DODGERS NOTEBOOK: HARD NOT TO PLAY LOFTON.Byline: TONY JACKSON
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer SAN DIEGO San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. -- Coming into the season, Dodgers manager Grady Little William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is a manager in Major League Baseball. He guided the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2003, and has been manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2006. planned to use veteran center fielder Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967 in East Chicago, Indiana) is a Major League Baseball outfielder. He bats and throws left-handed. He currently plays left field for the Cleveland Indians, with whom he has spent 10 seasons during three separate stints. in much the same way Little's close friend, Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel Charles Fuqua Manuel (born January 4, 1944 in Northfork, WV) is the current manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. Baseball playing career Major League Career , had used Lofton last season. Not sparingly, but judiciously. Lofton wound up hitting .335 in 110 games for the Phillies, while falling well short of the 502 plate appearances (3.1 per game over 162 games) needed to qualify for the batting title. But by Monday, when the Dodgers were preparing to begin a pivotal three-game series with San Diego, Lofton not only had officially qualified for the National League batting race but also checked in at .319. That was good enough for a seventh-place tie with former Phillies teammate Chase Utley Chase Cameron Utley (born December 17, 1978) is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Utley bats left-handed, but fields right-handed. Minor Leagues . Lofton already has played in 95 games and started 84. ``We're using him about the same as we had hoped to,'' Little said. ``He still has a lot of energy and life in his legs. But we're still watching him every single day. There were a couple of times this season where we let him play to the point that he was overplayed. He could tell it, and we could tell it. ``We want to prevent him from getting injured.'' Lofton already has activated the first of three $50,000 contract bonuses by reaching 350 plate appearances, and he entered the day needing 16 more to activate the second one at 400. That will bump his base salary to $3.95 million. Lofton leads the NL with a .450 average in August, which -- if he keeps it up -- would be the third-highest in any month in Dodgers history. He also entered the day with a four-game hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the consecutive number of official games in which a player gets at least one base hit. Games in which a player does not have any official at bats due to walks, or sacrifice bunts, or being hit by a pitch, are ignored (neither break the streak , during which he was 5 for 10. Little said that it's tough to rest Lofton, who started his sixth consecutive game, when he is this hot. ``It's difficult, but we have to look forward, too,'' Little said. ``You can watch Kenny play, and you can tell (when he needs a day off).'' Park ailing: Ex-Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park was scratched from his scheduled start against his former club because of a recurrence of the intestinal bleeding that sidelined him earlier this month and caused him to lose half his blood volume. The Padres instead recalled Tim Stauffer Tim Stauffer (born June 2, 1982 in Portland, Maine) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres. A graduate of Saratoga Central Catholic High School in Saratoga Springs, New York and of the University of Richmond, he was the fourth pick of the 2003 draft and from Triple-A Portland and started him on three days' rest. Park hasn't been placed on the disabled list yet. ``(But) there is a lot of concern,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. ``It came to the point where we didn't think he should pitch.'' It was the third game in a row in which the Padres' scheduled starter either was scratched or left the game after one inning because of an injury. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion