckham: Theoretically, nothing was on the line. Right. An England-Germany scrimmage with neon-orange cones for goalposts would be viewed by millions in both countries as a major international incident with wide-reaching historical ramifications.
RESULT
Bryant: Scored 14 points -- and had five assists! -- in a 112-68 USA victory. Nice start.
Beckham: Should have had an assist, or two, but his England teammates are remarkably resourceful at missing wide-open nets. Kieron Dyer botched a golden chance in the 67th. But that was nothing compared to Michael Owen’s platinum, point-blank, how-could-he-miss? shank in the first half. . . . Since Beckham joined the Galaxy, the English media has scorched the basic standard of play among Beckham’s new MLS colleagues. True, the quality of MLS field players doesn’t compare with the English Premier League. But MLS could donate a couple keepers who’d be an improvement over England starter Paul Robinson, who gifted Germany a goal with a 26th-minute gaffe. England loses, 2-1.
MINUTES PLAYED
Bryant: Only 16 minutes, as Coach K clears his bench, all 12 players getting at least 10 minutes. Coach K plays this one like a friendly exhibition.
Beckham: Plays all 90 minutes. What does England Manager Steve McLaren think he’s doing? Overseeing a World Cup qualifier? Beckham, with a London-LAX return flight and Chivas USA awaiting on Thursday, plays the entire match. Tim Leiweke, Alexi Lalas and Frank Yallop must be thrilled.
REACTION BACK IN L.A.
Bryant: Lakers fans have to wonder: “How many more times will we be in position to root for Bryant’s team?”
Beckham: Galaxy fans have to wonder: “Was that McLaren giving us the ‘Country Over Club’ brush-off?"
christine.daniels@latimes.com
I have some good Dodgers news to report, but there’s a catch. We have to go back about 40 years to access it and try to remember what it was like to watch Wes Parker catch screaming line drives and infield relays bounced in the dirt.
I became a baseball fan during Parker’s heyday with the Dodgers. He played with the team from 1964-1972, won Gold Gloves from 1967-72, and seemed in the eyes of a fledgling 11-year baseball observer to be the real-life visual aid to accompany the textbook chapter on how to play first base. For years, I considered Parker the best defensive first baseman I ever saw, but wondered if that was simply because my mental snapshot was taken at a very impressionable age.
Today, I realized I am not alone with that opinion. Parker was named to the all-time Rawlings Gold Glove team, the only Dodger so honored, receiving 53% of the vote -- ahead of Don Mattingly, Keith Hernandez, J.T. Snow, Vic Power and Bill White.
“Wes Parker surprise addition to all-time Rawlings Gold Glove team,” read that headline ESPN.com tagged to the Associated Press report about the vote winners. I suppose that description is reasonable, considering the company Parker is keeping (Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson round out the infield) and the competition he defeated (Mattingly won nine Gold Gloves, Hernandez won 11, and unlike Parker, they both played numerous seasons in New York).
“I'm thrilled to be recognized as one of those who worked hard at what is an under appreciated skill," Parker is quoted saying on the Rawlings Gold Glove Website. "I'm particularly pleased to be the lone representative of the Dodgers and the only awardee who is not and will not be in the Hall of Fame. This is my Hall of Fame. I also want to thank all of the fans who appreciated watching me and voted for me."
Greg Maddux also made the team, but his half-season in L.A. doesn’t qualify him as “Dodger All-Time Gold Glove Rep No. 2.” In fact, Parker is the only with Dodger-career credentials listed on the final 50-player ballot. Devon White, who spent time with both the Dodgers and the Angels, finished 18th among 18 outfield candidates. The fabled Garvey-Lopes-Cey-Russell infield went entirely unrepresented; apparently Chief Lobbyist Tom Lasorda was not a factor in this election.
The Angels were moderately better-represented. Bob Boone (played with the Angels from 1982-88) finished third among catchers behind Johnny Bench and Ivan Rodriguez. Snow (Angels ’93-96) placed fourth among first basemen. Jim Edmonds (Angels ’93-99) was fourth among outfielders behind Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente and Ken Griffey Jr. Dave Winfield (Angels ’90-91) was 12th on the outfielders list.
Parker won six Gold Gloves in nine Dodgers seasons, but more than that, he played in back-to-back World Series in 1965 and 1966, winning it all in ’65. For those Dodgers fans too young to remember, yes, all this stuff, way back when, actually happened.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
A few thoughts about Angels 18, Yankees 9 on the morning after . . .
--The Rally Rats were really rockin’ last night.
--Eighteen runs? By one team? In the same game? Dodgers fans read this and say, “That ain’t no L.A. baseball team. They don’t play the same game we play up here. So don’t even pretend, 'Los Angeles' Angels of Anaheim of Orkin. That’s some sort of mutant Super Ball with titanium bats and batting practice pitchers, or something. That would never happen here, let me tell . . . HEY GRADY! YOU GOT A RUNNER ON THIRD AND PIERRE’S UP THERE SWINGING AWAY! WHERE’S THE (BLEEPING) BUNT?!?”
--Ten RBIs by Garret Anderson? Including a grand slam, a three-run home run and a two-run double? Gary Matthews Jr. says, don’t look at me, look at him!
--Ten RBIs and two home runs by Anderson? Who began last night’s game with 40 RBIs on the season and now has 50? Who had entered the Yankees series without a home run in 67 at-bats dating back to Aug. 1? Barry Bonds says, don’t look at me, look at him!
--Ten RBIs in one game by one player? The Dodgers don’t have anyone who has 10 RBIs this month.
--Eighteen runs by one team in one game? From Aug. 3 through 13, it took the Dodgers 10 games to score 18 runs. And that included seven runs on Aug. 4 against Arizona.
--Believe it or not, boys and girls, an NFL team once played home games in the place you call Angel Stadium. They were called the Rams. Really! And in their last season of playing games in Anaheim, in 1994, they scored 18 points or fewer in 11 of 16 games! Really! In their very last game in Anaheim, they scored 18 plus a field goal. They really could have used someone like Anderson.
--The Angels are 21-10 in their last 31 games against the Yankees and 61-54 since 1996. If the Yankees should pull it together after they escape Los Angeles of Anaheim of Orkin and qualify for the wild card and play the Angels in the playoffs, does George Steinbrenner fire Joe Torre before Game 1?
christine.daniels@latimes.com
It happened today at UCLA (as passed along this way by Times UCLA writer Chris Foster):
Karl Dorrell was conducting a question-and-answer session with the media, and the conversation eventually and predictably turned to the Bruins’ new No. 2 quarterback, red-shirt freshman McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who will be filling in while Patrick Cowan’s hamstring injury heals.
A Website reporter asked Dorrell, “Did you try to get Bethel-Thompson some reps today?”
A reasonable and reasonably safe question. No mention of Eric Scott, or last season’s Emerald Bowl against Florida State, or this season’s you-better-win-with-this-group-or-else expectations. As soft as a finesse screen pass lobbed over a blitzing linebacker. Actually, it was about as easy a question Dorrell is likely to get these days. He could have gotten away with one quick syllable. Yes, or no.
Instead, Dorrell went with: “What did you think?”
And the reporter replied: “I’m asking you.”
And Dorrell went with: “I’m asking YOU.”
Reporter: “Yeah, it looked like it.”
Dorrell: “OK. Well, he’s our second guy now. We’re trying to get him some reps.”
If this exchange sounds unnecessarily testy, consider that also today Dorrell, through the UCLA public relations department, issued a crack-back block on media access to his players. New rules for reporters covering the Bruins football team:
--No talking to any player practicing at a new position.
--No talking to any player who is hurt but still able to participate in some drills.
--No talking to any player unable to participate in contact drills because of “soreness.”
A few thoughts on all this:
1. Any player unable to practice because of injury or “soreness” has lots of free time to talk to reporters -- much more free time than any of the able-to-practice players. Any player learning a new position has lots to talk about -- certainly more than any player grinding through the same-old, same-old. And that kind of talk chews up essential interview time that otherwise would be used to interview underachieving players or players unhappy with their playing time. These are the first players Dorrell should make available for interviews, not the last.
2. I covered the Angels in 1988 when Cookie Rojas replaced Gene Mauch as manager. Rojas was an last-minute replacement when Mauch abruptly announced his retirement in spring training for health reasons. Rojas was insecure about his authority and unsure about how to wield and protect it, so he tried to improve his “power position” by telling the media to no longer talk to the training staff about injuries -- all medical information now would come through him. One immediate problem with this: Rojas knew precious little about sports medicine. Another problem: The English language then was not Rojas' forte. That season, Rojas inadvertently caused his team crack up when he railed at them in a clubhouse speech, “You’ve hit bottom rock!” Medical reports were dispatched to the media with similar clarity.
(Important side note to Dorrell: Rojas did not finish the season. He was fired with eight games left and the Angels en route to a 75-87 record.)
3. The “soreness” restriction on interviews reminds me of the infamous press box announcement on why oft-injured Dodgers outfielder Mike Marshall was sitting out another game. The reason given: Marshall was sidelined because of “general soreness.”
4. McLeod Bethel-Thompson sounds like an NAIA football powerhouse. “This score just in: McLeod Bethel-Thompson 47, Iowa Wesleyan 13.”
5. Is Dorrell showing the effects of the pressure of preseason media consensus holding that the Bruins should have their best team in years?
6. How did USC win all those national championships when it allowed its players to talk so freely to the press?
christine.daniels@latimes.com
It's funny, but when you hear the chants of "Ryan Budde! Ryan Budde!" emanating from the seats in the stands of the building that used to be called Anaheim Stadium, they sound like the G-rated dyslexic version of the "Bleeping Buddy Ryan!" curses that were common in these parts whenever Ryan brought one of his smashmouth football teams into SoCal for a largely unwanted visit.
Buddy Ryan was cantankerous and pugnacious, not easy for rival fans to embrace. (Rival fans would have rather embraced a desert cactus.) Ryan Budde, however, seems a different breed, at least upon first impression. Today, he is a hero in the town known as Los Angeles of Anaheim of Orkin after delivering a run-scoring double in the 10th-inning Monday night, giving the Angels an important 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees.
Budde, a 28-year-old reserve catcher, picked an excellent time for his first big-league RBI, his hit scoring Howie Kendrick with the winner. Or, to put it in a headline: "It's Ryan Bring-A-Buddy Round To Score Night at Angels Stadium."
As with Buddy Ryan, who coached the Eagles for five seasons, Ryan Budde has ties to Philadelphia. During the past offseason, he was selected by the Phillies in the Rule 5 Draft and played games for the Phillies’ minor-league club in Clearwater before being returned to the Angels. He made his big-league debut with the Angels on July 31, got his first start on Aug. 3, delivered his first hit on Aug. 17, and last night collected his first RBI and game-winning hit with the same swing of the bat.
Other Ryan Budde-Buddy Ryan similarities:
1. Budde is considered a better defensive than offensive player. Buddy preferred good defensive players over good offensive players.
2. Budde played his college ball at Oklahoma State. So did Buddy, back in early 1950s, when the school was known as Oklahoma A&M.
3. Budde shares the same last name as former USC Lombardi Award winner Brad Budde, who played with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980-1986. During most of that period, Buddy Ryan was the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator. In 1981, Budde’s Chiefs played Buddy’s Bears in a regular-season game. Buddy beat Budde, 16-13, in overtime.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
So this is how the long, droning, depressing Summer of Loathing 2007 winds down during the dog days of August (no Michael Vick pun intended).
Vick, charged with operating an illegal dog-fighting ring: Agreed today to admit guilt in the scheme, could receive prison time and/or suspension by the NFL.
Tim Donaghy, charged with betting on NBA games he officiated: Pleads guilty to federal felony conspiracy charges alleging that he provided professional gamblers inside information on NBA games.
Barry Bonds, suspected of bulking up his physique and his home-run totals with steroids: Pleads to nothing, admits to nothing as baseball’s record book gets sent up the river.
Kobe Bryant, the man who held Lakers fans emotions hostage all summer with his really bad cover version of the Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”: Having another go at rehabbing his image with a good run of behalf of the Red, White and Blue at the FIBA Americas Olympics qualification tournament while making no for-the-record commitment on his future in Purple and Gold.
“I’m not going to answer that question,” Bryant told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan on Saturday when asked if he still wanted the Lakers to trade him.
“The Lakers know exactly where I stand, and they’ve known exactly where I stand since the beginning of summer.”
That sounds a level or two more ominous than Bryant’s tone during his "Sunday Conversation" interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. There he told Nichols that he thought “a lot of people misinterpreted” his conflicting comments about wanting to be traded and wanting to be a Laker for life. Yeah, I can see how Bryant could have been misinterpreted on that one.
And how to interpret this comment to Nichols about the Lakers? “It’s my team,” he said. “It’s the team I play for.”
In a previous time and place, three high-profile teammates wielding single-edged swords used a different rallying crying cry: “One for all, and all for one!” But then, the Three Musketeers trusted each other more than Bryant trusts the current Laker Basketeers.
Beginning Wednesday with Team USA’s opening group game against Venezuela, we will see how Bryant gets along with more talented teammates -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Jason Kidd among them -- while playing for a coach (Mike Krzyzewski) he actually likes. Right now, Team USA is Bryant’s team. It’s the team he plays for. How are the Lakers going to keep Kobe down with Farmar after he’s played with Anthony?
Do the Lakers and their fans really want the answer to that question?
Scorecard so far for the Summer of Loathing 2007:
--We have seen resolution of sorts in the Vick and Donaghy cases.
--We have seen resignation by baseball fans and MLB officials in the Bonds case.
--We can pretty much guess where the Kobe case is headed. As Bryant prepares this week for a somewhat bigger stage than Grizzlies-at-Lakers, are the Lakers and their stressed-out supporters prepared to handle the truth?
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Dodgers: The Incredible Ebbing-Away Season reached its lowest ebb (to date, anyway; still 38 potential ebbing days left!) on Saturday against Colorado, where the Dodgers needed to play 14 innings and waste stop-the-season-right-now! stats by (Left My Game Back In) Shea Hillenbrand (4 hits, 2 RBIs) to lose by three runs to the Rockies, 7-4, when Matt Holliday took a holiday from going hitless on Saturday, his RBI single in the 14th ending a day that started 0-for-6. . . . That moved the Los Angeles Dodgers of the Late-Summer Sinkhole to a mind-bending 7 1/2 games behind the Arizona D-backs. In some summers, that equation would equal Fire The Manager Or The GM Or Both. But no, around Expectations Systematically Lowered Chavez Ravine, there’s a new way to view the situation. And that’s: Hey, Everybody! We’re Playing For The Wild Card!!
A bounce-back 4-3 victory on Sunday moved L.A. back to within 6 1/2 games of Arizona in the NL West first-place competition -- with 16 of the Dodgers’ next 19 games to be played on the road. So, with a season’s experience under their belt, all those Dodgers Prospects Too Good To Trade Away should be in good form come 2008 training camp. . . . But that’s the pessimists’ view. And we interrupt that reasonable and reality-based perspective with a word now from the Happy P.R. Spin Docs: Why get downcast about the Dodgers dropping in August like a pop fly when the National League Wild-Card Standings are brushing up against your Monday morning cup of coffee, teasing you as you groggily blink at the small numbers on page D-6:
1. San Diego, 66-57.
2. Phiadelphia, 66-58; 1 game back.
3. Atlanta 65-59; 1 1/2 games back.
4. DODGERS 64-60; 2 1/2 games back.
5. Colorado 63-60; 3 games back.
6. Milwaukee, 63-61; 3 1/2 games back.
Look at that! Only 2 1/2 back! Potentially just one three-game sweep away from a playoff berth! And, not listed here, but worth knowing for all newcomers to the Dodgers Wild-Card Bandwagon (Because It Might Not Be Much, But At Least It Sounds Better Than Waiting For The Lakers’ New Season): three full games behind Milwaukee -- and four behind the Dodgers -- are the Defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals! Four games better than the reigning kings! When you look at it that way, it’s much easier to understand Ned Colletti standing pat with a bunch of 20-something players who in 10 years’ time have the potential to be 30-something players!
All right. What about those 16-of-19 games to be played on the road? The last time the Dodgers went on the road, their bats caught pine-tar poisoning (watch out for the room service in Cincinnati and St. Louis). First stop, Depression City. . . . Not say the Happy Spin Docs: What a great summer sight-seeing tour the Dodgers young kids will be getting! For them it’s a trip of a lifetime! Three days in historic Philadelphia! Three days in bustling New York! After a quick stop back home, the Dodgers’ Wild Card Express motors down to scenic San Diego (live NFL games actually played here!) and then up to cosmopolitan San Francisco, where the Gilroy Garlic Fries are to die for! So bring your cameras and your antacid tablets along for this trip! Trust us, you won’t want to swing and miss it!
Angels: As historic trips to old Fenway Park go, August ’07 beat October ’86 and October ’04 from the Angels’ viewpoint, all things considered. The Angels spent the long weekend in New England losing one, winning one, losing one, winning one. Saturday’s 10-5 loss, in which the Angels blew a 5-0 fifth-inning lead, appeared to mark the team’s traditional Look Out Below mid-August juncture -- with another loss on Sunday, the Angels’ lead over Seattle in the AL West would be down to a single game. Then came Sunday. For the Angels, it was just another day without home runs, but not a day without sunshine. Joe Saunders (Still With Us After All These Trade Rumors) pitched 7 2/3 very important innings to improve his 2007 record to 7-1 with a 3-1 triumph over the Red Sox. . . . A split in Boston. The Angels will take it. It sent them back to Los Angeles of Anaheim of Orkin with a two-game lead over the M’s, who get one more round of carbo-loading on Chicago White Sox pitching today and that’s it. The Angels? Today, it’s the start of a three-game home series against the Yankees -- who right now are to the Red Sox what the M’s are to the Angels. Untreatable insomnia. The Angels could try throwing Ambien-CR at the problem, but instead Mike Scioscia will throw Dustin Moseley (4-2) against the Yankees’ Phil Hughes (2-1) tonight, followed by Kelvim Escobar (13-6) against Mike Mussina (8-8) on Tuesday and John Lackey (15-7) against Andy Pettitte (10-7) on Wednesday. The pitching matchups seem to favor the Angels, but you can never minimize the Yankees’ home-after-from-home-field advantage whenever they play here, especially now. The Yankees will play these games in familiar conditions, with Yankee fans jammed in the stands and rats scrambling around below.
Super Clasico Update: Chivas USA is counting down the days until Thursday’s Super Clasico reunion with the Galaxy. Then and there, the Goats will re-emerge from six weeks of “Beckham Limps! Beckham Sits! Beckham Plays A Little! Beckham Plays A Little More!” hysteria to remind all the neo-soccer watchers, “Did you know that the L.A. soccer team without Beckham has six more victories and 16 more points than the L.A. soccer team that has Beckham, or at least it does some of the time?”
On Saturday, the Goats went to Toronto and did what the Galaxy could not. Score. The Goats did that once, did it again, to win their ninth MLS game of the season, 2-0. The Galaxy countered the Chivas victory in usual form, losing to the New York Red Bulls, despite two assists by Beckham. The final score was Red Bulls 5, Galaxy 4, which was better news for MLS commissioner Don Garber than L.A. GM Alexi Lalas. On an August Saturday with the Yankees and Mets both in contention, the Red Bulls played their usual off-Broadway production in East Rutherford, N.J. -- except this time it’s L.A. against New York! It’s Beckham and the Big Apple! (Or at least the Big Browning Apple Core Tossed Out The Car Window On The New Jersey Turnpike.) It’s 66,237 at Giants Stadium! It’s Home Team 5, Beckham and Supporting Cast 4! . . . The MLS can’t ask for more from Beckham’s first two Galaxy starts: a goal and an assist against D.C. United in the SuperLiga semis, followed by the Galaxy and the Red Bulls (drinking too much of the sponsor product?) combining for a nine-goal frenzy. As for the Galaxy? Well, that 2-0 SuperLiga triumph meant nothing in the MLS standings, and a thrilling 5-4 loss in New Jersey meant no points in the MLS standings. The Galaxy will enter Thursday’s match with an MLS record of 3-8-5. The Goats are 9-6-3. Yet on Saturday, when the Goats won by two goals and the Galaxy lost by one, the Galaxy story wound up on the first page of the Times sports section and the Chivas story wound up on the 13th page. The Galaxy story was accompanied by three photos, including two on D-13, where the Chivas story was accompanied by zero photos. If these were local college football teams and not local soccer teams, imagine the roar emanating from Westwood today.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
This was the week the national media got a little bit overheated over the news that the Galaxy finally won a game . . .
1. David Beckham: Strange days in L.A.: Local team takes a future-of-the-franchise kind of gamble and doles out a mega-money contract to a 32-year-old injury-prone big hitter, who joins the club in midseason and quickly lifts a sputtering, disjointed team into tournament championship contention. I wonder if Ned Colletti and Bill Stoneman follow soccer.
2. USC football: The Trojans are ranked No. 1 everywhere, except here. Let’s ignore the hype for just a second and consider the hard facts: The Trojans are 1-1 in their last two games (0-1 in conference) and just had their second-leading rusher from last season announce he’s transferring to another school. On the plus side: They have stockpiled ample provisions in anticipation of the much-feared Great College Football Tailback Shortage of ’08.
3. USC tailbacks: With Emmanuel Moody’s exit, the Trojans are down to nine tailbacks. Relaxing between two-a-day workouts recently, the nine of them grabbed baseball gloves and scrimmaged a local team at Dedeaux Field and beat the Dodgers, 8-1.
4. Les Miles: With LSU’s season opener only days away, it is almost time for the Tigers coach to put up or shut up. And what a grand and glorious day that will be!
5. John David Booty: Pete Carroll calls him “a natural-born quarterback.” I wonder what happens in the delivery room when a natural-born quarterback is born. Does he arrive wearing one of those specially colored “don’t-touch-me, I’m-the-quarterback” practice jerseys? At this point in his life, he doesn’t have his cel phone or wrap-around one-way sunglasses -- is that why he’s crying? Or is it because no one yet has assured him that at this very same moment, in other hospitals across the land, his entourage is being born?
6. Vince Young: I also wonder what happens in the delivery room when a natural-born quarterback destined to appear on the cover of the Madden video game is born. Does he arrive crying and grabbing his left knee?
7. Peyton Manning: We know what happened the moment he arrived. Little Peyton saw the bright lights, grabbed the closest thing he could reach, and immediately began jabbering about the greatness of ACME stethoscopes.
8. Michael Vick: No, not going to go there.
9. Vick’s dogfighting co-defendants: With “friends” like these, who needs the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants, the Baltimore Ravens, the Carolina Panthers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions and all those other guys who ganged up against Vick in 2006?
10. Tim Donaghy, Nikolay Davydenko: So when do they play the inevitable “for charity / community service” exhibition match? More importantly, where do they go to place their bets?
christine.daniels@latimes.com
It was a much bigger deal back in the days before hand-held instant Internet access, and more sports Websites than 2006 John David Booty passing yards, and today’s hey-I’m-an-expert-too! cyber-mentality. Still, it should be noted that USC has completed the once-awesome feat of sweeping the No. 1 spot in the Sports Illustrated and Sporting News preseason college football rankings.
Sports Illustrated’s cover, being jinxed, has already claimed a victim, tailback Emmanuel Moody, who appears on SI’s regional-edition cover but won’t be appearing in a Trojan uniform again. Booty gets the call on Sporting News’ cover, posing in his No. 10 cardinal-and-gold jersey, wet Oakley shorts (Major Product Placement Alert!) and ankle-deep in SoCal beach water. Booty is shown holding a Nike football (Major Product Placement Alert!), apparently to be used as a flotation device.
SI on USC: “You get the feeling that every time coach Pete Carroll walks out his front door, he trips over another high school All-America longing to be a Trojan. With an impressive recruiting haul that added to a roster already overflowing with talent, it's little wonder that the Trojans are the popular pick to win the national championship. The only thing they appear to lack is enough playing time to distribute among their various stars and stars-in-the-making. The crowd at running back, where USC has 10 -- seriously, 10 -- former high school stars, might be the best evidence of the Trojans' wealth of talent.”
That’s the problem with old-century magazine deadlines. Wednesday, we learned Moody was going to transfer out of USC. Make that nine -- seriously, nine -- former high school stars at running back.
Sporting News on USC: “When the regular season ends and the annual BCS numbers crunching/bicker is complete, USC and LSU will be matched in the national title game in New Orleans on January 7. It may be overdue and it may not be the same cast, but the game that should’ve been played in January 2004 will finally have its day.”
Assuming, of course, USC’s strength of schedule holds over the course of Cupcake Row, aka LSU Coach Les Miles’ assessment of the Trojans’ “soft” Pac-10 schedule.
UCLA was one of the frosted confections Miles mentioned by name. Yet Sporting News ranks the Bruins No. 10, ahead of Vaunted SEC Members Georgia (No. 14), Auburn (No. 16) and Tennessee (No. 18). Sports Illustrated sticks more closely to the conventional “I can see for Miles” wisdom, tabbing the Bruins No. 22 in its power rankings.
According to Sporting News, there is “finally a complete team in Westwood. A roster loaded with 25 seniors and 20 starters returning. What more could coach Karl Dorrell ask for? Here’s something: a healthy QB Ben Olson finally delivering the goods. We’ve waited five years for the former high school wonder. It’s time to see some magic.”
Uh oh. Just what Dorrell and Olson need. Pressure.
Stay tuned as the Bruins embark this season in their bid to defy the Sporting News Page 48 jinx.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Dodgers relief pitcher Roberto Hernandez appeared in his 1,000th game Thursday night, or the Dodgers won back-to-back games for the first time in 1,000 games, one or the other, it's been so long, I forget.
Let's take a closer look at L.A.'s 6-2 (Six! Again!) victory over Houston. Yes. OK. It says here that only 11 men in history have pitched in more big-league games than Hernandez, or only 11 big-league teams have won more games this season than the Dodgers. Throw a dart, take a pick, at least one statement per sentence has to be accurate. Even if both feel like the chiseled-in-fourth-place honest truth.
Actually, the stuff about Hernandez is all true. The Dodgers, meanwhile, won back-to-back games a week ago, one in Cincinnati and the next in St. Louis, at least that's what the stats say. Three quick impressions: 1) It feels like a lot longer; 2) When you get right down to it, it feels much closer to 1,000 games; 3) stats lie.
The Dodgers' 6-2 triumph was notable in that the Dodgers failed to lose a series -- they went 2-2 in this one with the Astros -- after losing consecutive series to the Mets, the Astros, the Rockies, the Giants, the D-backs, the Reds and the Cardinals. Thursday's game also marked Derek Lowe's first victory in eight weeks. And the Dodgers scored six runs one night after scoring six runs. Two games, 12 runs. Before this, the Dodgers had to play nine games to score 15 runs.
This recent and sudden movement sets up a weekend skirmish against Colorado for third place in the NL West. (At this point, the Dodgers have to take whatever they can get.) Colorado leads the Dodgers by half a game, but the Rockies have lost one in a row and the Dodgers have a two-game winning streak. And Jeff Kent just had three doubles after hitting successfully once in 29 at-bats. It has been 1,000 games since the Dodgers have had this sort of momentum. Or at least it feels that way.
And about 11 teams having more victories this season than the Dodgers? That part is dead-on accurate, as of this morning. You could, as they say, look it up.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
In very recent SoCal college football news . . .
USC: The Times’ Gary Klein reports that tailback Emmanuel Moody -- expected to play so big a role in the Trojans’ plans this season he is pictured on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated’s college football preview issue -- filed paperwork to transfer to another school.
UCLA: The Times’ Chris Foster opens his Bruins daily report by writing, “The strange personality that the UCLA offense has displayed through training had another mood swing Wednesday.”
So, to sum up: The UCLA offense is having a mood swing and the USC offense is having a Moody swing.
With 459 yards, Moody was the Trojans’ second-leading rusher behind Chauncey Washington in 2006, but his freshman season was surely one of diminishing returns. After peaking with a 130-yard performance against Arizona, Moody’s carries dwindled from 21 in that game to eight against Washington State, 15 against Washington, six against Arizona State, three against Oregon State, nine against Stanford and one against Oregon. He sprained his ankle in the Nov. 11 Oregon game and did not play the remainder of the season. Earlier this year, he hurt his hamstring, causing him to miss much of spring practice.
Klein reports that several of Moody’s teammates were surprised by the news. Really? When your school’s tailback depth chart is 10-deep -- imagine being 10th-string tailback on your varsity football team -- how can anybody be surprised? Chances are somebody was going to transfer sooner or later, ravaging the USC roster and leaving the Trojans’ backfield terribly depleted, now down to only nine tailbacks.
UCLA, by contrast, has only two scholarship tailbacks currently fit enough to go through drills. Perhaps Moody will cast his lot with the Bruins? Sacrilege, I know, but UCLA could use the help in ’08, and moving costs would be minimal.
Should that one-in-a-billion longshot ever happen, the former Trojan will have a ready-made nickname around Westwood: Moody Blue.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Angels Update: Wednesday night in Toronto, the Angels did what they usually do in Toronto: lose. This time the score was Blue Jays 2, Angels 1. The previous night it was Blue Jays 4, Angels 1. Eight times in their last nine meetings at the Rogers Centre, it has been Blue Jays More Runs, Angels Fewer Runs. . . . This sort of thing never happened when the Rogers Centre was called SkyDome. You’d think a building bearing a title that rhymes with the surname of former Angels catcher-manager Buck Rodgers would be kinder to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orkin. . . . Following up Rob Holladay’s five-hitter on Tuesday, Toronto’s Shaun Marcum limited the Angels to four hits and one run over seven innings. Storyline, in 25 words of less: The Rogers Centre has a retractable roof, and whenever the Angels play there, they break out a retractable offense.
Mariners Update: A third-place afterthought in the AL Central race, the Minnesota Twins limped into Seattle and within minutes regained the old hop in their step. Tuesday, the Twins routed the M’s, 11-3. Wednesday, they waited until a Jarrod Washburn throwing error in the eighth inning to snap a 1-1 tie -- Jarrod, a fine lad, still aiding the Angel cause -- and then broke the game open with Torii Hunter’s ninth career grand slam in the ninth. Final score: Twins 6, M’s 1. Aggregate score from the first two games of this series: Twins 17, M’s 4. . . . Hunter’s grand slam places him second on the Twins’ all-time list behind Harmon Killebrew, who has 10. That’s a lot of grand slams. And M’s Manager John McLaren ordered Joe Mauer intentionally walked so Sean Green could pitch to Hunter with the bases loaded. The M’s have to scout this stuff a little better.
The Chase At A Glance: Angels (69-49) still lead the M’s (66-52) by three games.
They Picked A Fine Time To Be Members of the American League: The Angels and M’s entered Wednesday’s games with the second- and third-best records in MLB. Today, they are No. 2 and No. 5. However, there’s a good chance only one of the AL West rivals will reach the playoffs. That’s because the NL (MLB’s equivalent to the NFC, which is the NFL’s equivalent to the NBA Eastern Conference) owns four of the eight postseason berths, regardless of how ho-hum the NL Final Four might be. A look at the top eight records in MLB (before Thursday’s games), AL teams in bold:
1. Boston, 72-48 (.600)
2. ANGELS, 69-49 (.585)
3. New York Mets 67-52 (.563)
4. Arizona 68-53 (.562)
5. Seattle, 66-52 (.559)
6. New York Yankees, 67-53 (.558)
7. Cleveland, 66-54 (.550)
8. Detroit, 66-54 (.550)
Next: The Angels try to salvage something in Toronto later this afternoon, throwing Kelvim Escobar (12-6) at the problem. Dustin McGowan (8-6) tries to hold the fort for Toronto. . . . M’s are off today. They open a three-game series at Safeco Field against the Chicago White Sox tomorrow.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
Enough with the odes to ’88 already. Kirk Gibson over there. Orel Hershiser over here. The Dodgers entering last night’s game having gone a way too reverential 5-for-88 with runners in scoring position during August.
The run-a-game, running-on-fumes, eminently resistible force known as the “Dodgers, Offensive” ran into a most movable object last night at Chavez Ravine and -- unless the team goal is to rename the club “Franchise .500" -- not a minute too soon. Houston Astros pitcher Jason Jennings, 0-6 in his previous nine Dodger Stadium starts, made it 0-7 for his last 10 in a 6-3 defeat -- and why isn’t Ned Colletti on the phones this minute trying to make a waiver deal for this guy? Pitchers who can’t win at Dodger Stadium? Isn’t the Dodgers' grand plan -- as with all those bobble-head giveaway promotions -- to collect ‘em all?
Against Jennings, the Dodgers finally gave up the 5-for-88 ghost and drove in four runners in scoring position. Of course, they waited until the sixth inning to get going on the project. Before that, the Dodgers did their same-old same-old: fell behind, got a solo home run from Russell Martin (wears the same number Hershiser did in ’88), fell behind, fell behind some more, scratched out a run with a sacrifice fly, got another home run by Martin . . . when do the Dodgers finally throw up their hands and say “This is absurd! Let’s bring in a script doctor!”? Or does Grady Little, not really a Hollywood guy, even know such a thing is possible in a town where people’s day-to-day lives and physical appearance have their own script doctors.
Finally, by the bottom of the seventh, Grady’s Gamers got all performance-art experimental. Juan Pierre singled! With a runner in scoring position! For an official RBI! More than that, Pierre scored! In the same inning! A multi-run Dodger inning! That enabled the Dodgers to clinch a victory!
So now they’re 61-59 and clinging to wide-eyed optimism as they study their 6 1/2-game deficit behind Arizona in the NL West standings. They say it beats being Deadbeat Dead-even, a Franchise .500 needing 7 1/2 games to catch the Diamonbacks.
Where the Dodgers (and you could say the same about the Beckham-thunder-struck Galaxy) take it from here after one delirious break-out performance is anyone’s guess, especially theirs. We do know this much: One more game against Houston tonight and then third-place Colorado’s in town. You can’t climb from fourth place to first without first climbing over third place.
christine.daniels@latimes.com
All that money for David Beckham? All that waiting for David Beckham? All that angst over David Beckham’s ankle?
Finally, on the evening of Aug. 15, 2007 in the SuperLiga semifinals at the Home Depot Center, the soccer world and especially the non-soccer world saw the rationale behind the madness. This was everything the Galaxy dreamt about when the franchise gave away everything short of the “Club President” title to a 32-year-old injury-prone English midfielder with a rather substantial fan club.
In the 27th minute against D.C. United, Beckham scored on the kind of bending free kick that spawned a movie about girls playing soccer that was actually a hit in the United States.
In the 47th minute, Beckham humiliated an out-of-his-depth D.C. defender with a perfect feed to Landon Donovan, who stayed on his feet rather than fainting from the shock -- This kind of pass from a Galaxy teammate?! -- and slid the ball past D.C.’s startled goalkeeper.
After 63 minutes, Beckham left the pitch to a roaring home crowd, with a rare and important 2-0 Galaxy victory secured.
And a few minutes after that, in perhaps the biggest stunner of the night, highlights of Beckham’s performance actually made the first half-hour of “SportsCenter.”
Make no mistake, denting ESPN’s longtime apathy about MLS was a key reason behind the league’s importation of the world’s most famous soccer player. It was always maddening to MLS officials (and too-long put-upon American soccer fans): How ESPN could own the MLS television rights yet usually ignore or patronize the league on its flagship news program.
Things began to change when John Skipper, an avid soccer fan, replaced Mark Shapiro as head of ESPN. Skipper supports the London soccer club Tottenham Hotspur, so he knows first-hand about Beckham at his best when his set pieces for Manchester United were tormenting Tottenham. The network in 2006 finally gave the World Cup the comprehensive, non-condescending coverage it deserved -- a good thing -- and has become so involved in “Becks Does America” that it has influenced the Galaxy’s handling of Beckham’s ankle-injury recovery -- not a good thing.
This is how “SportsCenter” handled Beckham’s big night, coming on in the 22nd minute of Wednesday’s program:
After viewers saw Telefutura footage of Beckham’s free kick, complete with frenzied “GOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!” commentator call, co-anchor John | |
