Dodgers Trying To Throw Phils Off Their Game

Posted by Tim Malcolm, Mon, October 13, 2008 10:02 AM

Last night was inching closer to “Rollerball,” with the Phils and Dodgers urging to exchange blows after some erratic pitches.

The Dodgers claimed this whole mess started with Brett Myers. He was a tad wild in his start Friday, and even threw one way behind Manny Ramirez. Says Ramirez:

“What happened in Philly, we think that wasn’t right. You know we’re here and we want to send a message that we want to play the game right.”

Going back to Friday — not once did Myers elicit wild stares or fury from the Dodgers. And when Myers threw behind Ramirez, what did Manny do? Nothing. Didn’t jaw at him. Didn’t say anything. Didn’t even seem the least bit perturbed.

And yet, now, the Dodgers say they’re unhappy about what happened Friday. And now they have the right to go after the Phils with pitches.

Let me spell it out — the Dodgers are trying to get in the Phillies heads. Phils pitchers are only trying to throw inside — as the scouting says — and sometimes, they’re missing. I don’t think the Phils were aiming for the Dodgers once (although you could say Clay Condrey may have been aiming). The Dodgers knew what they were doing: Mock up some anger, get the crowd behind them, start a scrum, get the Phils off their chain.

Remember, this Phils team is a very business-first team. They don’t bark, they don’t scream, they don’t get crazy. In fact, when they do get crazy (see Myers, Brett), they become wild and play off their game. The Dodgers knew this — they cajoled the Phils into playing LA baseball: scrappy, dirty. And how did the Phils respond? Wild swings. They wanted to bash their brains in — instead, they bashed the smoggy LA air.

The best thing for the Phils to do is completely ignore the talk, and completely disregard any cajoling in game four. They have to play their game. That’s why I like Joe Blanton out there — he seems to be a calming force, the type of guy who just does his job. Hopefully the team sees this and follows suit.

Related posts:

  1. Phils Pound, Then Contain Dodgers For Game 2 Win
  2. Hamels: Throw Changed The Game
  3. Lidge To Throw In Intrasquad Game Today
  4. NLCS Game 2 : Dodgers At Phillies (1-0)
  5. Dodgers Blast Moyer; Phils Lead Series 2-1

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45 Responses to “Dodgers Trying To Throw Phils Off Their Game”

  1. Jennifer Says:

    Manny yelled at Brett a little on Friday, but I can’t remember when it was. Maybe after his home run? Anyone else remember this? Anyway, Manny is a huge drama queen and I’m sure he spent the off-day getting Dodger blood boiling. I thought Vic’s reaction was perfect. Hopefully, this is all over and the Phil’s offense will return tonight.

  2. Tim Malcolm Says:

    Well it wasn’t during the at bat. Maybe as he was rounding the bases. The last thing the Phils want is to turn this series into something physical.

  3. Ben Says:

    Manny said something like ‘you better come 95 or don’t come there’ after he hit that 3-run homerun. I remember the announcers saying that. Phillies gotta definitely come out there and show who the better team is. The Dodgers know this and are trying to motivate themselves as much as possible in any way possible. Torre smart enough to know when to show emotion and when not to. He knows the home crowd can help when things get like that in a game. Thats why they waited til Game 3. To me its all crap. It’s easy to start crap when you are up 5 runs. Phillies need to recognize the stench of BS and act accordingly. Phillies need to play aggressive baseball and nothing but aggressive baseball. Don’t give the Dodgers an inch with strong defense and solid pitching. Thats how the Phillies need to make a statement.

  4. Lefty Says:

    Manny yeld to Brett “if you cant throw it 95 then dont throw it” after he hit the home run………….I would have put one in his ear hole!!

  5. Lefty Says:

    Manny likes to do shots of Crown Royal before games, what a nice thing to show young kids that look up to him……looser!!

  6. Tim Malcolm Says:

    It’s a shame the idea of throwing inside to hitters is lost these days. They have much more protection (both by officials and by equipment) that it’s ridiculous how much pitchers have to dance.

  7. Don M Says:

    Manny likes to wash his hair… 2 to 3 times a year

    Manny cost them game #1 by admiring his long double… not getting to 3rd.. and thus not scoring on the passed-ball on Ruiz, and the Dodgers lost by 1.

    Manny also looked cool in Game #2 when he hit a rocket that cut the lead from 8-2, to 8-5…and he pointed all around the stadium, to whatever gods he prays too…

    HOPEFULLY.. the Phillies continue to pitch inside, because that is what is effective, and how pitchers can control the plate!!

  8. mg52 Says:

    The Dodgers are going to self-destruct because of this behavior. Notice how Victorino simply admonished, not fought, Kuroda after the incident. I am certain that that was an intentional beanball, but no brawl ensued at that moment because the Phillies do not play the charge-first card. It did not help them in this game, but the calm approach might serve them well going forward.
    One thing that can throw the Dodgers back into their former state is aggression – and I am not talking about fighting, but about hitting. I noticed that nearly every first strike that Moyer threw was slapped somewhere for a clean base hit. Meanwhile, every cookie that Kuroda tossed – and there were many more of those than one might think – was taken. In this next game, any fastball or hanging breaking ball that is a strike should be hit by the Phillies. In the playoffs, there is no time to take easy pitches; every strike counts. Indeed, we saw the contrast between swinging and taking in this last game – it made more of a difference even than the beanballing going on on both sides.

  9. James Fayleez Says:

    Manny was praising JOBU because the Dodgers bats were happy.

    We have bigger issues than what the Dodgers are doing. We have a leadoff hitter who is in a giant slump. We also have our power hitter FINALLY putting something together since the end of the regualr season.

    And our 3rd starter just turned into Eddie Harris right before our eyes last night.

    Oh, I got more Major League references. Don’t test me.

  10. Georgie Says:

    It looks like every sportscaster is trying to promote this “nasty Philly fan” theory- I was forced to watch the Rangers broadcast of the Flyers’ game Sat night, and I swear, not more than 1 minute in, the announcers said ‘Oh yeah, you have to watch out for these fans here, you know they booed Santa Claus a few years ago, at Christmas time”. I practically fell off the chair, does this shit never end?

  11. mikem Says:

    Why is there a picture of Bowa screaming in the newspaper today?. Sorry didn’t see game. Did Bowa go after any phillies. If he did as much as I love his time here ,he is done in my eyes .As a phillies fan don’t ever want see him here again.

  12. SJ Mike Says:

    Bowa was shouting with Davey Lopes. Lopes said something to the tune that the Dodgers should have taken care of that Friday if they were going to, not tonight. And then they were screaming “Let’s play baseball” back and forth to each other.

  13. Chase Mutley Says:

    Bowa’s good. I would respect him less if he took it easy on us because we love him here. Would you want Charlie taking it easy on Manny because they’re “father and son?”

    The media has hated Philly for awhile now. I don’t know why it still bothers us. We’ll get ‘em today.

  14. Nationals#1 Says:

    After Myers threw behind Manny, they asked Manny about it, and he said that he would like a guy like that on his team (in reference to Myers). He didn’t get angry when it happened, practically praised Myers after the game, but then the series moves to LA and the whole thing was dirty baseball. The Dodgers are a bunch of two-faces trying to play head games. Let’s show them who the better team is

  15. SJ Mike Says:

    Nationals#1, I think you said it well there. That was dirty baseball.

    They didn’t do anything on Friday when they thought they were being thrown at (though they weren’t). They pulled this stunt in such a cowardly way.

  16. Georgie Says:

    After losing the first two games, the Dodgers were scared, probably started thinking that the only way to win this series was by messing with the Phils’ heads. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they had a team meeting about it, how to do it, which Phils players it’s easiest to screw with (Vic=short fuse), with our “friend” Larry Bowa helping with his insider information.

    Of course, I’m always looking for conspiracy theories, but I wouldn’t put anything past this LA team.

  17. Ben Says:

    Yeah I agree. Dodgers felt like they had to do something. I just can’t believe they likened Moyers hitting Martin as some kind of message. Like Moyer wanted to hit him. These guys(Dodgers) will interpret anything they want into some sort of motivation. Such BS baseball. I just hope the Phillies take it to them from here on out. Play smart, practically flawless baseball and there is nothing the Dodgers can do to counter that. Turn this aggressive attitude against them and make them start pressing.

  18. Ben Says:

    Could be Georgie. Torre is a smart guy. I’m sure its not as methodical as we probably think it is, but I’m sure they talked about it in some way.

  19. Isaiah Says:

    If you listen to the Fox announcers its a miracle the Phillies have gotten this far. Lets get a W tonight Phils and let Fox pound sand.

  20. Scott B Says:

    i couldnt agree more with this article. couldnt beat them on the field for the first two so why not try and get into their heads.

    Fox announcers are also terrible at discussing this and only this. lets get on top early like game 4 of the brewers series and stick it to LA.

    Go Phils!

  21. Matt Says:

    James Fayleez, in my opinion has said the most important issue at hand as of now. There are much bigger issues with this team than bean balls and speculation regarding pitcher and team intent. Jimmy Rollins has done nothing. Our power bats still are a question mark every time they are at bat. And our 3rd starting pitcher only lasted 1.1 innings last night, showing absolutely no confidence heading into a possible game 7 start.

    What happened happened (as the cliche goes). It was the result of a fervor of competitive feelings and emotions.

    That being said, the Phillies shouldn’t be focusing on who-did-what, and who-said-this. They should be focusing on an inconsistent, and lackluster postseason offense.

  22. Phil Says:

    Guys, guys, guys…in the post season a win is a win. You can’t get all over the offense for not doing anything if we win. Just remember, good pitching shuts down good offenses in the post season. The Dodgers shut down the Cubs. If we win from a couple of timely hits than that’s great. After the 2nd inning the Dodgers only got 1 run, so they couldn’t continue to score runs. That’s a good sign. That means it was just Moyer they were able to beat up on. Stop jumping down the offenses throat if we’re still winning. Moyer is to blame here, not the offense.

  23. Don M Says:

    Rollins needs to make contact.. and Howard needs to realize that there is more to a baseball field than just the Right-Side of it..

    All season long he’s had success going the opposite way.. and I fully expect him to flip some balls to LF tonight against Lowe.. who will no doubt be throwing him pitches on the outside…

    When Rollins’ struck out last night on a ball that would have hit a RH batter in the foot.. I wanted to scream.. and Vic was just slapping at the ball last night, instead of that nice level swing he hits the gaps with..

  24. nick Says:

    What’s funny is that it was the Phils crap pitching that got them up by 5 runs in the 1st and then they get all upset that a ball gets to close to them.

    As far as FOX is concerned, you know good and well if the tables were turned they would be harping on how dirty the Phillies were for trying to “retaliate”.

    They MUST win tonight – if they don’t, it’s going to be awful tough to win this series.

  25. Gabriel Says:

    it’s still positive to see our pen come out and essentially shut these guys down after moyer gave up so much in the early going…
    guys like condrey and happ came in and if nothing else, stopped the bleeding. we probably swing the bat a little better if not in that early deficit, but at least the (always reliable) pen kept the hope alive by not letting up a ton more. i’m nervous, but not worried, the nerves i think are natural from just being in this situation… i wouldn’t be surprised if bosox fans are nervous even though they are the clearcut favorite to win it all, there is always that angst there, “maybe we get beat” kinda feeling… i just hope we can come back strong against lowe like we did CC on short rest, maybe get his count up early enough to whack their pen some more…

  26. Don M Says:

    Gabriel, I agree 100%… last we saw of Lowe was him leaving the ball belt-high against us.. and I think we’ll have confidence at the plate. and our bullpen will definitely have confidence going up against this Dodgers lineup as the series moves forward.

    I think their pen has done a nice job too, but at some point Rollins and Howard have to turn it on, and when they do, that makes the difference in clinching this series

  27. Real Mets Fan Says:

    First off Congrats to the Phillies for winning the NL East. Second I do agree with the post that said Fox sucks. It’s Joe Buck and Tim Mc Carver. 2 A-holes. If the Cardinals are not playing a game they’re announcing they show no interest. Your lucky the Cards aren’t playing the Phillies. If thay were, Phillie Phans would be 100% frustrated on how bias they were towards the Cardinals. This is how Mets fans felt in the NLCS series versus the Cardinalsin 2006. Thirdly, let me just say if you are going to bean a batter on the Phillies, who better than Shane Victorino. You Phillie Phans compalain about Jose Reyes and his antics, but come on at least he is Jose Reyes. Shane victorino? The a-hole who points and claps at the opposing dugout after he gets a extra base hit. This guy is not Jose Reyes, not Hanely Ramirez, Not Jimmy Rollins, not Chase Utley . If these guys show emotion they’ve earned the right to do so on occasion. But this a-hole likes to bury your face in it. He has not nor will he ever earn that right. Let’s face it he is pissing alot of players off. It’s finally nice to see some old school baseball. When you showboat, you get the ball thrown at your head. Now I know some people Phillie Phans are going to say You don’t know what your talking about, you should worry about your stupid Mets, your just jealous. No, I am happy for the Phillies and actually hope they win the world series. It will make a much more interesting 2009. The fact still remains, he’s Shane Victorino. He needs to know his role or, POP to the head.

  28. SJ Mike Says:

    Real Mets fan,

    I have to disagree though about Victorino. It is one thing to showboat when you’re doing it with clapping fists and pumping fists, etc.

    The problem we have with Jose Reyes is that he has full out choreography. He doesn’t showboat on emotion. He clearly plans out how he is going to do it and rehearse it. You can’t tell me he doesn’t when him and his teammates mirror each other when they dance.

    And Reyes has on many occasions, even before Victorino was an everyday player, will point at the pitchers as he rounds the bases on homeruns, hold up his fingers to the sky, and then proceed to go through his Broadway style choreography.

    That is our complaint about Reyes. Victorino didn’t showboat at all against the Dodgers. And all Victorino said was that you can throw at him, just not beaming at his head. Throwing at someone’s head intentionally isn’t justifiable, no matter who you are.

  29. Chase Mutley Says:

    RealMets fan, I really do appreciate you not being an a** and it sounds like you know your stuff — but, c’mon, that’s a really weak argument. Half of Major League Baseball thought that Fernando Tatis was cleaning bathrooms in a strip mall this year. It didn’t stop him from moonwalking and holding prayer vigils when crossing home plate. You still would have been upset if he got plunked in the head.

    Shane can back up his play. He wasn’t being a baby about it. You never even heard a Phillies player after the game say that they disagreed with them throwing at him. He just said that he wants it in the ribs, not the head. The team came out to get his back when that Terrorist-from-Lethal-Weapon-2 the Dodgers call a pitcher got mouthy with him on the basepath and the benches cleared.

    The media has made a MUCH bigger deal out of this than the Phillies did. You don’t see a single Phillies player getting tough in the video with the exception of Vic but Fox, ESPN and SI want you to believe this is a war for the ages — because that boots ratings.

  30. Richie Says:

    If this were a regular season game and Manny was getting mouthy with Myers there would have been major repercussions paid and as far as last night, I have never seen a bigger baby than Martin. Condrey didn’t throw at his head he was such a drama queen, I mean come on, all that macho steroid raging he was doing and fox is manipulating this saga to no end. I cant wait for the Phillies to be up 8 runs in the clincher, and someone gets out of line, and Rudy Seanez comes in with his MMA skills and puts Manny in the Figure Four Headlock until he taps out. Now that would be good television. If I were Manny, I would watch what I say to Myers, this is a guy who beat his wife in front of thousands of people, do you think he cares about beating Manny in front of say 40, 000.

  31. Gabriel Says:

    good stuff richie…
    about vic not being reyes, rollins, utley or whoever else:
    he is the phils best player this postseason and arguably the best/most consistent all year for them… he ended the reg season with the highest batting average for the team on a day in day out basis, not just one or two months of above average play, he did it all year…
    he hit a grand slam off of CC for christs sake! single-handedly saved us by robbing blake from extra bases and keeping the score at a managable 3 run lead as opposed to 1 or worse… i think he’s earned the right to showboat a little, he’s trying to assume a leadership role with this club and i think he is coming along quite nicely, i think they picked him to throw at because they are just pissed about letting him go, after all, he is only one of many phils that are linked to the dodgers (lets not forget about chasey being drafted out of HS by them in 2nd round)… sorry blue fans, a day late and a buck short on the retaliation

  32. Tyler Says:

    Come here http://amazinmetsblog.typepad.com/ at 4 p.m. for a live chat!

  33. NEPA Says:

    That’s a Mets blog – what are you even planning on talking about?

  34. Don M Says:

    Golf, Fishing, etc.. is my guess..

  35. Sarah Wayne Says:

    What’s so obnoxious about this WHOLE STUPID THING is that we have the player who holds the record for being hit by pitches most often–Chase Utley…and you never see him overreact and cry because someone hit him with a ball. Jesus. It’s because Chase knows he’s not the center of the world and doesn’t take everything as a personal attack towards him.

    It also makes me so mad that we get this false reputation for being mean fans. It’s not saying much from the Dodgers, whose fans booed Charlie last night when he came on to the field. What the heck do they have against Charlie? And do they realize that his mom just died? Or that Shane’s grandmother just died? You’d think that they’d have a little more sensitivity to loss…they just lost two of their last three games.

    However, I do agree with the general conclusion that the Phillies need to step it up. I hope Blanton and the team goes out there and shuts them up with our hits and runs. As JRoll said, nothing feels better than quieting down the opposite team’s crowd. Amen, JRoll, now go to a batting cage and start learning how to hit again. We need you…we need the whole team. All right! Let’s go Phils!

  36. ryan Says:

    what the dodgers did yesterday was an example of everything that is wrong with today’s game. hitters are spoiled whining brats who flip shit if pitchers even dare to pitch on the inside part of the plate. batters act like they can stand right on top of the plate and if god forbid anything comes off the inside of the plate, then the pitcher is a head hunting asshole. i’m glad that the phillies pitchers have made it a point to establish the inside part of the plate. it is a characteristic that almost ever great pitcher throughout the history of the game has had. and they better not let the dodgers intimidate them. keep on going right in there. they’ll get over it eventually

  37. Don M Says:

    Clemens, Pedro, and Randy Johnson pitch inside… and they are “Warriors”.. who “never back down” … but Myers does it, and Clay Condrey does it, and the Phillies fans get the blame.

    Honestly no matter what happens, Manny is the greatest player of all time (in case you didn’t know.. the Dodgers had a remarkable turnaround after they acquired Ramirez from the Boston RedSox)..

    they already have their stroies written, and make no secret about wanting the Dodgers and Sox in the fall classic..

    We just need to take it like men, and not like Martin

  38. Chase Mutley Says:

    After just digesting about 30 articles regarding this, my favorite piece of journalistic sensationalism is how 95% of these articles say “Manny Ramirez, who is not a fast runner, sprinted in from the outfield to protect his teammates” — not “The inning had just ended and Manny was heading back to the dugout when an argument broke out.”

  39. Don M Says:

    Manny does a good job of getting his teammates, and the fans fired-up… I guess maybe keeping the spotlight on himself is a way to take it off other players.. But he’s a clown, and I’m glad that he doesn’t play on our team because all our fans would buy those dirty wigs and walk around for 6 innings looking like assholes too… yea, 6 innings, then their fans leave to beat the traffic

  40. NEPA Says:

    Wow, Upton just absolutely bombed a 3 run HR off Lester. Where’s redsoxfan at?

  41. Jamie Says:

    NEPA, are you kidding? We wont’ see him for awhile with it sitting at 5-0 right now.

  42. NEPA Says:

    Yes, Jamie, I was being sarcastic.

  43. Jamie Says:

    I know you were. I was just being sarcastic to your sarcasm. :)

  44. redsoxfan Says:

    I am sick watching this,I Know we will win but if it goes longer the dodgers will be able to set there rotation.

  45. Eric Says:

    steroid use in major league baseball…

    .A Trackback is one of three types of Linkbacks, methods for Web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their…

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