TDB: Odds and Ends

The Dodgers wrapped up their first 2012 series with the San Francisco Giants last night by pulling away from Tim Lincecum and Company. Tony Gwynn Jr.'s pinch hit triple cleared the bases and made the chances of the Dodgers losing another low scoring, 2-1 type game disappear. Not to often are you going to see the Dodgers beat a two-time Cy Young winner when their own starter has thrown 85 pitches through 4 innings. But last night was the exception to the rule, as the clutch pinch hit, combined with Jamey Wright's solid 2 innings of relief shut down the Giants offense. Which allowed manager Don Mattingly to avoid digging deep into his bullpen.

Speaking of Mattingly... Only a few hours after I was tearing his decisions from Tuesday night apart on my podcast, he looked like a pure genius by having TGJr. bat in Chad Billingsley's spot in the bottom of the fourth. The game was heading in the direction of a loss as the Dodgers righthander had been fighting his stuff from the jump, and Timmy was dealing. So when the bases were loaded with one out in the 4th, Donny obviously felt it could potentially be his team's only chance to jump all over the Giants. Mattingly took his shot, and Chad was not thrilled. After he was called back from the on-deck circle, he immediately smacked his bat on the ground of the dugout before sitting down and cooling his jets. Fortunately for Chad he was off the hook of a loss after the pinch hit. Unfortunately for Chad he had not reached the five inning minimum to be in line for the win. Considering how badly he was missing locations, he can call it a wash.

So its the day off for 'Dem Bums (20-11) but The Dodger Blog never takes a day off, whether it be by blog, podcast, facebook, or twitter. So with that being said, lets dive into whats going around the Dodger Town:

• Scott Van Slyke made his Major League debut last night with an RBI, broken-bat single pinch hit in the late innings. I could give an entire diatribe about what Andy's son may or may not do for the Dodgers this season, but the reality is Mike Petriello over at the blog "Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness" already did so.
• Van Slyke is currently occupying Juan Rivera's spot on the roster while Rivera spends the time being on the disabled list with a strained or "sore" left hamstring. So far this season the "H-word" has been the fly in the ointment for the Dodgers' training staff. Iron man Matt Kemp, the owner of Major League Baseballs longest games played streak, missing a start last week in Chicago (he still looks a step slow as we speak), Jerry Hairston Jr. having the last few games off as he's trying to stay off the disabled list himself, and now Rivera is gone. The Dodgers are hoping that this hamstring fiasco follows the rule of bad things coming in three's, and that there won't be a fourth hammy issue before the end of may.
• The Dodger Blog got a little bit of a face lift today. Seeing as I'm in the plastic surgery capital of the country (Hollywood), it only seemed natural. Hopefully, the loyal few followers of TDB find the page a little easier on the eyes and the mouse pad. You no longer have to go constantly scrolling through past posts when looking for any previous pod casts. There's a little player just to your right hand side where you can find the latest audio from TDB.

The Dodgers still share the best record in the National League and we're over a month into the season. While I'm not completely sold that this team is the real deal quite yet, there is definitely an air of confidence and positivity in the Dodgers club house this year that seems to breeding success. Good evening to you, wherever you may be.

2012: The Dawn of a New Era

The last time we spoke, The Dodger Blog was an official outlet and yours truly was a credentialed member of the media. Unfortunately, Portland's 750 The Game is no longer a member of the Dodger's Radio Network. What does that mean for Portland? Well, It's residents no longer get the honor of listening to the legendary voice of the incomparable Vin Scully. What does that mean for you? The Dodger Blog forges on into the independent world of sports blogging. While I will no longer be credentialed on a daily basis to cover every single home game, I have spoken with representatives in the Dodgers PR department and they have graciously extended me the opportunity to cover some games throughout the summer. So regardless of URL I call home, The Dodger Blog intends to continue bringing you insightful content through out the 2012 season.

My final article with the now-defunct 750 AM Dodger Blog, was a piece regarding Clayton Kershaw's Cy Young award. A year that saw a roller coaster of emotions for Dodger Nation, culminated on a beautiful, and well deserved note. Kershaw bested nearly every ace he faced throughout his ridiculous (or we can call it "filthy" if you prefer) 2011 campaign. He held the league's pitching triple crown and as icing on the blue cake, he thoroughly dominated his biggest rival in 2-time Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum. The Dodgers come into 2012 with the now grizzled veteran manager Don Mattingly. I'm only sort of kidding on the veteran part... While he may only have one season on his resume, that lone season saw about as much adversity as most managers see in their entire career.

Matt Kemp also had the kind of season that resulted in what most baseball folks consider an MVP-snub. Regardless of whether he had the hardware to match, Matt had an equally impressive season as Kershaw, and the two thoroughly cemented their places as the corner stones this Dodgers franchise will build around for the next decade. And with those "new guys" owning the Dodgers, expect the building process to make big splashy waves throughout major league for years to come. You thought I wasn't gonna go there did you?! Not a chance, I had to say something. Don't worry, there have been enough "ding dong the witch is dead" articles during the past week. The occupy movement now moves to Dodger stadium now that Frank McCourt just rejoined the 1%. When LA's legendary athlete/businessman Magic Johnson, takes his place in the owner's seats on opening day, you can be sure of two things: 1) A thunderous and roaring applause that will mark the start of something special, and 2) the owner's seats, like the rest of the seats in Dodger Stadium, won't be empty like they were all of last year. The stadium will be at max capacity, might stay that way for a at least a week.

The ticket prices are lower than they've been in a number of years, the season has the most scheduled promotions in the history of the franchise, and the fans are ready to give someone else their 5 dollars for a Dodger Dog.

Welcome back to the Dodger Blog. Even Magic likes it....