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

[mr jordan04]

Originally Posted by In Yo Nostril

i see the mannywood section has now become dodgertown section.

yea i got the email too. and the zip still is 90090...with the 99 in red to make it stand out

 

[in yo nostril]

Originally Posted by Mr Jordan04

Originally Posted by In Yo Nostril

i see the mannywood section has now become dodgertown section.

yea i got the email too. and the zip still is 90090...with the 99 in red to make it stand out

i didnt even notice that. its like the underground mannywood now

 

[jrdnkiks213]

Originally Posted by P MAC ONE

- 137 runs allowed, fewest in baseball
- 201 runs scored, 2nd most in baseball. More than Bos, Tex, TB, NYY. (All while being 23rd in the majors in HRs, but 1st with a .374 OBP)
- Runs differential of +64. Next highest team has +48
- 24-12, best record in baseball. 2.5 game lead in the NL. 4.5 game lead in the NL West.

Stat man....

Mr Jordan04- every time i see your avy I crack up.

 

[freddymartinez]

call me crazy but maybe losing manny for 50 games is a good thing.Think about it we have a descent lead in the division, we are not playing that bad rightnow,and we are saving money that we can use later down the strech for a starter or a releiver.AND LIKE I SAID IT BEFORE BILLS FOR CY YOUNG

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by P MAC ONE

- 137 runs allowed, fewest in baseball
- 201 runs scored, 2nd most in baseball. More than Bos, Tex, TB, NYY. (All while being 23rd in the majors in HRs, but 1st with a .374 OBP)
- Runs differential of +64. Next highest team has +48
- 24-12, best record in baseball. 2.5 game lead in the NL. 4.5 game lead in the NL West.

You are seriously freakin' out of this world man

Definitely earned the name "Stat Man"

 

[Sam Darnold Heisman #8]

dude broxton has blown 2 saves when bills has been pitching. bills should have 2 more wins right now

 

[eyegiantjackpot]

yo why is milton pitching for weaver on saturday? i thought weaver was doing ok? im ok with mac going back down to AAA for a bit..

 

[mr jordan04]

Originally Posted by freddymartinez

call me crazy but maybe losing manny for 50 games is a good thing.Think about it we have a descent lead in the division, we are not playing that bad right now,and we are saving money that we can use later down the strech for a starter or a releiver.AND LIKE I SAID IT BEFORE BILLS FOR CY YOUNG

While I see your point...its only like 2 million dollars I think :-/

 

[Los Angeles]

bills pitched his heart out vs hamels and he has NOTHING to show for it.

this is the second time brox has blown a save when bills has pitched, as the season goes on and as the teams get better - players who sit dead red will hitbrox's fastball.

a %@%#++* dissapointment, but again our offense comes and saves the day.

loney coming through, with another homer and martin&kemp came up clutch.

i was listenin on 790 and i was

eric milton has been called up and jmac has been sent down, these call ups / downs have seriously been a head scratcher.

i understand jmac needs more work, but hes been doing just fine in his bullpen work - if anyone needed to be sent down it was leach, there is no reason for himto be up when he barely gets to see any time.

maybe jeff weaver's start has been pushed back?

eric milton has a lot to prove, so i hope he pitches with a chip on his shoulder.

and *!%$ you fat *$% broxton learn to throw a breaking ball

i havent looked @ the box score but hudson struck out , what 3 times?

ethier is still struggling, but im glad loney, martin, kemp and crew are finding their stroke.

ethier will get it back ..... when manny comes back.

 

[p mac one]

The two hits Broxton allowed match the two he had allowed all season up to this point. I think he'll be fine.

 

[dland24]

Any of you LA cats catch the Angels game today? I realize this is a Dodger thread, but no one has been able to answer me. Did Ervin look ok today?

 

[sinser13]

^ you should ask in the AL west thread.

 

[Los Angeles]

nahh dland, i think i can speak for everyone in here and say no one caught the angel game.

& pmac with the "i think" ... i see you homie

 

[cincoseisdos]

I was flipping in and out of the games during my lunch, he looked pretty ok to me in the 5th after the shaky start, the game was tied at that point.

 

[cincoseisdos]

[h3]Furcal, Dodgers eager to see Manny[/h3]Suspended slugger may visit club this weekend in Miami
By Andy Jasner / Special to MLB.com

05/14/09 6:32 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA -- Several days ago, Rafael Furcal's cell phone rang.

On the other line was Manny Ramirez.

"He called to help me with my swing," Furcal said after the Dodgers' 5-3 win over the Phillies in 10 innings Thursday. "He gave me some pointers on how to improve it."

Furcal said that Ramirez called Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota, too.

How did the veteran slugger sound?

"He seemed OK," Furcal said. "He was maybe a little down, but we're behind him."

Ramirez has served seven games of his 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. He did not travel to Philadelphia, but there is speculation he could rejoin his teammates for this weekend's series against the Marlins in Miami.

"There's a chance," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said before Thursday's game. "We haven't been given any definitive information. And when I've spoken to Manny, I've gotten the same drift. He's really beaten up over this. He's embarrassed. I think it's going to take him time to clear his head. We want to see him as a team. The players are here and they're supporting him. But right now, he's not ready for it."

Ramirez has yet to meet with the team or coaching staff since being suspended one week ago. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Ramirez met with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt over the weekend and that he had spoken to Torre and general manager Ned Colletti on the telephone.

Whenever Ramirez decides to catch up with his teammates, they plan to welcome him in a big way.

"We all support him because he's our teammate," Furcal said. "I didn't ask him anything about what happened. I was happy he called. He gave me some help with my swing."


[h1][/h1]

[h1]Milton Called Up to Start in Florida[/h1]
After being out of the Majors for nearly two years, Eric Milton will be called up to start against the Marlins on Saturday. The move switches Jeff Weaver back to the long relief role in the bullpen, and James McDonald will go down to Triple-A.

First, a look at Milton. He was one of several free agent signings in Spring Training by the Dodgers, and he competed for the fifth starter job. It ended up going to McDonald, so Milton went to Triple-A Albuquerque. He's started seven games, going 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA. Looking deeper into his stats, his WHIP is an excellent 1.00, surrendering a mere 27 hits and six walks in 35 innings. I think he's ready.

The final straw for McDonald came Wednesday night. With the Dodgers leading the Phillies 9-2 in the ninth, McDonald came on to seal the deal. He got the first out, then walked the following batter. Joe Torre wasted no time in yanking him, clearly upset about a walk with such a huge lead. McDonald may as well have kept walking to Albuquerque.

As for Weaver, I think the long relief role suits him well at this stage in his career. He won't be asked to pitch as many innings as a starter, and he has the experience to get Major League hitters out when needed. I like the move.

[h1]http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgerthoughts/2009/05/dodgers-not-dead-yet.html[/h1]

[h1]Dodgers not dead yet ...[/h1]
Not when Hiroki Kuroda obliqued himself to the sidelines ...

Not when Manny Ramirez fertilitied himself to the sidelines ...


Not when Chad Billingsley (seven innings, seven base runners, nine strikeouts) was forced to throw a career-high 123 pitches ...


Not when Jonathan Broxton, one strike away from the save in the ninth inning, gave up a game-tying two-run double to Carlos Ruiz, the Jim Eisenreich of the New Age ...


Not when Ramon Troncoso, one strike away from the save in the 10th inning, hit Chase Utley with a 1-2 pitch ...

On the contrary, Troncoso struck out Ryan Howard, and the Dodgers took two of three games at the home of the defending World Series champions, upped their road record to 10-9, upped their overall record to 24-12 (best in the majors) and increased their lead in the National League West to 4 1/2 games pending the Giants-Mets contest tonight.

James Loney homered for the second day in a row -- a deeper shot this time -- to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Matt Kemp tripled in the ninth and scored an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Casey Blake (2 for 4) to make it 3-1.


Broxton, on fire in striking out Howard and Jayson Werth in the bottom of the ninth, couldn't close out the game (but hopefully has built up enough street cred by this point for fans to forgive him this one). He gave up a single to Raul Ibanez, proved supremely human in walking Greg Dobbs (4 for 29 with two walks on the season), then gave up an 0-2 game-tying double to the inexplicably hurtful Ruiz.


Broxton recovered to strike out Eric Bruntlett to end the inning, and then the Dodgers rose to the occasion and got their closer off the hook with their own two-out rally. The slumping Andre Ethier (1 for 4) worked out a walk, and then the red-hot Russell Martin (3 for 4 with a walk) brought Ethier all the way around with a double. Kemp (3 for 5) then doubled in Martin to give the Dodgers a two-run lead anew.


Troncoso was called upon to try to finish the game. After two groundouts, Troncoso plopped Utley, bringing up Howard as the tying run. But Troncoso struck him out, and the Dodgers showed that while they can be pushed, they aren't pushovers.


* * *


Check out a Philadelphia perspective from Tim Malcolm of Phillies Nation. Dodger fans aren't the only ones who suffer defeat hard, that's for sure:

In one of the worst losses in recent memory, the Phillies charged back in the ninth, but let it slip away again in the 10th, losing to the Dodgers, 5-3.

It was brutal, really, aside from two bright spots. The first: Cole Hamels was fantastic. He went seven innings, giving up one earned run (a seventh-inning home run by fire-hot James Loney) while striking out nine. The second: The two-out, ninth-inning rally that started with a Raul Ibanez single, carried over with a Greg Dobbs walk and capped with a Carlos Ruiz double. At the time, it was a godsend, truly a chance for the Phillies to redeem themselves.

However …

 

[Los Angeles]

eh, i still think weaver did a good enough job to be a backend starter for us.

seemed like the defense liked to play for him, and iunno kinda confused

of course ive been wanting the call up of milton, since hes been doing well in AAA, but for leach.

jmac needs to work out his control, and build his confidence up but torre was already putting him in situations to be successful.

so lets see how milton does, i think we might be the only team in the majors with 4 freakin lefties: stults, kershaw, wolf and now milton in the rotation.

 

[p mac one]

Seems like Milton is a better fit for pitching in that ballpark than Weaver.

Who knows though

 

[cincoseisdos]

The thing with both of em is I think they're interchangable pieces, which is nice.

 

[Los Angeles]

man watchin this replay is tough, i notice as brox struggled ... he went away from his breaking ball / slider and just decided to throw his heat.

 

[cincoseisdos]

his breaker wasn't breaking though resulting in all those fouls

 

[ooiron manoo]

and *!%$ you fat *$% broxton learn to throw a breaking ball

i havent looked @ the box score but hudson struck out , what 3 times?

ethier is still struggling, but im glad loney, martin, kemp and crew are finding their stroke.

ethier will get it back ..... when manny comes back.

, seems like Jonathan Broxton is still paying for thingsdone in the past...*cough*Matt Stairs*cough*.

He hasn't been that bad, I mentioned during the game, he wasn't getting the call from the ump when he was throwing his breaking ball or slider. Itkind of forced him to rely on his fastball and the Phillies sat on it. I believe Carlos Ruiz hit a breaking ball for the game tying double.

Hudson struck out 3 times against Hamels. He was getting fooled on the changeup. However, he has been solid, Ethier on the other hand is in a slump. I willgive him the benefit of the doubt.

I will remove the "I think" from PMAC's comment and say Jonathan Broxton will be fine as our closer.

Time to feast on the struggling Marlins. They are 6-16 since starting 11-1.

Leach was left in the roster, because he is a LHP, no other reason I can think of.

 

[Los Angeles]

do the guys get on brox and say that ball from stairs is traveling somewhere in orbit?

damn that +$#* was +%%$!%+ crushed.

its crazy ruiz was hitting .175 going into the series with the dodgers and probably when its said it done he finished hitting about .300 the way he handeledall our pitchers.

great matchup to watch bills vs hamels, it was as advertised.

im crossing my fingers manny visits the club in florida, could answer a lot of questions for the squad - and as i read in an article give manny a hug

the thing with leach, i dont think hes gonna be put in a pressure situation anymore - like 0 out 2 on lefty at the plate down 1, if anything ohman will get thenod.

just having him around for the sake of him being a LHP, but not being able to put him in situations to help us out but games that out of hand, id be moresatisfied keeping jmac in our pen.

thats just me a 4 lefty rotation is rare.

 

[ooiron manoo]

do the guys get on brox and say that ball from stairs is traveling somewhere in orbit?
No, Broxton isn't much of a jokester. They did clown on Ohman, for the shot he gave up to Ibanez. They showed it during today's game,

 

[cincoseisdos]

from the young guys Ethier and Brox seem like the stern ones of the bunch, Bills is debatable.

 

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

do the guys get on brox and say that ball from stairs is traveling somewhere in orbit?

No, Broxton isn't much of a jokester. They did clown on Ohman, for the shot he gave up to Ibanez. They showed it during today's game,

man have you seen ohman do the harry carey impersonation?

btw, torre really needs to conserve troncosco's arm - although he's been the most consistent arm in that bullpen, he's been used like no other.

& john ohh stays stalking dodger fans in every thread word to the giants thread

He hasn't been that bad, I mentioned during the game, he wasn't getting the call from the ump when he was throwing his breaking ball or slider. It kind of forced him to rely on his fastball and the Phillies sat on it.I believe Carlos Ruiz hit a breaking ball for the game tying double.
On the highlights on ESPN they said it was a 101MPH Fastball from Brox