September 2008 Archives

In addition to holding Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant out of two-a-day practices and limiting their minutes during the regular season, Phil Jackson hinted he would sit both during part of the exhibition season to avoid overtaxing them. Both Bryant and Gasol had minimal offseason recuperation time after participating in the Beijing Olympics.
"I was told not to say I wasn't going to play Kobe in exhibition games, so I'm not going to say Kobe's not going to play in this game or that game," Jackson said. "But there's a chance they may not play in some exhibition games."

Rookie Sun Yue missed the first day of training camp Tuesday as a result of symptoms from mononucleosis. Lakers spokesman John Black said Yue will not practice for at least the rest of the week.

The Ducks have traded veteran defenseman Sean O'Donnell to the Kings in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

O'Donnell will be entering his 14th NHL season. He has played the last three seasons with the Ducks, helping the team to win the Stanley Cup in 2007.

This will be O'Donnell's second stint with the Kings. He began his career with the team in 1994 and played six seasons in LA.

One notable move is Gary Matthews Jr. in right field over Juan Rivera. Manager Mike Scioscia said he likes the matchup of Matthews against Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who's a lefty. Matthews Jr. hit .285 this season from the right side of the plate.

Angels
Chone Figgins - 5
Garret Anderson - 7
Mark Teixeira - 3
Vladimir Guerrero - DH
Torii Hunter - 8
Howie Kendrick - 4
Mike Napoli - 2
Gary Matthews Jr. - 9
Erick Aybar - 6

Starting pitcher
John Lackey

Red Sox Manager Terry Francona won't release his playoff roster until Wednesday morning, but he did say J.D. Drew (back) and Mike Lowell (hip) got through the first portion of their workouts Wednesday without aggravating their injuries.

That's an encouraging sign for the Red Sox.

If Lowell can't play Wednesday, however, expect Kevin Youkilis to play third base, which would leave first base open for a replacement. David Ortiz will not be that player.

"David is our DH," Francona said. "The way the Angels play the game, that wouldn't put our best team on the field."

Lamar Odom's anger has subsided about the possibility of coming off the bench this season, but he still remains conflicted about his potential sixth man role. The 28-year-old said at practice today he'd rather start and have a big individual season -- especially in a contract year -- yet he's wary of letting his personal agenda become a distraction for a Lakers team he believes has the talent to win a championship. Here's a partial transcript of both of their conversations:

Lamar Odom

Did you have a chance to speak to Phil about his idea you'd move to the sixth man position?
We talked a little bit, but at the end of the day, that's out of my control. I would do it, but I wouldn't suggest that, especially in a year I want to be on the court for obvious reasons.

Is that Phil being Phil, trying to challenge you or motivate you?
I don't know, you got to ask Phil. Some might take it like that.

How did you take it?
I took it like he bumped his ... head. No, that's a joke. I took it as he was trying to motivate me. I took it as a challenge, but then again, it's funny, I was telling some of the guys on the team. I walked into the locker room and I felt like this was a championship team. I got that feel from being here, going through what we went through. Starting the season with Drew, Pau and everyone's healthy and of course Kobe, it's not about me right now at the end of the day.

Is everyone going to have to sacrifice more for the team?
I don't know if you call it sacrificing when you're winning. If you want to win, you can't expect to get every shot, every rebound, every loose ball. I don't call it sacrificing -- i call it playing together. I don't think it has to be a problem for us to play together. It's too there has to be politics and business around the game, especially when you have a team like this. It's not right for me to be selfish at this time when I walk into the locker room and I'm like, wow, this team is going to win a championship.

So is it conflicted emotions?
It's definitely conflicted emotions. I might wake up today feeling one way, and wake up tomorrow feeling another way. But this is the team I want to be on, this is the coach I want to play for, and this is the guys I want to be around.

Phil Jackson

Is an angry Lamar, a good Lamar? A motivated Lamar?
Yeah, I don't know, I've never seen Lamar motivated. (joking)

Do you spend a lot of time thinking about how to get him totally into this over the summer?
No, not a lot of time. Before we broke up last year, we talked about some of the directions we could go with this group of guys. We'll just have to see how it turns out. It's a work in progress.

Is it good for him to know that this is an option?
If you look at teams that are really good, usually a starter is coming off the bench. Ginobli for example in San Antonio -- a variety of players around the league. It's hard for players to swallow because usually it's like, ok, my guy's a starter so he's going to get X amount of dollars. But people that understand the game know that's not what's important. A lot of times it's more than who are the best five on the floor, it's how can your team best function for 48 minutes.

- Rafael Furcal will start over Angel Berroa while Jeff Kent will sit in favor of Blake DeWitt.

- Ramon Troncoso made the roster instead of Scott Proctor because he'll be able to warm up multiple times in the bullpen and provides a guy who can get a ground ball. James McDonald didn't make the roster and is soon expected to head to Arizona for instructional league. Also left off were pinch hitters Mark Sweeney and Dewlyn Young. The rosters can technically still change by tomorrow.

- Hong-Chih Kuo was tested with a CT angiogram that found no compromise of his circulation based on that test. He is scheduled to resume throwing Wednesday and be able to throw bullpens by the weekend.

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell is taking grounders at third base to test an injured right hip that will likely require surgery this offseason.

We should know after the workout if he's ready to play in Game 1 on Wednesday.

"I'll either keel over if it's really hurt or I'll be ready to play," Lowell said before the workout. "I don't think it'll be any mystery."

Welcome to Angel Stadium for the first official workout day of the American League Division Series.

The ALDS logo has just been painted on the field. The grounds crew is watering the grass. Looks like we're ready to go.

Here's the official schedule for today...

1 p.m. Red Sox Workout
2 p.m. Red Sox Interview Session with Manager Terry Francona and Jon Lester and Jason Varitek
3:15 p.m. Angels Interview Session with Manager Mike Scioscia and John Lackey
4 p.m. Angels Workout

The Dodgers sent minor league pitchers Michael Watt and Eduardo Perez to the Padres in exchange for Maddux. Watt was the Dodgers' second-round draft pick in 2007.

The whirlwind offseason continues for new Clippers guard Baron Davis. His agent, Todd Ramasar, will join BDA Sports Management, according to a BDA spokesperson.

Ramasar, a Corona resident, was teammates with Davis at UCLA. Now the two will move to high-profile BDA, which represents Yao Ming, Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Greg Oden.

Davis opted out of his contract with the Warriors during the offseason and signed a five-year, $65 million deal with the Clippers. (The idea was to team up with Elton Brand, who pulled a surprise and bolted for Philadelphia.)

--Gerald Tang
gtang@PE.com

When I wrote the Sunday column expressing the opinion that Manny Ramirez should be the National League MVP off of two months' work, I knew I'd hear from Red Sox Nation. And I knew the idea of voting for a guy on two months' worth of performance would be controversial. I wasn't disappointed.

Here's the reaction:

>> Continue reading: Manny for MVP, the reaction

In case you missed them, plenty of Lakers stories in this morning's P-E. Columnist Gregg Patton touched on the championship-or-bust expectations for these Lakers, while I wrote a story on Kobe's jovial mood entering this year's camp and a notebook with reaction from Trevor Ariza on the possibility of beginning the season as a starter.
One funny moment that didn't make it into the stories came when Kobe objected to a reporter's use of the cliched "twin towers" expression for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, calling it "a Texas thing." Asked what nickname he'd prefer, Bryant deadpanned, "How about just Pau and Bynum?"
Photo by Kevork Djansezian, The Associated Press

Kobe Bryant took the time to dispel the idea that he might opt out of his Lakers contract at the end of the season to sign with a European team for $50 million, a story originally sparked by an offhand comment he made to a reporter during the Olympics. Bryant said he fielded the question to spare teammate LeBron James, but his response was only meant to be "a joke."
"I said, all right, if a team throws us $50 million then we'll all go," Bryant said. "But somebody really took that and said somebody probably does have $50 million and would throw $50 million. Then it became a serious issue. But it was something that was just a joke to us."

Just got back from media day, and I'll have a full report throughout the day. Here's a few news items to tide you over in the meantime:

- Luke Walton is still "a couple weeks" away from participating in full 5-on-5 games, but he said his surgically repaired right ankle is strong enough for him to participate in conditioning in the meantime.
- A relaxed Kobe Bryant downplayed the possibility of him playing in Europe, a story that originally was sparked by an offhand comment he made to a reporter during the Olympics. Bryant said he was only kidding and that what he said was taken out of context.
- Sun Yue (mononucleosis) was excused from media day as a result of a high fever. Further information on his status should be available Tuesday.
- Andrew Bynum's knee is still feeling strong, and he is not experiencing any pain.
- Trevor Ariza downplayed the importance of earning the starting small forward position, but said he was fully healthy and excited to be able to contribute more this season.

Lakers media day is this afternoon in El Segundo, so I'll have updates here later on Kobe's thoughts on the season, Andrew Bynum's progress and Lamar Odom's reaction to the possibility of coming off the bench. In the meantime, I thought I'd give readers the chance to weigh in on their biggest concerns for the season on the eve of training camp.

1. Can Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol coexist together in the post?

While two 7-footers in the same starting lineup can be a double-edged sword, the Lakers believe Bynum and Gasol possess skill sets that will complement each other well. Gasol's passing and finesse game makes him a natural fit for the high post, while Bynum should thrive on the low block as a scorer and offensive rebounder.
The biggest problem with sliding Gasol to power forward for the Lakers could come on defense. Asking Gasol to guard quicker forwards further from the basket could leave him vulnerable to dribble penetration.

2. Can Lamar Odom make a smooth transition to small forward?

If Lamar Odom intends to remain a starter for the Lakers, it appears he's going to have to make a quick adjustment to playing on the perimeter. With 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the fold, Coach Phil Jackson said he intends to slide Odom to small forward on a trial basis, but wouldn't hesitate to bench the 28-year-old 10th-year pro in favor of defensive stopper Trevor Ariza if necessary.
It's possible that Jackson is simply trying to light a fire under Odom heading into training camp, but the veteran forward can't take any chances entering the final year of his contract. The most obvious problems the Lakers would face with Odom at small forward is he may have trouble staying in front of opposing wings and his outside shot is not consistent enough to stretch a defense.

Boston ace Josh Beckett will start Game 3 after injuring his right oblique muscle in a bullpen session Friday, The Boston Globe reported.

This means Beckett will pitch just once in the ALDS against the Angels. He was slated to pitch Games 1 and 4.

Jon Lester will pitch Game 1 against John Lackey. Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch Game 2 against Ervin Santana. Beckett will start Game 3 against Joe Saunders.

Teemu Selanne is far from retiring.

The Ducks signed Selanne, the team's all-time leading scorer, to a two-year contract this afternoon and he is in the lineup for the Ducks home preseason contest against Vancouver.

"He clearly feels he can play two years," said Ducks GM Brian Burke, while adding that Selanne may have his eye on playing for Finland during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Selanne contemplated retiring last season after helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2007 but he returned to play in late-February.

With the Ducks facing salary cap issues at the start of training camp this season, Selanne nonetheless came to camp without a contract or insurance. By trading defenseman Mathieu Schneider on Friday the Ducks created salary cap flexibility to sign Selanne.

The deal reached Sunday will pay Selanne $3.25 million this season and $2 million next year.The average of the two years, $2.625 is used for salary cap purposes.
Selanne will be speaking with reporters after the game.

---- Graig Woodburn ---

PITCHERS (10)
John Lackey
Ervin Santana
Joe Saunders
Jered Weaver
Jon Garland
Darren Oliver
Scot Shields
Jose Arredondo
Kevin Jepsen
Francisco Rodriguez

POSITION PLAYERS (15)
Mike Napoli - C
Jeff Mathis - C
Erick Aybar - SS
Chone Figgins - 3B
Howie Kendrick - 2B
Kendry Morales - 1B
Mark Teixeira - 1B
Robb Quinlan - 3B
Brandon Wood - SS
Garret Anderson - LF
Vladimir Guerrero - RF
Torii Hunter - CF
Gary Matthews Jr. - LF
Juan Rivera - LF
Reggie Willits - LF

Notable exclusions: RHP Justin Speier, INF Sean Rodriguez

Two big defensive plays have turned this game around. Tim Dobbins' interception of JaMarcus Russell at the Chargers' 27 resulted in San Diego's best sustained drive of the afternoon, ending in Philip Rivers' 9-yard scoring pass to Antonio Gates to cut the Raider lead to 15-10.

Shortly thereafter, Marques Harris forced and recovered a fumble by Russell at the Raider 13. Tomlinson galloped that distance on the first play, and Rivers' two-point conversion pass to Darren Sproles made it 18-15 Chargers with 12:47 left in the game.

After failing to reach 100 wins the past two nights, the Angels prevailed in their final attempt, defeating the Texas Rangers 7-0 at Angel Stadium. The last American League team to reach 100 wins was the 2004 Yankees.
The 100 wins is a club record and sends the Angels into the playoffs against Boston on Wednesday having won eight of their final 11 games.
Lefty Joe Saunders struck out a career high nine and allowed just two hits in six innings to pick up his 17th win.
Mike Napoli accounted for the Angels' offense, knocking in four runs with a homer and two doubles.

It's 15-3 Oakland midway through the third quarter, and it's been a weird game.

Philip Rivers botched a handoff to LaDainian Tomlinson and had to fall on the ball in the end zone fora safety. Nate Kaeding skulled a makeable 44-yard field goal attempt. Oakland punter Shane Lechler uncorked punts of 70 and 60 yards. And Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski tried a 76-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half, after the Raiders had mismanaged the clock in the final minute.

But the way the Chargers came out for this game, and the inspired way the Raiders have been playing, makes you wonder which coach actually is on the hot seat.

The Dodgers will head to Chicago and Wrigley Field to play the Cubs in the National League Division Series after the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the wild card on the last day of the season. Derek Lowe will face Ryan Dempster in Game 1 of the series on Wednesday.

3. How quickly can Andrew Bynum regain last year's form?

Bynum was on the verge of a breakout season a year ago when he suffered a season-ending left knee injury last January. The promising young 7-footer pronounced himself healthy and in the best shape of his life earlier this month, but Phil Jackson expressed concern Friday that Bynum's injury may have slowed his development.
Bynum's training camp showing will also be critical from a business standpoint for both him and the franchise. The Lakers must decide whether to offer him a longterm contract by Oct. 31 or risk exposing him to restricted free agency after the season.

Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels will have an off-day Monday and a workout Tuesday in preparation for their American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.

First order of business, however, is today's regular season finale against the Rangers. A win today will give the Angels 100 for the first time in club history.

Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels' playoff roster will be released after Sunday's game. Stay tuned.

Today's inactives in Oakland:

Chargers: S Paul Oliver, LB Anthony Waters, G Kynan Forney, T Corey Clark, TE Kris WIlson, DT Brandon McKinney, DT Ian Scott. Charlie WHitehurst is the third quarterback.

And, as expected, Nick Hardwick is starting at center instead of Jeremy Newberry.

Raiders: WR Todd Watkins, RB Justin Fargas, CB Stanford Routt, G Cooper Carlisle, T James Marten, T Seth Wand, TE Ben Troupe. Marques Tuiasosopo is the third quarterback.

Chris Morris will start at right guard for Cooper Carlisle, while Darren McFadden (turf toe) is healthy enough to start at running back in place of Fargas.

* * *

A footnote: The Raiders' identity has long been wrapped up in those intimidating black uniforms, but they came out dressed in white today with the Chargers wearing their blues. One possible reason: It's expected to be a warm day today, and the home team -- which has the uniform choice -- often will wear white because of the heat.

Still, it's pretty un-Raider like.

Hong-Chih Kuo is off the playoff roster for the NLDS. He was tested for circulation problems after he experienced numbness in his fingers warming up last night, and will head to Arizona to pitch in the instructional league in case the Dodgers need him later on.

Also off the roster and headed to Arizona to work out are Chin-lung Hu, Jason Repko and Ramon Troncoso. The Dodgers are also sending Eric Stults to Mexico to play winter ball for Mazatlan, which is managed by Class AAA Las Vegas manager Lorenzo Bundy.

Nomar gets full managerial duties today, including pitching changes and the right to insert himself and Mark Sweeney as pinch hitters. He said he is legitimately nervous about managing and spent the previous night writing up three lineups.

"Right below them are all the cliches I worked on," Garciaparra said, presumably joking.

Garciaparra already made his first move before the game, scratching Rafael Furcal for an undisclosed reason.

Pierre, LF
Ethier, RF
Kemp, CF
Blake, 3B
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 2B
Berroa, SS
Ellis, C
Kuroda, P

Figgins 3B
Anderson DH
Teixeira 1B
Hunter CF
Rivera LF
Kendrick 2B
Matthews Jr. RF
Napoli C
Aybar SS

4. Will Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol wear down after a short yet busy offseason?

Phil Jackson was vehemently opposed to NBA players participating in the Beijing Olympics, suggesting the lack of a true offseason would take its toll on the league's stars. The impact could be even more pronounced for the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, both of whom already wouldn't have had much recuperation time since the NBA finals ended just three months ago.
Jackson has pledged to limit Bryant's minutes this year, keeping him to approximately 36-37 a game. He also said he'll be cautious not to work Bryant or Gasol too hard either in training camp or the regular season.

Time: 1:05 p.m.
TV: KCAL
RHP Hiroki Kuroda (9-10, 3.84 ERA) vs. Giants RHP Tim Lincecum (17-5, 2.66)

Manager Nomar Garciparra and bench coach Mark Sweeney have decided on giving catcher A.J. Ellis his first career start.

Lincecum starts against the Dodgers for the first time this season, with the Dodgers trying to prevent him from winning the NL Cy Young Award.

The Lakers may be the favorites to win the Western Conference and get back to the NBA finals, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of questions facing the team as it prepares for the start of training camp Tuesday. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to count down the five biggest issues facing the Lakers going into the season. Here's No. 5:

5. Are there enough minutes to keep everyone happy?

The depth the Lakers have at forward gives them tremendous versatility but it also could be a double-edged sword. With Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton each vying for minutes at small forward, at least one or two of them will likely face a role reduction.
Phil Jackson already tried to prepare his players for that possibility at his season-opening news conference Friday, suggesting "guys are going to have to sacrifice." The Lakers had a team-first mentality last season, but the coaching staff will be challenged to maintain that harmony again this year.

The Angels lost 8-4 on Saturday at Angels Stadium, as the Texas Rangers tagged starter Ervin Santana for eight runs in 5 2/3 innings.

With home-field advantage in the playoffs wrapped up and an eye on the bigger picture, the Halos took the defeat in stride -- even if it cost them a chance to set the franchise record with 100 season wins.

"Of course we're gonna try to win, but at the same time we're not going to put pressure on ourselves, we're not worried bout the momentum or anything," Angels centerfielder Torii Hunter said. "'Cause the adrenaline is going to flow regardless."

Manager Mike Scioscia echoed those thoughts.

""You never like to lose," Scioscia said. "It's not pleasant when teams are taking it to you, but in the bigger picture, where we want to be hopefully a month from now, there's some things that need to be done and some of that is keep these guys sharp."

After missing his last start because of a kidney stone, Joe Saunders will take the hill for the Angels tomorrow and try to get that last big regular-season W.

-- Mirjam Swanson
-- mswanson@PE.com,

Greg Maddux passed Roger Clemens and moved into eighth place on the all-time victory list by picking up No. 355 tonight in San Francisco. Joe Torre had said before the game that he was committed to getting Maddux the win if possible, which is why Maddux went six before leaving for a pinch-hitter.

Maddux, 42, is 8-13 this season, but there are times he's still got it and tonight was one of them. He gave up two hits, one of them a home run by Randy Winn, and threw an amazing 47 pitches in six innings, 38 for strikes.

"It was weird," he said. "It seemed like last week (last Saturday, when the Giants smacked him around for seven earned runs in five innings) they didn't hit anything at anybody. Tonight they hit everything at somebody."

What this gets Maddux now is a spot start, maybe, if a postseason opportunity comes up for a fourth starter. Otherwise, Torre said the chances are good that Maddux could go in the bullpen in the postseason.

"You keep all your options open when you get to the post-season," Torre said. "Greg's certainly not an ego guy; we all know that ... You can only start so many guys in the post-season. If you happen to use one in the pen, I've yet to see anyone have a problem with it."

And you won't this time, either.

"The pen is better than 'no pitch,' " Maddux said. "I'd rather pitch in the pen than go home."

Additionally, Maddux reached another milestone Saturday night with his 31st career victory over the Giants. That breaks a tie with Phil Niekro and Don Sutton for the most victories against the team in the San Francisco era.

Joe Torre decided on Nomar Garciaparra as his manager for a day Sunday, keeping with his ritual of selecting a veteran to run the club on the final day when a post-season berth is secured.

"He said, 'I've got a proposition for you,' " Garciaparra said, laughing. "I said, 'Sounds good to me.' I'll get my staff together, we'll have a staff dinner and go over the lineup."

"Staff," in this case, refers to Mark Sweeney, who told Torre he wasn't interested in running the club but would be willing to serve as bench coach for a day.

And no, Nomar's not insisting that he be called "Skip," although he said the possibility of dressing in the manager's office Sunday did sound appealing.

One catch: He won't be able to write Manny Ramirez' name on the lineup card. Manny is getting his first day off since joining the club Aug. 1, at Torre's insistence.

Otherwise, the regular manager says he'll just sit at the far end of the dugout and second-guess.

So says a piece of legislation a member of the elected San Francisco Board of Supervisors is trying to get passed in order to oust Tommy Lasorda as grand marshal of the San Francisco Italian American Parade next month.

Torii Hunter said he wasn't sure what to do with himself earlier this sesaon when lingering tightness in his quadriceps muscle kept him out of center field and on the bench for a handful of games.

About all he could come up to pass the time was to pester Manager Mike Scioscia, who insisted he rest the injury completely.

"I wanted to play every day and he said, 'No, there's time for healing.'" Hunter said. "So I got on his nerves on the bench, I started messing with coaches, he'd be giving signs and I'd tell him, 'Wrong sign.' And he'd tell me go sit down somewhere and leave him alone. So I definitely got on his nerves...

"But I didn't know what to do, I never really sat on the bench for no reason. Just sitting down and knowing that you could play was hard, that was hard."

-- Mirjam Swanson
-- mswanson@PE.com.

It's a tradition of Joe Torre's to select a veteran to manage in his place on the last day of the season, and Jeff Kent has already turned down the job offer. Torre said Mark Sweeney was a possibility.

Manager Joe Maddon, formerly an Angels bench coach, led his Tampa Bay Rays to their first division title this year, clinched officially when the Red Sox were beaten by the Yankees, two traditional powerhouses that couldn't keep up with the surprising Rays this season.

That the Rays excelled in the tough division didn't surprise the Angels skipper. Well, not exactly.

"It doesn't surprise me that Joe has created an environment to have them achieve what they aciehved," Mike Scioscia said. "It's just a little astounding that they've done it so quickly -- especially because youre talking about a division with Yankees and Boston and having to grind through that.

"That's really remarkable, not that it happened, but that it could happen so quick, that kind of turnaround."

The Rays finished 66-96 last season and in last place, 30 games behind Boston.

Maddon was the Angels bench coach for most of 10 seasons in Anaheim including the last six under Scioscia.

-- Mirjam Swanson
-- mswanson@PE.com

The Angels (99-61) have a chance to notch 100 wins for the first time in franchise history tonight at home against the Texas Rangers (78-82).

Here's who the Angels will send up as they take aim at the milestone.

Chone Figgins (3B)
Garret Anderson (LF)
Mark Teixeira (1B)
Vladimir Guerrero (RF)
Torii Hunter (CF)
Howie Kendrick (2B)
Juan Rivera (DH)
Jeff Mathis (C)
Erick Aybar (SS)

Ervin Santana (16-6, 3.25) starts for the Angels.

Scott Feldman starts (5-8, 5.45) starts for the Rangers.

-- Mirjam Swanson
-- mswanson@PE.com

- Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda will pitch the first three scheduled playoff games in that order, and if more games are necessary in the NLDS, a Game 4 starter would either be Greg Maddux or Lowe on short rest. At this point, Clayton Kershaw has been spoken to about heading to the bullpen.

- Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal have made the playoff roster barring injuries, and Joe Torre wouldn't rule out using them as starters, though probably not on the same day. Kent is starting at first base tonight, and Torre indicated that could be an option if the Dodgers run into a tough left-handed pitcher. That means James Loney would sit.

- Hong-Chih Kuo is scheduled to return to action tonight, and all of a sudden, he's back as a possibility for the playoff roster.

Juan Pierre's home run ball sold on eBay for $150 when it was offered for $10,000.

Yes, that's right, the Lakers forward has launched a new blog on NBA.com, sounding off in his debut post on his relationship with his teammates, the pain of losing to the Celtics and his taste for all things Kid Rock. Among the most newsworthy tidbits, however, was this paragraph updating the status of his injured ankle:

I'm cleared as far as my ankle being healthy enough to start playing. I'm not going to re-injure it. It's just now getting it strong enough, getting all the flexibility and range of motion back and all that stuff. We're probably aiming at a week to two weeks into training camp before I can be 100 percent doing every activity. Right now I'm just mainly doing straight ahead running and exercises for the ankle. But as we all know, five on five basketball requires a lot more than just running.

Today's game vs. Rangers
6:05 p.m., Channel 13
Pitchers: RHP Ervin Santana (16-6, 3.25) vs. Texas RHP Scott Feldman (5-8, 5.45)

Storyline: Angels will make their second try for their 100th victory, which would be a franchise record. (They won 99 in 2002, when they made the playoffs as a wild card and won the franchise's only World Series.) However, Mike Scioscia has made it clear he's going to rest people, and that while getting win No. 100 would be nice he's now in a position where he needs to think about Wednesday's playoff opener against Boston and having his regulars at full strength then.

Kobe Bryant briefly stopped to talk with a handful of reporters on his way out of the Lakers practice facility Friday, smiling frequently, raving about his Olympic experience and downplaying any concern about his dislocated right pinkie.
Bryant said he opted not to have surgery because missing "12 weeks was too long." He also said the risk of reinjury was not high because the pinkie felt stronger than before, demonstrating that it would take a freakish play where his finger got caught in a jersey for it to pop out of place again.

The Giants played the game under official protest, but dropped it after they won the game. I asked Manager Joe Torre asked about a scenario in which the Giants would have kept up with the protest and won, forcing the Dodgers to play a part of the game over. "Don't even mention it," Torre said, taking off his cap to take a light-hearted swipe at me.

Yes, this was a weird game with a weird play. Bengie Molina hit a home run and didn't score himself. Torre said it reminded him of this incident.

One final note: Matt Kemp is your new strikeout king! He broke Billy Grabarkewitz's 38-year-old franchise single-season strikeout record, going down for the 150th time.

Mike Scioscia decided to take the extra day's rest early in next week's Division Series, which means the Angels' first-round matchup with Boston will begin Wednesday at Angel Stadium. They'll play Wednesday and Friday here, with Games 3 and 4 Sunday and Monday in Fenway Park and a potential Game 5 Wednesday at Anaheim.

Why Wednesday?

"It's probably more related to (their thinking) in-house, what we're looking to do," than any strategical advantage over the Red Sox, Scioscia said. "This way we'll be able to trim our pitching staff."

In other words, with just three starting pitchers needed, the Angels could carry an extra position player and potentially leave Jered Weaver or Jon Garland off the first-round roster.

If you had to guess, guess Garland. Weaver is going to Tempe Saturday to pitch three innings in an Arizona Instructional League game and get his work in. Garland will not be sent anywhere but will do his normal work. If one of them is needed during the first round, Weaver probably will be the more ready.

But it doesn't matter. The Angels have still clinched the best record in baseball with the losses by Tampa Bay and the Cubs. They'll have home field throughout the playoffs, they'll almost certainly open against Boston -- which was hammered by the Yankees, 19-8 -- and now the only suspense is whether Mike Scioscia chooses to open his series on Wednesday or Thursday, which we should find out shortly.

When this one got out of hand, thanks to a seven-run second inning for Texas, Mike Scioscia cleared his bench, fielding an almost entirely new batting order when he made wholesale changes before the fourth inning.

This is what the revised order looked like:

Robb Quinlan 1b
Matt Brown 3b
Bobby Wilson c
Freddy Sandoval dh
Sean Rodriguez 2b
Reggie Willits cf
Juan Rivera lf (the only holdover, he started the game in right)
Kendry Morales rf
Brandon Wood ss

It hasn't helped. It's Rangers 12, Angels 1 in the ninth.

Here's the story I wrote for tomorrow's P-E on Phil Jackson's season-opening news conference this afternoon. One tidbit that didn't make it into the print edition was Jackson's response when asked if he thought the Lakers were as soft as pundits sometimes portray them to be.
"We know that we weren't a muscular, physical team, but we were able to get where we did with finesse and speed and the abilities we had," Jackson said. "I was always impressed with our ability to be resilient. But it was noticeable in the last series, in the last game, that they came out with one specific purpose, and that was to stick us in the basket. To go down and go to the basket and get what they wanted accomplished on the boards or in the lane. It affected us. It left a sour taste in our mouths over the summer."
"You don't get to where we are by being a soft team, but Boston was tougher than we were in the last game. They got it, they deserved it."

Texas' lineup against right-hander John Lackey:

Joaquin Arias 2b
Michael Young ss
*Josh Hamilton cf
** Milton Bradley dh
Marlon Byrd lf
*Hank Blalock 1b
Nelson Cruz rf
Gerald Laird c
*Chris Davis 3b
--
Vicente Padilla, rhp

- Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal are expected to make the playoff roster assuming their bodies hold up over the next few days. Kent is in the lineup again today. Originally, he wasn't and Pablo Ozuna was. Ozuna is now schedule to play in the outfield tomorrow, as he's under consideration for the playoff roster due to his versatility.

- The Dodgers went on with their rookie hazing during the celebration last night, and among those players forced to partcipate was Blake DeWitt, who dressed up as Marilyn Monroe. The players landed in San Francisco at about 3 a.m. and were then dropped off a few blocks from the hotel. As the players paraded down the street, one San Franciscan seeing how some of the players were dressed as women expressed interest. "I took off running," DeWitt said.

- Manny Ramirez is scheduled to get the last day of the season off.

The batting order that will go for a club record 100th win and attempt to clinch the best record and home field throughout the playoffs:

**Chone Figgins 3b
*Garret Anderson lf
**Mark Teixiera 1b
Vladimir Guerrero dh
Torii Hunter cf
Howie Kendrick 2b
Juan Rivera rf
Mike Napoli c
**Erick Aybar ss
--
John Lackey rhp

* - lefthanded
** - switch-hitter

Rangers lineup to come ...

Time: 7:35 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket
RHP Derek Lowe (14-11, 3.29 ERA) vs. Giants RHP Brad Hennessey (1-2, 8.65)

Three more to go...