Stan the Man

If you haven't heard, the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold Tuesday night.

And while Magic Johnson is the face of the new ownership group and Mark Walters is the controlling partner, another man holds the key to future success.

No, it's not Stan Musial, but rather Stan Kasten.

Kasten, 60, 

Braun Caps Remarkable Year

Bleeding Dodger Blue

A Hollywood Ending

A BLUEprint For Sale

The most recent installment in the McCourt
ownership has his wondering where it all
went wrong.

After asking, begging and pleading for more than two years, Los Angeles Dodger fans are finally having their voice heard. Embattled owner Frank McCourt is ending his seven and half ownership with the club after reaching a settlement with Major League Baseball Wednesday, agreeing to put the team up for sale.

The settlement will end a six-month legal battle with baseball and it's commissioner, Bud Selig.

McCourt purchased the team in February of 2004 from the Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, for a sum of $421 million. It's been reported McCourt could now get anywhere from $800 million-$1.2 billion for the club, including the stadium, parking lot and media rights.

October of 2009 is when McCourt's castle came crashing down. It would be announced that McCourt and his wife of 30 years, Jaime McCourt, were putting their marriage to an end. She was fired as the club's CEO just days later and officially filed for divorce.

Fast-forward nearly two years, McCourt has seen a Giants fan get brutally beaten on his property Opening Night of 2011, put a dark cloud over the historic Los Angeles franchise and put the team in financial instability. In April, Selig and MLB stepped in and seized the day-to-day operations of the club, putting McCourt's ownership of the team further in doubt.

In June, Selig rejected a 17-year TV contract McCourt had arranged with Fox to keep the his team afloat. The deal was worth approximately 3 billion dollars. Weeks later, the New England native would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a final effort to salvage his ownership with the Dodgers.

Most recently, October saw McCourt's ex-wife relinquish her partial ownership in the team after reaching a $130 million settlement. Later that month MLB revealed McCourt had looted $190 million out of the team for personal endeavors.

It has been a long and treacherous journey for McCourt, a journey that has had an entire city rally against him. But it wasn't all bad.

Before McCourt's arrival, Los Angeles had made two postseason appearances in the last 15 years and yet to win a playoff game since Game 5 of the 1988 World Series. McCourt oversaw four playoff teams during his tenure, including three National League West division titles, and back-to-back NLCS appearances, in 2008 and '09, losing both times to the Philadelphia Phillies.

In his seven seasons at the helm, the Dodgers accumulated a .521 winning percentage and even though the Paul DePodesta experiment didn't work out, McCourt pried Ned Colletti away from the division rival San Francisco Giants, naming him the tenth general manager in franchise history on Nov. 17, 2005.

McCourt is also responsible for hiring soon-to-be Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre prior to the '08 season, bringing in slugger Manny Ramirez, who could be look at as a savior or goat by Dodger fans, depending on how you remember his stint in "Mannywood".

Not to mention investing over $150 million in stadium designs and improvements, helping make Dodger Stadium thrive in the modern era.

However one wants to look his stay in on the West Coast, the inevitable has finally happened. McCourt will be portrayed as a villain until the end and an owner that was never fully embraced by his fan base that is getting their wish.

21 Years In The Making

KKKKershaw & A Cy Young?

Kemp Making MVP Bid

Trumbo's Time

It Was Inevitable

Ethier Continues Record Setting April

Ethier has been spectacular once again to
start 2011.

The Los Angeles Dodgers offense has not had many reasons to smile through their first 26 games of their season.

Four of the starting eight for the Dodgers are batting under .250, including injured shortstop Rafael Furcal. Even though center fielder Matt Kemp has gotten off to an impressive start after a dismal 2010 season, it has been the man to his left that has stolen the show in April.

Right fielder Andre Ethier has kicked off the 2011 campaign much like he did a year ago.

Tuesday night, Ethier broke former manager Joe Torre's April hitting streak record set back in 1971. It was a double in the first inning that broke the record and extended his mark to 23 straight games.

Oddly enough Torre went on to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award that season for the St. Louis Cardinals. Ethier has done his best Torre impersonation, posting a .380 batting average and .451 on-base percentage thus far.

The one-time All-Star has been known as a fast starter since making his Major League debut in 2006.

Ethier suffered fractured pinky bone on his hand back in May of last year, cutting into his hot start and never seemed to be the same hitter upon returning. Prior to the injury, Ethier had been leading the majors in all three Triple Crown categories with a .392 average, 38 runs batted in and tied for the NL lead with 11 home runs.

Now, with the Dodgers off to a rather sluggish start at 13-13 under rookie manager Don Mattingly, they can ill afford another injury from their star right fielder.

The former Sun Devil has slowly become the face of the Dodgers franchise and will need to see the organization head in a different direction if want to keep it that way and have Ethier's stay in Chavez Ravine a permanent one. Los Angeles was bailed out Wednesday afternoon on the heels of Ethier's third home run of season.

The hit came in the 10th inning in a 5-4 win over the first-place Florida Marlins, extending his Major League record to 24 games.

You can't imagine that even Dodgers knew what they were getting not only a great player, but a man of character when they traded for him in a deal with the Oakland Athletics in exchange for the often troublesome Milton Bradley back in December of 2005.

Ethier has catapulted himself to early discuss of the NL MVP Award, he would be the first Dodger to win the award since Kirk Gibson did so in 1988.

The Dodgers are off Thursday, but will have Ethier look to continue his hot start at home against San Diego left-hander Clayton Richard Friday night.

Manny Being Manny

Ramirez had one hit in 17 at-bats
with the Rays in '11.

Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Manny Ramirez is calling it a career. Ramirez, who signed a one-year deal with the Rays this offseason, was batting .059 in five games with the team in 2011.

This does not come as a surprise with his recent struggles at the plate, but what does come as a shock is the reason why Ramirez is retiring.

According to Major League Baseball, there is a problem with Ramirez and the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Ramirez has chosen rather than completing and continuing the process under the Program to retire from baseball.

Ramirez, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was suspended 50 games by baseball in 2009 after testing positive for a female fertility drug. Even though the drug was not considered a steroid, it was commonly used by steroids users to restore their testosterone levels back to normal.

It is unclear what Ramirez has done to violate the Major League Drug Policy, but in any event Ramirez has opted for retirement.

A former first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians back in 1991, Ramirez quickly gained the reputation of one of the game's most feared hitters. In 19 seasons, Ramirez was a 12-time All-Star with a career batting average of .312. Prior to the start of the 2001 season, Ramirez left Cleveland, signing a eight-year $160 million deal to join the Boston Red Sox.

In 2002, Ramirez won the American League batting title with an average at .349. In 2004, Ramirez led the Red Sox to first World Series title in 86 years, being named the series' Most Valuable Player. His 555 career home runs ranks him 14th on the all-time list and finishes with 1831 career runs batted in.

Ramirez will always be remembered for his playful, yet sometimes idiotic antics. Which have commonly been know as 'Manny being Manny'. With Ramirez calling it a career we can finally look back on a wonderful, yet controversial career.

The 38-year-old outfielder is forever linked to performance-enhancing drugs, his numbers always tainted and now will begin the debate, will Manny ever be inducted in Cooperstown? We'll let you decide.

Dodgers Need Kemp To Win

Hopefully Kemp and the Dodgers
will have reason to smile in
2011.

The 2009 season seems so long ago, yet, not so far away for Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp.

During the '09 campaign Kemp, 26, put together his best big league season by posting a .297 average with 26 home runs and reaching the century mark for the first time in his career, driving in 101 runs.

While being productive at the plate, winning his first career Silver Slugger, Kemp was also among the game's elite on defense, capturing his first Gold Glove.

He showed he could rise to the occasion and play at his best when the pressure was at its highest, homering off St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Chris Carpenter in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, helping the Dodgers advance to their second straight NLCS.

2010 came with high expectations for Kemp and seemed as if he could become only the fifth member to join the exclusive 40/40 club in Major League Baseball history.

With that came a lot of pressure and disappointment.

Despite Kemp seting a career-high in home runs with 28, every other offensive category dropped off significantly from his previous season totals. Kemp's average dipped all the way down to .259 with an on-base percentage of .310. After stealing a career high 34 bases in 42 attempts in '09, Kemp's base-running also took a hit, being caught stealing 15 times in only 34 attempts. Most people around baseball even thought Kemp took a step back defensively.

Whatever happened last year, Kemp is determined to put it behind him and live up to the expectations the Dodgers have set for him, losing 16 pounds by cutting ice cream out of his diet. There was a different type of energy with the club this spring, an energy not felt not since Joe Torre's first year as manager back in 2008.

Kemp enjoyed a wonderful spring, launching five home runs and hitting .290. The Dodgers and rookie skipper Don Mattingly will need Kemp to rebound if they want to capture their third NL West title in four years.

So far the season looks promising for Kemp and Co. beating the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants on Opening Night, 2-1. Kemp went 1-for-1, scoring both Dodger runs and drawing a career-high three walks in a game.

Martin Could be a Pleasant Surprise

Martin could be a steal for the Yankees in
2011.

The New York Yankees took a gamble this offseason signing former Los Angeles Dodger backstop and fan favorite, Russell Martin.

Martin is coming off both hip and knee surgery this offseason and caught for the first time this spring, Friday versus the Boston Red Sox. Martin, who signed a one-year contract with the Yankees, could prove to be extremely valuable to them in 2011.

With longtime catcher Jorge Posada moving to an unfamiliar full-time DH role, the starting catching duties belong solely to Martin. He is still one of the best defensive catchers in Major League Baseball, throwing out 39 percent of all base runners in 2010, which is a significant jump from the 15 percent Posada posted a year ago.

The 2007 Gold Glove winner is being asked by the Yankees to lead a pitching staff that has a lot of question marks, with the offseason consisting of the retirement of Andy Pettitte and Cliff Lee signing with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Martin has fallen from being regarded as one of the best catchers in baseball after dropping off significantly offensively the past two seasons, averaging a .250 batting average over that span. Hitting in the bottom half of the Yankee order and not having to be the centerpiece of the offense should help Martin regain his All-Star form.

With less pressure and a fresh start, the two-time All-Star could have a huge year in the Bronx.

Martin, still only 28, is a .272 career hitter and has hit as many as 19 home runs in a single-season.

The Canadian native has shown he can handle the pressure of being a Major Leaguer, homering in his first big league at-bat back in 2006. He also adds a dimension not many teams have behind the plate, swiping 66 career stolen bases in five seasons. The Yankees have taken a chance on Martin, not to carry an offense, but stay healthy and nourish an uncertain pitching staff.

If all goes right, Martin should have a bounce back season in '11 and be a hot free agent target this coming winter.

A Legend Has Passed

The baseball world lost a legend
Sunday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers may have beaten the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, but have lost a bigger battle.

Former Dodger legend and Hall of Fame center fielder Duke Snider has passed away at the age of 84.

Snider was apart of the 1955 World Series champion team from Brooklyn that defeated the dominate New York Yankees in seven games. That was the first World Series title in Dodger history and only in Brooklyn, moving out West only three years later.

Snider would help the Dodgers win their second World Series title just two years into their move to Chavez Ravine. The Duke played in an era where there were three center fielders that dominated one city, raising the question who was the best.

Willie Mays maned center field for the then-New York Giants, Mickey Mantle roamed in the House That Ruth Built and of course Snider at Ebbets Field, all whom would eventually be inducted into Cooperstown.

The eight-time All-Star was a .295 career hitter knocking out 407 home runs, including a five-year stretch from 1953-57, where he hit 40-plus each of those seasons. Despite all that, Snider was never awarded the NL Most Valuable Player Award, but finished in the top ten six times, finishing as high as second in '55.

Snider was a true professional and an ambassador of the game not only during his 18-year playing career, but in the years after.

After being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, the Dodgers also retired his legendary No. 4, that still hangs above the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Snider was one of the few living members of the historic '55 Dodgers, of course until today. Snider is gone, but his legend with live on, along with those '55 bums from Brooklyn.

Farewell "Silverfox".