Monthly Archives: November 2012

Dodgers officially name Mark McGwire hitting coach.

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Former St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire has taken the same position with the Dodgers, the team announced Wednesday. The announcement had been anticipated for several days, since McGwire informed the Cardinals he intended to leave.

McGwire served as the Cards’ hitting coach for the past three seasons, when they led the National League in batting average (.269) and on-base percentage (.337), ranked second in runs (2,263), fourth in slugging percentage (.416) and third in OPS (.753). Mark McGwireDuring his time as hitting coach, the Cardinals batted a National League-best .274 with runners in scoring position.  McGwire’s tenure in St. Louis was highlighted by the Cardinals’ 2011 season, when St. Louis led the NL in batting average (.273), on-base percentage (.341), slugging percentage (.425, T-1st), OPS (.766) and runs scored (762), while striking out a National League-low 978 times en route to a World Series title.

In 2012 St. Louis led the league with a .338 on-base percentage and ranked among the NL leaders in runs (765, 2nd), hits (1526, T-1st), batting average (.271, 2nd), slugging percentage (.421, 4th) and OPS (.759, 3rd). St. Louis hitters tied for second in the NL with a .264 batting average with runners in scoring position. In the three seasons preceding McGwire’s hiring (2007-09), the Cardinals ranked eighth in the NL in runs scored.

Born in Pomona and raised in Claremont, McGwire now resides in Irvine with his wife, Stephanie, and their children, triplet girls Monet, Marlo and Monroe, and brothers Max and Mason. McGwire also has a 25-year-old son, Matt, from a previous marriage.

Poll: Mark McGwire, Dodgers’ hitting coach?

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Mark McGwire is expected to be named the Dodgers’ hitting coach soon. As crazy as those words may have seemed, say, five years ago, the hire makes more sense now.

The former slugger was raised in Claremont, played baseball at Damien High School and USC, and now lives in Irvine with his wife and children. The Dodgers need a hitting coach, so why not bring in the man whose Cardinals teams have finished third, second and first in the National League in batting average the last three years?

Of course, McGwire is also the man who would not “talk about the past” in 2005, when he was summoned before Congress to talk about steroids in Major League Baseball. He’s since admitted to using steroids in his career, including when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998 — a time when PED testing was virtually non-existent in baseball. McGwire was far from alone during his era, and the Dodgers already have a former PED user on their coaching staff in Single-A pitching coach Matt Herges. Is the stigma still an issue?

We may find out soon. First, your opinion:


Dodgers add Pat Corrales to growing front office.

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Growing up in the 1980s I collected baseball cards. I should have been more specific and just collected manager cards, because it seemed as if I got a disproportionate number of them, pack after pack of cards. Dick Howser. Russ Nixon. Joe Wathan. John Hart. If they managed a game in the 1980’s, I have their picture on a 2.5-by-3.5 piece of paper stock somewhere.Pat Corrales

Count Pat Corrales in that group.

Corrales today was named Special Assistant to general manager Ned Colletti. In nine years as a major-league manager, Corrales became the first major league manager of Mexican-American descent and the fourth to manage in both leagues in the same season (Philadelphia and Cleveland in 1983).

The 71-year-old went to the Atlanta Braves in 1990 as the team’s bench coach, a position he held for nine seasons, and again from 2007-09 and 2011 with the Washington Nationals. Stan Kasten was the team president in Atlanta and Washington during Corrales’ time in both cities.

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Javy Guerra has shoulder surgery, expected to be ready for spring training.

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Reliever Javy Guerra underwent a 25-minute arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder today, according to a team spokesperson. Javy GuerraDr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery.

The procedure involved a cleanup of bursitis and the A-C joint that is at the top of the shoulder. Guerra will start his throwing program in six weeks and is expected to be competitive by spring training.

Guerra went 2-3 with eight saves and a 2.60 earned-run average last season. He lost his closer’s job to Kenley Jansen early in the season. Though often effective, Guerra was beset by a knee injury and an oblique injury that ultimately ended his season.

Poll: Which Dodger will have the biggest bounceback in 2013?

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One of my favorite stats from 2012 was this: Eight major-league teams used 50 or more players last season. Most fell into the category of underachievers, or at least underdogs: Boston (56), Toronto (54), Chicago Cubs (53), San Diego (53), Baltimore (52), Houston (50), Oakland (50) …

… And then there were the Dodgers, clocking in at an even 50 players. It was a combination of trades and injuries that brought the Dodgers to 50, all of which factored into their falling short of the playoffs, and left several players hungry for a big bounceback in 2013.

Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Ted Lilly are coming back from surgery. Chad Billingsley is coming back from an injury, at least the team hopes. Juan Uribe is Juan Uribe.

Who will rebound the most?