Read the 2007 season review...... if you dare

Over at the Dodgers official website, Ken Gurnick explored the entire year of 2007 for the Dodgers, from free agent signings to the season review to the aftermath of a disappointing finish. What started off as a promising month of January turned sour right around the end of July. Here's a quick recap:

January

• Several free agents were signed: RH Jason Schmidt, LH Randy Wolf, C Mike Lieberthal, OF Juan Pierre, OF Luis Gonzalez, and RH Rudy Seanez.

February

• Nothing significant, other than questions about who would play where and why.

March

• Jason Repko and Rafael Furcal collided going after a shallow pop-up. Repko was out for the year (torn hamstring) and Furcal for 2 weeks (left ankle sprain). Furcal would not be the same all year long.
• RH Elmer Dessens was traded for OF Brady Clark.

April

• The season started with Ben Sheets completely pimp slapping the Dodgers 7-1.
• Matt Kemp was lost for 2 months with a separated shoulder when he banged into the wall going after a fly ball in the home opener.
• Jason Schmidt was placed on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation.
• Brad Penny and Randy Wolf collected 3 wins each.

May

• Wilson Betemit was benched from 3rd base in favor of the newly called up Andy LaRoche. Neither could make any impact.
• Anheim earned a 3-game sweep in their stadium.
• The month ended with the Dodgers up by 1/2 games over San Diego.

June

• Jason Schmidt was lost for good when he was placed on the 60-day DL.
• James Loney was called up to play 1st base, sending Nomar Garciaparra over to 3rd.
• The Dodgers were still up 1/2 games in the West.

July

• Penny, Russell Martin, and Takashi Saito all earned All-Star berths, with Martin starting and Penny and Saito pitching scoreless innings.
• Randy Wolf, Jeff Kent, and Saito were all banged up at certain points.
• Wilson Betemit was traded for RH Scott Proctor.
• The Dodgers were now down 1/2 games in the West.

August

• Pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney, LH David Wells, and RH Esteban Loaiza were all acquired. None of it mattered.
• The Dodgers were now down 5 games in the West.

September

• Randy Wolf was done for the year, again.
• After sweeping the Padres and taking 2 of 3 against the Diamondbacks, they proceeded to lose 6 in a row at Colorado and Arizona.
• Kent, Kemp, and Loney all started bitching about each other through the media.
• Final record: 82-20, 4th in the West.

October

• Grady Little resigned, apparently seeing the writing on the wall that he was not exactly going to be welcomed back.

November

• Joe Torre was hired, 2 weeks after leaving the New York Yankees. Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa came with him.
• Martin won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

December

• OF Andruw Jones and RH Hiroki Kuroda were signed.