Blue Bios: Hong-Chih Kuo

Hong-Chih Kuo 郭泓志 56

Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6'1" Weight: 240

Career Stats: 

Win-Loss: 12-15

ERA: 3.19

Awards: 2010 All-Star, 2008 Setup Man of the Year, 2008 NL Relief Pitcher of the Year

In the spirit of the "Year of the Pitcher" Roy Halladay pitched not only his 2nd no-hitter of 2010 but also only the 2nd no-hitter in postseason history. Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers was the only no-no in postseason history until Halladay stepped onto the mound in his first playoff appearance ever in game 1 of the NLDS. The Phillies went on to win over the Cincinnati Reds taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Amazing, historical, once-in-a-lifetime are all words that can describe the game "Doc" Halladay pitched last night. 

In my first installment of Blue Bios, I will profile one of our amazing pitchers, Hong-Chih Kuo. Kuo was born on July 23, 1981 in Tainan City, Taiwan. He became the 4th MLB player from Taiwan when he made his debut, and he was the first Taiwanese player to play in the All-Star game this season. Kuo was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers on June 19, 1999 for a bonus of $1.25 million. Unfortunately he had elbow problems, and he underwent two Tommy John surgeries in 2000 & 2003. It wasn't until 2005 that he was able to pitch regularly. In 2005 he pitched 11 games for the Vero Beach Dodgers and 17 games for the Jacksonville Suns. He came out of the bullpen for his Major League debut on September 2, 2005 against the Colorado Rockies. 

It's hard to remember that this dominant setup man/closer once was a starter. On September 8, 2006, Kuo made his first major league start after he had appeared in more than 30 games as a reliever. In his debut, he pitched 6 shutout innings and helped the Dodgers win over the New York Mets 5-0. He had three more successful starts, and he ended the 2006 season with a 2.59 ERA as a starting pitcher. 

On June 12, 2007, Kuo hit a 412-foot homerun, and he became the first player from Taiwan to hit a homerun in the Majors. 

In 2008, Kuo transitioned into a middle reliver and set-up role where he excelled. He had another elbow surgery in the preseason, and his endurance as a fifth starter was questionable. Kuo picked up his first career save on August 14, 2007 against the Phillies. He pitched two scoreless and hitless innings. Kuo finished the season with a 5-3 record in 42 games. He started 3 games, and made 39 relief appearances. His overall ERA was 2.14 with 96 strikeouts in 80 innings. Kuo's 1.69 ERA led all NL relievers for 2008. In relief, he allowed only 49 hits in 69 1/3 innings striking out 86 batters. Batters had a mere .204 average against him. Kuo had a tricep injury which caused him to miss the last 15 games of the season and the NLDS. Torre activated him for the NLCS where he pitched 3 innings in 3 games allowing 2 hits and 1 run and striking out 3. 

In 2009 Kuo's elbow acted up again and he was put on the DL on May 2. He was activated July 27, and pitched in 35 games finishing the season with a 3.00 ERA out of the pen. 

In 2010, Kuo started out strong in the first half not allowing a hit to 36 consecutive left-handed batters. 

On October 3, 2010, Kuo pitched a scoreless 9th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the season finale, which earned him his 12th save of the season. This set a new Dodgers franchise record by finishing the season with an ERA of 1.20, the record for minimum of 50 innings pitched. Eric Gagne, who is Kuo's idol, held the previous record with an ERA of 1.202. Kuo finished the season with a 3-2 record, pitching 60 innings in relief in 56 appearances, striking out 73 and walking only 18. He converted 12 saves out of 13 opportunities and took over the closer role when Jonathan Broxton melted down in the second half of the season. 

Kuo has had 4 surgeries on his elbow, but he can still throw up to 98 mph and is usually in the mid-90s with his fastball. He has a excellent slider, an occasional curveball, and a changeup. Kuo's resiliency can be seen with his therapy regimen that starts at 12:30pm for a 7:10pm game. Dodgers trainer Conte explained his routine, "I wish you guys could see what he puts himself through," said Conte. "He's in constant motion until 11 at night -- ice, heat, ultrasound, message, stretch, flex, leg work, working all the time just to pitch an inning."

When asked about his health issues Kuo said, "I'm not the only guy with problems," Kuo said. "Maybe I'm the only one with four surgeries, but everybody has issues. I'm not special. I've got a good life. I'm a Major League player; I make some money. I'm happy with what I am." Kuo's talent has been described as a "once-in-a-lifetime arm." 


Kuo is the longest-tenured Dodger, and I have no doubt he will be back next season with an important role in the bullpen sharing closing duties with the young Kenley Jansen. As long as Kuo is healthy, he is dynamite. He signed a one-year contract last year for a base of $950,000 with incentives. He is eligible for salary arbitration, but the Dodgers will probably sign him to another 1 year deal to avoid that. Kuo is single, and there is not much information regarding his personal life. He will continue to pitch in the offseason since this has been found to be more beneficial to him than significant rest. Kuo was one of the only bright starts in the dismal depths of the Dodgers bullpen this year. Thanks for an outstanding season Hong-Chih!


Stay tuned for more Blue Bios to come:)

waterworks flow at Dodger stadium, Dodgers win finale 3-1

Dbacks  1 4 1
Dodgers 3 8 0
WP-Lilly-10-12
LP-Lopez-7-16
SV-Kuo-12
HR-Kemp-28


the waterworks were flowing at Dodger Stadium today, in Torre's final game as manager, and Brad Ausmus last game as a player, the Dodgers beat the Dbacks 3-1.

Ill keep the game recap short and sweet, since there is alot of other stuff to get to,

Lilly in what could be his last game with the Dodgers if they dont resign him, pitched well, beating Rodrigo Lopez.

The Dodgers got on the board in the first, as Ethier singled, and Kemp crushed another monster home run, his fifth in as many games, and his team leading 28th home run. for having a "bad season" and after all the strikeouts, Kemp still put up good slugging numbers and led the team in HR RBI, and runs scored.

AZ picked up a run in the 4th, when Ryal doubled, advanced to third on a fly ball, and scored on a Parra single.

the Dodgers added another run in the 7th, when ethier singled in a run off the bullpen gate, and the Dodgers went up 3-1.

Lilly pitched very well, going 7 strong innings for the win. he allowed 1 run off 4 hits, with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts.

Jansen pitched a scoreless 8th, and Kuo came in to pitch a scoreless 9th, picking up his 12th save, and tying Gagne, for lowest dodgers ERA in a season. The last out of the year coming on a groundout to first as Loney took it to the bag to end it.
The Dodgers finished the season at 80-82, winning number 80 today.

Ausmus had 2 hits in the game, going 2 for 4. he doubled, and had the ball called for. he ahd been given a salute and video tribute before the game, and then singled in the 8th. Ausmus was lifted for a pinch hitter, and recieved a standing ovation, for a great career.

Joe Torre made a speech after the game thanking the fans, it was rather quick and anti-climactic. goodbye Joe have a good retirement, and thanks for the memories.

Furcal who started the game went 0 for 1 and was taken out of the game after an inning. Hit Machine finishes the year with a .300 avg.

in one more nice moment, John Lindsey was announced so he could have his name in the box score. Torre called him a "good kid", as he exchanged lineup cards with the umpire, and the umpire said he had heard of him, and thought he was amazing. Lindsey preparing to have surgery on his broken hand, also recieved an ovation from the crowd.

in a sickening turn off events, the Giants won the NL west, beating the padres 3-0. the Braves just barly held onto to win against Philly 8-7. so remember all those crazy tiebreaker scenarios we were talking about earlier? none of those matter as the simplest plan happened. the braves win the Wild card, and the padres are elminated. those damm padres have only themselves to blame, losing 10 in a row, and then losing 3 out of 4 to the crappy cubs during the last homestand.

the rays won the AL east,a nd the yankees will be the wild card. here is how the Postseason bracket shapes up.

AL
3.Texas
1.Tampa Bay

WC-Yankees
2.Minnesota

NL.
3.Cinncinatti
1.philadelphia

WC-Atlanta
2.San Francisco



soooooo this means, go braves! oooooo wooooo woooo ohhhhh chop those fuckers!


final Dodgers team leaders

hitting
1.AVG-Furcal-.300
2.HR-Kemp-28
3.RBI-Kemp-89 (sorry Loney)
OBP-Carroll-.380
hits-Loney-157
SB-furcal-22
Tootblans-theriot-3-Kemp-3

Pitching
1.wins-Kershaw-13
ERA-Kershaw-2.91
strikeouts-Kershaw-212
relief ERA-Kuo-1.20
saves-broxton-22

team MVP-tied-Hit Machine, Ethier
cy young-Kershaw
relief pitcher of the year-Kuo (who keeps touching our heart every year)
utility guy of the year-Carroll-(solid player)

Meatballer of the year-Broxton, Sherrill, bumtel, troncoso, bellisario, Ramon Ortiz, Russ Ortiz, basically most of the Dodgers bullpen this season.

Bum of the year award-Auto out AKA Garret Anderson

fans voted ethiers walk off grand slam as the greatest moment of the season.


well thats about it for 2010. i would like to thank anyone who has taken the time to view this site. its been one hell of a year. a huge thank you to Stacie for her continued efforts, and all the great things she brings to this site. and of coarse a thank you to the Dodgers for another memorable year. we love the Dodgers, and they will be back next year, hopefully theyll actually win some games next year.

it sucks that the dodgers wont be in the playoffs this year, but it doesnt mean they wont be back next year.  its kind of sad, and frustrating. but what is it that Vinny always says? the best laid plans of mice and men.........looking forward to a great 2011 season. well thats about it dodger land. until next season......goodbye..........wait a minute! were not saying goodbye, theres still lots of interesting stuff to cover in the offseason, hot stove stuff, player profiles, season reviews, roasting the new manager, (watch out Donnie!) wacthing the giants get knocked out of the playoffs, (its gonna happen!). well still be posting, not every day like we do during the season, but well be here. stay tuned.......GO BLUE! GO DODGERS GO!

peace out 2010 season

Dodgers lineup

Furcal6
Carroll4
etheir9
Kemp8
Loney3
Blake5
Ausmus2
Johnson7
Lilly1


Rodrigo Lopez-7-15 5.03 vs. Ted Lilly-6-4 3.75


this disappointing season finally comes to an end today. as the Dodgers and the Dbacks play the final game of the three game series, and the final game of the season. Kind of sad, but here we are.

this will be Torre's final game as manager. im sorry if I dont cry for me argentina. seriously though, goodbye Joe, have a good retirement.

in the lineup furcal is back batting leadoff, but dont expect for him to stick around for more than a couple of at-bats. the dodgers havent been playing him just so he can finish at a .300 avg. right now he is at .301

Ausmus gets to start his final game, after managing on friday night. hes batting 7th, in front of johnson, whos playing in left field.

ted Lilly gets the final start of the year, he is 6-4 since joining the dodgers, he will counter Rodrigo Lopez, "the Zombie" for the dback
if the Dodgers win today they will win their 80th game of the season.

TIEBREAKERS

with the padres winning the last two against the giants, and the braves losing the last two to the phillies, several scenerios come into play entering the last game of the season, in order to determine who wins the NL west, and NL Wild Card.

MLB refers to a one game playoff, as a tiebreaker, and since division play began in 1969, there has been 4 tiebreakers in the NL, 3 for the wild card, and 1 for a division. the tiebreaker, is not a playoff game technically it is still part of the regular season, and all stats during the game still count towards their regular season totals. so lets take a look at the scenerios for today.

giants and braves both win.

if this happens there will be no tiebreakers. for the Giants its simple, win and their in. and they win the NL west. now if the Giants win, and the Braves lose, then SD and ATL are tied for the WC and will play a tiebreaker in ATL on monday. if the braves win with the gianst also winning, then ATL wins the WC

padres and braves win

if this happens then things get a little crazy. if the Padres and Braves both win, then all three teams are tied, and there would be two tiebreakers. the first tiebreaker would be played in SD against the padres and giants for the NL west title. the loser would then play the Braves in ATL on tuesday for the NL WC. remember the days of the coin flip are over, and head to head records determine home field for these tiebreakers. with SD holding the season series edge over the Giants, and the BRaves holding the series victory over both the Gianst and Padres.

I have had a blast doing this site. we got started a little late, but over the last couple of months, its been great. just want to thank Stacie, the Dodgers, MLB, and anyone who has actually read this site. im kind of sad the season is over. but we look forward to next year. 2011 here we come!

Bills and Kemp power Dodgers to win 3-2

Dbacks 2 5 1
Dodgers 3 11 0
Wp-Billingsley-12-11
LP-Saunders-9-17
SV-Jansen-4
HR-Kemp-27


in the second to last day of the season the Dodgers beat the Dbacks 3-2, behind a strong pitching performence by Chad Billingsley, and a two run home run by Kemp. also note that Ethier had a great game too going 4 for 4. Jamey Carroll who was managing the game picks up his first win as skipper.
The Dodgers have now won 12 out of 17 from AZ going into the final game tomorrow.

Billingsley countered Joe Saunders, and they both pitched well, with Bills pitching better.
Bills had a no hitter into the 6th inning, and was close to pitching a shutout, however he couldnt make it out of the 8th.

Bills went 7.1 strong allowing 2 runs off 4 hits walking 1 and striking out 9.

it was no score until the 5th inning when ethier singled, and then kemp crushed a monster home run into the left field pavillion. Kemp is having a strong finish, homering now in 4 straight games, and leading the team with 27.

the dodgers added one more run in the 6th, when Chris young misplayed and dropped a Big Rod long fy ball to the warning track in center, ruled an error, Bog Rod ended up at third, and scored on a Reed Johnson fly ball.

with the Dodgers up 3-0 Bills entered the 8th breezing along, but he ran out of gas.
after allowing a hit to Allen with 1 out, Bills allowed another single off of loneys glove, and also this a batter. Steven Drew ends up knocking in a run and knocking Bills out of the game in the 8th. Troncoso comes in and shcokingly does his job, getting Abreu to fly out to center, and striking out Johnson.

Jansen closed the door in the 9th as he struck out two of the final AZ hitters with the tying run at second for his 4th save of the season.

SD won again today beating the giants 4-2. with ATL losing again, the padres and braves are tied for the WC, and SD is 1 back of the giants. I will post later with all the tiebreaking scenerios! its going down to the final day.

Tomorrow afternoon the finale, Torre ausmus say goodbye, and we say goodbye until next april. see ya tomorrow dodger fans! go blue!

cant stop the blue

Dodgers lineup

Theriot4
ethier9
Kemp8
Loney3
Blake5
Barajas2
johnson7
Hu6
Bills1

Joe Saunders 9-16 4.54 vs. Chad Billingsley 11-11 3.61


the dodgers enter the second to last night of the season with a record of 78-82. after last night's embarassment, they are assured of having their first losing season since 2005. very sad, however there is still two games left, so lets finish out this season on a good note shall we boys?

the Dodgers lineup today has Big Rod catching and batting 6th, and Johnson playing left and batting 7th. so expect him to drop or misplay at least two or three out there in left. the useless Hu gets another start.
you know not like it matters but I dont know why Hu keeps getting all this playing time. theres nothing really new to learn about him, hes still useless. would be nice to be able to see hit machine play out the last couple of games wouldnt it?

on a hilarious note Jamey Carroll will be managing today after Ausmas managed last night. I dont know why Torre does this but its kind of ridiculous to me. whos managing tomorrow Joe? the peanut guy? how about the dont stop believin guy from last year? which reminds me whatever happened to that guy? anyone know? maybe the way the dodgers have played this season has scared him away.

also just to make sure that everyone knows and isnt worried, Kershaw did get brad Ausmus something to eat in last nights game.

on a stupid note, this was posted on memoriesofkevinmalone, a quote from Torre about Broxton

"But Torre said he believed Broxton's issues were psychological and that his decline had nothing to do with his usage in the Yankees series. Torre added that at some point, Broxton would have to do some soul-searching if he intended to regain his form. "There are some scrambled eggs up there," Torre said, referring to Broxton's head."

is Torre this stupid? yeah sure Joe purly psychological riiiiiiiight. the guy clearly has no V-energy!


on an awsome note, the Padres won again and coupled with the Braves loss, there still alive and could force a tiebreaker for the NL west title if they win again tomorrow. nothing would be more awsome to watch than an epic Giants collapse knocking them out of the playoffs!

here are the top 5 reasons I want to see the Giants get knocked out of the playoff race.

1.I really really really despise loath the Giants
2.they exist
3.I hate the giants
4.I hate the giants
5.I hate the giants


enough about that, theres a game tonight! so as Vinny would say pull up a chair, because this might be the last chance you have to see the Dodgers for about 4 months.
and remember YOU CANT STOP THE BLUE! GO DODGERS GO!

Ozomatli, "Can't Stop the Blue

Dodgers Make it Official: 2010 is a Losing Season

Dodgers 5 4 0

Diamondbacks 7 10 0

WP-Kroenke (1-0)

LP-Ely (4-10)

S-Gutierrez (15)

HR-Kemp (26)

HR-La Roche (25)

The Dodgers were unable to comeback after John Ely had another disappointing start. With this loss, the Dodgers will be unable to finish the season at an even .500, and they continue their fall from grace from last season. They go from winning 95 games to finishing under .500 in 2010. Brad Ausmus, who was managing tonight, was more concerned over ordering pizza and sandwiches than actually ya know managing. Clayton Kershaw was designated as the "errand boy", while Jeff Weaver was allowed to be the bullpen coach, and Jamey Carroll was the designated bench coach. Carroll will get to manage tomorrow's game.

Ely, who lost his 10th game of the season, looked bad from the beginning. In the first inning, Stephen Drew leadoff with a single, Young doubled scoring a run, and Johnson singled scoring the 2nd run of the inning. La Roche hit into a double play. Reynolds, who has more strikeouts than even our very own Matt Kemp, whiffed to end the inning. Casey Blake singled in the bottom of the inning, but they were unable to pick him up. In the 2nd inning Schmidt got his first career hit, a single, off Ely, but Kroenke struck out to end the inning. 

Batting practice ensued in the 3rd inning for AZ. Ely walked Young who then stole 2nd. Ely then walked Johnson. La Roche doubled off the wall which scored 1 run. Reynolds and Allen have back-to-back scoring fly balls making it 5-0 in favor of AZ. Ely actually pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 4th, and Matt Kemp hits a solo homerun, his 26th of the season, in the bottom of the inning making it 5-1. Ely, in the 5th, walks Stephen Drew who then stole 2nd. La Roche comes up, and Ely serves him another meatball, which he promptly bangs out for a 2-run homerun making it 7-1. Ausmus made a double switch, and brought in Reed Johnson and Ramon Troncoso. Troncoso struck out Reynalds to finally end the inning. 

In the bottom of the 6th, the Dodgers play catch up a little. Theriot and Blake get back-to-back walks. Ethier singled to load the bases. Kemp is hit by the pitch which brings in a run. Loney singled, picking up a RBI. Big Rod comes in to pinch hit, and hits the ball well to the gap, but speedy and pesky Chris Young catches up to it for the out, but it allows the 3rd run of the inning to score making it 7-4. 

Sherrill pitches a great top of the 7th striking out 2. Yes, that's not a typo. In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers inch a little closer when Johnson is hit by the pitch, and then Blake walks in the next at-bat. A wild pitch allows the runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd. Theriot scores on a Ethier groundout making it 7-5.

They stupidly decide to use Kuo in the 8th inning once again. I'm not sure why they are doing this, but it's ridiculous. Kuo of course blows the side out of the water striking out 3. Belisario is brought in again in the 9th and is of course shaky. He gives up a single and a walk before the inning is over. The Dodgers go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning. 

Ely lasted only 4.2 innings allowing 7 runs on 7 hits walking and striking out 3 each. Kroenke, the rookie, actually had a impressive first start. He went 5.0 innings, allowing only 1 run off 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. AZ may have a promising lefty starter in him. Ely, on the other hand, cannot be considered as a 5th starter next season. He needs more experience before pitching in the majors again. 

It looks like San Diego hung on for one more day. They won 6-4 against San Francisco. Tomorrow Chad Billingsley goes to the mound for his final start of the season. Chad has pitched very well this year. Thanks for reading, I've had a blast posting! I will continue posting in the offseason, and you can look forward to Blue Bios, where I will profile each individual player once we know that they will be on the 2011 team:)

Brad Ausmus Manages Dodgers in First Game of Finale Series

Arizona Diamondbacks @ LA Dodgers
7:10 PM PT
Game 1

John Ely
4-9
5.10


Zach Kroenke
0-0
21.60

Lineup:
Theriot 4
Blake 5
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Loney 3
Mitchell 7
Ellis 2
Hu 6
Ely 1

Brad Ausmus will be given the opportunity to manage game 1 in the 2010 season finale series for the Dodgers. Hey, any game that doesn't have Torre at the helm is fine with me. Ausmus managed in last year's finale game and picked up a win. Ausmus will be behind the plate on Sunday's final game, and then he will officially retire from MLB. It will be his 1,938th game caught which is 7th on the all-time list. There's been talk of Ausmus managing one day, and I say go for it Brad! He seems to be well-liked, and we all know becoming a manager is all about who you know.

The Dodgers look to continue a bit of a hot streak after sweeping the down and out Rockies at Coors Field. If they win all 3 games in this last series, they will finish at an even .500.

After much rotation shuffling drama, John Ely will make his final start of this season. He's looking to end on a good note, since he has struggled recently and has a 7.47 ERA in the month of September.

The D-backs will start the rookie Zach Kroenke in his first major league start. Daniel Hudson had a freak finger injury, and cannot pitch his scheduled last start. Kroenke, a 26 year old left-hander, only has played in 2 big league games. He has started 9 times in AAA Reno but was mostly used as a reliever.

Torre's lineup is a bit out of whack today with Blake hitting 2nd, Hu annoyingly playing shortstop instead of Furcal, and Mitchell is in left field. I'm sure Torre will make numerous double switches tonight, so we may see Furcal and even Kershaw later in the game. Kershaw needs only 3 more strikeouts to reach 500 in his young career.

Kemp has been swinging a hot bat, and has had 2 homeruns including a grand slam in his last 2 games picking up 6 RBIs. He now has 25 homeruns for the season.

San Francisco is 1 game away from clinching the NL West over San Diego. Simply repugnant. Atlanta is 1st in the Wild Card race, with San Diego trying to hang on to a chance at contention.

This will be my final game analysis of the season. I will be in video editing seclusion most of tomorrow, but Scott will be here to wrap up the final 2 games. We have some great ideas for making it through the long cold doldrums of winter, so stay tuned! Go Blue:)