Dodger News And Notes

The Dodgers pulled off a nice victory last night. This last week has been stressful for Dodger fans, but the boys in blue finally got their first win in the second half of the season. I slept much better last night than I did the night before.

Let's see what's going on with the Dodgers.

Casey Blake Bobblehead Giveaway. Dodger third baseman Casey Blake is getting another bobblehead.  It's not from the Dodgers, but the Iowa Cubs, AAA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The first 1,500 fans at tonight's Iowa Cubs game will receive a free bobblehead of Iowa-native and Indianola High School alum Casey Blake. I posted pictures of this bobblehead earlier this year.

Joe Torre is uncertain of his future in Los Angeles. I hope he doesn't come back to LA next year. He can go to Chicago for all I care.

Dodgers call up a reliever, option a catcher. The Dodger have called up Jack Taschner from Triple-A Albuquerque.  To make room for him on the roster, they've optioned back-up catcher AJ Ellis to AAA. They may also call up Jay Gibbons, who is currently batting .327 with 17 homeruns and 70 RBI down in Albuquerque.

Dodgers Media Network honored with two Silver Telly Awards. The Dodgers Media Network was recently recognized with two Silver Telly Awards,the highest honor at the 31st Annual Telly Awards. The Dodgers' entries were among nearly 11,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries with less than 10 percent of entries taking highest honors, the Silver Telly. The Dodgers Media Network took Silver in the Online Video Sports category for "Inside Dodgertown: Randy Wolf Philly Cheese Steak" feature and in the Entertainment category for the "Dodgers Blue Carpet: 'The Office' Set Tour" feature.

The Losing Streak Finally Ends

Finally, a win. It's been eight days since the All-Star Game was played, and the Dodgers finally get a second-half victory, beating the Giants 2-0. One night after playing in one of the worst games all year, the Dodgers turn around and play one of their best games of the year.

Tonight's starter, Chad Billingsley pitched his first complete game of the season, giving up only five hits. He threw 125 pitches, striking out three Giants while only walking two. An impressive outing for Bills at a time when the bullpen really needs some rest.

Casey Blake drove in both Dodger runs, homering  in the second inning and knocking in a huge insurance run in the eighth.

We found out today that manager Joe Torre, bench coach Bob Schaefer and Clayton Kershaw will be suspended for their actions in yesterday's game. Joe Torre served his suspension tonight, so Don Mattingly served as acting manager one night after his debacle at the pitchers mound.

It was a very frustrating time for Dodger fans this last week. Now that they have this victory under their belts, I'm hoping the Dodgers will get back to their winning ways.

Joe Torre Sucks

It was real exciting to watch Clayton Kershaw pitch a gem tonight. A win would have been a great way to end this series with the New York Yankees and interleague play. Unfortunately, Joe Torre was involved in this game. With a four-run lead going into the ninth inning, The "Hall of Fame" manager decided to bring in Jonathan Broxton. This after Broxton had pitched in two of the last three games. WTF?

Now, I know Broxton is going to take a lot of heat for tonight's loss, but this has to fall on Torre. He's got a record of bullpen abuse, and now he's making Jonathan Broxton his next victim.

We saw how much Torre used Ramon Troncoso earlier this year, now he's a mess. He continues to use George Sherrill, even though Sherrill couldn't get my grandmother out. Hong Chi Kuo will probably require another surgery soon. Cory Wade is just starting to make a comeback from shoulder surgery. The list goes on and on.

It's tough watching Torre manage(if you want to call it managing) a bullpen. I don't think he understands what he's doing to the reliever's arms. The madness needs to end. Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers should have won tonight's game. Thanks to Joe Torre, that didn't happen.