Archives for posts with tag: Arizona Diamondbacks
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.

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.

Cute ContestBefore I get to the game, I have to warn our beloved Vin Scully about those koalas.

As you can see, Vin cuddled up to a cute little marsupial while visiting Sydney. Adorable as all get out, but dangerous as hell. Problem is, there is an epidemic of chlamydia running rampant in the koala population, as reported last year by BBC News. And they say that, yes, it is transmittable to humans through direct contact. Here is a link to the Australian Koala Foundation if you want to donate to help save the most darling little animals.

Dodgers third-baseman Juan Uribe connects for a double.

Dodgers third-baseman Juan Uribe connects for a double.

Slugfest
Happy Birthday, Juan Uribe! You were one of three Dodgers to have a trio of hits in a 7-5 victory over those Arizona vipers. Yasiel Puig and the amazing Dee Gordon (13 pounds heavier than last year, according to Vin Scully) also got three hits each as the boys in blue amassed a whopping 7-0 lead behind pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. It looked like such clear sailing that I was getting a little bored, that is, until the bullpen took over.

Good thing the Dodgers are not playing again until Thursday’s freeway series game against the Angels, because they burned through their relievers, and most of them didn’t do so well. What seemed like a stroll through the park turned dangerous there at the end, as the D’backs scored four runs in the final inning, including a two-run dinger off the first pitch by Golden Boy closer Kenley Jansen. Yikes!

But on the bright side, the Dodgers start the season with a sweep of those dastardly Diamondbacks, whose love of hitting batters hasn’t abated at all. Both Puig and Gordon got plunked, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that they were both guys hitting well.