Archives for posts with tag: Ian Kennedy

Ian KennedyThe best revenge is beating them at their own game.

Arizona has dominated the National League West most of the season so far. SO FAR. The Dodgers are making a great play for a little domination of their own, moving up from the cellar to within 2½ games of first. They did that by beating the D’bags, 6-1, two days in a row.

On Monday, Zack Greinke gave up fewer hits than he himself had, going 3-for-3 while allowing the Snakes to only hit twice. That guy has a .370 batting average. Who does he think he is, Babe Ruth? (BTW, not looking a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but the Dodgers had 17 hits in that game. How come they only managed to score six times?)

On Tuesday, despite one batter from each team being struck by a pitch, no melees broke out when Ian “Beanball” Kennedy took the mound. There’s some interesting chatter going on that suggests the antagonism of these two teams is only getting deeper and more adament. MLB.com reports: [Yasiel] Puig’s all-out style of play can be an irritant to opposing teams, and Kennedy referred to it when discussing the play at the plate. “He plays with a lot of arrogance,” Kennedy said.

I think a lot of baseball players play “with a lot of arrogance,” starting with a pitcher who hits more batters (more often than not on purpose) than anyone else in the majors and then hightails it to the dugout when the benches start to clear.

When I met Ian in Puerto Rico, he told me he had always been a Dodger fan. We texted each other after some great games during Mannywood days. Now he is Public Enemy No. 1 for any and all true Dodger fans. Funny how time changes things, huh?

On Opening Day 2010, Ian Kennedy was, at once, both friend and foe.

On Opening Day 2010, Ian Kennedy was, at once, both friend and foe.

Well, before all of L.A. began their hate affair with Ian Kennedy (beanball pitcher extraordinaire) of the Arizona Diamondbacks, I took a photo of him at an opening day game when he got shelled by numerous home runs. (The photo at right is a different one from the same day. You don’t think I’m going to just give you the photo, do you? I want you to see it in the exhibit!)

In the exhibited photograph, Ian stands on the mound defeated and perplexed, and since he was a friend of mine, as I took the picture, I felt conflicted by joy at a sure Dodger victory and pathos for my suffering friend.

That photo and a little story about it are featured in a new Baseball Reliquary exhibit opening today all about photography and baseball. You all should check it out at the Pasadena Library.

Baseball Photo Exhibition Flyer

Back-to-Back Home RunsNot only did Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs in the 9th inning today (the first time for any Dodgers this season), but they won, believe it or not, for the second time in a row. Wow! That constitutes a string for this team.

The two dingers lifted the Dodgers out of a 1-1 tie just in time to call in Kenley Jansen to save the thing. So a 6-1 win Saturday, and a 3-1 victory Sunday, that makes a great weekend, even if it means a split series and no ground gained in the standings. At least no ground was lost, either, right? (I’m trying to make lemonade out of the lemons we have all been handed as Dodger fans, all right?)