I got really excited that this might be about a Bell Biv Devoe predecessor; alas, not that New Edition. Still, in "Dodgers' new additions are adding up" (a tautological headline, no?), Arash Markazi had a good piece over the weekend about how the new pieces are fitting in for the Dodgers:
Victorino, his shirt already soaked in sweat, then looked at the imaginary watch on his right wrist and said they “better start showing up earlier around here.”
Now, Victorino said it with a smile on his face and shared a laugh with Loney and Guerra as he grabbed his glove and went back to work, but the message was clear: If the Dodgers are to get to and win a World Series as Victorino’s Philadelphia Phillies did in 2008, things are going to have to change.
There were many reasons the Dodgers made the moves they made before and after the trade deadline in acquiring Victorino, Hanley Ramirez, Randy Choate, Brandon League and Joe Blanton, who made his debut for the Dodgers in a 7-6 win against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Perhaps the biggest reason -- when you look at Victorino and Blanton, who won a World Series in Philadelphia, and Choate, who won a World Series with the Yankees in 2000 -- is that they have championship experience. They have reached a level most of the players in the Dodgers’ clubhouse have yet to but yearn to.
“They come with credibility,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Shane is a guy that we’ve played against that did well against us. He’s played in the playoffs the past five years for one of the top teams in baseball. He’s won a World Series championship, the same thing with Joe. ...
"It’s hard for them to come in and do a lot of talking because they don’t know a lot of guys in the clubhouse. You want them to come in and do their thing and as time goes they feel like they’re more a part of everything.” LOS ANGELES -- Shane Victorino had already been in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ clubhouse for more than an hour Sunday morning by the time James Loney came into the clubhouse, followed by Javy Guerra, wearing large blue headphones blasting music loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
Loney's not a punctual guy? Disappointing, but not altogether unsurprising. Unfortunately.
3 comments:
Maybe he meant that Victorino was the first person in the clubhouse, an hour ahead of the second person, James Loney.
The sentence "They have reached a level most of the players in the Dodgers’ clubhouse have yet to but yearn to." makes my brain itch.
Victorino was actually quoted as calling the (presumably late) Loney and others "mother fuckers." That makes the quote better but was I guess edited out. Maybe we need Vin to translate the profanity ("You mother blinkers..."
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