LOS ANGELES DODGERS CLIPS
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
LA TIMES
Dodgers are hotter than the Sahara Desert ... but is it a mirage?
Matt Kemp has led the Dodgers to a 9-1 start, their best since 1981. But it's all been against the feeble Padres and Pirates, and Manager
Don Mattingly says, 'Things have kind of bounced our way.'
By Dylan Hernandez
April 16, 2012, 6:35 p.m.
Matt Kemp has been unstoppable. The Dodgers have been too.
Leading the major leagues in all three of the triple crown categories through Sunday, Kemp became the first player ever to win
consecutive National League player-of-the-week awards in the first two weeks of a season. He also claimed the prize in the final week of
2011, making him the first player to win it three weeks running since its inception in 1974.
"He's the best player in baseball, and probably the world, right now," Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said. "It's pretty ridiculous."
Kemp is for real. Everyone in baseball seems to agree on that.
But what about the Dodgers?
Their 9-1 record is the best in the majors. The last time they won nine of their first 10 games was in the strike-shortened 1981 season,
when they went on to win the World Series.
A three-game series in Milwaukee, which starts Tuesday, could offer some perspective.
Six of the Dodgers' wins came against the San Diego Padres, who might be the worst team in baseball. The other three were over the
Pittsburgh Pirates, who aren't much better than the Padres.
The Brewers reached the National League Championship Series last season. Though they lost Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers over
the winter and ranked 26th in the majors in batting average through Sunday, they have the potential to do something the Padres and
Pirates could not: hit.
With a lineup that includes reigning NL most valuable player Ryan Braun (.343) and the fast-starting Corey Hart (.321, four home runs,
eight runs batted in), the Brewers could help answer a question that might determine how far the Dodgers go.
That is, was Chad Billingsley's spectacular form in his first two starts a result of the mechanical adjustments he made in spring? Or did he
simply benefit from facing two of the league's worst offensive teams?
Billingsley, who has given up only one run in 141/3 innings this season, will start the series opener. He will be followed by veteran
newcomers Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang, who also remain the subjects of uncertainty.
Capuano and Harang have combined to average five innings per start. Dodgers relievers have posted a respectable 3.21 earned-run
average, but maintaining that would be difficult if they have to pitch four innings every time Capuano and Harang take the mound.
Manager Don Mattingly didn't sound fazed by the upcoming challenge.
"We're capable of beating anybody," he said. "We know what. It doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks."
However, Mattingly also conceded, "We've had close games that could have gone either way. Things have kind of bounced our way a
little bit."
The Dodgers have won five one-run games.
If you listen to Mattingly and his players, that's a sign of their resolve and newfound ability to manufacture runs, which has been
enhanced by the additions of speedy leadoff man Dee Gordon and cerebral No. 2 hitter Mark Ellis. Andre Ethier has returned to his preinjury form and has provided a complementary threat to Kemp in the middle of the order.
"Right now, we're really confident in ourselves," Kemp said. "Everybody's doing a great job of doing little things to win games."
But a cynic would probably say they were handed some wins by suspect opposition and umpiring.
In one win during their season-opening series in San Diego, the Dodgers walked 10 batters, hit another, blew a five-run lead and still
beat the Padres.
They blew another five-run lead against the Padres on Friday at Dodger Stadium and strolled off with a victory when San Diego relievers
Andrew Cashner and Joe Thatcher combined to walk four consecutive batters, all with two out, in the bottom of the ninth.
Closer Javy Guerra was bailed out Sunday by a disputed ninth-inning triple play, when plate umpire Dale Scott raised his arms in a way
that seemed to indicate he was ruling Jesus Guzman's bunt to be foul.
A two-out single by Gordon in the bottom of the inning lifted the Dodgers to their second walk-off victory in three days.
"It's a matter of getting one win or another," Mattingly said. "You're going to have to win X amount of games this year to get to the
playoffs. And every one you can win now is one you don't necessarily have to win later."
The early schedule could help the Dodgers pad their win total.
The Brewers are one of only two teams the Dodgers face this month that finished with a record better than .500 last season. The other
is the Atlanta Braves, who visit Dodger Stadium from April 23-25.
The Dodgers won't have consecutive series against teams that had winning records in 2011 until the middle of May, when they host the
World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals from May 18-20 and visit the defending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks from May
21-23.
Developing Chavez Ravine is likely in play for new Dodgers owner
Real estate experts say the rich price Guggenheim Baseball Management paid for the team probably means it is looking to do more with
the land surrounding Dodger Stadium than simply park cars.
By Roger Vincent and Ken Bensinger, Los Angeles Times
April 16, 2012, 10:02 p.m.
It's a developer's dream — nearly 300 empty acres above downtown Los Angeles, close to three major freeways and visited by millions
each year.
Could Chavez Ravine be the next big real estate play in town?
The new owner of the Dodgers, Guggenheim Baseball Management, is keeping tight-lipped about its plans for the parking lots and
hillsides surrounding Dodger Stadium, which it will own jointly with departing team owner Frank McCourt if the sale closes as expected
April 30.
The Dodgers disclosed some details of the McCourt-Guggenheim land partnership in the team's bankruptcy case, but those documents
were under seal — and the team quickly withdrew them after The Times asked the bankruptcy judge to release them publicly.
Real estate experts, however, say it's likely the new owner is looking to do more with the land than simply park cars. They point out that
the rich price paid by Guggenheim — at $2.15 billion, a record for a sports franchise — suggests it will need to add new revenue streams
in addition to what is expected to be a lucrative television contract.
"There is probably a media or a real estate play," said Stan Ross, chairman of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, who was quick to add
that any development would likely take years to realize.
One doesn't have to scout far for a glimpse of potential development plans. Four years ago, McCourt proposed a $500-million plan to
ring the stadium with restaurants, shops and a Dodgers museum. The surface parking spaces lost to new buildings would be replaced by
twin nine-story garages.
The plans never went anywhere amid the economic downturn and the team's precarious finances, but it's clear that McCourt wasn't the
only one to see new development possibilities.
Among those in the bidding for the Dodgers were real estate entrepreneurs Rick Caruso, Jared Kushner and Tom Barrack. And Magic
Johnson, one of the nation's most prominent urban developers, has a minority stake in the Guggenheim partnership.
Developer Ken Lombard, a former business partner of Johnson, said the Dodgers property is ideally situated for an urban development.
"You could create a community up there," said Lombard, who runs the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping center. "You have the
chance to do something very interesting, probably a mixture of residential and retail."
There would be even more potential if the baseball stadium were to be relocated downtown, as many have suggested. AEG
Entertainment President Tim Leiweke, who is leading plans to build an NFL football stadium downtown, said a downtown baseball
stadium would be among other possible options if the football stadium were derailed.
Beverly Hills apartment developer Alan Casden, another unsuccessful bidder for the Dodgers, had made relocating the stadium a
cornerstone of an earlier proposal to buy the team in 2003.
At that time, Casden criticized Dodger Stadium for convoluted parking lots, a poor seating plan and a location inconvenient for both fans
and nearby residents who bear the brunt of traffic, noise and litter in their neighborhood.
Tearing down Dodger Stadium, the third-oldest major league ballpark, would likely draw opposition from preservationists. The Los
Angeles Conservancy has not taken a position on the issue, but its executive director, Linda Dishman, has a soft spot for the 50-year-old
stadium.
"My favorite thing is looking out from the top deck. It feels like you're so close you can touch the skyline of downtown," Dishman said.
At 50, Dodger Stadium is now eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If it achieved such a designation, the owner
would find it more difficult to get city approval to destroy it, make substantial changes or sell naming rights.
In 2004, Chicago's Wrigley Field was landmarked, a move the Cubs' ownership opposed. The team was sold in 2009 and the new owners
have asserted that the status costs the Cubs $30 million a year in lost sponsorship opportunities.
Even if the stadium doesn't get official landmark designation, earning the backing to raze it or build additions on the parking lots such as
condos or a shopping center would not be an easy feat, said Gail Goldberg, former city planning director.
Owners can be expected to look for "higher and better" uses for their property that will produce more financial rewards, she said. Their
challenge is to convince local officials that their plans are good for economic development and to convince local stakeholders such as
neighbors that the plan will improve their quality of life.
That the publicly unpopular McCourt is still involved is an added hurdle to building support for real estate development, she said.
"I think nobody wants to help him make more money," Goldberg said. "As long as his name is out there, the public benefit [of
development] would have to be extraordinary."
Although the Boston native is giving up half his interest in the parking lots, Bankruptcy Court filings show that McCourt will retain
complete control of five parcels comprising nearly 20 acres of land immediately adjoining them.
McCourt also owns an entire city block between College Street and Figueroa Terrace, just down the hill from the stadium. Purchased in
2008 for $9.1 million, the block holds a small house and a commercial building with the offices of the L.A. Marathon, which McCourt
also owns.
The price McCourt paid is more than triple what the land sold for in 2004 and 2005; the block borders the 110 Freeway and its Sunset
Boulevard exit, which could be an attractive feature should the city ever expand road access to Dodger Stadium.
Major roadwork and other large-scale improvements to ease ingress and egress to the ravine would probably be necessary for
meaningful development to take place, architect and real estate advisor Ann Gray said.
"It's not an easy site to get in and out of," Gray said. "The paradox is that the only way to relieve traffic is to build more. It will alleviate
the bottleneck at the start and end of games. Even great mass transit will not do that."
With the exception of the Figueroa Terrace properties, almost all of McCourt's holdings are zoned as agricultural or open space, as are
the parking lots. To build on them, a potentially difficult rezoning would be required.
City Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes Chavez Ravine, is taking a wait-and-see approach to development around the
stadium, though he did voice support for McCourt's plan in 2008.
"There is a critical path that we have to cross that speaks to our ability to create jobs while making it better for everybody, not just the
people who come for three hours and then go," he said.
Dodgers' fast start even has the media in a tizzy
By Steve Dilbeck
April 16, 2012, 4:44 p.m.
All aboard, this bandwagon is heading out like a love train.
Don't you know that it's time to get on board,
And let this train keep on riding, riding on through …
Anyone in their path. There’s no stopping the Dodgers now! They are 9-1 and taking names. Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae. Patton
storming Bastogne.
OK, maybe not exactly. The Dodgers do own the best record in baseball and all kudos for that. They have met two of the worst teams in
the National League three times and played with them like a puppy with a chew toy.
But there remains just a slight possibility that people are reading way too much into this start. And I don’t just mean the Dodgers
faithful, either.
I’m not a big proponent of team rankings but guess they’re fun. Accurate? Maybe not so much.
Because the Dodgers are skyrocketing in these things. Sports Illustrated has the Dodgers ranked as the fifth best team in all of baseball,
ESPN now has them fourth and the Sporting News has them second –- trailing only the Rangers.
In a video, Fox Sports columnist and Baseball Writers President of the Temperance Society Jon Paul Morosi claims flatly: “I’m a believer.
This is a good team, it is not a great team … (but) good enough to make the playoffs.”
I’m thinking everybody needs to come down from mountain. I’m not sure who’s leading this sermon, but the air must be awfully thin up
there.
Exactly what do we know about these Dodgers now that we did not know two weeks ago? Not that much. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier
were expected to carry the offense and have (times two). The rest of the lineup looked like a lot of role players and have been. Juan
Uribe and James Loney still aren’t hitting. Dee Gordon is young player — hot and cold. Neither Mark Ellis nor A.J. Ellis are hitting, though
A.J. has a .419 on-base percentage and has been terrific behind the plate.
“It’s not like we’re blowing teams away,” said Manager Don Mattingly. “We’ve caught a few breaks. It’s not always going to be that
way.”
And he said that before Sunday’s bizarro triple play.
This is not intended to distract from what the Dodgers have accomplished. They’ve done exactly what they’ve needed to do: beat up on
lesser teams, if hardly rolling through them. Five of their nine victories have been by a single run.
“The main thing is to start out fast,” said Matt Kemp. “It doesn’t matter who you play. We need to take care of ourselves and win as
many games as we can.”
Which is correct, of course. The wins in April count just as much as the ones in September. Still, it is, as they say, an almost stupidly long
season. Every team — even the Padres and Pirates — will have their winning streaks.
Just some caution to everyone eager to read so much into a fast start. Last year the Rockies started 11-2 and were never heard from
again. The '55 Dodgers started 22-2 and never looked back. It can go either way.
The Dodgers have yet to play a strong team – they open a three-game series against the Brewers Tuesday – and really have a pretty soft
schedule throughout April. They deserve applause, but also a decent amount of skepticism.
Matt Kemp's tear with Dodgers is now breaking records
By Steve Dilbeck
April 16, 2012, 1:21 p.m.
Get off to a ridiculous start like Matt Kemp, and historic things tend to happen.
History met up with Kemp on Monday when he was named the National League Player of the Week for the second time in as many
weeks.
Kemp became the first NL player to win the back-to-back honor to start a season and the first to win three consecutive awards (dating
back to the last week of 2011) since the award’s inception in 1974.
Otherwise, he just cannot get on track.
Kemp’s current numbers are a tad otherworldly. After 10 games, Kemp not only leads the triple-crown categories in the NL, but for the
entire major leagues.
He leads the majors in home runs (six), RBI (16) and batting average (.487). Also in slugging percentage (1.026), hits (19) and runs (13).
Alas, this slacker is going to have to pick it up if he wants to steal 50 bases, since he’s stuck at one.
Kemp, last year’s NL MVP runner-up, currently has more home runs than four entire teams (Cubs, Nationals, Phillies and Pirates).
The only other player to capture consecutive Player of the Week awards to open a season was Tony Armas, who managed it in the
American League in 1981 with the Oakland A’s.
Kemp earned this week’s honors by leading the majors with these numbers: a .545 (12-for-22) batting average, four home runs, a 1.182
slugging percentage, .615 on-base percentage and 26 total bases.
DODGERS.COM
Kemp first 50-50 player? It could happen
Center fielder in his prime, motivated by NL MVP Award snub
By Anthony Castrovince | MLB.com Columnist | Archive 04/17/12 10:00 AM ET
Sure, it could very well be a mirage, this 9-1 start for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The .900 winning percentage has, of course, come at the
expense of the Padres and the Pirates, and so these are April results that deserve asterisks, even by April standards.
For the time being, and for the sake of everybody's sanity, we'll reserve all judgment on the club at large (though it's nonetheless worth
noting that the Dodgers have already won nine games before Clayton Kershaw has even gotten around to winning his first).
But we're not stretching the limits of sanity to point out that, even in the midst of a potential mirage, what Matt Kemp is doing is
absolutely legit.
How can such a thing be asserted with only 6.2 percent of the season in the books?
Well, because Kemp had the courtesy to warn us beforehand, that's how.
"I'm telling you," he told us via conference call last fall, "y'all created a monster."
This was the conference call in which Kemp discussed being shortchanged in the National League MVP Award balloting (hey, Matt, some
of us were on your side), the conference call in which he made that bold first proclamation that he's going to hit 50 home runs and steal
50 bases this season.
Now, it would be pretty silly to assume Kemp will be the first member of the 50-50 club. History tells us he's due to be derailed on that
quest, particularly if he keeps up a pace that would result in 97 home runs. (Hey, how's a guy supposed to swipe 50 bags if the majority
of his action on the bases involves trotting around them?)
And no, Kemp won't continue to hit .487 with a 1.548 OPS. He won't have a .538 ISO (isolated power, or the percentage of his at-bats
that have resulted in extra bases). He won't win NL Player of the Week honors every single week of the season. And come to think of it,
he probably won't sustain that 97-homer pace, either.
But something was awoken inside of Kemp last year -- a year in which he finally had the energy and enthusiasm to match his potential,
with the results to show for it -- and his hunger to drive himself and his team to greatness was only made all the more strong by that
MVP snub.
So, yeah, a monster was born, and the 10-game terror he's unleashed upon opposing pitchers in this season's opening stretch is likely to
continue, in some measure.
"Is there a better player in the game right now?" Padres manager Bud Black asked over the weekend.
Good question.
Kemp is 27, and so he's right in the thick of what will prove to be his statistical prime. He's embraced a leadership role on a club that
simply would not have finished above .500 without him last year. Kemp has become one of the game's most complete players, and the
Dodgers hope he'll have better lineup protection now that Don Mattingly is batting him in the third spot, ahead of Andre Ethier, instead
of the fourth spot, where, last year, he batted ahead of the likes of James Loney, Juan Uribe, Rod Barajas, Casey Blake and Jerry Sands.
What's most impressive about the way Kemp has started this season is that he's produced this power in two notoriously difficult
ballparks for hitters -- Dodger Stadium and Petco Park. Of his six homers, two have gone to dead center and the other four have all gone
to the opposite field. The guy is not pull-happy, and his is the kind of production you can't fake.
Surely, the opposition will adjust, and the grind of the season will take its toll on the gaudy numbers. But in the here and now, baseball
doesn't have many players more motivated than Matt Kemp, and, because Kemp is so naturally talented, motivation is half the battle.
He's also motivated to make this Dodgers team turn the corner.
"I feel like this year we need to turn things around and get back on track," Kemp told the Los Angeles Times this spring.
The 9-1 start certainly has the Dodgers on the right track. And as easy as it is to discount the opposition (or to point out that they won't
be turning any more 2-5-6-3 triple plays), the Dodgers finished last season strong, they play in a particularly unpredictable division, they
have a dangerous one-two punch atop their rotation in the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Kershaw and Chad Billingsley and they
have a deep bullpen.
Perhaps most importantly, they have a monster in the middle of their lineup.
And what Kemp is doing here in 2012 is no mirage.
Back-end duo making Dodgers' relief dynamic
By Lyle Spencer / MLB.com | 04/16/12 4:30 PM ET
LOS ANGELES -- At the back end of the Dodgers' bullpen, one of the club's many strengths in its blazing 9-1 start, you find a team within
a team.
Closer Javy Guerra and setup man Kenley Jansen are a dominant duo. The only blips have been a pair of homers surrendered by Jansen
to Cameron Maybin and Chase Headley of the Padres, Headley's blast costing Jansen a save that became one of his two wins.
Guerra has been close to perfect in his six outings, making good on all five of his save attempts by limiting opponents to only two hits
and two walks in six scoreless innings.
Guerra, 26, and Jansen, 24, are relatively new to their jobs and resist being singled out. They will quickly point out that the bullpen is a
unit, each member committed to his role. But these two guys have a history that is fairly unique, creating a tight bond.
"I used to pitch to Kenley in the Minors," Guerra said, recalling Jansen's early days as one of the biggest catchers in professional
baseball. "Me and Kenley have always had a special relationship. I love the guy.
"He was good back there, defensively. And he had an arm. I think he had the ability to catch up here [in the Majors]."
Jansen, born and raised in Curacao of the former Netherlands Antilles, showcased his powerful, accurate arm catching for Team
Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. But his offensive performance showed why he was about to be transformed into a
pitcher.
A .229 hitter in five Minor League seasons with 15 homers in 953 at-bats, he was 1-for-13 in the Classic, his lone hit coming off Roy
Oswalt of Team USA.
"He was a switch-hitter," Guerra said, when asked about Jansen's bat. "That wasn't the best part of his game."
At 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, Jansen was introduced to the mound in 2009 at Inland Empire of the California League. He could throw the
ball through a wall, but the problem was locating the wall.
In 11 2/3 innings of high-Class A work, he walked 11 hitters while striking out 19. He was raw, to be sure, but the Dodgers saw enough
potential in him to continue with the experiment.
In 2010, at 22, he exploded. Throwing strikes with natural movement on his four-seam fastball, Jansen moved from Inland Empire to
Double-A Chattanooga to Dodger Stadium, making his Major League debut on July 24 against the Mets. He struck out Angel Pagan and
David Wright and retired Carlos Beltran on an infield out.
Clearly, the Curacao kid was not intimidated by the big stage -- or two of the game's most dangerous hitters in Wright and Beltran.
To his surprise, Jansen beat his old buddy, Guerra, to Los Angeles. There was nothing meteoric about Javy's rise. The man from Denton,
Texas, a fourth-round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, labored for seven seasons in the Minors, the first four as a starter.
"He's been through a lot," Jansen said. "Javy had Tommy John surgery. He's had his ups and downs. A lot of players in his situation might
not have made it. But he's so strong mentally. He doesn't let anything get to him."
Guerra's long-awaited Major League debut arrived on May 15, 2011. He held the D-backs scoreless, yielding one hit with a strikeout.
By midseason, Guerra had emerged as manager Don Mattingly's closer.
Using his deep repertoire -- fastball, curve, slider, changeup -- Guerra nailed down his first 10 saves and finished 21-for-23, his 91.3
success rate the sixth best in the Majors. It was also the sixth-best all-time for a rookie.
Jansen, meanwhile, was tossing up some crazy numbers setting up for Guerra. Going almost exclusively with his cutter, bearing in on
left-handed hitters' hands and breaking away with late movement from righties, Jansen was leaving hitters dazed.
He rang up 96 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings, his 16.1 K's per nine innings the highest rate ever recorded. Opposing hitters batted .157
against him, third best in the Majors.
"We've got different styles," Jansen said. "I think it's good to have different looks in the bullpen. Javy throws hard [averaging 94 mph
with his fastball, compared to 93.3 by Jansen]. I try to throw the four-seamer, but the ball naturally cuts at the last moment.
"I'm still figuring things out. It's great having Javy around -- especially when I feel down a little. I talk to him, and he always has a way of
making me feel good."
Members of baseball's new math community evaluated the numbers of Guerra and Jansen over the winter and wondered why their
roles aren't reversed.
Acknowledging that Guerra has done a solid job, they pointed to Jansen's strikeout percentage, bordering on the astonishing, and saw a
closer.
The early 2012 returns suggest Mattingly knows what he's doing. Guerra has been lights out. Jansen's cutter, when it's on, is virtually
unhittable. But when it drifts into a hitter's wheelhouse, it can travel a long way. Maybin and Headley are prime examples.
Certainly you'll hear no complaints from Jansen about his role. He knows he's an unfinished product, that Guerra is far more advanced.
"We both have respect for each other and are good friends," Jansen said. "I'm just getting started. He knows what he's doing. We're
trying to be the best we can be. You've got to have a strong bullpen, and we have a lot of guys who can get the job done. Our bullpen is
so deep.
"We've just got to keep working and get the job done. When it gets to the eighth or ninth inning, up by one, we've got to try to shut it
down."
Jansen and Guerra. A dynamic team within a team.
Kemp nets Player of Week three-peat
By Doug Miller / MLB.com | 04/16/12 5:30 PM ET
Matt Kemp and the National League Player of the Week Award are quickly becoming old friends.
On Monday, the Dodgers center fielder was named the recipient of the award for the second consecutive week to begin the 2012
regular season, and combined with his winning of the honor in the last week of the 2011 season, he's earned three in a row, becoming
the first player to accomplish the three-peat since the award's inception in 1974.
The only other player to capture consecutive Player of the Week awards to begin a season was Tony Armas, who accomplished the feat
in the American League in 1981 while with the Oakland Athletics.
In six games from April 9-15, the right-handed-hitting slugger led all Major Leaguers with a .545 (12-for-22) batting average, four home
runs, a 1.182 slugging percentage, .615 on-base percentage and 26 total bases. His seven runs scored tied for first in the NL, and his 12
hits and eight RBIs both tied for second. His torrid start has helped the Dodgers to a Major League-best 9-1 record, marking the club's
best start through 10 games since 1981.
Kemp dominated in the Dodgers' weekend series sweep over the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, going 7-for-10 with four homers
and seven RBIs in the three-game set. Kemp went 3-for-4 with a home run on Sunday as the Dodgers edged the Padres, 5-4. On
Saturday, last year's runner-up for league MVP hit two homers and drove in four en route to a 6-1 Dodgers victory.
Kemp also notched multihit efforts on Wednesday and Thursday, leading the Dodgers to a three-game sweep of the visiting Pittsburgh
Pirates. Kemp, 27, already has seven multihit games this season and entered Monday's play leading the Majors in hitting (.487), home
runs (6) and RBIs (16).
This is his fourth career weekly award, having won previously for the weeks of May 4, 2008; Sept. 25, 2011; and April 8, 2012.
ESPN.COM
Matt Kemp named NL POW, again
April, 16, 2012
By ESPNLosAngeles.com
The hits keep coming for Matt Kemp, who was named the National League's player of the week for a second consecutive week.
Kemp hit .545 with four home runs over six games last week. He also had a 1.182 slugging percentage, .615 on-base percentage and 26
bases, making him the first NL player to win back-to-back player of the week nods to start a season since the award was created in 1974.
Kemp also won the award the final week of last season.
He is hitting .487 with six homers, a 1.026 slugging percentage and .523 OPB overall this season, helping the Dodgers to a 9-1 start, their
best through 10 games since 1981.
We’ll find out legitimacy
April, 16, 2012
By Tony Jackson | ESPNLosAngeles.com
The Dodgers will begin a three-game series in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. The Brewers are one very roundish, slugging first baseman
shy of the National League Central-winning team they were last year, but thanks to an overturned positive performance-enhancing drug
test suspension, they are still pretty good -- and certainly better than either the San Diego Padres or Pittsburgh Pirates, those NL bottom
feeders against whom this gaudy, early season Dodgers record was fashioned.
The Dodgers will face three starting pitchers with ERAs of at least 5.91 in this series, but don't be misled by that. This early in a season,
when mathematics tend to be skewed, a single bad outing can inflate a pitcher's ERA, and those starters are Yovani Gallardo, Zack
Greinke and Randy Wolf, so they know what they're doing.
In other words, this is the first major test for these Dodgers. By lunchtime Thursday, when the matinee series finale will be over, we
should have a much clearer picture of what the rest of the summer will be like.
Still, when you start a season by winning nine of your first 10 games, it means something. And it might mean something more come
September.
"It's nice to get off to a good start,'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously, it's 10 games. We have 152 left. There is a long
way to go. We're going to hit rough patches, and you never know when they're going to come. That is why it's always good to get out of
the blocks with a good start.''
I was talking with a scout -- beat writers spend a lot of time before games talking to scouts -- who was just shaking his head at how
many bad teams there are in the NL this year. That might be the best thing the Dodgers have going for them right now, especially
because there is a team in their own division, the Padres, that might be counted among those pretenders. The Dodgers already have
played the Padres seven times this season, winning six of them, and get to play them 11 more times.
After the Brewers comes a three-game series against the Houston Astros, who are a semi-respectable 4-5, but many baseball insiders
felt coming into the season that they were the worst team in the majors. So how much does a 4-5 start for the Astros mean? About as
much as a 9-1 start by the Dodgers means.
My point is this: The Dodgers are going to run into good teams, better teams than they are, at various points during the season. But they
also are going to run into a lot of bad ones. It is one thing to say you can't really measure a team by how it performs against subpar
opponents. But that is why it is so important to win those games, because by doing so, you give yourself a margin for error when you
play the tougher teams.
To that end, a 9-1 start is a 9-1 start, regardless of who the opponents have been. Because those are nine wins in the standings. Nine
wins in the can. Nine wins that ultimately could make the difference in whether the Dodgers reach the playoffs.
Because, in theory at least, those wins may be a little tougher to come by starting Tuesday.
Dodgers are not this good
Los Angeles has played pushovers, while Milwaukee has faced a gauntlet
Originally Published: April 16, 2012
By Paul Swydan | FanGraphs
Early in the season, a team's schedule can have an outsized impact on our perception of how good it is. Teams with easy schedules have
an opportunity to get out of the gate fast and wow observers, while teams with more difficult schedules might look like lemons in the
early going. We have two such teams this week in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively.
The Dodgers, who ranked 19th in the ESPN.com Power Rankings before the season started, have been on a meteoric rise. They shot up
to 11th place last week, and have climbed all the way to fifth this week. Their 14-place jump in the rankings is the second highest jump
thus far (the Mets, who have jumped 17 spots, have made the biggest jump since the first rankings).
And there is, without question, reason for optimism at Chavez Ravine. In Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, they have two of the 10-15
best players in the game, and a healthy Andre Ethier can be a terrific Robin to Kemp's Batman. Adding Mark Ellis should help turn what
was an average defense into an elite one, and if Dee Gordon matures, the team will have a dynamic force at the top of the lineup.
Gordon electrified the ballpark with his walk-off single on Sunday, the team's second such win in three days, and Aaron Harang added
his own flair for the dramatic by tying a Dodgers record with nine straight strikeouts on Friday.
But the Dodgers aren't this good. A large part of their MLB-best 9-1 start to the season has been aided by their opponents. Thus far, the
Dodgers have played only the San Diego Padres -- against whom they are 6-1 -- and the Pirates, whom they swept three games to none.
If you'll notice, those two clubs rank 30th and 28th respectively in this week's rankings, and neither squad has been higher than 23rd.
And with good reason -- the Padres don't have a single elite hitter on their roster, and outside of Andrew McCutchen, neither do the
Pirates.
The situation on the other side of the coin isn't much more promising. Pitchers like Cory Luebke, Erik Bedard, Edinson Volquez and Joel
Hanrahan are pretty good, but they aren't exactly household names. But while the Padres and Pirates aren't chock full of superstar
talent, the Dodgers still didn't exactly blow either team out of the water -- their margin of victory in six of their nine wins was two runs
or fewer. A win is a win, but their 9-1 record isn't as shiny as it really seems.
While the Dodgers have taken advantage of a cream-puffish slate to start the season, the Brewers have had a rather fierce road to
travel in the season's first two weeks. Series losses to the third-ranked St. Louis Cardinals (they dropped two of three) and a sweep this
weekend at the hands of the Braves -- who rebounded nicely this week to improve to 13th in the rankings -- have the Brewers off to a
sluggish 4-6 start. As a result, they have fallen four spots from last week, back to 16th place.
Not only have the Brewers had the misfortune of some tough matchups in two of their first three series, but they have also had some
bad home run luck, as well. Entering Sunday's action, their 13.6 percent HR/FB ratio was tied for fifth highest in all of baseball. Things
didn't improve any on Sunday either, as Braves' hitters Chipper Jones and Jason Heyward both took Brewers starter Chris Narveson
deep. Nevertheless, the Brewers aren't going to allow 1.3 homers per game all season. That would come out to roughly 210 homers
allowed, which is a number that only one team has allowed in the past three seasons (the 2011 Orioles gave up 210 homers).
One of the best ways to figure out what a team's ERA will be like moving forward is with xFIP, which is a regressed version of FIP that
replaces a pitcher's (or pitching staff's) actual home runs allowed with the amount of home runs he (or they) would normally be
expected to allow. It is here that we see light for the Crew. While the Brewers' pitching staff entered Sunday with a 5.54 ERA that
ranked 28th in the game, its 3.72 xFIP ranked 12th. One of the main victims has been Opening Day starter Yovani Gallardo. While
Gallardo certainly hasn't covered himself in glory in his first two starts, he isn't going to allow four homers for every 10⅔ innings
he works -- that would equate to more than 75 homers allowed over a 200-inning season.
Gallardo isn't the only Brewer who has been victimized in the early going. Zack Greinke and Randy Wolf both have endured BABIPs
above .400 in the early going, and the staff as a whole entered Sunday with a .335 BABIP, a mark that was second worst in the game.
When that regresses back to a more normal rate (team BABIPs ranged from .265 to .307 last season), Brewers pitchers will suddenly
look a lot better. At the dish, Nyjer Morgan has started slowly, as has perennial slow starter Aramis Ramirez:
Aramis Ramirez by month
Month wOBA
Mar/Apr .342
May
.333
June
.365
July
.377
August
.383
Sept/Oct .375
Ramirez is rarely a bad hitter (the league average wOBA for a National League third baseman last year was .303), but he is almost always
better after Memorial Day (see table). When he kicks into high gear, the Brewers' offense should be just as lethal as it was last season.
Teams have no control over who they play, and one of the hallmarks of a good team is taking care of business against lesser opponents,
so the Dodgers have nothing for which to apologize. But while they may look like world-beaters now, they will probably look much more
mortal once their competition stiffens. The opposite is true of the Brewers, who have endured some bad luck at the hands of difficult
foes thus far. And if you switched the early-season schedules of these two clubs, there is a good chance their fortunes would be
reversed.
Interestingly enough, the Dodgers and Brewers match up this week in Milwaukee. Perhaps the Dodgers will keep flying high while the
Brewers remain sluggish, but chances for a market correction -- especially since Milwaukee is so strong at home -- are good.
A triple play, a strikeout machine and more
April, 16, 2012
What a weekend.
A team pulled off a triple play and a walk-off win in the same inning. Aaron Harang did something that Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw
and Fernando Valenzuela never did. It was a Friday the 13th for the ages. And if Matt Cain is now in favor of having the National League
adopt the DH, you could understand why.
Fortunately, our Useless Information Department investigators were out in force. So let's take a look at all that madness.
Triple-double department
Now here's something you don't see every day: On Sunday, the Dodgers turned a triple play in the top of the ninth inning, then won on
a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth.
• The Dodgers were the first team to cram a triple play and a walkoff win into the same inning since the 1942 Cubs pulled off that trick
against the Reds on Aug. 22, 1942 -- except the Cubs did it in the 11th inning. They turned a triple play on a popped-up bunt in the top
of the 11th, then manufactured the winning run off Reds reliever Junior Thompson in the bottom of the 11th.
• But it's even more rare for a team to do something like that in the ninth inning. Retrosheet has assembled box scores dating all the
way to 1918. And the Dodgers are the ONLY team with a triple play and a walk-off hit in the ninth inning of any game in the last 95
seasons.
• Dee Gordon was in the middle of that triple play, then got the walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth. According to the Elias Sports
Bureau, Gordon was just the second player in the last 15 seasons to participate in a triple play at any point in a game, then get a walkoff RBI later in the game. The other : Prince Fielder, for the Brewers, on Sept. 6, 2009. Prince's triple play, for the record, came in the top
of the sixth inning.
• Dodger Stadium has been around for 50 years, but this was just the fifth triple play turned there -- and only the second by the
Dodgers. To put that in perspective, the Dodgers played 45 seasons in Ebbets Field -- and there were eight triple plays there.
• Finally, the legendary Bill Chuck reports this was just the second 2-5-6-3 triple play ever. The other? It took place on May 21, 1950
(Cardinals versus Phillies).
Nine lives department
Speaking of great Dodgers feats … here's one that eluded Koufax, Kershaw, Fernando, Drysdale, Nomo, Hershiser and every other
luminary ever to throw a pitch for the Dodgers -- until Friday.
But on an incredible Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Harang struck out nine hitters in a row. Nine. So how astounding was that?
• Harang had gone 42 consecutive starts without striking out nine hitters in a game -- then he struck out nine hitters in a row. Of course
he did.
• Only four other starting pitchers in history have ever struck out at least nine straight hitters. And it's quite the funky list: Your record
holder is Tom Seaver (10 in a row in 1970). The three others with nine: Ricky Nolasco in 2009, Jake Peavy in 2009 and Mickey Welch in
1884. Bet you never thought you'd ever read those names in the same sentence.
• But what did Harang do that those other men did not? He got his first nine outs of the GAME via those nine punchouts in a row (after
a leadoff single). Hard to do, friends.
• Our favorite streak guru, Trent McCotter, checked in with all the relief pitchers who ever whiffed at least nine in a row (though
obviously not in one game): Eric Gagne (10; May 17-21, 2003), Ron Davis (9; May 4-9, 1981), Armando Benitez (9; Sept. 8-14, 1998) and
Joaquin Benoit (9; May 17-23, 2010).
• And who's the only starting pitcher ever to pile up nine straight K's over multiple games? It was none other than Stephen Strasburg,
over the first two starts of his career, June 8-13, 2010.
• Want to guess the last right-handed starter before Harang to have nine strikeouts through the first three innings of any game (not
necessarily in order)? Good luck. It was the Astros' Don Wilson, on July 14, 1968. Wilson wound up punching out 18 that night.
• But Harang didn't even get a win in this game, because the Padres scored five runs off the L.A. bullpen in the last three innings to tie
the game -- only to give the game back to the Dodgers on another bizarre feat. The Dodgers had two outs in the ninth and nobody on;
two Padres relievers then walked four hitters in a row. According to SABR's Bob Timmerman (via Dodgerthoughts.com's Jon Weisman),
it was the first game to end on four straight walks since May 19, 1989, when the Giants walked the Mets' Lenny Dykstra, Tim Teufel,
Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry in succession with two outs in the 10th.
• One thing Harang did do, though, was wind up with 13 strikeouts -- on Friday the 13th. He was the first pitcher to whiff 13 on any
Friday the 13th, according to Elias, since Dwight Gooden did it June 13, 1986.
Links: Should Dodgers game be replayed?
April, 16, 2012
By David Schoenfield | ESPN.com
If you've seen the video of the controversial triple play from the Padres-Dodgers game on Sunday, you'll see umpire Dale Scott initially
raise his hands indicating a foul ball on Jesus Guzman's bunt attempt. As the ball then rolled fair, Scott reversed his call and Dodgers
catcher A.J. Ellis proceeded to start a triple play, snuffing a potential rally in the ninth inning of a tie game.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs breaks down the play and calls for the game to be replayed from the point of Guzman's at-bat, his
argument being that Padres' couldn't have been expected to run once Scott raised his arms, and also pointing out that one game in the
expanded playoff system could be the deciding game on one team making the playoffs and another missing them.
At issue: Judgment calls cannot be protested (and thus overturned). Was this just a bad judgment by Scott -- reversing his call in the
middle of a play -- or do the Padres have a right to protest based on a rules interpretation (that the play should have been ruled dead
once Scott raised his arms)? To confuse matters, it was a fair ball. As reader Dave Alden wrote on FanGraphs, "Letting it stand is unfair
to the Padres. Pretending it never happened would be unfair to the Dodgers. There is no perfect solution."
There is about zero chance that if the Padres do end up protesting that the call would be reversed and the game replayed from that
point on (as what happened with the famous George Brett pine-tar home run game). But Dave raises an interesting point, and if the
Dodgers sneak into the playoffs by a game, maybe they can give a playoff share to Mr. Scott.
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Jon Weisman argues that there is no reason to replay the game.
Joey Matschulat's headline about the Rangers says it all: The best team in the American League.
The Cardinals honor the Rally Squirrel on their World Series championship rings. Best ring ever?
Fire Brand of the AL ask a simple poll question: Is Bobby V already screwing things up?
The Nationals have a 1.99 ERA, and if not for the Dodgers, could be the biggest story in baseball right now.
Michael Baumann has a suggestion for Jonathan Papelbon.
It was not a fun weekend for the Royals.
The Angels aren't supposed to be 3-6. And Albert Pujols isn't supposed to be homerless.
Mop-Up Duty examines Eric Thames' start for the Blue Jays.
Jack Moore looks at the Brewers' problems preventing runs so far.
Michael Pineda will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday.
Will Clark is drinking beer and blowing kisses. Can he still play first base?
DAILY NEWS
DODGERS NOTEBOOK: Kemp wins NL Player of the Week for second consecutive time
By J.P. Hoornstra Staff Writer
Posted: 04/16/2012 10:19:34 PM PDT
Matt Kemp has said on multiple occasions he is not thinking about winning the National League MVP award this year.
Problem is, "Player of the Week" doesn't make for a sexy chant at Dodger Stadium.
For now, Kemp will have to settle for making history by earning his second NL Player of the Week Award this season.
Kemp on Monday became the first player to win the award on consecutive weeks to begin a season. Including the final week of the
2011 season, he's also the first to win three consecutive Player of the Week honors since the award's inception in 1974.
In six games last week, the center fielder led all major leaguers with a .545 (12 for 22) batting average, four home runs, a 1.182 slugging
percentage, .615 on-base percentage and 26 total bases. His seven runs scored tied for first in the National League while his 12 hits and
eight RBIs tied for second.
If only he could face the San Diego Padres or Pittsburgh Pirates - the only teams he's played against this season - every day. Today, the
Dodgers will take their major league-best 9-1 record to Milwaukee to face the 4-6 Brewers.
Kemp is a career .301 hitter against the Brewers, with five home runs and 20 RBIs in 28 games.
Against tonight's starter, Yovani Gallardo, Kemp has three singles and a double in 12 career at-bats (a .333 average). He's never hit a
home run against the right-hander.
Long week for Lindblom
Josh Lindblom was credited with a blown save in the Dodgers' 5-4 win over the Padres.
It was somewhat of a statistical anomaly; Lindblom entered the game in the sixth inning. The right-handed reliever wasn't charged with
a run, but he could not preserve the lead in the face of his toughest test yet - a bases-loaded, one-out situation with the Dodgers leading
4-2.
For a second it looked as if Lindblom might not even get the chance.
The Dodgers needed to make room on the active roster for Ted Lilly to come off the disabled list Saturday. The team could have sent
Lindblom to the minors, burning an option, but instead placed right-handed reliever Todd Coffey on the disabled list.
Lindblom insisted the possibility of getting sent down didn't affect him last week.
"As a player you try to minimize the outside distractions as much as you can," Lindblom said Saturday. "You just go out on the field and
compete to the best of your ability, give the team its best chance to win every time out whether that's a week, two weeks, whatever it
might be.
"No matter what the situation every game, you just go out and attack it the same way. That's not a thought or a factor."
In 6 2/3 innings this season, Lindblom has a 0.00 earned-run average while allowing two hits, walking four and striking out five.
Notable
Gallardo is 0-3 against the Dodgers in his career with a 7.66 ERA (24 2/3 innings, 21 runs - all earned). - The Brewers optioned infielder
Eric Farris to Triple-A Nashville. Farris was recalled Saturday when shortstop Alex Gonzalez left the club to be with his pregnant wife,
who gave birth Sunday. Gonzalez, the Brewers' starting shortstop on opening day, is hitting .214 this season. - The Dodgers' seven-game
lead over the Padres is the largest between any first- and last-place team in any of baseball's six divisions.
EXAMINER
Kemp becomes first to win NL Player of the Week three weeks in a row
Jim Smiley
Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp was named the National League Player of the Week for the second straight week since the season’s
opening. Kemp was also honored for his play in the final week of 2011, making him the first player to win the award in three
consecutive weeks.
In his six games last week, the Gold Glover led the Majors in batting average, home runs, total bases, on-base percentage, and slugging
percentage.
Kemp picked up right where he left off a year ago. Last season his 39 homers and 126 runs batted in led the league while his .324
average was good for third in the N.L.
His hot start this year helped push the Dodgers to the best record in baseball with nine wins in ten games. This marks the club’s best
start since the 1981 championship season. Los Angeles is the only one-loss team in the big leagues. The last time the franchise found
itself in this position was in 1955 when they gave Brooklyn its only World Series title.
In the three-game sweep over the Padres this weekend, Kemp hit for homers and had seven runs batted in while going 7-for-10. The
runner up in last year’s N.L. MVP voting, Kemp is currently the Major League leader in batting average (.487), home runs (6), and RBI
(16).
In addition to the three consecutive N.L. Player of the Week awards, the 27-year old also won it for the Week of May 4, 2008.
Kemp’s Dodgers start a road trip tomorrow with three games each in Milwaukee and Houston.
Derek Jeter loves Dodger catcher Matt Treanor's taste in music
Jim Smiley
As Dodger backup catcher Matt Treanor steps to the plate, the stadium speakers blare a familiar 1980s anthem. As a tip of his cap to
the ‘A-Team’, Treanor has chosen the theme song from the television series that aired from 1983-1989.
“I was thinking about music that fires me up and the ‘A-Team’ just came to mind,” Treanor said of his unconventional choice for intro
music. “It’s great isn’t it?”
Teammates say the song fits the nine-year veteran who played for the Marlins, Tigers, Royals, and the Rangers before signing with the
Dodgers in the offseason.
“He’s that kind of guy,” says shortstop Dee Gordon. “He’s hard core, he’s a gamer.”
The 23-year old Gordon even likes the music.
“C’mon, that’s one of the best soundtracks ever.”
While the music’s position on the list off all-time soundtracks remains unclear, one thing’s for sure. The song is good enough to impress
Yankee Captain, Derek Jeter.
Treanor tells of a game in Texas during September, 2010. With his song blasting as he came to the plate in the bottom of the third
inning, Treanor promptly popped out to Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano. Two batters later, the Rangers were retired and
Treanor took his familiar defensive position behind the plate.
The leadoff hitter the in the fourth was the Yankee shortstop.
As Jeter dug into the batter’s box, he glanced back to Treanor without expression, and said, “ ‘A-Team’, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” Treanor responded. “You like it?”
“No,” replied Jeter. “I love it.”
An ear –to-ear smile adorns Treanor’s face as he recounts the story.
“That’s was pretty cool, something I’ll never forget,” he says.
Though the ‘A-Team’ theme fires up Treanor, that doesn’t mean he’ll keep the song forever. Like television shows, there's always the
chance Treanor’s choice in music might get cancelled.
“At some point, I might mix it up and get a little Indian Jones or maybe some superhero movie,” Treanor says. “But for now, I’ve got to
stay with the ‘A-Team’.”
Derek Jeter would no doubt approve.
OC REGISTER
These games count too
April 16th, 2012, 12:59 pm · · posted by Howard Cole, OCREGISTER.COM
That was a fun weekend now, wasn’t it?
A three-game sweep of San Diego, with a tide-turning ninth inning triple play, and a celebration of Jackie Robinson. Very exciting
indeed.
And yes, of course these are just the hapless Padres we’re talking about here, but come on, let’s enjoy the Dodgers without the “yeahbut-it’s-just-the-crappy-teams-they’re-beating” caveat for a day or two.
The locals have won nine of their first ten ballgames, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier look like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and everyone’s
talking about the last time the club got off to a 9-1 start – in 1981.
Work stoppage or no, 1981 was a wonderful year, from Fernando Valenzuela subbing for Jerry Reuss with an Opening Day whitewash of
the Astros to the World Series co-MVP performances of Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager. Very much worth remembering.
Right now, however, I’m thinking about the 1977 season. Don Sutton allowed a leadoff homer to Gary Thomasson in San Francisco but
nothing more, shutting down the Giants 5-1 on three hits the rest of the way. L.A. lost two of its next three, won seven straight after
that and finished April with a 17-3 record. And 22-4 to start the year.
So 1981, great. 1977, even with just the pennant, great. And while a flag and world championship would be nice, obviously, what do you
say we get through the month of April first.
That said, the Pads and Pittsburgh Pirates are in the National League the last time I looked, and these games count. They absolutely
count. L.A. has lost more than its fair share of series to the likes of those two clubs in recent years, and I’m sure you can recall plenty of
times, when the Dodgers were struggling, they couldn’t beat the bad teams, much less the good ones.
The team began with a 14-14 April last year, followed up with a 12-16 May and a 10-16 June. They were 9-16 the previous April. This is a
whole lot better than that, and I’m going to soak it in while I can.
Because if there’s one thing I’ll be grateful not to hear this spring, for once, it’s that annoying cliché of baseball clichés, “it’s only April,”
and its little brother, “it’s only May.” I believe we’ve had that one thrown in our faces enough times during the 24 years between Series
appearances.
Besides, who are these better teams the Dodgers are supposed to beat to pass muster? You buying the New York Mets or the
Washington Nationals? Not me, and I don’t see any reason why the Milwaukee Brewers should be some sort of barometer either.
They’re next on the schedule and therefore the next challenge for the first place team in the NL West.
All the games count; the first ten and the other 152. Every last one of them counts. There will be hot streaks, cold streaks and
everything in between, for the Dodgers, and for each of the 29 other teams. They call that baseball.
And 9-1 is a whole lot better than what might have been; a lot better than should have been expected. Nine and one over San Diego and
Pittsburgh works for me. I don’t know about you, but I’m happy.
TRUE BLUE LA
Dodgers 4/16/12 Minor League Report - Yung Joc Makes 2012 Debut with Quakes
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 16, 2012 10:57 PM PDT in Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Report
This is a special edition of the minor league report because in addition to the daily recap of the games, I'm including a quick version of a
hot/cold list for each of the Dodgers minor league teams. I figured that since we are about halfway through April, it'd be a good time to
see which players are off to fast starts, and which players are taking longer to get going. Follow the jump for the Hot/Cold List.
Minor League Player of the Day – Jarret Martin - 7 IP, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 3 Walks, 6 K's. Acquired in the trade for Dana Eveland, Martin has
been a pleasant surprise so far this season. With 7 scoreless innings on Monday the 22 year old lower his ERA to 1.62, and he has struck
out more than a batter per inning. In my pre-season ranks I predicted that he could shoot up my list next season if he was able to throw
more strikes, and while he still struggles a bit with control it hasn't come back to hurt him thus far in 2012.
AAA – The Isotopes used a pair of big innings to score 10 runs in their Monday matinee, but the Storm Chasers one upped the home
team and came away with a 12 to 10 win over Albuquerque. Alex Castellanos had another big game in the loss as he went 2 for 5 with a
homer, a triple, and 2 RBI's. His 3 bagger was actually one of 4 triples for the Topes as Elian Herrera, Trent Oeltjen, and Matt Angle also
sped around the bases. Luis Cruz had a nice night as well as he went 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI's. On the mound, starter Michael
Antonini got knocked around for 7 hits and 7 runs over 3+ innings, with most of the damage coming on the three homers he allowed.
Brent Leach and Cole St. Clair provided solid relief as Albuquerque built their lead, but Wil Ledezma gave it all back and then some as he
gave up 5 runs and the game in just two-thirds of an inning.
AA – The Lookouts finally got a big game out of Jake Lemmerman and a winning performance out of starter Ethan Martin as
Chattanooga defeated the Barons (White Sox) 5 to 3. Playing 2nd base for the just second game of his career, Late Night went 2 for 3
with a double and a triple and drove in a pair of runs. Pedro Baez also contributed to the win as he went yard for the first time since
early 2011. Despite picking up the win Martin again didn't have his best stuff as he allowed 6 hits and walked 4 while allowing 3 runs. He
did last 6 innings, however, which is a good sign for the young right hander. Shawn Tolleson pitched the final 2 innings of the game and
continued his dominance by allowing just 1 hit while striking out 2.
HiA – Joc Pederson made his 2012 debut with the Quakes on Monday, but his presence in the lineup wasn't enough as Rancho was
belittled by the Giants 3 to 2. Pederson hit 3rd in the lineup but went 0 for 4, while cleanup hitter Austin Gallagher led the Quakes with
3 hits and a RBI. Tyler Henson drove in the other run with his 2nd homer of the season. Starting pitcher Chris Reed didn't allow a lot of
hits as he was only touched up for 3 base knocks, but he had a case of the Ethan Martin's as he walked 5. Two of those base on balls
really hurt him in the 2nd inning as he followed up those walks by allowing a 3-run homer, which was enough to win the game for San
Jose. Relievers Greg Wilborn and Bret Montgomery tossed the final two frames and did not allow a hit.
LoA – The Loons got an outstanding start out of Jarret Martin, but his offense and bullpen didn't provide him with any help as Great
Lakes lost to the Hot Rods (Rays) 2 to 1. Martin allowed just 2 hits through 7 shutout innings, striking out 6 in the process and walking 3.
In addition, Jarret got 10 outs via the ground ball and only 2 through the air. Ryan O'Sullivan picked up for Martin in the 8th and cruised
through his first inning of relief, but in the bottom of the 9th allowed single, a walk, and the game winning/walk-off double. The Loons
managed just 3 hits in this game, with Joe Winker's double being the only one going for extra bases. Noel Cuevas recorded the only RBI
with a single in the 4th.
Coming up – A couple of good arms will be throwing on Tuesday as Aaron Miller will try to build on his brilliant performance from last
week for the Lookouts, while Garrett Gould will take the mound for the Quakes. Brandon Martinez will try to finally put together a solid
start for the Loons, while Stephen Fife will try to change his luck in Albuquerque.
Minor League Transactions - HiA: Joc Pederson was assigned to the Quakes while Casio Grider was placed on the DL.
Brewer Preview - Fielderless but not Powerless
by Phil Gurnee on Apr 16, 2012 5:00 PM PDT in Team Previews
Season Series: 2011 (2 -4)
Manager: Ron Roenicke Career 100 - 72
Offseason Moves:
Biggest move was losing Prince Fielder which they tried to counteract by signing Aramis Ramirez. Three new players on the infield but
other than that, this is the same team who played in the NLCS last year.
Key Additions: Aramis Ramirez, Alex Gonzalez, Cesar Izturis, Norichika Aoki,
Key Subtractions: Prince Fielder, Casey McGehee, Yuniesky Betancourt
Position Breakdown:
1st Base-26 year old Mat Gamel finally gets his shot after multiple years in AAA, and so far it is not going well. Only 38 abats in the book
but the .623 OPS is not quieting the skeptics who think he is only a AAAA player. Career wise Mat has a .873 OPS in the minor leagues,
.673 in the major leagues. Can't be easy replacing the Prince. Since when did one T Matt become so popular?
2nd Base- Sweet hitting Richie Weeks is back, and while he's also gotten off to a slow start he has a history of being one the best hitting
second baseman in the NL. Over the last three years only Chase Utley can say he's been the better hitter.
Player
OPS+ G From To Age PA BA OBP SLG OPS
Chase Utley
125 374 2009 2011 30-32 1652 .273 .380 .465 .845
Rickie Weeks
122 315 2009 2011 26-28 1431 .269 .357 .472 .829
Dan Uggla
117 478 2009 2011 29-31 2014 .254 .345 .473 .818
Brandon Phillips 108 458 2009 2011 28-30 2006 .284 .338 .445 .782
Neil Walker
Kelly Johnson
Orlando Hudson
108 286 2009 2011 23-25 1171 .280 .338 .423 .761
104 374 2009 2011 27-29 1498 .246 .328 .444 .772
102 268 2009 2011 31-33 1085 .268 .345 .390 .735
Freddy Sanchez
100 282 2009 2011 31-33 1229 .292 .333 .405 .738
Omar Infante
99 352 2009 2011 27-29 1375 .298 .339 .396 .735
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2012.
Shortstop- Replaced the erratic Betancourt with the solid glove of Alex Gonzalez. Gonzo can hit a few home runs, and plays a solid SS.
His OBP could kill and at age 35 those home runs will probably drop along with his defense. He's better then what they had, but that is
faint praise.
3rd Base- Aramis Ramirez is who the Brewers chose to help fill the Grand Canyon void left by Prince. Aramis is now 34 but since 2001 he
has been one of the top hitting 3rd baseman in baseball with a career TSL of .283/.341/.498. How does he rank with his peers?
Rk
Player OPS+ G From To Age PA HR OBP SLG OPS
1 Alex Rodriguez 148 1612 2001 2011 25-35 7119 440 .392 .570 .962
2
Chipper Jones 144 1452 2001 2011 29-39 6094 265 .406 .531 .937
3
David Wright 134 1106 2004 2011 21-28 4783 183 .380 .508 .887
4
Scott Rolen 122 1353 2001 2011 26-36 5636 200 .362 .487 .849
5
Troy Glaus 121 1176 2001 2010 24-33 4864 243 .358 .487 .845
6 Aramis Ramirez 119 1520 2001 2011 23-33 6345 303 .347 .513 .860
7
Eric Chavez 115 1094 2001 2011 23-33 4561 193 .341 .476 .818
8
Adrian Beltre 111 1592 2001 2011 22-32 6640 268 .325 .475 .800
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2012.
History is great and all but Brewer fans need Aramis to hit now, and so far he's been putrid. Putrid being defined by only four hits in 35
at bats with only two doubles. I'm sure he will get it going.
Catcher- A .700 OPS from a young catcher these days nets you a five year deal worth 15 Million. Jonathan Lucroy is the main catcher,
but good old George Kottaras is the guy with three home runs in only fifteen at bats. That is two home runs more than Gamel, Aramis,
and Braun combined. That is both a testament to how well Kottaras is doing and how bad the corner infielders have been. Last year
George hit five home runs in 111 at bats.
Left Field - Ryan Braun was expected to miss 50 games yet here he is. The bogus 2011 MVP is, and has been, an elite player who should
continue to be the second best hitting outfielder in the NL. He's Ryan Braun what do you need to know? When it comes to left fielders
over the past five years the conversation starts and ends with Holliday and Braun.
Rk
Player OPS+ G From To Age PA HR OBP SLG OPS
1
Matt Holliday 146 735 2007 2011 27-31 3197 135 .398 .545 .943
2
Ryan Braun 145 729 2007 2011 23-27 3177 161 .371 .563 .933
3 Josh Willingham 121 629 2007 2011 28-32 2536 105 .362 .473 .835
4
Carlos Lee 118 749 2007 2011 31-35 3142 128 .338 .486 .824
5
Raul Ibanez 116 744 2007 2011 35-39 3119 114 .340 .474 .813
6
Pat Burrell 115 646 2007 2011 30-34 2375 104 .360 .460 .820
7
Jason Bay 114 669 2007 2011 28-32 2832 106 .354 .458 .812
8
Carl Crawford 110 692 2007 2011 25-29 2983 64 .340 .447 .787
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2012.
Right Field- 30 year old Corey Hart is the Dodger version of Andre Ethier.
 They both have tremendous talent and have put up solid years, but each have teased with the idea they could do even
more.
 They are both 30 years old
 They both entered the league in 2006
 Andre has the highest OPS+ for NL right fielders since 2006 at 123
 Corey Hart has the most home runs for NL right fielders since 2006 at 122.
 Both are off to tremendous starts (1.314 OPS for Hart)
700 Games in RF since 2006
Rk
Player OPS+ G From To Age PA HR BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Andre Ethier 123 854 2006 2011 24-29 3365 109 .291 .364 .479 .843
2 Hunter Pence 120 734 2007 2011 24-28 3099 114 .292 .343 .485 .828
3
Brad Hawpe 118 735 2006 2011 27-32 2854 110 .280 .373 .495 .868
4
Corey Hart 116 774 2006 2011 24-29 3116 122 .279 .335 .490 .825
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2012.
Center Field-When Carlos Gomez is patrolling Center Field against LHP you have one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball,
while also being one of the most maddening on the offensive side. He has never learned to use his incredible speed to help himself to a
full time gig. In the past he's been focused on trying to hit home runs as his 64 K's in 264 at bats in 2011 would attest. Has something
changed in 2012? At age 26 did they finally drum some sense into his noggin? Forget about the fact he's posted a .980 OPS so far in 22
plate appearances. The number that jumped at out me more than any other stat on the Brewer stat sheet. ONE K.
When Nyjer Morgan is on the field against RHP, you have an enigmatic player who at times looks like an extremely skilled center fielder
and other times, not so much. This applies to both his defense and offense.
Bench: Left over is old friend Cesar Izturis who still provides up the middle defense and no bat. Japanese import Norichika Aoki helps out
in the outfield, while Travis Ishikawa is the left handed bat off the bench. In fact the whole bench is left handed when LaCroy and
Gomez are starting. Interesting.
Starting Pitching for our Series:
Gary Scott details the following three pitchers
Game One: Yovani Gallardo
Gallardo features a three pitch repertoire, using a 92mph fastball (50% of the time), an 80mph curveball (18%) and an 87mph slider
(27%). His curveball is regarded as one of the best in the game, and he does a great job of keeping it down and away from both left- and
right-handed hitters, as you can see here. Gallardo doesn't throw anything with arm-side action, nothing he can run in on a righty or
away from a lefty. This reflects itself in Gallardo's career splits. For his career, right-handed hitters have a .675 OPS against, while lefties
have a .720 OPS against. He's certainly a dominant pitcher, but he allows left-handed hitters to keep him from joining the ranks of the
elite.
Game 2: Zack Greinke
Greinke attacks the strike zone with a 93mph fastball (20.6%), 85mph slider (17%), 70mph curveball (9%), 93mph two-seam fastball
(27%), and 91mph cutter (23%). What's interesting are the percentages of his fastballs: the four-seamer, two-seamer and cutter.
Greinke has never thrown a cutter before, but it was reported before spring training that he would be working on it. He's always had an
elite fastball and slider, Greinke is trying to incorporate much more movement into his rotation. It didn't work for Chad Billingsley, but
Chad Billingsley has never been a Zack Greinke.
Game 3: Randy Wolf
What To Watch For?:Wolf gets hitters out by getting them to chase offspeed pitches off the plate, and by lulling them to sleep with
offspeed pitches enough to sneak a fastball by them. This pitching term is called "speeding up their bats". It usually works when a
pitcher tries to establish a fastball and get the hitter caught up to the fastball, then throwing an offspeed pitch that is slow enough and
with enough movement that the hitters is out in front. We've all seen this from any number of pitchers. Wolf works the opposite way.
He'll get a hitter looking for his offspeed pitch, get him waiting back on the pitch to read the break, then throwing a fastball with two
strikes. Because the hitter was trying to be patient and read the spin, by the time he realizes it's a fastball, even at 87 miles per hour, the
best case scenario for the hitter is a foul ball, and worst case is a swinging strike.
For even more detailed info about each starter be sure to give Gary Scott's fanpost a look see.
Bullpen: The Brewers have had a lot of great closers, but John Axford might be the best of them. He didn't even break into major league
baseball until age 26 and that was for only six games. At age 27 he took over for HOF Trevor Hoffman and has never looked back. From
MLB
• Closer John Axford converted his 45th consecutive save Wednesday, the fifth-longest streak in Major League history, according to the
Elias Sports Bureau. With two more saves, Axford will tie Brad Lidge (Sept. 25, 2007-April 13, 2009) for fourth on the all-time list. The
record belongs to Eric Gagne, who converted 84 straight from Aug. 28, 2002-July 3, 2004.
In 2012 he's only been in four games and has been tattooed in two non save situations, and perfect in his two save situations. Setting up
Axford is Francisco Rodriguez who has 292 of his own saves. Filling out the bullpen is Tim Dillard, Manny Parra, Kameron Loe, Jose Veras,
and Marcus Estrada. Parra is the lone left hander in the group. Once upon a time he was promising young starter, but now he's been
relegated to the bullpen with extremely good results. He's no loogy as Parra has thrown the most innings out of the bullpen so they may
not have a match up for Andre in the 7th or 8th.
Series Preview:
The Brewer offense is struggling with the exception of the outfield. It could be a long series if the Brewers offense starts clicking with
the home cooking. Along with the elite arms of Gallardo/Grienke, and the ever solid Randy Wolf this series will be a test for the team
with the best record in baseball. . Don't want to be downer but I suspect the euphoria of beating down the Padres/Pirates could be
replaced with a cold splash of reality as the Dodgers face not one but two of the best pitchers in the NL, and an offense that will not go
as quietly into the good night.
On the plus side Gallardo has yet to get locked in for 2012 while Kemp/Andre are, and our best pitcher in 2012 is going against him.
Game one should be the best game of the series. Whoever wins Tuesday Night will win the series.
Matt Kemp Player Of The Week...Again
by Eric Stephen on Apr 16, 2012 3:20 PM PDT in Dodgers History & Records
Matt Kemp...
September 19-25, 2011: 11-for-26, three home runs, seven RBI, nine runs in six games, .423/.444/.923
April 5-8, 2012: 7-for-17, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs in four games, .412/.389/.824
April 9-15, 2012: 12-for-22, four home runs, eight RBI, seven runs scored in six games, .545/.615/1.182
Three National League Player of the Week awards for Kemp, all in a row. He is the first player ever to win the award three straight
times. The only other player to open a season with two straight player of the week honors was Tony Armas for the 1981 Oakland
Athletics.
Kemp has four career player of the week honors, tying him with Orel Hershiser, Andre Ethier, and Eric Karros. The only Dodgers with
more player of the week awards, which have been given out since 1974, are Mike Piazza (nine) and Fernando Valenzuela (five).
"Right now, he's just a beast," manager Don Mattingly said. "Matt does so many things. That's what's so compelling about him. He can
run, he's a good defender and base stealer. I still feel like he's getting better, and that's kind of scary for a lot of people. As he gets the
strike zone, and gets the feel, and keeps consistently doing what he's doing, the sky is the limit for him."
Dodgers Week 2 In Review: As Good As It Gets
by Eric Stephen on Apr 16, 2012 10:04 AM PDT in Dodgers Weekly Reviews
Well, that was fun. Just like in 2009, the Dodgers swept through their first homestand of the season. The Dodgers beat both the Pirates
and Padres to go 6-0, including four wins in one-run games and two walk-off wins.
The Dodgers trailed in only two of their games last week, each time by just one run. In both cases, the Dodgers immediately erased the
deficit in the next half inning.
No matter how many wins you may have predicted for the Dodgers this season, these first 10 games were seen as a relatively easy start
to the schedule. But nine wins in 10 games can't be reasonably predicted, or expected, so the Dodgers are definitely ahead of the curve,
and manager Don Mattingly is definitely happy to keep banking victories.
"You can put things on paper all you want, but you have to go out and play," Mattingly said. "I'm happy to win these games. It doesn't
matter who they're coming against. You have to win X amount of games to win the division."
Now the Dodgers just have to win [X - 9] games.
Dodger Batter of the Week: For the second straight week, Matt Kemp was the man, and he really took things to new heights in his six
games against Pittsburgh and San Diego. Kemp had 12 hits in 22 at-bats, including four home runs. His .615 on-base percentage was
better than any of his teammate's slugging percentages outside of Justin Sellers, who slugged .667 in all of five plate appearances.
Kemp's slugging percentage for the week was 1.182, and he had eight RBI and seven runs scored.
Honorable mention goes to Andre Ethier, who hit two home runs and had an under the radar .993 OPS.
Dodger Pitcher of the Week: There were so many candidates this week, but Ted Lilly gets the call this week by allowing two hits and one
unearned run in seven strong innings in his first start of the year.
Honorable mention goes to Aaron Harang, who etched his name in the Dodgers record book with nine consecutive strikeouts against
San Diego.
Week 2 Record: 6-0
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
17 runs allowed (2.83 per game)
.727 pythagorean winning percentage
Season Record: 9-1
50 runs scored (5.00 per game)
33 runs allowed (3.30 per game)
.681 pythagorean winning percentage (7-3)
30/30 Watch: Matt Kemp had four home runs but had no stolen bases against the Pirates and Padres on the week, and has six homers
and one steal in 10 games. Kemp is on pace for 97 home runs and 16 steals this season.
Uribe Run Watch: Juan Uribe had a relatively good week with seven hits in 18 at-bats and drove in his first run of the season on
Thursday. But he has yet to score a run on the season, in 32 plate app.
First 10: Kemp (16) and Andre Ethier (15) have driven in an astonishing 31 runs combined through just 10 games, and have the top two
RBI totals though 10 games since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the only Dodger ever with more RBI
through 10 games was Roy Campanella, who had 17 RBI to open is 1953 MVP campaign. Kemp also had 15 RBI through 10 team games
in 2010, as did Eric Karros in 1995.
Transactions: The Dodgers finalized their opening day roster with the following moves on the final day of spring training Wednesday:
 Saturday: Ted Lilly was activated from the disabled list so he could make his season debut. To make room for Lilly...
 Saturday: Todd Coffey was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right knee anterior inflammation.
Game Results:
 Tuesday: Dodgers 2, Pirates 1
 Wednesday: Dodgers 4, Pirates 1
 Thursday: Dodgers 3, Pirates 2
 Friday: Dodgers 9, Padres 8
 Saturday: Dodgers 6, Padres 1
 Sunday: Dodgers 5, Padres 4
FOX SPORTS
Ethier reminds LA fans to not text and drive
Jon Rosen - April 16, 2012
It was high noon in Parking Lot G at Dodger Stadium, and radio broadcaster Charlie Steiner was in a good mood in advance of Mercury
Insurance and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Don't Text and Drive PSA shoot.
"I've got no foundation, no blush and no blue M & M's!" Steiner joked in advance of his TV spot.
A good mood prevailed, but Steiner was involved in a serious undertaking designed to keep California's roads and highways safe while
lowering the costs of auto insurance.
Through a PSA shown on the videoboard at Dodger Stadium and aired on Prime Ticket during Dodger telecasts, the team is teaming up
with Mercury insurance to raise awareness of the perils of texting and using a handheld device while driving, an endeavor backed by
right fielder Andre Ethier.
Ethier, Steiner and Mercury Insurance are asking Dodger fans to take the pledge not to text and drive.
"I pledge not to text and drive,” Ethier said. “I will also encourage my friends and family to drive safely by keeping their eyes on the road
at all times.
"I definitely found myself thinking twice in the car when I was getting a text coming in, or even tempted to text. It's a good thing to be a
part of. For the couple of days that I've been in LA, I've definitely seen signs up – the warning signs you can see on the freeway – on
those traffic warning signs. I think it's a $159 ticket or something like that for texting while driving, so I've definitely seen that. And it's
something that when you start to see the stats and some of the data that says what the results are of texting and driving, it's pretty
shocking to see.
“It's something that all of us make a conscious effort to do. It doesn't take that much of an effort to be a part of it."
The stats Ethier referred to are indeed shocking. Texting while driving is basically akin to driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 and
causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road. Drivers using hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into an
injury accident, a sobering statistic considering more than 30% of teens send over 100 texts per day, according to a Pew Internet and
American Life Project survey.
"It's even more important for teens than it is for other people, just because they're so inexperienced behind the wheel," Mercury
Insurance advertising director Erik Thompson said. "They don't have that life experience and being able to predict what's going to
happen on the road, and if their attention is divided between the road and driving and the radio and iPods, and texting and things like
that, so it's a really dangerous situation and a recipe for disaster."
While the habits of teen drivers are a cause for concern, adults were largely responsible for a nation-wide 50% spike in texting while
driving over the past year. At any given time, less than one percent of cars on the road are being driven by someone using a hand-held
device, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that was released in December.
"One of the interesting things about the texting while driving program is people tend to think 'oh, it's kids. Kids are always texting,’”
Thompson said. “And it's really not. If you look at the statistics out there now, it's really across the board from kids all the way up to
grandparents.
"You would think that adults would know better, but I think the mindset is 'oh, it's only a couple of seconds. I’m just going to do this
quickly, and get back to driving, and it's not that big a deal.' Well, those two seconds can be the difference between disaster and getting
to your destination safely."
With a .289 average, three homers and 15 RBI through his first 10 games of the season, Ethier has already made an impact in the middle
of the lineup for a 9-1 Dodgers club. If he can have a similar impact in reaching out to Dodgers fans to take a pledge of not texting while
driving, he'll have helped make the roads in the southland safer and car insurance less expensive.
"If we make an effort towards the situation, it'll be a lot safer because of it," Ethier said.
Kemp off to a MVP-caliber start
Sports Xchange – April 16, 2012
Matt Kemp finished second in the National League Most Valuable Player Award balloting in 2011, and the way he has started 2012
makes it seem like there could be no other choice for the award this season.
Through 10 games, Kemp is hitting .487 (19-for-39) with a major league leading six home runs, 16 RBI, and 12 runs scored. His slugging
percentage is so high (1.026) that he singled on Sunday and his slugging percentage went down.
"Right now, he's just a beast," said manager Don Mattingly. "I still feel like he's getting better, and that's kind of scary for a lot of people.
As he gets the strike zone, and gets the feel, and keeps consistently doing what he's doing, the sky is the limit for him."
Kemp joined Don Demeter (1959) and Wally Moon (1961) as the only Los Angeles Dodgers to hit six home runs in the team's first 10
games. Kemp hears chants of "M-V-P" from his home crowd and occasionally on the road, like the first weekend of the season at Petco
Park in San Diego.
"I always get chills. When you hear the crowd going crazy, there's no better feeling," Kemp said.
His teammate Clayton Kershaw might have said it best about Kemp.
"He's the best player in baseball, and probably the world right now," Kershaw said. "It's pretty ridiculous."
NOTES, QUOTES
Kemp homers in third straight game
--CF Matt Kemp homered in his third consecutive game on Sunday, giving him an astonishing six home runs and 16 RBI through just 10
games. Kemp joined Don Demeter (1959) and Wally Moon (1961) as the only Los Angeles Dodgers to hit six home runs in the team's first
10 games.
--RHP Todd Coffey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with right knee inflammation, to make room on the active roster for
LHP Ted Lilly, who pitched seven strong innings in his 2012 debut.
"It's definitely a situation where if this were later in the season and it had to be pushed through, it's no problem," Coffey said. "It
seems kind of silly right now to man up and push through something that we can get completely knocked out and ready to go 100
percent."
--C A.J. Ellis began a bizarre 2-5-6-3 triple play on Sunday by fielding a bunt from Padres cleanup hitter Jesus Guzman that somehow
trickled fair, and the Padres' runners froze as the ball was thrown around the infield for all three outs. It was the first triple play turned
by the Dodgers since June 13, 1998.
--Dodgers announcer Vin Scully returned to the booth on Sunday after missing five games with a bad cold. Scully missed just his
second home opener in 63 years, but he was happy to return Sunday.
"In my own private little world, this is my opening day. I have (Clayton) Kershaw. Ain't no bad crowd to hang around with," Scully said.
--The Dodgers have beaten the Padres eight consecutive times at Dodger Stadium, dating back to 2011.
--The 9-1 start by the Dodgers is their best start to a season since beginning the 1981 campaign with the same record. The Dodgers
went on to win the World Series in 1981.
--All of Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday, honoring the 65th anniversary of the Dodgers Hall of Famer
breaking baseball's color barrier. At Dodger Stadium, former Dodgers Don Newcombe and Tommy Davis threw out ceremonial first
pitches.
"He was the trailblazer and this was the team," said manager Don Mattingly said of Robinson. "Obviously he's honored throughout
baseball, but being in our organization it's different."
BY THE NUMBERS: 6 -- Wins for the Dodgers during their six-game homestand against the Pirates and Padres, the first time the
Dodgers have swept a homestand since beating the Giants and Rockies in six games from April 13-19, 2009.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's the best player in baseball, and probably the world right now. It's pretty ridiculous." -- LHP Clayton Kershaw,
on teammate CF Matt Kemp, who opened his season with 19 hits and six home runs in 39 at-bats through 10 games.
PASADENA STAR NEWS
THEN AND NOW: A heritage that's filled with pride
By Jim McConnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/16/2012 07:06:43 PM PDT
An usher at Dodger Stadium told me this story.
At the height of Fernandomania in 1981, a longtime season ticket holder happened to stand up to stretch just prior to a game Fernando
Valenzuela was scheduled to pitch.
Stretching in place in his field-level box, the ticket holder happened to look around at the packed stadium.
"Where did all these people come from?" he exclaimed.
Well, the people - La Raza - had been there a long time.
In fact, the phenomena of Fernandomania was a fitting culmination of 100 years of Mexican-American baseball in the Southland.
The Latino Baseball History Project, based at Cal State San Bernardino, has been active in tracing the role the sport played in the area's
Mexican-American culture. Largely through their efforts, "Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles" was published in 2011 by Arcadia
Publishing.
Volume 2, entitled "Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire," now is available as part of Arcadia Publishing's Images of Baseball
series.
Authors Richard A. Santillan, professor emeritus of ethnic and women studies at Cal Poly Pomona; Mark A. Ocegueda, a graduate
student in history at UC Irvine and Terry Cannon, executive director of the Baseball Reliquary have done a remarkable job tracking down
photos that capture a time and place and people.
In his dynamic foreword to the book, Jose Alamillo points out baseball to Mexican Americans was a recreational experience and a
means of empowerment. Forced into low-paying jobs and enduring Juan Crow conditions, the Mexican American could look forward to
Sunday and the level playing field baseball offered.
As Jackie Robinson noted in his autobiography, once accepted as a player, participating in the game was a great release and bigotry and
the pressures of being a minority were forced aside. On this playing field, those who hit the ball the most often, ran the fastest and
threw the hardest would prevail. Nothing else mattered.
The book by Santillan, Ocegueda and Cannon established the Mexican-American culture in the Inland Empire had a strong affinity to
sports, especially baseball. Of special note is the fact Mexican-American baseball was a family experience. The game was passed down
from father to son and mother to daughter.
Once Mass let out, Sundays in public parks or, more often, diamonds carved out of vacant lots meant all-day games featuring teams of
all ages and both sexes. If you were too young to play, you were a batboy or batgirl. If you were too old to play, you would umpire or
coach.
The games would be part of a total family experience of al fresco meals and socialization. Each community developed its own baseball
heroes and style of play. The cycle began in the late 1800s and was in place when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
A few Mexican-American players eventually ventured into professional leagues and one - Melo Almada - made it all the way to the big
leagues. But for most, starring on the barrio teams were the pinnacle of baseball success. Which was no small accomplishment, for by
the 1920s the caliber of play of the most successful Mexican-American teams was remarkable.
The story of Fernando Valenzuela has morphed over the years into the legend of Fernando Valenzuela. However, it should be noted the
key to his ascension to the Dodgers was general manager Al Campanis.
Campanis was long a champion of Latin American players and had long sought a Mexican-American player for the Dodgers. As early as
1968, he acquired Azusa native Hank Aguirre. Unfortunately, Aguirre already had pitched pro ball for 15 years at that point and was
unable, physically, to pitch more than once a week.
Still, Campanis wanted Aguirre to remain in the organization as a coach or in the front office. However, by then Aguirre had established
business contacts in Detroit (he pitched for the Tigers from 1958 to 1967) and requested a trade back to the Midwest.
Aguirre became a highly successful businessman until his death in 1994.
East Los Angeles' Bobby Castillo joined the Dodgers in 1977. He never developed into the standout pitcher Campanis and the Dodgers
were hoping for, but he did help teach Valenzuela the big-league ropes when Fernando came up late in 1980.
Valenzuela proved to be a dream come true for the Dodgers. Not only did he win games, he did so with a guile and flare the Southland's
Mexican-American fans - schooled for so many years on the game - appreciated.
"Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire" is indeed a celebration of the ethnic identity and community solidarity the game
offered an oppressed people. On another more basic level, it presents an image every fan can identify with: page after page of photos of
men and women who obviously are proud to have played the game.
LA OPINION
Los Dodgers se van con cautela
POR: Servicios de La Opinión | 12:29 am | 04/17/2012 | La Opinión
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin.— Tener la mejor marca en las Grandes Ligas (9-1) es algo alentador, pero no es ninguna garantía en una
temporada que todavía no ha atravesado el umbral del primer mes.
Y eso lo sabe bien Matt Kemp, el actual mejor bombardero de los Dodgers, que ayer fue elegido por segunda vez el Jugador de la
Semana en la Liga Nacional.
“Es muy temprano. Hay un camino largo por recorrer. Lo que tenemos que hacer es seguir empujando hacia adelante”, dijo el tercer
bate y jardinero central.
“Cuando uno está caliente todos los lanzadores te quieren dominar a como dé lugar. Es un reto de todos los días”, agregó Kemp, que
cerró la semana con promedio de .545.
Con nuevos propietarios y Kemp y Andre Ethier acumulando hits y produciendo carreras, las malas vibras que dejó Frank McCourt
están comenzando a desvanecerse.
Los Dodgers vencieron a San Diego y Pittsburgh en las primeras dos semanas de la campaña. Pero los Padres y Piratas son dos de los
equipos más débiles de la Liga Nacional.
“Los triunfos hacen cambiar todo. No importa quién es el dueño. Tenemos una mejor atmósfera tanto dentro del terreno como en los
vestidores”, subrayó Kemp.
Los angelinos salieron ayer a Milwaukee con un balance intacto de 6-0 en el Dodger Stadium y son el único equipo que queda en las
Grandes Ligas con una derrota por primera vez desde 1955, cuando los Dodgers ganaron su primera Serie Mundial en Brooklyn.
En su segunda gira de la temporada, los Dodgers abren hoy una serie de tres partidos contra los Cerveceros de Milwaukee.
Encuentran a los Cerveceros con una racha adversa de cuatro derrotaas seguidas, pero se enfrentarán al estelar derecho Yovani
Gallardo.
El mexicano se recuperó de una mala salida en San Luis, su primera de la temporada, con una joya en bruto en el Wrigley Field ante los
Cachorros.
Gallardo (1-1, 5.91 de efectividad), dejó en una carrera a los Cubs y cinco hits en siete entradas.
Previamente, el as de los Cerveceros había sido castigado fuerte por los Cardenales. Le hicieron seis carreras en apenas tres innings dos
tercios.
Fue tan brutal el ataque que Gallardo permitió cuatro jonrones, algo inusual en él y el alto mando de los Cerveceros revisó el video,
pero no encontraron nada anormal.
“Obviamente que no lancé de la manera que deseaba”, dijo Gallardo, después de haber logrado su primer triunfo el miércoles pasado.
“Tenía cuatro días para trabajar en lo que quería arreglar y dio resultado”, agregó el oriundo de La Piedad, Michoacán.
Gallardo se las verá con Kemp que actualmente encabeza las Ligas Mayores en ocho categorías ofensivas: .487 en proemdio de bateo,
seis jonrones, 16 carreras impulsadas y 13 anotadas. A Kemp le sigue Ethier que tomará su primer turno hoy con .289, tres
cuadrangulares y 15 carreras producidas.
Don Mattingly tiene listo para abrir la serie a Chad Billingsley (2-0, 0.63 de efectividad), quien se impuso a Pittsburgh y San Diego en sus
primeras dos aperturas. El pitcher derecho, segundo en la rotación angelina, ha permitido apenas ocho hits y ponchado a 15 en 14
innings un tercio.
CBS SPORTS
Stock Watch: Buy Kemp as MVP favorite, sell on Byrd and Johnson
By Jon Heyman | CBSSports.com Baseball Insider
1. Matt Kemp: Who else? It's a wee bit early to say anyone's got a lock on the 2012 NL MVP award, but beyond the fact he entered the
year with a bit of added sympathy (some believe he deserved the honor last year, though to his credit, he never said any such thing), he
is currently lapping the field. Kemp leads the league in these categories: home runs (six), RBI (16), runs (13), hits (19), batting average
(.487), on-base percentage (.523), slugging percentage (1.026) and OPS (1.548). And if there were more categories, presumably he'd be
leading those as well. Kemp's public goal to become the first 50-50 player (50 homers, 50 steals) looks good so far on the home runs, as
he's on pace for 97 of those, but the one negative is his one stolen base in three attempts, which puts him on pace for 16 steals. It's
early, though. Don't doubt he'll pick up the pace there (though it isn't easy to steal bases when you're hitting so many homers).
Although he hit .417 in the series against the Pirates, the Padres have to be absolutely shell-shocked. Kemp victimized them for all six of
his homers and 15 of his 16 RBI. Here's a suggestion: Maybe they need to throw in an IBB every now and again. Kemp is the clear No. 1
reason for many as to why the Dodgers are an MLB-best 9-1.
SPORTING NEWS
Built to Last
Anthony Witrado
Los Angeles Dodgers (9-1)
Why they’ve surged: The most obvious reason is they have the best player in the world and he’s gotten good support from a couple of
players around him. Matt Kemp was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday, the first NL player to ever earn the
honor in the first two weeks of the season. He is also the first Dodger to ever win three weeks in a row (he won it in the final week last
season). Kemp, a Triple Crown threat last year, leads the league with a .487 average, six home runs (all to the opposite field) and 16
RBIs.
Andre Ethier and Juan Rivera have been the ones providing that support. Ethier has three homers, 15 RBIs and a 1.030 OPS. Rivera leads
the team with a .556 average with runners in scoring position. Kemp, Ethier and Rivera are a combined 16-for-31 (.516) with 28 RBIs
with runners in scoring position.
On top of that, Cy Young lefthander Clayton Kershaw hasn’t been sharp but still has a 2.35 ERA and 3.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 15 1/3
innings. Chad Billingsley is 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA, 0.628 WHIP and 15 strikeouts with just one walk in 14 1/3 innings.
And like Texas, the Dodgers have taken advantage of a nice season-opening schedule. They’ve played the San Diego Padres in two series
and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the other.
What can drag them down: Also like Texas, the Dodger schedule gets rougher, but just barely. They face the Milwaukee Brewers,
Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals in three of their next four series, but that’s not the major reason they might sink back to
Earth.
Most concerning is the lineup outside of Kemp—who is bound to cool off (at least we think)—Ethier and Rivera. The other Dodger
position players are hitting .209 with one home run and 13 RBIs. With runners in scoring position, that group is hitting just .184. If those
other three guys cool down even a little bit, and the rest of the hitters can’t step up, the Dodgers will struggle to score runs.
YAHOO
10 Degrees: Matt Kemp's start is no mirage
By Jeff Passan | Yahoo! Sports – Mon, Apr 16, 2012 2:48 AM EDT
For all that Matt Kemp is doing right now – crushing baseballs, running like a sprinter, carrying a moribund franchise, spinning the earth
on its axis to reverse time – let us remember: He is no Chris Shelton.
Never is there a better time to remember Shelton than two weeks into the season. What Tuffy Rhodes is to opening day Chris Shelton is
to the first two weeks. In 2006, when Shelton was a fairly anonymous 25-year-old first baseman, he went on the tear of all first-twoweeks tears. As staggering as Kemp's line was after another home run Sunday – .487/.523/1.026 with six homers and 16 RBIs – Shelton
went .512/.535/1.293 over his first 10 games with the Detroit Tigers in '06. And then, for good measure, he hit bombs in games No. 12
and 13.
By the end of July, Shelton was back in the minor leagues, mustering a .246/.319/.371 line after playing Barry Ruth for a fortnight.
Hitting a baseball might be the toughest thing in sports, but it doesn't make Herculean feats an impossibility for even those without the
blessing of otherworldly talent.
Which, as it turns out, Matt Kemp has. It makes his spurt here no less impressive, of course. The scariest thing about Kemp is that at 27
years old, he finally understands who he is as a baseball player and what he can do. Not one of Kemp's six home runs this year has gone
to his pull side. Two to dead center field and four, including Sunday's, to right-center. It takes scary raw power to consistently punch
home runs to the opposite field. It takes even more discipline for a player to understand his swing works in such a fashion.
What we're seeing, then, is the self-actualization of a player like Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, born with gifts that
the rest of us without only hope to see materialize. We saw it last season, and even more this year …
1. Matt Kemp is wowing us on a nightly basis. And for as much as the San Diego Padres' pitching staff is to blame – or, in Kemp's case,
thank – all of his home runs have come in Petco Park and Dodger Stadium, two of the five worst hitters' parks in the major leagues. The
power and performance are very, very real.
It didn't take Ted Williams vision to notice that after last season, when Kemp should've won the National League MVP – and not
because Ryan Braun ostensibly used synthetic testosterone but because Kemp simply was a better player. Kemp told Yahoo! Sports' Tim
Brown he wanted to go 50-50 this year, and it seemed all hubris and chest-thumping and machismo, but damn if the first 50 seems well
within reach, if not altogether likely.
The second 50 – well, Kemp is 1 for 3 on stolen-base attempts, and he set his career high with 40 last season, and his legs are getting no
younger, and the most home runs anybody has hit while stealing 50-plus bags is Eric Davis with 37, and the most for anybody Kemp's
age or older is Rickey Henderson with 28, so how about we leave the base-stealing portion of this program to …
2. Jacoby Ellsbury once he returns from a shoulder subluxation, which sounds far more exotic – it's the most lux injury there is – than its
reality. A subluxation is a partial dislocation. It is a nasty sort of hurt, the kind that happens when a 190-pound man lands all 190 pounds
right on a joint, as Reid Brignac did when Ellsbury tried to break up a double play.
Gone is the Boston Red Sox's leadoff hitter, center fielder and sparkplug for at least two months, and shoulder injuries have a way of
haunting hitters for much longer. In the meantime, the Red Sox are left hoping for the returns of Carl Crawford (from injury) and Kevin
Youkilis (from ineffectiveness) to buttress the AL's best offense, which carries a starting rotation crooked with question marks, which
fronts the Voldemort of bullpens, those who must not be named.
If the first week was an airing of the Red Sox's sins, their current three-game winning streak against Tampa Bay has highlighted the
explosiveness of their offense and the vulnerability of even good pitching staffs against it. And that's without Ellsbury. Sort of like the
injury to …
Brian Wilson really not fazing the San Francisco Giants. We must not forget, Sergio Romo has been a better pitcher than Wilson for
more than a year, and you could argue Romo was almost Wilson's equal even as the Giants romped to the 2010 championship. If Bruce
Bochy wants his best pitcher going in the ninth, he'll use Romo instead of a committee, but then if Bochy wanted his best lineup every
day, he'd play Brandon Belt.
Still, Wilson's second Tommy John surgery – his first came in college at LSU – makes him the second closer this season to twice tear a
UCL. Joakim Soria's out the rest of the year, and Joey Devine's elbow gave again, too, and it again reminds us: The team that finally
figures out how to keep pitchers' arms healthy will revolutionize the sport.
Think about it: Teenagers are on minuscule pitch counts, and young starters in the major leagues are on strict innings limits, all to
mitigate arm damage. And here are guys who throw at most 80 innings a year blowing out with frequency that rivals starters. If it's not
innings, it's got to be mechanics, and while plenty of theories exist – from the Inverted W to excessive scapular loading to some arms
simply being more blessed than others – nobody knows. Nobody. Because if any pitching guru truly did, he or she would be stinking rich.
Until then, arms will break down and falter and we'll wonder what happened. Down in Miami, they're doing that very thing as …
4. Heath Bell – healthy but awful – has the Marlins fretting about flushing $27 million of that profit they kept all those years down the
toilet on a lemon reliever. At least he'd be the second most overpriced thing in Marlins Park behind the $3 million acid trip in center
field.
And Bell's not there yet, either, not after two blown saves that were indeed spectacular sandwiched around an appearance in which he
walked the bases loaded. Bell himself is questioning whether the Marlins should use him as closer, a stunning admission this early in the
season (and one that speaks to Bell's humility as a player who had been chewed up and spit out by the sport until he found God, which,
to pitchers, goes by the name of Petco Park).
Bell's strikeout rate plummeted last season even as his raw stuff didn't, and he entered the season a test case of those numbers. He is
failing, and now he must find himself and figure out who he is before it's too late. Such sentiment is altogether too common this early in
the season, so it's no surprise …
Yu Darvish is wielding his four-color pen. Yes, Darvish seems to come from the Ichiro Suzuki school of epic analogies, and as he altered
his delivery for the third time already since joining the Texas Rangers – he pitched out of the stretch in spring training, lifted his hands
above his head in his first start and stopped them at his chin in his second – he turned to multicolored ink to explain it.
"To me this is not that difficult," Darvish told the Dallas Morning News. "I think of it like a pen that has different ink. You click on one
and you get red; click on another and you get black. It's just different clicks."
Neither exactly clicked for Darvish. He has gone 5 2/3 innings in both starts and suffered through bouts of wildness. The rest of the staff
– from Matt Harrison with his AL-best 0.64 ERA to Colby Lewis and his 15-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio to Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland
and their righty-lefty power complement – has been unstoppable, and it's why the Rangers are an AL-best 8-2. They allow Darvish time
to tinker, whereas …
6. Aroldis Chapman lingers in that curious place between unhittable and misused. The former seems to beget charges of the latter;
batters can't touch Chapman in his bullpen role. His 15 strikeouts rank sixth in the major leagues – and he has thrown them in eight
innings. With three hits. And no walks.
Fifteen Ks, zero walks. For a pitcher who walked 41 hitters in 50 innings last year. If Chapman hasn't been the best pitcher in baseball,
it's only because the Cincinnati Reds are using him two innings at a time. While Homer Bailey tries to prove for a sixth time that he's
worthy of a major-league rotation spot, Chapman wastes a special arm in middle relief.
He may not last as a starter, but it's negligence not to at least try Chapman there, especially after teasing him with the role all spring. To
move him back to the bullpen because Bill Bray got hurt – because Dusty Baker said he needed another lefty reliever – is intellectually
dishonest, especially when he has no problem feeding Chapman to right-handers. And he mows right through them anyway, impressive
on the same level as …
7. Stephen Strasburg has been with the Washington Nationals this season. As long as Strasburg is healthy, he should win multiple Cy
Young Awards, and that's in a league with Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee, Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Cole
Hamels, Zack Greinke and a handful of others in that realm. He's that good.
When I called Nats to the World Series this year, a large part of that prediction hinged on Strasburg being pushed beyond Washington's
expected 160-inning limit – a possibility GM Mike Rizzo admitted this week to Baseball Prospectus. With a rotation of Strasburg, Jordan
Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler, the Nats in the postseason are no joke.
That they've started 7-3 without Mike Morse (DL), Drew Storen (DL) and Bryce Harper (minor leagues) gives them even more hope.
Perhaps this is a product of Washington's schedule – Cubs, Mets and Reds ain't exactly the '27 Yankees – or maybe it's a sign that this is
a team worth watching. Surely there would be a seat for …
Roger Clemens if he wanted to swing by after the first day of his second perjury trial on Monday. The first, you'll remember, ended in a
mistrial when an evidence snafu by the prosecution enraged the judge and left the case hanging for nine months.
Clemens' case mirrors Barry Bonds' in almost every way: the great early career, the need to sustain it, the alleged steroid use, the lateage peak, the defiance in denial, the tarnishing of reputation, the numbers that in retrospect seem as inflated as Bonds' musculature.
Bonds more or less escaped, getting nailed on a specious obstruction-of-justice charge; Clemens is fighting for the same, what with his
standing as one of the five best pitchers ever now vamoose.
Even if Clemens walks free, he will wear the Scarlet S. And accordingly, perhaps the most surefire Hall of Famer of his generation no
longer has the no-doubt case of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and …
9. Albert Pujols, who has Koufax'd himself in with just 12 years in the major leagues. You wouldn't know looking at Pujols thus far: his
zero home runs and .243 batting average and .324 slugging percentage – which ranks 159th in baseball among the 231 hitters with at
least 25 plate appearances.
It's also tied with Jose Bautista's, and, like Pujols, Bautista will be fine. He'll hit plenty of home runs and drive in lots of runs and do his
Pujolsian thing. Will he do it $240 million worth over the next 10 years? Probably not, though Arte Moreno gifted him a quarter-billion
dollars not as much for 2021 as a championship in '12 or '13. These Angels, after getting beaten around by the Yankees on Sunday night,
aren't quite yet blazing toward the former.
And yet by now, whether it's because of Chris Shelton or …
10. Matt Kemp in 2010, we should know: April often is a mirage.
Yeah, we said Kemp. We've seen almost this very performance before. Two years ago, Kemp's numbers over his first 10 games were
.333/.385/.756 with five homers and 15 RBIs. And that ended up being the worst year of his career, one plagued by ineffectiveness on
offense (a .310 OBP), defense (a dreadful covering of center field) and drama (Rihanna tends to be a nice distraction).
However misleading the performance in 2010, this one is real – a lot more real than the Dodgers' 9-1 record. No, Kemp isn't going to hit
97 home runs and score 259 runs. His slugging percentage won't have a dot in the middle, let alone a 7 or 8 as the first number. For all
he can't do, one thing is evident.
Right now, there's no better player in baseball.
LA WEEKLY
Viva Los Dodgers 2012 Lineup Announced: Ximena Sariñana, Ana Tijoux, More
By LA Weekly Mon., Apr. 16 2012 at 3:00 PM
Viva Los Dodgers, a festival celebrating Los Angeles' Latino culture, just announced this season's lineup exclusively through West Coast
Sound.
Held in Lot 6 two hours before each of the Dodgers' Sunday home games, the festival is free with a ticket to the day's Dodger game. The
schedule this year is a mix of hip hop and traditional folkloric music, and standouts including Weekly darling Ximena Sariñana, badass
rapper Ana Tijoux and La Santa Cecilia are all scheduled. See the full list below.
April 15, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Padres
Comedian Felipe Esparza, The Moonlight Trio
April 29, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Nationals
TBD
May 13, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Rockies
Comedian Julio Gonzalez, KCRW DJ Raul Campos
May 20, 5:05 p.m.
Vs. Cardinals
Las Cafeteras, The Pinker Tones, KCRW DJ Raul Campos
See also: Las Cafeteras Defy Tradition
May 27, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Astros
La Santa Cecilia
June 17, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. White Sox
Mexican Institute of Sound, La Vida Boheme, KCRW DJ Raul Campos
July 1, TBD
Vs. Mets
Ximena Sariñana, Mariachi Los Solecitos, KCRW DJ Raul Campos
July 15, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Padres
Mexico Azteca Ballet Folklorico
August 5, TBD
Vs. Cubs
No Te Rajes, Jalisco Folklorico Group
August 26, 1:10 p.m.
Vs. Marlins
Ana Tijoux
Sept. 2, 5:10 p.m.
Vs. Diamondbacks
Mariachi Heritage Ballet Folklorico
Sept. 16, TBD
Vs. Cardinals
TBD
Sept. 29, TBD
Vs. Rockies
The season culminates with La Gran Fiesta -- Viva Los Dodgers on Saturday, September 29. Talent TBD.
KOREA JOONG ANG DAILY
Hite to sell beer at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
Apr 17,2012
Hite-Jinro clinched a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers to sell its Hite beer at Dodger Stadium during the 2012 major league season, the
company said yesterday.
The company claims it’s the first beer maker in Asia to sell beer at Dodger Stadium.
The deal allows the company to sell 330 milliliter (11 fluid ounces) bottles of Hite at booths inside of the stadium, advertise the beer in
the stadium, and use the Dodgers official logo to promote its product.
The beer maker will also run a Hite Zone during the game to market the product to American consumers.
Hite-Jinro had $136 million in overseas sales last year, and $8 million in the U.S. It aims to boost overseas sales to $200 million by 2015.