Could this really mean his focus will now only be baseball? Matt Kemp and Rihanna reportedly done

 

First Larry Bowa, now Rihanna?

Those convinced Matt Kemp’s disappointing 2010 season was due to his relationship with the singing superstar will apparently have to look elsewhere should the Dodgers center fielder continue to struggle next season.

Kemp and Rihanna have called it quits, according to US Weekly.

The two became an item early last year, and when Kemp struggled on the field, bases and at the plate, being distracted by his high-profile relationship became an easy excuse for some.

I never bought it, but the suspicion was going to linger for many as long as Kemp’s performance was anything less than you-have-got-to-be-kidding spectacular.

In a vacuum, last season Kemp had a decent offensive season (.249, 28, 89), but decent is no longer on the radar for his expectations.

Much of his best hitting came in the first two weeks and final week of the season. He also struggled defensively and on the bases (19 steals in 34 attempts).

Since his 2009 season (.297, 26, 101, Gold Glove) supposedly heralded the arrival of a new Dodgers superstar, it was a real step backward.

Excuses were not hard to come by. It was his sometimes strained relationship with the old-school Bowa, who was not retained as the team's third-base coach. Or it was his high-profile relationship with Rihanna, now apparently a free agent.

Both are outta here.

US Weekly painted his breakup with Rihanna is a mutual thing. If you care, Rihanna was reportedly "just over it" and Kemp was "sick of always following after her like a puppy dog all over the world."

Plenty of star athletes have enjoyed relationships with celebrities without it proving detrimental to their careers. Unless you’re thinking Derek Jeter has never reached his potential. If it really did have a negative impact on Kemp, that’s at least one more distraction removed.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Matt Kemp and Rihanna in happier times. Credit: Jeff Lewis, AP.

Comments

[VLo]

It's about time they broke up! Now I can go back to stalking him! Hahaha!

[Tony]

Thank goodness its over.
Now hopefully next season Matty will get as many stolen bases as Ri Ri has bad hair styles/colors.

[JW]

Hope he is ticked off and crack's 30 HR's and 120 RBI's this upcoming season...GO BLUE!

[bob cuomo]

Well, I don't know if being with her affected his performance or not (no one knows except him), but we'll see. I know one thing, though: he has to cut down on the strikeouts by going after those low breaking balls (easier said than done, I know, especially when you have a two-strike count). Geez, a guy with those tools should be hitting .290-.295 with 28-30 homers and at least 100 RBIs. Oh, and stealing only 19 bases in 34 attempts wasn't too good, either.

[OldBrooklynFan]

I have to admit I liked the fact that Kemp and Rihanna were an item. Everytime Rihanna made headlines in my local paper I couldn't help happily thinking that she was Kemp's girl.
I'd tell people, "She goes out with the Dodgers' CF", I was sort of proud, it was one of those things, like Joe Torre, Manny and Mattingly that kept the Dodgers on the New York map.
Sorry to here it.

[Dodger Tony]

As Antonio Tarver said to Roy Jones before knocking him out, "You got anymore excuses, Roy?"

[k]

I read another account of this development that said that Matt couldn't keep up with her hectic schedule and decided he "wants something more 'normal'". Sure took him awhile to figure out that Rihanna's life is not "normal".

[16blows]

Let's all go O-Cedar and make 'k'emp's life easier - again - shall we?

It seems like every couple of years one (or more) 'others' must be excised so the tool- er, five tool can operate at peak efficiency. I remember when that Kent fella exited before 2009, and # 27 'The Bison' played like one.

Last year, his play more so smelled like one; that can only mean it's time to remove a few more killjoys that served as rev limiters, i.e., cramping his 'style'.

The fall guys (and gal) for 2011:

Bowa - gone... ✔

Schaefer - gone... ✔

Rihanna - gone... ✔

Now if all the pitchers in the NL can be convinced to never again throw him another breaking ball & the (big) lug nuts holding his head on straight don't come loose once more...

Since we're re-building Frankenstein, he also needs to be re-wired to stop the chest-thumping/patting himself on the front-side of his back...

All this considered/implemented, we just might get a decent 2011 out of him.

The question then becomes one of prescience nee crystal-balling: who will be sacrificed 2013 for his sins in 2012?

[Since '58]

Right on, 16!

[Hollywood Dodger Mark]

As Vin Scully once famously said "You can have all the tools but it doesn't make you a carpenter."

[BlueSangre]

Definitely a step in the right direction.

[angelcake501]

im so sad they look cute together finally she was in a happy place noooooooooo i hope this is not true :(

[alanw19]

Millions - literally - millions of folks juggle their love life and their work life

No free pass for Kemp or anyone else...you're paid to do a job, and to do it much better than that of late

[Stan]

It wasn't the bedding of Rihanna that caused Kemp to have an off year. 2010 was not a contract year. The contract year coming up will inspire Kemp to show some life.

Rihnnna a superstar? Maybe to the American Idol set, but she isn't in the same neighborhood as the greastest, Miss Ella Fitzgerald.

[Grandpa]

I ...I ... I don't know what to say. I'm just so heart-broken by this news. Please give me a moment...

[waldobinney]

It's about damn time. The only thing good for Kemp last year was his sex life, and that sex life was all he had in that puny brain of his.
He was paid handsomely, it's time for him to give most of that salary back to the fans that supported his lame caboose in '10

[Chumpy Kemp]

Kemp the chump is a garbage baseball player because he has more tools than anyone and doesn't care to learn how to play the game and thinks he's too good to have to work hard and hustle.

Total and complete garbage. End of story.

[Nanaberthaa]

this guy needs a drug test.look at his eyes in this photo.in my opinion it seems as though he has a some thc in his system.

[Nanaberthaa]

just kooking at Kemp in the photo the game he is attending must have started a little after 4:20

[Frank McCourt]

I for one feel Matty's pain because one really is the loneliest number.

[JASMINE]

GUESS WHAT. SHE'S NOT THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD. NOT ONLY THAT... SHE KEEPS ASKING WHAT'S MY NAME. IT'S RIRI....DUM DODO.

[Shawn Park]

Vin Scully doesn't know what day of the week it is let alone what's going on in the game. Old school Dodger fans are stupid. We need to bring back Hee Seop Choi coz Koreans own LA!

[grumpy3b]

playing the part of:

Bartholomew 'Bump' Bailey = Matt Kemp

and as:

Memo Paris = Rhianna

'nuff sed...trade Kemp now he is a head case and be done with it...and folks complained about Manny...Kemp is child, life is hard but already he has earned enough that he never need worry about money again, someone needs to put life into perspective for him.

[Steve Wimer]

C'mon Kemp, show L.A. what you've got!

[OlRamFan39]

As a high School English teacher and Golf/Basketball Coach I always told my students & players tha a mistake or error/excuse is never a bad thing unless it is never corrected. An excuse is just that - an excuse - not a reason. So Kemp : CORRECT IT! and don't listen to the sports pundits and writers!

[Guess Again]

Kemp looks like he cares MORE about being seen and being cool than he cares about the game - any game!

[RunningWithScissors]

@16blows - who gets excised in 2013? Well, it could be Matt, considering his contract ends in 2012. But a far palatable answer would be the McCourts. Considering the divorce proceedings are far from over, perhaps we'll get a new owner next year (2012).

I think Matt, a hoopster at heart, might like playing for his new owner, a former Laker legend.

[Ed Campos]

The only problem I see is that Kemp is playing for the Blue. I mean, look at the turnaround by Jason Werth and Andre Beltre to name jus a couple. I'll bet the Red Sox, Yankees or the Phillies would really make a turnaround in Kemp's career. Hear that Dave?

[Sultan Of Swat]

I'm sure Kemp was hitting more..off the field.