May 17, 2012

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for 2008

dodgerfan.net Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

December 30, 2008 By

Hppy Birthday dodgerfan.net

So it’s hard to believe, but the end of December marks the one-year anniversary of dodgerfan.net.  We’ve learned a tremendous amount about running a blog over the past 12 months and are proud of what we’ve started, and, most importantly, the people we’ve met along the way.  This includes the Sons of Steve Garvey (our blogging role models) for their wit, encouragement and enthusiasm, as well as a collection of other Dodger bloggers and writers that we enjoy reading, including Dodger Thoughts, Blue Heaven, The Trolley Dodger, Robots Took My Medicine, Blue Notes and Inside the Dodgers.  Josh Rawitch at the Dodgers (the author of the other Inside the Dodgers blog) deserves a special shout out for his help, knowledge and hospitality to a couple of novice bloggers.

Faithful readers will know the ultimate highlight of the year came very early on in the season with “Blogger Night” at the Ravine, when Josh gave a few lucky Dodger bloggers the opportunity to discuss the state and future of Dodger baseball with the likes of Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti and Tommy Lasorda.  Being in the communications business, it was refreshing to see an organization like the Dodgers treat the blogging community seriously.

Other highlights included the 50th Anniversary celebration, the Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake signings, the sweep of the Cubs, the fight with the Phillies, the continued brilliance of Vin Scully, Joe Torre being Joe Torre, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, Blake Dewitt, Tiger Woods, Troy from West Virginia…the list goes on.

Over the past year we’ve had more than 5,700 people visit the site from 60 countries around the world, so we’ve saved our biggest thank you for all the Dodger fans out there.  2008 was a great start for the Dodgers and for dodgerfan.net, and we look forward to celebrating more milestones with all of you in the years ahead.  Enjoy the new site and we’ll see you in Spring Training!

Chris and Alex

Filed Under: baseball blogs, Celebrity Dodger Fans

A Dunn Deal?

December 30, 2008 By

Is it time to say goodbye to Man-Ram and hello to Adam Dunn? The more I think about this, the more I like the move. While it’s impossible to argue with the production, excitement and enthusiasm that Manny brought to the Dodgers last season, he comes with a certain amount of baggage. Like Terrell Owens, this tiger is not going to change his stripes. Sure, the Dodgers could sign Manny to a three-year, big money deal. But it’s not the money that’s the issue, it’s his attitude in the last year of his contract. Manny was truly a cancer for the Red Sox before they traded him, and Ramirez was clearly on his best behavior while in LA. But would this be the case in the last year of his contract here in LA? Which Manny would show up?

Adam Dunn is consistency to Manny Ramirez’s excitement. The guy hits 40 HRs practically every year, which is more than anyone since Beltre in 2004 (thanks ESPN.com). He’s going to come (relatively) cheap, potentially opening the door to additional pitching help this off season. Plus, Colletti doesn’t want to be left at the alter in late-January with no replacement for Ramirez if Manny walks to another team.

So all things being equal, I’d of course take Manny in a heartbeat. But given the realities of baseball, I’ll take Adam Dunn. Something tells me Frank McCourt will too.

Filed Under: Dodger Hitting, Dodgers Offseason, Manny Ramirez Tagged With: ,

A Fracture for Billingsley’s Leg (and Psyche)

November 23, 2008 By

Chad Billingsley

Ouch.  Chad Billingsley slipped on an icy step on Saturday, fracturing his fibula.  Bills is supposed to be good to go by Spring Training.  I’m actually a little more worried about how he handles this mentally.  Chad’s a big guy at 6′ 10″ and he uses that left leg to push off during his throwing motion.  He’ll need complete confidence to get by this, as well as his performance in the playoffs.  Hard to believe Billingsley is the veteran of this Dodgers rotation…

Filed Under: Dodgers Offseason, dodgers pitching

Manny Offer Is In; Penny Gone

November 5, 2008 By

So Ned reportedly made a play for Manny, but it surely is a two-year deal for $55 million.  A nice move, but does anyone seriously think Manny is going to take that?  Not with Boras as his agent!  Good thing the Dodgers cleared some salary by buying out Penny’s contract for $2 million (not a pretty penny! sorry, couldn’t help myself…) as they’ll need that for either Ramirez or Sabathia.

On a related note, Blue Notes had an interesting post relating to comments from Steve Henson at Yahoo! Sports on the Padres’ asking price for Jake Peavy:

The Dodgers would be long shots because the Padres are loathe to help their intra-divisional neighbors to the north. It would take Clayton Kershaw or Jonathan Broxton, plus DeWitt and Ethier, just to pique the Padres’ interest.

JUST TO PIQUE THEIR INTEREST!!! Whatever…could you seriously imagine playing the Pad’s and seeing Kershaw on the mound with DeWitt and Eithier behind him?  Unbelievable.

Filed Under: Andre Ethier, Brad Penny, Dodger Trade Rumors, dodgers pitching, Manny Ramirez, Ned Colletti, pitching, Trade Rumors

The Legend of Joe Beimel as Told By a 2nd Grader

October 28, 2008 By

TroyFromWestVirginia is back, and this time he is spreading the Gospel of Joe Beimel according to TroyFromWestVirginia via his daughter’s second grade class.

The video below sums it all up – Troy takes us through the assignment, reads the statement his daughter will present, and highlights the Joe Beimel Bobblehead “show and tell” that will be forthcoming.

He adds that his daughter will proclaim that The Legend of Joe Beimel is an “internet phoenomenon” and share some details about how Joe stumbled across the series of videos.

At the end, Joe mentions that his daughter will bring up Beimel’s free agency and the fact that he may not be back. Watch at about the 6:45 mark – I think you can see a tear forming in Troy’s eye at that point.

It’s 7:51 long, but pretty entertaining nonetheless.

Filed Under: Joe Beimel, TroyfromWestVirginia
« Older Posts