Tim Peterson
It’s been a tough week for Southern California sports fans. The Lakers lose Kobe Bryant for six to nine months with a torn Achilles tendon, the Dodgers lose Zach Greinke for two or three months with a broken collarbone while also losing two out of three at Arizona and the Angels have started off like…well like the Angels.Hanley Ramirez is out with an injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic, probably the only WBC he will ever play in, and Greinke goes down in a rare bench clearing brawl. Matt Kemp always has a big April except this year. Kemp is hitting .174 with no home runs and four RBIs in the first 12 games. Do you already get the feeling that it might not be the Dodgers’ year?
Grenke can’t really be blamed for throwing a shoulder into Carlos Quentin. I mean, can you imagine the backlash if he ran away from Quentin or pulled an Ole’. Sure he might still be healthy but sometimes your reputation is over the long haul is more important. Although I wouldn’t have minded seeing A.J. Ellis take Quentin out before he reached Greinke.
As for Quentin himself, he can be blamed. He’s been hit by more pitches than anybody else in the league and the count was 3-2 in a one run game. No, he shouldn’t be out as long as Greinke as Don Mattingly suggested but 20 games sounds about right. MLB had a chance to review the play and research Quentin’s history. A long suspension seemed to be a no brainer. It wasn’t a surprise that Quentin dropped his appeal of his eight game suspension.
The prevailing thought when the season started was this will be Mike Scioscia’s last year if the Angels don’t win. A couple more weeks like this and Scioscia will be gone before the All-Star break. It’s not just that they are losing but the the way they are losing. They weren’t even competitive against Oakland getting outscored 28-11 and basic fundamentals have gone the way of the Edsel.
The A’s were taking extra bases on bad throws from the outfield and in a loss last Friday to the lowly Astros, Josh Hamilton forgot how many outs there were on a pop up, and took off for second before getting doubled off first to end the game. After pumping up the payroll to record levels, the question becomes just how much rope will Owner Arte Moreno give Scioscia.
I don’t necessarily agree with El Monte OC Brian Tabatabai that the Kobe Era as we know it is over, but I can see his point. An Achilles injury can take up to nine months to heal and by then Bryant will be 35. And at that age, coming off that type of injury, he can’t be expected to be the Kobe we’ve all come to know and love.
But this is after all, Kobe Bryant. He works harder than anybody in the game and he won’t let it end this way. I just don’t see him allowing the last memory being one of him agonizing on the floor in pain. In my mind he’ll be back. And I’m sure in his mind too.
I don’t know why these things tend to linger on so long. I guess it’s the all the paper work, the announcement to the players and other red tape but after all that former Workman coach Scott Morrison is the new head coach and AD at La Puente. Morrison takes over for Brandon Rorher who resigned last month to take over as HC at Etiwanda. Good for LP. I’m just not sure why it wasn’t announced a month ago.
“42” works. The story of Jackie Robinson was extremely accurate and Chadwick Boseman did an excellent job of portraying Robinson, the first black player in baseball. Harrison Ford absolutely nailed Brooklyn Dodger GM Branch Rickey. The ending left a little to be desired but “42” is well worth seeing.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com.
Leave a Reply