Dodgers hope there's no place like home
Ned Colletti is upset, Matt Kemp is miffed, Dave Stewart is angry, Joe Torre is walking a tightrope and the Dodgers are dead last in the National League.
Welcome home, boys.
They play 162 games a year, but these first 20 have to feel a lot longer than just the initial eighth of the season. Try 40 years in the wilderness. It really is only April, it just seems like a lost season in August.
Emotions have already flared, fingers have pointed, players have been injured, and losses have mounted.
If ever a team needed to come home, it’s the Dodgers.
No team in baseball has lost as many road games (11). The Phillies are the only other N.L. team to have played as few games at home (six).
Twenty games or not, the Dodgers need to right themselves before things get seriously out of hand. A 10-game homestand couldn’t sound any sweeter.
Here’s some good news: The Dodgers are five games back with 142 to play! And people call me a cynic.
The warning signs seem to be everywhere, which explains why Colletti went off on the team Tuesday, and when asked specifically about Kemp, him in particular.
No one claimed that everything Colletti said wasn’t true, but an uproar was in full swing anyway. People can get so sensitive when management calls out its players, not that it’s some new phenomenon.
Kemp was agitated, but at least refrained from lashing back. His agent, Stewart, was more pointed, accusing Colletti of trying to shift the blame from his own failures to assemble a strong team. Torre carefully avoided taking sides.
Maybe this early turmoil can help unify the team and bring it together, in which case four months from now everyone will be looking back at this week and saying what a wily guy that Colletti was.
The Dodgers start their homestand against the Pirates by sending Clayton Kershaw on Thursday and Chad Billingsley, coming off his best start, on Friday. Pittsburgh counters with Brian Burres (0-1, 9.31 ERA) and Charlie Morton (0-4, 16.20), so there are hopes for two potential victories to turn things around.
A little winning streak and maybe the Dodgers find themselves. Maybe not, but we’re being positive here.
If they do, then they can look back on this last stretch as just one of the funky periods in a long season. One that came undesirably early.
Home may have never appeared so appealing. At least not in April.
--Steve Dilbeck
Welcome home, boys.
They play 162 games a year, but these first 20 have to feel a lot longer than just the initial eighth of the season. Try 40 years in the wilderness. It really is only April, it just seems like a lost season in August.
Emotions have already flared, fingers have pointed, players have been injured, and losses have mounted.
If ever a team needed to come home, it’s the Dodgers.
No team in baseball has lost as many road games (11). The Phillies are the only other N.L. team to have played as few games at home (six).
Twenty games or not, the Dodgers need to right themselves before things get seriously out of hand. A 10-game homestand couldn’t sound any sweeter.
Here’s some good news: The Dodgers are five games back with 142 to play! And people call me a cynic.
The warning signs seem to be everywhere, which explains why Colletti went off on the team Tuesday, and when asked specifically about Kemp, him in particular.
No one claimed that everything Colletti said wasn’t true, but an uproar was in full swing anyway. People can get so sensitive when management calls out its players, not that it’s some new phenomenon.
Kemp was agitated, but at least refrained from lashing back. His agent, Stewart, was more pointed, accusing Colletti of trying to shift the blame from his own failures to assemble a strong team. Torre carefully avoided taking sides.
Maybe this early turmoil can help unify the team and bring it together, in which case four months from now everyone will be looking back at this week and saying what a wily guy that Colletti was.
The Dodgers start their homestand against the Pirates by sending Clayton Kershaw on Thursday and Chad Billingsley, coming off his best start, on Friday. Pittsburgh counters with Brian Burres (0-1, 9.31 ERA) and Charlie Morton (0-4, 16.20), so there are hopes for two potential victories to turn things around.
A little winning streak and maybe the Dodgers find themselves. Maybe not, but we’re being positive here.
If they do, then they can look back on this last stretch as just one of the funky periods in a long season. One that came undesirably early.
Home may have never appeared so appealing. At least not in April.
--Steve Dilbeck
I have to completely agree with this post I saw in yesterday's article:
"In the divorce hearings, haven't the McCourts disclosed that they will be raising ticket & parking prices every year while lowering their payroll expense?
"It appears they consider the Los Angeles Dodgers no more than a pure revenue generating entity, and they have no incentive to build a championship caliber team.
"Dodger fans have already purchased 2million+ tickets for this season alone! So, when you have high demand even for a defective product, why bother spending for any improvements? That is why Ned Colletti did not go after a starting pitcher in the offseason, and that is why we will not see any immediate help.
"Once ticket sales drop dramatically, to a point where the owners cannot afford their $1million+ per month extravagant spending, the McCourts may finally decide to improve the team. But, that will take every Dodger fan to boycott attending games, avoid purchasing Dodger merchandise, and to stop watching & listening to games on the tv, internet, & radio.
"Not likely. And the McCourts know this. So, we will have to suffer this season, while they will continue to enjoy their luxurious lifestyle."
Posted by: Angry Dodger Fan | 04/29/2010 at 08:12 AM
Good points...everyone is frustrated...Ned was an idiot for going there with Kemp...Kemp responded
reasonably well...let's face it Dodger fans...Pitching is at the root of the teams play...that being said...i would like another 20 games WITH our bullpen intact and at full strength...Manny & Raffy back in lineup...truth is ..this team will go as far as.. Kuroda..Kershaw...Billingsley... the Bullpen & our offense will take us...
NOW...as for finger pointing...
FRANK & JAMIE....there's your problem.
Posted by: murph | 04/29/2010 at 08:16 AM
THEY'LL TURN IT AROUND. GO DODGERS!
Posted by: DodgerDoug | 04/29/2010 at 10:48 AM
The O'Mally's reallized that they could not compete with corporate owners with huge capital assets. And they, in my opinion, sold the team so that it would remain competitve moving forward.
I dont believe that this driving down salaries to well below the Minnisota Twins' pay level and this cheesy marketing scheme that freezes out the average fan for the Yankees visit is becoming of one of baseballs storied franchises. As a life long fan of 50 years I am angry and ashamed.
It is a dissevice to this team and it's fan base for these carpetbaggers to drag us through the mud with their personal problems. At the least they should sell the team to someone that is a fan of the franchise and can afford to remain cometitive.
It is evident that this flim flam man and his family bit off more than they can chew.
Posted by: Clarence Dennis | 04/29/2010 at 11:52 AM
Regarding the banner advertisement at the bottom of page #3’s Sports Section (Thursday April 29) promoting the upcoming Fleece Blanket Night May 4th at Dodgers Stadium: I’ll bet you the Dodgers season ticket holders feel like they’ve already been fleeced.
Posted by: Darren Duffy | 04/29/2010 at 12:14 PM
even if the Dodgers have a 7-3 homestand ... they'll STILL be a game under .500
that's just the mathematics of baseball
Posted by: These Dodgers Suck | 04/29/2010 at 12:58 PM
Here's a seesaw for you.
FANS
When the care more than the
OWNERS,
we get a middling, muddling team at best.
Posted by: Zen | 04/29/2010 at 04:42 PM
That didn't get formatted as I saw it previewed. Sorry.
Posted by: Zen | 04/29/2010 at 04:42 PM
one of those oft-repeated things baseball people say in interviews (especially when they are on a hot streak) is something to the effect of not to get too high on the highs of a given season and not getting too low during low points in the season. The other common way to convey this is to point out that 'it's a long season' and 'anything can happen'.
There are always highs and lows, and to lose perspective over every tough stretch would drive some people more insane than us mere fans who just watch it.
If Colletti had heeded this baseball axiom, he wouldn't have stirred his own pot causing a hot, greasy, bubble of discontent to pop right in his face...
It's going to be a long season.
Posted by: the ghost of Odalis Perez | 04/29/2010 at 06:07 PM