Well, since I was on my way to the dugout, anyway...

Thanks to the 2011 Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves, no one will be able to apply the phrase “comfortable lead” to a Major League Baseball team before October again. But with a six game lead and nearly a quarter of the way into a season that many expected to be for “rebuilding”, Dodger fans should feel pretty good about where their team is right now, particularly with the way they are racking up wins. May 12th’s home victory against the Rockies is a perfect example of how fans can remain encouraged, on nights they don’t get offensive contributions from Matt Kemp. (Not that he didn’t try- it says something about the man that hitting two balls to the warning track in the deepest part of Dodger Stadium can be described as an “off-night”.) By playing outstanding defense, laying off bad pitches- even when it was apparent the strike zone was wider than usual- and running the bases aggressively but not foolishly, Don Mattingly and the coaching staff continue to show how to get the most effort out of players that might not be regarded as the most talented.

And that brings us to Juan Uribe, who quietly had one of his best nights as a Dodger. Since joining the team at the beginning of last year, he has almost inarguably been the least popular Dodger regular, since the infamous Andruw Jones. While Uribe has been nowhere near as bad as Jones, nor is he making as much money- the Dodgers are STILL probably paying Andruw more than the team that he currently plays for- Uribe carries the excess baggage of being a recent hero for the San Francisco Giants, often at the expense of the Dodgers. It’s never a good thing when a player from a rival team, that often killed your own team, comes over to your team for a big contract- and CONTINUES to kill your team! This has been a curious phenomenon that we’ve seen a lot of recently- Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, John Lackey, and Chone Figgins are guys that find themselves in similar positions as Uribe. Incredibly, Juan Uribe may have a better chance to redeem himself than all of them.

The funny thing is that under different circumstances, Uribe might actually be an EASY guy to root for. With a physique seemingly more fit for covering professional sports than playing professional sports, and a batting eye that wouldn’t be acceptable for most company softball teams, the guy does have a fair amount of success at the highest level possible. He doesn’t play pretty but he plays hard, and has a certain blue-collar approach that fans would normally connect to. Two miles south of Dodger Stadium in NBA-Land, Clipper backup forward/center Reggie Evans, a guy who averaged less than a bucket per game, has won over fans with his gritty determination and unconventional style of play. Another Juan who played for the Dodgers, Pierre, didn’t conjure up quite as much disgust as Uribe. But he also was another overpriced, limited but hard working player that managed to come through at the right time for the Dodgers, thus changing the way fans perceived him. However unlikely it may seem, it’s not completely impossible that Uribe can be that type of player, too, and Don Mattingly has said as much recently. “This guy is a good teammate, and the guys love him. He always has a smile on his face. He has continued to play good defense for us.”

Against the Rockies, Uribe gave an example of why there still may be hope for winning over Dodger fans. With two outs early on, a foul ball was hit right against the railing of the Dodger dugout (pictured above). Uribe hustled over, stretched out, grabbed onto to the railing, somehow caught the ball, and just sat down afterwards as if nothing happened. In a game that the fans had a lot to cheer about, this drew one of the largest cheers of the night. He also drove in the first run, and narrowly missed a two run homer late in the game. All this doesn’t come close to justifying the ridiculous contract that the Dodgers signed him to before last season, but it’s a start.

As for the rest of the team, they didn’t do too badly, either. Aaron Harang had a very nice start, even managing to convince Don Mattingly to keep him during the 8th inning. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp hit the ball hard as hard as expected, even though Kemp didn’t have the results to show for it. The Ellises did what Ellises do- play great defense, wear down opposing pitchers with their never-ending at-bats, then go practically unnoticed for it all. James Loney, once again proving defense DOES matter at first base, made an incredible diving play early in the ballgame, and even more incredibly, threw home to get the out. In the 8th inning, he got a leadoff infield single against the ironically named Outman, while Lakers fanatic Tony Gwynn Jr., having no interest in playing extra innings when he could be watching the Lakers close out the Denver Nuggets, made sure to drive him in. Kenley Jansen closed things out, as usual.

Speaking of the Lakers, with most of the celebrities sitting courtside at Staples on Saturday Night, one did manage to show up at Dodger Stadium, and it was almost as ironic an appearance as Outman’s. Lamar Odom, proudly sporting a Dodger cap, got a nice ovation from the crowd. (It was also quite a difference reaction from what CP3 and CP4 received last month, under similar circumstances. Like it or not, this is still a Lakers town, until further notice.) It’s unclear how much of the appreciation was for what he did for the Lakers versus what he did NOT do for the Mavericks, but if Uribe is looking for some advice on how to get a former rival fan base to embrace him, Lamar is probably not the best guy to ask about it.

Juan Uribe did everything he could to keep Clayton Kershaw in the game

Like so many other things in baseball, there is a raging debate, between the old guard and the number crunchers, about the value of sacrifice bunting. Like so many other things in baseball, there probably will never be a resolution to this, which may not be such a bad thing. After all, reasonable people can draw their own conclusions about which situations it makes sense to give up an out, in the name of advancing a baserunner (or two) 90 feet closer to home, metaphorically speaking. A reasonable person at the Giants-Dodgers game this past Tuesday would probably not conclude that such a situation occurred in the 7th inning. A reasonable person at the same game would DEFINITELY not conclude that such a situation occured in the 8th inning.

In a tight pitcher’s duel between Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and some Giants pitcher not named Lincecum (our research team tells us his name is “Ryan Vogelsong”), the Dodgers were trailing by one run, when a rally sparked immediately after the 7th inning stretch. Juan Rivera singled, followed by James Loney’s second hit of the game. With two baserunners on and the bottom of the lineup coming up, Don Mattingly may have been understandably confused, as he hadn’t seen too much of this in his time as manager. A.J. Ellis, a far superior hitter to Uribe, was on deck, so bunting in this situation may have seemed like a no-brainer. In truth, it was more brainless, as Clayton Kershaw followed Ellis. Had Uribe gotten the sacrifice down, Ellis would have been walked, leaving Kershaw to be pinch-hit for, thus handing the game over to the shaky bullpen. Being the team player he is, Uribe failed miserably, actually bunting into a double play (with a little help from the umpire), thereby setting the table for the inning to end before Kershaw could be pinch hit for. Kershaw went on to pitch a scoreless 8th, having his at bat come up in the bottom of the inning. And that’s when Uribe’s sacrificed sacrifice bunt was wasted.

It started out nicely enough. Pinch hitter Bobby Abreu managed to work out a walk. Dee Gordon then followed with a bunt SINGLE, which is the kind of bunt EVERYONE can agree to like- outside of Giants’ players, coaches, and fans, of course. Inexplicably, Mark Ellis carried out his marching orders, laying down an outstanding sacrifice bunt, moving the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with just one out, thereby killing the rally. If you think that’s a sarcastic comment, keep reading.

With Matt Kemp coming up to the plate, a roughly half-filled Dodger Stadium was rocking with as much excitement as possible, chanting the obligatory, “MVP! MVP!” that has become customary. In their excitement, the fans had initially failed to notice Giants’ catcher Buster Posey standing up, pointing his fingers to the right. Kemp was going to be walked intentionally. Of course he was. Naturally, the fans started booing, but most of their anger was directed at the wrong target. It wasn’t the Giants who had taken the bat out of Kemp’s hands- it was the Dodgers. There was no way Bruce Bochy was going to allow Matt Kemp to hit with an open base. In a similar situation last week, Jim Tracy didn’t allow Matt Kemp to hit WITHOUT an open base!

Even with Andre Ethier hitting next, it’s nearly impossible to justify taking such an opportunity away from Kemp. But it gets worse. In the bullpen, lefty specialist Javier Lopez was getting ready for his big chance, with- you guessed it- three lefties on deck. To be fair, Andre Ethier has been better against lefties than in the recent past, but Javier Lopez is no ordinary lefty- he’s a sidewinder. If Andre Ethier was Superman, his kryptonite would be sidewinding lefties. On the first pitch thrown, Lopez made Ethier look less like Ethier and more like Kershaw looked earlier, hitting against Vogelsong. The crowd energy faded out, and a few pitches later, so did Ethier, in the form of an inning ending double play. Fifteen minutes later, everyone was headed for the exits, hoping for a better luck tomorrow- even as luck had relatively little to do with this close loss.

None of this is to say Don Mattingly is doing a bad job- far from it. He inherited a mess last year, and ensured that the Dodgers stayed focused on baseball through the bad times. That, in part, is how the Dodgers have managed to maintain a first place lead in the NL West so far. But as someone who works so hard to make sure his players don’t make fundamental errors, he’s made a few of his own recently. On Sunday, he gave Kemp a pinch hit at-bat when the team didn’t need it, when it turned out the Dodgers would have far been better off saving it for extra innings. On Tuesday, he took a Kemp at bat away when the team DID need it. It’s even stranger, considering the fact that Don Mattingly hardly EVER bunted in his own career, as pointed out by this site on Twitter. Does he really think this is a good strategy? Maybe he’s just living vicariously through his players now, recalling how Willie Randolph got all the sacrifice bunt glory, while Mattingly was left with the unsung grunt work, like hitting homers. Turning back to the present, his postgame comments, as reported by ESPN’s Tony Jackson, showed no regret for his managerial decisions. “Neither one of those was a decision I would look back and change,” he told the group of reporters about the two bunts. The good news for Dodger fans is that Mattingly has shown himself to be a man willing to adjust his thinking, when necessary. Next time, instead of finding themselves booing another intentional walk to the best hitter on the planet, Dodger fans can try to get the message across by preparing to boo, one batter earlier.

A loss tomorrow, though, and the Dodgers will need to look ahead to 2013.  But seriously folks, it’s great to be here, and I hope the Dodgers season will continue to be as much fun to follow, as I’m sure it will be to write about…stay tuned!

This neglected site needs a little attention. With my own obligations getting in the way, I just have not had the time or desire to do much or anything around here.

I’m looking for somebody who wants to blog, write, rant, rave, etc., about the Dodgers.

There are plenty of great blogs and bloggers covering the Dodgers, so definitely bonus points go out to those with an interesting take or angle. We do have a modest following on Twitter and Facebook to broadcast to.

This site does not generate any revenue, and while I am willing to put in a single ad, this is not a job, chance to get rich, or anything other than a voice that pay generate a few pennies here and there after my hosting expenses, etc.

If you are interested, send me a sample of something you would post to ryan@dodgersfyi.com.

With a headline that depressing, I think that is just about all you need to know.

The offense has been non-existent the last couple of days, short of Miles and Carroll.

I cannot substantiate the headline with content or stats. I just hope that something happens the next two games to gain some momentum into the series against the Giants and the bottom of their rotation.

Long story short, I am on writing strike until the Dodgers give me a better headline.

Just a quick preview for tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks using the past as a predictor for the future.

The current Diamondbacks roster has a lifetime combined .241 on-base percentage against Kershaw.

James Loney has not been the same player that he has been in past years, we know this just by watching the games.

Loney has not had an extra base hit since he homered off of Jason Hammel in Colorado on April 6. That was, well, a lot of days ago.

Since then, Loney has amassed a stretch of 27 singles without an extra base hit. Since the homer, Loney has had 125 plate appearances.

Below is a table of players since 1919 who have had a stretch of 25 singles or more without an extra base hit that made a defensive appearance at first base during the streak. Loney’s 27 put him at the 15th spot on the list. Loney joins 21 other, not so distinguished players (with a few exceptions) here.

The last player on the list to reach the 25 game mark without an extra base hit was Jeff Conine in 2001. The last to get to 27, where Loney currently stands was Rod Carew in 1979.

Naturally, first base is a position where you expect some power. Loney had done a serviceable job in the past driving balls into the gap. Now, he just seems to be a slower version of Juan Pierre slapping the ball around.

With a lack of real options and his salary this year of close to $5 million, here is to hoping he turns it around. There should not be so much irony in the Dodgers giving away free James Loney batting practice jerseys to kids this coming Sunday.

I have lots of questions. Lots and lots of questions.

Now I am not saying he will answer our questions, but since Frank McCourt seems to be on this publicity tour of sorts, I thought perhaps if I compiled a bunch of my questions, as well as some from the public, he could respond to them. What better forum for all of us? After all, when he was on the Mason & Ireland show yesterday, then Petros & Money, he took calls from probably no more than 10 people combined.

The internet world would be a great place for Frank to answer up to. We are the ones reading everything out there. We are on Twitter, message boards, blogs, etc. We are probably the most cynical group with the most questions.

I have been one of Frank’s biggest critics. Now would be a great time to come clean. And here, he has all of the time he needs to think of an answer.

My questions are below. Put yours in the comments or email them to ryan@dodgersfyi.com. I will not pick and choose, I will include everything, as long as it is a relevant question. And one last rule, keep it clean, please.

Once I have everything together, I will push this to some sources and see if he would be willing to answer.

***

What can you tell us about the thought process in hiring Vladimir Shpunt and paying him a six-figure salary to send good vibes to the team remotely?

Why did you choose New York as the place to make your first real public comments in quite some time? You had to know the Los Angeles you have been avoiding for some time was not going to think positively about this?

Did the timing of your press conference in New York have anything to do with the fact that Tom Schieffer was scheduled to have his own press conference shortly after yours?

We are seeing lows in attendance that we have not seen in quite some time. Why do you think this is?

Considering that the Dodgers have made the playoffs twice in the last three years, why do you think season ticket sales have declined?

How is it that when you left your meeting with MLB and had your press conference, MLB released a statement essentially calling you a liar in regards to the conversations that happened only a matter of hours earlier?

What makes you think it is a good idea to constantly refer to your efforts to react to the Brian Stow incident as “turning a positive into a negative.” It seems insensitive to constantly try to spin this event into a positive when somebody is fighting for their life.

The public can recall public officials. Do you understand how all of the turmoil and off-the-field distractions could cause the public to want to recall you? After all, Dodger fans want to care about baseball, not constantly be surrounded by all of this stuff.

Also regarding the Brian Stow incident, how could you possibly have sat idly by and wait for what essentially felt like your hand to be forced to say anything? You are the top dog with the Dodgers, yet the true face, Tommy Lasorda was on camera at the donation rally with tears in his eyes crying.

More Aaron Miles?

Today, we learned from Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times that Casey Blake is most likely headed back to the DL. His elbow was swollen. Then he was taken to the hospital with a severe fever. Turns out the elbow has a nasty infection.

Russ Mitchell, who is not that good, is the only remaining infielder on the 40-man roster. So until Furcal or Blake come back, we may be subjected to more of the unfortunateness that is Aaron Miles.

And for those wondering, I am not an art major or a Photoshop expert.

Just some random observations and then the latest on the MLB takeover

• The Dodgers have had only one error in their last 69 defensive innings, and have also played 5 straight games without committing an error.
• During that same 5 game stretch, Matt Kemp has two walk-off homers.
• Matt Guerrier has now pitched 10.2 scoreless innings this season. He has struck out 7 and walked just 2.
• Juan Uribe had driven in just 3 runs all season prior to yesterday’s game. Yesterday and today, he has added 5 RBI’s to bring his season total to 8, tying him for 3rd on the team with James Loney. Matt Kemp has 15, and Andre Ethier has 9.
• Vicente Padilla was activated from the disabled list following today’s game. Ramon Troncoso was optioned back to AAA Albuquerque.
• I’d venture to guess the reason Don Mattingly left Kershaw in with the bases loaded in the 9th today was that he would face right-handed hitting David Ross. If Mattingly had brought in Broxton, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez would have countered with Brian McCann, a much better hitter than Ross.

On to the McCourt fiasco.

Newly hired, as in the day before all of this MLB takeover stuff happened, Steve Soboroff, who is the vice chairman of community relations or something like that, has been talking today. He is a documented Frank supporter, and boy, is he doing a bang up job.

“We need more people like Frank McCourt.”

That was said, and probably with a straight face.

He went on to say, “There’s a predetermined campaign to blow him out of town. I think it’s irresponsible and it’s hurting the city.”

As Charlie Sheen would say…. DUH!! But in all seriousness, who is really hurting the city?

Soboroff also contested the decision by Bud Selig to repossess the team, claiming that the also financially challenged Mets have not faced the same actions from the commissioner. MLB has put a spending restriction on the team of $5,000. Anything above that would need approval from the MLB.

I could sit here for an hour copy and pasting quotes, but I think you should just read the article for yourself from the L.A. Times. Lots and lots of mumbo-jumbo about how Frank is great, he’s a changed man, and almost an attempt for the public to feel sorry for him.