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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

ESPNLA: Classy Clayton shows poise in collapse

LOS ANGELES—Clayton Kershaw should have been slamming his helmet against the wall or breaking a bat in disgust or cursing out everyone in sight. Yet there he stood, in the hallway leading to the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse, dressed in a blue sweater, black slacks and dress shoes.

As he put his backpack over his shoulders, reporters filed into Joe Torre’s office to ask the Dodgers’ manager how his team squandered a 6-2 lead in the ninth inning to the New York Yankees, who went on to win 8-6 in 10 innings.

Kershaw wanted to leave, but he stood there. No more than 50 yards from the double-door exits, he stood and waited with his backpack on until reporters were done talking to Torre, so Kershaw could answer questions about another solid start wasted by the Dodgers, who have seemingly made it their job to find new ways to lose to American League opponents this season.

As he left Dodger Stadium, Kershaw, the youngest player on the team, seemed to be the most composed player on an agitated roster which has now lost 11 of the past 15 games.

“Some of the frustration was being let out at the wrong direction,” he said. “It just shows the type of emotion this team has and how badly a lot of these guys have to win. You can’t take that away from them, but we have to come to the park tomorrow and get after it. We’ll be fin

Tripon Posted: June 29, 2010 at 03:53 PM | 26 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Weekly Journalist_ Posted: June 29, 2010 at 05:32 PM (#3574374)

I'll give $10 to the first person who can turn Russel Martin striking otu and breaking his bat on the ground in frustration into an animated GIF

2. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: June 29, 2010 at 05:37 PM (#3574383)

If a sportswriters likes you, you are composed. If he doesn't like you, you have no heart and soul and don't care about winning.

3. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 29, 2010 at 05:41 PM (#3574389)

"If a ~~sportswriter~~ human being likes you, you are composed. If he doesn't like you, you have no heart and soul and don't care about winning."

Fixed.

4. Dewey, Steven Wright Wannabe and Soupuss Posted: June 29, 2010 at 05:48 PM (#3574395)

I thought this was going to be about Royce Clayton. I was thinking, "I didn't even know he was still playing".

What sort of journalistic endeavor refers to someone by their first name in a headline? Aside from Us Weekly, I mean?

5. jwb Posted: June 29, 2010 at 06:00 PM (#3574412)

Portugal's futbol team roster has Eduardo, Tiago, Pepe, Simao, Duda, Deco, Miguel, Beto, Danny, Liedson, and Rolando. I hope that Deco's real name is Arturo Deco. . .

6. Sox Machine Posted: June 29, 2010 at 06:45 PM (#3574474)

What sort of journalistic endeavor refers to someone by their first name in a headline? Aside from Us Weekly, I mean?

Most tabloids newspapers.

7. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 29, 2010 at 06:49 PM (#3574481)

"I thought this was going to be about Royce Clayton."

Royce had an amazingly long career for such a poor hitter. Only two players who played since 1901 with 8,000 or more PAs had a lower OPS+ -- Larry Bowa and Don Kessinger.

Bad Hitter (OPS+) PA
Ozzie Guillen (68) 7,133
Larry Bowa (71) 9,103
Roy McMillan (72) 7,653
Don Kessinger (73) 8,529
Brad Ausmus (75) 7,034
Aurelio Rodriguez (76) 7,078
Royce Clayton (77) 8,164

8. Jim (jimmuscomp) Posted: June 29, 2010 at 06:54 PM (#3574488)

We’ll be fin.

That's just about right.

9. Jon W Posted: June 29, 2010 at 09:05 PM (#3574622)

"What sort of journalistic endeavor refers to someone by their first name in a headline? Aside from Us Weekly, I mean?"

For Latin players, this is curiously common: Fernando, Manny, etc.

10. Francoeur Sans Gages (AlouGoodbye) Posted: June 29, 2010 at 09:13 PM (#3574624)

What sort of journalistic endeavor refers to someone by their first name in a headline? Aside from Us Weekly, I mean?

For Latin players, this is curiously common: Fernando, Manny, etc.

Japanese too. How many stories referred to "Suzuki" scoring his 1000th career run a couple of weeks ago? Or the struggles of "Matsuzaka"?

Amongst "white" players, Jones is very often referred to in headlines simply as Chipper, but off the top of my head I can't think of any others.

11. Athletic Supporter leads the nation in drifters Posted: June 29, 2010 at 09:18 PM (#3574627)

Ah, Classy Clayton, a true ballplayer -- not like that Malingering Manny or Rude Russell.

12. Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: June 29, 2010 at 09:24 PM (#3574630)

Amongst "white" players, Jones is very often referred to in headlines simply as Chipper, but off the top of my head I can't think of any others.

It seems to me that there's an obvious reason for that. The "ethnic" names are relatively uncommon. Everyone knows who we are talking about when we refer to Lebron, Carmelo, Ichiro, and Manny. The same is true wrt Chipper.

13. God Posted: June 29, 2010 at 09:57 PM (#3574656)

For Latin players, this is curiously common: Fernando, Manny, etc

Also Pedro, Vladimir.

I do believe it's because those names tend to be more unusual to the gringo ear. If a first name is unique enough, it'll be used on a stand-alone basis, even if it's a white guy -- Chipper, The Mick, Gaylord.

14. Leroy Kincaid Posted: June 29, 2010 at 10:08 PM (#3574670)

A sweater in L.A. during summer?

15. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: June 29, 2010 at 10:20 PM (#3574680)

Other examples: Derek, Roger, Sammy, Curt, Mariano (or Mo), Felix, Andruw, Nomar, Joba, Barry, Dontrelle, Javy, Randy. I don't see any racial pattern; the key seems to be a slightly atypical name and/or star performance, preferably a little of both.

16. Tuque

Posted: June 29, 2010 at 10:37 PM (#3574688)

Gaylord

heh.

17. Frank McCourt's Gold Stars are in bankruptcy court Posted: June 29, 2010 at 10:37 PM (#3574689)

A sweater in L.A. during summer?

June Gloom. It can get cool at night.

18. phredbird

Posted: June 29, 2010 at 10:53 PM (#3574709)

June Gloom. It can get cool at night.

it hasn't been all that warm in the daytime this year either.

19. God Posted: June 29, 2010 at 11:03 PM (#3574729)

Meanwhile, Matt Kemp is benched for the third game in a row. The #### is now officially hitting the fan in L.A.

20. Accent Shallow Posted: June 29, 2010 at 11:21 PM (#3574746)

Meanwhile, Matt Kemp is benched for the third game in a row. The #### is now officially hitting the fan in L.A.

What are the odds that Johnson starts over Kemp the rest of the year, like Belliard over Hudson in 2009?

21. Frank McCourt's Gold Stars are in bankruptcy court Posted: June 29, 2010 at 11:28 PM (#3574751)

What are the odds that Johnson starts over Kemp the rest of the year, like Belliard over Hudson in 2009?

Long. Very long.
Although it would be nice to see a Dodgers CF put up a slash line of 351/398/636/1.034 (Belliard's '09 stats in LA - 77 at-bats in 24 games).

22. flournoy Posted: June 30, 2010 at 12:15 AM (#3574784)

Chipper and Andruw Jones were referred to by first name for a reason beyond having unusual first names - they were the two big offensive stars for the same team. "Jones homers in eighth to propel Braves to victory" was a pretty ambiguous headline for a decade.

23. Srul Itza Posted: June 30, 2010 at 12:35 AM (#3574794)

Other examples: Derek, Roger, Sammy, Curt, Mariano (or Mo), Felix, Andruw, Nomar, Joba, Barry, Dontrelle, Javy, Randy. I don't see any racial pattern; the key seems to be a slightly atypical name and/or star performance, preferably a little of both.

Actually, I don't recall seeing "Dontrelle" as much as D-Train.

For some of these guys, it is also a matter of headline space-- We all know who Nomar is and it takes up less room than Garciaparra.

24. Leroy Kincaid Posted: June 30, 2010 at 12:37 AM (#3574798)

June Gloom. It can get cool at night.

Oh yeah. Desert climate. I forgot. Guess that's the trade off for 110 degrees during the day.

25. Accent Shallow Posted: June 30, 2010 at 12:45 AM (#3574809)

June Gloom

Gloom? In June? ########.

It was June and long past time for buying the special shoes that were quiet as a
summer rain falling on the walks. June and the earth full of raw power and everything
everywhere in motion. The grass was still pouring in from the country, surrounding the
sidewalks, stranding the houses. Any moment the town would capsize, go down and
leave not a stir in the clover and weeds. And here Douglas stood, trapped on the dead
cement and the red-brick streets, hardly able to move.

26. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 30, 2010 at 12:50 AM (#3574819)

Nicknames are always fun in headlines:

"Big Unit batted around by Padres: Could not located his hard stuff."

"Outfield errors cost the Mets a win: Frenchie surrenders again."

"Lincecum gets his Freak on: Bochy tells him not to get a big head."

"El Caballo riding high on his horse: Frenchie surrenders again."

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ESPNLA: Classy Clayton shows poise in collapse

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