Pro Baseball

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

OAKLAND — Mike Scioscia won't declare that Ernesto Frieri is his new closer — he'd still like the option of using veteran left-hander Scott Downs at the end of games — but the Angels manager's actions and Frieri's performance suggest the 26-year-old right-hander has assumed that key role. Frieri struck out three of four batters in the 11th inning Wednesday for his first big league save, nailing down the Angels' 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics that featured Alberto Callaspo's clutch two-out, two-run double in the top of the inning.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Sunday that the team doctor told him second baseman Mark Ellis was within several hours of possibly having his left leg amputated if Ellis hadn't had emergency surgery. "That was scary," Mattingly said of the injury, which is expected to keep Ellis out of action for six weeks. "I didn't realize how bad that was. " Ellis, 34, suffered the injury Friday when he was upended by the St. Louis Cardinals' Tyler Greene to break up a double play.

PHOENIX — The hitting wasn't there. You could see that coming. The Dodgers had not thrown out a lineup without Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp all season. The pitching, well, that was a little off. The Arizona Diamondbacks scored early and often Wednesday, pounding Ted Lilly and Jamey Wright for 11 runs in the first five innings of an 11-4 victory over the Dodgers. The Dodgers' six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end. Nonetheless, the Dodgers (30-14) flew home with the best record in the major leagues, and a seven-game lead in the National League West.

Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto said his decision to fire hitting coach Mickey Hatcher and replace him with Jim Eppard could be "a spark. " Something, perhaps, like those fireworks that erupted Wednesday beyond Angel Stadium's center-field wall, where Albert Pujols deposited his second home run as an Angel in a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Dipoto said he thought "long and hard" before deciding a hitting coach switch had...

He first appears in the movie as he first appeared with the Dodgers, a wallflower pulled reluctantly into the spotlight, a nerd suddenly tapped on the shoulder by the cool kids. The character that is supposed to be Paul DePodesta is a rumpled and bespectacled figure leaning against a wall whispering trade vetoes to a Cleveland Indians colleague. The character that is supposed to be Billy Beane openly wonders who he is, and why everyone thinks he's so smart, and so begins a journey that Dodgers fans will instantly and painfully recognize.

Joanne Woodward and Joan Miller were classmates at Greenville High in South Carolina. Joanne went on to marry Paul Newman . Joan — or Jo, as she's known today — married Tom Lasorda . It gets worse: Tommy borrows $500 to get married. "I didn't know he didn't have any money," Jo says. Kuroda, Gwynn trigger Dodgers' sweep of the Padres This week marks Jo & Tommy's 61st wedding anniversary, the obvious question: "How could anyone live with Tom Lasorda that long?"

WASHINGTON — Brian McNamee, the key prosecution witness in the Roger Clemens perjury trial, said he had never made up details about the pitcher's drug use, but that some of his memories of it had become clearer over time. During cross-examination Wednesday, McNamee, a former strength trainer, described a conversation with Clemens in early 2004 in which the pitcher asked whether McNamee still had a source to obtain steroids. According to McNamee, Clemens told him, "I want to get really huge, I want to get strong.

The battle for the soul of Dodger Stadium is about to be joined. It is a battle for your eyes, for your ears, for your wallets. It is a battle over what it means to attend a baseball game in the new millennium. It is a battle sanitized by jargon: This is about the "fan experience. " The Dodgers' new owners all but canonizedPeter O'Malley during their introductory news conference, so this would be a good time to recall that O'Malley did not employ mission statements or talking points or the term "fan experience.

Let's begin by bowing our heads in silent prayer for Len Elmore. He has a new job and will need all the help he can get. You remember Elmore, the 6-foot-9 former NBA player, who does intelligent commentary for network television on college basketball. A three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference player at Maryland, he was the 13th pick in the 1974 NBA draft, going to the Washington Bullets. He played eight seasons in the NBA, two more in the old ABA. In May, Elmore was appointed chief executive of an online support program for youth basketball called iHoops.

OAKLAND — Several big league veterans, including Torii Hunter , were convinced Howie Kendrick would win a batting title some day after the Angels second baseman hit .285 as a rookie in 2006, .322 in 2007 and .306 in 2008. Entering Tuesday, the only category in which Kendrick ranked among American League leaders was strikeouts — he was tied for ninth with 39, including five three-whiff games, in 161 plate appearances. That Kendrick went five for 38 in 11 games through Monday, a .132 clip that dropped his average from .298 on May 9 to .257, is disturbing enough.

PHOENIX — As hockey fever grips Los Angeles, Dodgers President Stan Kasten said he plans to explore whether the Kings could play in an NHL Winter Classic game at Dodger Stadium. "Facility-wise, we could certainly handle it," Kasten said. The NHL has yet to award its New Year's Day showcase to a warm-weather city. The Dodgers could offer baseball's largest stadium and the iconic backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. Kasten, former president of the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, said technology would allow ice to remain playable for an outdoor hockey game at Dodger Stadium but said he was unsure if the league would be interested.

OAKLAND — Right fielder Torii Hunter , on the restricted list since May 14 while he deals with the arrest of his 17-year-old son, will probably rejoin the team early next week, Manager Mike Scioscia said. Hunter has been in Texas, where Darius McClinton-Hunter was arrested on a sexual assault charge. Though the Angels have not been required to pay Hunter during his 10-day absence, he is receiving his full salary, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it. If Hunter returns for Monday night's game against the New York Yankees in Angel Stadium, he will have been away for two weeks.

OAKLAND — Mickey Hatcher knows he has plenty of critics; they came out in full force on Internet message boards and radio call-in shows every time the Angels went into a prolonged offensive slump. What he didn't know until he was fired as Angels hitting coach last week was just how many friends he gained in 12-plus years on Manager Mike Scioscia's staff. "I'm in awe of all the people who have called — I've gotten thousands of calls from people in and out of the game, wishing me the best," Hatcher said by phone Tuesday during a round of golf at Coyote Hills in Fullerton.

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

PHOENIX — Those were quite the exciting games Tuesday, two rowdy Arizona crowds on the edge of their seats and at the top of their lungs in creating a hostile environment for the visiting team from Los Angeles. Beat L.A.? Maybe another year. The NHL's Coyotes? Done, thanks to the Kings. The Diamondbacks? They might be just about done, thanks to the Dodgers, and to an increasingly unlikely cast of characters. "I've got to go clean my hair now," Ivan De Jesus said.

SAN DIEGO — This is baseball in another dimension. It is the Mike Trout dimension. It is fast, too fast for the other men on the field. Trout put major league outfielders on notice Friday, in the Angels' 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Play your best, and it will be a challenge to contain him. Play at less than your best, and an extra base will be lost, or two. "I don't believe in singles," Trout said. "I'm just trying to be aggressive and make some things happen.

Reporting from Phoenix — Adam Kennedy turned 36 in January. He reached the pinnacle of his profession long ago, winning a World Series with the Angels in 2002 and securing his place in baseball folklore as a postseason hero. He is with his sixth team, heading into his 14th major league season. "There's a point in time, after traveling cross-country for so long, where it is a little more of a job than a pleasure," Kennedy said. But Kennedy said his inner child was awakened this winter when he signed with the Dodgers.

PHOENIX -- For the second time in a major league career that has lasted all of two weeks, Scott Van Slyke found his name in the Dodgers' starting lineup. The first time, he batted third. On Monday, he batted fourth. "Necessity is a good word," Manager Don Mattingly said. "I'd feel better if he were back there hitting sixth or seventh and not in the heart of the order. "I don't mean that in a bad way toward him. " The Dodgers had 10 home runs in their injury-depleted starting lineup Monday - eight from Andre Ethier , one from Justin Sellers and one from Van Slyke.

PHOENIX - If this were spring training, the Dodgers would have been fined for that lineup. But, in this magical regular season, the Dodgers won with that lineup. No Matt Kemp? No one named Ellis? No matter. The Dodgers dumped the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, 6-1, dropping the defending National League West champions a staggering 101/2 games back barely six weeks into the season. In spring training, the commissioner's office can fine teams that field a lineup with fewer than four significant players.