Hawkman is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Updates to follow.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
With The Dodgers Idle, This Is What Passes For Team News
My head is exploding trying to juxtapose these two Dodgers-related points in my mind:
Point 1: Viva Azul, which dodgers.com describes as "a fan club that celebrates Hispanic culture in Los Angeles and the legacy of Dodgers of Latin American descent."
Point 2: Matt Kemp's latest sighting with Rihanna. (Nice Dodger-blue instrument, Kempy!)
Can we please get in the market for a decent starting pitcher, so I don't have to think about this anymore? Hello, Ned? Anybody home?
Kemp/Rihanna photos courtesy of Flynetonline.com via tmz
SoSG's Latest Money-Making Scheme: Real Estate
The recent launch of espnlosangeles.com, flanking other espn city-specific websites for Boston, Chicago, and Dallas, only signals the opening salvos in the media network's attempt to take over the world. Which got us Sons thinking: why not get in the game with some real estate now, and then make a bundle later?
Some investment options for your consideration:
1. Home of the Cyclones:
2. Home of the Quakes:
3. Home of the Nuts:
4. Home of the Iowa Cubs:
5. Home of the Glacier Pilots (and their don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it season):
This is a better investment idea than publishing a detective novel entitled "V is for Victim". Get to it!
Will the Blyleven Divide Continue?
Bert Blyleven is generally considered the best pitcher not in the Hall of Fame, and a lot has been written about his Hall of Fame chances. And when this year's HoF inductees are announced later today, we'll see if the BBWAA agrees with those who make the argument that he belongs. Blyleven has been eligible for the Hall since 1998, but the highest percentage of votes he has received has been 62.7% (75% is needed for induction).
Yet Blyleven has fared well with other groups of knowledgeable baseball writers. True Blue LA recently announced the HoF picks of the SB Nation baseball bloggers, and Blyleven received 92.3% of their vote. And the IBWAA gave Blyleven 88% of its vote.
Will the past catch up with the present for Bert? Will the BBWAA join the modern thinking in this new decade? Will they ever learn to spell "baseball" as one word? At least two of those questions should be answered today.
UPDATE: Dawson earns long-awaited Hall call: Alomar, Larkin, Blyleven fall short in BBWAA voting (MLB.com)
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Bank Holliday
The Cardinals have signed Matt Holliday, who turns 30 next week, to a seven-year, $120 million contract. The Mets just signed 31-year-old Jason Bay to a four-year, $66-million deal that could vest to $80 million over five years. Will these deals prove to be good investments or eventual albatrosses?
Angels Trump Dodgers' Nickelback Offer
While the Dodgers troll around in the dregs that is Nickelback, the Angels are sporting a 2010 ticket package that features a free ticket to U2's 360 tour (U2 is playing at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on June 6 and 7, 2010).
Angels beat the Dodgers in a landslide. Not even close.
R.I.P. Rory Markas
Angels' announcer Rory Markas dies (The Fabulous Forum)
Markas always seemed to bring a genuine enthusiasm to his broadcasting of Angels games, and he and Terry Smith made a fine team. Condolences to the Angels, their fans and his family.
50% Chance Dodgers Are Considering Chien-Ming Wang
At least, if you believe the numbers purported by Chien-Ming Wang's agent, who says 15 teams are in the hunt for Wang. Wang, who led the league in 2006 with 19 wins, only had one win in 9 starts last year and a 9.64 ERA. Still, he's only 29 years old, and if he recovers from the foot injury that hampered him in 2008 and the shoulder injury from last year, there's always hope:
Wang met with Dr. James Andrew on Monday and was told he can throw off a mound in 6-8 weeks. Andrews repaired a tear in the right shoulder capsule during arthroscopic surgery on July 29. [...]
Wang missed the final 3½ months of the 2008 season, then allowed 23 runs in six innings over three starts when he returned last season. He went back on the disabled list, then returned in late May to make three relief appearances and six starts before his season was ended by shoulder pain.Wang became a free agent when the Yankees failed to offer a contract for next season.
Wang hasn't pitched since July 4 of last year. Yeah, I know it's ridiculous to think that the Dodgers would be in a bidding war for anyone these days, let alone a starting pitcher (which we need) who was a real live sensation at one point. But foraging around the scrap heap sounds like a plausible M.O. for this GM, on the other hand, right?
P&A Magazine #23 Debuts This Weekend: Who's In?
A perfect remedy for the new year hangover (as well as great preparation for the 2010 PCS), P&A Magazine issue #23 comes out this weekend. Those of you who remember the information for issue #22 recall that the SoSG readers' collaborative solving efforts resulted in a top-ten finish for our team.
The newest issue will release Saturday January 9 at 7a PT / 10a ET (the clock would start then)? It's a race from that point onward to decode the puzzles and answer the meta-puzzle's question.
Each issue costs $4.95 and requires registration on the P&A website (payment can be remitted via paypal). I've already received some emails from a number of you who have time this weekend to compete. If you're interested, "sign up" for the SoSG team in the comment thread, as well as send us an email (address is on the sidebar), and I'll email instructions later this week on how to access a collaborative site (which won't be open to the public).
Hope to see you this weekend!
A Small Glimpse Into the Rival Mindset
Mrs. Orel and I spent the holidays traveling the Bay Area and Central Coast (capsule review: It's beautiful!). We encountered other traveling couples, and had this chat with a nice foursome finishing their dinner next to us at a Monterey Bay seafood restaurant:
Mrs. Orel [after a polite inquiry regarding prawn-head eating etiquette*]: Did I overhear you say you were Giants fans?man [indicating himself and his wife]: Actually, we're Dodger fans—
Mrs. Orel: Oh! [indicating me] He runs one of the biggest Dodger blogs!
man [visibly unimpressed]: Yeah, we grew up in L.A. [indicating lady across the table]. Now, she's a Giants fan.
lady across the table: But we won't get into that. Let's just say we'd trade you Brian Sabean to get back Ned Colletti back any day.
Before I could say "Jason Schmidt," they bid farewell. And I realized some Giants fans miss Colletti. (Okay, at least one does.) Despite Colletti's mixed performance as Dodgers GM, it took Sabean to make me see we could be worse off. Thank you, friendly Giants fan!
*Turns out you don't eat them, thank goodness.
photo by SoSG Orel
Monday, January 04, 2010
You Can Stand Under My Gold Glove, Ove, Ove, Eh, Eh, Eh
Thanks to SoSG readers Nick and Roger for alerting us to the TMZ pictures that Rihanna and Matt Kemp appear to be more than just friends. I almost missed this among all the captivating posts covering Tiger Woods and Octomom (and that Los Angeles couple going through a nasty divorce battle with expensive lawyers, allegations of infidelities, flower deliveries as living necessities...what was their name again?)!
photo from SplashNewsOnline.com via tmz.com
Red Sox Finally Sign A Former Dodger We Actually Liked
And I mean, we liked him at the time that he left us, which is more than can be said for J.D. Drew, Brad Penny, Julio Lugo, and a SoSG pseudonym that I won't name here. Adrian Beltre signs with the Red Sox for one year, $10M:
The deal will pay Beltre a base salary of $9 million in 2010. It includes a $5 million player option for 2011 and a $1 million buyout, and is contingent upon Beltre passing a physical exam, the sources said.
A source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes last week that even after the Mike Lowell trade with Texas was nullified by the Rangers, the Red Sox had quietly continued their pursuit of Beltre through agent Scott Boras.
The Orioles and Angels were also thought to be interested in Beltre.Free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre has reached tentative agreement on a one-year, guaranteed, $10 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, multiple sources have told ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com.
Beard Mode lives on in Los Angeles (which is fine by me)!
UPDATE 10:15p: SoSG reader Dusty Baker reminded me that we liked Dave Roberts too, which is true. However, Dave Roberts then became a Giant, which we didn't like as much.
Which gives me a good segueway to mention that the Red Sox' signing of Beltre at least prevents Beltre from joining the Giants, who are in the hunt for a third baseman (Pablo KFP Sandoval played 120 games at first but also 24 games at 3B, third-most at this position behind Travis Ishikawa (OPS+ of 86) and Ryan "Donnie" Garko):
But make no mistake: Signing Beltre is a steal for the Red Sox, and with the number of teams looking for a third baseman -- the Orioles, Angels, Athletics, Giants and Twins, to name a few -- it's startling that no one else was willing to cough up a few more bucks than the Sox did. Shoot, if he hadn't come as cheap as he did, the Sox were prepared to start the 2010 season with Kevin Youkilis at third and Casey Kotchman at first.
Beltre in Halloween colors would have been stomach-turning. Thanks, Mr. Epstein.
Others Grow Bolder While Dodgers Grow Moss
As per Buster Olney's Mailbag from New Years' Eve (insider only; no link):
Eric: Sheets will start throwing for teams in the weeks ahead, and he could be an option. But the Dodgers' payroll is locked up because of the long list of arbitration-eligible players and because of the impending divorce of the McCourts. Some money could be freed up as the arbitration cases are resolved, and it could be that they'll lock in on somebody like Sheets or Joel Pineiro. They need at least two starting pitchers to solidify the rotation. Interestingly, I've heard rival executives say that the Dodgers' inactivity is emboldening other teams to make moves, because of the shrinking gap between L.A. and those other squads.As a long-time Dodgers fan, what should I expect this offseason in terms of filling out our 2010 roster? From a business standpoint, not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf was a huge mistake; we have serious holes in the rotation. Wouldn't Ben Sheets make the most sense or is the budget locked up for this year? --Eric, Philadelphia
Happy New Year, Dodger Fans!
Poll: NL West 2010
It's a new year and a new chance to speculate about the upcoming season. First of all, you can review what every team in the NL West has done to date:
NL West Moves (MLBTR)
Now, what think you?
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Go 'Bama!
I didn't have a horse in this year's BCS title game until I read "Alabama quarterback touching all the bases" by Chris Dufresne at the LA Times:
[Alabama QB] Greg McElroy knows the names, dates, facts, figures and all-time starting lineups for his favorite franchise.Cut a vein and watch him bleed Crimson?
Actually, Think Blue.
"I can tell you the Dodgers' lineup right now, top to bottom," McElroy boasted in a meeting room not far from the Alabama trophy room where Mark Ingram's Heisman Trophy just moved in.
OK, then, do it.
"James Loney at first," McElroy said, "Second base we've got [still unsigned] Orlando Hudson, shortstop we've got, obviously, the great Rafael Furcal, third base we've got Casey Blake. Left field we've got Manny, who else, and Juan Pierre when Manny was on his 'vacation'; I can't believe they traded him [Pierre], he was great.
"Center field we have Kemp and then right field, Andre Ethier, he's my favorite."
Alabama and Texas are playing Thursday for the Bowl Championship Series national title at the Rose Bowl.
If former Dodger Raul Mondesi, the Alabama quarterback's idol, was flipping the pregame coin, well, McElroy might have to collect himself before the first snap.
It's almost too funny.
The guy leading the Crimson Tide into Pasadena was born in Los Angeles, raised in Texas, and made his name in the state where the stars fell.
And now he's leading 13-0 Alabama against 13-0 Texas, not far from where he lived his first decade.
The only thing that would make this better? If Colt McCoy were a Giants fan.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
What Are Your (Dodger-Related) New Year's Resolutions?
Happy new year! Got any resolutions? Feel free to share them in the comments.
I, SoSG Orel, resolve to:
- NOT BLAME all the Dodgers' problems on Frank and Jamie McCourt's divorce. After all, I'm sure some of it is Drew McCourt's fault too.
- NOT FREAK OUT if Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier doesn't have a great April. It is totally reasonable to expect that Kemp will win another Gold Glove (who called it, baby?) and Ethier will collect at least six more walkoff hits in 2010. Yes, totally reasonable.
- CONTINUE BELIEVING Russell Martin's 2009 was an aberration. One Drop in the bucket, so to speak.
- SUPPORT Chad Billingsley. Plunking batters isn't your style, I get it. (Not just one? Maybe a Phillie? Okay, never mind.)
- KEEP ON THINKING Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum will dominate the NL West for years to come. And the Dodgers are better off having selected Kershaw instead of Lincecum in the 2006 draft.
- HOPE Manny plays like someone earning $20 million, and not like your typical 38-year-old. Because he can't be both, right?
- NOT WORRY about the starting rotation. We got it done last year with only three guys with more than 30 starts, right? We can do it again...without Randy Wolf, right? Hello...is this thing on?
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