Clubhouse Interviews After Dodgers Clinch NL West

Some of you have been asking where you could see some of my interviews from last night's Dodgers celebration. Well, here you go!

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=5ccfcb84-01ec-4582-9928-0ded4511e552&amp;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="Dodgers clinch NL West">Video: Dodgers clinch NL West</a>



I also thought I would throw in an oldie, but a goodie. Here's my interview from earlier this season with Kim Kardashian.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=052e98a6-7d7f-4a54-830b-22000c97d474&amp;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="Catching up with Kim Kardashian">Video: Catching up with Kim Kardashian</a>

Should Pitchers Always Hit 8th?

For the first time in his managerial career, Joe Torre batted a pitcher in the 8th spot and a position player in the 9th spot for Wednesday's matchup against the Giants. The move was not an indictment of Juan Pierre or a reward for Eric Stults, but rather an attempt to maximize the RBI potential for Manny Ramirez.

With the Dodgers biggest lineup threat batting in his customary 3rd spot, batting Pierre 9th is almost like having two leadoff hitters back-to-back with Furcal at the top of the order. It gives the team a better chance of having multiple runners on base when Manny comes to the plate after his first appearance.

In fact, Torre considered making the move the last time Pierre was in the lineup.

"In a situation with a player like Juan, he'd be more free to steal with Furcal batting behind him instead of the pitcher," Torre said before the game. "It just makes sense with a guy with (Pierre's) speed."

Some might look at the move as some type of demotion for Pierre, and Torre was well aware of that possibility. Before announcing his decision, he spoke to Pierre privately about it.

"The last thing you want to do is embarrass someone," said Torre. "I explained the situation to him, and he was completely fine with it."

The last time a Dodgers' pitcher didn't bat ninth was on Aug. 15, 1965, when Don Drysdale hit seventh in a 4-2 loss against Pittsburgh. Catcher John Roseboro hit eighth that day and shortstop John Kennedy batted ninth.

While Torre is utilizing this lineup shift for the first time, it is not exactly new to the game. Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has batted the pitcher in the 8th spot several times with the likes of Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols hitting 3rd in his lineups.

Last season, LaRussa even considered batting the pitcher 8th for the entire season, although that never completely panned out.

The mere mention of such a move begs the question: Should pitchers always bat 8th?

Arguments have been made both for and against this non-traditional baseball move. I can see both sides of the argument, and sometimes the argument for one side makes the case for the other.

I believe, ultimately, however that over the course of an entire season, it is more beneficial to have your best hitters (ie. position players) get as many plate appearances as possible, and the majority of statistics back up that belief. But I also believe certain situations call for a certain type of thinking--outside the batters box, you could say.

DODGERS PLACE OUTFIELDER JUAN PIERRE ON 15-DAY DISABLED LIST

This is not the best of news for the Dodgers. They were already having problems scoring runs with so many veterans on the DL, and now their only other bonafide leadoff man--besides Rafael Furcal-- will be out of action for at least 2+ weeks.

The ironic part about this news is that before Sunday's game in which Pierre got hurt, Joe Torre said that he would remain in left field even after Andruw Jones comes back from the DL. Basically, just when Pierre solidifies himself in the lineup as an everyday player for Torre, he gets hurt. Where is Alanis Morissette when we need her?

Outfielder Jason Repko recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed outfielder Juan Pierre on the 15-day disabled list with sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee and recalled outfielder Jason Repko from Triple-A Las Vegas. General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.

Repko, who will wear No. 17, is available for tonight’s series opener at Houston.

Pierre suffered the injury yesterday at Dodger Stadium while sliding into second base during a stolen-base attempt in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 1-0 loss against the Angels.

Pierre, 30, is being placed on the disabled list for the first time in his nine-year Major League career. Baseball’s active stolen-base leader with 424, Pierre is hitting .277 with 35 steals and 30 runs scored in 73 games this season. He ranks second in the Majors in steals, just one behind leader Willy Taveras, and is tied with James Loney for the team lead with 22 multi-hit games. The left-handed hitter has batted leadoff in each of the last 49 games while Rafael Furcal has been on the disabled list.

Repko hit .277 with 16 doubles, six homers, 29 RBI, and 15 steals in 74 games with Triple-A Las Vegas. The 27-year-old has batted .375 (39-for-104) with eight doubles, 15 RBI, and eight steals in 26 games in June.

Repko, a sandwich pick (37th overall) of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, missed all of the 2007 season with a torn right hamstring. He appeared in 198 games with the Dodgers from 2005-06, batting .232 with 20 doubles, 11 homers, 46 RBI and 15 steals.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, pioneers in sport and world culture, are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2008. In that period, they have won more games, more pennants, and more World Series than any other club in the National League. Since the start of the modern era in baseball, the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, combined, have a cumulative attendance of more than 177 million, the highest total in the history of baseball or any other sport.
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