LOS ANGELES -- The all-star break certainly was a welcomed respite for Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The beleaguered rookie manager and his equally frustrated team have struggled on the field and dealt daily with off-the-field turmoil -- a string of unwanted headlines that have tarnished the once-proud franchise. Los Angeles starts the second half at Arizona on Friday night, stuck at 41-51 and in fourth place in the NL West, 11 games behind San Francisco. "The biggest disappointment is being in this position with a team thats capable of being in the playoffs and competing with anybody in the National League," all-star centre fielder Matt Kemp said. From Day One, its been a difficult year at Dodger Stadium. On opening day, Giants fan Bryan Stow was savagely beaten in the parking lot following the game. The 42-year-old Stow is in a San Francisco area hospital, recovering from brain injuries. The bitter divorce proceedings between Frank McCourt and his estranged wife, Jamie, and the legal tug-of-war over which one of them owned the team has hovered over the club all season. Major League Baseball assumed control of the clubs day-to-day operations in mid-April and Frank McCourt recently filed for bankruptcy protection. McCourt took that Chapter 11 action after Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed a broadcast rights deal with Fox Sports that McCourt said would have alleviated worries about covering payroll expenses every two weeks. Selig was concerned that the Dodgers embattled owner would instead use that Fox Sports money to take care of his own personal debts. Even famed announcer Vin Scully was dragged into the fray when court documents revealed the Hall of Fame broadcaster -- in his 62nd season behind the microphone -- was still owed more than US$150,000 as part of his contract. In some instances, cheques made out to some employees and stadium workers bounced and were later reissued. Talk about a bad hop. "Obviously, its kind of weird, thinking: Hey, the paycheques might not be in the mail, but theyve assured us that we dont have anything to worry about on that front," second baseman Aaron Miles said. "It makes for a little bit of a distraction from the baseball end of it -- maybe a good distraction, sometimes -- but the players in this clubhouse have not focused on that. Weve stayed focused on the field, even though weve had some tough cards dealt our way this year. It seems like Donnies been thrown a curveball every other day because of all the injuries." To top it off, McCourt last week fired Steve Garvey, one of the teams most popular players in Los Angeles, from the marketing and community relations department. That came after Garvey went public with his hopes of buying the club and recruited 1988 World Series MVP Orel Hershiser to join his investment group. If that isnt enough drama for one fan base, there was that smoky interlude on May 28 at Dodger Stadium, when the upper deck seats behind first base had to be evacuated after a small fire broke out in a storage area. The entire scene at Chavez Ravine over the past 3 1/2 months has provided a wealth of material for all the joke-meisters on late-night television. "People are going to say what they say, but I dont care what other people say. Im not worried about it," all-star pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. "People ask us about it, and we just tell the truth -- that it doesnt affect whats on the field. As a team, all we worry about in this clubhouse is playing baseball because thats our job and thats all were here to do." The attendance at Dodger Stadium has been in dramatic decline. A franchise that drew in excess of three million in each of the previous 15 seasons following the strike-shortened 1994 and 1995 campaigns is averaging 36,610 through their first 50 home dates. Thats 2,392 fewer per game than the Los Angeles Angels have averaged in their 48 home dates down the freeway at the Big A. The Halos never outdrew the Dodgers in any of their 50 previous seasons as Southern Californias other team, including the four years they shared Dodger Stadium from 1962 through 1965 before relocating to Anaheim. "Theres a lot of people who are on the bandwagon when things are going good. And when its not going good, people jump off," Kershaw said. "Thats just the way it is, and you have to accept it." Kemp has done his part. The six-year veteran who won a Silver Slugger award and Gold Glove in 2009 has returned to form after a sub-par 2010 campaign. He is among the top three in the NL in home runs (22), RBIs (67), slugging percentage (.584) and stolen bases (27), but is uncomfortable with the notion that he has carried the team. "We win together and we lose together," Kemp said. "This isnt a one-man or a two-man show. This is 25 guys pulling together. We havent played the way we needed to play, so weve got to do better things in the second half." Just two seasons ago, the Dodgers reached the NL championship series for the second straight year under Joe Torre. To some of the veterans, it seems like ages ago. "A lot of us still have that taste in our mouths from that," right fielder Andre Ethier said. "Thats what makes this year so frustrating -- because we know how good this team was and how great this organization can be, and how much fun it can be when youre winning." Ethier also is in his sixth season with the club, so he has more of an emotional stake in this situation than many teammates. The all-star provided one of the few highlights so far with a 30-game hitting streak. "When you come to the Dodgers, its instilled in you what it means to be a Dodger and how to play like one, and you take so much pride in that," he said. "Now, when you hear the stuff people say about the organization and see the way things have been handled in the organization, its makes you upset and a little embarrassed." The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31, and it is yet to be determined whether the team will become buyers or sellers by then. "What will it take for us to be sellers? Well measure it as we get closer," general manager Ned Colletti told The Associated Press two days before acquiring left fielder Juan Rivera from Toronto on the day of the all-star game. "Weve got a lot of games in our division, so we have to be a little bit careful of jumping the gun on something like that. And its not something Im accustomed to or something that I like doing," he said. Mattinglys first season as a big league manager has been extremely challenging because of all the injuries, particularly to the bullpen and the left side of his infield. Shortstop Rafael Furcal has been on the disabled list three times. Fourteen different players have been on the DL, including closer Jonathan Broxton, who is out for the season. "The toughest thing to handle has been the losing, as much as anything," said Mattingly, who has started eight different players in left field -- not counting Rivera. "Weve had our chances to win games, and we havent been able to put enough of them together at this point. It would be easy for me to say, Well, if wed have had this, that and the other, it would be different. It would be a nice excuse, but we cant make excuses." Jerseys Cheap .C. -- Andrew Svoboda won the Chiquita Classic on Sunday, beating Will MacKenzie with a par on the first hole of a playoff in the second tournament in the four-event Web. http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.u... . Against a good team, too. Hiller stopped Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane in the tiebreaker, leading the Ducks to a 3-2 win Friday night and sending the Chicago Blackhawks to their third consecutive loss. [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.us.com/]http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.u... . Most fans dont care who the players are; they just want to be entertained by a winning team. That mentality is understandable. After all, the goal of professional sports is to win, not produce national team players. Some respondents said they would prefer it if the team could win with Canadian players, while fewer still said they wanted to see their team field Canadian-born players at all costs. [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.us.com/nhl-jerseys-china_chicago-blackhawk... .J. -- Canadians Karina LeBlanc and Candace Chapman are headed to Sky Blue FC of Womens Professional Soccer. [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseys.us.com/]Cheap Jerseys China . -- Jurgen Melzer is playing so well again that not even a broken toe could slow him down. (Sports Network) - With plenty of starters named for next weeks All-Star Game, the Brewers will eventually get a chance for a bit of revenge against the American League. First they will try to get on track against another equally-struggling National League resident as Milwaukee opens a three-game series this afternoon with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park. The Brewers return home after dropping five of six on an interleague road trip versus the Yankees and Twins. Milwaukee rallied from seven runs down to take Saturdays meeting, but blew a 6-1 advantage of its own on Sunday in an eventual 9-7 defeat. Mark Kotsay hit a solo homer and added a two-run triple, but also had a costly error during a four-run seventh inning for the Brewers. Kameron Loe was charged with two runs -- one earned -- to take the loss in relief after starter Zack Greinke gave up five runs, four of those earned, over six innings. I think the balls were hit too hard for me to say that I pitched well. I know they were only singles, but I got the ball up a little bit. Im supposed to come in and get an out there and I didnt do the job, said Loe. Rickie Weeks hit a solo homer and was one of three Milwaukee players named to the NLs starting lineup for next weeks All-Star Game in Arizona. He will be joined by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, who sat out Sundays game with a strained left calf to put his career-high 22-game hitting streak on hold. The Brewers, who are tied with the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central, will hope that Shaun Marcums left hip holds up today as he is set to make his scheduled start. Marcum had pitched in just four total innings over two starts due to his nagging injury prior to a five-frame outing versus the Yankees on Wednesday. The right-hander suffered a loss, though, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks to fall to 7-3 with a 3.16 earned run average in 17 starts this season. Despite the rough outing, Marcum insisted afterwards he was healthy. Everything feels good, Marcum told Miilwaukees website.dddddddddddd Hips good, arms good, body is good. I should be ready to go for my next one. I didnt realize I had 100 pitches until they pulled me out of the game. The 29-year-old Marcum has faced the Diamondbacks just once before, getting a win on May 23 of last year with Toronto despite allowing three runs over just five innings. He also logged eight strikeouts in the outing. Streaking righty Daniel Hudson starts this afternoon for the Diamondbacks. A winner of six straight decisions in a nine-start span, Hudson has allowed two earned runs or less in six of those games. He had won three straight starts until getting a no-decision versus Cleveland on Tuesday, yielding two runs on six hits over eight innings with five strikeouts. Arizona did win the game, 6-4, and has prevailed in eight of Hudsons last nine starts. The 24-year-old improved to 9-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 17 starts this season and will face the Brewers for the second time in his career. Hudson faced them back on Aug. 11 and got the win, yielding two runs -- on solo homers by Fielder and Casey McGehee -- over seven innings. Hudson will try to get the Diamondbacks on the winning track after they lost for the sixth time in eight games on Sunday with a 7-2 setback to the Athletics. Arizona is three games behind San Francisco for the top spot in the NL West. Ian Kennedy was denied an All-Star berth on Sunday (he is one of five candidates in the Final Vote competition) and didnt have a great day on the mound either. He was drilled for seven runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Xavier Nady drove in an early run, while All-Star Justin Upton had a double and scored a run. We got outpitched, we got outplayed, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. We only gave up a couple home runs, but give Oakland credit, they put the bat on the ball. The Diamondbacks lost two of three at Oakland in the first leg of a 10-game road trip. They won three of four at Milwaukee last season, but have lost eight of the past 11 meetings overall. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '