SPORTS
March 25, 2014 | Dylan Hernandez
Having fulfilled his initial goal of making the Dodgers' opening-day roster, Dee Gordon now has a new ambition. "Do what I can to be the starting second baseman, just show them they can trust me and give them confidence that I can be their guy every day," Gordon said. Gordon started the Dodgers' second game in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but not the first. With left-hander Wade Miley starting for the Diamondbacks on opening day, Manager Don Mattingly opted to sit the left-handed-hitting Gordon and start the right-handed-hitting Justin Turner.
SPORTS
March 5, 2014 | Kevin Baxter
One of the most difficult things to do in professional sports is to take a round bat, swing at a round ball and hit it square. Now imagine trying to do that after sitting out a full season at an age when most players are considering retirement. That's the challenge Chone Figgins is facing this spring in his longshot bid to make the Dodgers. Figgins is batting only .154 in 13 spring-training at-bats, but he says he's making progress. "The more and more you see pitching, the more comfortable you get," the former American League All-Star said.
SPORTS
September 29, 2013 | Kevin Baxter
The Dodgers assured themselves of a playoff berth 10 days ago. They know they're going to open on the road, on Thursday, and they've even narrowed their possible opponent down to two teams: St. Louis or Atlanta. Now all they have to do is make sure they have enough healthy players for the trip. Moments before Saturday's game, a 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the banged-up Dodgers scratched center fielder Matt Kemp from the lineup because of left ankle soreness. "Before the game he was having trouble getting loose.
SPORTS
September 6, 2013 | Dylan Hernandez
Some of Andre Ethier's fondest childhood memories are of days when Ethier would be picked up early by his father from his middle school in Phoenix. They would head to the Seattle Mariners' spring-training complex, where he could spend hours studying every move of his favorite player, Ken Griffey Jr. "That's who I looked up to," Ethier said. "That's all I wanted to be. I always wanted to be a center fielder in the big leagues. " Eight years into his major league career, Ethier is finally living out his dream the way he envisioned it on those afternoons at the Peoria Sports Complex.
SPORTS
July 15, 2013 | Dylan Hernandez
Asked to describe the Dodgers' season up to the All-Star break, Manager Don Mattingly didn't know what to say. "Well . . . " he started. He leaned his head to one side, then the other. "It's been obviously unscripted," Mattingly said. "It ended up OK. We survived it. " Even after a 3-1 defeat by the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers went into the All-Star break only 21/2 games behind first-place Arizona in the National League West. Winners in 17 of their last 22 games, they are 47-47.
SPORTS
July 11, 2013 | Dylan Hernandez
The Dodgers played their 90th game of the season Wednesday, and Kenley Jansen still felt fresh. This might not sound significant, but Jansen thinks it is. Around this time last year, he was gassed. "I felt exhausted," Jansen said. The Dodgers closer was told that an off-season heart operation, which would prevent the organ from beating irregularly, would improve his endurance. He didn't think it would help this much. "I've been throwing more," he said. Of the Dodgers' first 89 games, Jansen appeared in 43. He pitched in 41 of the team's first 89 games last year.