T.J. Simers

Looks like a fat chance of getting through to them

Andruw Jones and Gary Matthews Jr. continue to struggle on the field and with interviews.
T.J. Simers
May 18, 2008
If only Andruw Jones has what it takes to get to second base on this hot afternoon, then taking a lead, turning full body toward home plate and blocking out the sun.

The Tubbo is the only guy in uniform right now who could provide shade for a whole ballpark -- at least making himself useful.

He just struck out with runners on first and second, 0 for 29 now with men in scoring position, and the Dodgers are paying Jones $18.1 million.

I stopped by the Dodgers clubhouse after their win over the Angels to see if Jones cared, but he was already in the lunch room eating. No telling how long he could be in there.

Not far from Jones, who had his mouth stuffed, JuanPierre was working up a sweat in the weight room, and what's wrong with this picture?

Maybe it's Jones' intent to get so heavy that pitchers can no longer pitch around him, forcing them to deliver a fat pitch.

Well, anyway, I had to get to the Angels clubhouse to chat with Gary Matthews, knowing he had ordered HGH a while back and now that he's hitting .217 ask the obvious question, "Have you run out?"

He was relaxing on the couch after a hard day of going 0 for 5, the channel turner in his hand, flipping from channel to channel obviously hoping to catch Tom Emanski's instructional video on hitting.

"So what's wrong with you these days?" I asked, figuring if he was running short on HGH, I'd let him bring it up.

Mr. HGH, the human out, shook his head from side to side, a twitch for all I know and maybe one of those HGH side effects they are always talking about.

I don't know, because he wasn't talking. He tossed the channel turner aside, picked up his LG Voyager and began texting someone. Wouldn't it be funny if he was texting Jones?

They tell me that Mr. HGH has been unusually grumpy this season, brooding over the Angels' decision to bring in Torii Hunter and give him center field.

One writer, noting James Loney's face on the scoreboard and how it appeared as if they had superimposed someone else's mouth over Loney's, said, "It couldn't be Matthews'; that mouth is smiling."

The Angels are paying the brooder $9 million, and they have to pay him millions more over the next three years, and he's in a bad mood?

What's going on with our local baseball teams? One guy makes $18.1 million a season and he doesn't care about the fans or anything else, and another guy pulls down $9 million and walks around as if his name was linked to human growth hormone.

Oh, that's right.

By now, I hoped, Jones had finished eating, so I went to the Dodgers clubhouse. First thing I noticed, the Dodgers had a box of doughnuts, now half gone, just around the wall from Jones' locker.

I would think doughnuts would never be allowed in the Dodgers clubhouse, GM Ned Colletti standing at the door and making sure.

Jones, meanwhile, was sitting in front of his locker -- obviously taking a load off his feet. I asked him if he had changed his mind from our last chat, and now cared about something.

"Let me think about that for a day," he said, "and I'll get back to you."





Daily dispatches from Times staff writers leading up to the Summer Games.
 
Stay up to the minute about L.A.'s hometome teams and Olympians. We've already done the search for you.
 
 

ADVERTISEMENT




Thomas Weller has been aiding stranded motorists since 1966. But gas prices have cut into his good deeds. Photos | Video