LOS ANGELES DODGERS CLIPS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
SI.COM
Dodgers extreme makeover only latest twist in Ned Colletti’s saga
Ben Reiter
Every Sunday evening when he was a boy, Ned Colletti would walk down to Al and Joe's delicatessen, on a corner near Chicago's
O'Hare Airport, and buy five slices of boiled ham, cut so thin as to be translucent. The ham would be Ned's father's lunch for the
workweek to follow: a single slice, pressed between two pieces of bread, for each day.
Ned Sr.'s collar was of a blue far deeper than that worn by the Dodgers, the team with which the older of his two sons is now in his
seventh season as general manager. He fixed things, first machines that made cardboard boxes for a company in Chicago, then as a
maintenance man for the Motorola corporation, and he fixed them every day, on an hourly wage. Ned Sr. would get paid each
Friday. Then he would take his sons, Ned Jr. and Doug, to the local bank to cash his check, and then to Al and Joe's to pay off their
debt for the ham and the family's other meager groceries. "A couple dollars, two or three," Ned Jr. says. "It was still money."
***
Since Colletti became the Dodgers' GM in November of 2005, the team has won more games, 584, than all but two others in the
National League, the Phillies and the Cardinals. Los Angeles has had one of the game's 12 highest payrolls each of those seasons, but
in the last six weeks Colletti has gone on an unprecedented spending binge, overhauling his team with what looks like the reckless
abandon of a member of the nouveau riche on a shopping bender.
Of course, the Dodgers are newly rich thanks to their new ownership, which includes financier Mark Walter, former Braves and
Nationals president Stan Kasten and Lakers legend Magic Johnson -- a group which bought the team from the financially troubled
and penny-pinching Frank McCourt in May for $2.15 billion. Since July 25, Colletti has traded for Marlins third baseman Hanley
Ramirez, to whom the Dodgers will pay $37.5 million through 2014; Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, who will be paid $2 million
for two months of service; and, most shockingly of all, three of the most disgruntled and exorbitantly compensated members of the
underachieving Red Sox in first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, starting pitcher Josh Beckett and injured leftfielder Carl Crawford. The
remainder of that trio's contracts adds up to some $260 million.
Colletti insists that each acquisition -- as well as those of starting pitcher Joe Blanton and reliever Brandon League, a pair that added
another $5 million to this season's payroll -- was a calculated one, intended not just to immediately boost an injury-ravaged club that
was only one game back in the NL West at the July 31 deadline, but for years to come. It helps that the franchise is anticipating an
upcoming cable TV deal that will likely be worth more than $4 billion. "Since [the new owners] came in, they've preached being bold,
doing big things," says Colletti. "Finances are always going to be a part of the equation, but it's not a dominant part. For the last six
weeks now, the decisions that have been made have been made on a baseball playing level."
"Ownership really wanted to reestablish credibility with the fan base, as fast as possible," Colletti continues. "It's easier to do when
you're acquiring these guys than if you say, 'Well, we've got a couple players down in A ball that are going to be good in two or three
years.' This isn't a two or three year type of city. If we could get it together, we were entrusted to go with it."
That Colletti suddenly had more money than he could ever imagine at his disposal did not mean he was about to squander it. "He's
always been aggressive when he's needed to be, and apparently he's gotten an open pocketbook," says Giants GM Brian Sabean,
who was Colletti's boss in San Francisco from 1994 to 2005. "But if I know Ned, I know that a lot of preparation and consideration
had to go into this."
The staggering sums involved only serve to distract from what Colletti has accomplished. He turned three major leaguers who have
never played in an All-Star game -- first baseman James Loney, starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and reliever Josh Lindblom -- and
seven prospects, none of whom has ever been ranked higher than 90th on Baseball America's annual Top 100 prospects list, into a
cache of proven stars, all 32 or younger. "It's not like we went and out and loaded up with players who have the sun starting to set
on their careers," says Colletti. "They're in the midst of their primes."
Indeed, through some lenses even the Red Sox trade is not outlandish. The Angels, in December, gave first baseman Albert Pujols a
$240 million contract that won't expire until he is 41. The Reds, in April, committed $225 million to first baseman Joey Votto, and
they will pay him until he is at least 40. The Tigers, in January, signed free agent first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine year, $214
million deal that will last until he is 36.
For their $260 million, the Dodgers acquired not only Gonzalez -- whom Colletti has coveted since Gonzalez's days with the Padres -but also Beckett and Crawford, players who are young enough to recapture their elite production of the not-too-distant past.
Beckett, after all, is 32, and had a 2.89 ERA just last season. Crawford, though Tommy John surgery will prevent him from playing
until 2013, is 31, and two years removed from an MVP-caliber season in which he hit .307, with 30 doubles, 13 triples, 19 home runs
and 47 steals. Even if they disappoint, the Dodgers won't be paying them into their dotages, as each of their deals expires when they
are 36 or younger.
***
Ned Colletti's unlikely journey to the stewardship of history's most expensive sports team began in a garage in Chicago. His parents - his mother was named Dolores -- were married in 1951, and by the time Ned was born three years later his father had turned the
two-car structure at the back of his brother's property into a 400 square foot home. In 1960, the family moved to a larger residence
out in Franklin Park, the one near Al and Joe's deli. This was a proper house. It had 800 square feet of space, and cost $8,500, and
was so close to O'Hare runway that Ned and Doug could make out the faces of passengers in the windows of planes as they took off.
Ned loved sports. He played soccer when nobody played soccer, as his father's parents had emigrated from Sicily. He played hockey,
which explains why his two front teeth are now artificial. And he played baseball, and watched it as much as he could. When he was
a teenager, he would take a train and two buses dozens of times a year to Wrigley Field. He would arrive when they opened the
gates, at 10:15 in the morning, and position himself in the first row of the leftfield bleachers, as far toward center as possible. "You
could see the pitching, see the defenses, see the changeups, see the sliders," he says.
His physical gifts did not keep pace with his passion, so as his time at Franklin Park's East Leyden High neared its end he decided that
he would go to college to learn to write about sports. No Colletti had ever before gone to college. Ned managed to get himself into
Triton Junior College, in the Chicago suburb of River Grove, and then transferred to Northern Illinois. After he graduated he was
hired to cover high school sports for the Chicago Daily News. After it folded, he went down to write for a paper in Danville, Ill.,
where he covered college sports from 1978 to 1980: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Larry Bird and Bird's great rival from Michigan
State, Magic Johnson -- Colletti's future boss. Then he left to cover the Flyers for the Philadelphia Journal, and just a week after he
had arrived, his mother called.
"I had stopped by the house in Franklin Park on my way to Philly," he says. "My dad came out to the car, as I was pulling away, and
he says, 'I'm really proud of you.' That's the first time I'd ever heard it. The look in his eye kind of scared me. I said to myself, my
goodness, I hope he's OK. He wasn't OK. He thought he had pneumonia. He had a lung tumor." His father was 49.
By then Colletti had a young family and a new duplex in Philadelphia with an interest rate of 17.5 percent, and was trying to carry
both on a salary of $18,000 a year -- at least until his paper went belly up in December of 1981, leaving him with just the family and
the duplex. It was then that Bob Ibach called. Ibach had been Colletti's predecessor on the Flyers beat and had been hired by new
Cubs GM Dallas Green to run the team's public relations department. Ibach offered Ned the chance to come home to be his
assistant. The salary was $13,000. "I called my dad," Colletti says. "He said, 'You can't work for $13,000, you're an adult, you've got a
family, you can't be doing that.'" Colletti turned the job down. A week later his father called back. "I think you should take it," Ned
Sr. said. "I'm not going to make it."
Colletti started with the Cubs as an assistant in PR and publications on January 3, 1982, at a salary of $14,000. Ned Sr. passed away
that April, still the owner of that small house near the airport. Baseball had brought Colletti back to his hometown, and he had only
begun to apply his father's values to his burgeoning new career.
For a decade now, a prevailing trend in baseball has been to hire young men precociously gifted in mathematics or finance and
versed in advanced statistics to serve as general managers: Theo Epstein, Jon Daniels, Andrew Friedman, Jon Daniels, Josh Byrnes,
Jed Hoyer, Alex Anthopoulos, Ben Cherington. When Colletti was hired to run the Dodgers -- as the successor, and in some regards
the antidote, to Paul DePodesta, who was a 32-year-old Harvard graduate who had been fired just a year and a half into the job -- he
was anything but a wunderkind. He was 51 years old, and he had been working in baseball for more than 22 years.
Colletti had spent those years learning as much as he could, and working as hard as he could. "Some people talk about how hard
they work, try to get you to tell them how good they are," he says. "I've always just hoped people would notice."
He volunteered for every road trip during his first seasons with the Cubs -- to save on meals, but also to learn the game, from lifers
like Lee Elia, John Vukovich, Ruben Amaro, Sr., and Billy Connors. He watched every inning of every game for three straight years,
and dissected what he'd seen with them afterwards. After a while, Green noticed that Colletti was almost always the first to arrive at
Wrigley and the last to leave, and invited him to help him out with the club's arbitration cases.
So began a two-decade front office apprenticeship, with the Cubs until 1993, and then with the Giants starting in 1994. Colletti's
tenure with San Francisco, most of which he spent as assistant GM, included a stretch of eight consecutive winning seasons. By the
time Frank McCourt hired him to run the Dodgers, Colletti had a firm theory about what worked in assembling a winning baseball
team. Talent was important, but there were hundreds of people across the game who could spot talent. Numbers were important,
and Colletti has gradually enriched his statistics department over the years. It is now run by a man named Alex Tamin, a lawyer by
training.
But equally crucial to Colletti is the character of the people on his teams. While some general managers view players as chess pieces,
Colletti tries his best to get to know them as well as he can. "You always see him down here interacting with the players, talking with
them and seeing how they're doing," says centerfielder Matt Kemp. "I've never been a part of any other organization, so it's hard to
compare. But I've heard of different situations in other places." (Kemp, who two seasons ago publicly clashed with Colletti over a
perceived lack of effort -- perhaps the cardinal sin, in Colletti's book -- now has many reasons to praise him, including the eight year,
$160 million extension he signed last November.)
"People are the key component," Colletti says. "What makes them think, how they tick."
Colletti's manager, Don Mattingly, concurs. "I believe in the numbers. They tell you a story, and there are certain things that you
really should be paying attention to," Mattingly says. "But there's also another side of it, guys getting along, guys being good
teammates, playing hard every day. There's a power of a group of people working in a direction, and I think Ned really gets that."
To that end, Colletti has stocked his front office with people who are like him, and his father: people who are grinders, people who
are loyal, people like his assistant GM's De Jon Watson and Logan White, and his director of player personnel, Vance Lovelace, and
his pro scouting director, Rick Ragazzo, and his special assistant, Bill Mueller, all of whom have been with him for years. He has
consistently sought them out for his clubhouse, too: Brad Ausmus, Mark Loretta, Aaron Miles, Jamey Carroll, and current players like
Mark Ellis, Jerry Hairston and Adam Kennedy.
Players like those, Colletti believes, foster a baseline ethos that allows superstars like Clayton Kershaw and Kemp to maximize their
talent, and his club to persevere through hard times. Recall how last season's Dodgers were 14 games under .500 as of July 6, yet
went 45-28 the rest of the way to finish above .500. Recall how this season's Dodgers, even with Kemp on the disabled list for two
months, were 53-45 on the night before they began their acquisition spree by trading for Ramirez.
Colletti also believes that his team's character will benefit Ramirez and the other players who have recently joined it. "When Josh
Beckett first got here, and I said hello to him," he says, "it looked like he had a lot of weight lifted off his shoulders."
***
Despite their reinvigorated roster, the Dodgers are 73-65, 4½ games behind Sabean's Giants in the NL West, and 1½ behind the
Cardinals for the National League's second wild-card spot. "The proof will be in the pudding," says Sabean of his friend's efforts to
make the postseason. "I don't think anyone in baseball is cowering because of all these moves."
The Dodgers might reach the playoffs, and they might not. Not all of Colletti's gambits as the club's GM have worked -- see, most
notably, the two-year, $36.2 million deal he gave to Andruw Jones in 2007 (OPS+ as a Dodger: 35) and the three year, $21 million
deal he gave to Juan Uribe in 2011 (OPS+ as a Dodger: 53) -- and this season's might not, either. "I can control one thing: my effort,"
he says. "I have no control over anybody else's effort, anybody else's thought processes, anybody else's priorities. I've never worried
about my effort. Never. Whatever will happen, will happen. But my effort will be beyond reproach."
It is how Colletti has lifted himself from that cold garage in Chicago all the way to a suite in Dodger Stadium, which is in many ways a
journey that was begun by his father, Ned Sr., who is never far from his mind. When Colletti turned 51 and a half, he sent an email to
his younger brother, Doug. "It said, 'I'm as old as Dad was when he died," Doug recalls. "When he gets up every day, it matters. The
day matters to him. There's no doubt that both of us, when we go to work in the morning, we know the name that's on the back of
our jersey, so to speak. Going to work means a lot to us. Dad's been gone for 30 years, but with your work ethic, you can still
emulate him and make him proud."
"For me, where I come from, I never forget it," says Colletti. "Every day, I drive up Sunset, I go up Elysium Park, I come up that hill,
and I work at Dodger Stadium. What an amazing thing. And some of the people that I call my friends? Sandy Koufax comes to see me
in spring training -- to see how I'm doing. Willie Mays hasn't seen me for two months, and says, 'Ned, I miss seeing you.' Willie Mays
misses seeing me? How could that be? I've been blessed beyond measure, the chances and the opportunities I've had, the people
I've met and the life I've had."
If it sounds as if Colletti feels that he has reached the culmination of something, he doesn't. There are, for him, always more thingto
learn, more things to fix. There is always more work to be done.
LA TIMES
Dodgers looking to negotiate long-term extension with Ned Colletti
The Dodgers open contract discussions with GM Colletti, a holdover from Frank McCourt's ownership of the team.
By Bill Shaikin
September 6, 2012, 6:46 p.m.
The Dodgers have opened discussions with Ned Colletti on a long-term contract extension, which could put him in position to
become the team's longest-serving general manager since Al Campanis.
Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter said he did not know the details of the discussions but confirmed a new deal is on the table.
"That's my understanding," Walter said.
Colletti declined to comment. Dodgers President Stan Kasten also wouldn't comment, citing his policy of not discussing contractual
issues involving team executives.
"People should regard our management as stable and permanent," Kasten said.
The guaranteed portion of Colletti's current contract expires at the end of this season, although the deal includes mutual options.
Colletti signed that deal with Frank McCourt, who sold the Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management in May.
After a team is sold, the new management often installs its own general manager. However, when Kasten became president of the
Washington Nationals in 2006, he retained General Manager Jim Bowden.
The Dodgers open a three-game series in San Francisco on Friday, trailing the Giants by 41/2 games in the National League West.
The Dodgers also trail the St. Louis Cardinals by 11/2 games for the second and final NL wild-card spot. The Cardinals visit Dodger
Stadium for a four-game series next week.
Walter said he was impressed by Colletti's diligence in building — and rebuilding — the recent nine-player trade with the Boston Red
Sox. He said far more went into the deal than Guggenheim's ability to absorb a quarter-billion dollars in the salaries of Adrian
Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford.
The Dodgers believed they had a deal for Gonzalez in July, but the Red Sox decided not to proceed. Colletti helped keep the trade
alive through August, negotiating over the prospects the Red Sox wanted while navigating the major leaguers through the waiver
process.
"That trade was not easy," Walter said. "We talked about a lot of stuff. He worked his tail off."
Colletti, 58, was hired as the Dodgers' general manager after the 2005 season, becoming the seventh man to fill that position in
eight years. If he were to remain general manager through the 2017 season, he would have served in the position longer than
anyone since Al Campanis, who held the title from 1968 to 1987.
The Dodgers advanced to the playoffs in three of Colletti's first four seasons, including consecutive appearances in the NL
Championship Series for the first time in 31 years. McCourt then slashed payroll and later took the team into bankruptcy in an effort
to retain control of the Dodgers amid a protracted divorce.
Amid those constraints, Colletti patched together a 2012 roster that had the best record in the league when McCourt left, with
contributions from such bargain signings as pitchers Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang, infielder Mark Ellis and utility man Jerry
Hairston Jr.
During Colletti's tenure, several significant free-agent signings have failed to deliver, including pitcher Jason Schmidt (three victories,
three years for $47 million, despite knowledge of a torn rotator cuff), outfielder Andruw Jones (three home runs, two years, $36.2
million) and infielder Juan Uribe (six home runs, three years and $21 million, with one year left).
Colletti and Kasten have emphasized the need to rebuild the Dodgers' player development system, including an international
scouting operation all but dismantled under McCourt budget cuts.
Dodgers' Chad Billingsley could be out all of next season
Right-hander has a torn elbow ligament and will try a rehabilitation program in an effort to avoid surgery. He was put on the 60-day
disabled list.
By Bill Shaikin
September 5, 2012, 9:02 p.m.
Chad Billingsley could sit out all of the 2013 season if he has to undergo surgery for a torn ligament in his right elbow.
Billingsley will not pitch again this season, no matter how far the Dodgers might advance should they qualify for the postseason. The
Dodgers put him on the 60-day disabled list Wednesday.
The Dodgers first will try a rehabilitation program, allowing the right-hander four to six weeks of rest and treatment before he
resumes throwing. Billingsley said he has a slightly torn ulnar collateral ligament, which often requires Tommy John surgery.
"It makes you cringe a little bit," Billingsley said, "but they say I have a chance to heal from it before I have to worry about getting
cut."
Sue Falsone, the Dodgers' athletic trainer, said the team wants to try rehabilitation first because 10% to 20% of pitchers do not
regain their effectiveness after Tommy John surgery. She acknowledged that most pitchers with a partial ligament tear proceed
directly to the surgery because of its success rate.
However, since this is the end of the season, she said the Dodgers could afford to allow Billingsley several months to try to recover
without surgery. If Billingsley were to have surgery, the rehabilitation period would be about one year, so he would sit out all of next
season whether the operation were next week or next spring.
Billingsley has received two injections of platelet-rich plasma and could receive a third, Falsone said. She said that treatment is too
new to have reliable statistics on its effectiveness in resolving a partially torn elbow ligament.
The Dodgers already have five other starting pitchers under contract next season: Clayton Kershaw ($11 million), Josh Beckett
($15.75 million), Ted Lilly ($12 million), Aaron Harang ($7 million) and Chris Capuano ($6 million).
Billingsley, 27, is signed for $11 million in 2013 and $12 million in 2014. He was 10-9 with a 3.55 earned-run average, and he had
won six consecutive starts at the time of his injury.
First to break through
The Dodgers called up left-handed reliever Steven Rodriguez, making him the first player from this year's draft to reach the major
leagues. Rodriguez, selected in the second round from the University of Florida, had an 0.92 ERA in 192/3 innings, split between
Class-A Great Lakes and double-A Chattanooga (Tenn.).
Three months after taking finals in college, Rodriguez was sharing a clubhouse with Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez.
"You see them all the time on TV," Rodriguez said. "It's great I could be a part of this and try to help out as much as I can.
"Yesterday, I couldn't even speak. I don't know how to put this into words right now. I've got to get over it eventually."
Call me, maybe
Lilly pitched a simulated game, a step toward possible activation as a situational left-handed reliever. Lilly, who has not started since
May 23 because of shoulder and back injuries, has not appeared as a reliever since Aug. 5, 2003.
Dodgers looking at Ned Colletti long term, and that's not a bad thing
By Steve Dilbeck
September 6, 2012, 7:41 p.m.
On the eve of the Dodgers' biggest series of the year, in San Francisco, word comes that the team is closing in on a multiyear
contract extension with General Manager Ned Colletti.
Talk about a setup.
Colletti seems a divisive figure among some team followers, many of whom cannot forgive him of his Giants roots or the bad
contracts he gave ex-Giants Jason Schmidt and Juan Uribe. Or when he battled tears of joy when the Giants won the World Series in
2010.
And, sure, some of his signings (Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre, Juan Uribe) proved less than stellar, and some of his trades even he
would no doubt like to have back (Carlos Santana for two months of Casey Blake; Edwin Jackson for Danys Baez).
But no GM gets them all right, no matter how beloved. And certainly Colletti has had his share of successes (Andre Ethier for Milton
Bradley; Manny Ramirez for nothing; Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot for Blake DeWitt and two unheralded prospects).
He's operated under two completely opposite business plans in the past year alone. The bankrupt team owned by Frank McCourt
and the money-is-seemingly-no-object approach under the current group.
You could even argue he's succeeded under three different sets of operation, initially having a reasonable budget to work with when
McCourt first brought him over from the Giants at the end of the 2005 season. Those teams twice advanced to the National League
Championship Series.
This past off-season, with the team in bankruptcy court and McCourt reducing payroll, he still pieced together a rotation with Chris
Capuano and Aaron Harang, added valuable pieces Mark Ellis and Jerry Hairston Jr., showed patience with Ronald Belisario, signed
Jamey Wright and had the Dodgers with the best record in baseball when the team was finally sold in May.
Then comes the Guggenheim group, and every guideline he was operating under before vanishes. Suddenly there are enormous
amounts of financial resources available. It's almost a joke -- like he died and went to GM heaven.
Yet he adjusts quickly. He grabs Hanley Ramirez and pulls an absolutely stunning deal to acquire first baseman Adrian Gonzalez,
immediately answering the team's biggest need -- lack of power at the corners.
So right now, though the offense is not clicking as hoped, the pieces are still in place, the additions still strong.
The assumption by most was that when the team was sold, Colletti's days were numbered. New ownership would want its own
management team, would want full credit for any future successes.
But Colletti is more adaptable than a chameleon, to go from working under McCourt to impressing Mark Walter and Stan Kasten.
He's four months on the job under the new regime, and looks deserving of an extended stay. His detractors had better get over it.
Maybe there are better GMs, but there are plenty of worse ones.
Now Colletti can go up to San Francisco with the team this week to discuss it.
Dodgers hope to stay in vogue during three-game series vs. Giants
By Steve Dilbeck
September 6, 2012, 3:06 p.m.
Never in their little lives have the Dodgers been bigger fans of trends.
There is not a fashion designer breathing, a hip teenager posing or fad-obsessed pop star strutting, currently more focused on
popularizing a current trend than the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers are about to begin a three-game set in San Francisco on Friday, in what is only their biggest series of the season.
The first time the Dodgers went to AT&T Park this season, they were swept, shut out in all three games. When they next came back,
they returned the favor, sweeping the Giants. And then finally, when the Giants were at Dodger Stadium for three games Aug. 2022, the Dodgers were swept again.
Now the Dodgers return trailing the Giants by 4½ games in the National League West with 24 games left to their season, and very
much needing a sweep.
“I like the trend if we win the first game,” said Manager Don Mattingly.
It’s difficult to overcome a large deficit with just over three weeks left to the season, but the Dodgers’ hopes are buoyed by knowing
they play the Giants three this weekend and then finish the season with three more against them at home.
“Games almost count as two,” said catcher A.J. Ellis. “Not only do we win, but they lose. Obviously a big series. All the games are big
the rest of the way, but it’s nice to be on the field with the team that you’re chasing.”
Only their first series, when the Dodgers took two of three at home in May from the Giants, has bucked the sweep trend.
The Dodgers had won eight of their last 11 games and led the division by a half-game when the Giants came to Dodger Stadium for
that late August series and swept a three-game set to retake an NL West lead. The Giants have not relinquished it since.
Sweeps all around.
“The first time in there, we were playing absolutely horrible,” Mattingly said. “We were kind of down offensively. Andre [Ethier] gets
hurt the first game in that series, and Matt [Kemp] was already out, we had others out. We weren’t really playing well. We got shut
out three times.
“The next time I felt like we went in and kind of established ourselves. We had to fight back during that series. That happens and
then we come back here and get swept. It’s hard to explain.”
If the Dodgers are swept, they can officially focus on the wild-card race. They really can’t even afford to win only one game. What
they really need is a sweep. Need to step up now.
“We still have games after that,” said Shane Victorino. “There is definitely urgency, but it’s not going to be the end of the world if we
don’t go up there and sweep them. But we have an opportunity to gain some ground and need to do that.”
Ellis hesitated when asked whether he thought in reality, the Dodgers had to sweep.
“We need to win Friday night, set the tone, and go from there,” he said. “We just need to focus on winning Friday.”
If they lose the opener and come back to win the last two, they would leave San Francisco 3½ games back with 21 to go.
“We need to win the series,” Mattingly said. “We just need to see what happens here. They’re still going to lose games, too. We
have to take care of our own business.
“Really, we need to get on a little roll. We can’t win three, and lose two, and then win a couple and lose a couple. I mean, it’s just not
going to make it. That’s not a playoff team and it’s not playoff baseball.”
In their last 16 games, the Dodgers are a disappointing 6-10. They’ll send out Josh Beckett on Friday against the Giants’ Tim
Lincecum.
“We have to go out there and play every game like it’s our last game,” Kemp said.
And hope current trends continue.
Dodgers sign extensions with Rancho Cucamonga and Albuquerque
By Steve Dilbeck
September 6, 2012, 1:27 p.m.
The Dodgers’ two most popular stops for rehab assignments will be back on line for another two years.
The Dodgers announced two-year affiliate extensions with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday.
Rancho Cucamonga is the closest Class-A site available, just 46 miles from Dodger Stadium. The Quakes are owned by Hall of Famer
George Brett and his brothers Bobby and John. Next year will be the Dodgers’ third season in Rancho Cucamonga, after a previous
affiliation with San Bernardino.
Albuquerque is a long-time triple-A destination for the Dodgers. They previously were there as the Dukes from 1972 to 2000 (it was
their double-A home from 1963 to 1971). Next year will mark their fifth since returning as the Isotopes.
Tom Lasorda, Kevin Kennedy and Rick Dempsey are among the former Dukes managers. Tim Wallach managed the Isotopes in 2009.
If dogs were people, some would leave in the 7th inning
Dogs and their owners have a field day at the Bark in the Park event at Dodger Stadium. Well, most do. Some dogs, like some
Angelenos, don't have a clue about blue.
By Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times
September 6, 2012, 6:36 p.m.
The minute we walked into Bark in the Park, I could see we weren't going to fit in. Dutchess seemed to be the only canine at the
Dodgers' bring-your-dog-to-the-game promotion wearing just the fur she was born with.
Outside the stadium where 537 pets gathered for a pregame "Pup Rally," there were dogs in batting helmets, tutus, mirrored
sunglasses and hot dog suits. Dogs with dyed blue mohawks and one with a blue and white rhinestone heart pasted on his shaved
side.
A Chihuahua had a tiny mitt and ball attached to one paw and a blue pennant in the other. And if you're thinking they were all
dressed by wacky cat ladies, banish the thought. Plenty of tough guys had Duke or Chuy tricked out in ears-to-tail Dodgers regalia.
I don't do dog costumes — well, maybe once or twice, on holidays. But I had begun to worry I was growing way too attached to my
dog. I found myself reluctant to go out of town unless Dutchess came too. If she was in the back seat, I'd have to stop myself from
steering into the carpool lane.
The moment of truth came when I burst into the house with my usual dog greeting, "Where's my beautiful daughter?" and my real
daughter responded acidly, "She's right here."
But my daughter is off on a year abroad, and I could not resist the chance to bring my Akita mix to the ballpark last Sunday. Nobody
would nominate Dutchess for Miss Congeniality. She's the President Obama of the dog world, cool on the outside and well .... cool
on the outside. So I had some reservations.
But I seemed to be the only one. The handful of people I talked to were all sure their charges were having a riotously good time.
"Of course he loves Dodger blue. He's a blue-nose," Candice Beltran, a security dispatcher from Santa Fe Springs, said of her 10month-old, 67-pound pit bull Molokai.
Roger Castle, a Venice fundraiser, strapped a miniature sports cam on top of his 45-pound pit's head so he could record the dog'seye view of the event. "I think he knew we were coming today. When we got in the car, he was so happy," Castle said.
And certainly most of the dogs seemed content. I didn't spot a single dogfight, and there was scarcely any barking.
Dutchess, however, kept her head down and looked confused. After the costume contests were over, she showed some interest in
climbing onto the stage but was pushed aside by someone trying to photograph a heavily adorned poodle.
Inside the gate, the maintenance staff was more appreciative of Dutchess' natural beauty. "Oh, she's so cute," several said, leaning
against their brooms. Once the snacks appeared, Dutchess perked up. Two-and-a-half Dodger Dogs later, we took our seats. Or
rather I took my seat. Although I had bought Dutchess her own ticket, the bleacher bench was too crowded for a 60-pound dog, so
she was relegated to sitting under my feet.
Behind us, Dee Dee (as in Ramone) lay under the feet of owners Abe and Anne-Marie Kinney. Abe Kinney, a Web developer, said
Dee Dee was having fun. But when it comes to their dog, they are often driven by guilt, he added. When they visited the Sequoias,
Dee Dee waited in the car while they raced down to see the big trees, then ran back again.
"She gives you those eyes when you leave, like 'You know you can take me,'" Kinney said.
I knew exactly what he meant. I often slip out of the house in the morning to avoid Dutchess' reproachful glare.
But when did we start feeling so guilty about our pets? The idea of putting off a vacation, or, for that matter, a single cocktail for our
dogs would have struck my parents as pure insanity.
Our family loved our pets. But they were just there, like the furniture. We petted them, fed them the food we saw on the TV
commercials but seldom walked them or took them for a drive. They had a yard to romp in, but so do my dogs. Yet I feel positively
Cruella De Vil-ish if I don't take Dutchess not just around the block but to Elysian or Griffith Park every day, and on weekends, to the
beach or the mountains.
Concepts of humane pet treatment have evolved since my childhood, and hiking is fun and healthy for both of us. That's fine. But a
line is crossed when we convince ourselves our dogs want to be part of purely human activities. Or when we circumscribe our lives
because of some misguided notion the dog will feel left out.
By the bottom of the fourth inning, the dogs whose owners had the good sense to book seats along the center aisle were sprawled
out on the ground like so many battlefield casualties awaiting the medics. Dutchess periodically stood and seemed to gaze adoringly
at Dodger star Andre Ethier. Or was that me? But for the most part, she simply lay there.
When the final out was called — the Dodgers won! — she yanked me full-tilt down the metal steps. The next day, she spent an
inordinate amount of time licking the muck from the bleacher floor off her fur.
Far be it from me to question the other dogs' enjoyment. But I am forced to conclude that Dutchess, good soldier that she is, merely
endured the ballgame.
I'm taking a vacation without her this month. Let the dog be a dog.
DODGERS.COM
Kasten: Mega-trade in line with Dodgers' vision
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com | 09/06/12 8:48 PM ET
NEW YORK -- Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said Thursday that the club's recent mega-deal with the Boston Red Sox fit
right in with ownership's plans, and that neither the team's financial model, nor its long-term direction, was radically altered by the
nine-player blockbuster.
Los Angeles took on more than a quarter of a billion dollars in new salary obligations in the deal that netted first baseman Adrian
Gonzalez, outfielder Carl Crawford and right-hander Josh Beckett. The trade bolstered the Dodgers at several positions while
providing the Red Sox with desperately desired payroll flexibility.
Along with several other moves, including a trade for Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins, the transaction shocked the baseball
world and announced the Dodgers as a major financial player in the years to come.
Kasten, however, said at the first Bloomberg Sports Business Summit in midtown New York City that even the latter move was no
shock to the organization he now runs. He spoke, along with attorney Bruce Bennett and Lee H. Berke of LHB Sports, Entertainment
and Media, on a panel discussing the recent sale of the iconic franchise.
"This is very consistent with what our plans were," Kasten said, adding that "we remain first and foremost a scouting- and player
development-based operation."
The moves, then, served two purposes. One is obvious: to improve the 2012 Dodgers and increase their chances of playing in the
postseason. That's always a central goal, and it surely applies with the new Los Angeles ownership group.
Additionally, Kasten emphasized that the trades also functioned as a statement of purpose. It's no secret that fan discontent
simmered in Los Angeles prior to the new ownership group taking over. So, in taking on a significant amount of salary obligation, the
group showed fans that it intends to be aggressive in talent acquisition.
"[We can't] tell our fans, 'We're going to do this right, we're going to do this long term, just wait five years for 25 guys to grow into
their uniforms,'" Kasten said. "So we were able to acquire proven stars in the chronological middle of their careers, very good
players, whom we couldn't get any other way.
"Players like Adrian Gonzalez, players like Hanley Ramirez, they're not available. You can't get them in the free agent market. This
was a way to improve the team right away, while at the same time maintaining our core belief in also building the scouting and
player-development system. That was always part of our model."
But it won't just be Major League talent they add. Kasten was emphatic about that. He said that the Dodgers intend to max out their
permitted spending, both in the international talent market as well as in the First-Year Player Draft. And, of course, they made one
last foray into the non-capped international market, signing Yasiel Puig out of Cuba in June.
"We are hiring more scouts, trying to hire better people," Kasten said. "We took an opportunity that we had in June to sign the most
recent Cuban émigré. We had an exciting draft. We were aggressive getting them signed.
"The Dodgers were dead last in international signings. We reversed that. We intend immediately to become leaders."
As for the future of the Major League club, it doesn't hinge on what happens over the next few weeks, Kasten said. He was asked
about "consequences" that might befall the organization if the 2012 Dodgers do not make the postseason, and he indicated that
there were no ultimatums facing members of the team's brain trust.
"We fully expect ... to make the postseason," Kasten said. "But whether we do or we don't, it won't change our plans for this
offseason. ... Building now, building for next season, as well as continuing our scouting and player development."
Dodgers reportedly seeking to extend Colletti
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 09/06/12 9:52 PM ET
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers have offered general manager Ned Colletti a long-term contract extension, according to a report in the
Los Angeles Times.
Club chairman Mark Walter said it was his "understanding" that an offer had been made, but Colletti and club president Stan Kasten
wouldn't comment.
Colletti received a contract spanning three years, plus mutual options, from former owner Frank McCourt three years ago. Kasten
has previously said he expected Colletti to remain with the club.
This is Colletti's seventh season as general manager. The team reached the postseason in three of the first four seasons but never
reached the World Series. The Dodgers trail the first-place Giants by 4 1/2 games going into a showdown series in San Francisco
beginning Friday night.
Colletti had to work under severe financial limitations the previous two seasons as McCourt took the team into bankruptcy. The sale
of the Dodgers from McCourt to Walter's Guggenheim Baseball Partners, Kasten and Magic Johnson, for $2.15 billion closed May 1.
Since then the Dodgers have been on a spending spree, extending Andre Ethier's contract for $85 million, outbidding all clubs with a
$42 million deal for Cuban immigrant Yasiel Puig, then picking up more than $300 million in future payroll while dealing away
prospects to get Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, the injured Carl Crawford, Joe Blanton, Brandon League, Nick Punto
and Randy Choate.
Although he's had more money to spend in a shorter span than any general manager in history, Colletti has received praise from
ownership for landing impact players in the prime of their careers without trading away Dodgers top pitching prospect Zach Lee.
Trades by LA change look of Top 20 Prospects list
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 09/06/12 10:00 AM ET
With the Minor League regular season completed and September callups being made, MLB.com has re-ranked its Top 100 Prospects
and each club's Top 20 Prospects
Like just about everything else with the Dodgers this year, there have been massive changes to their Top Prospects list.
And like just about everything else, the changes have been extraordinary.
Like the $42 million they spent to outbid the rest of baseball for Cuban exile outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Like the flurry of mega trades that dispatched three of their top eight prospects in deals that landed Hanley Ramirez, Randy Choate,
Shane Victorino, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto.
Like the two players still to be officially named in that Red Sox deal -- unofficially, their names are Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands
-- who weren't officially on the prospects lists but were considered such by the Dodgers and their trade partners.
The trades, designed to put the Dodgers in position to win now, took a big chunk out of a farm system that wasn't exactly loaded to
begin with.
Dodgers management, meanwhile, held on tightly to No. 1 prospect Zach Lee, whom they spent $5.25 million on to sign in what
remains one of the great head-scratching personnel moves of the otherwise frugal McCourt Era.
Graduated
A telling sign of the Dodgers' thin farm system is that only one name -- Shawn Tolleson - graduated during the season to be on the
club for the September stretch drive.
Tolleson, once the high school equal of teammate Clayton Kershaw, has battled back from Tommy John surgery to race through the
farm system and emerge as the middle-relief replacement for Josh Lindblom, who went from prospect to big leaguer to Philadelphia
Phillie in the Victorino trade.
Dropped off
Juan Rodriguez came to the Dodgers from the Red Sox last year with Tim Federowicz and Stephen Fife in the Trayvon Robinson
trade. He's a reliever that throws hard and wild, with a lot of strikeouts and too many walks. Early in the season he was suspended
for a month for violating team policy.
Gorman Erickson stepped up in 2011 but stepped back this year. All of his pertinent offensive numbers have plunged, throwing in
doubt his prospect status.
The Dodgers have seven new faces on the Top Prospects list, again representing a variety of reasons.
Puig makes the list because of his raw ability, which was on display in his brief trial at Class A. He's immature, but has Matt Kemp
five-tool skills.
First-round Draft pick Corey Seager proved to be as advertised, not just as a pure hitter, but handling shortstop well enough to stay
there for now.
As a 31st-round pick, even the Dodgers didn't consider Matt Magill a prospect back in 2008, but they do now. He keeps winning as
he climbs the levels of the system, this year at Double-A, where he pitched even better than he did at Class A the year before.
The son of former Major Leaguer Jose Valentine, Jesmuel Valentin makes the list on potential, because his initial season at rookie
ball was nothing special with a .211 batting average. But he's a polished defender in the middle of the infield with the big league
bloodlines.
Jose Dominguez could be the next De La Rosa. A 100 mph fastball is hard to ignore, and he earned a late-season promotion from
Class A to Double-A as a middle reliever after opening the season as a starter. This is his fifth professional season, having signed as a
16-year-old.
Jarret Martin came to the Dodgers with Tyler Henson in the Dana Eveland trade with Baltimore. He showed better mechanics the
first half of the season, but dealt with injuries in the second half.
Top 100 representation
The only Dodger listed in the Top 100 is Zach Lee, the $5.25 million signee who skipped out on Louisiana State football practice to be
a Dodgers Minor Leaguer. So far, if he hasn't shown he's worth $5.25 million, he's been good enough for the Dodgers to resist
including him in any of their Deadline deals.
Scouts say Lee lacks the dominant pitch that would make him a No. 1 starter, but he has enough of an arsenal and all the intangibles
to qualify as a middle rotation starter. He slipped from No. 45 to No. 49 on this list.
Not included on this list, but likely to appear soon, is Puig, who cost the Dodgers eight times the bonus of Lee.
Dodgers vs. Giants: How the NL West is won?
Rivals meet Friday to open critical set in San Francisco
By Chris Haft and Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 09/06/12 5:23 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants, Dodgers, September ... fill in what comes next.
Drama. Urgency. Excitement. And, of course, significance.
The longtime adversaries begin a three-game series Friday at AT&T Park that could define the remainder of the National League
West race. San Francisco leads second-place Los Angeles by 4 1/2 games in the division standings. If the Giants take the series,
observers might start counting down San Francisco's magic number for clinching the West. For the Dodgers, winning twice would
help their chances of staying in contention until the teams engage in a season-ending, three-game rematch Oct. 1-3 at Los Angeles. A
sweep would further revive the Dodgers' hopes, which stagnated during a 3-4 homestand.
And don't scoff the possibility of a sweep. That was the result of the last three Giants-Dodgers series. San Francisco dominated the
June 25-27 and Aug. 20-22 sets, bracketing a Los Angeles sweep July 27-29.
"I like the trend if we win the first game," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
The renewal of one of baseball's greatest rivalries will unfold before sellout crowds and national television audiences (MLB Network
on Friday, Fox on Saturday and ESPN on Sunday). The setting promises to enhance the competition.
"I enjoy the atmosphere up there. There's a buzz, an energy," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "I feel, in that situation, it makes us
closer as a team. We pull for each other, because we know it's us against not only a great team, but 40,000 fans screaming their
heads off for us to fail. I think we play well when our backs are against the wall."
Said Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval, "It's fun for everybody on the team when we have series like that, especially [against] the
rivals. We're fighting for first place. ... Every series is important, but this one is more important for everybody."
Neither team has thrived recently. Following a 5-1 trip, the Giants lost two of three to Arizona at home, where they own a barely
adequate 38-30 record. San Francisco's formidable starting rotation has struggled, posting a 2-4 record with a 6.47 ERA in the team's
last 11 games.
"The starters will bounce back," Giants manager Bruce Bochy insisted. "We're here because of how our starters have been throwing
all year. I feel good about where we are."
Thursday's scheduled off-day could benefit San Francisco's starters, particularly those who will face the Dodgers. Tim Lincecum,
who'll pitch Friday's opener, is 3-11 with a 5.91 ERA this year on a normal four days' rest. Yet he's 4-2, 4.34 with an extra day off. The
contrast isn't as sharp for Matt Cain, Saturday's starter (8-3, 3.28 with four days' rest, 4-1, 2.45 on five), but a difference exists. Same
with Barry Zito, who drew Sunday's assignment (4-6, 5.34/4-2, 4.69).
Lincecum downplayed the effect of five days' rest. "If it does [help], great," he said. "But I'm not going to give credence to the fact
that if I get an extra day -- you know what I mean?"
Nor did Lincecum, who went 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA in the 2010 postseason, express the need to whip himself into a frenzy just because
he's appearing in a Giants-Dodgers game. "I'm not going to go out there and try to make myself get that extra adrenaline. It comes
when it needs to," said Lincecum, who's 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in three starts against Los Angeles. "All I can do is prepare and know
that, in big games, I can trust the fact that I can rise to the occasion, which is the biggest thing."
Despite adding slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to their lineup, the Dodgers haven't jelled offensively. They scored 20 runs in
their seven-game homestand. Center fielder Matt Kemp, who denied injuring his shoulder while colliding with the Coors Field wall
on Aug. 28, went 3-for-25 during the homestand. Gonzalez has one home run in 56 plate appearances since the Dodgers acquired
him from Boston in a nine-player trade Aug. 25. He might welcome returning to AT&T Park, where he hit .297 with six home runs
and 21 RBIs in 45 games with San Diego from 2006-2010.
The standings, the schedule and the calendar are all the Dodgers need to remind themselves of this series' importance.
"Every series is must-win in September," Kemp said. "There are no excuses. We've got to play every game like it's our last game. You
never know what can happen."
"It's no secret it's a big series," Ellis said. "But at the end of the day, it's just about us winning games no matter who we're playing.
That's what Donnie told us in the team meeting [last week]. We've just got to win as many games as we can, a game at a time, and
at the end of the month check the standings."
With the Giants and Dodgers jostling each other for a toehold to climb up Mt. September, a few things are certain.
"It's going to be intense out there," Bochy said. "That's why you play the game. That's why we're here. This is what you should look
forward to. It should be a good series. There's going to be a lot of tension here."
ESPN.COM
Tough road between here and postseason spot
September, 7, 2012
By Dan Braunstein, ESPN Stats & Information
Having gone 5-7 since the acquisition of Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers have been a season-high 4.5 games back of
the Giants all week; the two teams had the same result each of the last six nights they played. Both teams lost last Friday before
winning three in a row and then losing their next two. That string will end starting tonight, as the Dodgers visit San Francisco for the
final time this season.
This weekend’s series begins a challenging 24-game close to the season for the Dodgers. L.A. has the NL’s toughest schedule from
now until the end of the regular season, and that doesn’t even account for the fact that many of their difficult games are away from
Chavez Ravine. Somewhat unbelievably, the Dodgers still have road series left against each of the three current division leaders in
the National League, the Nationals, Reds, and Giants.
Worse for the Dodgers are the remaining schedules of the teams they’re chasing and competing against. The top three teams in the
Wild Card standings other than the Dodgers all have a below-.500 strength-of-schedule the rest of the way, as do the Giants, while
Dodgers' opponents have a .534 winning percentage.
The Pirates, tied with the Dodgers at a game and a half out of the second Wild Card spot, have 10 of their remaining 26 games left
against the Astros and Cubs and don’t play a team currently above .500 until Sept. 28. They don’t have a road series left against a
.500 team. Meanwhile the Cardinals, currently occupying that second Wild Card spot, have nine games against the Cubs and Astros,
and their only road series left against a .500 team is a critical four-game series at Dodger Stadium next week.
Looking at the NL West, the Giants don’t have any games left outside of the division, meaning their only remaining games against a
.500 team are against the Dodgers. The good news for the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw, scheduled to pitch Sunday against the
Giants, would also pitch in the second series with the Giants if kept on regular rest.
Kershaw’s starts might be wasted if Giants starters continue their success against the Dodgers from earlier in the season. Over 12
games and 78 1/3 innings, Giants starters have a 2.07 ERA and have surrendered only one home run to the Dodgers this year. Given
that, and also that the Dodgers need to make up 4.5 games in a 24-game span, winning the division seems unlikely. The Dodgers
haven’t been more than four games better than the Giants in a stretch of any length since San Francisco took over the division lead
for the first time at the end of June.
With that in mind, the Wild Card appears now to be the Dodgers’ most likely path into the playoffs. However, with a remaining
schedule significantly tougher than those of other contenders, winning one of those Wild Card spots would be an impressive
achievement.
Remaining Strength of Schedule
NL Teams in Contention
Dodgers .534<<
Braves
.494
Giants
.472
Pirates
.469
Cardinals .464
>>Highest in NL
Is gauntlet time go time?
September, 6, 2012
By Mark Saxon | ESPNLosAngeles.com
LOS ANGELES -- It's their greatest challenge yet, and just maybe their greatest salvation.
Seven of the Dodgers' next nine games come against the two teams they're chasing, starting with this weekend's series in San
Francisco. Thirteen of their next 15 games are against teams with better records. Of all of the contending teams, the Dodgers have
the roughest road to the postseason.
And they had better embrace it, because this is a perilous time to feel sorry for themselves.
For the past two weeks, the Dodgers have played below the level of teams with worse records. Now, they have no choice but to rise
above the level of the National League's best, mostly on the road. Can they do it? Predicting this team's fortunes has been a
worthless endeavor all season, so why not?
"We always play well against these teams. We can do it again," Matt Kemp said.
Not entirely accurate, but also not wildly inaccurate. The Dodgers are 5-7 against San Francisco in what has been a bizarre, feast-orfamine rivalry. They are 4-3 against St. Louis and, given the fact they're three games closer to a wild-card spot than to their division
lead, those four games at home Sept. 13-16 vs. the Cards could be more pivotal than this weekend's tilts by the Bay.
The Dodgers swept the Washington Nationals in their only series so far, but that was back in April. They took two out of three from
the Cincinnati Reds.
You would think they’d probably rather play the Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros this time of year. However, you might as well play
the teams ahead of you. It's more efficient that way.
Manager Don Mattingly said he likes his team's upcoming schedule, and maybe he actually does. After all, playing teams behind
them wasn't working out too well. The Dodgers have losing records against Colorado and Arizona.
"It's really just a chance for us to play head up and not worry about anything going on," Mattingly said. "It looks tough on paper, but
it's really better for us."
The schedule tends to even out, and the Dodgers weren't complaining about it when they were fattening their record in April against
the worst teams in the league. Now, they're getting taxed on the back end. The Giants and Cardinals both play more home games
between now and Oct. 3 and against weaker teams.
The winning percentage of the Dodgers' remaining opponents is .532. The winning percentage of the Giants' remaining opponents is
.475, and the Cardinals' is .462. That makes those ending head-to-head meetings the crux of this entire season for the Dodgers, who
have lost 10 of their past 16 games.
"You've got to just keep staying after it," Shane Victorino said.
The Dodgers have a great opportunity to make their move in the next couple of weeks. To rely on other teams to do their bidding
seems like an untenable position.
Mattingly putting to good use all he learned from Torre
September, 6, 2012
By Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLosAngeles.com
LOS ANGELES -- Don Mattingly learned a lot standing alongside Joe Torre for all of those years in the Yankees and Dodgers' dugouts.
There were no lessons, no textbooks or maxims to live by. He just stood close by, observed and let things sink in so that one day,
when he was the one making the decisions, it wouldn't feel like he'd never been there before.
Torre had a way about him: a calmness and a classiness only men of a certain age tend to find. He knew the game, but mostly he just
knew the men who played the game and how to treat them to get the most out of them -- particularly when it came to star players.
"He knew his guys could play," Mattingly said of Torre. "He knew his talent. And he just trusted his guys.
"Tino [Martinez] has this story. He says, 'I was struggling and Joe called me in and talked to me. He gave me a good cigar and a great
restaurant to go to.'"
It's a great story -- one of hundreds just like it Torre's former players tell about him. One that Mattingly could've stolen and co-opted
as his own if he would have been thinking about it.
Depending on how closely the players in Mattingly's clubhouse read the daily clips packet, that trick from Torre's old bag of 'em
probably has to be taken out of Mattingly's repertoire for a while.
And let's be honest, the timing isn't great. All of a sudden -- or in the time it took for the Dodgers' new owners to green-light some
$400 million in additional payroll obligations -- Mattingly's Dodgers bear a striking resemblance to all those star-studded Yankees'
teams Torre had so much success with.
No longer is it Mattingly's job to get the most out of a glorified Triple-A ballclub with two transcendent stars (Matt Kemp and Clayton
Kershaw).
No longer is he trying to figure out how a makeshift roster can do more with less.
"It's obviously quite a bit different when you've been adding some of the guys we've been able to add," Mattingly said. "But we've
all still got the same goal."
A few days after the monster nine-player deal for Boston's Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto went
through, Mattingly's brother called and asked whether he felt any more pressure in trying to win.
Mattingly shrugged at the query, "We're always trying to win."
Ah, but it's different now. The Dodgers' clubhouse is filled with veterans who have proved themselves many times over. The young
players who helped fuel last September's surprising run are back in Triple-A (Dee Gordon), or playing far smaller roles (Javy Guerra).
Mattingly needs to connect with his star players now. Then he needs to do what Torre was always so good at with the Yankees: Get
the most out of them.
"I talk to Joe still. Sometimes good conversations about that kind of stuff," Mattingly said of Torre, who works in the commissioner's
office now. "And other times we talk about suspensions and things like that. I have different conversations with Joe."
He's kidding, because he can. He spent enough time around Torre, and before that as a player for the Yankees, to know what it's like
to be around a team like this.
"I think you manage everybody differently," he said. "A kid who's coming up for the first time, you're having a lot of different
conversations with that kid than a guy who has six years under his belt and is accomplished.”
"It was a little odd when we first got everyone,” he said. “You get four new guys there, but you also lose some of these guys’ best
friends [popular reliever Josh Lindblom, who was dealt to Philadelphia for Shane Victorino] and you send a Tony Gwynn down [to
the minors] or a Bobby Abreu down, guys that have kind of been good fixtures and good people.
"But honestly, I think the winning is the biggest thing. You put a string of wins together, it starts to bind you together."
He's right, of course. Winning is what brings a team closer together in a hurry. But he's also glossing over some important things he
and the incumbent Dodgers players and coaches have already done to help ease the transition.
It may not sound like a lot -- and because it comes so naturally to guys like Mattingly and Torre, it doesn't feel all that remarkable -but by far the most important thing has been to quickly get to know each new player's personality. That is, to develop a rapport and
a comfort level, then build on that relationship to create a productive environment.
"I just talk to 'em. BS with 'em," Mattingly said. "[Josh] Beckett, I told him he hurt my neck the other day in Colorado. That first
homer he gave up [to Rockies outfielder Tyler Colvin]. I was sitting nice and easy and all of a sudden there it goes. He tried to fix it
the other day by giving up that other one on the other side."
Mattingly laughs, and you know Beckett did, too.
"Managing is a lot about having some people skills," Mattingly said. "You've got to get your guys to play and buy into what you
believe in."
Pretty quickly after each new player joined the team, Mattingly and his staff discussed their initial impressions in meetings and tried
to coordinate their messages.
It was typical of Mattingly and Torre's holistic approach. Coach the person, not just the player. Manage the man, not just the game.
"Honestly, I'm just trying to get to know them as a person," Dodgers hitting coach Dave Hansen said. "That probably goes farther
than anything: 'How are ya? How you doing? How you feeling at the plate?' We've got to have some compassion here; it's a hard
game. But if they know they're secure, I think we'll get a lot farther a lot quicker."
It seems simple. Too simple. But only Mattingly has stood close enough to Torre to know how important that part of it is in a
situation like what the Dodgers have become.
"I don't control the game," Mattingly said. "It's their game. At the end of the day, it's their game. All I'm trying to do is create an
atmosphere. Create an environment where these guys can go play and be their best. That's what Joe was really good at."
Could that really be the secret behind Torre's success in New York? Or why Mattingly was such a good captain for the Yankees all
those years?
"He's very simple," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said of Mattingly. "All he asks you to do is play hard as you can and be where you're
supposed to be on time. He never forgets how hard this game is to play. There's never any added pressure coming from the bench.”
"Honestly, it's almost like Donnie is actually on the field with us playing,” Ellis said. “It's like having a very strong veteran player who
doesn't actually play in the games leading you."
LA DAILY NEWS
Dodgers' moves also means changes for manager Don Mattingly
By J.P. Hoornstra Staff Writer
Posted: 09/06/2012 10:10:28 PM PDT
MLB: With L.A. going from club full of rookies and journeymen to established stars, manager tries to pull right strings.
A funny thing happened on the way to September: Matt Kemp became the Dodgers' youngest position player.
Perhaps surprisingly, until Tim Federowicz (born August 1987) was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to become the team's third
catcher as rosters expanded Sept. 1, Kemp (born September 1984) was younger than any non-pitcher on the active roster.
By itself, that doesn't mean much, especially since Kemp has been in the major leagues for six years. But it brought into sharp focus
just how much the Dodgers' clubhouse has transformed this season - from an assortment of up-and-comers (Dee Gordon, Jerry
Sands) and minor-league vagabonds (Elian Herrera, Justin Sellers) pressed into major-league duty, to a potent lineup led by several
established stars.
Handling a new mix of personalities presents a new challenge for manager Don Mattingly besides filling out the lineup card, knowing
when to pull the starting pitcher and winning games in the midst of a September playoff hunt.
"Everybody's individually different," Mattingly said. "A kid that's coming up for the first time or in a first year, you're having a lot of
different conversations with that kid than you would with a guy that has six years under his belt and has been accomplished. They're
definitely different conversations, but we're all on the same boat still. So we've all got to get on that page, that we're all headed for
that one spot."
If there's a generalization to be made about those "different conversations" they seem to be more simple and more frequent.
Only the outfielders were absent when players gathered for a meeting on the Dodger Stadium infield Aug.22, three days before
Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto boarded a chartered plane bound for Los Angeles. What followed was a basic springtraining drill, with pitchers coming off the mound to field bunts, catchers telling them where to throw the ball and infielders shuffling
to (hopefully) the right base.
Even though the whole team took part, Mattingly said the meeting and the drill were specifically staged for the four players who
weren't Dodgers in spring training - pitchers Joe Blanton, Brandon League and Randy Choate, and infielder Hanley Ramirez. (Shane
Victorino was excluded because he's an outfielder).
Mattingly held a pair of closed-door team meetings last week. The first came after an uninspired 2-0 loss to the Arizona
Diamondbacks.
The message was nothing profound - "concentrate on the game, play hard" in the words of Juan Rivera.
The second was just among the eight new Dodgers, in which Mattingly addressed the urgency of entering September
4<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>2 games out of first place in the division.
"It was a little odd when we first got Hanley and Shane and Brandon and Choatey. You get four new guys there," Mattingly said.
"You lose some of these guys' best friends. (Josh) Lindblom leaves. ... Sending Tony Gwynn down, sending Bobby Abreu down, kind
of been good fixtures and guys who have played with a lot of emotions, and good people.
"So you lose those guys, then you get new guys and all of a sudden there's another influx of three guys. It's like another adjustment
period."
The Dodgers had a golden opportunity to catalyze the adjustment period when they won games in their final at-bat Sunday and
Monday. On-field celebrations of walk-off hits, by definition, tend to bring a team together, but the positive vibes were squandered
in losses to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The wins and losses say it's been a rocky transition. Credit Mattingly for at least keeping the lines of communication open and the
new players for being receptive.
Mattingly, a lifetime .307 hitter and longtime batting coach, revealed he's already learned something new about hitting talking to
Gonzalez.
"He made it as easy as possible, as far as communication, making me feel comfortable," Gonzalez added. "I knew that the guys loved
playing for him. I knew that guys loved him as a hitting coach and during the transition to a manager it carried over."
TRUE BLUE LA
Dodgers 9/6/12 Minor League Report - Isotopes Win Game 2; Lookouts Not so Lucky in Playoff Opener
by Brandon Lennox on Sep 7, 2012 12:07 AM PDT in Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Report
Minor League Player of the Day – Josh Bard (AAA) - 3 for 4, 1 2B, 2 Runs. Bard didn't necessarily play a big role in the Isotopes win on
Thursday, but he did have the best overall day with a 3 for 4 effort.
AAA – The Isotopes were able to even their playoff series against the Storm Chasers (Royals) on Thursday as they beat Omaha 5 to 3.
Albuquerque scored all 5 of their runs after the 5th inning, starting with a two-run triple by Trent Oeltjen in the 6th. Josh Fields then
plated a pair of runs in the 7th, while a Tony Gwynn RBI single scored the final run of the game for the Topes in the 8th. The only
other offensive player of note was Dee Gordon who went 3 for 5 and stole his first AAA base of the season. On the mound Stephen
Fife did his best John Ely impersonation as he allowed just 3 runs over 7 frames while striking out 5. Scott Rice recorded the save by
finishing the game with 2 frames of 1-hit ball.
AA – The Lookouts couldn't do much of anything on Thursday as they were shutout by the Generals (Mariners) 3 to 0 in their playoff
opener #3 hitter Luis Nunez went 2 for 4 while Jake Lemmerman singled and walked, but that was about it for the Chattanooga
offense. On the mound Matt Magill put together a solid performance as he permitted just 1 run to score over 7 frames, but he
couldn't help the damage that Eric Eadington and Yimi Garica brought into the game in later innings.
HiA – Season over
LoA – Season over
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors lost in walk-off fashion on Thursday as Grand Junction (Rockies) doubled home the game winner in a 4 3 victory over Ogden. The Raptors only had one extra base hit in their regular season finale, and that came via a double from Austin
Cowen. Eric Smith drove in two of the team's runs, while Delvis Morales gave up 2 singles and 3 RBI's. On the mound Jonathan
Martinez made his Pioneer League debut and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, then Kazuki Nishijima permitted a run to score in his 2 innings
of work. Travis Jones officially took the loss as he gave up the final run of the game.
Rook Arizona – Season over
DSL – Season over
Coming up – As of now I looks like Derrick Loop will start the Isotopes in their playoff home opener, while Zach Lee will try and even
the post-season series for the Lookouts. The Raptors will also being their playoff run on Friday, and it looks like Lindsey Caughel will
take the ball for Ogden.
Minor League Transactions – AA: I believe that I failed to mention that Eric Eadington has been added to the Lookouts playoff roster.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)
Minor League Central - Daily Dodger Recap
Which Game At Dodger Stadium Do You Wish You Had Seen In Person
by CraigMinami on Sep 6, 2012 8:23 PM PDT in Dodgers History & Records
Okay, I admit it, I took this idea from this ESPN.com story. Interestingly, a quick count tells me that 4 ESPN.com writers chose Jackie
Robinson's debut as the game they would like to have been there.
But now I wanted to bring this story local, limiting it to just games at Dodger Stadium. Now, I have been fortunate to see a few
famous games at Dodger Stadium:
1. "Squeeze!!!"
2. "4+1"
3. Loney hits one in the nether region.
But I also saw great games pitched by Fernando, monster home runs by Piazza and Manny, and countless other exciting times.
But there are several choices, Koufax's Perfect Game, Dodgers complete sweep against the Yankees, and finally the greatest
moment of Los Angeles Sports History, Gibson's Improbable and Impossible Shot.
Anyway, love to hear your games and discussion.
Dodgers Extend Agreements With Triple A Albuquerque, Class A Rancho Cucamonga
by Eric Stephen on Sep 6, 2012 4:06 PM PDT in Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Report
The Dodgers on Thursday wrapped up a couple of minor league loose ends, extending their affiliation agreements with both Triple A
Albuquerque and Class A Rancho Cucamonga for two more years, each through 2014.
The Dodgers have been affiliated with the Albuquerque Isotopes since 2009, and had previously been affiliated with the
Albuquerque Dukes from 1972-2000. The Isotopes are currently playing in the Pacific Coast League playoffs.
"We’re very excited to extend our relationship with Ken Young, John Traub and the Isotopes," said Dodgers head of player
development De Jon Watson. "These two franchises have a storied history together and we’re happy to continue our relationship
with the city of Albuquerque with its top-notch facilities and passionate fan base."
The Dodgers have been with Rancho Cucamonga for the last two seasons in the California League.
"The Dodgers have been a great partner of the Quakes and we are committed to each other’s success on and off the field," said
Rancho Cucamonga General Manager Grant Riddle in a statement. "We are thrilled to continue our partnership and look forward to
many exciting years together."
The Dodgers have had 13 different major leaguers play on a rehab assignment with Rancho Cucamonga this season including Matt
Kemp and Andre Ethier, and the Quakes have also had top pitching prospect Zach Lee and $42 million man Yasiel Puig play for them
this year.
With these two affiliation agreements, the Dodgers are now signed through 2014 with their top five minor league affiliates: Triple A
Albuquerque, Double A Chattanooga, Advanced Class A Rancho Cucamonga, Class A Great Lakes, and rookie level Ogden.
Dodgers Have Been Playing From Behind Of Late
by Eric Stephen on Sep 6, 2012 12:01 PM PDT in News
The Dodgers have done their share of scoring in the first inning this season, as their 82 runs in the opening frame is sixth in the
National League. But that first inning scoring has dried up in the last 10 games, and the Dodgers have been playing from behind.
The Padres scored in the first inning in each of the last three games, and took two of the three games. The Dodgers didn't score in
the first inning any of the three games, and in fact they haven't scored in the first inning in any of the last 10 games.
Date
First Inning Score
Final Score
Aug. 27
Rockies 1, Dodgers 0
Rockies 10, Dodgers 0
Aug. 28
Rockies 4, Dodgers 0
Rockies 8, Dodgers 4
Aug. 29
scoreless
Dodgers 10, Rockies 8
Aug. 30
scoreless
D-Backs 2, Dodgers 0
Aug. 31
scoreless
D-Backs 4, Dodgers 3
Sept. 1
scoreless
Dodgers 2, D-Backs 1
Sept. 2
scoreless
Dodgers 5, D-Backs 4
Sept. 3
Padres 2, Dodgers 0
Dodgers 4, Padres 3
Sept. 4
Padres 1, Dodgers 0
Padres 6, Dodgers 3
Sept. 5
Padres 3, Dodgers 0
Padres 4, Dodgers 3
The Dodgers are 45-21 (.682) when they score first this season, and in their last 10 games won all three games in which they were
the first to score. In the other seven games, the Dodgers were 1-6.
The Dodgers and Giants begin a series in San Francisco on Friday night. The team that has scored first in their meetings this season
has won 10 of the 12 games. Each of the last three series have resulted in a sweep, and in the most recent series the Giants scored in
the first inning in all three games at Dodger Stadium from Aug. 20-22 en route to a road sweep.
The lesson here: score early, score often. Just score.
ESPN DEPORTES
Título divisional en juego
Por Enrique Rojas
ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Es apenas el primer fin semana completo de septiembre, pero por muchas razones se sentirá un ambiente de
playoffs en AT&T Park entre viernes y domingo. La más importante: Los Gigantes de San Francisco recibirán a sus odiados y
ancestrales rivales Dodgers de Los Ángeles con un título divisional en disputa.
San Francisco (77-60) domina la División Oeste de la Liga Nacional por cuatro juegos y medio sobre Los Angeles (73-65), que está a
juego y medio de uno de los dos puestos comodines que regalará el viejo circuito esta temporada.
Será la última visita de los Dodgers a San Francisco en la serie regular. Los dos colosos californianos se medirán en Dodger Stadium
para cerrar la temporada, del lunes 1 al miércoles 3 de octubre.
También será la primera oportunidad de las nuevas adquisiciones de los Dodgers, el lanzador Josh Beckett y el inicialista mexicano
Adrián González, de probar la rivalidad más dura de la Liga Nacional, después de adquirir sobrada experiencia en los duelos entre
Medias Rojas de Boston y Yankees de Nueva York en la Liga Americana.
Beckett, quien tiene 1-1, 2.92 en tres salidas desde que llegó desde Boston, enfrentará al derecho Tim Lincecum el viernes (8-14,
5.21). Beckett tiene 4-3, 3.35 en siete salidas contra los Gigantes, a los que no enfrenta desde el 2005, mientras que Lincecum, quien
posee marca de 7-5, 2.80 en 18 partidos contra los Dodgers, se encuentra en la peor temporada de su carrera de seis años.
El sábado lanzarán Chris Capuano (11-10, 3.63) y Matt Cain (13-5, 2.98), mientras que el domingo subirán al montículo los zurdos
Clayton Kershaw (12-8, 2.79) y Barry Zito (10-8, 4.51) en un partido que será la transmisión de "Domingo de Grandes Ligas" de ESPN
(8 pm ET, 5 PT).
No sería nada sorprendente si no se anotan muchas carreras en AT&T Park en el fin de semana. Entre los seis lanzadores anunciados
para comenzar suman cuatro premios Cy Young (2 de Lincecum y uno cada uno de Kershaw y Zito) y Cain es un candidato para
unirse al grupo en cualquiera de los años por venir.
Para Los Angeles la serie será una tremenda oportunidad de definir si es un contendor o un tremendo fiasco. Los azules tienen
marca de 5-7 en 12 juegos desde el gran cambio que trajo a Beckett, González, Carl Crawford y Nick Punto desde Boston por un
paquete de prospectos, incluyendo el lanzador dominicano Rubby De la Rosa.
González, quien por haber jugado en San Diego la mayor parte de su carrera conoce perfectamente la División Oeste de la Liga
Nacional, bateó jonrón en su primer turno con Los Angeles, pero desde entonces no ha llevado la bola cerca de la verja. Además, el
superestelar jardinero central Matt Kemp está en un slump de 25-3.
En la otra cara de la moneda, el torpedero dominicano Hanley Ramírez batea .316 en septiembre y ha pegado 10 jonrones en 40
partidos desde que llegó desde Miami, y el jardinero Andre Ethier batea .350 con tres jonrones en 20 turnos en septiembre.
"Somos profesionales. Tenemos (cosas) en nuestras vidas y cosas que suceden alrededor de nosotros todo el tiempo. Es por eso que
debemos ser lo suficientemente buenos para enfocarnos durante el tiempo de juego y dejar todo eso atrás", dijo el mánager Don
Mattingly sobre la incapacidad del grupo para accionar como equipo.
Lo bueno del béisbol es que ofrece muchas oportunidades para arreglar las cosas y Los Angeles le restan 24, incluyendo seis ante
San Francisco.
"Debemos voltear la página, olvidar el pasado y enfocarnos en lo que tenemos por delante, incluyendo la serie en San Francisco",
dijo Kemp el miércoles.
Kennedy nació para jugar béisbol
Por Rodrigo Azurmendi
Especial para ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com
LOS ÁNGELES -- A sus 36 años Adam Kennedy fue sumado a los Dodgers de Los Angeles esta temporada para aportar veteranía,
versatilidad y una voz de calma ante un clubhouse que en su momento estaba repleto de jóvenes en ascenso.
"He aprendido de buena gente", apunta como la clave a sobrevivir tanto tiempo en las mayores. "Me enseñaron como actuar y
como jugar y que hay que ser un buen compañero y ayudar en el camerino".
El oriundo de en Riverside, California creció con la pelota como piedra angular de su niñez.
"Juego desde que tengo memoria", asegura. "Seguramente empecé a los cuatro o cinco años".
El segunda base tuvo criterio a la hora de elegir sus espejos, idolatrando de chico a algunos de los mejores peloteros de la época.
"Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith, George Brett y Tony Gwynn", enumera con admiración y sin pestañear.
El bateador zurdo jugó en California State University Northridge, defendiendo el campo corto y convirtiéndose en el primer jugador
en la historia en liderar la División I en inatrapables en temporadas consecutivas (1996-97).
Sin embargo, Kennedy avisa que nunca quiso saltear etapas y no se vio como profesional hasta la fecha de su debut.
"No lo imaginé hasta que llegaba al siguiente nivel", recuerda. "Ni en la universidad, ni en Doble-A ni en Triple-A. Nunca me adelanté
a los hechos".
Su presentación en la MLB llegó en agosto de 1999 jugando para el equipo que lo escogió en el draft un par de temporadas antes,
los Cardenales de San Luis.
Sin embargo, el punto de quiebre en su carrera llegaría en el siguiente milenio. El pelotero fue enviado en un cambio a los Angelinos
de Los Angeles, lo que marcó un regreso a su lugar en el mundo, además abriéndole las puertas de par en par.
"Fue increíble no solo por volver a casa sino porque además me había bajado a Triple-A y ni estaba en las Grandes Ligas en ese
momento", comenta con una sonrisa. "Volver a la gran carpa y encima en California no podría haber sido mejor para mí".
Kennedy no tardó mucho tiempo en adaptarse y en el 2002 tocó el cielo con las manos vistiendo la playera roja de los de Anaheim.
Sus tres jonrones ante los Mellizos de Minnesota en el quinto juego del campeonato de la Liga Americana permitieron a los
aureolados llegar a la Serie Mundial y le garantizó el premio al Jugador Más Valioso de esa serie.
Los serafines acabarían ganándolo todo, venciendo a los Gigantes de San Francisco en el 'Clásico del Otoño' y consiguiendo el primer
anillo de su historia.
"Un gran recuerdo que tengo es cuando todo se termina y estás celebrando", indica mientras vuelve en el tiempo. "Sabes que no
hay más partidos y que todo lo que hicimos juntos dio sus frutos. Fue un gran momento".
El décimo aniversario de dicha hazaña se acerca y la franquicia del condado de Orange agasajó el mes pasado a los miembros de
aquel equipo con una ceremonia a la que Kennedy no pudo asistir por estar en la carretera con los Dodgers. Sin embargo, el jugador
no se queja de su situación actual.
"No fue una decepción en lo absoluto", apuntó sobre su ausencia. "Tengo la suerte de seguir haciendo lo que todos ellos querrían
poder hacer todavía".
Fuera del campo el veterano no es como la mayoría de sus compañeros. Admite disfrutar del tiempo con sus hijos Jonathan y Quinn
pero no siente la necesidad de desenchufarse de su trabajo.
"Soy un fanático de los deportes", confiesa. "No me importa ver un juego de beisbol en mi día libre".
La música es otra de sus pasiones y como californiano de cepa apoya a sus coterráneos.
"Me gusta el rap y el hip hop", indica. "Crecí escuchando a los artistas de la costa Oeste como Dr.Dre y Snoop Dogg".
Finalmente, lo que no sabe con certeza es en qué dirección lo hubiera llevado la vida de no haberse convertido en beisbolista
profesional.
"La verdad no tengo ni idea", concluye.
SPORTING NEWS
MLB weekend preview: Angels, Dodgers arrive at critical crossroads
Published 16 hours and 43 minutes ago Last updated 12 hours and 24 minutes ago
Anthony Witrado Sporting News
When it comes to baseball in Southern California, star power clearly isn’t the problem.
Not when guys like Albert Pujols, Matt Kemp, Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Adrian Gonzalez and plenty of other
superstars populate the Los Angeles Angels’ and Los Angeles Dodgers’ rosters.
Consistency is the issue, and it is the reason both heavily remade teams would miss the playoffs if the season ended today. Luckily
for each, there is a month remaining in the season. Beginning this weekend, both Southern California teams’ postseason fates could
start to come into focus.
UNEXPECTEDLY WILD
The Angels and Detroit Tigers started this season as members of the American League’s “Super Six,” teams that—on paper—were
head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Things haven’t gone according to plan, as the teams rank seventh and eighth,
respectively, in the AL in winning percentage. They will meet in a three-game series this weekend in Anaheim.
The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics are ahead of the Angels, making their 2 ½-game deficit for the second wild card berth a
much more realistic possibility than an AL West title. However, LA’s path just got rockier with the news that Weaver will miss his
next start—scheduled for the opener of this series—after he took a liner off his pitching shoulder Sunday.
Weaver was diagnosed with tendinitis and should miss only one start. It is possible the surging Angels can survive until he returns.
They have won 12 of their past 15 games, thanks to good pitching (3.11 ERA) and plenty of hitting (.299/.356/.440, 6.0 runs per
game) in that span.
But there is that consistency problem. Before those past 15 games, the Angels had lost seven of nine. And from Aug. 1-19, their
starting pitchers went 3-7 with a 6.51 ERA. Since Aug. 21, however, the starters are 10-2 with a 3.19 ERA. The Angels have been up
and down all season, but they might not be able to recover if they dip again.
As for the Tigers, they are actually closer to first place in the AL Central (one game behind the Chicago White Sox) than to a wild card
spot (three out). Detroit has won 12 of its past 20 games, thanks largely to its pitching. The staff has a 2.41 ERA in that stretch—good
enough to win most of the time, even when the offense struggles.
DODGERS’ DESPERATION
The Dodgers have battled inconsistency since June and have lost 10 of their past 16 games as they enter their most important series
of the season. They will play three games this weekend at San Francisco, the team they trail by 4 ½ games in the NL West.
Considering that sizeable deficit and the small number of games remaining, the Dodgers will be forced to shift their playoff focus to
a wild card berth if they lose this series. They are 1 ½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the NL’s second wild card.
Since the blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 25, the Dodgers are 5-7 and have dropped 2 ½ games in the NL West
standings. That obviously wasn’t what general manager Ned Colletti planned, but it is the reality. And that reality could get worse
this weekend.
Josh Beckett, acquired in the trade with Boston, will start the opener against Tim Lincecum. The Dodgers, who have hit
.258/.326/.386 and averaged fewer than four runs per game since the big trade, will face Matt Cain on Saturday and Barry Zito on
Sunday.
EYES ON A BIGGER PRIZE
The struggling New York Yankees still intend to win the AL East, regardless of how hot the Baltimore Orioles have been and how
close they get in the standings.
Yankees general manager Cashman said as much Wednesday, and the team can back up those words during its four-game series in
Baltimore. Last weekend at Yankee Stadium, however, Baltimore took two of three. And the Orioles began this series with a bang,
homering six times—three times in the eighth inning after the Yankees had tied it with five runs in the top of the frame—in a 10-6
win Thursday night that boosted them back into a first-place tie with New York.
And not only must the Yankees and Orioles worry about each other, they must keep an eye on the Tampa Bay Rays, who are close
behind. Because New York will play 16 of its final 22 games against sub.-500 teams, this series is even more critical for Baltimore.
NY TIMES
Dodgers and Giants Rejuvenate a Rivalry
By TYLER KEPNER
Published: September 6, 2012
In his last National League West pennant race, in 1993, Stan Kasten rooted hard against the San Francisco Giants. Kasten was
president of the Atlanta Braves, who had won their final regular-season game at home and needed the Giants to lose to clinch the
division. He watched on the big screen at Fulton County Stadium, along with fans and players, cheering for the team playing the
Giants that day — the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“We were packed to go to San Francisco for a one-game playoff,” Kasten said. “And the Dodgers just ripped them apart that day. We
couldn’t celebrate or do anything until they won.”
Kasten is now president of the Dodgers, and his objective remains the same: beat the Giants. This weekend at AT&T Park, the teams
meet for the first time since the Dodgers’ industry-rattling trade last month that brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl
Crawford from the Boston Red Sox. Beckett faces Tim Lincecum in the series opener on Friday, with the Giants holding a four-and-ahalf-game lead.
The Dodgers and the Giants have always had one of baseball’s fiercest rivalries, transplanted together from New York to California in
1958. This year, it is easily the most compelling. With the Red Sox a total embarrassment, their rivalry with the Yankees has ebbed.
So has the Midwest’s version, with the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals and the rebuilding Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers are under aggressive new ownership, free of the constraints of the previous regime, which drove the team to
bankruptcy. The Giants, who have sold out their last 152 home games, are just two years removed from their first World Series title
in San Francisco. There is added spice to this matchup.
“We don’t want to be playing a team that’s in bankruptcy; we want to be playing a team that’s a strong contender,” said Larry Baer,
the Giants’ chief executive. “The rivalry here when the Giants play the Dodgers, it’s different than any other game. It’s visceral, it’s
passionate. It’s stronger now because we’re in a pennant race, but it never really went away.”
Every N.L. West team has played in at least one World Series since the Dodgers’ last appearance, in 1988. The Dodgers have made
six playoff trips since then, the same total as the Giants, but the Giants have been much more stable. Since Baer’s ownership group
bought the team in 1992, the Giants have had only three managers and two general managers. The Dodgers have had eight
managers and seven general managers in that time.
Trading for Beckett and Crawford suggests a risky long-term strategy of committing big money to players who seem to be in steep
decline. But Kasten stressed that team-building was complicated.
“We would only do it for players that we liked and that we thought had usefulness beyond this year,” he said. “We weren’t going to
give up prospects for rental players, so we wound up with significant pieces we thought could be part of our long-term future.
“But I emphasize that in addition, we have already been building up our scouting and player development system. We’ll never
become the team we want to be until we develop that pipeline.”
Essentially, Kasten said, the Dodgers looked at the coming free-agent market, did not see much they liked, and chose to use their
financial muscle now. When Miami shopped Hanley Ramirez in July, the Dodgers beat other teams for him because they absorbed
his contract. The Red Sox were overjoyed to shed the salaries of Beckett and Crawford, even if it meant sacrificing a productive
player like Gonzalez.
Gonzalez homered in his first Dodgers at-bat, on Aug. 25, when the team was just two games out of first place. Since then they have
fallen farther back and lost starter Chad Billingsley, who had won six in a row, to a serious elbow injury.
“If we had done this move last off-season, we’d feel a whole lot better; at the end of August, there’s only so much of the season
left,” Kasten said. “This season matters, but what matters most is that we’re serious about competing, even if it’s late in the year.
Our fans should expect that, certainly in our market, we’re always going to be contending.”
The Dodgers, who started this season with a lower payroll than the Milwaukee Brewers, will get a major revenue boost this winter
when they negotiate a new cable deal. Gonzalez, Ramirez and Matt Kemp are more than middle-of-the-order sluggers; they are
television stars in a market that demands them.
The Giants are four years into a 25-year deal that gives them 33 percent ownership of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. Baer said he
understands the Dodgers will operate with a higher payroll from now on, but said the Giants should remain in the upper third of all
payrolls — and that should be enough to win.
The Giants have signed starters Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner to long-term contracts this season, and would like to keep other
homegrown players like Lincecum, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey, a strong candidate for the N.L. Most Valuable Player award.
The major prize in free agency would be the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, and with Barry Zito’s contract expiring after 2013, the
Giants could pursue him.
Whatever they do, though, the Giants insist it will not be as a reaction to their renewed rival.
“We don’t need to be in an arms race to be successful,” Baer said. “We need to be in a brain race. We’d rather be in a brainiac
competition than a wallet competition. It’s going to come down to the judgments of our baseball people. My job is to make sure the
revenues are there to support those judgments.”
CBS SPORTS
Dodgers and GM Colletti are talking about an extension
By Jon Heyman | Baseball Insider
September 6, 2012 10:44 pm ET
The Dodgers are talking to general manager Ned Colletti about a contract extension, sources confirm. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles
Times first reported on the discussions.
Colletti has had a spectacularly busy year that will be best recalled for the monster trade with the Red Sox that brought first
baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Carl Crawford to Los Angeles in a nine-player deal that capped a
whirlwind summer in which Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Randy Choate and Brandon League also were acquired by the Dodgers
in trade. But as one competing baseball executive said, "The best move anyone made in the last year was that $160 million
extension for Matt Kemp.'' That contract was done last November and kept Kemp in L.A. through 2019.
If that was perceived as a bargain, it seems even moreso now that the Dodgers added $300 million plus in a wild summer of
spending.
Colletti declined to comment on the situation, and Dodgers president Stan Kasten texted back, "I never discuss anything about my
GM. He's here. Period.'' Kasten had told the L.A. Times, "People should regard our management as stable and permanent.''
Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who led the Guggenheim group that spent a record $2.15 billon for the team in March, praised
Colletti's diligence in the same story for completing the Gonzalez Red Sox mega deal that was a month in the making. The teams
talked about a trade for Gonzalez in July, but the sides made it happen in August, when all three stars somehow slid through at least
to L.A. on waivers (the Dodgers claimed A-Gone and Beckett, and Crawford cleared waivers). It was by far the biggest trade ever
completed in the waiver period.
The mega trade hasn't paid immediate dividends, as the Dodgers are now 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the race for the
second wild card, but new ownership viewed the move as their best hope for the next couple years (among the stars acquired, only
Victorino is a free agent after the year).
Colletti, who became the Dodgers' GM after the 2005 season, has made the postseason three times in his tenure in L.A. It was a lot
different job until March, though, as the money-hoarding Frank McCourt, the old owner, led the storied franchise very differently,
with both eyes on a tight budget.
Colletti's old contract contains an option for 2013. According to the L.A. Times story, he is expected to receive two guaranteed years
in the new deal.
3 to Watch: The 'Dodgers need a sweep' edition
By Danny Knobler | Baseball Insider
September 6, 2012 9:54 pm ET
With four weeks to go in the season, no team is going to say it needs to sweep a series.
That's OK. I'll say it.
If the Dodgers want to stay in the National League West race, they need to sweep the Giants this weekend in San Francisco.
They begin the series with a 4 1/2-game deficit. They begin it with the knowledge that Chad Billingsley won't pitch again this year,
and with some uncertainty about what they can expect from closer Kenley Jansen (who has an irregular heartbeat and in hoping to
return in the middle of September).
And they begin it realizing that the remaining schedule doesn't favor them. And that's putting it mildly.
After this weekend, the Giants won't play another playoff contender until the final three days of the season -- when they face the
Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have a trip where they'll face the teams with the two best records in the National League -- the Nationals
and the Reds. They also have a four-game home series against the Cardinals.
Including this weekend's three games against the Giants, the Dodgers will play 16 of their final 24 games against teams that as of
now would be in the NL playoffs.
The Giants will play none.
The Dodgers begin this weekend just 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the last wild-card spot, but even there, the schedule
works strongly against them. The Cardinals still have two series remaining against the Astros and one against the Cubs.
"We have to go out and play every game like it's our last game," Matt Kemp told reporters this week.
And if they want to have any chance at winning the division, this weekend they need a sweep.
On to 3 to Watch:
1. Jered Weaver's sore right shoulder robbed us of what would have been a Weaver-Justin Verlander matchup Saturday night. But
Thursday's off-day allowed the Angels to still line up Ervin Santana, C.J. Wilson and Zack Greinke for a series that could end up being
important in the wild-card race. Santana, who is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA in his last four starts, opens it up by facing Max Scherzer in
Tigers at Angels, Friday night (10:05 ET) at Angel Stadium. Scherzer is having maybe the most under-the-radar fine season in the
league, with 15 wins and 204 strikeouts. He's been brilliant lately, going 5-0 with a 1.03 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 35 innings in his last
five starts.
2. Three years ago, when Tim Lincecum was on his way to a second straight Cy Young and Josh Beckett was on his way to 17 wins, a
Lincecum-Beckett matchup might have been the game of the year. Of course, three weeks ago, this Dodgers-Giants series looked
like it might be the series of the year. It still holds interest, as does the Beckett-Lincecum matchup in Dodgers at Giants, Friday night
(10:15 ET) at AT&T Park. Beckett is coming off one of his best starts of the year. Lincecum, whose 6.42 ERA 133rd out of 134 regular
major-league starters at the All-Star break (only the Twins' Nick Blackburn was worse), ranks 27th with a 3.26 ERA since then.
3. As colleague Jon Heyman likes to point out, it's a little funny that the guy the Red Sox seem to prefer as Bobby Valentine's
eventual replacement is the one guy who trails Valentine's Red Sox in the American League East. John Farrell's Blue Jays have a
better excuse, because of injuries that destroyed the pitching staff and then cost them Jose Bautista, their best hitter. The Farrell-tothe-Red Sox talk is sure to heat up this weekend, especially with Clay Buchholz on the mound for Blue Jays at Red Sox, Sunday
afternoon (1:35 ET) at Fenway Park. David Waldstein of the New York Times reported last November that the Blue Jays asked for
Buchholz when the Red Sox wanted Farrell to replace Terry Francona. That's worth remembering, since Farrell is under contract with
the Jays for 2013. The only way the Red Sox could get him this winter would be to agree with the Blue Jays on compensation.
SAN BERNARDINO SUN
Quakes, Dodgers renew affiliation deal
By Pete Marshall Staff Writer
Posted: 09/06/2012 10:08:52 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Two years ago, there was much drama and intrigue as the Quakes formed a new partnership with the
Dodgers after 10 years as the Angels' California League affiliate.
This time, there was less drama.
The Quakes and Dodgers renewed their player development contract for two more years, it was announced Thursday.
"It's something we have been talking about," Quakes President Brent Miles said. "It was an easy conversation with the Dodgers.
We're still excited to be partners."
"Brett Sports & Entertainment has been a great partner and we're thrilled to continue our relationship," Dodgers Assistant General
Manager De Jon Watson said in a press release. "The improvements to their playing surface and upgrades to the stadium have made
The Epicenter a great place to groom our future Dodgers."
Last year, in the first year of the Dodgers-Quakes relationship, the Quakes won both halves of the California League South Division
but lost in the South Finals to eventual league champion Lake Elsinore.
This year, the Quakes missed out on the playoffs after losing a first-half tiebreaking game with High Desert. They lost their last two
regular-season games and finished one game behind Lake Elsinore for a wild card.
But the Quakes may have had one of their most star-studded years with rehabilitation assignments.
Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Ted Lilly were some of the Dodgers who played for the Quakes in 2012.
Two years ago, when the Quakes and Dodgers originally signed their agreement, the Quakes were interested in having the Dodgers
eventually buy an ownership share in the club.
The Dodgers made no commitment but were willing to consider the proposition.
That was cited as one reason for making the switch from the Angels to the Dodgers.
But that was under the Frank McCourt ownership.
Now that the Dodgers have new owners, the Quakes still are waiting for the Dodgers to buy into the club.
"They (Dodgers) have much bigger things on their plate right now," Miles said. "On the ownership level, we've had very preliminary
discussions. But there's nothing imminent happening there."
When the Quakes originally moved from San Bernardino to Rancho Cucamonga in 1993, they were a San Diego Padres affiliate. From
1993-2000 they were with the Padres, and 2001-10 with the Angels.
BALLPARK DIGEST
Isotopes, Dodgers extend PDC
THURSDAY, 06 SEPTEMBER 2012 18:17
About time: the Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their playerdevelopment contract through the 2014 season.
“We’re thrilled to extend our incredibly successful partnership with the Dodgers,” said Isotopes General Manager John Traub. “The
City of Albuquerque and the Dodgers have been linked for generations and just as Los Angeles is considered one of the premiere
franchises in Major League Baseball, the same is true for the Isotopes in Minor League Baseball. We’re proud to continue the shared
traditions of two great organizations.”
The partnership between the ‘Topes and Dodgers has been successful both on and off the field for both teams, as Albuquerque has
racked up a record of 302-273 in four seasons with the Dodgers, including two playoff berths. Since 2009, a total of 67 players have
suited up for the Isotopes and the Dodgers, with 19 leaving Albuquerque to make their Major League debut in Los Angeles.
“We’re very excited to extend our relationship with Ken Young, John Traub and the Isotopes,” said Dodgers Assistant General
Manager, Player Development De Jon Watson. “These two franchises have a storied history together and we’re happy to continue
our relationship with the city of Albuquerque with its top-notch facilities and passionate fan base.”
The Albuquerque Dukes were the Triple-A affiliate of the Dodgers from 1972 to 2000 after the Duke City hosted the Dodgers’
Double-A affiliate from 1965 to 1971. Albuquerque will now be home to the Dodgers’ top farm club for 35 out of 43 years from 1972
to 2014.