Matt Kemp is a model citizen for GQ
Matt Kemp said he didn’t mind the four hours of standing in the sun.
He didn’t mind being asked to repeat the same action over and over and over, whether it was jumping against a wall, tossing a bat or taking a light swing.
He didn’t mind the countless walks in and out of the makeshift dressing room in the bullpen in the main stadium at Camelback Ranch.
His first venture into modeling, which was for a spread in the May edition of GQ magazine, left the Dodgers’ center fielder open to accepting similar opportunities in the future.
“Why not?” he asked. “I had fun. They had the music going. It was a cool little crew. The cameraman was supposedly one of the best in the world.”
That would be Swiss-born Michel Comte, one of the world’s most sought-after fashion photographers.
Kemp said the shoot, which started at 1 p.m. and ended at around 5, didn’t leave him drained.
“I’m in shape, man,” he said.
Of the colorful outfits Comte had him wear, Kemp said, “I can pull anything off. That’s GQ magazine. They know what they’re doing. They make you look good. They can make anyone look good.”
Not me, one reporter said.
“They have computers, man,” Kemp said.
Maybe, maybe not
Manager Joe Torre said that his agent remains in dialogue with the Dodgers about a one-year extension, but even if an agreement is reached, he might not manage in 2011.
“I’m sort of sorry I said I’m even doing it, to be honest with you,” Torre said. “I know what I want to do. I like the situation I’m in over here and all that stuff. Even though I said want to manage next year, even if I have a contract, that doesn’t mean that at the end of the year, I won’t say, ‘That’s enough’ and do something else.”
Torre’s agent, Maury Gostfrand, was at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday.
Fun with fundamentals
An intrasquad competition designed to get players to focus on moving over baserunners has produced some surprising revelations.
Among them, that Manny Ramirez knows how to bunt.
In four tries Wednesday, Ramirez put down four perfect bunts.
“He could do that stuff,” Torre said.
“Can you ever imagine a circumstance …” a reporter started.
“No,” Torre interrupted, laughing.
Torre made that clear a couple of days earlier, when he first explained how the team would be divided into four squads that will compete in a game based on how well they move over runners in certain situations.
“I’d be fired if I had him bunt,” Torre had said.
He recalled how as the manager of the Yankees, he watched Alex Rodriguez bunt to move over a runner without being prompted to do so.
“I about dropped my teeth out,” Torre said.
Asked about the other surprisingly competent bunters on the team, Torre identified Kemp, James Loney and Casey Blake.
Short hops
The Dodgers officially agreed to one-year deals with Clayton Kershaw, Ramon Troncoso, Ronald Belisario, Charlie Haeger, Blake DeWitt, Eric Stults, James McDonald, Cory Wade, Scott Elbert, Chin-lung Hu, Brent Leach, A.J. Ellis, Xavier Paul, Travis Schlichting, Jon Link, Armando Zerpa, Ivan DeJesus, Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Lucas May, Carlos Monasterios and Trayvon Robinson … Ken Levine and Josh Suchon will host the 2010 debut of DodgerTalk on Friday on 790 KABC. The 30-minute show will start at 6:30 p.m. … Left-hander Leach is shut down because of a tight groin.
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