Finally, One for the Fans

• Matt Kemp, Dodgers agree on $160-million, eight-year deal (Dylan Hernandez, LA Times)
• Dodgers near eight-year deal with Kemp (Ken Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• Matt Kemp: Close to deal with Dodgers (ESPNLA.com)

The last homegrown Dodger player to enter the Hall of Fame was Don Sutton — he was inducted thirteen years ago. The next homegrown Dodger players to enter the Hall of Fame will be Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez (and possibly Adrian Beltre, if he keeps mashing). None will be wearing a Dodgers hat.

(The consolation prizes for losing those players? Gary Sheffield & Kevin Brown, Delino DeShields and...Wilson Betemit? Semi-stars Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi and Shawn Green helped tide us over into the new millennium.)

All of a sudden, the current Dodger roster boasts two players with Hall of Fame potential: Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. And it looks like we're going to get to enjoy Kemp in his prime.

What an odd feeling for Dodger fans: to watch the farm system develop an elite five-tool* prospect, to watch him blossom into a superstar, and to watch the team lock him up. In fact, it's not just odd; it's unprecedented.

If this is Frank McCourt trying to make things right, I say thanks...and it's a good start. Kershaw awaits.

*(1) hits for average, (2) hits for power, (3) great defense, (4) dazzling smile, (5) dates starlets

AP photo

500!

Last year... Today...

Congratulations to former Dodger/Brave/Brewer/Galaxy/Marlin/Tiger/Mighty Duck/Padre/Yankee/Trojan and current Met GARY SHEFFIELD on Home Run 500!

Gary Sheffield Unhappy with Tigers. Imagine That

Manager Leyland 'flabbergasted' by Sheffield's comments (ESPN.com)

Out-of-Context Quote of the Week

From "Leyland lets loose on underperforming Tigers at Yahoo! Sports:

"That’s what I love about my skip [Jim Leyland], man," Tigers DH Gary Sheffield said before Sunday’s game. "He’ll tell you that you suck. That’s what I appreciate him for. I know I suck. We know we suck. But I don’t see nobody in there hanging their head and feeling sorry for themselves. Yeah, we suck. But we’ll see who sucks at the end."

The Pot Calling the Kettle, Well, You Know

Looks like Gary Sheffield is at it again (www.espn.com). This time he is going after Scott Boras, his ex-agent. Seems like Boras is asking for compensation for negotiating Sheffield's 2003 New York Yankees contract, when Sheffield said he had fired Boras before the negotiations and represented himself. Now Sheffield is calling Boras "a bad person." In the press, Boras does seem to be an unscrupulous, money-grubbing, client-losing person, but Sheffield is no saint. Sheffield is the guy who got arrested with uncle Dwight Gooden, pissed off Dodgers management wanting more money, thinks Joe Torre is racist, was named in the Mitchell Report, and thinks Latin players are easy to control saying: "What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out" (www.msnbc.com). Huh? Yeah, well Gary, that ain't no English coming out of your mouth too.

Gary Sheffield Has a Theory

From "Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacks" at ESPN.com:

The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"Where I'm from, you can't control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that's a person that you're going to talk to with respect, you're going to talk to like a man.

"These are the things my race demands. So, if you're equally good as this Latin player, guess who's going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of these guys."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

Break Out Your Abacus

MLB.com described how this season could be to baseball what 1994 was to movies (Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, Shawshank, Four Weddings, Hoop Dreams, Ed Wood, Red, Heavenly Creatures, NELL!!). Several notable milestones should be reached, hopefully with a little more fanfare than Ichiro received. Biggio's knocking on the Mr. 3,000 door, but he's not alone in keeping the Elias number crunchers on their toes. Read about it HERE. Or if you don't have the patience:

500 Homers - It could be an absolute revolving door into the 500 home run club this season. Frank Thomas, now with Toronto, has 487. Jim Thome of the White Sox has 472, Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox has 470, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has 464, and a bit distant but not out of the question is Detroit's Gary Sheffield with 455.

600 homers - Sosa's countdown to this milestone resumes at 588 after a one-year layoff. Griffey enters the season with 563, and considering that he hit 35 just two seasons ago, this is by no means out of the question. Junior staying healthy is the question.

300 wins - Could Randy Johnson be a 20-game winner again in his second go-round with the Diamondbacks? Now 43, it might be asking a lot, but if Big Unit were to get there, it could mean two in the same year. Tom Glavine, after receiving the win on Opening Night, is only nine away.

500 saves - There is no history here. Record holder Trevor Hoffman enters this season with 482 saves. 'Nuff said.

755 homers - Part of me hopes that large-necked dude hits the historic homerun... and nobody makes a sound. There's just silence as Bonds limps his Balco body 360 feet. The other side of me, however, will be watching every at-bat, just like I did with McGwire back in '98.

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