Results tagged ‘ Andre Ethier ’
DODGER CARAVAN, DAY 1, L.A. RIVER
We’re getting close to Spring Training folks !!! But before ST starts, the Dodgers once again embark on their annual caravan with this season’s theme giving back to the community. One of the activities in line for todays caravan was a volunteer clenup of the L.A. River, which players past and present we’re in attendance to lend a hand to the 250 Dodger fans who took time to volunteer today.
It was a fun day to be amongst fellow Dodger fans and it really did feel good to do something good for OUR TOWN as we can say we contributed to the continuing efforts to make the L.A. River a place where hopefullly there will be a longer trail for bikers and joggers to take a nice stroll.
Oh yeah, speaking of Dre…
DRE AND DREI
THE NINTH INNING
After the final out of the 2010 season. Hopefully at this time next year, it will be a dogpile with a champagne bath. Forever Dodger Blue, ’till the bitter end….GO DODGERS !!!!
EXTRA INNINGS WITH DREI
STARTING TO HEAT UP ?
It’s good to see the Blue on it’s first winning streak of the season, after winning the last 3 of the 4 game series against the Bucs. Even the pitching has shown some signs of life. Of course as soon as I say that, Kershaw has perhaps the worst outing of his young career against the Brewers . Shake it off kid, it happens to everyone. I’m really looking forward to seeing if Billingsley can go a 3rd straight game with a quality start. You really didn’t thing the Brewers offense, anchored by Prince Fielder and Ryan Brawn, an offense which had been shut out in all 3 losses to the Friars in their 4 game set, was going to remain dormant , did you ?
IT’S BEEN A GOOD DRE
How ’bout Andre Ethier? If the season ended today, he would be the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yaztremski did it in 1967. His current stats, .367, 9 HR, and 26 RBI’s. Did you see his 2nd HR of the game this past Sunday travel half way up the RF Pavillion . That may have been the furthest I’ve seen any of his HR’s travel. Speaking of Andre…….
THIS OR THAT ?
In the recent edition of one of my early season in-between features, THIS OR THAT, Friday, 4/30, on MY TOWN Night, UCLA was featured, so a few Dodgers were asked SC or UCLA. Andre….
Neither. Sun Devils ( Arizona State ) all the way. ( Let’s remember, he’s a Phoenix native and played collegiately at ASU )
HEY PETE, NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU
When one mentions Pedro Guerrero to me, here’s what comes to mind
1) My youth. As a kid in the early 80′s, Pedro Guerrero was my favorite Dodger. OK, debatable between him and Fernando, and maybe Sax. But those we’re some good players, and some good times. I always looked forward to seeing Pete’s power display.
2) His home run tear of June, 1985, when he tied a then NL record of 15 home runs in a month, a record he shared with Mike Schmidt. And finally
3) His freakish slide into 3rd base in the final day
of ST, 1986, tearing his knee up and causing him
to miss most of the season. And finally….
4) The darkest day of my life as a baseball fan. Watching Pete throw his glove down in disgust like a Bad News Bear while watching Jack Clark’s 3 run home run in the 9th inning of Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS sail way beyond him and into oblivion. Of course, time has healed all wounds but that shot of him whenever I decide to inflict past wounds on myself reminds me that not all athletes are in it for just the money and that there actually is some true passion behind these players.
Pedro Guerrero wasn’t exactly a model citizen, and today he would be the first to admit as much. Most Dodger fans back in the day remember that he did not exactly leave the Blue in good terms, at one time clashing with Kirk Gibson . Pete also realized that the good life he lived, along most ballplayers, or any celebrity , does not last forever. Now that Pete has been humbled, he is asking for a second chance, a chance to return to baseball.
Guerrero sincere he’s turned life around
Ex-Dodger wants to return to game, says he’s changed man
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100503&content_id=9764478&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
I really hope for the best for Pete. And should he land a job in the Majors someday, I really hope it’s back where it all started for him, back here with the Blue. Best of Luck Pete, we’re all rooting for you.
WISHING DAVE A SPEEDY RECOVERY
Former Dodger outfielder and current Padres assistant Dave Roberts was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. Fortunately, it was caught in it’s early stage and will continue to work with the Padres throughout this season. Just one favor Dave…. You’re Friars are surprising a lot of us in the NL West, can you help bring them back to earth ? All kidding aside, Best of Luck to you Dave, one of the finest ballplayers I’ve had the chance to meet.
Me with Dave Roberts, 4/30/2006
OUTSIDE THE PARK
It’s not often that I comment here on my blog about something beyond baseball or any other sport, but I thought it be cool to share with you what the Phoenix Suns will be doing this evening, donning uniforms that say Los Suns, in honor of their vast Latino community . Good for you . That law is flawed anyway. While I’ve never had a bad experience in the state of Arizona and I will not go so far as to boycott any Dodger/D’Back games at Dodgers Stadium, I’d like to know what is Governor Brewer trying to prove with this bill. If anything, all this is going to do is create more chaos and perhaps potential lawsuits to those it could affect who are here legally but don’t have documentation while driving. ( Like you’re gonna keep legal documents in the glove compartment of your car at all times ? ) I applaud the Phoenix Suns organization for doing this, use your national status to show that this great country of ours welcomes all.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/05/04/suns-immigration.ap/index.html?xid=si_nba
IN MEMORIUM
Ernie Harwell, whose broadcast career started with the Brooklyn Dodgers, succumbed to cancer yesterday at the young age of 92. Harwell leaves behind countless admirers and is now amongst the broadcasters heavens with Jack Buck, Harry Carey, Harry Kalas, Phil Rizutto, et all. RIP Ernie ( 1918-2010 )
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
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