ROCKIES 6, DODGERS 2
AP photo
Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
Aaron Harang (1-1, 5.16) vs. Juan Nicasio (1-0, 4.76).
The Dodgers are off to a torrid start (5.5 games ahead of the fourth-place Rockies (one of three teams hovering around .500)). And there's nothing like Coors Field to see if we can further amplify our offensive stats. Right now, Matt Kemp leads the majors with 11 HR (if he hits three today, he can tie the April HR record set by Albert Pujols (2006) and Alex Rodriguez (2007)); Andre Ethier and Kemp share the NL RBI lead with 24; and Kemp has the NL lead with 23 runs scored. Coors Field, offensive multiplier, awaits.
Nicasio is young; this is the second season for the 26-year-old, and he's 0-1 with a 7.59 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers (2 games, 10.2 IP, 9 ER). And, he has a Star Wars-related tie, too: the California town which bears his name has George Lucas as a resident. And, his name is an anagram for Scan Ouija In. So I will...and the board says we're going to win tonight's game. Count it.
Matt Kemp's OPS is 1.382; the next highest OPS is from Josh Hamilton, far away at 1.182. Kemp's OPS+ is 293. Unbelievable.
Current Rank | Initial Rank | Puzzler | PCS Tour Points |
1 | n/a | Ubragg | 100 |
T-2 | n/a | BCCSweet | 50 |
T-2 | n/a | Eric Karros | 50 |
T-4 | n/a | MLASC | 10 |
T-4 | n/a | Spank | 10 |
T-4 | n/a | QuadSevens | 10 |
T-4 | n/a | Alex | 10 |
T-4 | n/a | SteveK | 10 |
Over his last three appareances, Dodger closer Javy Guerra has not been the same. But the signs, the true signs of things amiss, go back much further than that.
Sure, Javy's first blown save of the year came on April 17 in Milwaukee, ending his streak of sterling appearances (five saves and a win in six appearances). Then Guerra put together two more saves on April 19 and 20 to put most fears to rest.
But over the last three appearances, Javy has been a mess. First, on April 24, he entered with the game tied 3-3 against the Braves, only to give up the game-winning run. The following night was even worse, when he gave up five straight hits to the Braves and three earned runs and, worst of all, took a comebacker in the jaw in the loss. Finally, in a wild one Saturday night against the Nationals, Guerra gave up another earned run and allows two runs total, in a game we were extremely lucky to tie in the ninth, let alone win in the tenth. In all the post-game revelry, the state of Guerra was forgotten.
However, intrepid Dodger fans know what's really going on: Javy Guerra is afflicted with the Snuggie Curse.
Go ahead and laugh, sure. Guerra should be "naturally balanced" with all that logo treatment plastered on him, right? However, the facts of this case reveal the truth.
First, let's go back and look at the Snuggie-related timeline:
Now let's correlate those dates with those of Guerra's downfall. Remember, the signs of Guerra's fraying started with his first blown save on April 17, five days after his television spot debuted. Then, once the actual Dodger Snuggie promotion happened, all hell broke loose: blown saves, errant pitches, comebackers to the head. Ever since Javy got into that backwards robe thingy, he's been cursed.
Oh yes, this is the Snuggie Curse, all right. Plain and simple.
And really, the Dodgers should have known better. What, you haven't heard of the Snuggie Curse?
Remember when Weezer went all Snuggie-licious on us? That was in November 2009. One short month later, the Weezer tour bus crashed on the interstate, leaving frontman Rivers Cuomo with three cracked ribs (among other injuries) and causing the cancellation of their tour. The Snuggie is to blame. What else could it be? Meanwhile, closer to home, the Dodgers have a more prominent case study. Remember which Dodger hawked a Dodgers Snuggie last year in a similar television spot? None other than James Loney. Oh sure, we thought it was humorous too, at first. But this was before Loney went on to have a putrid first half in 2011, not breaking the .250 batting average mark until June 12 (Loney finished decently strong to end the year with a .288 average). It took Loney almost three months to wear off the curse last year (no details as to whether Loney was sleeping in his snuggie during this past offseason, either).We won't be able to wait three months for Guerra to get back to fighting form. That's why we're calling on you, the SoSG readers, to help break this Snuggie Curse and save Javy Guerra from a horrible first half.
If any of you have a 2012 Dodgers Snuggie that you'd be willing to sacrifice to the baseball gods, send us pictures or video, proving your sacrifice. We'll publicize the results. Then, and only then, will the Javy Guerra we know and love return.
Somewhere under that sleeved fleece canopy lies the heart and soul of a true closer. We need to band together to break the Snuggie Curse, pull that good man back out from under that tent, and into the blue light.
Not that we're conspiracy theorists, but for earlier SoSG curse content, here's The Dane Cook Dodgers Curse; The Wheaties Fuel Curse (Part 1, 2, and 3; and The Eric Collins Curse 2009 and 2010. Nah, we're not paranoid. Nosiree.
This is not an advertisement. Rather, this is the result of an email conversation I've had with a sports memorabilia company called That's My Ticket. And there's a contest at the end of this post, so keep reading!
Remember about a month and a half ago, when I posted on how beautiful the Dodgers' Opening Day ticket was this year? And how the fact that they did the ticket up on glossy plastic rather than just perforated cardstock, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, for Opening Day 2012?
Well, our little SoSG post was picked up on the wire by a company called That's My Ticket, which makes "Mega Tickets": high-quality large reproductions of ticket stubs, enlarged to 500%, and printed directly onto high-end canvas. All the production work from the printing to the stretch-mounting is done in Massachusetts. They've been around for a little over five years now, and have amassed a pretty deep library of historic tickets (World Series, All-Star Games, etc.), and can also make personalized one-of-a-kind products (which basically run about $80 each).
Keith Gentili, VP of Sales at That's My Ticket, read our blogpost and agreed that the 2012 Dodgers Opening Day ticket was indeed awesome. So he asked if I could send over a high-quality scan of the item, in exchange for a Mega Ticket of my own.The end result of the That's My Ticket process is truly beautiful. They matched the color, they even changed some of the key identifying details; it really ended up looking great. The canvas is affixed to a sturdy wood frame. And I was impressed with how the item came shipped: plastic corner protectors on the canvas, carefully sent in a large box. It's a work of art.
I have to admit, I had stumbled upon That's My Ticket years ago, and always had to laugh at the poor model holding up the tickets as if she was of Lilliputian stature (she also didn't look all that happy to be holding up a ticket, for what it's worth). Now that I've actually seen a Mega Ticket, however, I'm smiling--but rather than laughing at a stock photo, I'm smiling at how cool my opening day ticket looks, super-sized.That's My Ticket also offers Mini-Mega Tickets, which are blown up 200% and only cost $20 each; they're dessigned more for autographs. And if you go poking around their site, That's My Ticket offers a bunch of other items, including ticket frames and other photo-album type memorabilia. It's worth a look!
So here we go with the contest part. Keith was kind enough to enclose some goodies in the shipment, and we'd like to raffle one off to the fine readers of SoSG. We'd like to give away a Dodgers 8x8 Ticket and Photo Scrapbook. It features a design with historic Dodgers game tickets; includes 20 standard 8x8 scrapbook pages (additional pages can be added); and can be personalized with your own photo on the front cover. It's officially licensed by MLB (comes with a hologram sticker on the back).
And it can be yours...if you make a comment on this post by 6p on Monday, April 30. We'll raffle off the item to the eligible names based on an outcome of one of this week's Dodger games.
Good luck! And to Keith Gentili, thank you and That's My Ticket for your generosity so we can run this contest!
More photos after the jump!
UPDATE (Sax 4/29 10.29a): Noticed that the MLB.com video highlight is cropped differently as to avoid the moonshot shot. Here's Deadspin's take. Here's another video:
Photos: Molly Knight / Getty Images
Chad Billingsley (2-1, 3.04) vs. Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 1.08).
Rev up the hype machine! Sons Dusty, Sax and yours truly and reader John G will be in the house to check out the major-league debut of the first pick of the 2010 draft, 19-year old Bryce Harper. Mr. Eyeblack, who signed a five-year, $9.9-million contract, is the most hyped prospect since, well, starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The 23-year-old Strasburg, the first pick of the 2009 draft, signed a four-year, $15.1 contract and has already undergone Tommy John surgery in his young career. Is he back on track for greatness? Will Harper live up to the hype? The Dodgers will find out tonight.
Harper has hit a combined .254/.330/.388, including a .174/.216/.275 line against lefties, across two levels above low-A (he also recorded four walks and 19 strikeouts against left-handed pitching in Double-A and Triple-A), and while his performance against right-handers at those levels is more than adequate for a player who's as old as your typical college freshman, it doesn't give us any reason to expect immediate success in the majors.
Harper made a lot of progress over the course of 2011, but in the Arizona Fall League his weakness against off-speed stuff was still evident, even if it was less than it was the year before. We have no evidence, statistical or otherwise, this spring to indicate that he's made those adjustments enough to be ready to produce in the majors. He will eventually do so -- of this I have little doubt -- but he had shown that Triple-A was a sufficient challenge for him, and there's no reason to recall him until he succeeds at that level.
This looks to me like a panic move, a reaction to modest attendance figures for the Nats despite their hot start this year, rather than a well thought-out developmental plan, as we've seen the club employ for most of its other prospects. Contrast their adamant statements about keeping Stephen Strasburg on an innings limit in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery with this seemingly unplanned promotion before Harper can even reach 90 at-bats in Triple-A.Forgive me if I'm picturing Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo making the call to Syracuse to recall Bryce Harper while sitting in his chair and staring down the barrel of a gun held by the team's VP of sales.
And here's Dan Szymborski (also insider only):
Spring training statistics are notoriously hard to use, but in this particular case, with such limited data available, it's at least worth noting that his spring performance -- a .690 OPS in 28 at-bats with 11 strikeouts -- doesn't actually scream that he's ready now. The ZiPS projection system loves Harper in 2014 and beyond and sees him developing into a major star, but for 2012, it only seems him as a .238/.317/.405 hitter, which isn't out of line with his performances in the high minors so far.
Even if Harper's only a .700 OPS hitter or right now, that's probably better than Roger Bernardina or Rick Ankiel, but given his hype, inevitably some people will think of it as a major disappointment. That would be a mistake as lots of players that have been promoted aggressively struggle initially -- in fact, one could argue that a little dose of adversity could be a good thing for a player with such effortless talent.
Mike Trout was promoted aggressively as well and after a solid, but slightly underwhelming debut, is hitting .400 for Salt Lake and his star shines just as brightly. Andruw Jones and Cesar Cedeno both improved rapidly after mixed reviews in the majors, both star outfielders that debuted at 19. Justin Upton hit .221/.283/.364 at 19, but was still a legitimate MVP candidate by 23. Another outfielder you may have heard of, one Willie Howard Mays, started his major league career going 1-for-26 and he turned out to be OK.
The Nats will give Harper plenty of playing time -- they're not going to call him up to sit on the bench -- but what we're going to be seeing in the next weeks is probably going to be the appetizer, not the main course. Whether a Washington Nationals fan, a Harper fantasy owner, or just a plain ol' fan of baseball, enjoy his debut, but temper your expectations.Harper's professional debut went as well as could be expected as he hit .318/.423/.554 for the Hagerstown Suns. That's full-season A-ball, but it's still just A-ball and his performance for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, a .256/.329/.395 line in 147 PA, was mostly impressive because of his extremely young age. Harper's performance for Syracuse this year, a .250/.333/.375 line in the early going, at least suggests -- with all the caveats of small sample sizes -- that he's not at the point right now where he's terrorizing Triple-A pitchers.
Whatever. I'm still very excited to see Harper's debut tonight. And I do hope he loses in his major league debut. Go Dodgers!
From "Dodgers sale on track to close Monday" by Bill Shaikin at the LA Times:
When the Dodgers take the field Monday night, they should be under new ownership.Who's going to join us in a toast Monday night?
The sale of the Dodgers is expected to close as scheduled on Monday, according to three people familiar with the process.
Friday marked the deadline for parties to object to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court order approving the sale from Frank McCourt to Guggenheim Baseball, a group led by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson. No objections were filed.
The Dodgers struck first tonight, with Matt Kemp singling and Andre Ethier homering in the first inning. Don Mattingly rode Clayton Kershaw, leaving him in for eight innings and 113 pitches. Kershaw's only blip was allowing a two-run homer to Adam LaRoche in the sixth; he left in the eighth with a 3-2 lead.
Two plays at the end of the game show how close it was: Tony Gwynn Jr. was thrown out at the plate to end the eighth, and Kenley Jansen, in to close for Javy Guerra, missed giving up a game-tying homer to Danny Espinosa by inches.
Back on track at 14-6. Strasburg and Harper tomorrow!
photos by Harry How/Getty Images
Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 1.61) vs. Ross Detwiler (2-0, 0.56).
You thought those Braves were pesky. Now we face the NL-leading Washington Nationals, another team that Jayson Stark thinks is "real". The Nationals are 14-4 and lead the Braves by two games (we lead the Giants by three).
And tonight is the matchup that everyone wanted: Kershaw vs....Detwiler? Wait a minute, what about that Strasburg guy? Detwiler is 0-0 with a 3.24 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers (lifetime), but that microscopic ERA this year reflects a sub-1.00 WHIP and only 1 ER given up this year (a solo shot by Ryan Ludwick that happened to be a grand slam, but only the HR was earned). Let's see if we can repel these Nats, get back in the win column, avoid our first three-game losing streak of the year, and squash Washington's lineup like bugs.In the latest "Triple Play" column, three ESPN pundits give Matt Kemp the edge over Josh Hamilton:
Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick), ESPN.com
Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
Matt Meyers (@mtmeyers), ESPN.com
1. Who's better right now: Josh Hamilton or Matt Kemp?
Gotta go with Kemp here. Hamilton is in an incredible zone, but it's hard to argue with a .924 slugging percentage and a 1.437 OPS. Kemp recently joined Tony Armas of the 1981 Oakland A's as the second player to capture consecutive Player of the Week awards to start a season. Plus, he's doing it in a tougher hitter's ballpark, with a less formidable supporting cast. He's the man right now.
Kemp is putting up video-game numbers in a lineup bereft of other big threats, in a severe pitcher's park, and he frequently visits Petco and AT&T Park. Hamilton, while finally solving his "day-game vision" issue through drops and shades, benefits from a potent lineup in a hitter's park and plays fewer in-division road games in pitcher's parks. Edge to Kemp.
While I think Kemp is the better overall player, what Hamilton is doing right now is remarkable. According to FanGraphs, he is swinging at 60.7 percent of pitches, which is most in the majors, and hitting .400 with power (8 homers) in the process. It just goes to show how locked in he is that he can be that aggressive and still hit the ball with such authority. That kind of combo of hacking and power can't last forever, but Hamilton is something special to watch at the plate right now.
Stephen Strasburg will start for the Nats on Saturday, by the way, the day Bryce Harper will debut.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) April 27, 2012
UPDATE 2:59p (Sax): ESPN story.
Jayson Stark's latest ESPN column says the Dodgers are for real...with a caveat:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 13-6, opponent average vs. pitching staff: .217
They went 9-1 in their first 10 games. They went 12-3 in their first 15. Something wild and crazy always happens in the NL West. And it's tempting to conclude that this year's wild and crazy development is this team.
But even though the Dodgers are more games over .500 than they've been in a year and a half, and Kemp is on pace to hit 85 homers and win the octuple crown, the rest of the sport is in wait-and-see mode.
"They've played most of their games against San Diego, Pittsburgh and Houston," one NL executive said. "So you tell me how real this is."
"They spent the first two weeks of the season in Southern California, playing some really bad teams," said an NL scout. "And that's a nice way to get some momentum going. But in the long run, I don't think their rotation's that deep beyond [Clayton] Kershaw. And their lineup's not that deep. You're going to start to see pitchers pitching around Kemp and [Andre] Ethier, and there's not much support around them."
But we need to remember something, said another NL executive: The Dodgers don't play in the NL East or AL East. They play in an exceptionally winnable division. So we'll let him read the verdict: "REAL -- because they play in the NL West."
We're idle today, and I know you're idle at work, so why not keep tabs on Giants @ Reds, currently in progress. Ryan Vogelsong vs. Homer Bailey. And the Reds are already up 2-0 at the end of three!
Ted Lilly (2-0, 0.69) vs. Brandon Beachy (2-1, 0.47).
The Dodgers look to get back to their winning ways at home against Beachy, who held the Diamondbacks scoreless over 7 1/3 innings in his last start. If Lilly expects to win, he won't be able to walk six like he did in his last start, against the Astros. Offensively, let's hope the Dodgers tighten up their game on the basepaths. But hey, at least they're getting on base.
Anthony Castrovince listed 10 things that we've learned so far in the 2012 MLB season, and thing learned #3 is that Matt Kemp is indeed one potent individual:
But Kemp better slow down with the power pace and start swiping some bags if he wants to reach his goal of 50 homers and 50 stolen bases. As it is, he's in line for about 90 homers and 10 stolen bases. Either way, that's pretty monstrous. And Kemp is one reason -- a big one -- why the surprising Dodgers have vaulted themselves into first place in the NL West with a 13-4 record.3. Matt Kemp is a monster. Kemp warned us this was coming when he told reporters they had "created a monster" after he finished second in the National League MVP Award balloting last year, but even Kemp must be a little amazed at what he's accomplished in the early going (.460 average, .514 on-base percentage, .952 slugging percentage, nine homers and 22 RBIs -- all league leads).
You tell 'em, Anthony! If you don't start stealing bases at a quicker clip, Matt, you'll be sorry! (Or maybe, calling out a bison is not the smartest move?)
Wait, no. That's not right. |
It was tied 3-3 in the ninth when Martin Prado fought off three fouls from Javy Guerra, then ripped an RBI-triple that Matt Kemp couldn't glove at the wall. Dodgers fall to 13-5. Rubber game tomorrow!
photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Aaron Harang (1-1, 5.40) vs. Mike Minor (2-1, 3.10).
Minor's on a roll, having allowed one unearned run to the Brewers over 7 1/3 innings, then following that by holding the Diamondbacks (sans Upton and Young) to two runs over eight innings. The NL-best 13-4 Dodgers counter with Harang, who anchored the Dodgers' sole win in Milwaukee last week.
But all eyes will be on the Dodger bats, which cranked out 15 hits against the Braves last night. Will Andre Ethier and James Loney continue their hot streaks against a lefty? Will Loney even start? (UPDATE: No.) Will Juan Uribe's tender wrist actually force him to continue making contact? Can Dee Gordon and Ajellis keep getting on base? Will SoSG readers Alex and Bryan send us pictures of themselves in a Dodgers sleeved blanket? The tension is killing me!
From @jillpainter:
UPDATE: From @Dodgers:
Sure, fans at Safeco Field saw a perfect game this weekend, but 26,376 of us at Dodger Stadium saw Juan Uribe go 4 for 4 last night. Which is the rarer feat? Only time will tell.
Thanks again to my ticket pimp Sax for setting me up with some great seats*. Mrs. Orel and I attended a game so exciting the fellow next to us actually tripped and fell one row down (only his dignity was injured).
On to the pix!
* Sax recounts the procuring of said tickets thusly: "Last year, the AAA had a 'Triple of the Game' promotion where you would get free tickets to a future Dodgers game should someone hit a triple that day. Except by the time I had gotten to the booth, Tony Gwynn Jr. had already hit a triple. Basically the AAA was giving away free tickets, so I signed up. And in the offseason, I got a voucher good for one of six dates (none of which were promotion nights). So I got these tickets against the Braves for freeeeeee." photos by SoSG Orel
4/3 vs. SF (W, 5-4): Sax
4/15 vs. WSH (L, 4-6): Dusty, Orel, Sax
5/6 vs. MIA (W, 6-3): AC, Sax
5/16 vs. CIN (L, 2-7): AC, Sax
6/12 vs. TEX (L, 2-3): Sax
7/5 vs. MIL (W, 8-5): Sax
7/21 vs. BOS (W, 9-6): Sax
7/24 vs. SF (L, 3-8): Sax
8/24 vs. TB (L, 8-9 (10)): Sax
8/29 vs. BAL (W, 6-3): Orel, Sax
9/9 vs. CHC (L, 4-10): Sax
10/5 NLDS G1 vs. SD (W, 7-5): Sax
10/6 NLDS G2 vs. SD (L, 2-10): Orel, Sax
10/25 WS G1 vs. NYY (W, 6-3 (10)): Sax