February 14th, 2018 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka It was something that was on the mind of every one of the dozen or so media members gathered in front of Matt Kemp‘s spring training locker on Tuesday morning, but it was something that no one dared mention … no one except Bill Plunkett from Southern California News Group (SCNG), who has a reputation for not beating around the bush and getting right to the point:
“But Matt, LA ‘isn’t a baseball town,'” Plunkett quipped, hoping to solicit a response from the veteran outfielder about something that he allegedly said more than two years ago that riled even the staunchest Matt Kemp fans; and boy did Kemp respond. And it is a response that every Dodger fan needs to hear:
“What you all need to understand is you all need to read that full thing what I said. A lot of LA fans got mad at me … I’m glad you asked me that question because I wanted to clear that up.
“Somebody had asked me how it was to be in Atlanta, and I said Atlanta’s always been known for the Braves, the Atlanta Braves, the baseball town – not the Atlanta Hawks, not the Falcons – but the Braves.
“In LA, when I first got here, it was all about Kobe, Shaq. As the years went on and we started winning more games, the city came alive, we had the best fans. It became a baseball town.
“I never said LA wasn’t a baseball town. I would never say that. I love LA, I love the fans. I would never disrespect the fans that helped me get to where I was … so bam.”
Bam indeed.
Even if some Dodger fans are unable to put all of this‘baseball town’ nonsense behind them, Matt Kemp most certainly has. He made it abundantly clear on Tuesday that he absolutely loves LA and Dodger fans.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Undoubtedly, there will be some who will say that the 33-year-old Midwest City, Oklahoma native and Dodgers sixth-round draft pick in 2003 has had a good two months to come up with a story like this since returning to the Dodgers on December 15 in the Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, and Charlie Culberson salary-dump trade. But there was no hiding the look in his eyes or the sincerity in his voice when he openly spoke with reporters about this matter on Tuesday morning. In fact, he was noticeably perturbed that this whole thing had been blown out of proportion simply because members of the media had neglected to include his entire statement.
So there you have it, right from the proverbial horse’s mouth.
Bam.
Posted in 
Good comeback Matt. But, can he hit? That’s all that will matter.
He looked pretty good in BP on Tuesday, but it was BP.
His quote in 2016 after being traded to Atlanta was: “I’ve never really played in a baseball town before.” He then went on to talk about seeing the Braves on TBS, because they were his favorite team. He mentioned the 1995 World Series, how he idolized Gant, Chipper, Justice, McGriff, Maddux and Smoltz.
So, he never identified that L.A. wasn’t a baseball town, but he did say he “never really played in a baseball town before.”
He said what he said. His latest quotes are attempts to clear things up, but if you really look at what he said in 2016, I don’t think he did that. Anyway, it probably doesn’t matter too much.
It’s almost hard to believe that Kemp is back with the team and as a fan, I welcome him.
Matt Kemp: “I’ve never really played in a baseball town before. So, I am excited about that.” That quote was recorded in several places, but I don’t recall Kemp ever saying that he was misquoted, or offer clarification. You were there to see his body language and obviously I was not, but from afar I am not buying it. I think it is more likely that Kemp’s agent primed him for the question that would certainly come up at some point. But frankly not that big a deal one way or the other, I am much more concerned with the stink Kemp and his agent made when Dodgers moved him out of CF and how badly he played LF. And then he wrote a letter to the Atlanta fans in which he admitted “I let a big contract, the Hollywood lifestyle, injuries and bad relationships tarnish the reputation I had worked so hard to establish. Sadly, I gained a reputation for being selfish, lazy and a bad teammate.” He also promised that was all behind him and be a better ball player but plays last season 40 to 50 lbs overweight.
I agree with you SoCalBun, and I have no respect for him.
Look, what’s important is not what he said but how he produces this time around. This is a guy who we ALL thought was jobbed out of the MVP by Braun. I loved him then and I’m pulling for him now. He’s a Dodger, and to me that’s all I need to know!
Now that we have Kemp back along with Utley, I wonder if the Dodgers can find room for Ethier. LOL