Blacked-out Dodger fans plan protest for 3 p.m. Sunday.

Dodgers fans are taking their complaints to the streets.

A public protest of the Dodgers’ television deal has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday outside The Short Stop bar. The protest will follow a route to the corner of Sunset and Elysian Park, then up the hill to the intersection of Stadium Way and Elysian Park.

According to a press release from FansRising.com, the various cable and satellite providers around Los Angeles not carrying SportsNet LA have left an estimated seven in 10 viewers unable to watch games.

The campaign has 3,039 fan signatures. FansRising.com says that hundreds have RSVP’d for the protest.

The news comes as former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire, in an interview with Yahoo! Sports Radio on Friday, called the Time Warner standoff a “tipping point” from a business standpoint.

Claire, who teaches a Sports Business course at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, called the lack of traction for Time Warner “a major, major problem for the business of sports. … There is always the assumption that the fan will pay.”

650 high school baseball players to attend Sunday’s Dodgers-Pirates game.

Six hundred fifty local high school baseball players and their coaches have been sponsored by Dennis Gilbert to attend Sunday’s game between the Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The players, who hail from 24 Los Angeles-area schools, participated in the fifth annual Dennis Gilbert Spring Baseball Classic April 5-19 at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton. Gilbert, Urban Youth Academy Director (and 10-year major-league veteran) Don Buford will be introduced on the field Sunday.

Gilbert is a special assistant to Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and an UYA board member.

Chris Withrow has a torn UCL, Tommy John surgery recommended.

Chris Withrow

Dodgers pitcher Chris Withrow has a torn UCL in his right elbow. (Getty Images)

In April, Chris Withrow‘s 99-mph fastball had him on a fast track to pitching in key situations in the Dodgers’ bullpen. Now, he’s on track to join a growing list of pitchers who need Tommy John surgery.

The Dodgers announced Thursday that Withrow has a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. Team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache made the diagnosis last Friday, two days after Withrow was optioned to the minor leagues to make room for Hyun-Jin Ryu on the active roster. Withrow hasn’t pitched since.

Dr. ElAttrache recommended Tommy John surgery. Withrow is seeking a second opinion next week, according to a Dodgers spokesperson.

Twenty major-leaguers and another 22 minor-leaguers — including Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling are known to have had the surgery since the beginning of spring training.

The Dodgers placed Withrow on the 15-day (major league) disabled list five days ago (retroactive to May 21) but did not announce the transaction at the time.

Based purely on his game-by-game velocity chart, it’s not clear when Withrow suffered the tear:

Courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net

However, Withrow’s had consistent trouble finding the strike zone since roughly mid-April:

Dodgers acquire catcher Johnny Monell from Baltimore, assign him to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Associated Press photo

Associated Press photo

The Dodgers acquired minor-leaguer Johnny Monell from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for cash considerations and assigned the catcher to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Monell, 28, was batting .209/.280/.286 with Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles purchased his contract after the San Francisco Giants non-tendered him in November of last year. Monell is a second-generation professional baseball player with a nice back story.

He has eight games of major-league experience, all with the Giants in September of last year. He had one hit in eight at-bats.

In an unrelated move, Jeremy Hazelbaker was promoted to Albuquerque from Double-A Chattanooga, where he was batting .285 with seven triples and 11 steals in 46 games.

Adrian Gonzalez leads National League first basemen in All-Star balloting.

Take that, Freddie Freeman!

Adrian Gonzalez is the only Dodgers position player leading the National League in all-star votes at his position, according to preliminary ballot results released today by MLB.

Gonzalez leads Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman — who edged Yasiel Puig for an All-Star nod in an online fan vote last year — by more than 40,000 votes as of this morning’s announcement.

Dee Gordon is the next-highest ranking Dodger at his position, but trails Philadelphia’s Chase Utley by more than 200,000 votes at second base. Juan Uribe ranks fourth among National League third baseman, Hanley Ramirez ranks fourth among NL shortstops, and Puig ranks fifth among NL outfielders. He trails Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon, Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton among NL outfielders.

The leading vote-getter at each position starts the annual All-Star Game at Target Field in July.

The full list of National League All-Star vote leaders:
Continue reading “Adrian Gonzalez leads National League first basemen in All-Star balloting.” »