Dodgers Lineup:

While it wasn’t pretty at times, the Dodgers led by a red hot Adrian Gonzalez, beat their cross-town rivals 8-7 in a wild back and forth Memorial Day game at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Dodger defense was horrendous, and Zack Greinke was ineffective against the power hitters in the Angel lineup. Yet the Dodgers pulled off the win with a four-hit game by Adrian Gonzalez and a decent performance by the bullpen to preserve the slim margin of a lead.

Adrian Gonzalez has put in a All-Star worthy season thus far for the Dodgers. Photo: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The real story and topic of heated discussion was the continuing struggles of center fielder Matt Kemp. Kemp was booed at Dodger Stadium while going 0-for-5 with 4 strikeouts during the game. It’s apparent that Kemp’s swing is far from his 2011 and April 2012 swing, and it was just admitted by the Dodgers that Kemp has barely just got the okay to begin moderate weight lifting again since his October shoulder labrum surgery. Many fans are angry and rightfully so, but personally I would never boo Matt Kemp even during the darkest of times. In fact, even though the Dodgers are bad as a whole, I will continue to watch every game and root for my Boys in Blue. It’s disappointing to see some fans not being more understanding of his shoulder operation and how long a major surgery like that can take to heal. I’ve known those who’ve had similar shoulder surgeries, and they have told me that their shoulders were never the same after surgery. Although his shoulder will always be surgically repaired, Matt Kemp is young and should be able to heal better than someone who is older and undergoes the same surgical procedure.

Some question whether Matt should even be on the big club right now, and many are calling to either send him down

Hyun-jin Ryu should be considered for Rookie of the Year. Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

to AAA or disable him until he is fully healthy. I fully disagree, and Kemp would most likely not even agree to a stint in Albuquerque or time on the disabled list when he’s not actually disabled. Sending him down would also destroy any confidence he still has, and it would just pit him against a lower standard of pitching which wouldn’t be beneficial when he needs to work on his swing against Major League pitching. While I totally understand the frustration, I think that the Dodgers will have to stick with Kemp while he works out the mechanical and mental kinks. I think we can all agree that he should be batting lower in the lineup for now. Kemp is not going to be broken forever, but we as fans should support him instead of tearing him down during this difficult time.

The Dodgers will hope to take advantage of Joe Blanton’s awfulness tonight in game two at Dodger Stadium. I breathe a sigh of relief to know that we don’t have to deal with Blanton as a Dodger anymore. He’s continued his horrible pitching this season with the Angels to our chagrin. While I hope that the Dodgers can strike early against the right-hander, it would be fitting for Blanton to pitch a shutout at Dodger Stadium. Last season the booing at Dodger Stadium didn’t seem to bother Blanton, or so he said. Has the booing continued over at Angel Stadium? Let me know if that’s the case, Angel fans.

Remember how awful Joe Blanton was with the Dodgers last season? He’s still bad. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Blanton just barely won his first game of the season last week against Kansas City. He allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 6 1/3 innings. In his career against the Dodgers, Joe is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA. Andre Ethier and Adrian Gonzalez have clobbered Blanton in the past, and both of them have a couple of homeruns against him and are hitting .357 (Dre) and .455 (AGon) against him.

Hyun-jin Ryu will go for his sixth win tonight, and last time out he beat the Brewers after allowing 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 1/3 innings of work. Ryu has never faced the Angels.

The Dodgers were able to snap the Angels eight-game winning streak, but now can they start a long winning streak of their own? With Gonzalez in the lineup, the Dodgers have a good chance against Blanton. Gonzo is on fire, and he is tearing up this homestand with two homeruns, four doubles, and seven RBIs so far.

Yesterday Nick Punto suffered back stiffness after somersaulting over Aybar on a double play. Punto, who had been pegged to start at shortstop until Hanley Ramirez is back, will be evaluated today. Ramirez is close to being assigned to play in a rehab game soon.

KCAL will broadcast the 7:10 p.m. game. Join us after to read about the highlights and lowlights.

Kemp is hitting just .253 on the season and has only hit two home runs. The perennial MVP has gone hitless in his last 12 at-bats and is batting just .135 over his last ten games with 19 whiffs. Kemp’s OPS this season is a paltry .637. So after Kemp struck out for the fourth time on the night, the Dodger fans were understandably frustrated, and they let him know by nearly booing him off the field. Kemp sauntered back to the dugout clearly shaken up by it.

Dodger fans booes Kemp’s golden sombrero last night-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

There is a hot debate going on across twitter right now about the incident and whether it is ok to boo your own team. The question is were Dodger fans out of line for booing Kemp? Should you boo your own team? When is it the right time to boo?

Good question. But is there really an answer? I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here. Some people say that fans should never boo their own teams. They say it shows disloyalty, or that it is not productive, or not necessary. Some agree with it, saying that Kemp deserves to be booed for his poor play. What do you think? Which side do you think is right?

This hot topic has spurred debate all over twitter. Many people are giving their opinion that the fans went too far last night, and were not supporting the team, or Kemp. Now I agree that maybe the fans went a bit too far last night in their booing of the Dodger’s captain. It was a little too much. But do we have the right to say that every one of those fans that booed Kemp are not “real fans”?

I don’t agree with booing Kemp outright. Obviously Kemp is the only player on the team that has a legitimate reason for sucking. The man is coming off of major shoulder surgery, and it can take up to a year or more for those players to get their strength back. Most of them start out with slow bat speeds, and must work their way back slowly. Adrian Gonzalez had the same surgery a couple of years ago and talked about how his power is still zapped after over two years of recovering. Not to mention Kemp’s off-season workout schedule was interrupted because he was ordered to rest until January.

So of course we should cut Kemp some slack. But how much slack can we cut the rest of the team? I’m not advocating going out and booing every bad play, or booing every time a Dodger strikes out. But sometimes booing is necessary, and can be a welcome release of frustration.

Booing has been a natural part of professional sports since the beginning. The boo’s purpose is to point out poor play, or to point out a player’s Bumness. Sometimes the failures or Bums must be documented and acknowledged as much as the successes. If we ignore our failures than how can we learn from them? I am just pointing out that fans have been booing since the beginning of time. Should they be booing Kemp? No probably not, but they have the right to do it, without facing accusations from other fans.

I expect for professional athletes to be able to handle a little booing every once in a while. It’s good for character, and grows hair on your chest. Honestly, are the Dodger players this soft, that they can’t take a little constructive booing? Don Mattingly called the Dodgers soft, and said his team lacked grit. Maybe he was right? Because if they start crying the moment some of the Dodger fans boo a little then they are going to have big trouble lasting long in the major leagues. Just saying….

Again, I do not advocate booing Matt Kemp. I wouldn’t do it, nor have I ever booed Matt Kemp. However I believe that not only do fans have the right to boo, they have a responsibility to boo when the time arises. A healthy boo can sometimes motivate a player to play better.

Again there is no correct answer here. You are entitled to think however you like. If you believe that booing a Dodger Is distasteful, then fine, you’re well within your right. Of course if you feel the opposite then that’s ok too. What’s not ok is calling out and accusing other Dodger fans of not being “real fans”, or not supporting the team. Who are you to classify other Dodger fans? Who are you to tell other fans they’re not “real” enough? And before you answer those questions, I want you to watch Brandon League blowing a one-run lead in the ninth inning in person, and you tell me if you don’t feel like booing after seeing that?

Fans have the right to express themselves in anyway they see fit. Most importantly I think the fans deserve a little break. Not the Dodgers though, they have had a season long break from winning. Everyone handles losing differently. The fans are frustrated and they are letting their voices be heard. The Dodgers are in last place, and they have sucked all season long. This kind of play is unacceptable. Dodger fans deserve better than a last place team. Should the fans just sit there and accept the losery with smiles? Should they not make their frustrations heard?

Booing shows passion. Honestly if the fans didn’t care they wouldn’t boo. They would just sit there and not say anything. Booing shows you care. Some players don’t even care or notice if fans boo them. If you remember, former Dodger Bum Joe Blanton (Bumton), who faces the Dodgers tonight by the way, once told the L.A. Times that he doesn’t care if the Dodger fans booed him because he had heard it all before. After all, he was from Philadelphia, the land of booing.

Suck it up Bison-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

I wholeheartedly supported the booing of Joe Blanton last season, and I will boo anyone who thinks differently on that. I will also boo anyone who still believes Blanton is a major league quality pitcher.

But whether you are Joe Blanton, Matt Kemp, Mike Schmidt, or Mike Piazza, you’re going to get booed at some point in your major league career. Especially when you allow six runs in three innings, or blow three consecutive games, or blow an entire series. You will also be booed if you put up a golden sombrero, and go hitless in 12 consecutive at-bats. I am just saying boos will happen regardless.

Just don’t go calling out other Dodger fans because they decide to vent their frustrations through some healthy booing. I myself halve booed the Dodgers a few times over the years. I rarely boo a Dodger, but I have a few times on occasion when it was merited. Does this mean I am not a “real fan”? Of course not. You can boo and cheer for your team at the same time. Booing is a part of the game, and a part of life. I encourage you all to boo me the next time I write a crummy article. I probably deserve it. Believe me, I know I have deserved to be booed many times in my life. Just don’t attack other Dodger fans for exercising their rights.

As for Kemp, I implore him to shake it off, and get right back out there and get some hits. If there is anyone that deserves a break it’s Matt Kemp, but he only can get a free pass for so long. Because if he goes 12 more at-bats without a hit, then he may just start hearing boos from many more Dodger fans, including me.