OFFICIAL 2009 DODGERS SEASON THREAD : Season Over. Congratulations Phillies.

DODGERS FYI

[h1]Dodgers' Manny Ramirez talks with Ned Colletti, Frank McCourt[/h1]

46822312.jpg

Email Picture

Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti on the phone Wednesday before a game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium.

The separate conversations are the All-Star outfielder's first with the team's general manager and owner since Ramirez was suspended for 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy.

By Dylan Hernandez and Jim Peltz
May 10, 2009

Manny Ramirez touched base with the heads of the Dodgers organization Saturday, having his first conversations with owner Frank McCourt and General Manager Ned Colletti since being handed a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy.

McCourt is said to be furious with Ramirez and was demanding that the All-Star outfielder call him, according to sources familiar with the situation who weren't authorized to discuss the matter.

Among McCourt's other demands is that Ramirez address his teammates. One source said that is "unlikely" to happen today when the Dodgers conclude an 11-game homestand, but "might" take place during the six-game trip that starts Tuesday in Philadelphia. A possibility exists that Ramirez could face the team on the second half of the trip, in his off-season hometown of Miami.

What was clear on Saturday was that the issue of Ramirez's speaking to his teammates was more important to McCourt than it was to Dodgers Manager Joe Torre.

"I don't think addressing the team is necessary," Torre said. "I think it is important that the players get a chance to say something. I don't think we need anything formal."



Torre said he spoke to Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, and was under the impression that Ramirez remained uncertain of what his next course of action will be.

Colletti acknowledged that he spoke with Ramirez on Saturday morning but declined to say what they talked about or to share his thoughts on Ramirez's state of mind.

"We had a good conversation," Colletti said.

Keeping tabs

The coaching staff will monitor the Dodgers' on-field performance more closely in the aftermath of Ramirez's suspension, but no major changes are planned, third base coach Larry Bowa said.

"You go about the same approach" with the players despite having to fill the void caused by Ramirez's 50-game absence, Bowa said.

"If you do anything really different, they're going to know about it," he said. "But if you see somebody struggling or something, you talk to them a little bit."

Torre's experience with turbulent situations during his 12-year tenure as New York Yankees manager also should help stabilize the Dodgers, Bowa said.

"Joe's biggest asset is having handled situations like this; he went through a ton of them in New York," Bowa said.

Trying hard

Shortstop Rafael Furcal might be pressing a bit in the batter's box, Torre said.

"He's frustrated with himself," Torre said of the switch-hitting leadoff batter, who is batting .250 and took a scheduled day off Saturday. Juan Castro replaced him at shortstop.

Furcal missed most of last season because of a back injury, but has said he's physically in good shape.

But with "every aspect of his game right now, he's probably trying to overdo it," Torre said. "But I think he's fine. He's still aggressive."

New broadcast

The Dodgers plan a May 20 debut for their DodgersWIN broadcast, part of the team's Women's Initiatives Network effort to bring women closer to the game.

The broadcast provides a free live audio feed of the game that night against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium via www.dodgers.com/win, and is scheduled to be available for each Wednesday home game.

Former Fox baseball anchor Jeanne Zelasko will handle the play-by-play and former Dodger Mark Sweeney will provide analysis.
Click to expand...
 
Man does anyone else remember how we talked about this during spring training and said something looked off with Manny? How he seemed like he was worried about something coming out or something along those lines?
ohwell.gif

that interview with colleen dominguez he seemed a little stand-offish and kinda
grin.gif
Click to expand...
 
you would think mccourt would be happy with all that money he is saving. he can put it towards the dodger stadium condo fund.
 
Originally Posted by In Yo Nostril

you would think mccourt would be happy with all that money he is saving. he can put it towards the dodger stadium condo fund.
Click to expand...

Well, he isn't saving as much money as he thought.
[h1]Manny Suspension Only Frees Up $2.7MM For L.A.[/h1]
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [May 9 at 12:58pm CST]

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports the Manny Ramirez suspension frees up just $2.7MM in payroll this year for the Dodgers- or about $5MM less than originally expected. Because Manny's contract is deferred over the course of many years, he'll lose the money gradually, instead of all at once. Though Manny was originally expected to lose close to $8MM in total, he'll only lose $6.8MM. The Dodgers save $2.7MM this year and $1.37MM in each of the next three seasons.

Rosenthal adds that the Dodgers are expected to spend on pitching if they decide to make any additions.



& I'm gonna email Plashke, anyone else?
nerd.gif
Click to expand...
 
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgerthoughts/

[h1]Some who aren't bitter over Manny Ramirez have valid reasons[/h1]
No, I'm not angry at Manny Ramirez. No, that doesn't mean I want anarchy in sports and steroid needles in my children.

Bill Plaschke and Kurt Streeter of The Times each have new columns lamenting the insufficient moral indignation in Los Angeles over Ramirez's suspension for using a banned substance. They basically reach the same conclusion: that the people of this town don't care enough about cheating ballplayers and drug abuse, and that this apathy is bad for baseball and society.

I don't disagree with their anti-drug stances, but I do think they overlook a few things in their outrage.

The central point neither seems to fully appreciate is that Ramirez has been punished. He is suspended, he is losing millions, his legacy is forever and further tainted. Done. He hasn't gotten away with anything. The system worked, and there are many who, rather than being upset by this, are relieved by it. This isn't O.J. Simpson walking out of Lance Ito's courtroom or "'Til Death" getting renewed for another season on Fox. How upset is the entire city supposed to be when justice has been served?

Though he has calmed down somewhat since his rant on ESPN Thursday, Plaschke continues to suggest that Ramirez shouldn't be allowed back on the Dodgers roster even after his suspension is served. For someone who is ostensibly preaching fairness, Plaschke certainly seems to have a double-standard in place for Ramirez. At the risk of beating this point into the ground, Guillermo Mota continues to pitch for the Dodgers despite having gotten the same suspension in recent years as Ramirez has. Now, if Plaschke wants to run every last drug user out of baseball permanently on their first offense, that's his prerogative -- but then he should make that case. Instead, he just seems to want to single out Ramirez. His logic doesn't track -- not for the first time, some of his readers would say-- and that's at least partly why those readers are more angry at Plaschke than Ramirez.

Ramirez is not a lone deviant. He is one example of an absolutely enormous, pervasive drug culture in the game of baseball, and the fact is, baseball has punished Ramirez more severely than almost everyone else who has been doing what he did -- or worse. By the end of his suspension, Ramirez will have done his time, while countless others like him will have gotten away with murder, so to speak. That doesn't excuse what Ramirez did, but it goes a long way toward explaining why all of Los Angeles isn't bringing torches to his home.

In the end, it's pretty obvious that reaction to Ramirez's suspension covers an entire spectrum. There are plenty of people who share the disgust of Streeter and Plaschke on The Times' very own letters page, there are plenty who think Ramirez was stupid, there are plenty who think that the punishment fits the crime, and yes, there are those who think that pragmatically, there are worse things to worry about than athletes using drugs to improve their performance. (All those boos for Barry Bonds that everyone brings up? I'm pretty sure a lot of those were just because he was the best player on the Giants and was generally unpleasant, and had nothing to do with his off-field activities.)

I want baseball to be a clean sport. And for that reason, as saddened as I was for what it meant for the Dodgers and their near-perfect start to 2009, I was quite at peace with Ramirez's suspension. It's a positive. And when he comes back to play for the Dodgers, I might cheer him a little less, but I won't boo him. I don't boo anyone, but even if I did, if I were to boo Ramirez, I'd have to boo so many others that I'd probably have to stop going to games altogether. And do I really gain something from that?

For those who choose to cheer Ramirez because they love him, there's no mystery. They lovehim. When love is involved, it's not easy or even logical to expect that people will use that person to send a grandiose moral message. That's why Andruw Jones gets booed and Ramirez doesn't. And since Ramirez is still part of the Dodger family, at least through the end of the 2009 season, it makes sense that some members of the family will want to help him back on his feet after he has done his time.

You can love Ramirez and still be against drugs in baseball. Hypocritical? Irrational? Yeah. What were you expecting?

I mean, really. You want to send a message to society, and you want sports fans to be your messenger? You'd better have a Plan B.

* * *
  • Eric Stults' shutout Saturday was particularly special because it came the day before Mother's Day. Stults' mother, you'll recall, passed away as spring training began. From Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
Stults said he thought of his mother before his start, and now after pitching perhaps the best game of his career, he can enjoy Mother's Day with his family.

"It's something where hopefully I can celebrate with my wife and kids and give my dad a call and tell him I love him," Stults said. "I'm going to miss her but I'm glad she's watching down over me."

Stults' lowered his season ERA to 3.58. You don't get there with just one good performance. He hasn't gone deep in games until this weekend, but he has been contributing.
  • Because of the deferred portions of Manny Ramirez's contract, the Dodgers will only save $2.7 million during his suspension this season, according to Bollinger. The suspension will cost Ramirez approximately $6.8 million over the next four years, however.


Weisman
smokin.gif


This man is a good read. I'm finishing up his book as we speak
Click to expand...
 
562,

I ordered Weisman's book and Bluetopia a couple weeks ago

Bout to go down to my mailbox I think it came yesterday.

Can I get that sig
nerd.gif
 
The book is great dude. It's not something you HAVE TO READ since it isn't a story from cover to cover, it's a ton of short ones rangingfrom 1-4 pages with a lot of little side blurbs in the mix. There's quite a few pieces in there I had no knowledge about, and i'm enjoying itthoroughly. I've been reading it during my lunches at work, i'm at page 227 and I picked it up 2 Sundays ago, if I did more reading outside of worki'd have been done the first week because the book is addicting.

Get on the sig amigo, copy + paste and edit as you please. I stole the Joker Gang sig and edited it as needed, threw Matts at bat song on there for goodmeasure
smokin.gif


EDIT: once Xavier gets some shine i'll throw him up on there too. Was going to make Juan Castro with lean like acholo
smh.gif
laugh.gif


ONE question fellas, does anyone know the name of raffys song? My GF can't remember it and she's been wanting to figure it out. Everytime he comes tobat she gets pissed haha
 
Some song by Delinquent Habits

never knew the title but when the track came out 10-12 years ago they played the living #+*% out of it on power

EDIT:


apparently we arent the only ones wanting to know if it's Ethiers song
 
T E A M J A M E S L O N E Y
A L L T H E A B O V E

T E A M O R L A N D O H U D S O N
M Y L A M B O ' S B L U E

T E A M R U S S E L L J . M A R T I N
UMMMMM... CANT REMEMBER IT

T E A M L O S A N G E L E S D O D G E R S
R O L L I N____D O W N____I M P E R I A L____H I G H W A Y . . .
 
T E A M__J A M E S__L O N E Y
A L L T H E A B O V E

T E A M__O R L A N D O__H U D S O N
M Y L A M B O ' S B L U E

T E A M__ R U S S E L L__ J . M A R T I N
UMMMMM... CANT REMEMBER IT

T E A M-- L O S A N G E L E S - O D G E R S
R O L L I N____D O W N____I M P E R I A L____H I G H W A Y . . .



T E A M- -L O S A N G E L E S - O D G E R S
D O D G E R T O W N , C A____9 0 0 9 0
 
alright just got in.

first of all, big ups to weaver - although he didnt pitch great, he kept the dodgers in the game. great hustle runnin the bases, too bad it @+!!#! him up.

now torre is playing musical bullpen chairs, lets hope this ends well.
 
btw, big ups to pierre
pimp.gif


lets keep this 1 run lead damnit, torre stop using troncosco so much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest News

View All News

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

Site contents may not be incorporated into AI training data or any other derivative works without prior express written consent.

Links to participating merchants may generate referral or affiliate commissions that help support our community. See our policies for details. NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom