Archives for category: 2014
Rally host Chris Erskine vents to Fox reporter Olga Ospina at the Short Stop on Wednesday night.

Rally host Chris Erskine vents to Fox reporter Olga Ospina at the Short Stop.

So our star right fielder has a hit out on him, our Cy Young winner (well, one of them) is on the D.L., and most Angelenos can’t watch what could be Vin Scully’s last season calling games. It’s a weird year to be a Dodger fan.

We can’t do anything about Yasiel Puig’s death threats from Mexican drug cartels except duck if we hear gunshots. We can’t fix Clayton Kershaw’s back, we just have to wait patiently like he is. We can, however, express outrage and disappointment at the miserable fiasco that is SportsNet LA.

Last night, while the Dodgers were losing, 2-1, to the dreaded Giants, I joined my friend, L.A. Times columnist Chris Erskine, at a rally to let Dodger management and Time Warner Cable know we want our Dodgers, and we want them now!

Here is an excellent Fox 11 report on the protest, which was also covered by KNBC and KCAL:

The salient points raised by Erskine and his legion of diehard Dodger fans are that:

● Dodger management promised to make things better for fans that withstood the Frank McCourt era, and cutting a deal that blacks out 70% of all L.A. fans from seeing the games on TV is more about the Big Green Bucks than the True Blue Fans.

● This could be Vin Scully’s last season announcing games, and most of us can’t watch them. Three innings before Charley Steiner and Rick Monday on radio is just not enough Vin. No Vin? It’s a Sin!

● It’s not the fans’ job to put pressure on the cable companies to make a deal. We are the ones who are going to have to pay for it in the long run, we shouldn’t have to be the ones getting it done in the short run.

$tan Ka$ten and TWC better start realizing how angry Dodger fans are. And if they can get Angels games on TV, some Dodger fans might just start switching their allegiance from Blue to Red.

Now is the time to cut your losses and get a deal done that puts the Dodgers back on everyone’s televisions.

ENOUGH WITH THE LIP SERVICE, THINK ABOUT THE FANS!

And by that I mean ALL fans, not just the rich ones.

Say it with me: I’M MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Now, come to the Short Stop on Sunset Boulevard on Wed., April 16, at 6 p.m. to tell Dodger management how you feel.

Here is a press release being circulated by my friend, L.A. Times columnist Chris Erskine. He is leading a charge to let Dodger management and Time Warner Cable know how angry we are that we can’t see the damn games.

The Short Stop, 1455 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park

The Short Stop, 1455 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park

Feel like a forgotten fan?

Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine is rallying all Dodger fans to the Short Stop bar in Echo Park on Wednesday night to speak out against the Time Warner Cable deal that excludes 75% of the L.A. viewing market.

While the new Dodger ownership has done some excellent things, this virtual blackout of the TV market is a fan fiasco. Can you imagine what would happen in Boston or New York if something like this occurred?

Among the questions:

Whom do you blame: TWC, the cable outlets, or the Dodgers?
Where is MLB commissioner Bud Selig in all this?
Why does this matter so much to us?

Bring back Frank McCourt!

OK, we’re not going that far. But come make yourself be heard at the Short Stop, as the Dodgers take on archrival San Francisco in a road game that most of us will not see.

The bar happens to be one of the rare places that get the Dodgers, so stay after and watch the first-place Dodgers battle for the division lead.

 When: 6:00 p.m. Wednesday (April 16)
Where: The Short Stop, 1455 W. Sunset Boulevard (near the Sunset entrance to the ballpark)

I’ll be there, everybody. You should be too! Go Dodgers!

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia PhilliesI agree that the only time the Dodgers can afford to bring relief pitcher Brandon League into the game is if they have a 6-run or more lead. But even then, it’s not a safe bet.

Witness yesterday’s ninth-inning near-disaster.

The Dodgers have an 8-2 lead coasting into the bottom of the ninth after another great start by Zack Greinke against Arizona.

Mattingly brings in the universally dreaded League to close up the game. Now, I’m sure Brandon League is a perfectly nice guy, and I know the Dodgers owe him a lot of money, but they will never win a World Series if they rely on him to contribute. He should not be in the big leagues anymore. He is done. He should take his millions and go surfing at Waikiki. Anytime the announcer states, “Now pitching for the Dodgers, Number 43, Brandon League,” every true blue Dodger fan cringes, some even recoil in horror. And almost always, their fears are realized.

First D’Back to the plate singles, second is hit by a pitch, third flies out (advancing first guy to third), fourth guy walks to load the bases. You can almost smell defeat breathing down our neck.

There is a coaching visit to the mound. Ya think?

We used to joke that what Kirk Honeycutt is saying in those visits is, “OK, the bases are loaded, now throw them something they can hit, so that we lose this game.” Our pitching staff has gotten better since then, with one exception.

League gives up a sac fly to score one run, then serves up a two-run double to Mark Trumbo, cutting our lead to 8-5.

It physically hurt to listen to this potential debacle unfold.

But luckily, Mattingly saw the error of his ways in time (instead of his usual waiting ’til it’s too late) and brought in Kenley Jansen to save the day.

The Dodgers held on to win, 8-5.