Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 201
The Dodgers have announced that their entire Major League coaching staff will return in 2015: Don Mattingly – Manager (fifth season) Lorenzo Bundy – Third Base coach (second season) Chuck Crim – Bullpen Coach (third season) Rick Honeycutt – Pitching Coach (10th season) Davey Lopes – First Base Coach (fifth season) Mark McGwire – Hitting Coach (third season) Tim Wallach – Bench Coach (second season, fifth on staff) Ken Howell – Assistant Pitching Coach (third season, eighth on staff) John Val...
The Dodgers have finalized the deal that brings shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the team from Philadelphia. The Dodgers gave up lefthanded pitcher Tom Windle and right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin, who was acquired earlier in the week from San Diego. The 2007 National League Most Valuable Player and three-time All-Star (2001-02, 2005) has a .267 career batting average with 216 home runs and 887 RBI in 15 big league seasons, all with the Phillies, from 2000-14. Rollins ranks third among active players with 453 career stolen bases, including stealing 20...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In 1998 the Dodgers traded away Mike Piazza in what immediately became the most unpopular move in their Los Angeles history. Last week the Dodgers traded away Matt Kemp, and judging by initial reactions this is going to rival Piazza’s departure as the worst decision the club has made. Conditions are different. In 1998 new Dodger owners were trying to make a point that they were not going to cave in to players’ salary demands. Piazza’s contract had expired and n...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Giancarlo Stanton recently signed a 13-year, $325 million contract with the Miami Marlins. Although the right fielder hit 37 home runs last season and came close to outpolling Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw for the National League MVP award critics have wondered about the wisdom of the Marlins’ decision. You see, the contract will be the largest for any player in the history of North American sports. I wondered too until I heard what Stanton had to say about t...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Out of all the major league baseball players on teams throughout the land the MVPs have been chosen and they both play in Southern California. If you're a baseball fan here you can join me in congratulating Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Mike Trout of the Angels. Neither one was able to lead their team to much playoff success in the 2014 season, but their individual accomplishments could not be questioned in the regular season, and these awards are based on r...
The Dodgers will open the 2015 season with a three-game series against the San Diego Padres April 6-8. The Dodgers will then conclude the first week with three games at Arizona....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Out of all the major league baseball players on teams throughout the land the MVPs have been chosen and they both play in Southern California. If you're a baseball fan here you can join me in congratulating Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Mike Trout of the Angels. Neither one was able to lead their team to much playoff success in the 2014 season, but their individual accomplishments could not be questioned in the regular season, and these awards are based on r...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The new owners of the Dodgers arrived with a plan – outspend every opponent and win the World Series pretty often. They have produced a couple of highly competitive teams, but there’s been no World Series appearance yet while the Dodgers’ arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, just won their third World Series in the last five years. I think the Dodgers must revamp their plan. They have to continue spending a lot but don’t make the mistake again of spendin...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When the Dodgers were quickly eliminated from the current playoffs it was likely a major change was coming. It was a matter of who would be replaced by new owners who expect their big spending to produce a World Series product – manager Don Mattingly or general manager Ned Colletti. The answer was revealed this week when Andrew Friedman was hired to be the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations. Colletti, after nine years as general manager, was relegated to...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter The Dodgers tried to avenge their loss to the Cardinals in the 2013 NLCS, but again fell short, losing the 2014 NLDS to the Cardinals 3-1 in a five-game series which ended at Busch Stadium. The Dodgers went with their elite pitcher, Clayton Kershaw twice, to try and stop the bleeding, but to no avail. It seems as if the Cardinals have become the "Dodger-Killers," especially Matt Carpenter, who some say is the "Kershaw-Killer." In the first game at Dodger...
It looked for awhile like there could be a Freeway World Series this season. So, how can we explain that neither the Dodgers nor the Angels made it out of their opening playoff series? Well, we can try. The Dodgers did what the Yankees did for many years – take advantage of the fact there is no salary cap in baseball, unlike the NBA which fines teams heavily who go far above the salary cap. With new ownership, the Dodgers collected the most expensive roster in baseball history but learned the h...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor During most of my lifetime the New York Yankees have been baseball’s biggest spenders and often had the best team. They piled up World Series championships but in some years they didn’t win in the best-of-seven final test. So I learned as we went along. It became clear to me that in baseball, where there is no salary cap, a team could virtually assure itself of being in the playoffs by accumulating the most talent for a 162-game season. But in a short series a t...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Angels clinched their division championship the fastest of any team this season. That’s the good news for Angel fans. The bad news is the team that clinches first seldom wins the World Series. As a columnist I’m expected to toss out opinions to help readers make their choices. But, being honest, I’m admitting that I don’t have a strong opinion on how the Angels are going to do, The Angels should be taken seriously because of their hitting. They’re a scary o...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When major league baseball added a second wild card team to this season’s playoffs I wasn’t sure this was a good idea. But I was wrong. With more teams in contention it’s been a bonanza for fans. Almost every division has interesting races. The one that intrigues me the most is the American League Central, where heavily favored Detroit has been receiving a major challenge from Kansas City. The Royals thought they were pretty good a couple of years ago but they we...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Tyler Skaggs, the Angels’ 23-year-old starting pitcher, will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of this season and most likely all of next season. Skaggs has a 5-5 record and 4.30 earned run average. He was injured in a July 31 game and given the choice of surgery or a long rehabilitation process. “I want to get this taken care of so I’ll be ready for the 2016 season,” he said. Skaggs was a star at Santa Monica High and was the 40th selecti...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw got off to a rocky start in the second game of the two-game homestand against their “I-5” rival Angels, but thanks to closer Kenley Jansen striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth, and then pinch-hitter Andre Ethier sealing the deal with a walk-off hit, the Dodgers got the win, 5-4. It was Ethier’s 12th career walk-off hit and the Dodgers fifth of the season. With five Angel players defending the infield, Either hit a...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It’s not a lot of fun being hospitalized following surgery but idle time is available. My choice the last month was to focus on baseball, especially because the Dodgers and Angels are doing well. All opinions, of course, come from someone watching on television, listening to radio rather than being at the games along with getting information from colleagues on the phone. Nobody in either the National or American League Is running away from the field. Parity is t...
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers pitching ace and arguably "the best pitcher in the world" according to teammate Matt Kemp, finished off the Cardinals on Sunday by hurling 13 strikeouts in seven innings en-route to a 6-0 shutout and helped the Dodgers win the four-game series, 3-1. This was his third straight scoreless start, capping off a career month in June -- six wins, a no-hitter, a 0.82 ERA, and a streak of 28 scoreless innings. It's the longest scoreless streak by any pitcher in the Majors this...
It was a heated four-game series battle between the Dodgers and Giants this past weekend at Dodger Stadium -- one of the best rivalries in sports history. The Giants put forth a “Giant” effort as they managed to win three out of four games, culminating in a 7-4 victory on Mother’s Day. Even Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez and his heroic two-run, game-tying homer off closer Sergio Romo with two outs in the bottom of the ninth wasn’t enough on Sunday. The Dodgers’ usually-solid closer Kenley Jans...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Dodgers have been favored by numerous media outlets as favorites to win the World Series. Their off-season spending spree, totaling a record $240 million, is the primary reason. But championships are decided on the field, and on the Dodgers' home-opening weekend they got all they could handle from the long-time rival San Francisco Giants. As the Giants won two of the three games they proved to be a worthy opponent for the Dodgers. A very worthy opponent. I'm...
By Steven Lieberman Observer Reporter If there are “Twin Towers” in baseball, they would have to be Dodgers sluggers Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp as they both cranked out two homers in the final game of the three-game Opening Series at Dodger Stadium on Sunday against the rival Giants. Dodgers won, 6-2, and prevented the series sweep. Both of Kemp’s four-baggers came off of Giants ace starter Matt Cain. Ramirez and Kemp are both back in the starting lineup after being injury-plagued last seaso...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The new Dodger owners spend lavishly and they’re attempting to build a championship team. “Last year we made a lot of progress and reached the playoffs,” said Magic Johnson. “Now our goal is to go all the way.” Many forecasters have listed the Dodgers as favorites to win the World Series. One consideration is their record $240 million payroll. But there’s been enough early trouble for fans to be concerned. Let us count the difficulties – quite a few since it’s on...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor At the start of the 2014 baseball season most authorities believe the Angels' Mike Trout is the best player in either the American or National League. Trout is only 22 and has spent just two years in the major leagues. But he has batted .314, hit with power and stolen 86 bases. In addition he has played superbly in the outfield. The Angels are so impressed they've begun talks that could bring Trout $150 million over six years. The baseball authorities I've talked...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When Jim Fregosi died last week I was jolted into a trip down memory lane. I was fresh out of college in 1963 and had an ambition to become a sportswriter. I sent out resumes and received a call from Bud Furillo, sports editor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. We set up an interview. He seemed to like the articles I had included from the college newspaper but he was a no-nonsense kind of guy. "I have a position for you but I know it isn't what you want," he...
The Los Angeles Sports Council has named Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten as the 2013 Sports Executive of the Year. Kasten will be honored during the 9th Annual LA Sports Awards on Wednesday, March 5 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. A highly respected sports figure for more than three decades, Kasten has developed a reputation for creating winning franchises. In his second year with the Dodgers Kasten helped mold a team that last season won the Western Division title and advanced to the...
