Kuzul

I am back from a long weekend, which explains my lack of posts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It also explains why I woke up at 11:00 this morning for the first time since college. Speaking of college, I attended three football games in a 24-hour span.

I saw the UMass – Michigan game in Ann Arbor, we then made the hour drive to East Lansing and saw the Notre Dame – Michigan St. game, and then I flew back to New York yesterday morning to see the Patriots – Jets game. That’s right, I am a bad ass. Not really, at 33, that was stretching my limitations.

I will say this. I loved Ann Arbor and Michigan Stadium, 100 percent class all the way. Tailgating was great and we met a group that was serving up wild boar sausages that one of the guys killed himself with a bow and arrow. Now that’s bad ass!

Michigan State was a disaster. What a dump of a stadium. Garbage everywhere, seating is terrible, and a quarter of the crowd left in the third quarter with the game tied against Notre Dame. Terrible performance on their part.

Now on to baseball and some of the stories from this past weekend.

Mattingly will take over for Torre next year

Don Mattingly Will Take Over For Joe Torre

This was “Breaking news” on Friday afternoon, but really wasn’t. This has been known for awhile, as Mattingly will take over for Torre at the start of the 2011 season.

Mattingly, who has never managed a day in his life at the Major League level, will only be as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership allows him to be. If the ownership situation is still a clown show this offseason and going into the season, then the Dodgers will be mediocre like they are this year.

In the back of my mind, I get the feeling that this is Mattingly’s audition for a future job with the New York Yankees.

As for Torre, I believe he will manage again. I just think he was fed up with everything going on behind the scenes with ownership. The logical choice would be with the New York Mets, but I don’t think the Mets will cough up the money to pay Torre what he wants.

Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays Continue To Battle In the AL East

The Yankees and the Rays continue battle it out in the AL East. With the Boston Red Sox done in 2010, both of these teams will make the playoffs.

However, I think it is very important for the Rays to win the division. One of the reasons they beat the Red Sox in the ALCS in 2008 was because they had Game 7 at home. I think they will need the same advantage against either Yankees or the Texas Rangers in the ALCS if they get there.

The Yankees and Rays will play a four game set starting today. My guess is that the two teams will split, and the division crown won’t be decided to the final weekend of the season.

Tyler Colvin Gets Punctured With a Broken Bat

A very scary moment happened yesterday in the Chicago Cubs – Florida Marlins’ game. Tyler Colvin was hit with a broken bat in the chest when was trying to score off a ball hit by Welington Castillo.

The scary part about this was that Colvin wasn’t even looking when the bat hit him in the chest. He was watching the ball go to the outfield. If that bat came up a little higher, it could have even been worse.

Colvin was sent to the hospital and had a tube inserted into his chest to allow air to flow and prevent his lung from collapsing. It’s being reported that Colvin is okay, but the Cubs will shut him down for the season.

With the amount of bats that get broken in a Major League game, I can’t believe this doesn’t happen more often.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Via the NY Post:

Joe Torre and Don Mattingly will attend the unveiling of George Steinbrenner’s monument in Monument Park, according to multiple people with knowledge of the names who will be on hand at Yankee Stadium.

The Steinbrenner family invited people with ties to The Boss, and Torre and Mattingly responded by telling the Steinbrenners they will attend.

Having Torre and Mattingly on hand is a significant event since they are such big parts of recent Yankee history.

Torre guided the Yankees to World Series titles in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000, and led the Yankees to 12 straight playoff appearances. Mattingly is one of the marquee names for a franchise loaded with them, and has a plaque in Monument Park.

Speaking Friday, GM Brian Cashman attempted to explain there was no animosity between the organization and Torre.

“There are no issues with Joe Torre and the Yankees,’’ Cashman said. “The issue was his rejecting the offer. Without question he is welcome.’’

 

This news makes a big event even bigger. Since the Yankees and  Joe Torre parted ways the Yankees have pretty much ignored one of the biggest managers in their history. It was immature and it’s a huge step toward the fences being mended.

He’s sure to get a big hand, and Don Mattingly being involved will make this a pretty special night. Mattingly, who was once considered the future manager of the Yankees, was recently named the next manager of the Dodgers and proud Yankee fans will surely give him an extra huge ovation to show how proud they are with the former Yankee captain.

Related Stories

• September 17, 2010—Mattingly To Become Next Dodgers Manager
• June 28, 2010—Cano and Mo Steal the Show: Yankees Comeback to Beat the Dodgers in 10 Innings
• June 24, 2010—Yankees Notes: Mariano, Granderson, A-Rod, Torre
• June 21, 2010—Interleague sets up World Series Rematches for Yankees

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Now in his 29th season as a major league manager, Joe Torre recently announced that he will not be returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers next season.

Torre led the team to two NLCS appearances in his first two years with the team but this year has been a horrific season for the Boys in Blue.

Dodgers fans shouldn’t despair, while his tenure with the team comes to a close, this is not a time to be sad.

There’s plenty of reasons to be hopeful.  Here are 10 reasons that the Dodgers won’t miss him.

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The Los Angeles Times broke the story Friday, announcing Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre will resign at the end of the season, giving way to his understudy apprentice, Don Mattingly. 

Mattingly has been Torre’s right-hand man since 2004, following Torre from the New York Yankees to Los Angeles. 

Since mid-June, rumors have heated up regarding the status of Torre and his intentions for 2011—while many insiders felt he was leaning towards leaving Hollywood.

Rumors turned into foreshadowing when it was announced Mattingly would coach in the Dodger’s minor league system over the winter, perhaps a preseason of sorts for the soon-to-be rookie manager.

Torre is certainly a legendary manager in the game of baseball. Successful in his playing days, and even more successful as a manager, Torre couldn’t continue building his legacy in Los Angeles.

Perhaps he was the victim of turmoil and uncertainty in the organization, stemming from the current divorce process in ownership.

There are approximately six months until next spring, and changes are coming in that duration. Here are five reasons why these changes will benefit Mattingly, and why his tenure as Dodgers skipper will be more fruitful than Joe Torre’s short stint in Los Angeles.

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New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly will be replacing Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre at the end of the season. This ends a disappointing fun for Torre as the Dodgers manager.

Torre started his Dodger career with a 5-0 victory and kept on winning right into the 2008 playoffs. There, he managed his team to a 3-0 sweep over the Cubs.

This was the Dodgers first postseason series win since their championship season in 1988. The postseason victory would be short lived as the Dodgers were beaten by the Phillies four games to one.

He would lead them to success again in 2009 with a 95-67 record which clinched them the top seed. They would beat Torres’ old club the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 and rematch the Phillies.

Despite having the best record they were again bested by the Phillies. They were beaten in five games this time around.

2010 has not gone so well for the Dodgers and Torre felt it was time to step down. He leaves behind an interesting legacy with the Dodgers.

He was far from a failure as he went to the playoffs two out of three years and had the best team in the league one of those years.

Despite all of that he had a very poor postseason record and that is where he made his name. It is hard to really get a feel for someone when they only spend three years there.

It is suffice to say that he wasn’t the same manager that laid waste to baseball in the later 1900’s and early 2000’s

Are the Dodgers happy about what he did? I would say yes and no. He got them on the winning track but couldn’t get them to the promised land.

Mattingly will take over at the start of the 2011 season and face a difficult task. The Dodgers are going through a tough year and the owner situation is far from figured out.

Attracting key free agents this off-season will be hard and the current team seems to be the underachieving type.

Mattingly has been with Torre his whole managerial career and it would seem like he isn’t going to be much of a change from what Torre brings to the table.

He will surely bring different elements to the table but how different is a question that only he can answer. At any rate Mattingly will be the head of this team next year.

Where Torre will go from here is anyone’s guess. It is already rumored that he may be the top choice for the Florida Marlins job.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Dodgers need pitching, hitting, a great closer, a first baseman who can hit for power and the same at third, and probably a new center fielder and what do they end up with? 

A new manager who has never managed before.

I love Don Mattingly as a player. With that steady career batting average of .307, nine gold gloves, an MVP Award and some batting titles – but can he transpose his personal winning attitude and baseball acumen to his team?

It is kind of scary if you are a Dodger fan.  Just this week he said he had no idea why the Dodgers were hitting so poorly. This from the Dodgers hitting coach.

In his one stint as manager a month or so ago when Torre was tossed from the game, he made a really stupid mistake when he went to the mound twice in the same trip.  Donnie Baseball either forgot or didn’t know the rule.  Either way, I am glad he’s gotten that one out of the way.

Listen, Mattingly may have learned a lot while working at the feet of one of the great managers of our time but it appears like a shot in the dark.  I know Joe Torre and you are no Joe Torre.

The Dodgers are a mess as everyone knows what with the owners’ divorce proceedings which led to a slashed budget which led to no buying power in the off-season which led to a weakened squad that included a 5th starter with zero big league experience which led to no true back-ups for the weary and the wounded which led to an almost last place finish. 

They need a miracle worker not a newbie manager who will be learning on the job.

I wish him well and hope he can pull this one out as easily as he could snare an errant throw in the dirt.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Joe Torre has made it official: he will be stepping down as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 2010 season, and thus comes to a close one of the great managerial careers in baseball history.

It is a bitter-sweet end, though, as after 12 brilliant season with the New York Yankees, Torre leaves the Dodgers without having brought a championship to L.A. in his three seasons there.

To make matters all the more wrenching, Torre’s Dodgers reached the NLCS in each of his first two years at Chavez Ravine, but could never get over the hump.

And then of course, there is 2010, which will forever be a footnote to an otherwise brilliant career.

But before we lose the 2010 season to history, let’s take a look back at what went wrong for the Dodgers in this, Joe Torre’s final season.

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Don Mattingly will has been announced as the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Torre, who is in his 29th season as a MLB manager, has resigned as the Dodgers manager. The Dodgers are 72-75 and have been struggling lately.

Torre has managed the Dodgers for three seasons.

The Dodgers have scheduled a news conference for later today where they will name Mattingly as the next manager.

It is still unclear whether Torre will retire or search for another job.

Mattingly has been the Dodgers’ hitting coach since 2008 and is honored to have the opportunity to manage.

“The opportunity to manage the Dodgers is truly an honor. There are few organizations in the world with the history, tradition, and track record of success as the Dodgers. I’m looking forward to continuing what I came here to accomplish with Joe, and that’s to win a world championship,” Mattingly said.

Mattingly like played his entire career with the Yankees. He was a nine-time Gold Glove first baseman and six-time All-Star. He is one of the most popular Yankees of all time.

The Dodgers job will be Mattingly’s first job as manager.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, Joe Torre will soon announce that he is stepping down as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he will be replaced at the helm by former Yankee captain Don Mattingly.

It has been assumed for years that Mattingly would eventually take over for Torre, but most imagined that it would happen in the Bronx.

But when Torre left the Yankees after the 2007 season, the Yankees and their ownership were wowed by Joe Girardi, and he snatched the job from Donnie Baseball.

Mattingly then followed Torre to the Dodgers because he knew that if he stuck around and Girardi got off to a slow start, the media would be calling for Girardi’s head and demanding that the job go to its rightful successor.

The move was smart because the 2008 Yankees struggled under Girardi and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993. If Mattingly was around, there certainly could have been problems.

Even if the pair made it through 2008 intact, with Girardi leading the team to the World Series last year, he’s probably going to be the man in charge for a while. General manager Brian Cashman and the ownership seem firmly entrenched behind him, even if the faith of a few fans begins to waver.

In Los Angeles, Mattingly is in position to take over the head job in just three years.

At least part of me is questioning whether this is worth it for the Hit Man. The Dodgers are having a poor season and are in disarray as their two owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, are locked in a bitter divorce battle that seemingly has the team in limbo. If this divorce becomes prolonged and the team takes a while to turn around, it could end up reflecting badly on Mattingly as he runs his first team.

Perhaps I am misreading the situation though.

Mattingly’s calm demeanor could be the right thing for a split team. It really depends on how different he is going to be on his own than Torre is now. They seem almost identical, but in reality it is impossible to tell because Torre has been around throughout Mattingly’s entire post-playing career.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see, because if Tim Brown is on the money, the Mattingly era begins in 2011.

But, to me, he’ll always be Mr. Yankee.

Related Stories

• June 28, 2010 — Cano and Mo Steal the Show: Yankees Comeback to Beat the Dodgers in 10 Innings
• June 24, 2010 — Yankees Notes: Mariano, Granderson, A-Rod, Torre
• June 21, 2010 — Interleague sets up World Series Rematches for Yankees
• June 3, 2010 — Ken Griffey Jr. Inadvertently Made Me a Yankee Fan

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With less than 40 games remaining in the 2010 season, there are still many questions looming for the Los Angeles Dodgers from an organizational standpoint.

The divorce trial between owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie is set to begin on August 30, and depending on what exactly transpires in the courtroom, future ownership may take a new direction.

The decision as to whether Joe Torre will return as Dodgers’ manager will be made once Los Angeles “officially” falls from contention, while controversies as to whom will be at the helm next year are already taking shape. If Torre decides to move on and continue managing, an entirely new team of coaches may need to be assembled, as part of the staff may follow in Joe’s path.

If indeed a new owner is introduced in Los Angeles, many managerial changes are anticipated. The current managers and coaching staff have been on the hot seat for most of the season, as coaching techniques, personnel decisions, and roster management were constantly criticized across Dodgertown.

And with more than a handful of players’ contracts expiring at the end of the year, roster changes may be imminent heading into 2011 as well. Frank McCourt’s notorious deferred money contracts have scarred the Dodgers’ budget for the past several seasons, and the possibilities of several players not returning or a number of contracts being restructured loom large.

Yet with the many questions and hurdles that lie ahead, the Dodger legacy will be forever intact, and the Dodger faithful will continue to show its relentless support.

The following slides show eight areas of coaching and management that may be addressed heading into the off-season, as well as offer recommendations of filling any vacated positions. The names shown are by no means based on any fact or inside information, but simply illustrate the many possibilities that exist if the Dodgers decide to make changes moving forward.

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