Matt Kemp Handed MVP By TV Graphics Person
Close But No Cigar
Apparently someone in the Los Angeles Dodgers TV graphics department is not sold on Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun being able to retain the 2011 National League MVP and did something about it.
The graphics person decided to hold no court debate or revote and just handled it over to Kemp in his first at-bat against crosstown splash the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Los Angeles Dodgers Give Team Batboy Tryout
Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, Is Chico Herrera Next??
The Los Angeles Dodgers are always on the look out for the next great Major League Baseball player and sometimes that guy doesn’t from their minor league system but from a tryout. Chances are that next great player they are looking for could have been under their nose all along and in their dugout for the last couple of years.
That’s what could happen if the Dodgers are impressed enough with team batboy Francisco ‘Chico’ Herrera. The team offered a chance for Herrera and 124 others to showcase their baseball skills at the Dodgers annual tryout at Camelback Ranch, the team’s spring facility in Glendale, Arizona.
Herrera, a 22-year-old who has worked for the Dodgers the past four years has steady impressed the current big league Dodgers with his skills, notably the arm and athletic ability making catches he showed during batting practice. Assistant General Manager De Jon Watson was talked up by former pitcher Jon Garland that they should at least take a look.
Watson is happy to offer it because, well, you just never know.”We’ve signed guys out of our tryout camp every year,” Watson said. “Last year we found a guy throwing 97 and it was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to sign him.’ “So this isn’t some publicity stunt to deflect attention away from whatever embattled owner Frank McCourt has last stepped in. This isn’t an attempt to get fans to buy tickets to watch the tryouts.Nope, this is real.”
The best player on his team at Hollywood High and the starting shortstop at Valley College in North Hollywood Herrera is no getting that chance.
“I’ve seen him down the foul lines, he makes some pretty good catches. You watch him in BP and he’s out there power-shagging in the outfield. Like, ‘Who is this kid?’”So yeah, we’ll take a look at him. You never know. Guys change, they mature, they grow. You never know until you take a look at him,” Watson said.
Joe Torre Group Withdraws Bid To Purchase Los Angeles Dodgers
Out
The group led by Joe Torre has withdrawn its bid to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the report, owner Frank McCourt’s refusal to include the Dodger Stadium parking lots in the sale was a major sticking point.
Torre’s partners include Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso and investor Byron Trott of BDT Capital. The remaining bidders, now believed to number nine and include a group headed by Magic Johnson, have been requested to submit a second bid this week.
McCourt must select a winning bidder by April 1 with the sale closing by April 30, the day he must pay former wife Jamie McCourt a $131 million divorce settlement.
Statue Of Tommy Lasorda Unveiled In The Dominican Republic
Slim Fast Version
Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda is forever immortalized with a bronze statue depicting the Hall of Famer, which was unveiled in the Dominican Republic, the team announced.
The statue stands at the ‘Paseo de los Immortales’ in La Romana. Lasorda, 84, serves as Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Dodgers and has worked for the team for six decades.
Lasorda has longstanding ties to Latin America as he spent three seasons in the Dominican Republic.
He is a founding member of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and serves as their Goodwill Ambassador, according to the team.
Orel Hershiser Invented Tebowing
Hershisering
Hershisering or praying just doesn’t have the same ring to it or pull that Tebowing does. However it appears after Cy Young award winning pitcher Orel Hershiser is the man that brought it the sports forefront back in 1988.
Hershiser first struck the pose after defeating the New York Mets in game 7 of the 1988 National League Championship Series. That year Hershiser had the year of his life when he lead the league with wins (23), innings pitched (267), and complete games (15) as well as finishing the season with a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, breaking the mark held by former Dodger Don Drysdale. He also won his first Gold Glove and was unanimously selected as the Cy Young Award winner, with a record of 23–8 and a 2.26 ERA.
Not to be outdone as just a fine regular season he stepped up huge in the postseason where he started Games 1 and 3 as well as recording the final out in Game 4 in relief for a save. He then pitched a shutout in Game 7 and was selected MVP of the series.
Hershiser then capped his historic season in the World Series by pitching a shutout in Game 2 and allowing two runs in a complete game in the clinching victory in Game 5, winning the World Series MVP Award.
Hershiser is the only player to receive the Cy Young award, the Championship Series MVP award, and the World Series MVP award in the same season. He later received both The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year and Sports Illustrated magazine’s Sportsman of the Year award for his accomplishments in 1988.
So it pays to do Tebowing now and then.
Joe Torre Resigns From MLB Job To Pursue Purchase Of Dodgers
Just Say It Joe, You Didn't Like The Job
The commissioner’s office loss of Joe Torre could be the Los Angeles Dodgers gain. After one year working under Bud Selig as executive vice president of baseball operations, Torre has resigned to “explore opportunities with a group that will pursue ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers,” MLB said in a release Wednesday morning. The resignation is effective immediately.
Disgraced Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the club because of financial woes stemming from a messy divorce with Jamie McCourt.
“I have made this decision because of a unique chance to join a group that plans to bid for the Dodgers,” Torre said in the statement. “After leaving the field, this job was an incredible experience, one that I enjoyed very much.”
Torre will join the investment group headed by L.A. real estate magnate Rick Caruso.
The Los Angeles Times reported last month that McCourt has until April 30 to sell the Dodgers. Initial bids for the team originally were due by Jan. 13, but the deadline has been extended to Jan. 23.
In Torre’s absence, senior vice presidents Joe Garagiola Jr., Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork will oversee the baseball operations functions of the commissioner’s office, MLB.com reports. A permanent replacement will be named at a later date.
WTF: Don Mattingly
Forever Link
Lori Mattingly, the wife of the Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly convinced her husband to participate in the annual Nutcracker Ballet for the arts in Evansville, Illinois, their hometown. Donnie Baseball appeared as Mother Ginger, complete with giant hoop skirt and Kabuki-style makeup.
Joe Torre Says He Has No Desire To Manage Again
Done
Don’t expect to see Joe Torre in a dugout again, unless he just is visiting as part of his new job.
“Nobody’s made a call to me to ask me to manage,” Torre told MLB.com. “When I talk to people about other things, they want to know if I’m still interested. I’m really not.”
Torre, now the executive vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball, was honored Tuesday evening at the 17th annual Lou Gehrig Sports Awards Benefit.
Torre last managed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010 and ranks fifth on the all-time wins list with 2,326. In his 29 years as a major league manager, he won four World Series (all with the New York Yankees). Torre also managed the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Dodgers.
“When I decided to not do it anymore, it was something I felt was in my best interest, and I felt if it’s in my best interest, then it has to help the team. Because you need somebody who has an enormous amount of energy and has the patience and the fortitude to go forward. It takes a lot out of you,” Torre told MLB.com. “When you do it for a number of years, and all of a sudden the expectations are sky-high, you’ve got to realize that the guy who’s doing it has a great deal of responsibility.”
MLB’s Rookie Hazing
It’s that time of year where the MLB has come to a close and team veterans make the 2011 rookies show up to the ballpark in outlandish costumes. Earlier this week we posted the Colorado Rockies dressing up as characters from Star Wars and now now have a few others to bring you. Thanks to the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays for participating. And shame on those teams that haven’t yet exposed their rookie costume hazing photos.
If your wondering who the one player is singled out is, that’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Mike Trout, who makes for one pretty nasty looking Lady Gaga.
Whoever decided that Astros second baseman Jose Altuve should be a jockey, that is just brilliant.
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
St. Louis Cardinals
Minnesota Twins
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Lady Gaga aka Mike Trout
Washington Nationals
WTF: Matt Kemp
He Misses His Shopping Buddy
The Los Angeles Dodgers centerfielder Matt Kemp is two home runs shy from entering the 40/40 club tonight in his final game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But seriously after the breakup from R&B singer Rhianna didn’t we all think we were done seeing images like these. The soon-to-be National League MVP posed all soaking wet for Flaunt Magazine.
Kobe Bryant is impressed.
Seriously...Seriously
Ryan Roberts Channels Roberts Kirk Gibson After Walkoff Grand Slam
Arizona Diamondbacks Ryan Roberts did his best Kirk Gibson impression, pumping his fist in triumph as he rounded the bases in one of the most amazing moments of the teams improbable season. Roberts grand slam capped a six-run 10th inning that gave the Diamondbacks the most stunning of their 48 come-from-behind victories this season, a 7-6 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tommy Lasorda Returns To Coach Los Angeles Dodgers
Baseball Ambassador
Last night was just like old times for former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda as he took a seat on the the teams bench. Lasorda wore his famous No. 2 white jersey as an honorary coach under manager Don Mattingly against the San Francisco Giants, a gesture extended by the team for his 84th birthday.
“I want to manage,” he said. “I got 1,599 wins. Win this one and we’ll be 1,600. It’s very, very important to me.”
Lasorda retired in 1996 as one of just five major league managers to guide the same team for 20 years or more. His tenure included two World Series titles, four National League pennants and eight division titles. He’s is in his 62nd season with the franchise and currently serves as special adviser to team owner and chairman Frank McCourt.
“It feels great,” Lasorda said. “This is something I never thought, never dreamed it would happen and it happened. I’m so grateful. My family’s enthused about it. All my friends are calling me from all over the country. I didn’t think I was that much missed.”
When Giants manager Bruce Bochy was asked how he felt about Lasorda being on the Dodgers bench again he said,“let him manage. I’ll outsmart him.” To which Lasorda responded by saying “tell Bochy I’m in the Hall of Fame.”
Los Angeles Dodgers Send Survey Out To Season Ticket Holders On Frank McCourt
Genius
Los Angeles Dodgers fans have apparently shown their displeasure with owner Frank McCourt by staying far away from Dodger Stadium as row after row of empty seats can be spotted over and over at home games. Now the Dodgers are giving their season-ticket holders an actual way of voicing their concerns over the owner who steered their ballclub into federal bankruptcy court.
The Dodgers have sent a survey to its most loyal customers to determine the likelihood if they will renew their season seats. The fans who were uncertain to renew were offered a chance to voice that concern with several choices.
(A) Team performance
(B) Pricing
(C) Ownership
Frank McCourt once again botches another simple task as he doesn’t need to kill trees and send out a survey, just look into the seats and see that there is no one there.
Los Angeles Dodgers Deny They Forced Andre Ethier To Play Hurt
But Coach My Knee
Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star right fielder Andre Ethier was held out of the teams starting lineup recently because of a sore right knee. Ethier went public with his problem in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, which caused a stir throughout the clubhouse and resulted in a 15-minute closed-door meeting with manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti. The outfielder’s remarks to the Times gave the impression that Ethier had repeatedly told the Dodgers he couldn’t play and that they instead insisted he did.
Mattingly denied the implication, saying that he was “blindsided” by the information in the column and emphasizing that he doesn’t have any communication problems with Ethier.
“I was a little taken back by it,” Mattingly said. “I talked to ‘Dre about it to see if he felt that the way it came out was accurate. To me, the way I read it, was that ‘Dre’s been telling us he can’t play and we just said: ‘Well, you’re playing, anyway. And that’s definitely not the case. I would never do that. That’s not part of my DNA. If a guy tells me he can play, then he can play. From our standpoint, we’ve constantly checked to make sure he’s OK.”
“I’d rather lose my job and us not win than put a guy out there who has a chance of hurting himself and doing something that would affect his career in a long-term way in any way, shape or form especially if he says, ‘Hey, I can’t go.’ To me, that takes a shot at my integrity, the organization, the training staff and Ned. But it really gets back to me, personally that I would put a guy out there that was hurt and was taking a shot at hurting his career. I would never do that. And I told ‘Dre that, too.”
Ethier told reporters Sunday that he hadn’t asked out of the lineup despite his physical ailments but he also said the Dodgers haven’t made the call for him either.
Ethier initially told the Times: “If you’re expecting me to do what I’ve done in the past, no, there’s no possible way I can do that right now. You can say tough it out and give it your best shot, but it’s not going to happen. It’s only going to get worse from this point. I’ve dealt with it all season long, but as the season goes on my body wears down. That’s just the way it is. I keep getting put in the lineup, so what am I supposed to do?”
When asked if Ethier would have been in the lineup Sunday if the Dodgers were still in the NL West race instead of 11 games out, Mattingly said:
“None of that to me is really at issue. It’s kind of separate from the issue right now. I don’t want to get into his dispute, but he basically told me that he’s never told us that he can’t play. I just told him what I read made it sound like he came out and told us he can’t play — and that we were saying: ‘Well, we don’t care. You’re playing.’ He admitted that he never said he can’t play, but he did acknowledge that he can’t control how it comes out.”
Ethier, who hasn’t appeared to be favoring the knee, was thrown out at home plate in each of the previous two games. On Friday, he ran through third base coach Tim Wallach’s stop sign trying to score on a fly to center field. On Saturday, he was out trying to score on a two-run double by Casey Blake.
Ethier is batting .286 with 10 home runs and 51 RBIs in 127 games, and had a 30-game hitting streak early in the season and hasn’t committed an error all season.
WTF: Los Angeles Dodgers Fan
Genius
The ongoing troubles of the once proud organization of the Los Angeles Dodgers is well documented, thanks in part to owner Frank McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie McCourt. However this fan has taken it another level to express his disgust with the ongoing situation.
Moth Flies Into Matt Holliday’s Ear
Richard Jefferson Of The Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday had to leave the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning last night when a moth flew into his right ear. The Cardinals were leading 1-0 when Dodgers Matt Kemp was batting with two outs in the eighth when Holliday abruptly had Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg pulled him from the game.
“He had a moth fly into his ear, deep in his ear,” manager Tony La Russa said.
The Cardinals training staff first tried to lure the moth out by shining a light in a darkened room. When that failed, a trainer used tweezers to pull the insect, which was still alive from Holliday’s ear canal. The Dodgers rallied for two runs in the ninth Monday to win 2-1.
This season has already produced some weird injuries for the Cardinals with recently Holliday missing two games last week when he tweaked his back in a pregame weightlifting warmup session and then shortstop Rafael Furcal missed two games over the weekend with a sprained thumb suffered when he tripped over a rope at Wrigley Field.
Usher Takes Foul Ball Away From little Tommy At Los Angeles Dodgers Game
Looking for a PR nightmare at any point in the Major League Baseball season? Then pick any day for the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers, mainly because of their owner Frank McCourt. However this week this probably hit an all-time low for the team when an usher took away a foul ball from little Tommy during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodger’s spokesman Josh Rawitch said that the incident was “all in good fun.” Sure it was. Like anytime a grown man approaches a little kid and craps on his enjoyment, it’s all in good fun.
Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player: Dan Uggla
Dan Uggla
Every Tuesday Sports Grind Entertainment presents you with the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player of the Week. This week the recipient of this prestigious honor goes to Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla for extending his hitting streak to 29 games. He’s tied with Rowland Office for the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Rico Carty’s 31 in a row in 1970. During his 29-game hitting streak, Uggla has batted .354 (40-for-113), with 12 homers and a .717 slugging percentage. His batting average has risen to .220, which stands as his second-highest mark of the season. Uggla’s streak stands as the second-longest in the Majors this year behind the 30 game streak by Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier.
Congratulations Dan Uggla you are this weeks Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Player.
Los Angeles Dodgers Could Lose $27 Milli Off Declining Attendance
Your Fault
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise could lose at least $27 million in ticket sales, concession and parking revenue this season because of a dramatic drop in attendance. The Dodgers totaled $286 million in revenue but with this season’s attendance decline that could amount to at least a 9.4 percent drop in total annual revenue this year.
The Dodgers average attendance is down by 7,902 a game as the team struggles on the field and Frank McCourt’s ownership reign remains in jeopardy. That is the biggest drop in per-game attendance in the majors this season.
The Times calculated the $27 million based on attendance figures, the average ticket price calculated by Team Marketing Report and internal Dodgers data on concessions and parking revenue revealed last year in court documents in the Frank and Jamie McCourt divorce case.
little Tommy Pouts Over Missed Foul Ball
Last night at the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants game, little Tommy was none too pleased after missing out on his chance at catching a foul ball and started to pout as the woman in front of him celebrated.
Gabby Giffords Intern Will Throw Out First Pitch At MLB All-Star Game
Hero
Daniel Hernandez, the intern who held Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords alive in the minutes after Jared Lee Loughner shot her in the head, will be throwing out the first pitch at tonight’s MLB All-Star game. Hernandez, 21, is hailed as a hero after his quick thinking was credited with keeping Rep. Giffords alive until paramedics arrived. Hernandez held her upright so she could breathe and applied pressure to her head wound.
Among those killed in the shootings, in which six people died and 12 others were wounded, was Christina Taylor Green, the daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and granddaughter of former Major League Baseball manager Dallas Green.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig invited the families of all of the victims to participate in the pre-game ceremony.
Loughner, 22, is charged with 49 federal crimes in connection with the mass shootings. Last month a judge ruled Loughner was not currently competent to stand trial.
Los Angeles Dodgers Checks Bounce
Your Fault
A number of Los Angeles Dodgers team employees paychecks bounced this week, days after team owner Frank McCourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Los Angeles Times reported that players and full-time front office employees were not affected.
Josh Rawitch, Dodgers vice president of communications, told the Los Angeles Times that the affected employees were part-time, game-day staff, the everyday working guy. The Times identified them as security guards and ushers who work at Dodger Stadium. The team issued new checks Wednesday and has agreed to cover bank fees.
Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown: Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
Every Thursday Sports Grind Entertainment will present you with the Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown. The recipient of this honor goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers for filing for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat. Former players are owed millions and even Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully is owed more than $150,000 as part of his contract, court documents show. The filing by a cash-starved McCourt comes just days before he was expected to miss a team payroll and possibly be confronted with an MLB takeover. McCourt has taken out loans to stay afloat this season but his mounting financial problems were expected to balloon this week, when he owed tens of millions of dollars to meet payroll and other obligations.
The bankruptcy filing lists assets of up to $1 billion and debts up to $500 million. The Dodgers are obligated to pay $92.5 million in guaranteed player contracts, not including signing bonuses, and the team has nearly 300 full-time employees. It also noted a $67 million loan taken out against the parking lots at Dodger Stadium was set to mature Thursday.
MLB Blocks Fans From Customizing Los Angeles Dodgers Chapter 11 Jerseys
Thanks Frank
Major League Baseball is the latest league to enforce their policy on refraining from it’s customers from using inappropriate, derogatory, or profane language upon it’s apparel.
So if you were interested in poking fun at the Los Angeles Dodgers and owner Frank McCourt by customizing a jersey that read “Chapter 11,” then your out of luck as their customization will not allow you to do so.
