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OFFICIAL 2009 DODGERS SEASON THREAD : Season Over. Congratulations Phillies.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by cincoseisdos,
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Wake the hell up Russ.
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the dude that calls most of the dodger road games sick or something?
EDIT
Im a idiot, im watching the ASU VS Georgia football game and collins is calling this game
EDIT
Im a idiot, im watching the ASU VS Georgia football game and collins is calling this game
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What a catch
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This article appears in the October 10 issue of ESPN The Magazine.
Matt Kemp's bobblehead gets more run than hedoes. In a recent Dodgers promotional spot making the rounds on YouTube, Li'l Matt cruises Los Angeles in a cherry black Escalade, gets some "GoldGlove" ink at a tattoo parlor in the Los Feliz neighborhood, shops for fresh Jordans at a hipster joint in Hollywood and chills in the Dodger Stadiumclubhouse with his buddy Snoop Dogg.
Meanwhile, despite a breakout season, Big Matt finished fourth out of five candidates in a fan vote to decide the final spot on the National League All-Starteam, spent much of the first half hitting in the bottom third of Joe Torre's batting order and gets real face time, even in LA, only when someone asks theDodgers centerfielder what it's like to lose Manny Ramírez for 50 games or what it's like to get Manny Ramírez back or whether Manny Ramírez will pullout of his late-summer slump.
Okay, so maybe the 25-year-old Kemp has flown beneath your radar. Maybe you weren't watching on the mid-July evening when he hit a grand slam in the topof the 10th inning to give the Dodgers a commanding lead over the Brewers at Miller Park. Maybe it escaped your notice when, in the bottom of the inning, heburst back from shallow center and caught a deep fly off the bat of Jason Kendall, over the shoulder, in a basket, the way Willie Mays did once upon a time.
As charming as Li'l Matt's adventures are, and as captivating as the drama of all things Ramírez can be, you really should have seen it. And youought to look closer now, as the season winds down and the Dodgers push for their first World Series since 1988. Because the guy who gets them there might notbe the righthanded slugger you're thinking of. Just saying: Don't sleep on Matt Kemp.
You see it when Kemp bounces on his toes in centerfield between pitches, anxious for the jump. You sense it when he takes practice swings, standing alonedown the leftfield line, in the minutes before lineups are announced, keeping his hips back (the way Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly tells him to), comingthrough clean and level, concentrating on leaving the barrel of the bat in the strike zone an extra half-beat longer. You feel it when he leads off first base,dangling both arms in front of his body, the outsides of his wrists barely touching the insides of his knees -- stock still, no flinch, no wiggle, no lean --in the instant before he turns hard right and explodes toward second.
The first time Kemp stole a base as a major leaguer, on May 29, 2006, Braves broadcaster Don Sutton said that he looked like "a big buffalo"because of his size (6'3", 225 pounds) and speed. The comment spawned a nickname, The Bison, which the country boy from Spencer, Okla., likes so muchthat he puts a picture of the animal on the heels of his game spikes.
On his way to the plate, Kemp sidles more than he walks. After he digs in, he wiggles his bat at the top of his stance and drops the barrel on the ball easyas you please, as if he were barely trying. But the power is always there, the pulse of possibility lurking just beneath the surface. In late August againstCubs lefty Ted Lilly, Kemp launches a high fastball overthe back of the leftfield bullpen and onto the walkway in Dodger Stadium. It's the sort of shot you want to mark with a plaque.
A week earlier, with the Dodgers up 9-3 in the ninth inning against Arizona, The Bison charges hard from center on a tailing Gerardo Parra liner that has double written all over it. Heflies at it, arms outstretched, as if he were wearing a cape, and lands belly-first, sliding across the grass with the ball in his glove.
"He has extraordinary ability," Torre says. "You can't take your eyes off him. If you do, you'll miss something."
We connect with teams out of loyalty to town and tradition, but we connect with players because they capture the imagination, because sometimes the thingsthey do on the diamond feel like declarations. We hitch ourselves to these stars because we want to see where they'll take us. Matt Kemp is a star worthwatching.
There have been occasions too when he has seemed straight-up unplugged. Last August, he was on first base when Andre Ethier hit a ball off the wall, but Kemp advanced only onebase because he tagged up rather than going halfway to second. Baseball 101 stuff. At home against Colorado this past April, he wore his sunglasses atop thebill of his cap and lost a fly ball in the midday glare. Commonsense stuff.
In 2007, Jeff Kent, ostensibly speaking for theveterans in the Dodgers clubhouse, ripped the team's young players for disrespecting the game. Kemp quickly became the poster boy for "kidstoday," a sign of the decline of baseball civilization. There were trade rumors and public scoldings in the local media. He heard it all, and it stung. Atone point he thought about calling Dodgers management and pleading to stay. People had him wrong. Overeager? Yes. Rash? Sometimes. Inexperienced? No doubt.Bullheaded? Sure, there were moments. But it was never about not taking the game seriously. It was never a matter of disrespect.
Kemp played hoops at Midwest City High, and as a sophomore in 2001, he won the Oklahoma state title alongside Shelden Williams, who went on to Duke and theNBA. But it was baseball that gave Kemp shape. It humbled him when he got ahead of himself, granted him glimpses of how and where the limits could bestretched. The game rewarded hard work and time spent. It was a process, a path. Day by day, the game told him where he was and asked, Who do you want tobe?
Kemp sips a Diet Coke in Bistro 24 at the Ritz in Phoenix on a recent game-day afternoon, sporting black plastic, square-frame specs and a little bit of aclever grin, looking every inch the armchair philosopher as he explains things by way of Young Jeezy jams. "With baseball, it's like with music,"he says. "You know how you know a song so well, and you move with it, and at the same time there's always some part of it that feels like it'staking you somewhere new?"
Torre and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti talk about Kemp's baseball maturation from season to season. Colletti says he sees him trying to hitballs the other way more often. Torre tells a story about sitting Kemp against Jake Peavy last season, afraid that the kid would struggleagainst an elite righthander, then seeing him take Peavy deep on Opening Day this year. Kemp is a character in a classic bildungsroman, coming of age beforetheir eyes. But the organization likes his aggressiveness, too. Assistant GM Logan White, who evaluates player talent through a complex matrix of backgroundfactors and personality traits, says a certain amount of wildness, even if it leads to the occasional mistake, is crucial to the kind of team the Dodgers aretrying to build. "You want guys like Matt, with a bit of that strong, wild heart," he explains. "You might want to corral it, but you don'twant to break it."
Kemp leans in over a marble table at Bistro 24, elbows on his knees, fingers interlaced in front of him as they would be in prayer, and breaks it down."I'm young," he says. "I make mistakes. I know that. I try to learn from them and not repeat them. I have a lot to learn, and I'm goingto get things wrong. I'm going to let my emotions get the best of me sometimes. I'm going to try to do more than I should. But I'm a good dude. Iknow when to say, 'My bad, I'm sorry.' I've got work to do, but I'm a good dude. And I love this game. I love playing this game."
That's the essence of Matt Kemp. And it's a shame if you're missing it.
Kemp worked with a track coach in the off-season to improve his conditioning and spent mornings with his personal hitting coach, former Dodgers outfielderReggie Smith. During the first days of spring training, Kemp and Mattingly began focusing on balance and staying behind the ball, on trusting Kemp's quickhands and letting pitches get deeper to the plate. They didn't blow up his old swing but refined the angle and point of contact, constantly looking forextra fractions of fractions of a second for the head of the bat to linger in the hitting zone. Kemp took extra sessions in the tunnel cages before battingpractice, talked hitting with Manny, studied video.
The work is working. He leads the Dodgers in batting average (.305 through Sept. 17), runs (90), hits (16
and stolen bases (33). He tops all major leaguecenterfielders in slugging (.504), not to mention assists (13). He has improved his home run rate from every 36.5 plate appearances to 25.3 and his walk ratefrom every 14.3 PAs to 12.4.Mattingly's phone call and the several that followed were a lot like the calls Kemp regularly gets from his grandmother, Doris Mukes. She'll dial upfrom Oklahoma, sitting in the living room of the house he grew up in, and offer bits of advice and encouragement. Kemp laughs when he thinks about their talks."She's always pushing me," he says. " 'Remember where you come from. Remember how you were raised. Don't be satisfied. Don'tgive up.' And sometimes she'll tell me to lay off the high outside fastball too."
Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesHeading into his second straight postseason, Big Matt can't wait to show off his skills.
Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake, one of Kemp'sbest friends on the team, took the long road to the majors, not getting a steady gig until he was 29. Like Mattingly and Grandma Mukes, Blake pushes the kid topush himself. Kemp will go 2-for-4, and Blake, whose locker is directly across from Kemp's in the home clubhouse, will turn to him as they're gettingdressed and tease, "You were worthless out there today." Kemp will hit a ball in the gap and end up on second, and Blake will tell him later in thedugout that if he'd gone all out, it could have been a triple. Kemp will take the collar, and Blake will be waiting on him with encouraging words:Hitters hit. You'll hit tomorrow. You're a hitter.
"It's never just one thing," Blake says. "It's like I'm his older brother -- his more experienced but less talented olderbrother. Sometimes I'm there to keep him grounded, and sometimes you need somebody to pump you up, to tell you how good you are and how good you canbe."
Just 1,600 at-bats into his career, Kemp is still discovering what his body and mind can do. "I'm starting to figure it out," he says."It's a feeling coming on in me. I want to get better every day, every year." Young Kemp is Robert Frost's man in the woods on a snowyevening, with promises to keep and miles to go before he sleeps. Does he embrace the responsibility that comes with his gifts? Is he honest with himself aboutthose times when he sells them short? How badly does he want this? "The great players are willing to burn it all," Colletti says. "Their desireto be great is equal to their willingness to sacrifice, to the totality of their focus. A guy like Matt, I don't know if any of us knows how high theceiling is. With hard work, perseverance, he certainly has the ability, the opportunity, to be great."
And the way he's responding to the opportunity, the way he'll continue to, is worth watching.
Now comes a second straight postseason appearance, and this one with higher expectations inside and outside the Dodgers' clubhouse. It won't beenough to win a first-round series. It won't be enough to come close. Li'l Matt can drive the Escalade, but he can't stand in against Cole Hamels or Chris Carpenter. The pressure falls squarely on Big Matt. But ifhe's feeling it, he's not showing it. Most guys in a pennant chase won't talk about the playoffs for fear of reprisals from the baseball gods. Kempdoesn't hesitate. As he sits there at Bistro 24, rubbing his right hand up and down his tattooed left shoulder, he admits he gets goose bumps just thinkingabout it. Can't wait. "I picture it every day," he says. "I think about it when I get to the ballpark. I can't help but think about it.I feel it. I want it so bad. All eyes on you. World Series champion. Dude, that would be crazy. That would be so tight."
You can take baseball seriously and still enjoy it, can't you? You can work hard and still revel in it, right? You don't have to be Jeff Kent to belegit, do you? "I have fun," Kemp says, maybe knowing he's supposed to be more solemn about these high-pressure times. "That's mypersonality. I'll be out there in the outfield, singing, bobbin' my head, shuffling my feet. I'm kind of like, 'Dude, am I really here? Is thisreally happening to me?' You dream about it every day. Could it possibly come true?" It's definitely worth watching to find out.
Eric Neel is a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine.
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http:// [h3][/h3]
[h3]Dodgers' payroll could leap $20 million[/h3]
8:50AM ET
[h5]Los Angeles Dodgers[/h5]
Top Email
It could cost a lot more to keep the Los Angeles Dodgers intact next season.
Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times crunches some numbers regarding the Dodgers who are eligible for arbitration and estimates that those players alone will earn raises in the neighborhood of $20 million next season.
The list includes core players such as Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Chad Billingsley.
[h5]Chad Billingsley | Dodgers[/h5]
Top Email
In his blog today, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney notes that evaluators are concerned with Chad Billingsley.
Writes Olney, "But some rival evaluators are convinced that Billingsley's delivery, as currently constituted, will always be a problem because of the impact he places on his left knee. Billingsley hyperextended the joint in August, as he finished delivering a pitch -- a motion like Billingsley's has been likened to slamming on the brakes while going 80 mph -- and the evaluators think his recent control problems are caused by the mechanical issues. 'Total max-effort guy,' one scout said."
Aside from rest, you can be sure the Dodgers will look to address this. Billingsley is far too great a talent to waste.
[h5]Buster Olney[/h5]
But he's added a pitch
Los Angeles
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Russ gettin pulled for a PH
Its that bad for the canadian.
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Originally Posted by bright nikes
Russ gettin pulled for a PHIts that bad for the canadian.
woulda been a DP for sure
LaRoche with the butter fingers
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im calling it, thome with a grandslam.
Los Angeles
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I feel kinda bad, but not really.
Los Angeles
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Yo sin you seen that gang wars oakland series?
Who you rollin wit: nortenos (sp), surenos (sp), or them 94 boyz or whatever, I think there was another one.
Who you rollin wit: nortenos (sp), surenos (sp), or them 94 boyz or whatever, I think there was another one.
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just tuned in.. lol their fans are heated.
did they give us 3 runs right now?
Thome
did they give us 3 runs right now?
Thome
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about $!+$!+ time
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Originally Posted by bright nikes
Yo sin you seen that gang wars oakland series?
Who you rollin wit: nortenos (sp), surenos (sp), or them 94 boyz or whatever, I think there was another one.
Los Angeles
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youtube the series its from discovery.
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i watched part 2, them 94 boys are dumb.
Los Angeles
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When they showed Sur's terrority them dudes are deeeeep.
And 94 boys
Dudes got heat for days but talk about reckless, rollin around in an 85 family wagon van and the lil homie is in a wheelchair
Felt bad that one of those dudes got a bullet to the head
And 94 boys
Dudes got heat for days but talk about reckless, rollin around in an 85 family wagon van and the lil homie is in a wheelchair
Felt bad that one of those dudes got a bullet to the head
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For those who haven't seen them...
Originally Posted by sj thresher
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Do we have ronnie next year?
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Yes sir!
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This is the last year of Belliard's contract. He's playing himself to type B status so if we offer him arbitration we could receive a sandwich pick ifanother team signs him.
at that article calling Undefeated a "hipster joint in Hollywood"
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We're back in the post-season
Now lets get the best record in the NL.
Now lets get the best record in the NL.
