April 2010
DREI’S APRIL REVIEW
One of the greatest things about baseball is that if your team starts off slow, there’s still over 100 games to make up for lost ground. Of course, you never want to see your team fall behind in the standings and make up ground. Of course, as said earlier, thank god it’s only April and there’s still over 100 games to go. Is it too early to start panicking? Definitely not. Of course many of you fellow Dodger fans are worried. If you aren’t worried, your passion for the Blue would be questioned. Having seen our boys play in the NLCS the last couple of years has only whetted our appetite for even greater success. Let’s not forget that when your team has been on top the last two years, others do their best to improve themselves to knock you off your perch. So the Blue is facing a little adversity right now. And as I write this review, in front of me are logos from each NL West team taped on top of my screen, in the order of today’s current standings. The sight of the Dodger logo all the way to the right doesn’t exactly suit well for me. But that’s cool. As I said, a little adversity never hurts every now and then. It’s a good way to test a teams character, too see if they’re really as good as we want to believe, or is this season already a waste.
I’d hate to think that this season is a waste. There’s just way too much talent on this team. It’s because of all this talent that I believe GM Ned Coletti went off on the team this week.
Now on the flip side, Colletti should not be void of any blame either. Yes, it is uncharacteristic for him to be calling out his team, and yes, it’s even more uncharacteristic of him to call out one of his players ( Matt Kemp ) . However Ned, let’s be honest, did we all not know that there could be some issues with the pitching this season ? I’ll be honest, even though my heart said that the pitching problems wouldn’t be a major issue ( That’s the Dodger fan in me talking folks ), I did not think that our pitching, traditionally a Dodger trademark, would be this atrocious even this early into the season. As productive as our offense has been, it too is only going to carry us so far. And in the course of a long season, the offense will go into a slump.
The Dodgers will be back home for a 10 game homestand. The fared well during their last homestand, winning 4 of 6, with 2 of those wins seeing the Blue Crew rally from the 8th inning on, showing flashes of last years team. Speaking of flashes, the bats , especially those of Matty and Dre, certainly gave us a glimpse that the offense will certainly not be boring .
OK, we all know about how bad our pitching is, so I’m not gonna beat on that topic like a dead horse. However, and I’m hoping that this is only a minor concern in spite of Colletti’s call out of him, let’s talk about Matty
To be calling out Matt Kemp could be just a bit of a stretch here. OK, so he’s not Andre Ethier when it comes to showing his emotions. And yes, we all know that Matt is arguably the most talented player on the squad. And yes, we all know that Matt’s perception is one of a happy-go-lucky person. And finally, we all may have heard the tiresome jokes about how Rhianna may affect him this year, but we wont go into that…..
Now I don’t recall Ned criticizing Matt’s efforts, and I’m glad he didn’t. Anyone who hit’s over .300 and is on pace to hit 42 home runs certainly doen’t do it because of lack of effort. Now, the thing that has somewhat , if not entirely irked me, and Ned as well, his baserunning. I said this last year that he would be a 30/30 guy and was 4 home runs short of the mark. Before this season I stuck with my words from last year and said he would go 30/30. And some day, I honestly think that Matty can be a 40/40 guy, a rare feat.
Which is why I, and probably, many of you, are wondering why the 6 caught stealing so early in the season, one of which he did not even slide into second base. MATTY, YOUR’RE KILLING ME !!!! OK, not quite, but Matt, we all know you’re better than that !!!!
Well, April is about to end, and as of right now, we find ourselves looking up at the rest of the division. Do I think it will last. NO. We’re just to talented to be this bad. It’s now time to put this month behind us. Yes, we’re all frustrated, and stuff has been said in the front office. Let’s put it behind us now. It’s time to see if our Boys in Blue are really for real. It may only be late April, but GO time is never to early.
OPENING WEEK THOUGHTS
This was quite a homestand for the Blue Crew as they took 2 of 3 from the D’Backs and Giants, pulling out some late inning heroics in 2 of those victories. If there’s one thing we may know, it’s that this years team certainly wont be boring. One of the things I enjoyed during this homestand was our starting pitching going 7 plus innings in 3 of the 6 games, something our staff had a hard time doing early. And with Kuo and Bellisario due to come back soon, our bullpen could start to really shape up.
To say that this weekends series against the hated ones is sending a message would be a stretch, though you could say that the Blue served notice that they have every intention on winning a 3rd straight division title. OK, some sights around the Ravine this weekend against the hated ones…..
Somewhere in the bowels of the club level we honor Jackie Robinson on his night. Behind Jackie Big D looks very intimidating .
The view from the newly renovated Stadium Club….Outdoor seating!!!! The way baseball was meant to be viewed !!!!
My desert
ANDRE THE GIANT KILLER
Baseball 101 . If throwing a change up was only that easy I could be earning a hefty salary…….
It’s Friday night, and the pavillion is splashed with Dodger Blue
And some halloween colors mixed in with the Dodger Blue….
Stretch time….. Even the umps are all wearing 42 on Jackie’s night.
Another win for L.A. Thougu things got a little tight in the 9th…..
DODGERTOWN….” This is Dre’s Town…”
One of sports best rivalries….
Dodger fans in the LF Pavillion donning their free caps. What a beautiful sight, all that Dodger Blue
Dre and Matty, celebrating another Dodger win, this one thanks to Manny’s pinch hit home run in the 8th. We could have over 80 home runs this yearjust between these two alone….
My buddy Josh ( Between Duke Sniders and Jim Gilliams retired numbers ) was very happy about todays game
EXTRA INNINGS
On the way home on the Red Line, I quipped to some Giants fans that they were on the wrong subway, this wasn’t the BART.
On that same Red Line, before leaving Union Station, a sheriff came on and asked to check tickets. As we we’re taking our train tickets out of our pockets, the sheriff replied ” No not you guys, the one’s in all this Black and Orange “ J .
And finally, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, a feature the Dodgers are doing this year at the Stadium is called This and That, where a Dodger player is featured on the video board during middle of the inning breaks and is asked a bunch of questions and decides upon one or the other. ( You have to be there to enjoy it ) On Opening Day, Matt Kemp was the featured player and his questions were
Facebook or Twitter
MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice
UCLA or USC
OK, I’ll give him that one since Oklahoma is his home state ( Of course the crowd was of course divided on this one, I had to go with the Blue and Gold….)
And finally…
Beyonce or…
Rhianna
No Comment…( Right Matt…)
Though this wasn’t featured during the last home game, in this months issue of our Dodger program, the players were all asked this question…
KOBE or
LEBRON
Of course we know what the majority answered. The one’s who picked LeBron were Jamie Carroll and Ronnie Belliard. ( Of course they would, they played for the Indians at one time….)
Have a good weekend everyone. And for you Dodger fans reading this, hang in there, our pitching will come around , eventually……
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My first 7th inning stretch of the year , with some female fans and my lil’ bro’ . I hope it went through this time
DODGERS-GIANTS MEMORIES
OK Dodger fans. That sure was an exciting one last night all capped off with another one of Dre’s walk-off’s. Wow, Andre’s walk-off’s seem to happen as often as Kobe’s buzzer beaters that it’s just now to the point that some of us have become so blasé to this. OK, some, not all of us.
All right, now on to this weekends matchup with the hated one’s. The Giants are off to a hot start this year and are out to prove everyone that they have an offense that’s potent enough to compliment their outstanding pitching, once again led by that Freak, 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. As for our Boys in Blue, the offense has certainly held their end of the deal and could easily be 7-2 or 6-3 if not for some late inning collapses by our bullpen. Our starters aren’t exactly out of the doghouse either. Only Hiroki Kuroda has pitched 6 or more innings this season, in fact doing it in both his starts. Vicente Padilla takes the mound in the series opener tomorrow. Hopefully, he can rediscover his form that he had in last years stretch drive.
Now for some personal Dodgers/Giants memories. We all have our personal favorites. And I have plenty as well. Since this is only April, here’s one from some time ago, the year 2000. That was the year the Giants moved into their new yard, Pac Bell Park . And of course they wanted to open the yard against the Dodgers. Tickets to Pac Bell were at such a premium you would have thought you’d be on a 5 year season ticket wait list. Though I was unable to attend the inaugural opener, the one when Kevin Elster smacked 3 dingers en route to a 6-5 victory, ruining the Jints home debut, I was able to make the trek up north for what was supposed to be the third game of that series. However, the previous nights game was suspended after 5 innings due to rain, so they continued that game prior to the series finale. You may be wondering how I scored a ticket to the game, well, being alone does have it’s privileges, and one thing I would discover is that when you go solo to a sold out event, more often than not, single tix always seem to be available. So I was able to score a seat in the lower field level behind home plate for $23 ( Try that today folks….) And from the moment I walked in the yard I was really impressed . Now you might think that any stadium is an improvement from old CandleStick Park ( Or as my HS English teacher called it, CandleStink Park ), but the Giants and the City By the Bay really hit a home run . As for the atmosphere, let’s just say that there wasn’t anything really harsh said to me. Heck, though I had some peanuts thrown at me ( In a playful way, it was all good….), the fans around me we’re actually cool, especially the college kids I sat with. They we’re even kind enough to take a picture with me, each one of them giving me the bird, directed at both my Dodger cap and UCLA sweater ( What a way to rep LA in the Bay huh ?…..) And of course the best part was sweeping the opening 3 game series of the hated ones new park. Oh yeah, what a way to help open your rivals new park.
As for the city itself, I don’t hate San Francisco. In fact, I love SF. I always look forward to going there at least once a year. They have many fine places to eat, and I’m not just talking about fancy dining either. SF is always ranked as being one of the top single-friendly cities, and I can certainly tell you from experience that SF is definitely a single friendly city. And of course if you are a male single ( Especially if you happen to be walking down Market St. ), The City will definitely wrap it’s arms around you. ( Read into that last statement all you want…… J ) HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND EVERYONE….GO DODGERS !!!!
And let’s not forget LA’s other teams too…
GO ! KINGS ! GO!
GO LAKERS !!!!
OPENING DAY SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
Opening Day. It’s baseball’s version of the New Year. Though 7 games into the season, there’s still something special about attending your favorite teams home opener. You know, being out in a sun splashed stadium with 56,000 of your closest friends, chowing down on all the Dodger Dogs with your little brother of 25 years, and watching Manny , Kemp, Casey, and Dre all go yard in a 9-5 victory over our division rival Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pitching still remains a thorn on our side as Kershaw, who really is gonna be a stud some day, struggled with his command again and the bullpen was not much better either, most notably Ramon Ortiz, allowing 3 runs in the 7th after retiring the first two Snakes. Of all the Dodger pitchers, including last nights 11 inning loss, only Hiroki Kuroda has made it through the 6th inning on. Not good.
OK, back to Opening Day, before I share some sights, here is a feature that the Dodgers will be doing in between innings this season called ” This and That “, where on the video board a player is given a choice of two items of anything and on Opening Day, the player was Matt Kemp.
THIS AND THAT WITH MATT KEMP
Twitter or Facebook ?
UCLA or USC
Oklahoma U
Beyonce or Rhianna
” No Comment….” ( Yeah right J )
OK, my Opening Day Pics
Beautiful Dodger Stadium. This sight never gets old….
Getting the pre-game pyros ready
Dodger legend Maury Wills signing for the fans
Why spend $50 when you can text your message ?
Lil’ bro’ chowin’ down on his first Dodger Dog of the year….
Our country’s finest ready to present our colors
Pre Game Pyros
America’s colors
ANDRE !!!!
A sight we’ll hopefully see a lot of this year
Final Score….
Me with the lil’ bro’…..” THIS IS OUR TOWN “
And finally, our first 7th inning stretch of the season, here’s the link….
http://s936.photobucket.com/albums/ad201/dreispics_09/7TH%20INN%20STRETCH%204%2013%202010/
DREI’S 2010 PICKS
Hey fellow baseball fans !!!! I know I’m a little late on this with the season being 3 days old now, but here goes my 2010 predictions……..
AL EAST
1. Yankees 2. Red Sox ( WC ) 3. Rays 4. Orioles 5. Blue Jays
AL CENTRAL
1. Twins 2. White Sox 3. Tigers 4. Indians 5. Royals
AL WEST
1. Angels 2. Mariners 3. Rangers 4. Athletics
ALDS
Yankees over Twins
Red Sox over Angels
ALCS
Red Sox over Yankees
It’s not like there was any thinking outside the box here, but like it or not, the Yanks still remain baseball’s best team and of course the team to beat. The Red Sox though did shore up their pitching and could easily take back the AL East. The Twins should be back even better than last year and could be the AL’s sleeper team. The AL West could very well be the strongest division of the 3, with the Mariners bolstering their pitching. I still like the Angels to win the division based on depth, but if Seattle can add some offense to their arsenal, the AL West could see a changing of the guard. Don’t count out Texas either. Lack of experience slowed down their playoff chances late last year and that should only help them. The addition of Vlad Guerrero could help too. OK, now to the senior circuit…..
NL EAST
1. Phillies 2. Marlins ( * ) 3. Braves 4. Mets 5. Nationals
NL CENTRAL
1. Cardinals 2. Brewers 3. Cubs 4. Reds 5. Astros 6. Pirates
NL WEST
1. Dodgers 2. Rockies (*) 3. Giants 4. Diamondbacks 5. Padres
( * ) One Game Wild Card Tie-Breaker
Rockies over Marlins
NLDS
Dodgers over Cardinals
Phillies over Rockies
NLCS
Dodgers over Phillies
World Series
Dodgers over Red Sox
OK, I will admit, my pick of the Dodgers winning it all this year is mostly from the heart. And I don’t even blame you if, like many, you picked Colorado to win the division. But at the same time, I would not make this pick if I did not feel we had the chance. The last couple of years could have had us in the fall classic if not for a couple of bad breaks. However, repeating as the NL West champ will not be easy, especially a 3rd straight. The whole division has vastly improved itself, Colorado may have the most depth and if so are ready to prove that last years run was no fluke. The Giants , well, we all know about their stellar pitching, and as much as I hate ‘em, they too could be a serious contender for the NL West crown. Tim Lincecum is a legitimate threat to win a 3rd straight Cy Young Award. The D-Backs pitching is anchored by Webb and Haren, but questions still surround their offense. The Padres have a lot of young talent and finished strong last season, but may still be a couple of years away from seriously contending.
In the NL Central, the Cards look to return back to their October glory. Many had picked them to win the NL last season, and if not for Matt Holliday dropping James Loney’s fly ball in Game 2 thus changing the momentum ( I can still hear the Dodger Stadium crowd ringing in my ears…… 
) they very well may have gone all way into November. An argument can be made here on weather they boast the leagues best 1-2 starting tandem in Carpenter and Wainwright as opposed to the Giants 1-2 combo of Lincecum and Cain. And of course their offense is lead by none other than Sir Albert…….
And now, the East. Of course, all of us have the Phillies winning the NL East and many have them winning the NL as well. And like the Dodgers, winning the division 3 straight years will not be an easy task for them either. And like the Dodgers, the Phillies also play in a tough division, with Atlanta and Florida ready to take over the East.
Speaking of Florida, in spite of having one of the Majors lowest payrolls, the great thing about them is the fact they always find a way to compete, and this year should be no different. I also have them finishing with a tie with Colorado for the Wild Card spot.
As for the playoffs, this is the year that Broxton finally shuts the door down on Philly, and we will do it in 6 games. This is also the year Matt Kemp goes 30/30 ( I said he’d do it last year and was 4 home runs away ) and wins both a Gold Glove and the NL MVP. And Andre Ethier, well, I expect another 30 plus homers ( 3 which will be of the walk-off variety )
This should be a fun season….GO DODGERS !!!!!
dodgerdrei
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