Going Griffin

Los Angeles, CA

Tomorrow night marks the opening of the 2009 NBA season. While the Los Angeles Clippers can't wait to unveil their newest toy, first overall lottery pick Blake Griffin, their big brothers will once again steal the spotlight. Their elder brothers, the cross-the-hall World Champion Lakers, will hold a ring ceremony. For those Clippers fans out there, this could be the best thing ever. As THE LA team unveils it's 15th banner in the rafters, the OTHER LA team will be plotting.

A year removed from 19 wins, this Clippers team has a chip on its shoulder. With the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Mike Dunleavy and company selected the 6'10", 252 lb. power forward from Oklahoma. Sharing the qualities of his namesake, F Blake Griffin has the heart of a lion and the on court cunning of an eagle. He's super-aggressive (as witnessed jumping into the stand after a loose ball during a recent preseason game) and will be looked upon to run a pick-and-roll with G Eric Gordon. Also looking up is the offensive tempo that coach Dunleavy has injected into his game plans. Super-star Baron Davis trimmed 15 lbs. this offseason in hopes to build on the disaster that last year was. Your 2009-2010 Clippers just may be headed to the playoffs. Look for them to put up a fight with the champs who might miss F Pau Gasol in the opener.

Breaking News!!!

Clippers forward Blake Griffin could miss up to six weeks with a broken left kneecap according to team sources. The Clippers who have only two winning seasons in the last 30 years, will play 20 games in the first 6 weeks of the 09-10 season. The 'Curse of the Clippers' may be real after all.

NLCS Preview...

Los Angeles, CA

The Los Angeles Dodgers are at home waiting for a rematch with the Philadelphia Phillies, who beat them, in last years National League Championship Series. The team will need to beat Philadelphia if it plans to end a 21 year World Series drought. The Dodger will turn to 21 year old Clayton Kershaw, who was just a baby when the team last won the Commissioners Trophy, to be a catalyst in this years NLCS. On the mound for the Phillies will be Cole Hamels. The Phils lefty is the proud papa of a newborn baby himself. On Friday morning, Hamels and his wife Heidi welcomed a healthy baby boy -- Caleb Michael into their family. It is the 25 year olds first child. Some of his teammates think it is going to make him that much better, more focused.

"I think he's going to have fun out there, "Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said."I've heard having a baby gives you a different perspective on life. There's more meaning. Hopefully that will show up on the mound. You know that's going to be in the back of his head."

The Dodgers lineup is probably knows Hamels needs no extra confidence as he has been superb against the Boys in Blue throughout his career. In his six career starts (including postseason play) against Los Angeles, Hamels has gone 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA. In the NLCS a year ago, he won two games posting a 1.93 Era. His lifetime ERA at Chavez Ravine is 1.83 (16 games).

Clayton Kershaw seems ready for his close-up with the nation watching him take the mound first at 5:07 p.m. PT time tonight. He has a devastating curveball deemed 'Public Enemy No. 1' by Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, and is not afraid to go right at hitters. In his first postseason start Kershaw went 6 2/3 innings, battling a Cy Young hopeful in Adam Wainright of the Cards. Previous to that the 21 year old lefty pitched the Dodgers past the Rockies in their division clincher striking out 10, including the first 5 batters he faced. When speaking to reporters about his role in this upcoming start, Kershaw was relaxed as ever. "Be aggressive -- that's what I try to do every time," said Kershaw.

"The pitcher's job is to just go right after them with your best stuff, and if they beat you -- tip your hat to them."

I think it's a combination of moxie as much as it is his raw talent that is going to make him a star. He really seems to get it, and get it he must if the Dodgers want to beat a lineup as potent as Charlie Manuel has put together. Former league MVP Ryan Howard hit .375 in the NLDS. Chase Utley hit .429 with a HR. Adding to that was Jayson Werth, non-tendered by Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who hit .357 with 2 HRs and the 'Flyin' Hawaiian' Shane Victorino that batted .353 with a double and a HR. Victorino also adds a lot of speed on the base paths. Kershaw should feel confident in his bullpen once he establishes himself. Los Angeles relievers posted a 3.12 ERA in the regular season, tops in the NL, and had a 2-0 record with a 1.86 ERA in the NLDS sweep of St. Louis.

The Dodgers clutch performer of the year, Andre Ethier is confident in his teams chances. "It's just another opportunity," said Ethier. "This team is different, that team is different. It's not about revenge. It's about the team we're facing and being four games closer to our goal." Look for Andre to be a major contributor again in this series. He led the club with 2 HRs in the division series and like Kershaw, never seems to shy away from the spotlight.

Fresh out of the broom closet...

St. Louis, MO

In beer, err, baseball town USA the Dodgers pulled off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. With the 5-1 victory over the RedBirds, the Dodgers will now see time in the NLCS for the second consecutive season. Los Angeles, led by Joe Torre, hopes to see different results in the rematch.

Torre has managed his teams into an LCS in 9 of his last 14 seasons. The Dodgers were led by pitcher Vicente Padilla. He managed a first inning well before settling in and dominating the Cardinals most of the way. Padilla has been another veteran bright light shining in the postseason for Los Angeles. In now his 11th season in the bigs, this was his first postseason start and he showed up ready to play. In seven innings Padilla went scoreless allowing only four hits. Vicente struck out four and walked one before turning the ball over to the bullpen. That back end of the Dodgers pitching staff has definitely played a vital role in the playoffs so far. In Thursdays win over the Cards, George Sherill came in and pitched two outs before Torre brought in closer Jonathan Broxton to face Albert Pujols for the third time. Pujols got the better of Broxton this time, singling to right field and scoring Julio Lugo. It was the likely NL MVP's only RBI and just third hit of the series. The next batter faced by Broxton was Matt Holliday who popped up, and then Broxton closed out the cards in the ninth. Broxtons' 101 MPH fastball to get Rick Ankiel swinging to end the game was just the exclamation point to the story the bullpen has been telling. In 9 2/3 innings pitched, the Dodgers 'pen allowed only two runs and was credited with two victories (Weaver, Sherrill) in the series sweep.

All season long the Dodgers have been led by Andre Ethier and his clutch performances. In the closeout game at New Busch Stadium, Andre struck a bit early. In the first inning with two out, Manny doubled to score Matt Kemp. Two innings later in a similar two out situation, Ethier blasted one 402 ft. to right field. Furcal scored first on the two-run shot that gave the Dodgers a quick 3-0 lead, and quieted the shocked crowd. In two previous series, the Dodgers have never beat the Cardinals. They lost in both the 1985 NLCS and the more recent 2004 NLDS. It marked only the third time the Cardinals have been swept in postseason play. The Dodgers got a solid performance from both Furcal and Ethier in the sweep. Both went 6-12, as Manny lagged behind a little going 4 for 13 on the series. Ramirez did seem to heat up in the final game, going 3-5 with 2 RBIs. When asked about his series performance Rafael Furcal replied,

"All year it was a struggle. I know I'm not that kind of player. I knew if I could get on base two times, we could win every game. That team, they beat us five of seven. They throw two Cy Young pitchers at us. But people see we're a different team in the playoffs."

Los Angeles will now go home and await the winner of the Phillies-Rockies series. Last year the Dodgers lost to the Phillies in the NLCS, as they advanced to win the World Series.

Loretta walks over Cards!

Los Angeles, CA

With bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the 9th inning, Mark Loretta did what the youngsters dream about everywhere. He smacked a line-drive to shallow left field that plated the Dodgers 3rd, and winning run in walk-off fashion. Similar to kids of the sandlot, Loretta accomplished the feat in his own backyard. The 11 year veteran grew up in nearby Arcadia, just twenty minutes from Dodger Stadium.

"I feel like this is the best moment of my career, for sure," Loretta said. "As long as you're on the roster, you have a chance. Joe [Torre] had a lot of tough choices to pick. But once you're on the roster, anything can happen. The game was already tied at the time, so I felt like all the pressure was on them at that point, and I was fortunate to find a little bit of fairway out there."

The big hit and the Dodgers unlikely 3-2 victory over St. Louis most likely wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of 3B Casey Blake. It was Blake that made Ryan Franklin work so hard, keeping himself at the plate for a nine pitch at-bat. There was also a controversial check-swing call by 1B umpire Mike Everitt putting Casey in a hole with a 1-2 count. Blake battled, fouled off three, watched three more miss, and was awarded a walk. In turn Franklin had to throw strikes for Ronnie Belliard, who hit the first pitch he saw to plate Juan Pierre and the tying run. "Blake just wore down their pitcher," said center fielder Matt Kemp.

On the mound Clayton Kershaw was equally impressive in his playoff debut. He came out strong and pitched a 1,2,3 first inning. He did give up a Matt Holliday solo HR and a pair of singles in the second, as well as 1 more earned run in the seventh. Overall the 21 year old lefty looked sharp. Kershaw pitched a 2 hit game for 6 2/3 innings, striking out 4 and giving up only 1 intentional walk to Pujols. When evaluating himself, he wasn't slinging praises as much as his teammates and skipper.

"It was OK," Kershaw said. "Wainright, he's going to be the Cy Young [award winner] for a reason. Anytime you pitch against a guy like that, you know you can't give up too many runs and I made a couple of mistakes. I came out of the game losing," he said. "When you're pitching in the postseason, you want to give your team a chance to win, and coming out of the game losing is not what you want to do... I did all right. I'm not saying I didn't do fine, but it could have been better."

Torre saw it differently, "I was very comfortable watching Kershaw pitch today, said the skipper. "I thought he responded to the challenge very, very well." Right fielder Andre Ethier added, "He's not going to back down -- he hasn't ever before."

The Dodgers now head back to St. Louis with a commanding 2-0 series lead for game three Saturday. First pitch is set for 3:07 p.m. Pacific time. Rock and Roll legend, Slash of Guns and Roses fame entertained fans with his rendition of the National Anthem before the game as well as God Bless America in the seventh inning.

Kemp, bullpen carry Dodgers over Cards

Los Angeles, CA

In Game 1 of the NLDS, a Matt Kemp home run in the first inning proved to be the difference as the Dodgers beat St. Louis 5-3 on Wednesday night. It was the RedBirds that lit the lamp first, scoring via a Ryan Ludwick bloop hit that went off the tip of Dodger 2B Ronnie Belliards' glove and dropped to the ground as Matt Kemp came running in from center. Belliard got the start over Gold-Glove winning Orlando Hudson, who has been slumping at the plate for some time. In the bottom half of the first, after giving up one run, leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal singled, and Matt Kemp blasted a two-run shot over his own office space in center field. I really feel like that two-run shot rattled Cardinals ace, Chris Carpenter, as he gave up 7 more hits and two additional earned runs following that inning.

It was LA's left-hander Randy Wolf that was quoted as saying, "The way you beat them is to get their starting pitcher out of the game as soon as possible...", when predicting how to beat a team with two potential Cy Young Award winners. On this night, it happened a little bit differently. Wolf was chased after just 3 2/3 innings after giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, with five walks to boot. Carpenter after getting out of the first down only one, seemed to hang around somehow. Clearly unsettled, and looking uncomfortable on the bump most of the game, he actually managed to give skipper Tony LaRussa 5 innings and just over 100 pitches. The big righty did concede 9 hits and 4 earned runs, including that two-run blast to Matt Kemp (1).

Between the two teams, a new MLB record was set. It was not a record to be proud of. The Dodgers (16) and Cards (14) combined to leave a whopping 30 runners on base. Albert Pujols was held ineffective by the Dodgers who walked him twice and Matt Holiday who is supposed to be that huge number two batter garnered only 1 hit, while striking out twice. The Dodgers were happy with what they were able to accomplish at the plate. Furcal went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored in the leadoff spot. Kemp hit only 1 of 5, but had the decisive blow that proved huge in the end of the game.

"We always talk about battling and going out there and having good at-bats and that's what we did tonight," said Kemp. "And that's the key to winning games and working pitchers and just trying to make them go out there and make mistakes. And hopefully we just keep doing that."

And hopefully they can continue to do that Thursday afternoon at 3:07 p.m. when Clayton Kershaw faces off against St. Louis staff ace No. 2, Adam Wainright in Game 2. The young Dodgers lefty looked spectacular in his last start, pitching the division clincher this past Saturday night vs. Colorado. The Rockies lost 5-1 to the defending Champion Phillie's before LA played last night. Clayton struck out the first 5 batters of the game, and ended the night with 10 K's. If he isn't as sharp as he was that night, Los Angeles has no reason to fret. Their superb bullpen gave up only one run in the 5 1/3 innings they were called upon to pitch in Game 1. Jeff Weaver who helped the Cards win a World Series a couple years back was just what manager Joe Torre needed to fill the void in time (1 1/3 inn.) before the back end of the bullpen could drive the Dodgers home. Weaver got Ryan Ludwick to hit a comebacker to end the fourth inning, and aligned himself for the win. Ronald Belasario, Hung-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill, and big Jonathan Broxton completed the onslaught of arms. Broxton recorded a four out save that started with one on in the eighth inning. He got Albert Pujols to hit a bouncer for the final out.

The game lasted 3 hours, 54 minutes and was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 56,000 fans.

If the Dodgers win on Thursday, they could have a 2-0 series lead before their Freeway-Rivals even begin their postseason. The Halos play host to the Boston Red Sox, Thursday night beginning at 9:37 p.m. Pacific.

Second Season

Los Angeles, CA

On Wednesday night the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of the 2009 National League Division Series. The Dodgers have a formidable foe in St. Louis that can appear downright scary at times. The Cards have arguably the two best pitchers in the Nation League with Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. The two pitchers whom combined for 36 wins, are likely the best 1-2 staff in all of the majors heading into the post-season.

"The way you beat them is to get their starting pitcher out of the game as soon as possible, whether it's Carpenter or Wainwright, that's 67% of the Cy Young voting. But they are human. They didn't go undefeated this year," Wolf said of the Cards fantastic pitching duo.

With that being said, it was the Dodgers jumbled mix of a rotation (12 different starters) that lead the NL in both Overall ERA and Relief Era, while going second in Starter ERA. The Redbirds rested right behind, falling fourth place in each category. Los Angeles will now call upon left-hander Randy Wolf in game 1 of the series, which begins at 6:37 p.m. at Chavez Ravine. It will be Wolf's first career post-season start, in arguably the best of his 11 year service. Wolf enjoyed career highs in both starts (34) and innings pitched (214 1/3) while posting a 3.23 ERA and a .227 opponent batting average. He was also the teams most consistent pitcher, even though he posted a mild 11-7 record. He had 16 total no-decisions, and at one point went 17 straight games in which he lasted through at least six innings. The Dodgers rode his back for an impressive 22-12 record when he started.

On the offensive side of the ball, neither team is lacking with the Cards probably holding the advantage. St. Louis struts out stud 1b Albert Pujols, likely the league's MVP Award winner. Also after midseason acquisitions of both Mark DeRosa and the former Rockies power hitting Matt Holliday, the team is poised to swing their way through the playoffs.

Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier paced the Dodgers, as the team's first duo to hit 100+ RBIs since 2000 (Sheffield and Green). The Boys in Blue finished the year 1st in OBP (.346) and 4th in runs scored (780). Los Angeles likewise include in their line-up Manny Ramirez, who is on of baseball's most prolific playoff hitters, and keep Jim Thome on the bench with 564 career HR's. Once they reach base, expect the Dodgers to utilize their speed. LA was 3rd in the NL with 116 stolen bases, 64 of which came on the wheels of Juan Pierre, and the five-tooled outfielder, Kemp.

Anyway this thing turns out, we are guaranteed to see some great managing of rosters by two of the league's best. Dodgers skipper Joe Torre has reached the playoffs for his 14th straight season and has 4 World Series Titles to his name. His good friend, and mutually respected Tony LaRussa, has managed a World Series winning team in both league's and is a 3x Manager Of The Year.

Better be this week...

Los Angeles, CA

The Los Angeles Dodgers (93-66) tip-off a three game series with the Rockies (91-68) tonight at Chavez Ravine. That would not be newsworthy until the recent tailspin the first place team has taken. Los Angeles holds a two game lead in the West with these final three games to go. The Dodgers once boasted a 9 1/2 game lead, and now are in a must win situation of sorts. They have claimed a playoff spot but need to win at least once this weekend to win the division for the second straight year, and to celebrate a little. The Dodgers were once so confident that they would win the division outright, that they put off celebrating their entrance into the playoffs, as it was only a mere stepping stone. The team, now losers of their last four, are skipping stones and making wishes in hopes of winning a game to end the slump.

When asked to put his teams recent woes in perspective, Mark Loretta had this to say, "Better this week than next week." Well, let's all hope he's right.

Left hander Randy Wolf (11-6, 3.22) will lead the charge against Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (14-12, 3.52). Wolf has pitched a quality start in 15 of his last 16 attempts. He also leads the team with 16 no-decisions, and is just 1 1/3 innings shy of his career high. He pitched 210 2/3 innings in 2002. He's also a perfect 6-0, with a 2.73 ERA in his last ten starts. Los Angeles will rely on him to be the consistent workhorse he has been all year come game time. His cross field foe is Ubaldo Jimenez. It's no secret that Jimenez has been feasted on by the Dodgers in the past. In ten career starts he is 4-3, but has a high 6.84 ERA, with many of those runs coming in bunches off the Dodgers bats.

In Wednesday nights loss to the Padres, the Dodgers only came up with one hit. That is the lowest output of the year for the team. In related bad news, the team finished the month of September with a very mediocre 15-12 record. In going 0-3, Rafael Furcal saw the end of his 12 game hit streak. If Los Angeles fails to record a victory over Colorado this weekend, they, not the Rockies will be the Wild-Card winners. I can think of maybe only one Dodger that would be happy about that scenario. Dodgers first baseman James Loney has hit 12 of his 13 HR's on the road this season