Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 201
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter Dodger Stadium went “Back to the Future” on a hot, 90 degree movie-night on Saturday as the Dodgers prepared to battle the Reds in the third game of their four-game series. After lead actress Lea Thompson was honored with the ceremonial first pitch and Doc Brown’s famous time-traveling DeLorean took a spin around the field in a puff of smoke, the Dodgers would go on to dominate the Reds with a 8-3 win. The baseball was “Mcflying” out of the ballpark...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Realizing they're in a torrid stretch drive to complete the 2015 season, the Dodgers traded for second baseman Chase Utley on Wednesday. The 36-year-old Utley has been a longtime star player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He hadn't been productive earlier this season but has been outstanding recently after recovering from an ankle injury. He's had 15 hits in 31 at bats. He has $6 million remaining on his 2015 contract but the Phillies are going to pay $4 million...
Angels outfielder Mike Trout celebrated his 24th birthday on August 7 owning a .305 (689/2259) average with 130 doubles, 28 triples, 130 home runs, 375 RBI and 449 runs scored in 597 career games. Below you will find a summary of some of Trout’s accomplishments prior to turning 24: • His 130 career home runs are tied with Frank Robinson for 4th all-time by a player before his 24th birthday, trailing only Eddie Mathews (153 HR), Mel Ott (153) and Ken Griffey Jr. (132). • Is one of seven players since 1920 (when RBI became an official stat)...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As a baseball season goes along players often grow together as a unit. A team can flourish as individuals learn each other’s skills and weaknesses. I’m reminded of the Dodgers’ infield of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey which was together for a decade. My, how things have changed. The Dodgers completed a complicated three-team trade the other day and as I tried to figure it out I got a headache. The Dodgers have four new pitchers and some...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The last time I wrote about the Angels I realized they weren’t playing well but said it was too early to count them out. Since then they’ve made a dramatic bid for a successful season. They cruised through July and are in a position to win their division or finish second and qualify for a wild card playoff berth. But Tuesday night I watched on television as they lost to the Houston Astros, 10-5. On the post game show Mike Scioscia was interviewed and he did...
The American League defeated the National League, 6-3 in baseball’s annual All-Star Game Tuesday in Cincinnati. As a result, the American League will have the home field advantage in the World Series. The AL also had it last season but Kansas City lost to San Francisco in the deciding Game 7. “Even though we won I think it’s very important to have the deciding game at home,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. The game began with a duel between Mike Trout of the Angels and Zack Greinke of the Dodgers. Greinke hadn’t given up a run in his last...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter Several people have approached me recently complaining about the Dodgers’ slump and poor performance. They blame manager Don Mattingly, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers failure to produce runs, among many other complaints. In my mind, veteran third-baseman Juan Uribe, traded to the Atlanta Braves on May 27, is one of the key variables in the equation of the Dodgers downslide. He was beloved in the Dodgers’ clubhouse and on the field for four sea...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Padres were on the verge of beating the Dodgers Sunday in San Diego. With the winning run on base in a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning Juston Upton hit a drive to deep centerfield. Within seconds the game would be over. Instead, Dodger rookie Joc Pederson raced back, somehow caught up with the ball and caught it. “The catch of the year in major league baseball,’ the announcer said. If Pederson hadn’t made that catch Bud Black would probably still be the Padre...
Tyler Marks was a star pitcher at Culver City High, then he began to attract professional baseball scouts at Concordia College in Irvine, then came his biggest day. Marks, who registered 20 saves for Concordia last season as a junior, was drafted last week in the sixth round of baseball’s annual first year player draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of the thousands of high school and college players hoping to launch a professional career, Marks was the 166th player to be selected. The Diamondbacks are considering converting Marks to a s...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter The Cardinals made a stop at Chavez Ravine for a four-game series against the Dodgers and continue to dominate them as the Redbirds, now with the best record in the major leagues at 38-19, took the series, 3-1. Their rivalry has become one of the best and most exciting in professional sports and this series did not disappoint, providing the fans with playoff-atmosphere action. The only bright spot for the Dodgers was their pitching ace Clayton Kershaw (5-3)...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Because this newspaper is on the Westside we tend to care more about the local teams. More Dodgers coverage than Angels, for example. But it was different last year and it continues to be different this year because Angels telecasts draw three times as many viewers as Dodger telecasts. That’s what surveys show as 70 percent of the potential Southern California audience can’t get Dodger telecasts that are available only on Time Warner. It’s evident that a lot o...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter After the moving pre-game tribute to the soldiers and veterans at the Memorial Day game, which was a highlight of the event, it was time to play ball. The Dodgers and Braves both took the field with special uniforms that had camouflage colors on the lettering, numbers and bill of the cap, to honor those men that sacrificed for the betterment of our country. What started as a pitching battle between Braves hurler William Perez and Dodgers starter Brett Anders...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It was my first Dodger game of this season and on Sunday I knew I’d see many old friends in the press box. The first one to greet me was Vin Scully, who I’ve known For a lot of years. “It’s so good to see you, Mitch” he said. “Great to see you too Vin,” I said. “But, unfortunately I can’t hear you on the telecasts because I don’t have Time Warner Cable. “Neither do I,” he replied. Unbelievable, isn’t it? The legendary announcer, now in his 66th year describing...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter It was the Scott Van Slyke show at Dodger Stadium on Monday as he crushed a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Miami Marlins 5-3. Van Slyke also wowed the crowd when he fired a strike from right field to home plate after catching Adeiny Hechavarria’s fly-ball and nailing Christian Yelich at the plate for the double-play to end a bases-loaded seventh inning. “When I let it go, I knew it was going to be on line, but I was not sur...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When an arbitrator ruled that Josh Hamilton would be entitled to his full 2015 salary from the Angels despite a relapse of cocaine addiction the club responded with harsh words. “From the moment Josh came here two years ago there’s been turbulence,” said Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto. Angels owner Arte Moreno said he couldn’t guarantee that Hamilton would play for the Angels again. On Monday, the Angels traded Hamilton back to the Texas Rangers, where h...
Brandon McCarthy, who signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Dodgers in December, 2014, is out for the remainder of the season. McCarthy, a righthanded starting pitcher, had a 3-0 record this season but suffered a torn elbow ligament and is likely to undergo Tommy John surgery. He had a 10-15 record last season with Arizona and the Yankees before becoming a free agent....
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter Dodgers’ first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had his 13-game hitting streak halted on Sunday against the Rockies, but the Dodgers improved their win-streak to seven games with a 7-0 shutout, thanks to starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy. They moved into sole possession of first place in the NL West. The win gave the Dodgers a record of 9-3 (8-1 at home) and many variables have contributed to their success, especially the performance of Gonzalez. Gonzalez, the left-h...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Major League baseball has announced it won’t investigate the Josh Hamilton case, and that means the Angels are stuck with his sizeable contract for this season. Recovering from a relapse of substance abuse, Hamilton probably won’t help the Angels much this season even though the Angels signed him for five years for $125 million which includes $23 million for this season. In all the years I’ve been a sportswriter I’ve seen teams often back their players, asking...
Billy DeLury, a Dodger employee since 1950, passed away Saturday evening at the age of 81. “Billy's consistent dedication and outstanding character were both an inspiration in our front office as well as a daily reminder of our roots in Brooklyn,” Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “His presence will be missed by all who knew him.” “I was privileged to know Bill DeLury for more than 60 years from the time he was an office boy in Brooklyn and rose to become a most valuable member of the organization as our traveling secretary...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter Former Dodger Matt Kemp drove in all three of the Padres runs, but it was the former Philly, Jimmy Rollins, and his three-run blast in the eighth that would out-shadow Kemp and help the Dodgers to victory, 6-3, in the home-opener Monday. Howie Kendrick, former Angels great, also contributed for the Dodgers with two hits, one run and one RBI, while mainstay Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo blast in the fourth. Putting the icing on the cake was pitcher Chris...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor How important are the results in spring training? The popular belief is the results aren’t very important since minor leaguers often replace major leaguers in the latter innings of most spring training games. But there’s an important test case coming up. You see, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants have been awful this spring in Arizona. They’ve lost constantly and their championship roster has changed a lot, first with the departure of third baseman P...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In recent years baseball officials have been concerned about surveys showing a decline in interest in their sport. Many fans apparently think games last too long. I've even heard a prognosis that in 10 years hockey will be doing better. As someone who has loved baseball through most of my life I find this hard to believe. But now baseball has made a dramatic change. I watched a televised exhibition game Thursday between the Angels and Milwaukee Brewers....
Manager Don Mattingly has announced that Clayton Kershaw will be the starting pitcher for the Dodgers' opening game of the 2015 season, April 6 against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. It will be the fifth straight year that Kershaw has pitched the Dodgers' opener. Hall of Famer Don Sutton holds the club record with eight opening day starts....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In this space last week I speculated that the San Diego Padres could be as good as the Dodgers this season. A respected colleague, Lyle Spencer of mlb.com went a step further. He included the Angels in a similar scenario which would give Southern California three special teams. In evaluating the Angels I start with two names – American league MVP Mike Trout and 26-year-old pitcher Garret Richards. After being runnerup in his first and second years with the A...
The Dodgers today announced their 2015 broadcast teams. Hall of Famer Vin Scully will return on SportsNet LA and Dodgers Radio AM570 KLAC while Charley Steiner joins Rick Monday on AM570 KLAC and works with Orel Hershiser and Nomar Garciaparra on SNLA games in which Scully does not appear. Kevin Kennedy will be the analyst and Monday the play-by-play man on AM570 KLAC when Steiner moves into the TV booth. In a first for Spanish-language baseball broadcasts, Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín will be...
