Andre Ethier just wanna be startin’ something:
The never ending game… ended!
(See: Okay, Andre Ethier REALLY Loves Walk-Off Wins, from June 6th, 2009)
- Vin 
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Bill Plaschke Stands By His Words… Until He Doesn’t
After a long weekend, I decided I needed a comedy pick-me-up, and therefore headed straight over to see what kind of drivel Bill Plaschke was writing about today. As expected, it’s yet another diatribe about how Bill’s got the vapors that no one’s as horrified over what Manny did as he is. In fact, Bill couldn’t find a single person at the Inland Empire park who would agree with him. Which means, I don’t know, that maybe Bill’s completely out of touch with the public?
But that’s not news; we’ve all known that for quite some time. No, here’s what really caught my eye: the fact that Bill Plaschke drove out to Riverside County to watch Manny play for the 66ers. Because, if you didn’t know, Bill’s got a Twitter page, and this is exactly what he said just 4 days ago:
Yet here you are, just a few short days later, doing just that. It’s even better when you see his next post right on top of this one (Twitter posts are listed chronologically, newest at the top):
Such a short ride from “I refuse to go!” to “okay, I’ll go, but only to make fun of him and try to create a story that doesn’t exist”, isn’t it, Bill? If only the distance between “journalism” and whatever exactly it is you do was that short.
Andre Ethier Is A Smooth Criminal
So, Andre Ethier likes to hit HR’s in bunches.
Going into tonight’s game, he had 11 HR’s, but with four of them multi HR games. Tonight he had another one, only this time hitting 3 HR’s and driving in 6 RBI’s leading the Dodgers to victory 8-2 over the Seattle Mariners. Ethier not only has hit 13 of his 14 HR’s at Dodger Stadium this year, but also became the first Dodger to hit 3 HR’s in a single game since the Choi Man did it in 2005, though remember, Choi hit 7 HR’s during that four day period. Well, at least that was until…
Yes, I needed an excuse to revive this photo from four years ago. Good times, folks.
But back to the game: in addition to Ethier’s 3 HR game, which will surely grab the headlines, what can’t be forgotten was Clayton Kershaw’s stellar performance, going 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, with 8 K’s. Kershaw has quietly turned it around after his poor April, where he put up a 7.29 ERA, to put up a 2.57 ERA in May and, going into tonight, a 2.18 ERA through June.
Let’s pray some of this rubs off on Milton, tomorrow…
- Vin
Quick, Someone Set Up a Hilarious Fake Manny Twitter Account
I know, I know – in my last post, I said I wouldn’t be talking about Manny Ramirez’ return to the minors, because what he does there makes absolutely no difference at all. Since this is less about Manny and more about the media covering him, I like to think I’m sticking to that promise.
Right now, on the Dodgers section of the Los Angeles Times’ site, they’re displaying the 20 most recent Dodger stories. You’d think that a huge majority of them would be dedicated to a first-place team with the best record in baseball; even if some people can’t be bothered to say anything good about the team, there’s always the fact that the Dodgers just dropped their first series in a month.
Yet how many of the 20 stories, would you guess, are dedicated to the meaningless movements of a man who’s not even on the roster right now?
Well, just in case it changes by the time you take a look, I’ve put together this handy-dandy guide for you:
Fine, #6 is tenuous, but it’s got Manny’s picture on it, so it gets a number. That’s more than half of the Dodger stories dedicated to our favorite absentee left fielder, Manny Ramirez.
Friends in the media, I promise you that people don’t care nearly as much about what Manny does in the minors as they do about what the real Dodgers do on the big league playing field. When he gets back, play up the circus as much as you like, but until then, can we please remember we’re watching the best team in baseball?
I Don’t Care About Manny Ramirez Right Now
Look around the world of baseball media right now; you’ve got ESPN and the MLB Network doing live Manny look ins. You’ve got ESPN with a “Manny Watch”, and Bill Plaschke sticking his head ever further up his own ass (yeah, SOSG‘s been killing it on this). Manny’s return to organized baseball is being covered in much the same fashion as Miley Cyrus announcing she’s dating the Pope. Pope John Paul II, at that.
Yet, what do you get on this site? Not a word. Because the thing is, I just don’t care what Manny does in Albuquerque, Inland Empire, or any other minor league burg west of the Rockies. We all know that this ten-game stint is completely irrelevant, other than to give bored sportswriters something to squawk about. Manny could hit .150, or he could go nine for nine with nine homers in each game – it just doesn’t matter.
So get back to me next week on this when Manny’s return is actually imminent, because right now, it has nothing to do with what’s going on on the field. I’m more interested in Hiroki Kuroda’s triumphant return, Clayton Kershaw’s continued development, and trade rumor after trade rumor after trade rumor (in regards to that last one, I’d happily trade James McDonald, Blake DeWitt, and just about anyone else in the system – even Andrew Lambo – to get Cliff Lee. Just sayin’.)
We’re a Manny-free zone through the weekend. Disagree? Let’s hear it.