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Isotopes Notebook: Lasorda receives pleasant surprise
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Isotopes Notebook: Lasorda receives pleasant surpriseChristopher Jackson It is hard to still surprise someone like Tommy Lasorda, a baseball lifer and Dodgers legend. The Albuquerque Isotopes managed to do just that Friday night, presenting Lasorda with a special ring to commemorate his 1972 Pacific Coast League championship with the Dukes. "That was, believe me, a big surprise," Lasorda said with a smile. "I thank them from the bottom of my heart because in those days you win, you didn't get any rings. "Our half-season club (Ogden) won last year and they got rings that look better than World Series rings." Lasorda's squad brought Albuquerque its first PCL title in its first season as a Triple-A team. "In 1972 I managed here and I think we won by 12 games and no rings," Lasorda said. "So these guys are good enough to me to make me a ring and it's beautiful." Lasorda was in town to take part in the opening night ceremonies for the Isotopes, helping to represent the Dodgers in front of a packed house of 10,059 fans. "In my opinion it's the most beautiful stadium in the minor leagues and I've been to them all," Lasorda said of Isotopes Park. "They're just great fans, they love baseball and they support the team." Lasorda said he could return one or two more times this season, but for this weekend he has to hustle back to Los Angeles to celebrate his 62nd wedding anniversary on Sunday. "Yeah, a ballgame," Lasorda deadpanned when asked if he had anything special planned. "At 62, you get tired of celebrating."
OC REGISTER Ranking SoCal’s baseball teamsApril 13th, 2012, 6:53 pm · · posted by Howard Cole, OCREGISTER.COMObviously it’s very early, but as The Register’s lone Dodger slam-fan-writer-man in residence, I need to hurry up with this post while the getting is good. With moments to go before tonight’s first pitch, the Dodgers are Southern California’s best team. At 6-1, clearly, those of us following the goings on at Chavez Ravine are looking at SoCal’s best team. The best team; ladies and gentleman, is your Los Angeles Dodgers. The Angels, bringing up the rear in the American League West at 2-5 are the Southland’s worst team. All in good fun now, but that really does roll off the tongue naturally, I must say. OK fine, to split hairs here, the Angels are tied with San Diego for SoCal’s worst team. The Padres are also 2-5, but with some good fortune tonight in Los Angeles (that’s actual Los Angeles, don’t you know) could leapfrog the Halos into sole possession of the coveted second-worst squad this side of San Francisco. I suppose if we were to split hairs further, and look at the all-important run differential statistic (Angels minus five, Pads minus eight) we could give the OC club the benefit of the doubt. But who wants to split hairs further? The Angels are SoCal’s worst team, period. And the Dodgers – the Los Angeles Dodgers – are its best team. You can look it up.
Heading into Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Aaron Harang had the distinction of being the only Dodgers pitcher with a loss, and was looking to improve upon his last outing, in which he gave up four runs and 13 baserunners while recording only 13 outs. "I saw a guy who knew in San Diego he didn't pitch well," manager Don Mattingly said after Friday's game. "I think he knew he was a little bit high strung that day, and had to settle down. He was excited to get out there to day to show us he was better than that San Diego outing." The number 13 figured prominently again for Harang on Saturday, but in a positive light, as he tied his career high with 13 strikeouts, including a new Dodgers record with nine consecutive punchouts, one shy of Tom Seaver's major league record. "The biggest thing for me was to come out and give us a chance to win," Harang said. Harang did just that, pitching into the seventh inning. It wasn't all great, as he did allow four runs, including three in the fourth inning after his strikeout barrage was interrupted by a long offensive inning for the Dodgers that saw them score four runs on two hits, including just one ball to the outfield. "He has on the attack all night long. He threw a lot of fastballs to both sides of the plate," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "As soon as he got to two strikes, especially ahead 0-2 or 1-2 which he was for most of his strikeouts, he was able to make quality pitches on the edges. Good pitches on the edges beats good hitting." Ellis said the Dodgers saved the ball from Harang's ninth strikeout and it went to an MLB authenticator. Harang is tied for the major league lead with 19 strikeouts on the season, in 10 2/3 innings (Felix Hernandez also has 19 strikeouts, but he has made three starts). Dodgers starters have a cumulative 55 strikeouts in 45 innings so far this season. Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw have each struck out at least a batter per inning and have a combined 25 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings, and they have the two worst strikeout rates on the starting staff.
"I was just going on contact there, and I trust [third base coach] Tim Wallach at third," Ellis said. "When the ball was hit I didn't know if it was going to be up the middle, so I was busting as if the ball was going to be in center field. Tim kept waving and I kept going, and it was one of those strange plays that I don't think happen too often." The third inning was the first time the Dodgers have batted around all season.
Jansen's velocity was also down, throwing between 89-91 MPH, hitting 92 on two pitches. But Mattingly didn't sound worried. "Kenley's different. There have been times early on where he gets tentative or gets off kilter, and the ball doesn't come out the same way. We'll continue to pay attention to his mechanics. The ninth is different than the eighth, so we'll pay attention to that too," Mattingly said. "As long as Kenley is not hurt, then we're not concerned."
Up NextThe Dodgers go for their fifth straight win Saturday with a pair of pitchers being added to the roster today, with Ted Lilly getting activated from the disabled list to start for the Dodgers and Joe Wieland getting called up from Triple A to make his major league debut. Directory: documents documents -> Concept stage documents -> Concept stage documents -> The great global switch-off documents -> Nonprofit grant application documents -> The Truth about the Rwandan Genocide documents -> Annual InStructional unit plan documents -> Chaos equipment included Download 323.64 Kb. Share with your friends:
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