Andre Ethier is not the problem

Dodgers Lineup
Gordon6
Blake5
Ethier9
Kemp8
Uribe5
Loney3
Navarro2
Gwynn7
kershaw1

Clayton Kershaw-6-3 vs. Juan Nicasio-1-1

after last nights depressing shutout loss at the hands of Cole Hamels and his birdlike bastardness, (he looks like a bird) I was left down and pretty bummed out. the only thing that cheered me up was winning another Dodgerbobble contest last night. thats right folks! ive won my second straight Dodgerbobble contest. the contest was held on twitter this time, and the first follower who answered the trivia question correctly would recieve a Don Mattingly bobblehead. the one that was given away on the last homestand. the question was-"what year did Don Mattingly win his AL MVP award?' the answer was 1985. I wanna give a big thanks to Dodgerbobble again for holding these fun contests. go check out the site. http://dodgerbobble.com hes got a review of the Mattingly bobblehead I won, and lots of other new bobbleheads too. plus other news and notes from around the world of dodgerbobbles and Baseball. here below is a pic........

once again thanks to Dodgerbobble, and go check out the site, and hurry before I win another bobblehead! ( ive got a little collection going on now, Donnie is going right next to the Kershaw one I won last time)

now on to other news, I ran accross an article in the LA times, from Steve Dilbeck. normally I dont like to spread any kind of negativity, however this article, really got under my skin a bit. normally I dont have a problem with anything that Dilbeck writes, but this one was really silly. as you know we here at DBF are Pro Andre Ethier. we are Dre lovers. he writes about how Andre Ethier just isnt doing enough in the 3 spot, he explains that he isnt hitting enough home runs, and has lost his power stroke possibly because of the 30 game hitting streak.

come on Steve, seriously? really dude? ok well this is ridiculous. here is the article http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/06/is-it-wrong-to-want-more-from-andre-ethier.html

Dilbeck goes on to say "Only for the No. 3 hitter in the lineup, nothing particularly special. In terms of power numbers, certainly nothing to make the sporting heart go aflutter.

If you’re batting third, you should be the best hitter in the lineup. You should be driving the ball. The one guy the other team never wants to see come up with runners on base."

nothing particularly special? really? Ive got news for you Steve, Ethier is the best hitter in the lineup, thats why he hits third. (no offense to Bison, in truth, there both the best) in case you havent been paying attention, Ethier and Kemp are both having all-star seasons, and have been carrying the Dodger offense all season. without Kemp and Ethier, the Dodgers would be buried. as far as ethier is concerend hes having a terrific season, although with decreased power numbers. first of all Kemp is driving in alot of the runs anyways, and also, no one is ever on base when Ethier and Kemp come up to the plate, so they have little chances of driving in runs anyways. but to say ethier is nothing special, come on man.

Ethier is the fourth best hitter in the national League, with a .327 avg. he is the league's leading hitter against right handed pitching, and of coarse we all saw his amazing 30 game hitting streak. the last time I checked Dre was hitting .377 with runners in scoring position. of coarse being the fourth best hitter in the league, just isnt enough for Steve. what amazes me is that he has nothing better to write about then how Ethier just isnt doing enough, and not hitting enough home runs, while everyone around Dre and Kemp are failing miserably. (except Carroll) maybe it was the pinky injury, but Dre has turned into a line drive hitter. he leads the league in line drive percentage, according to reports. this is just fine by me. hell still hit his 20 homers this year, but with a higher avg. alot of people also complain about Dre's defense, although Dilbeck doesnt mention this. the blogging community will point out his poor zone ratings, and lack of range. I dont know about zone ratings, but I do know what I see when I watch him play, and while Im not saying hes gold glove caliber, hes solid. Dre also is able to move around pretty quickly for a guy who doesnt run very well. remember Dre is a big guy. but in case your wondering, Ethier has yet to commit an error this year, and is second in the league in outfield assists, thanks to a strong throwing arm. (hes thrown out two runners at the plate on this roadtrip). Not saying hes Tony Gwynn Jr., but hes definatly a world above the wizards of the glove, messers:Jay Gibbons, and Marcus Thames.

people also complain that Dre cant hit lefties, although he goes 2 for 4 last night with a double off of one of the best leftys in the game. his double in the 7th inning last night put himself in scoring position. ohhhhh that 7th inning was frustrating wast it? MSTI http://mikesciosciastragicillness.com   called it a microcosm for the season. I agree. after dre doubled, Kemp singled with nobody out!? with first and third, the following bums all made outs, Uribe swinging at the first pitch pops out, Thames struck out, Big Rod popped out. ugghhhhh, there above lies the real problem for the Dodgers, not Dre.

I know that Ethier has been a bit more public this year.  he does have a bit of an attitude, you know he always has. he made some dumb comments before opening day, and flipped off a cameraman that got too close to him during batting practice, although because of his increased publicity he will be under more scrutiny this year.
but no according to Steve, Ethier is the problem, and his lack of homeruns. no Steve, Ethier isnt the problem. maybe the problem is our third baseman were paying 30 million dollars to is hitting .228 with 3 home runs. maybe the problem is our two left fielders are barly hitting their wieghts, and have a combined 4 homeruns. maybe the problem is Loney has the lowest OPS of any first baseman in baseball. maybe the problem is our catchers cant do anything and suck balls. why not write about how bad those useless bums are? Andre Ethier is not the problem. ok now that that is off my chest, (sorry for the rant guys) not trying to pick on Dilbeck, just sayin.....  lets get to tonight's pitching matchups.

Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers ace, goes to the mound tonight. Kershaw is having another great year 6-3 3.05 ERA) Kersh has 96 KO with currently rank him third in the league. he will counter Rockies newbie Juan Nicasio. the Dodgers have never faced Nicasio before, and I know nothing about the right hander. kershaw is 5-4 against Colorado in his career. the Dodgers begin a four game series in Colorado this weekend before coming home on monday for their longest homestand of the year.

*update* nothing the Dodgers have tried in left field have worked so far this year. the Dodgers have optioned Jerry Sands to Albuquerque, and have purchased contract of Trent Oeltjen. hey we all remember oeltjen right? hes the Australian born OF that was with the Dodgers briefly last year. he hit .217 in limited time last september. looks like hes back. this move reeks of MEH..... Sands wasnt hitting anyway, and oeltjen does bat left handed, he should be the new platoon partner with Thames.

OF Trent Oeltjen rejoins the Dodgers

the Dodgers have to get Jamey Carroll and his .304 avg back into the lineup everyday, I dont care where they play him, just pencil him in everyday please.
I feel bad for Stac. she comes back from vacation, she misses a bison slam, a historic come from behind rally, two wins, and she comes back to Cliff Lee and Cole hamels....ughhhhh sorry Stac. lets get a win tonight shall we boys? game time is at 540 on PT. Go Blue!