…or “ARE WE REALLY GOING TO COUGH UP ONE OF THE KIDS FOR PITCHING?!”.

Folks, please don’t get me wrong.  Nothing would please me more than to see Roy Halladay in Dodger Blue at the cost of only Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris type players.  The reality is that Toronto will take no one from Los Angeles unless the names Billingsley or Kershaw are included in a package.

I’ve seen stuff all over the web that the Dodgers should be packaging everyone from Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, so on and so forth.  I read this stuff and I think…

…the Dodgers are sitting atop the National League West by seven games and are 24 games above .500.  The Giants can’t rely on just great pitching to make a run, they need an insane about of luck to make any kind of run at us.  Why are our people clamoring for this trade to happen?!

If Ned Coletti can pull together a Manny type trade, then by all means pull the trigger!  He’d be foolish to not make such a trade!  I’ll take Roy Halladay over anyone named Eric or Jeff any day!

I will go out on a limb to say that if Toronto would accept either Juan Pierre or Manny with some prospects, a deal for Halladay would be do-able in my book!

Oh no he didn’t!!

OH YES I DID!!

The truth of the matter is that we can win without either one.  The Dodgers have adequately proven that!  Sending Pierre would make sense because the Jays would definitely make room for him and allow him to play everyday.  Would the Jays take Manny’s enormous baggage and equally enormous contract? 

Seroiusly, unless there is an “under the radar 3-way” deal in the works to get him in Dodger Blue without breaking the bank, it makes no sense to chase Halladay.

Ultimately, our current staff has to man up and go a bit longer than the 5-6 innings/start they’ve been averaging.  The only possible exception to that rule would be Clayton Kershaw as he is still trying to manage his pitch counts and basically find his way in the bigs.  I cut Billingsley, Kuroda, and Wolf no slack.

As it is, we have a manager that goes through relievers like a teenage girl goes through cell phnoe minutes!   When you couple this with the low average innings/start,  We may not have an adequate bullpen for the second half.  We’ve already had 4 relievers head to the DL, we simply can’t have that in the 2nd half!

I’d rather roll the dice with Claudio Vargas in the 5th slot than to see any of the kids go.

This will be one of the few times I will comment on (technically) non-Dodger happenings.

Living here in the North State, we have to endure only Giants and A’s games as they are regarded as the “local teams” (despite the fact that you’d have an easier time finding Dodger fans here than you would fans of either of the above mentioned!).  Although, last night, I was kinda happy to have been getting Comcast Bay Area up here for last night’s A’s/Red Sox game.

I knew that this would be Nomar Garciaparra’s first trip back to Boston since his trade to Chicago.  But I really wasn’t certain how the crowd would react to his return.  I know he was beloved during his time there.  However I wasn’t certain if all the strife during contract negotiations (and subsequent trade) had soured the good folks of Boston.  Oh boy, how I was pleased to have seen what transpired next.

Now unless your name ended up in the Mitchell Report (or your last name is Sheffield), chances are that if you’re a former Dodger and you are returning to Chavez Ravine, you’ll get an ovation (if not a standing one).  The ovation Garciaparra got not only surprised me, it also choked me up as well.  I can only imagine how Nomar felt at that moment.  That he managed to just ground out to third after that ovation was a miracle in itself.

If you (or someone you know) is a member of the Red Sox nation, I tip my (Dodger) cap to you!  That was truly a tremendous moment and one that I soon won’t forget. 

Red Sox fans, for that one moment, you were a total class act!

It’s bad enough that I have to sit through my morning breakfast reading about the legions of Dodger fans making the 2 hour schlep down to San Diego to cheer on Manny in his “triumphant”(?!) return to baseball from that pesky little 50 game inconvenience. Then I have to read Bill Plaschke’s “see, I told you so” column” about the happening. Making matters even worst than that was the way Plaschke ended the column (credit to the LA Times) “All you Dodgers fans who secretly coveted Barry Bonds? You got him.”

Grrr; how dare he?!

Okay, so will now somebody out there please tell me if there were any Dodger fans out there that secretly wanted Steroid Boy in Dodger Blue?  Just the mere thought makes me want to talk to Ralph on the Big White Phone!

The other thing that really needs to be explained to me.  How is it that for years we have all joined in united disdain for Steroid Boy and everything he stood for?  Shall we review?  Let’s;

• cheating on MLB using “The Holy Grail” (as named by Victor Conte) of steroids.
• cheating on his wives.
• lying to congress claiming to “not knowingly taking steroids”….PLEASE!!!
• letting his alleged “best friend” and personal trainer sit in the federal pen so that he doesn’t have to testify to federal investigators and/or prosecutors about Steroid Boy.
• wearing a Giant’s uniform
• ..and just being an overall bad word!

We stood in unison against this cretin, but somehow we give Manny a collective pass?  Especially in light of what he (didn’t) say in the pregame news conference?  He basically said “I’m sorry.  I’m not saying sorry for the real reasons I should be saying it.  I did something wrong.  I paid the price, took my punishment.  Now, let’s move on!”

All of you who booed Steroid Boy and cheer Manny now, unless you can give me a legitimate, lucid,  and concise reason(s), are a bunch of hypocrites!

Okay, so the Dodgers have lost 2 consecutive series up to this point with the rubber game of the current series with the Rockies coming up in the next few hours.

In spite of playing .500 ball over the last 10 games, the Dodgers are still 20 games over .500 with a 6 game lead over the Whine Country Giants (who have miraculously stepped up their game since the beginning of the season!).

Folks, we are fine.  The only thing that remotely scares me about this season is the rumblings I’ve read about the idea of trading either Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier to get a #5 starter (thank God those Washburn rumors were just that..rumors!)

The main area of concerns for me are having our starting pitching lasting longer than 6 innings to give our bullpen some much needed rest, figuring out our leadoff dilemma.

With Manny coming back and Juan Pierre assuming the (bench) position, who do we put in the leadoff spot?  Rafael Furcal’s speed never slumps, but when you’re .230 hitter over the season, speed doesn’t do a whole bunch of good when you’re walking back to the bench after your AB?  Until he figures out his hitting woes, he really belongs in the 8 or 9 slot.

If a #5 starter is to be had (sorry, I’m not sold on Eric Milton..yet!), why can’t we scour the free agent pool or indie leagues?  You don’t think Jose Lima wouldn’t jump at the chance of reviving “Lima Time” for one last hurrah?

…okay okay, I’ve heard you.  But hey, it was a thought!

For those of you wanting to “Vote For Pedro”, why throw Johan money at a pitcher whose best years are long past him?  And getting more than 6 innings out of him?!  Don’t make me laugh!

As for (dare I say the name), Jason Schmidt, you’d see Tommy Lasorda topless in Maxim magazine quicker than you’d see Schmidt one the mound in Chavez Ravine in September!

I don’t see Coletti parting with “the kids” to get pitching for now.  What I do need to see:

Hiroki Kuroda: lose the Jekyll & Hyde routine and either commit to being the dominant pitcher who brings his A game and keeping hitters off balance and not the guy that reminds us of Kaz Ishii (ewww!)

Randy Wolf (translates into Odalis Perez in spanish):  The guys need to score more than 2 runs in his starts.  If you give the guy run support, he’ll keep you in the game.

Clayton Kershaw: I don’t agree with him being on the big club now.  But people with more baseball know how than I are pulling the strings here.  He still needs to better manage his pitches (roughly he averages 17-20 pitches per inning now) and I don’t see that happening for the next few years.  Would you want to see this kid as a #3 starter in the post season this year?  I simply don’t know about that one.

#5 starter: I see Jason Schmidt coming back for maybe one or 2 more major league starts.  I’m not convinced he can physically come back in spite of this last 70 pitch outing with Albuquerque.  It’s one thing to put out 70 pitches in one game; coming back in 4-5 days to do it again and again, and again?  Another injury is in the works here, I can feel it!

Look for our next #5 to be a “dark horse” and not a known commodity.

Aside from that, we’ll be alright!

..my apoligies to the good Talking Heads fans out there.

My usual weekend morning routine consists of breakfast (either a nice cheese omlette, potatoes, and bacon OR a scramble in case you’re curious!), hot coffee,  and reading the morning news over the internet (Fox News and the LA Times are my choices).  This morning, I awoke to the ramblings of Bill Plaschke ( I have to cut and paste that name 99% of the time as the spelling kills me!) who is bound and determined to not have a do-over of the Whine Country years circa 1997-2003 where Barry Bonds (from this point onward shall only be referenced as Steroid Boy) was (and by some accounts still is) King of Bay Area Baseball.

If one were to read Plaschke’s columns, one would be a little too quick to assume that Southland baseball fans would turn a blind eye to the cheating ways of Manny Ramirez, leave the past in the past, and eagerly await the moment they can once again pull out the faux dreadlocks and the #99 jerseys out of the drawers to be proudly displayed in the soon-to-be re-opened “Mannywood” section of Dodger Stadium.

Nothing would give Mr. Plaschke more pleasure than to have Manny return to the chorus of boos 56,000 strong.  Nothing would give him more pleasure than to see Manny crying in the lap of fellow columnist TJ Simers.  Nothing would give him more pleasure than to see him booed entirely out of the league.

..Manny, during one of his first press conferences in Los Angeles in which Simers participated,  invited Simers to sit in his lap.  From that point on, Simers has been a shameless Manny apologist.

Mr. Plaschke needs to realize a few things here; The Great City is self-policing when it comes to it’s (so called) sports heroes.  More recent examples of this would be Eric Gagne and Paul LoDuca returning to Dodger Stadium after their names surfaced in the Mitchell Report.  The Boo-Birds were out in full force and then some.  It probably pained some people to have to boo them (had I been to either of those games, I would have been one of them). 

Secondly, the media here are not nearly as enamored with Manny as the Whine Country media was/ is with Steroid Boy. I recall in the days after the news broke about Manny where Comcast Bay Area sports commentator (and former MLB washout) Bip Roberts was issuing the sternest comdemnation against Manny and referencing not Barry Bonds, but Barry Larkin in his commentary about false steroid accusations.

Lastly, after everything is said and done, Manny will return to baseball a known PED user.  Yes, like it or not, he will return.  He has a tarnished reputation, but he will return. Steroid Boy, on the other hand, cannot return to baseball.  Apart from “not raping nobody and not killing nobody“, Manny is not accused of lying to congress, never had any of his friends stay in federal prison for refusing to testify, and still he still has a wife.  Oh yeah, he’s not an arrogant B-word and people can actually approach him! 

The entire Whine Country had it’s collective head buried in its’..sand during that time.  The media had Steroid Boy portrayed as the guy who just simply “worked harder in the gym, worked harder in the batting cages and video room, went for seconds on broccoli”.  When rumor and innuendo circulated about Steroid Boy and the ”Urkel to Hogan” metamorphasis, a deaf ear was turned.  Giants’ broadcasts became harder and harder to watch/listen to especially in 2001 when Steroid Boy chased Andro McGwire’s single season (hijacked) home run record.  There was something seriously wrong with this scenario.

Folks, we do not live in this Fantasyland!

Mr. Plaschke needs to understand that while there will be those like the above described will embrace Manny on his return, there will also be those that espouse his beliefs and boo to their hearts’ content.  Have some faith in us!  We are not all pinheads!

…Simers will leave the light on and Manny will keep his lap nice and comfy for you, too!

I logged into my MLB account basically wondering what I could write about.  I truly had no clue.

One quick trip to the Dodger website and seeing the headline regarding Ronald Belisario getting popped by the good folks at CHP for suspicion of DUI, my topic was found and my anger at a boiling point!

According to the article, Belisario was yipping on the cell phone when CHP pulled him over.  He displayed sypmtoms of alcohol intoxication, was tested, and placed under arrest.  After posting bail, he was released.  He reported to Dodger Stadium on time and was in uniform at game time.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Belisario said he was coming home from dinner when he was pulled over and dismissed the incident as “nothing.”.

..maybe in your native Venezuela, it’s nothing.  But here in America, it’s something and I really REALLY hope you change that attitude!

First off, it’s against the law here in California to be yipping on the cell phone without a hands-free device.  Secondly, you did this while drunk off your gourd?!

WTF?!

Too bad you don’t have Joe Beimel for a teammate.  He could tell you a thing or two about booze and what it does to players.

I still have family down in that area.  Consider yourself very lucky you didn’t hurt or kill anyone (especially in my family!)

Too bad you didn’t have Nick Adenhart for a teammate.  His family could tell you if driving drunk is “nothing”.

Ronnie, if it’s truly “Nothing” to you, how about we just void your contract, ship you back off to Caracas where you can play for a sack of beans per game?

We don’t like players with a “Nothing” attitude.  Straighten it out or go home!

DRUNK DRIVER

May 7 was the day it all “began”.  I remember being on the living room sofa trying to recover from a really nasty bout of heatstroke when the news came over KTLA (the lone Los Angeles station I receive up here in God’s country) that Manny Ramirez had been suspended for a violation of MLB’s PED rules.

In retrospect, having to battle heatstroke kept me from bouncing off the walls and spared my children from the loudest “WHAT?!” known to man.

Like anyone else, I wanted more information.  Everything that I had heard/read about Ramirez had totally contradicted this stunning revelation.  I knew Manny would not be Manny from this point on.  Taking gold from Fort Knox will be far easier than getting Manny to ‘fess up about this whole mess!

All the while, Juan D’Vaughn Pierre received the news that he would now be (for 50 games) the starting left fielder.  It wasn’t because Manny couldn’t find his swing.  It wasn’t because Manny had a torn rotator cuff or some other God-awful career threatening injury.  Very simply put, it was because (ALLEGEDLY) Manny couldn’t keep his hands out of the medicine jar.

Many thoughts raced through my mind starting with “oh great..the guy doesn’t even have “warning track” power“, “stealing bases is all fine and dandy, but you have to get on base first!” and, my favorite, “my mother in law could score from second if she hit a gapper he was chasing!”.

Needless to say, I had no faith in Pierre.  Seeing .500 ball being played in the 10 games after Manny’s suspension did little or nothing to quell my concerns.  42 games into the suspension and seeing Manny’s return on the horizon, I’m now wondering if there’s any way we can dump him.

Oh no, he didn’t!!!

Oh yes, I did!

My days as a “stats guy” are long past me and I am okay with it.  I’m sure there are plenty of other bloggers out there who will be more than happy to pontificate on the prowess of Mr. Pierre in Manny’s absence. About all that I can tell you is that the Pierre that comes to the plate these days is pretty much telling the opposition “if you let me on base, I will create problems for you; GUARANTEED!”.  His defense will always be…well, let’s just say it’s Juan being Average.

The Dodgers are 23 games above .500 and 8.5 games ahead of the Giants because of Pierre’s contributions, not in spite of his deficiencies.  While Manny was doing whatever Manny did, Pierre calmy went about his business of staying ready and waiting for the call.  he did this with a class and professionalism that quite a few of his peers should have taken note of.  

It so pains me to think that he will be made to sit because the Dodgers threw obscene amounts of money at a guy who, for whatever reason, felt the need to load up on the super sauce (ALLEGEDLY).  I would really REALLY like to see Manny return as a late-inning replacement for Pierre and make him earn his starting role again.  Then again, this is not a perfect world.  Manny will return to left field and Pierre will return to the bench.

For what little it’s worth, you can’t find class and professionalism in a syringe.  Even if you could, how many of the accused and proven cheats would have reached for those in place of the “sauce”?

Hi everybody and a pleasant good day to you wherever you may be…

thief thief!

Okay, okay, so I needed something to break the ice on my first ever blog!

Living here in the North State (as the locals refer to the region here in Northern California) is a bit odd for anyone who is a Dodger fan.  For whatever reason, Dodger fans are more plentiful here than the Giants/A’s given the proximity to the Bay Area (having lived there for 3 years, I refer to that region as the “Whine Country“).  That said, the local media solely focuses on the goings on of the Giants and A’s reporting on only the Dodgers when they are the opposing team or when one of the Dodgers players is suspended for violating those pesky PED rules (as I continue on with my blogs, you will come to find where I stand with respect to PEDs and those found to have used or have been suspected of using!).

Somehow when the NBA highlights are shown,  both Kings and Lakers highlights are shown; explain that one to me.

What doesn’t need any explanation is that the Clippers are also ignored up here…

Okay, enough of that for now.  My name is Albert and I’ve been a true blue Dodger fan since about the age of 6. The first 31 years of my life were spent in The Great City of Los Angeles, CA.  After that, I spent 3 misguided years living in the Bay Area which was hands down the biggest mistake of my life.  I will never EVER live in that area again!  I moved to Redding in 2001 and I now reside in nearby Shasta Lake which is about 200 miles north of Sacramento (I went there last Sunday; gave a shout out to the Arco Arena from Kobe as I passed by!).  I am a happily married man with 2 beautiful daughters and a 6 month old Black Lab pup.

I’m not certain how much I can get away with on these sites.  I am not a politically correct man.  If you don’t believe me, just ask whoever moderates the Dodger bulletin boards!  I pretty much call em as I see em and I don’t mince words.  I can be diplomatic when necessary but otherwise straightforward.  If given the opportunity to write freely, I believe I can be just as entertaining as the next guy on Page 2.

I like to express my beliefs as I see fit.  Being a father, I realize other people’s kids might be reading and therefore will never EVER use any foul language ( I might dance real close to it, but I will never go there!).  But, if it gets to the point to where ideas and sentiments are censored as aggresively as they are on the bulletin boards, I will happily find another place to air my views.

And so it goes for my first blog.  It’s been fun, but it won’t be the last.

Until next time….