Thread: The Dodgers Will Win The West...(and official Dodgers Post-Season Thread)

Originally Posted by The Natural

As much as I hate tinkering with what's working, I LOVE Joe's move in putting Ethier in the 2 hole. He hit out of this world hitting before Manny. As clutch as Russell was in that spot, I think Ethier's slump prompted Joe to make the switch. Nice call.

Part of it is probably Hamels as well. I'm guessing he didn't want Ethier and Loney back to back again.

Originally Posted by ASUcruz

Part of it is probably Hamels as well. I'm guessing he didn't want Ethier and Loney back to back again.

He did say that the order would go back to how it was the first 3 games when they faced a righty.

Originally Posted by KingsJohn/Obediah

I predict that He will make us long for the incessant "Frank Tv" commercials

I'm boycotting Frank TV. I'd rather slit my wrists than watch this piece of crap.

Ethier and Kemp better not disappear this round

Originally Posted by TBrown33

Yeah, because Ramirez's .347/.473/.587 line in July for Boston is truly "despicable."

It's beyond what happened on the field, although any Red Sox fans could easily point to dozens of times when Manny's effort was less than commendable.

I'd say the incident where he shoved the 60+ year old Travelling Secretary to the ground was despicable.

So was the fact that for seven straight years, Manny was the only player on the Red Sox roster who couldn't find a few minutes to visit with sick Jimmy Fund patients during Spring Training.

So was the incident in 2006 when he flat out quit on his teammates, refusing to play the final 6 weeks due to an injury that sidelines most players for a couple of days.

The time just before the trade when he told teammates that he was going to take the next 11 days off (Manny knew EXACTLY how long he needed) to rest his aching knees was pretty despicable, too. Teammates had to talk him on to a plane to Seattle, and days later, Manny showed up in the clubhouse limping on the "wrong" knee. Subsequent MRIs revealed no damage to either knee.

Manny was never "hurt". Manny was upset that the Red Sox weren't giving him an answer on his two option years. Period. He negotiated those option years at the beginning of his contract, and by the end, he didn't like the fact that the club had those option years, so he faked injuries and caused clubhouse disturbances all to get himself traded. Had a player on the Dodgers or Kings acted like this, even if he was producing, my guess is that you'd say he was despicable.

Listen, the Red Sox players all know how good Manny is. What does it tell you that they UNANIMOUSLY wanted him gone? All of them. Even guys like David Ortiz, who's supposedly a friend of Manny's and doesn't hate anyone.

Oh right...he was phoning it in while OPSing over 1.000...and missing all of TWO games.

He missed more than two games. Perhaps he didn't appear in two games, but I remember at least a couple of games near the end where he only pinch hit and didn't even get in the field. One particularly memorable game was one where he took three straight strikes from Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning of a tie game with runners in scoring position without getting the bat off his shoulder. There are Red Sox officials who are convinced that Manny was simply upset that his manager asked him to pinch hit on his "day off".

Just more fuel for the fire.

By the way, I admit that when Manny played, he hit well in the month of June. But his OPS for the season to that point was on pace to be one of the lowest of his career. Manny had a sub par OPS last year as well. All of the sudden, he gets traded to LA, and he's the best hitter in baseball. You can't convince me that he wasn't holding back for quite some time.

I can't hate Manny. I am very disappointed in the way things turned out....and yes, no matter how well he hit, quitting on your teammates in the middle of a playoff race is a douchebag maneuver.

What's done is done. I'm quite happy with what Jason Bay has done for the team.

That said, I don't think we should derail this Dodger thread.

Kuo has replaced Saito on the roster for this series.

Originally Posted by pb2k

Kuo has replaced Saito on the roster for this series.

If Kuo can get and stay healthy he'd be a great future closer

Originally Posted by Gator Mike

It's beyond what happened on the field, although any Red Sox fans could easily point to dozens of times when Manny's effort was less than commendable.

I'd say the incident where he shoved the 60+ year old Travelling Secretary to the ground was despicable.

So was the fact that for seven straight years, Manny was the only player on the Red Sox roster who couldn't find a few minutes to visit with sick Jimmy Fund patients during Spring Training.

So was the incident in 2006 when he flat out quit on his teammates, refusing to play the final 6 weeks due to an injury that sidelines most players for a couple of days.

The time just before the trade when he told teammates that he was going to take the next 11 days off (Manny knew EXACTLY how long he needed) to rest his aching knees was pretty despicable, too. Teammates had to talk him on to a plane to Seattle, and days later, Manny showed up in the clubhouse limping on the "wrong" knee. Subsequent MRIs revealed no damage to either knee.

Manny was never "hurt". Manny was upset that the Red Sox weren't giving him an answer on his two option years. Period. He negotiated those option years at the beginning of his contract, and by the end, he didn't like the fact that the club had those option years, so he faked injuries and caused clubhouse disturbances all to get himself traded. Had a player on the Dodgers or Kings acted like this, even if he was producing, my guess is that you'd say he was despicable.

Listen, the Red Sox players all know how good Manny is. What does it tell you that they UNANIMOUSLY wanted him gone? All of them. Even guys like David Ortiz, who's supposedly a friend of Manny's and doesn't hate anyone.


He missed more than two games. Perhaps he didn't appear in two games, but I remember at least a couple of games near the end where he only pinch hit and didn't even get in the field. One particularly memorable game was one where he took three straight strikes from Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning of a tie game with runners in scoring position without getting the bat off his shoulder. There are Red Sox officials who are convinced that Manny was simply upset that his manager asked him to pinch hit on his "day off".

Just more fuel for the fire.

By the way, I admit that when Manny played, he hit well in the month of June. But his OPS for the season to that point was on pace to be one of the lowest of his career. Manny had a sub par OPS last year as well. All of the sudden, he gets traded to LA, and he's the best hitter in baseball. You can't convince me that he wasn't holding back for quite some time.

Considering how I just told you he also OPS'd over 1.000 in July, I don't see how that's true. "Lowest OPS of his career" would still be pretty insanely high if you are taking that into account. So..."for quite some time"...I really don't know how you would define that, considering how he was hitting the **** out of the ball his last month with the Red Sox.

Regarding your memory and him pinch hitting...again...there were only two instances in July where he pinch hit (two games in a row against the Yankees...faking injury omg).

Re: the club option years, if you haven't read Bill Simmons' column, then you should. I think it's apparent that a lot that got put on Manny stemmed from his new agent, Scott Boras. Yet the media ignored much of it for whatever reason (Boras wouldn't have made any money off of Manny's two club option years).

Also, McCarver wasn't specifying off the field activity in why Manny was "despicable." The guy obviously isn't a role model (actually...seems like Dodger players look up to him), and that was never my argument (regardless, the only real specific "off the field" moment was the traveling secretary incident. Not defending him, but are we saying he was "despicable" over his 8 years for the one incident?). Regardless, we're talking about on the field (including McCarver, judging by his quotes).

"Dogging it." "Phoning it in." Whatever the hell you want to call it. Fact remains, the numbers - the FACTS - do not support this.

The guy hit the **** out of the ball for the Red Sox for many years all the way up until the very last week he was traded. You can't argue raw numbers like his.

As for the Red Sox "unanimously" wanting him off the team...did they hold a vote? Link?

Oh, also, his OPS at the time of being traded was .927. .927!!! First of all, that is NOT on pace to be the lowest of his career (he even OPS'd less than that last year: .881. Crucify him!). Second of all, how you can critique anyone for a "career low" (false) OPS of .927 in their late 30s is beyond me.