Kaitlin Olson: ‘I Went Into Labor At Phillies Game’

Waters breaks from Eagles or something…

Actress Kaitlin Olson has given birth to a baseball baby - she went into labor during a Los Angeles Dodgers game on Tuesday.

Olson and husband Rob McElhenney became parents to Axel Lee McElhenney on Wednesday afternoon, but the actress’ contractions started the night before at Dodger Stadium.

She tells People.com, “I went into labor at the Phillies/Dodgers game on Tuesday night. As soon as (Phillies star) Ryan Howard hit a three-run home run, we felt comfortable leaving to go have our baby. We love him like crazy, even though he made us miss the second half of the game.”

SI.com: Manny will quit on White Sox just like he did with Red Sox, Dodgers

He will quit on the White Sox just the way he quit on the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Sooner or later. Bank on it.

Manny Ramirez returns to Fenway Park tonight and he’ll get booed with gusto—which he deserves. It’s nice to know that folks in Los Angeles now understand what we were trying to tell them when Manny first got to L.A. in 2008 and everybody out there talked about mean Boston and how Manny was just “misunderstood.’‘

Now they understand. Manny is all about Manny. And greed. Oh, and he’s also a steroid cheat, who’s been caught twice.

Manny the con man spoke through an interpreter (White Sox bench coach Joey Cora) when he joined the White Sox in Cleveland Tuesday. What a fraud. Ramirez went to high school in New York City. He’s been speaking fluent English for decades. He understands everything he hears in English and has never spoken through an interpreter until this week.

Good luck, Ozzie Guillen. You’ve managed some beauties before, but you’ve never had a guy like Manny.

Isaacs: A personal view of a ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’

Stan “who may be the only reporter who covered that game for a New York paper who’s still alive” Isaacs remembers…

And then there was the laughable promotion by MasterCard in 2002 to select the greatest moments in baseball history. MasterCard was more interested in numbers than in fashioning an authentic list. So it was that most of the events people voted on were not moments; they occurred mostly in the post-television age; and were events likely to draw votes in certain quarters, i.e. listing Ichiro Suzuki’s outstanding 2001 rookie season as a way of attracting votes from Japan. Yes, Japanese citizens were eligible to vote.

The Thomson-Branca moment did not make the final top ten. Cal Ripken’s feat of playing in the most consecutive games (that’s a lot of “moments”) was voted No. 1. Baseball was made to look ridiculous anew for selling out to a commercial entity.

As the contest drew to an end, the MasterCard people sent Thomson and Branca on a round of radio talks to promote the contest. That night they were at Shea Stadium to appear on a Mets’ pre-game show. I was in the Mets clubhouse and watched Branca, a regular visitor to the Mets because manager Bobby Valentine was his son-in-law, leading Thomson around, introducing him to players.

I was in Valentine’s office where the talk got around to the MasterCard promotion. Branca vented his anger. “It’s ridiculous that our moment is not high in the running.” he said. “Was Suzuki a moment? Was Ripken a moment?”

I could hardly suppress a smile. Here was Branca—the victim of a day that has lived in infamy for him, for the Dodgers and their fans—angry that his “moment” was not being awarded with the votes of the fans. Ah, baseball.

Frank McCourt proposed to slash Dodgers’ payroll in business plan - Los Angeles Times

How do you know a MLB owner is lying?

Among the promises Frank McCourt made on the day he took over the Dodgers in 2004: He would maintain the Dodgers’ player payroll within the top one-quarter of major league teams, and he had no plans to consider selling naming rights to Dodger Stadium.

The business plan he filed with Major League Baseball tells a different story on both counts. In two largely similar versions of the plan, the document explains how he plans to reverse the Dodgers’ financial losses in part by slashing payroll—from $100 million in 2004 to $85 million in 2006—and limiting annual growth to about 4%.

Manny to have dreads trimmed in Boston - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog

Where will he get his nails done?

MoKM: Matt Kemp’s struggles: A Statistical and Mechanical Analysis

Matt Kemp is struggling in 2010, there’s no real way around that. Even more relevant to the discussion, he has fallen well below the expectations of the fans, which in turn has caused a greater than normal backlash against him.

Most journalists and bloggers have wrote about Kemp plenty this season, and they have all speculated as to why his struggles have come so suddenly, but I think a lot of them have been taking the easy way out in this discussion. That is, when a good player struggles, it’s easy to write about his mental focus, his lack of effort, and any other external factors that are not related to actual performance analysis.

As for me, I’m not innocent of the charges I gave in the above paragraphs. Perhaps too often I’ve dedicated posts to what I perceived as illogical criticism of his personality, and while I’ve given my occasional take on possible reasons for Kemp’s drop in performance, I’m surely just as guilty of not analyzing his struggles in full.

And that’s the error i’m looking to rectify today.

Instead of endlessly speculating on his mentality, motivation, intelligence, and other factors that we can’t and never will know, I intend to focus on why he’s struggling on the field, and what he can potentially do to fix his problems.

ESPN: Szymborski: Manny Ramirez will help the White Sox (INSIDER)

For the Chicago White Sox, picking up Manny Ramirez for essentially nothing—they’re going to pay $4.3 million of his salary the rest of the way—was a good move, especially for a second-place team that appears to be treading water.

Fuentes and Hawpe are over on TO.

[UPDATED] LA Times: Manny Ramirez headed to the White Sox

Manny Ramirez will be sent to the Chicago White Sox on a waiver deal Monday, according to a baseball source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Dodgers aren’t expected to get any players in return, but are likely to unburden themselves of the $4 million or so that Ramirez is due to earn over the remainder of his two-year, $45-million contract.

ORIGINAL POST:
MLB.com: Manny ejected one pitch into pinch-hit at-bat

Manny Ramirez not only has trouble getting in games, he has trouble staying in them.

Ramirez, out of the Dodgers’ starting lineup for a fourth consecutive game Sunday, was ejected by plate umpire Gary Cederstrom one pitch into a pinch-hitting appearance in the sixth inning.

Ramirez, sent up with the bases loaded and one out to bat for reliever Ronald Belisario, took a fastball from Matt Reynolds that appeared to be outside but was called a strike. Ramirez immediately turned to complain and was quickly ejected by Cederstrom.

That would be one heck of a way to end his Dodgers career.

Manny Ramirez of Los Angeles Dodgers out of starting lineup again, strikes out as pinch hitter - ESPN Boston

Manny strikes out. Again.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ reason du jour for keeping Manny Ramirez out of the lineup for the third consecutive game: Left field at Coors Field is too big for him to cover.

“It has nothing to do with all the gossip and all the waiver stuff,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “That has nothing to do with this.”

ESPN: Source: White Sox claim Manny Ramirez

The clock started ticking on Manny Ramirez’s future as a Dodger on Friday, when the Chicago White Sox were awarded a waiver claim that gives them exclusive rights to make a deal to acquire Ramirez over the next four days. The teams now have until 1:30 p.m. ET Tuesday to complete a trade. According to a source monitoring the waiver wire, the White Sox were one of three teams to claim Ramirez after the Dodgers placed him on trade waivers Wednesday.

The Texas Rangers also claimed the 38-year-old future designated hitter, a source told ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durett. And there were strong indications that the other team to claim Ramirez was the Tampa Bay Rays.

ESPN: Manny Ramirez not in Dodgers lineup

MLB.com: Lilly placed on waivers by Dodgers

Kriegel: Manny era coming to forgettable end

As mind-crushing as a pile of cranky Naomi Punk riffs…Kriegel goes off.

You don’t have to live in Hollywood to know this makes for an especially unhappy ending — for Ramirez and the regime that pimped him out as a dreadlocked savior, but most of all, for the astoundingly loyal Dodger fans. It’s strange to think it’s been just two years since his arrival — as comically triumphant an entrance as you’ll see.

I’ll always recall Tommy Lasorda’s foul-mouthed tirade at a press corps that almost ran him over to get to Manny, whose Oakleys camouflaged the famously vacant look in his eyes. This could only happen in L.A. Quite suddenly, Ramirez was no longer a malcontent; he was like Peter Sellers in “Being There.” The village idiot had been declared a genius. He was adored for his Zen-like temperament. I recall Scott Boras arguing that Manny was really a kind of post-modern Yogi Berra.

... Two months later, Ramirez was exposed as a cheat, having tested positive for a female fertility drug commonly used to mask the effects of steroid use. The Dodgers were never the same, nor were they much fun. Last year, Ramirez got a 50-game suspension. This year, he’s been on the DL three times.

Recall Mark McGwire’s putrid confession. He said he cheated, not to hit home runs, but to stay on the field. One suspects the same calculation pertains to Ramirez. His numbers are down, sure, but mostly because he can’t stay clean and healthy at the same time.

Ramirez — who’s currently hitting his career average, .313 — would knock in 101 runs over a full season, according to STATS LLC. What’s more is the effect that his absences have had on the team. Forget the pitching and the financial constraints imposed by the owners’ divorce. A juiceless Ramirez is the single biggest reason — arguably the only one — the Dodgers won’t make the playoffs.

CHI Sun-Times: Chicago White Sox close to obtaining Manny Ramirez

The White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers may be closing in on a deal to send Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez to the South Side in exchange for minor league prospects.

The deal appeared to be close Wednesday when reports surfaced that Ramirez was claimed by the Sox on waivers. The right-handed slugger must approve any potential deal because he has a no-trade clause in his contract. But Ramirez may have approved a move, having said he wants to return to the American League next season when he becomes a free agent.
...
Sources confirmed the Dodgers were reviewing scouting reports on some of the Sox minor league players in anticipation of a deal.

Sources: Manny Ramirez on waivers

Outfielder Manny Ramirez has been placed on waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources tell ESPN.com.

Teams will have until Friday afternoon to put in a claim on Ramirez. Any team that’s awarded the claim would have until Tuesday afternoon to work out a trade with the Dodgers and, because Ramirez has a full no-trade clause, get his approval to waive that clause and accept a deal.

Teams are not convinced the Dodgers would dump Ramirez’s contract on any club that claims him. The Dodgers, rather, are likely to explore a trade in which they pick up some of the money but receive a prospect or prospects in return, sources tell ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark.

Thanks to Chet.

N.Y. Times: Cheering on Your Favorite Team With Your Lawn

“Lawn Logo” is about to hit the market, and as the New Jersey-based company behind it touts, “suburbia may never look the same.”

Starting with 14 major league teams, do-it-yourself kits first will be sold for an unspecified introductory price on QVC on Aug. 31. They will be sold at select retailers, including True Value and Ace hardware stores, with a suggested retail price of $129.99.

The kits, officially licensed by Major League Baseball, include a 52-inch reusable stencil and enough spray paint, in the team’s official colors and designed for grass, for several applications. There is no guarantee, of course, that the kits will not be used to paint the sides of houses, abandoned buildings or subway cars.

According to the company’s website, the teams available first are: NYY, BOS, CWS, DET, MIN, LAA, TEX, ATL, NYM, PHI, CHC, CIN, STL, and LAD

Vin Scully: “Now That They Have Rod Barajas, That Was The Clincher”

A national treasure…and Scully ain’t bad either.

God, I love Vin Scully. He just finished addressing the media after it was announced he was returning for another season. He sounded as humble as ever, embarrassed even by the attention given to him, and got choked up during his session with the media. He mentioned that he still has a love for the game, that the wins or losses don’t matter to him because the Dodgers to him are a relationship, like a marriage, he said. Well, that marriage is set to last for a 62nd year in 2011.

Scully was asked about his favorite moments, and he said, “If I were to talk about memorable moments, Leo Tolstoy would have to rewrite War & Peace.” Vin still gets goosebumps, mentioning specifically the great behind the back play by Eric Young, Jr. earlier in the week in the series with the Rockies. Scully said he went home that night, still excited that baseball can make him feel this way. So remember that, Dodger fans, if you ever want to boo EY2, think twice.

The line of the day by Scully was when he quipped, “Now that they have Rod Barajas, that was the clincher.”

MLB: Scully to return to Dodgers booth in 2011

The old Brooklyn switcheroo…

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will return for a 62nd season at the microphone in 2011, the Dodgers announced on Sunday.

Scully, 82, has been working on one-year contracts since 2009. His recent workload has been to call virtually all home games, plus road games as far east as Colorado. He made no commitment beyond 2011.

The Dodgers are currently in their 53nd year in Los Angeles, and Scully has been the voice and the face of the organization since it arrived. He joined Red Barber and Connie Desmond on the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast team in 1950, one year after graduating from Fordham University.

L.A. Times: Vin Scully will announce future plans Sunday

“I know what I am going to do and I would imagine the Dodgers will arrange things so an announcement can be made before [Sunday’s] game,’’ said Scully, who will be 83 before the start of next season. “I’d like to do that so everyone hears it at the same time. It’s the proper way to do it.’‘

The Dodgers declined comment, “out of respect for Vin.”

Looks like the end.

wezen-ball: Granillo: Vin Scully & Troy Tulowitzki’s Mullet

All of a sudden…Scull Snaps!

Check out this transcript of Vin Scully’s call of Troy Tulowitzki’s sixth-inning at-bat last night in the Rockies-Dodgers tilt:

And I remember reading that and I thought ‘Mullet? Mullet’s a fish!’ So, we went on the computer and it’s both! It’s a hairdo and a fish. But there’s nothing fishy about this kid - he can really play. Troy batting .321.

Is the mullet another word for like a ponytail? I mean, I’m trying to look at it. Where’s the mullet? it’s not a ponytail

Tulowitzki strikes out swinging.

Oh! We’ll watch him go back to the dugout.

Can you tell anything about that now? When he takes his hat off maybe…

It’d be my luck, he won’t take the helmet off, right? We just talked about it…

Ah… alright now… so it’s just a lot of hair, the mullet?

Vin Scully trying to figure out a mullet. There’s nothing more to say.

S.I.: Sheehan: Time has come for fading Dodgers to trade Manny Ramirez

Dodger draught , from the first velvet slip to the last, lingering drop-off…

The big move, however, would be to deal away Manny Ramirez. Ramirez is currently on the DL with a calf injury, and as such has not, cannot, be placed on waivers. Once activated, which should come before the end of the month—Ramirez took batting practice Tuesday—he can be placed on waivers. The somewhat anachronistic waiver rules dictate that every NL team has first dibs, and if none want him, then every AL team gets a crack. If no one claims Ramirez, the Dodgers may then trade him to any team. If one team or multiple teams claim him, then the team with the worst record at the time of claiming (with every NL team having priority over every AL team) is the only one that can get Ramirez. The Dodgers have the option of letting him go to the claiming team for nothing except the obligation of paying his salary—as the Blue Jays did with Alexis Rios a year ago, letting the White Sox have him—or pulling him off waivers and working out a trade, but only with that one team.

...Whatever Ramirez’s foibles, whether attitude, availability or awareness, the man still hits: .317/.409/.516 at the age of 38 in a home park that doesn’t do him any favors. There are few teams in baseball that wouldn’t be helped by adding that kind of production, even for one month, and the teams eyeing Ramirez would no doubt be envisioning him in their lineup for two. Ramirez’s poor defense, no doubt made worse by the calf injury, hinders his value to an NL team, making him a bit more of a fit for an AL team that can slide him into the DH role.

T.J. Simers: Matt Kemp’s heart, hustle and head are examined

Each team in baseball has a finalist, and I thought I was going to have to give mouth-to-mouth to Rick Monday to bring him back after telling him about it, the broadcaster “observant” at times of Kemp’s play at his own pace, but going incoherent when asked how he felt about Kemp receiving such an honor.

Larry Bowa’s immediate response, although Kemp’s agent has suggested Bowa never be allowed to talk again: “The Heart & Hustle award goes to Jamey Carroll. He’s our MVP and heart and hustle.”

Ron Cey was at Tuesday night’s game with the Rockies, and he’s a former major league player so I wondered if he had voted for Kemp and what he thought of Kemp being so honored.

He just walked away, while saying over his shoulder, “See you at the trial.”

OK, since it will probably be my only chance to find Frank McCourt and learn what he thinks about anything.

As for General Manager Ned Colletti, who started the “let’s bash Matt Kemp campaign” this season that has really caught on, he says of the nomination, “somebody obviously noticed something.”

Joe Torre, who has to worry about team chemistry, says, “My choice for the award would be Jamey Carroll.”

“I’ll second that,” adds Colletti.

Freeman: Al Downing misses creativity in the batters’ box

So I tied The Onion to my belt, which was the style at the time…

“I’m surprised all the pundits aren’t calling for them to lower the mound like they did in ‘68,” Downing chuckled during a phone conversation last week.

“Seriously, though, the pitchers are dominating for different reasons than we did. For us, it used to be how frequently you throw the ball in the strike zone, and that has changed. Now the hitters have become too impatient and you can get hitters out without throwing strikes. I hate to say “when I played,’ but in our day the great majority of hitters you couldn’t get to chase bad pitches; now it happens all the time.

...“The DH impedes the offense in that teams sit back and wait for the explosion,” Downing said. “You’re down four, five runs in the fifth inning, what are you going to do to generate offense? Can you work a walk? Bunt for a hit? I was telling the kids at camp a couple of weeks ago, Bert Campaneris perfected the bunt toward the second baseman and would get an extra two or three hits a week. Being able to do those little things puts the pressure on the defense because the defense wonders what you’re going to do.

“Today, there’s no creativity in the batters’ box and, as I said, pitchers don’t have to throw a strike. In our day, every hitter went up there with a purpose. You don’t see that anymore. The game has reverted. Everyone wants to be an instant star rather than playing the game.”

...“The game we grew up with, the fundamental game of baseball,” said Downing, “started with defense, not offense. It was more important to keep the other team from scoring. Make the routine play, hit the cutoff man, keep the double play in order. On offense, it was the same fundamental theory. Discipline at the plate, bunt, move runners, advance on throws, put pressure on the defense. It was a fun way to play because it was the right way to play.”

Vin Scully is my Homeboy: Matt Kemp has a heart… and hustles too!

Interesting note that I received from reader Steve. Matt Kemp is nominated for the “Heart and Hustle Award”. (I can hear the jokes now, please stop)

So what’s this “Heart and Hustle Award” all about?

The Alumni Association created the Heart & Hustle Award in 2005, voted on by Alumni Major League players and presented annually to an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit, and traditions of the game.

The 2010 Heart and Hustle Award will be presented at the 11th Annual Legends for Youth Dinner on Nov. 5 in New York City. This year will mark the sixth time the MLBPAA has given this award. Each team selects a recipient before the overall winner is announced. The team finalists are listed below.

Each team selects a recipient? Interesting since I thought the coaches think Kemp can hustle more and show some heart?

Past Heart & Hustle Award Winners

  2009 — Albert Pujols
  2008 — Grady Sizemore
  2007 — Craig Biggio
  2006 — Craig Biggio
  2005 — David Eckstein

Also, from Ken Rosenthal:

Kemp, at times, appears a scapegoat for the Dodgers’ troubles, but his inattentive play and resistance to instruction are legitimate concerns. Stewart, one of the game’s fiercest competitors in his pitching days, likely would not have tolerated some of Kemp’s actions.

Bob Timmermann: The Dodgers in 2010: The Year of Crabbiness

Bowa, who thought Jim Edmonds didn’t try hard enough when he was on the Angels, and thought Scott Rolen didn’t apply himself well enough when he was on the Phillies, has come across as one of the least happy and most unreasonable of any member of the Dodgers coaching staff since Leo Durocher worked under Walter Alston. Bowa’s continued employment by the Dodgers (or by any team) is a tribute to the sport’s time-honored tradition of hiring hard-ass coaches to do the dirty work of managers. It has been difficult to see what sort of tangible benefit the Dodgers get from employing Bowa. Aside from runners being told when to try to score from second on a single.

* Interestingly, sometime this year the Dodgers nominated Kemp for a fairly meaningless award given out by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association called “The Heart and Hustle Award.”

Bobby Thomson, who hit the ‘shot heard ‘round the world’ home run for the Giants, dies at 86

The man who hit the most famous home run in baseball history is gone.

Bobby Thomson, whose “shot heard ‘round the world” capped a best-of-three playoff and the Giants’ miracle comeback to win the 1951 National League pennant over the Dodgers, died Monday night at his home in Savannah, Georgia. He died peacefully according to his daughter Megan Thomson Armstrong. He had been in declining health for years. He was 86.

Of baseball’s historic walk-off home runs - Bill Mazeroski’s in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, Joe Carter’s in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, Carlton Fisk’s in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series - Thomson’s shot off of Ralph Branca into the left-field seats of the Polo Grounds on Oct. 3, 1951, will always be regarded as the granddaddy of them al. The dramatic blast capped the Giants’ incredible charge to the pennant after they had trailed the Dodgers by 13 1/2 games as late as Aug. 11. Beginning on Aug. 12, the Giants won 16 straight games and went 37-7 down the stretch to force a tie with the Dodgers at season’s end. In the playoff series that ensued, the Giants won the first game, 3-1, on a two-run fourth-inning homer by Thomson off Branca and the Dodgers came back to win the second game, 10-0, behind the six-hit pitching of Clem Labine.

Designated Sitter: Daly: The Baer Essentials

The Beverly Hilly Hathaway’s present…

Max Baer was once heavyweight champeen of the world back when that meant something. If you saw Cinderella Man, he was the guy that Braddock had to beat to win the title. On his way to the top, he killed Frankie Campbell in the ring. Campbell was a boxing name. His real name was Francisco Camilli. Had a brother named Dolph Camilli who played baseball. Leo Durocher was his manager when Dolph was a Dodger.

I’m not going to tell you that much about Durocher. If you want to read more, seek out Nice Guys Finish Last. Anyways, Durocher fell out of favor in Brooklyn went on to manage the Giants. But then he returned to the Dodgers as a coach. He was with them in LA and The Lip wound up doing some guest shots on TV. It was an era that had rather unrealistic, absurdist TV shows and he was on a few of them. Mr. Ed, The Munsters, and The Beverly Hillbillies – he was on them all. It was in the last of these where he appeared alongside Max Baer Jr. (aka Jethro Clampett.) Did they talk about Max’s dad beating to death the brother of one of Leo’s more valuable players? Who knows? The conversation would have been 47 years ago and I doubt Baer remembers it. And Durocher is dead.

MLB: Torre to announce plans in September

...since there’ll be no October.

Joe Torre said Saturday he’ll announce his plans for next season when this year’s Dodgers clinch a postseason berth or are eliminated from one.

The 70-year-old Torre is in the final year of a three-year, $13 million contract as manager. He broke off negotiations for an extension during Spring Training, saying he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to work after this year.

Those talks also involved a front-office role after he stepped down as manager, presumably to be replaced in the dugout by hitting coach and Torre protégé, Don Mattingly.

Torre previously said he would make his announcement in September. Saturday he said it would be after Labor Day, and when pressed on the timetable, he said the team’s fate needs to be determined first so there would be no distraction.

“When I stopped doing [negotiations] this spring, I didn’t want to be a distraction, and if we’re in a pennant race, this is not taking precedence over that,” he said. “I’m not letting that get in the way. As long as we have air to breathe.”

~~~~~gasp~~~~~

L.A. Times: Dodgers’ finances include an unusual revenue-generating plan: ‘Own to rent’

The Dodgers have talked about creative ways their Chavez Ravine property could generate revenue for ownership. One such deal, a head-scratcher, is already in place: The team has been charging itself rent — $14 million this year — on Dodger Stadium property it owns.

In 2006, two years after purchasing the team, Frank McCourt divided the stadium property into three parcels and established Blue Land Co. to own two of them. Those two parcels, parking lots immediately surrounding the ballpark, serve as collateral for a $60-million loan, court records show.

The Dodgers pay rent to Blue Land, which is not involved in stadium operations. Boies said the rental payments offered the McCourts the option of working around restrictions on receiving cash directly from team coffers.

“It’s a way of taking money out of the Dodgers and putting it into a place they can access it,” Boies said.

Wilhelm said Blue Land expects to allocate $5 million of this year’s rental fees to McCourt, about $4.5 million to debt service and about $4 million to construction managers.

The money for construction is to go primarily to another McCourt entity, the John McCourt Co., that has two employees — Geoff Wharton, the Dodgers’ chief operating officer, and his assistant.

&@$& the McCourts.

ESPN: Jonathan Broxton out as closer

Haven’t heard Brox blues like this since tripping over some Victor Brox product.

Manager Joe Torre said before Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field that he is removing Broxton from the role for what he hopes is a temporary basis after Broxton’s ninth-inning implosion on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Torre said left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo will be his primary closer in the interim, but with Kuo mostly not available on consecutive days because of his history of elbow problems, Octavio Dotel and rookie Kenley Jansen could be used in the role as well.

“I just told Brox we’re going to take him out of that role right now,” Torre said. “He just needs to go out and have a couple of good outings to get that feeling back. This game gives you enough pressure, and he adds to it. Physically, he is fine. But for right now, we won’t use him in save situations.”

Torre said he actually had told Broxton several days ago that he planned on using a committee of closers, depending on the situation, while Broxton tried to correct whatever was causing him to struggle. But after that conversation took place, the Dodgers didn’t have another ninth-inning save situation until Thursday, and by the time they got to the ninth inning, Broxton was the only option Torre had left.

Plaschke: Pushing the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp issue closer to brink

Infield, Outfield, Mayfield.

Been told I can’t be nothin’ else
Just a non-hustler in spite of myself

Dave Stewart, Kemp’s agent, fired out Thursday in anger and disgust over what he perceives as unfair treatment of his client.

“It’s almost like it’s open season on Matt, and it’s not right,” Stewart said in a phone interview. “It’s a bunch of back-seat crap.”

From the back seat to the front burner, Stewart brought the Kemp issue to a boil by raising the notion many Kemp believers have feared.

“I’m almost to the point — and maybe so are the Dodgers — where I’m thinking that this just isn’t going to work,” Stewart said. “The Dodgers have gaps on this team, and maybe they could fill them by trading Matt. It could be good for the team, and good for the player.”

...“When Larry Bowa played, he would never accept a coach talking about him in the newspaper like that, but they want to Matt to accept it?” Stewart said.

Stewart said that just because Kemp never argues about the criticism doesn’t mean it hasn’t hurt him.

“Yes, it affects the player, it has to affect the player,” Stewart said. “All this external crap coming from Schaefer and Bowa, why would you want to play for somebody like that?”

True Blue: Dodgers Blow Seven-Run Eighth-Inning Lead, Lose To Phillies

You can crush us
You can bruise us
And even shoot us
But oh- the guh! of Broxton

The Dodgers bullpen got the necessary signatures required to submit another candidate for worst loss of the season, turning a 9-2 lead in the eighth inning into a stunning, soul-crushing 10-9 loss in Philadelphia. The tying and winning runs were driven in by none other than noted Dodger killer Carlos Ruiz, who is hitting .354/.466/.542 against them in his career.

...The Dodgers still held a 9-6 lead going into the ninth inning, but Jonathan Broxton was terrible in the ninth inning, throwing only 10 of his 22 pitches for strikes. He hit Placido Polanco to begin the frame, then walked Mike Sweeney. After the walk to Sweeney, Torre visited the mound, imploring Broxton to “trust his stuff,” but the pep talk didn’t work, as Broxton walked Jayson Werth, too.

Ben Francisco followed with what should have been a double play ball, but it went right through the legs of Casey Blake, allowing two runs to score. Broxton then allowed the game-ending double to Ruiz, sealing the Dodgers fate.