NL Central

Memo to Don Mattingly: Shut the Puck Up!

Don Mattingly is on a plane home from Wisconsin as we speak, and may be handed a pink slip with his luggage upon disembarking. Perhaps his firing comes during the team's day off tomorrow -- as has been predicted -- maybe Mattingly gets until Friday or through the weekend, and it's a physical possib ... More >>

Weekend Preview: Improving Matt Kemp, Dodgers Begin Roadie Tonight in Atlanta

Rebounding from an eight-game losing streak with victories in four of their last five, the Dodgers have hit the road. Beginning tonight at 4:30 p.m. it's three at Atlanta followed by three in the former home of the Braves, in Milwaukee to face the Brewers. While we wouldn't use the word "surging" t ... More >>

Clayton Kershaw at Risk in 132-Pitch Win?

Clayton Kershaw is as close to deity as anyone in baseball, and he's getting closer with each passing five-day period. He's a god, let's face it. The man walks on dirt. And I am his groupie. In fact, I've worked it out with The Main Squeeze and it's decided. We're naming our first-born male child C ... More >>

How Much Rope Does Don Mattingly Have Left?

Exactly how much rope does the Dodgers' skipper have left? Probably not the best choice of words there, because whatever you think of the way Don Mattingly is going about his business, any and all rope is best locked away safe and sound. Rope, sharp objects, plugged-in radios near bathtubs, adjacen ... More >>

Ryan Braun, Hometown Anti-Hero, Booed Unmercifully As Dodgers Beat Brewers

OK, so that headline is a tad misleading: Alleged drug-cheat Ryan Braun wasn't booed unmercifully throughout the weekend as predicted here Friday. He was booed mercifully, actually, and there's a difference. It's like what Jerry Lewis once said about the Great Wall of China: "It's not a great wall; ... More >>

Dodgers Take Two in New York; Brewers on Tap Next

Ah, the ups and downs of a .500 team. Or, in the case of the 9-10 Dodgers, an almost-.500 team. L.A.'s baseball club went east for a week, dropped two out of three in Baltimore, won two of three versus the Mets, and came home as happy as clams in the Chesapeake. Winning the final game of a road tri ... More >>

Dodgers Sweep Bucs, Trade Harang. A Good Time Was Had by All

Check almost any close-up of Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle during a baseball game and watch the frequency and ferocity of the up-and-down jaw smacking of his gum chewing; you'll be convinced, and afraid for his family, that his face is about to explode. Of course, it might be the Pirates' flounde ... More >>

Dodgers Opening Day: All Clayton Kershaw, Sandy Koufax Comparisons Are on the Table

There was no time stamp from Vin Scully as Clayton Kershaw prepared to face the final batter. You know, "On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of the Angels, Los Angeles, California." This was only San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval, not Chicago's Harvey Kuenn. And this was only ... More >>

How the Dodgers' New TV Contract Exemplifies Major League Baseball's Problems

Cable subscribers are subsidizing a dying industry

Who Will Buy the Los Angeles Times?

Why do so many rich men want to buy it? And how did it get to this point anyway?

SoCal's Own Chris Kluwe Fights for Marriage Equality -- And Against Bigotry in the NFL

Walking across the Macalester College campus, Chris Kluwe passes unnoticed. As usual, the 30-year-old Vikings punter is dressed down: a pair of brown flip-flops, black basketball shorts, and a baggy zip-up sweatshirt. A backward World of Warcraft hat pins back his shaggy brown surfer haircut, a give ... More >>

MOCA's 'Blues for Smoke' Exhibit Raises the Question: What Does 'the Blues' Even Mean?

Music scholars, art curators and grumpy old men playing chess in the park have long debated the definition of "the blues." They will never reach a consensus. There are many irrefutable images of the blues: juke joints, a roadside chain gang, Son House's metal-clad ring finger. But it is also the bed ... More >>

Catalina Cuisine

Chef Paul Hancock of Avalon Grille has ambitions beyond beach food

Witnesses to Bryan Stow's Beating Fail to Identify Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood as Attackers

One witness who stood over Bryan Stow after the brutal beating at Dodger Stadium in 2011 recalled "Blood gushing from his ears." Another present at the scene described the sound of Stow's head slamming into the pavement, "It was a really loud, almost echo-ish," she recalled.

Andy Cohen's Most Talkative Book Party: A Bravo Addict's Wet Dream

Ken Todd, husband of Real Housewife Lisa Vanderpump, looks nervous. He's walking around the couple's Beverly Hills restaurant Sur Lounge, making sure everything's in order. He totes their dog, Giggy, who's outfitted in a purple, gemstone-encrusted suit that might weigh more than the pocket dog itsel ... More >>

The Jocks of L.A.

Los Angeles loves its sports as much as any city does; there's no shortage of folks who will begin seething at a misspoken word about a favorite team or player. Say hi to the jocks of Los Angeles, who inspire that fervent brand of rage and rapture that can only come from a glance at the scoreboard.

Dodger Stadium Assault Injures Man Involved in Parking Lot Crash

An assault at Dodger Stadium last night had echoes of Bryan Stow, but luckily the victim's injuries were not life-threatening. The fracas, first reported by @LAScanner on Twitter, happened before 9 p.m. in parking lot 3. ABC7 tracked down the rest of the story and found out this is what happened:

Serengeti's Chin Music

See also: *Anticon MC Serengeti: The Quirkiest, Deepest Rapper *Free Download: Serengeti's "Tracks" Serengeti is wisecracking at Rex's Batting Cages in Inglewood, while hacking at 90 mph heaters. The Chicago-raised, Mount Washington-based rapper riffing on a character in his raps, 45-year-old, Dit ... More >>

It's Dress Like a Pirate Day For LAPD at Dodger Stadium

Yesterday we told you that the LAPD was gearing up for this afternoon's opening game against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium. Cops will be swarming the venue, the parking lots and even surrounding parks in an effort to prevent the kind of opening-day violence the befell Giants fan Bryan Stow last yea ... More >>

Dodgers Opening Day Will be Swarmed by Cops Hoping to Avoid Repeat of Bryan Stow

Cops are planning to swarm Dodger stadium and nearby Elysian Park on opening day tomorrow. If you remember last year's opening day, then you know why. Among the violence that broke out was the horrific beating of Giant's fan Bryan Stow, who was put in a coma. The LAPD today said it was prepared to ... More >>

Dodgers Opening Day Is Already Sold Out

News flash: Magic Johnson and his bidding team won the Dodgers for a record $2 billion last night. And by 4:15 p.m. today, not 24 hours after the big announcement, the team's Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates is all sold out. So yeah, if there was any doubt left in anyone's mind that ... More >>

Matthew Broderick's Ferris Bueller Superbowl Ad Tours L.A. in Midlife-Crisis Minivan

Thank you, Honda, for bringing to life Hollywood's wildest fantasy this Superbowl season: Ferris Bueller, our favorite high-school hooligan, playing hooky in our own backyard. Sure, we get a tired, squarish, middle-aged version of Bueller, who has morphed into a very mortal Matthew Broderick, the a ... More >>

Top 5 Athlete Diets: Wade Boggs's Chicken-a-Day, Kenyan Ugali Steve Nash's Nuts

Wheaties may be the breakfast of champions, but plenty of athletes don't swear by dry flakes for their daily sustenance. Lakers forward Ron Artest used to drink Hennessey at half-time. His teamate Lamar Odom likes jelly beans and gummy bears. Former Yankees slugger Babe Ruth once inhaled 24 hot d ... More >>

The Bryan Stow Effect: Drunks, Not Thugs, Lose Big at LAPD-Heavy Dodgers Game

LAPD 46, douchebags 0​Practically more police than patrons showed up to last night's Dodgers game against the St. Louis Cardinals. LAPD media relations won't give out the exact number of officers for "tactful" reasons, but, well, "there were a lot." Their amped presence, publicized in the wee ... More >>

Cleaning Out Dodger Stadium

Can the clock be turned back on drunken, violent crowds and 'bad" fans?

Frank McCourt Divorce: Larry Silverstein's Boner Is Key, But On The Stand He's Not Sure What Year This Is

Ted Soqui Fred Merkle committed the most famous mistake in baseball history in 1908, when, in a game against the Chicago Cubs, he failed to touch second base as the winning run scored. Merkle's Boner cost the New York Giants the game and the pennant.   That was nothing compared to Larry ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Piranha 3-D, Centurion

Also, Chasing 3000, The People I've Slept With and more

Counterpoint: Vin Scully Is The Greatest And Here's Proof

Vin Scully​On Monday, we posted some heretical nonsense about Vin Scully not actually being that good. In rebuttal, you could probably just assert that he's the best there ever was and leave it at that. But it's more fun to prove it.There's a tendency when praising Scully to reach back to the era ... More >>

Dodger Dogs

Will the Dodgers Boycott Arizona? No Se Puede.

​On Which Way L.A. the other night, L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn suggested that the Dodgers should join the city's protest of Arizona's strict new immigration law:"I'm going to be asking the L.A. Dodgers to consider moving their training facility from Arizona," Hahn said.It was only a year ago th ... More >>

Manny Goes Down With Calf Injury

shgmom56 on Flickr​Well, this is no good. The Dodgers put Manny Ramirez on the disabled list today due to a strained right calf. In 13 games this year, Ramirez has looked like the Manny who dazzled the Dodger faithful when he first came over in 2008, putting up some sizzling stats -- .415/.500/.61 ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Exit Through the Gift Shop, Handsome Harry

Also, Letters to God, The Joneses, Who Do You Love and more

Goal: Upscale Sports Bar Hopes to Score on West 3rd Street

The strangest thing about Goal, LA's newest upscale sports bar, isn't what's there. It's what's missing. Recently soft-opened on a stretch of W. 3rd St. known more for chic cafes and fine dining, Goal offers the de rigueur décor of a sports bar: dark wood, leather booths, plenty of flatscreen plasm ... More >>

WELCOME BAT, MANNY!

Love Hounds

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

The Sopranos-like takeover of Tribune Co. could mean cement shoes for employees

Ask Mr. Gold