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Matt Kemp Player Of The Week...Again
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- Dodgers Week 2 In Review: As Good As It Gets
Matt Kemp Player Of The Week...Againby Eric Stephen on Apr 16, 2012 3:20 PM PDT in Dodgers History & Records Matt Kemp... September 19-25, 2011: 11-for-26, three home runs, seven RBI, nine runs in six games, .423/.444/.923 April 5-8, 2012: 7-for-17, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs in four games, .412/.389/.824 April 9-15, 2012: 12-for-22, four home runs, eight RBI, seven runs scored in six games, .545/.615/1.182 Three National League Player of the Week awards for Kemp, all in a row. He is the first player ever to win the award three straight times. The only other player to open a season with two straight player of the week honors was Tony Armas for the 1981 Oakland Athletics. Kemp has four career player of the week honors, tying him with Orel Hershiser, Andre Ethier, and Eric Karros. The only Dodgers with more player of the week awards, which have been given out since 1974, are Mike Piazza (nine) and Fernando Valenzuela (five). "Right now, he's just a beast," manager Don Mattingly said. "Matt does so many things. That's what's so compelling about him. He can run, he's a good defender and base stealer. I still feel like he's getting better, and that's kind of scary for a lot of people. As he gets the strike zone, and gets the feel, and keeps consistently doing what he's doing, the sky is the limit for him."
Well, that was fun. Just like in 2009, the Dodgers swept through their first homestand of the season. The Dodgers beat both the Pirates and Padres to go 6-0, including four wins in one-run games and two walk-off wins. The Dodgers trailed in only two of their games last week, each time by just one run. In both cases, the Dodgers immediately erased the deficit in the next half inning. No matter how many wins you may have predicted for the Dodgers this season, these first 10 games were seen as a relatively easy start to the schedule. But nine wins in 10 games can't be reasonably predicted, or expected, so the Dodgers are definitely ahead of the curve, and manager Don Mattingly is definitely happy to keep banking victories. "You can put things on paper all you want, but you have to go out and play," Mattingly said. "I'm happy to win these games. It doesn't matter who they're coming against. You have to win X amount of games to win the division." Now the Dodgers just have to win [X - 9] games. Dodger Batter of the Week: For the second straight week, Matt Kemp was the man, and he really took things to new heights in his six games against Pittsburgh and San Diego. Kemp had 12 hits in 22 at-bats, including four home runs. His .615 on-base percentage was better than any of his teammate's slugging percentages outside of Justin Sellers, who slugged .667 in all of five plate appearances. Kemp's slugging percentage for the week was 1.182, and he had eight RBI and seven runs scored. Honorable mention goes to Andre Ethier, who hit two home runs and had an under the radar .993 OPS. Dodger Pitcher of the Week: There were so many candidates this week, but Ted Lilly gets the call this week by allowing two hits and one unearned run in seven strong innings in his first start of the year. Honorable mention goes to Aaron Harang, who etched his name in the Dodgers record book with nine consecutive strikeouts against San Diego. Week 2 Record: 6-0
Season Record: 9-1 50 runs scored (5.00 per game) 33 runs allowed (3.30 per game) .681 pythagorean winning percentage (7-3) 
30/30 Watch: Matt Kemp had four home runs but had no stolen bases against the Pirates and Padres on the week, and has six homers and one steal in 10 games. Kemp is on pace for 97 home runs and 16 steals this season. Uribe Run Watch: Juan Uribe had a relatively good week with seven hits in 18 at-bats and drove in his first run of the season on Thursday. But he has yet to score a run on the season, in 32 plate app. First 10: Kemp (16) and Andre Ethier (15) have driven in an astonishing 31 runs combined through just 10 games, and have the top two RBI totals though 10 games since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the only Dodger ever with more RBI through 10 games was Roy Campanella, who had 17 RBI to open is 1953 MVP campaign. Kemp also had 15 RBI through 10 team games in 2010, as did Eric Karros in 1995. Transactions: The Dodgers finalized their opening day roster with the following moves on the final day of spring training Wednesday:
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FOX SPORTS Ethier reminds LA fans to not text and drive Up Next 0
Don't Text and Drive PSA Andre Ethier shows you why a safe driver is a smart driver. Share Jon Rosen - April 16, 2012 It was high noon in Parking Lot G at Dodger Stadium, and radio broadcaster Charlie Steiner was in a good mood in advance of Mercury Insurance and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Don't Text and Drive PSA shoot. "I've got no foundation, no blush and no blue M & M's!" Steiner joked in advance of his TV spot. A good mood prevailed, but Steiner was involved in a serious undertaking designed to keep California's roads and highways safe while lowering the costs of auto insurance. Through a PSA shown on the videoboard at Dodger Stadium and aired on Prime Ticket during Dodger telecasts, the team is teaming up with Mercury insurance to raise awareness of the perils of texting and using a handheld device while driving, an endeavor backed by right fielder Andre Ethier. Ethier, Steiner and Mercury Insurance are asking Dodger fans to take the pledge not to text and drive. "I pledge not to text and drive,” Ethier said. “I will also encourage my friends and family to drive safely by keeping their eyes on the road at all times. "I definitely found myself thinking twice in the car when I was getting a text coming in, or even tempted to text. It's a good thing to be a part of. For the couple of days that I've been in LA, I've definitely seen signs up – the warning signs you can see on the freeway – on those traffic warning signs. I think it's a $159 ticket or something like that for texting while driving, so I've definitely seen that. And it's something that when you start to see the stats and some of the data that says what the results are of texting and driving, it's pretty shocking to see. “It's something that all of us make a conscious effort to do. It doesn't take that much of an effort to be a part of it." The stats Ethier referred to are indeed shocking. Texting while driving is basically akin to driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 and causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road. Drivers using hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into an injury accident, a sobering statistic considering more than 30% of teens send over 100 texts per day, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey. "It's even more important for teens than it is for other people, just because they're so inexperienced behind the wheel," Mercury Insurance advertising director Erik Thompson said. "They don't have that life experience and being able to predict what's going to happen on the road, and if their attention is divided between the road and driving and the radio and iPods, and texting and things like that, so it's a really dangerous situation and a recipe for disaster." While the habits of teen drivers are a cause for concern, adults were largely responsible for a nation-wide 50% spike in texting while driving over the past year. At any given time, less than one percent of cars on the road are being driven by someone using a hand-held device, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that was released in December. "One of the interesting things about the texting while driving program is people tend to think 'oh, it's kids. Kids are always texting,’” Thompson said. “And it's really not. If you look at the statistics out there now, it's really across the board from kids all the way up to grandparents. "You would think that adults would know better, but I think the mindset is 'oh, it's only a couple of seconds. I’m just going to do this quickly, and get back to driving, and it's not that big a deal.' Well, those two seconds can be the difference between disaster and getting to your destination safely." With a .289 average, three homers and 15 RBI through his first 10 games of the season, Ethier has already made an impact in the middle of the lineup for a 9-1 Dodgers club. If he can have a similar impact in reaching out to Dodgers fans to take a pledge of not texting while driving, he'll have helped make the roads in the southland safer and car insurance less expensive. "If we make an effort towards the situation, it'll be a lot safer because of it," Ethier said.
Sports Xchange – April 16, 2012 No pressure After a stellar 2011, Matt Kemp is ready to do some damage in 2012. Date 4/5/12, Duration 1:35, Views 83 Video by: FOX Sports West Top of Form Bottom of Form Matt Kemp finished second in the National League Most Valuable Player Award balloting in 2011, and the way he has started 2012 makes it seem like there could be no other choice for the award this season. Through 10 games, Kemp is hitting .487 (19-for-39) with a major league leading six home runs, 16 RBI, and 12 runs scored. His slugging percentage is so high (1.026) that he singled on Sunday and his slugging percentage went down. "Right now, he's just a beast," said manager Don Mattingly. "I still feel like he's getting better, and that's kind of scary for a lot of people. As he gets the strike zone, and gets the feel, and keeps consistently doing what he's doing, the sky is the limit for him." Kemp joined Don Demeter (1959) and Wally Moon (1961) as the only Los Angeles Dodgers to hit six home runs in the team's first 10 games. Kemp hears chants of "M-V-P" from his home crowd and occasionally on the road, like the first weekend of the season at Petco Park in San Diego. "I always get chills. When you hear the crowd going crazy, there's no better feeling," Kemp said. His teammate Clayton Kershaw might have said it best about Kemp. "He's the best player in baseball, and probably the world right now," Kershaw said. "It's pretty ridiculous." NOTES, QUOTES Kemp homers in third straight game --CF Matt Kemp homered in his third consecutive game on Sunday, giving him an astonishing six home runs and 16 RBI through just 10 games. Kemp joined Don Demeter (1959) and Wally Moon (1961) as the only Los Angeles Dodgers to hit six home runs in the team's first 10 games. --RHP Todd Coffey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with right knee inflammation, to make room on the active roster for LHP Ted Lilly, who pitched seven strong innings in his 2012 debut. "It's definitely a situation where if this were later in the season and it had to be pushed through, it's no problem," Coffey said. "It seems kind of silly right now to man up and push through something that we can get completely knocked out and ready to go 100 percent." --C A.J. Ellis began a bizarre 2-5-6-3 triple play on Sunday by fielding a bunt from Padres cleanup hitter Jesus Guzman that somehow trickled fair, and the Padres' runners froze as the ball was thrown around the infield for all three outs. It was the first triple play turned by the Dodgers since June 13, 1998. --Dodgers announcer Vin Scully returned to the booth on Sunday after missing five games with a bad cold. Scully missed just his second home opener in 63 years, but he was happy to return Sunday. "In my own private little world, this is my opening day. I have (Clayton) Kershaw. Ain't no bad crowd to hang around with," Scully said. --The Dodgers have beaten the Padres eight consecutive times at Dodger Stadium, dating back to 2011. --The 9-1 start by the Dodgers is their best start to a season since beginning the 1981 campaign with the same record. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in 1981. --All of Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday, honoring the 65th anniversary of the Dodgers Hall of Famer breaking baseball's color barrier. At Dodger Stadium, former Dodgers Don Newcombe and Tommy Davis threw out ceremonial first pitches. "He was the trailblazer and this was the team," said manager Don Mattingly said of Robinson. "Obviously he's honored throughout baseball, but being in our organization it's different." BY THE NUMBERS: 6 -- Wins for the Dodgers during their six-game homestand against the Pirates and Padres, the first time the Dodgers have swept a homestand since beating the Giants and Rockies in six games from April 13-19, 2009. QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's the best player in baseball, and probably the world right now. It's pretty ridiculous." -- LHP Clayton Kershaw, on teammate CF Matt Kemp, who opened his season with 19 hits and six home runs in 39 at-bats through 10 games. PASADENA STAR NEWS 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 270.45 Kb. Share with your friends:
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