I used to run base like Juan Pierre Now I run the bass hi hat and the snare
As Renck pointed out, Pierre used that as his song of choice when approaching the batters box on Monday's game, and I fully expect he'll be using it for the entire season. Seriously, it's not often you get a shout out like that -- I mean once you make it into a Jay-Z song, you've like totally made it. That's some serious respect.
Here's a link to the music video if you want to check it out yourself, pretty sweet. As for Pierre, he got caught stealing on Tuesday night, which is just flat out unacceptable now that he has a reputation to live up to.
When Dodgers ace Jason Schmidt returned to the Bay Area this weekend for the Dodgers/Giants series, he took a lot of heat from the San Fran fans. I've already noted the extremes some of them have taken. One of the other criticisms was that Schmidt was a hypochondriac. Well Schmidt revealed to the LA Times on Monday that he wasn't a hypochondriac; rather, Schmidt was worried about cancer.
"For two to three years I was fearful," he said. "Every time I'd get sick, I thought I had cancer. I never looked at it from a realistic point of view. I could have stubbed my toe and thought I had cancer."
The worries had a rational basis. His mother, Vicki, died of brain cancer at 53 about six months after she watched her son pitch against the Angels in the 2002 World Series. Several other of Schmidt's relatives have had the disease.
Just another reminder that these players we watch on TV, our heroes, are humans too. They are afflicted by the same diseases, and carry the same worries as you and me.
Ironic thing is Schmidt wound up leaving Monday's home opener at Dodger Stadium with what's being called a cramp in his hamstring that he hurt while covering first base on a grounder, and which he's attributing to dehydration. Luckily for the Dodgers, Schmidt's not expected to miss a start.
Who were so critical of him during his tumultuous first week of play as a Dodger. After being unable to make plays on routine fly balls, allowing hitters to turn singles into doubles, and going hitless in his first seven at-bats, many people were calling for Gonzo to be benched. There were even some people (that shall remain unnamed), who dubbed Gonzalez the $7.5 million mistake (yes, that's me with my head looking down at my keyboard in shame). In fact, Gonzalez made comments that he wasn't used to taking such a beating from the media.
he appeared surprised that he would be asked repeatedly about those failings, and that they would be written about.
"It wasn't like this in Arizona," he said. "Are you going to ask me about this every day?"
Well Gonzalez sure played like he had a chip on his shoulder Sunday, crushing his first two home runs of the season as part of the Dodgers highest scoring game of the year, a 10-4 win over the Giants that allowed for the sweep. Funny thing is, Gonzalez was his typical polite self afterwards, electing to let his superb play on the field speak for itself. As a side note, Gonzo also happens to have more home runs at AT&T Park than any other non-Giant.
It's official, at least for now that is, since the Boys in Blue have won eight in a row at AT&T Park going back to last season, following a three game sweep this weekend in San Francisco. The Dodgers outscored the Giants 16-6 in the series, including holding the Giants to one run in both Friday night's and Saturday's games. Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, and Randy Wolf got the wins for the Dodgers, while Noah Lowry, Russ Ortiz, and Barry Zito took the losses for the Giants. Neither Lowry nor Ortiz pitched poorly for the Giants. Barry Zito on the other hand gave up eight runs over six innings, sending his ERA sky-rocketing to 8.18 (after only two starts). Luckily for Giants fans, Zito has a history of poor Aprils, which is reason to be optimistic that things will turn around.
Meanwhile, the Giants would like to have you believe they're not panicking. The same I'm afraid cannot be said for some of their fans, who are even questioning whether or not they've lost their homefield advantage. But if you ask one scout, he'll tell you the Giants' season is already over. Luckily for the fans, they still have Barry Bonds' who was just 1-8 with an RBI in the series, and no extra base hits. The Giants are now 1-5, and off to their worst start since 1980. With only 14 runs scored in six games, it's safe to say it's going to be a long season in the Bay.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
San Francisco Giants (1-2) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2)-10:15PM Est.
You know how when two rivals meet, announcers tell you to "throw out the record books!" That's one of the dumbest things announcers say. First of all, if you throw out the record books then how in the hell is anyone supposed to know who's in first place? Second of all, who the hell keeps records in a book? Ever heard of the internet? Anyway, throw out the record books when the Giants and Dodgers meet, because all either of these teams care about is beating each other!
Chicago White Sox (1-2) vs. Minnesota Twins (3-0)-8:11PM Est.
Here's another series starting tonight between two division rivals. The White Sox and Twins have been fighting each other for the AL Central for years now, all the way back to when the Tigers were losing 100 games a season. It seems like every time these teams meet, something exciting happens. With Carlos Silva and Javier Vazquez on the mound, that excitement will probably come in the form of 600-foot home runs.
Houston Astros (0-3) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (0-3)-8:10PM Est.
Remember a few seasons ago when these two teams were fighting for a National League pennant against each other? Well tonight's game won't be anything like that. Nope, instead we're gonna get two teams that are yet to win a game this season. How exciting. If for nothing else, I suggest you watch just in case Brad Lidge has to face Albert Pujols in the 9th inning again. Have you ever seen a pitcher wet himself on the mound?
Thanks to an LA Times article, I was alerted that there is a video on YouTube of a Giants fan burning his no. 29 Jason Schmidt Giants jersey, in obvious resentment of the fact that the former Giants' ace, signed a free agent deal in the off-season to pitch for the rival Dodgers. Before you check it out, be advised that there is a Snoop Dogg song playing in the background with several explicit lyrics. Oh yeah, and if you're not into fans burning jerseys with a blowtorch, don't go here either.
With fans like that, it's easy to see why the Dodgers scheduled their rotation so Schmidt would miss the Giants this time around -- the teams begin a three game series tonight, and Schmidt already pitched on Wednesday. Schmidt has already said he expects to get booed.
Because the minor leaguer feels he's ready for the majors, as do the Dodgers, but they still sent him down to Triple A to start the season. Loney's gripe is that he won the Triple A Pacific Coast League batting title last year with a .380 average, and followed it up by hitting .414 during Spring Training, good for second highest on the club. Despite those stellar numbers, the Dodgers elected to keep Matt Kemp on the Opening Day roster as their final outfielder, along with Brady Clark, Andre Ethier, Luis Gonzalez, and Juan Pierre, because Kemp offered another right-handed bat. Loney's camp was fairly diplomatic in suggesting the Dodgers trade him:
"He didn't demand it. He suggested it as an option," said Joe Urbon, Loney's agent. "He was the best hitter in the Minor Leagues last year and they re-signed Nomar Garciaparra for two years. If James only gets to the Major Leagues when Nomar gets hurt, he could be sitting around until 2009. No one wants to be a Dodger more than James. But he's disappointed and frustrated. As he said, he can't help the [Dodgers] in Las Vegas."
Loney responded to being sent to Las Vegas by crushing a 440 bomb in the first pitch he saw of Thursday's Opening Night for the minor-league club, as if he were out to stick it to the Dodgers' front office. In defense of Loney, the man has nothing left to prove, and he could be up in the bigs trying to help the club instead of Gonzalez, Kemp, or Ethier. In defense of the Dodgers, the 440 foot home run is exactly the reason extra time in the minors could be helpful. Despite being a batting champ, Loney only hit eight home runs last year, and has just 35 career home runs in nearly 2,000 minor league at-bats.
Hopefully Loney can work on his power numbers, while maintaining his high batting average, as he awaits his opportunity to shine in the Major Leagues, be it with the Dodgers or another team.
When something in a game goes wrong, members of the media generally take it upon themselves to ask and speculate why it happened. Such was the mindset of one Steve Henson who questioned Grady Little's decision not to pinch hit for Randy Wolf in the 6th inning of the Dodgers loss to the Brewers on Tuesday. Of course the reason Henson questioned Little's non-move is because Kevin Mench wound up hitting the go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. While I side with Little in the case because I would have wanted Wolf to go more than five innings as well, suffice it to say Grady wasn't happy about having his decisions questioned. From Tony Jackson's Inside the Dodgers blog:
Grady Little didn't take kindly to being question in print this morning about his decision to let Randy Wolf hit for himself in the sixth inning last night, when the Dodgers had a chance to break open a game they led by one run and eventually lost by one run. He cut his pregame media session after providing curt answers to three questions, one of which was about whether he planned to try to get Saito into a game soon. "Whenever there is a decision to be made on a pitcher, I'll call upstairs and see what you guys think I should do first."
the Dodgers decided to have their entire team wear uniform No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in tribute to the late Hall of Famer who broke baseball's color barrier while wearing Dodger Blue.
Check out Sons of Steve Garvey who obtained a sneak peak at the Dodgers scoreboard for that night. Additionally, Juan Pierre and Marlon Anderson will conduct a youth clinic at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in South Central Los Angeles the previous day. While there's no possible way for baseball to thank and honor Jackie Robinson enough for what he went through and endured in paving the way for many future black players, the Dodgers are certainly making their attempts.
Furthermore, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. will also wear jersey No. 42 in honor of Robinson on April 15th. Griffey Jr. petitioned the league to wear the number, since it was retired throughout baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary. Padres OF Mike Cameron will also wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson when they play the Dodgers on the 15th, and he will even go completely old school.
Let's see, for a heck of a lot less than $7.5 mil, the Dodgers could've signed me to go hitless in seven at-bats, and misplay balls in left field, which is what Gonzo has managed to do in his first two games in Dodger blue. The 39 year old is 0-7 on the season, and has allowed Bill Hall to turn a routine single into a double, and Johnny Estrada to turn a routine fly ball into a double, amongst other miscues. Gonzo's reaction after the game was pretty blunt:
About the Estrada hit: "I just couldn't get to it."
About the Hall double: "He's a fast guy, he just beat me there, I've just got to get it and get it in."
Gonzalez shook his head and almost frowned.
"You guys have all seen me, you know who I am," he said. "I've played long enough, what you see is what you get, I'm not 21."
Meanwhile, James Loney, who's only 22, killed the ball during Grapefruit League play and is down in the minors with his MLB service time ticking away. Ned Colletti has done what appears to be an excellent job shaking things up and putting together a winner for the Dodgers, but signing Luis Gonzalez does not appear to be one of his better moves (at $4.5 million or less it would have been an adequate signing).
Oh yeah, it's my moral obligation to tell you that this is why Gonzo's had some trouble in left, courtesy of Tony Jackson's Inside the Dodgers blog.
It wasn't until I read Troy Renck's Denver Post All Things Rockies blog that I found out Jay-Z gave a shout out to Juan Pierre in a song. In the opening lyrics to Beyonce's Deja Vu, the first track in her latest album, B'Day, Jay-Z is featured and breaks out with this
When Dodgers ace Jason Schmidt returned to the Bay Area this weekend for the Dodgers/Giants series, he took a lot of heat from the San Fran fans. I've already noted the 
Who were so critical of him during his tumultuous first week of play as a Dodger. After being unable to make plays on routine fly balls, allowing hitters to 
It's official, at least for now that is, since the Boys in Blue have won 
Because the minor leaguer feels he's ready for the majors, as do the Dodgers, but they still sent him down to Triple A to start the season. Loney's gripe is that he won the Triple A Pacific Coast League batting title last year with a .380 average, and followed it up by hitting .414 during Spring Training, good for second highest on the club. Despite those stellar numbers, 
When something in a game goes wrong, members of the media generally take it upon themselves to ask and speculate why it happened. Such was the mindset of one Steve Henson who 
As aptly described at 
Let's see, for a heck of a lot less than $7.5 mil, the Dodgers could've signed me to go hitless in seven at-bats, and misplay balls in left field, which is what Gonzo has managed to do in his first two games in Dodger blue. The 39 year old is 0-7 on the season, and has allowed Bill Hall to turn a routine single into a double, and Johnny Estrada to turn a routine fly ball into a double, amongst other miscues. 
