Dodgers Web musings: Bill Burke simply a front man for reds?

Somehow even things Frank McCourt is not responsible for still take on an otherworldly quality.

That record $1.2 billion offer for the Dodgers from Bill Burke and his friends of Mao Tse-tung? Apparently, completely unsolicited. So much so that one of McCourt’s attorneys deemed it a publicity stunt. A publicity stunt for whom, I’m not sure. Pretty sure China gets enough pub.

And then Friday, McCourt’s flak king of no comment, Steve Sugerman, actually came out of hiding to tell The Times' Bill Shaikin: "Any source who would suggest that Bill Burke is a friend of Frank's is uninformed. Mr. Burke is not even an acquaintance of Frank McCourt, and his offer for the team was unsolicited and a surprise. Beyond that, we have nothing more to share."

As for Burke, if you suspected he was simply a front man for this mysterious Eastern financing, go to the head of the class. LA Weekly’s Gene Maddus reports state paperwork Burke has to file as chair of the South Coast Air Quality Management District shows he has at best $4.3 million.

Now that’s a stadium load of money to me, and I’m guessing most of you, but just a tad shy of $1.2 billion. Maybe he was just going to solicit a buck from every Chinese.

It’s all very strange, and unsolicited or not, somehow very McCourt-like.

Also on the web:

-- There is a wonderful piece in GQ magazine by Daniel Riley that has Vin Scully commenting on his greatest baseball moments, several with links to the actual calls.

-- The Daily News’ Kevin Modesti on why there may never be another broadcaster like Scully.

-- In a video, Sports Illustrated looks at the impact of sports in New York after 9/11, including comments from fJoe Torre and Bobby Valentine –- then managing the Yankees and Mets.

 

-- Clayton Kershaw and Ted Lilly try to find McCourt some extra moola during visit to the U.S. Treasury Bureau of Engraving.

-- Shortstop Dee Gordon, flaws and all, is making a believer out of MikeSciosciasTragicIllness’ Mike Petriello.

-- In a guest piece for The Times, Frederick Cohan, a biology professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut tells how witnessing Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965 changed his life.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Check that: Now Dodgers-Nationals game is back on [Updated: Now it's off again]

When is a rainout not a rainout?

When Joe Torre says so.

Yep, that rained-out game today in Washington between the Dodgers and Nationals is back on. I say that with all the conviction of a teenage boy calling up a girl on the phone for the first time.

Anyway, it’s not officially rained out. Which means the Dodgers will have to wrestle up their players, or at least enough of them to play a game, should it now go off.

[Updated at 3 p.m.: Wait, check that again, MLB just officially postponed the game again.]

This day was just more proof that this has been a season to remember, all the way around.

The Nationals and Dodgers had agreed to the rainout at 10:37 a.m. PDT Wednesday, announced it and scheduled a doubleheader for Thursday. Then Major League Baseball said: No so fast.

Because this is the Dodgers’ last trip on the East Coast this year, and there is a 70% chance of showers again Thursday, MLB wants them to try everything to get Wednesday’s game in.

Torre, the ex-Dodgers manager who is now a MLB executive, called Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo Wednesday afternoon to let him to try to play.

The gates at Nationals Park were re-opened. The Dodgers were back at the team hotel trying to get their team together. When the rainout was announced, several took off to points unknown, thinking they had the day off.

Turns out they did, after all.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: A member of the grounds crew pulls the tarp over home plate on Tuesday night during a rain delay. On Thursday, the game was eventually postponed. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press

James Loney could pitch for Dodgers on Sunday -- seriously

While most of his teammates were in the clubhouse on Sunday morning, James Loney ran onto the grass at Coors Field and started playing long toss. Soon he was in the bullpen, throwing off the mound.

Loney is starting at first base and batting sixth against the Colorado Rockies, but Manager Don Mattingly said he told Loney that he could be called on to pitch in an emergency.

“Let’s hope we don’t see it today,” Mattingly said.

The Dodgers used all of their pitchers in a 7-6, 13-inning loss to the Rockies on Saturday night.

Hiroki Kuroda, who started on Friday, skipped his regularly scheduled bullpen session and volunteered to pitch an inning in relief. Utilityman Eugenio Velez, who is batting .000, is also under consideration to pitch.

“I’m on deck, I’m on deck,” Loney told his teammates in the clubhouse.

I'm shocked, shocked to learn the Mariners waived Charlie Haeger

Under the "where are they now" heading, or perhaps in this case where they’re not, the Seattle Mariners have released Charlie Haeger (pictured at left) from their triple-A Tacoma team.

Haeger, the knuckleballer that Joe Torre so desperately wanted to fall in love with last season, was released Saturday after posting a 7.74 earned-run average for the Rainiers. Sounds pretty familiar.

Last season Haeger was handed the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation but went 0-4 with an 8.40 ERA. No one could say he didn’t get a chance. He appeared in nine games (six starts) but never could get it going.

A fifth starter became nearly a season-long search for Dodgers, who were only able to fill it after a July 31 trading-deadline deal for Ted Lilly with the Cubs.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Dodgers Web musings: Just how great is Clayton Kershaw? [Video]

Clayton Kershaw is good. I know, you must be bowled over by that news.

But here’s a twist -- could he be the best young pitcher ever?

OK, there’s no proving that one, and all kinds of crazy factors could come into play in testing such a slightly outlandish statement.

But ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian has a stat that should get your attention:

"Kershaw is in his fourth major league season. He has 32 victories, a 3.15 ERA and 593 strikeouts in 568 2/3 innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no 23-year-old pitcher has ever had that many victories, an ERA that low and averaged more than one strikeout per inning in his career since ERA became an official statistic after 1910. No pitcher.’’

As in, never before in the history of the game.

Also on the Web:

--The Times’ Bill Shaikin writes that Frank McCourt’s financial troubles could not only force him to put the Dodgers up for sale, but the L.A. Marathon, too.

--Bad news for those hoping McCourt won’t meet payroll June 15, making it easier for Major League Baseball to put the team up for sale, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale claims he does have the money to meet payroll.

--Forbes’ Mike Ozanian writes that Bank of America has learned a lesson since lending McCourt more than half the money he needed to purchase the Dodgers.

--Ex-Dodgers manager and current MLB executive Joe Torre, in a Sports Illustrated video, below, on Commissioner Bud Selig seizing control of the Dodgers: "He just feels that L.A. deserves to have the type of franchise it’s had for years and he’s really looking into it. I really don’t know what the result will be.’’

 

--The Daily News’ Kevin Modesti profiles Dennis Gilbert, one of the names most frequently heard as a potential buyer of the Dodgers.

--The Times’ Dylan Hernandez says Manager Don Mattingly was second-guessing himself after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to the Phillies.

--Hernandez also looks at the unofficial platoon of James Loney at first.

--ESPN’s Tony Jackson says the Dodgers need to demonstrate the ability to beat a top pitcher.

--Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness’ Mike Petriello sadly calls the Dodgers’ miserable seventh inning Wednesday a microcosm of their entire season.

--ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick profiles the Dodgers’ newest rookie, shortstop Dee Gordon.

--The Dodgers’ attendance problems have received the attention of the New York Times, though it oddly seems to place much of the problem as the result of an increased police presence.

--The LAPD has reassigned the Bryan Stow beating case to its elite robbery homicide division.

--Recaps of the Dodgers' draft are offered by MLB and TrueBlueL.A.

-- Steve Dilbeck

What changes would you make if you owned the Dodgers?

Really, all this talk about someone buying the Dodgers and it seems a pretty basic question.

Everybody and his Aunt Grace seems to be lining up, waving their arms and proclaiming they’d be interested in buying "the team that is not for sale" if only, you know, they were actually for sale.

Now Orel Hershiser has joined Steve Garvey’s group, which puts them in the same company as Larry King, Joe Torre, Peter O’Malley, Dennis Gilbert, Magic Johnson, Ron Burkle, Mark Cuban, Lew Wolff, Alysa Milano, Alec Gores, Oscar De La Hoya (as soon as he finishes with that other thing), Tom Werner Mark Attanasio and -- the people’s favorite -- the Dilbeck Investment Group (keep donating those bicycles, these things do add up).

Some have denied interest, for whatever that’s worth, but the pool is amazing considering Fox couldn’t find anyone interested in purchasing the team back in 2003 except for a couple who owned a Boston parking lot.

Now all this moaning about the McCourt ownership, but what would your priorities be if you suddenly owned the Dodgers? What would be your first changes?

Commenter First Baseman listed his ideas -- emphasis on the farm system, $5 bleacher seats for Fridays, $5 parking -- when the Hershiser post went up.

So what would you realistically do? Besides bring back elderly ushers in straw hats.

What differences would be important to you? Let’s hear it.

And all those other would-be owners should know ... I have an Aunt Grace.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers Web musings: Report says Kuo will not retire

Hong-Chih Kuo’s unexpected placement on the disabled list Wednesday for an anxiety disorder provided more questions than answers.

As The Times’ Dylan Hernandez reported, Kuo has been shut down and no one is certain when he will return.

But Dodgers.com’s Ken Gurnick spoke to Kuo’s agent, Alan Chang, on Thursday and he was adamant that Kuo was not going to retire.

"He clearly is focused on working to come back. That's not a question," said Chang. "He does want to come back and really appreciates the support the Dodgers organization has shown him. Everybody is on board to helping him."

Also on the Web:

-- Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen is one talented ballplayer, but he’s no Jamey Carroll.

Hong-Chih Kuo to be used like regular reliever; now to get back to the regular Kuo

Hong-Chih Kuo, regular guy. Anyway, regular relief pitcher?

That should be a good thing and, if based upon last season, an absolutely great thing.

Only Don Mattingly’s declaration prior to Sunday’s game that he was going to treat Kuo and his keep-those-fingers-crossed elbow the same as any other reliever currently comes with an unforced pause.

Because, thus far into 2011, Kuo has hardly resembled the All-Star left-hander who was so stunningly effective last season (1.20 ERA, 0.78 WHIP).

It is, as we are so fond of saying, a small sample size. Still, a disturbing sample size. He’s appeared in eight games, throwing 4 2/3 innings, but hasn’t been sharp (9.64, 1.93).

Kuo went on the disabled list last month not because his elbow -- operated on four times -- was acting up, but his back.

It's a Broxton meltdown as Dodgers fall, 4-1, to Cubs

Jonathan Broxton is living on the edge. And right now, he’s teetering the wrong way.

It’s uncertain how long manager Don Mattingly can put up with Broxton as his closer, but after Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Cubs, it can’t be too long.

On a night when Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 29 games, Broxton entered the ninth in a 1-1 tie.

After getting an initial out, he threw eight consecutive balls. When Mattingly, who has demonstrated a quicker trigger finger in player moves than predecessor Joe Torre, came out to get  him, he was cheered.

When Broxton walked off, he was booed. The previous night he had retired the Cubs in order, but on Tuesday his velocity dropped to he low 90s. His form look off, almost awkward.

Broxton has converted seven of eight save opportunities, but few have looked clean. He has a 5.68 ERA.

His cause wasn’t helped Tuesday when Blake Hawksworth replaced him and gave up a two-run double to Geovany Soto that got past Matt Kemp and a run-scoring single to ex-Dodger Blake DeWitt.

Dodgers Web musings: Andre Ethier, you are sports' biggest rising star

That’s right, the Dodgers’ own Andre Ethier is not only the hottest thing on the baseball diamond right now, but also the biggest sports star to watch this month.

Anyway, so says a marketing research company that puts out a monthly list it calls "Rising Sports Stars."

Ethier, who at 27 games has baseball’s longest hitting streak in two years, had the biggest lift in popularity last month, according to Brand Affinity Technologies. They base their results on some nebulous formula that looks at media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement and fan base.

Ethier’s rating climbed 136% last month, according to BAT. Before you get too excited, he just squeaked past New Orleans Hornets forward Trevor Ariza’s 135% increase.

Also on the Web:

-- Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi takes a look at Ethier's hitting streak.

-- Joe Torre has been mum on Major League Baseball’s takeover of the Dodgers from Frank McCourt since arriving on the scene with trustee Tom Schieffer last week but earlier confided to MLB.com’s Mark Newman that Commissioner Bud Selig did confer with him before taking action.