I trust that for the benefit of those of us stuck at work through the first half of the game, the commentators will be sufficiently detailed and descriptive of Kershaw's performance.

I was in Mexico last weekend and didn't even know he got the call until I got back.

A's called-up top prospect Carlos Gonzalez.

Scully, Koufax, Robinson, Mike Ramsey

Molly got LAT'd, but she said Blake DeWitt took grounders and 2B today for the first time. Huzzah!

Molly had pretty big news at the bottom of the last thread. And I quoted Vertigo, off the top of my head, for almost no reason.

4 Huzzah! indeed. {Sniff} {sniff} I smell a ALR call up in the air.

4 - I've updated the post above.

I would put Scully, Jackie, Sandy, and The Duke on my Dodger Blue Mt. Rushmore.

Otis Nixon was ineligible because his face has already been sandblasted.

Anybody thinking of attending the college regionals at Blair Field tomorrow? I might check it out, depending on what time Cal is playing. Currently scoreless between Cal and USD, top of the 5th.

I think there was at least three of us trying to turn the place into Hitchcock Thoughts.

"You were a very apt pupil, weren't you? You were a very apt pupil." Stewart at his creepiest...

So it's a Joba/Kershaw duel in New York tonight? A treat for the Big Apple.

Only Jim Hitchcock and I can turn the place into Hitchcock Thoughts.

OK. Since I got LAT'd. Breaking news: Blake DeWitt just took grounders at second base for the first time this season. When asked about it 30 seconds ago, he said "I like it," with a Cheshire cat grin. Then again, he sort of always has that Cheshire cat grin.

Wow, I was just LAT'd for the first time! I would like to thank my parents for having me, Jon for the perfectly timed NPUT and, of course, LAT.

The post itself was a confession that's probably better left LAT'd. :)

Thanks Molly, bringer of good news.

I'll go with the same four Jon picked for Mount Rushmore. Doesn't get any better than that. Except I guess you could throw Branch Rickey in there somewhere.

Kershaw had better win tonight because I've already suffered one crushing loss today at the hands of a New York team. The Longhorns lost to St. John's. St John's, for crying out loud! If it weren't for Frank Viola I wouldn't have even known they had a baseball team.

This might make even Nate feel old: One of the New York reporters asked Kershaw who his favorite Mets were when he was a kid, and he said David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Mikes Edwards, Blowers, Kincaide, and Trombley.

Kershaw II: The Wrath of Kershaw

Rich Aurilia attended St. John's. Did you know he once had an offseason job where he moved scenery and equipment for the Metropolitan Opera?

John Franco went to St. John's as well.

Kershaw II: The Revenge of the NL???

Small ball running rampant between Cal and USD at Blair, with runs hard to come by. Or maybe runs are hard to come by because small ball is rampant. There have been, I think, 6 base runners in the game, and at least three bunts.

19 Yeah, I knew that, actually.

But do you happen to know how Terrmel Sledge got his first name?

18 20 Beneath the Planet of the Minotaur.

21 So Kyle Blair is pitching at Blair Field? Heh.

Although I guess it would be Matusz today.

I've always wondered who prepares Scully's game notes. The idea that it could be Bob, now that it occurs to me, makes perfect sense.

24 Matusz it is.

22 If you don't, make sure you don't miss the next time he visits Dodger Stadium: Vinny tells the story at least once.

22
Terrmel Sledge will drop by the next time the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have a road trip to Los Angeles.

Kershaw II: Electric Bugaloo

Also, if Isringhausen wasn't on the DL for the Cardinals, there might have been a chance for a Freddy (Sanchez) vs. Jason AB.

Also, if anyone happens to know what Khalil Greene's first name means in the Bahá'í Faith, I'd be most appreciative.

28 Which immediately conjures the image of that Japanese Scully sound-alike guy telling the name story.

In another upset in the NCAA baseball tournament, #4 seed Lipscomb beat #1 seed Georgia in Athens, 10-7.

Lipscomb is in Nashville for those not enrolling at home.

29 Speaking of spooky at-bats, is everybody pumped for the Chan Ho Park-Fernando Tatis rematch? It could happen tonight!

29 - Darnit! I was gonna use that one.

Okay, well, stay tuned for

Minotaur II: The Quickening.

Next on USA Network.

I'm torn on my Mt. Rushmore between Jon's selection and Eric-8. Vin, Sandy and Jackie are locks. Fernando - viable for bringing in the Latino community in L.A. in the 80's was huge. Duke is forever linked with the "Boys of Summer" and Dodger lore - that is a tough one. Maybe one of those (half face of each one) like they have been doing in those NBA commercials.

* In the future, can we please ban Penny from any future starts against the Mets? They own him!! If its his turn in the rotation, come up with some shoulder tightness or food poisoning, something then send Kuo, Kershaw and Bills at them.

Kershaw Reloaded.

Off topic, but here's a look at Colletti's significant moves since taking over in November of '05. Any thoughts on his overall body of work?

12/7/05 signs Rafael Furcal (3 years $39 million)
12/13/05 traded Milton Bradley to Oakland for Andre Either
12/14/05 signs Bill Mueller (2 years, $9.5 million)
12/19/05 signs Nomar Garcisparra (1 year, $8 million)
12/20/05 signs Kenny Lofton (1 year, $3.85 million)
12/22/05 signs Brett Tomko (2 years, $8.7 million)
1/4/06 traded Duaner Sanchez & Steve Schmoll to NY for Jae Seo & Tim Hamulack
1/14/06 traded Edwin Jackson & Chuck Tiffany to Tampa for Danys Baez & Lance Carter
2/7/06 signs Takashi Saito to a minor league contract
6/27/06 traded Dioner Navarro & Jae Seo to Tampa for Mark Hendrickson & Toby Hall
7/25/06 traded Odalis Perez & 2 minor leaguers to KC for Elmer Dessens
7/28/06 traded Danys Baez & Willy Aybar to Atlanta for Wilson Betemit
7/31/06 traded Cesar Izturis to Chicago for Greg Maddux
7/31/06 traded Joel Guzman and minor leaguer for Julio Lugo
11/20/06 signed Nomar Garciaparra (2 years, $18 million)
11/22/06 signed Juan Pierre (5 years, $44 million)
11/28/06 signed Randy Wolf (1 year, $7.5 million)
12/8/06 signed Jason Schmidt (3 years, $47 million)
12/8/06 signed Luis Gonzalez (1 year, $7.5 million)
1/15/07 signed Mark Hendrickson (1 year, $2.9 million)
7/31/07 traded Wilson Betemit to NY for Scott Proctor
8/29/07 claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers (and his $7.7 million remaining salary for '07 & '08)
11/8/07 signed Chan Ho Park to minor league contract
12/12/07 signed Andruw Jones (2 years, $36 million)
12/16/07 signed Hiroki Kuroda (3 years, $35 million)

One of the announcers in the Miami-Bethune Cookman game just mentioned that Casey Stengel was the coach of Ole Miss in 1914.

He was a 23-year-old outfielder for the Dodgers at the time. I guess coaching was different back then.

Oh, and Sandy, Jackie, Vin and Fernando for me, too.

I can't think of one of those 70s/80s stalwarts who would stand out above the rest. So those are the guys I'd go with.

Something about being Friday & not having to worry about work tomorrow just makes it a relaxing day for me...

Oh & some guy named Clayton Kershaw is pithing today.

36 - Hah hah. I actually thought "The Matrix" would be another good nickname for him.

19 - As did Frank Viola.

Vin, Jackie, Sandy, and Drysdale for me.

We could always have Kershaw II: Kershaw-er. Then his next start could be Kershaw III: Kershaw with a Vengeance. And finally we'd have Kershaw IV: Strike Three or Die Hard.

Or not.

38
Most college coaches in the era when Stengel did it were pros trying to make a few bucks before the season started. Those guys were around to train the players. They usually didn't go to games and make strategic decisions. That was the realm of the team captain.

I'm not sure when coaches became fulltime, but I'm guessing after World War II. Sometimes the baseball coach was another coach in a different sport who needed to make some extra scratch also.

USC's first championship is credited to Sam Berry (the basketball coach) and Rod Dedeaux.

Clint Evans at Cal worked pretty much fulltime. Sam Crawford worked fulltime for USC as well.

Hard to argue with selections for Rushmore, but Tommy Lasorda has to be in the running. He was the face of the franchise for many years.

Clayton Kershaw 2: Clayton Kershawer.

Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Maury Wills, Al Campanis.

37 Okay, I'll bite. (Not that this subject hasn't been debated here before endlessly, but I've never had a chance to grade him myself.) My grades after the transaction.

12/7/05 signs Rafael Furcal (3 years $39 million) A
12/13/05 traded Milton Bradley to Oakland for Andre Either A
12/14/05 signs Bill Mueller (2 years, $9.5 million) D (I'd give it lower but I thought it was a decent move at the time, and liked Mueller, but injury risk was high and it bit the Dodgers.)
12/19/05 signs Nomar Garcisparra (1 year, $8 million) B+
12/20/05 signs Kenny Lofton (1 year, $3.85 million) B+
12/22/05 signs Brett Tomko (2 years, $8.7 million) D-
1/4/06 traded Duaner Sanchez & Steve Schmoll to NY for Jae Seo & Tim Hamulack C- (I liked Sanchez but thought acquiring a decent backend starter filled a need for LA pretty cheaply at the time, too bad Seo was such a bust)
1/14/06 traded Edwin Jackson & Chuck Tiffany to Tampa for Danys Baez & Lance Carter - F (if only because Jackson was given up on too early and Baez was a nightmare; I'd almost grade it slightly higher just because I understood Dodgers were desperate for relief help then)
2/7/06 signs Takashi Saito to a minor league contract A+
6/27/06 traded Dioner Navarro & Jae Seo to Tampa for Mark Hendrickson & Toby Hall C- (not enough back for a once top prospect, and Hendy was mediocre but not terrible)
7/25/06 traded Odalis Perez & 2 minor leaguers to KC for Elmer Dessens C+
7/28/06 traded Danys Baez & Willy Aybar to Atlanta for Wilson Betemit A-
7/31/06 traded Cesar Izturis to Chicago for Greg Maddux A-
7/31/06 traded Joel Guzman and minor leaguer for Julio Lugo C
11/20/06 signed Nomar Garciaparra (2 years, $18 million) D (signing him once, good, resigning him, not)
11/22/06 signed Juan Pierre (5 years, $44 million) C- (I may grade this one higher than others just because I understood the desperate need for an experienced outfielder, but he was the wrong guy/fit for the team and 5 yrs way too long)
11/28/06 signed Randy Wolf (1 year, $7.5 million) C+ (didn't pan out but I thought it worth a shot)
12/8/06 signed Jason Schmidt (3 years, $47 million) incomplete
12/8/06 signed Luis Gonzalez (1 year, $7.5 million) B-
1/15/07 signed Mark Hendrickson (1 year, $2.9 million) D
7/31/07 traded Wilson Betemit to NY for Scott Proctor C
8/29/07 claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers (and his $7.7 million remaining salary for '07 & '08) C- (don't like Loiaza much but the team was desperate for another starter at the time; still, a waste of money ultimately)
11/8/07 signed Chan Ho Park to minor league contract B+
12/12/07 signed Andruw Jones (2 years, $36 million) incomplete (trying to be fair here)
12/16/07 signed Hiroki Kuroda (3 years, $35 million) B+

These are the express opinions of underdog© and do not necessarily reflect those of Dodger Thoughts or the Dodger management.

34
I was deciding between Electric Bugaloo and The Quickening, so great minds think alike!

I will be watching this evening's proceedings on delay, so I'll check out of here in about 15 minutes. Luckily it's an east coast game, so Extra Innings can't (conceivably) keep me from watching this game in it's entirety.

Kershaw II: Clayton Harder

Actually I guess Kuroda should be incomplete, too, if I'm going to be fair and balanced. Otherwise Jones would get an F right now and hopefully will go up to a C or B later.

I'm sorry, did I look like I wanted alternative titles? :)

50 - "Minotaur With a Vengeance"

52 Overruled!

Anyway...

Surprised Dewitt chews tobacco.
I only know really really old guys that still do chew...

37 This topic may be best saved for a boring winter day, but I'll attempt to put each move into one of five categories based on how it worked out (not on how it looked at the time).

Good for the Dodgers (5)
12/7/05 signs Rafael Furcal (3 years $39 million)
12/20/05 signs Kenny Lofton (1 year, $3.85 million)
2/7/06 signs Takashi Saito to a minor league contract
7/28/06 traded Danys Baez & Willy Aybar to Atlanta for Wilson Betemit
7/31/06 traded Cesar Izturis to Chicago for Greg Maddux

Bad for the Dodgers (9)
12/14/05 signs Bill Mueller (2 years, $9.5 million)
12/22/05 signs Brett Tomko (2 years, $8.7 million)
1/4/06 traded Duaner Sanchez & Steve Schmoll to NY for Jae Seo & Tim Hamulack
1/14/06 traded Edwin Jackson & Chuck Tiffany to Tampa for Danys Baez & Lance Carter
6/27/06 traded Dioner Navarro & Jae Seo to Tampa for Mark Hendrickson & Toby Hall
11/20/06 signed Nomar Garciaparra (2 years, $18 million)
11/22/06 signed Juan Pierre (5 years, $44 million)
1/15/07 signed Mark Hendrickson (1 year, $2.9 million)
8/29/07 claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers (and his $7.7 million remaining salary for '07 & '08)

Even Trades or Inconsequential Moves (5)
12/13/05 traded Milton Bradley to Oakland for Andre Either
7/25/06 traded Odalis Perez & 2 minor leaguers to KC for Elmer Dessens
11/28/06 signed Randy Wolf (1 year, $7.5 million)
12/8/06 signed Luis Gonzalez (1 year, $7.5 million)
7/31/07 traded Wilson Betemit to NY for Scott Proctor

Jury Still Out, Looks Good So Far (3)
7/31/06 traded Joel Guzman and minor leaguer for Julio Lugo (Draft picks Withrow and Adkins will determine the eventual value of this trade.)
11/8/07 signed Chan Ho Park to minor league contract
12/16/07 signed Hiroki Kuroda (3 years, $35 million)

Jury Still Out, Looks Bad So Far (2)
12/8/06 signed Jason Schmidt (3 years, $47 million)
12/12/07 signed Andruw Jones (2 years, $36 million)

Kershaw Part II: Clayton Takes Manhattan

11 - Oops - Joba's starting Tuesday.

45 If Tommy Lasorda ends up on the Dodger Mount Rushmore, that may force me to go all Monkey Wrench Gang.

Mets fans would like to submit "Kershaw II: Lost in New York" for consideration.

I only know really really old guys that still do chew...

Broxton chews too.

Vin, Sandy, Jackie, Blake

Koufax, Drysdale, Robinson, Campanella, Valenzuela

56 Seems pretty fair, too, but where's the first Nomar signing? Wouldn't you put that in the "good" category?

42, 45 - Also excellent suggestions. However, I think for lasting impact on the franchise and the cities and sport they represented, Vin, Jackie and Sandy had no peer. After those big three, then you got room for argument, Fernando and his impact on marketing to the Latino population in L.A.- Duke and what he met to Brooklyn, Drysdale as part of the 1-2 pitching monster in the 60's that ingrained the Dodgers into LA culture and Lasorda who really fostered the love'm or hate'm Dodgers of the 70's and 80's across the nation. Even the person who mentioned Branch Rickey who had the courage to break the color barrier and wanted to do it years earlier, but was rebuffed by Commish Landis and the old boys network of other owners have arguments as to the fourth face on the Dodgers Mt. Rushmore.

64 Ah, yes. That got inadvertently deleted.

56
Why is the Ethier trade even?

Can't we call Schmidt bad now? What are the odds he's worth $47 mil by end of next year?

56 I guess I'll go ahead and be the one to point out that Eric's "bad" category has about 90 million bucks in it.

"Why is the Ethier trade even?"

Well, for starters, the guy we traded is either the best or second-best player in the American League.

I have friends that chew and one of them I do not think has ever step foot on a baseball field.

Considering what Bradley did last year as well, it's actually being pretty generous to Colletti to call the trade even.

67
Why is the Ethier trade even?

I would guess because Ethier's quantity (1143 vs 856 PA) pretty much cancels out Bradley's quality (139 vs. 108 OPS+).

My Dodger Mt. Rushmore would have Lasorda, Hershiser, Jackie, and Campy. I'm a product of the 80s (sorry if anyone feels old) so my first love of the Dodgers was with Lasorda and Hershiser. Fernando is great, but so many have said him thought I would go with another good 80s player.

67 It's questionable if we'd be able to re-sign Bradley, but I certainly wouldn't mind if we had him instead of Ethier at this moment.

When he gets hurt again/comes back to Earth, we can reevaluate.

So the publisher of the rag I work at is going to sing the national anthem at the June 5 game. I have to get video of it.

Hmm, wow, I didn't realize how good Bradley was this year. We always knew he could hit.

55

I know, that's so yesterday.

This Mt. Rushmore analysis must be the new thing. This morning on ESPN Radio, Scott Van Pelt was talking about who he would put on his NBA Mt. Rushmore and whether Kobe would make it. Jordan and three other spots with one or two going to Russell or Chamberlin.

Looking at the timeline, it looks like Ned's skills decline as he ages.

56 I wouldn't count the Maddux deal as good; wash probably, but no higher. Izzy was no loss, but Ned turned around and declined arbitration on Maddux, which meant that the draft picks that could've been had for him were lost. Not to mention his being let go is largely what led to the Schmidt signing, but if I really considered the two connected, this'd be way worse than "wash".

78
Wow, ESPN really is about the Now™. I love Kobe as much as the next guy, but he wouldn't make my Laker Mt. Rushmore yet, let alone all NBA.

80
I always kind of linked Maddux to the Wolf deal (1 yr, $8m) as opposed to Schmidt.

81 There really shouldn't be that much difference between the two lists though.

80 We would have had to keep starting Sele if we wouldn't have gotten Maddux.

My think about Bradley is just how many times he gets injured. When he's healthy, and not entirely unhappy, he's enormously talented. I liked the trade we'd made to acquire him in the first place, even if it, too, gave up a good prospect. But isn't it fair to say that Ethier has been solid and consistent and Bradley has a greater upside but a greater downside? I think that's why I called it even, but I could see it argued differently.

80 - I think Maddux was a steal, sorry. But agree we could've offered him arbitration, that would've been smarter.

81 West, Mikan, Magic, and Kareem? Or Shaq for Mikan? Or Wilt for Mikan?

My Laker Mt. Rushmore would have Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Cedric Ceballos, and J.R. Rider.

Turning on the Prius was an adventure.

86
Magic, West, Mikan, Kareem on Mt. Rushmore, with Kobe standing in line behind Baylor, Wilt, and Shaq right now.

87

is the K silent Bob?

Kwame.

We would all hate Ned if we ended up paying 12 million for a guy with a 98 ERA+ (probably worse since that's with the Padres defense).

87 Sedale Threatt? Mike Penberthy? Larry Spriggs? Mark Lansburger?

88
You mean pressing a button was a new experience.

The older Priuses require you to press that button every 108 minutes that you drive.

80 - I would look at the Maddux acqusition and the postseason decision on him as two separate transactions.

My Dodger Rushmore: Werth, Grabowski, Phillips, Repko

USD is pouring it on against Cal. 5-0 with the bases still loaded in the bottom of the 7th. I guess if I go tomorrow, it'll be the early (losers) game.

"Losers bracket" sounds so harsh. Why don't we call it "the teams that didn't win bracket?"

Just tuned in and see JP is at second. What did he do, double?

Japanese MLB Mt. Rushmore:

Nomo, Ichiro, Matsui and..... Saito?

97 - you're probably also one of those people that would rather call "Sudden Death Overtime" "Golden Goal Overtime", huh?

98 - Juan Pierre Double: walk followed by a steal.

Lyons and Steiner are idiots. They keep talking about how Kemp will see more fastballs (to them, a good thing), but of course they dont realize he cant hit a fastball this year. It's sad seeing his approach at the plate this year, missing fastballs like that thigh high over the heart.

93

no no no, it is more complicated than that:

1) it's not a traditional key (that thru me way off)

2) you have to MAKE SURE YOUR PRESSING THE BREAK before pressing the buttom

3) the shift stick is new age, couldn't figure that out either.

103 It takes a day or two to get used to it. I hate having to use a regular key when I drive another car now.

that Loney hit was a lazer shot.

guys runs (plural!) are being scored! hurray

Double your pleasure, double your fun!

I feel like a kid like Kershaw will relax more with that lead.

Of course I attended the Maine start at Dodger Stadium last month where he was untouchable. I'm never going to a Dodger game again.

Wheee!

Nice start. I'm watching this while still on the phone with my boss and trying not to shout in glee.

Let me guess. Booing at Shea?

DeWitt taking grounders at 2B? Dodgers score runs? Squee!

61

well hopefully he cuts it down to one.(couldn't resist)

Looks like Reyes did his homework.

Looking at the bright side, as bad as the dodgers have been playing, we're only 3 1/2 games out of first place.

Okay, to put things in perspective, here's Diamond Leung:

"Blake DeWitt has begun taking ground balls at second base, turning double plays with Russell Martin at shortstop."

110 I was going to say what underdog said, but he beat me to it.

OTOH, squee?

I'm following on gamecast, but I imagine Maza double clutched?

88 - we rented one before we bought it. Learning how to turn it on was an adventure. It took us 10 minutes at the gas station before we figured it out. The instructions weren't much help.

Luis Castillo? Seriously?

wow a homer to LUIS CASTILLO? 26 HRs in his career.

Get the ball down, Meat

Well, Kershaw gets schooled in a toilet.

That just sound awful.

Ay caramba.

Kershaw: The Sickening. (The first inning.) He just needs to settle down.

Squee. . . the exact sound my 1 year old son makes whenever he manages to catch one of the cats.

118 - you can take a drink just on principle.

Ok, Clayton...time to bear down with a look of toothy confidence.

K's Wright but gives us the dinger to Castillo, he works back words folks!

I dunno what Wright was arguing there. Siddown!

Castillo does have more career homers than Matt Kemp. :D

I'd throw nothing but cheese to Tatis.

It's our arch-enemy at bat now. Tatis must go down!

Perhaps Wright wasn't arguing. He was curating.

He grounded out before I could finish getting out my invective.

Perhaps I'll just go back to hating Jose Guillen.

Well you can say that he needs to settle down, but making a mistake to a Luis Castillo isn't usually going to end up costing you 2 runs.

125 Thanks, I like that!

Was it this spring or last spring that Tatis had a minor league invite to Dodger camp?

The instructions weren't much help.

Well, the folk who formerly wrote VCR manuals had to get work somewhere!

Kershaw only threw fastballs & the curve.

138 - they reminded me of what might happen if you wrote everything you knew about the car down on 3x5 cards, shuffled them randomly, and then printed it.

And indexed only a third of it.

139 - that's good because that's all the pitches he really has at this point.

like all the good was do, Kershaw settles down & pitches a perfect 2nd inning.

I don't like the look of this Nick Evans kid from his Gameday photo.

He doesn't look me in the eye.

Wow, I barely had time to think about Kershaw's half before it was the Dodgers' turn at bat again.

pitch count? other than luis castillo the mets have hit a bunch of weak grounders and popups

140
Turning on Prius was not that hard.

1. Have smartkey on person.
2. Sit down in car.
3. Step on brake.
4. Push button to start.
5. Put car in "D" to go forward and "R" to go backward.
6. Lather.
7. Rinse.
8. Repeat.

That curve called strike to Delgado was youtube material. Steiner didn't even acknowledge it while he prattled on about Delgado's career AVG in the 2nd inning.

141 His change-up was actually fairly decent during his first start. I only remember him throwing it a handful of times, but he had pretty good command of it even if it didn't have a ton of movement. Plus, he threw it at around 82 so it brings another speed to the table.

Still trying to take everything the other way. Matt looks really lost up there.

146 - A car that shampoos your hair while you drive would be useful.

143 - I don't know if they're still using the same photo, but Gustavo Chacin had his photo taken wearing heavily silvered goggles. His 2008 picture almost gives you the feel for it, but it made him look like an evil pitching robot:

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=407860

147

to be fair to Stainer I had the impression he was looking at his notes.

61 pitches for Maine through three.

Um, might want to swing there at some point, James. Ah well.

147 Try supplanting what Vinny's call would have been over Steiner's prattle.

Is Kent swinging early to compensate for lost bat speed?

146 - have smartkey on person only works if you've enabled that feature.

The thing we weren't used to is the necessity of pushing down on the brake at the same time as pushing the power on button. We figured it would only be necessary while shifting into drive. Wrong-o, Mary-Lou.

149 I disagree. Even with two strikes, he's not chasing fastballs out of the zone, and he's fouling off all the breaking pitches. His swing just needs to be less defensive and he will be hitting lots of homeruns very soon.

Kershaw is 21 strikes and 10 balls 2 pitches into the third.

the real test for the Prius will come this monday when I fill her up & see how long she last.

Does SNY really need 3 blathering announcers in the booth? Isn't one or two enough? What is this, Monday Night Football?

Part of me would like to see Kershaw go a bit Drysdale here on Castillo... but I don't think he will.

160 Keep her parked, last long time :)

Like his last start, I'm amazed that somebody with such ridiculous stuff goes away all the time.

Bust 'em in, man!

Clay leaves pitches really high out of the stretch.

[161} SNY? So that's what that stupid twirling logo says.

like my dad would say "El outomatico" (the strike to Castillo)

And the SNY announcers are total homers as well. Neat! {mute}

160 - we get ~44-46 MPG pretty much no matter what we do to it. We're on the second set of tires, and the shop we bought them from apparently wasn't used to the high inflation pressures that Prius tires require (max pressure is listed at 50 PSI, from memory, and I've been keeping them at 40). We paid extra for nitrogen inflation, and I should have checked the pressure they left the shop with, because when I eventually checked it, it was only 30 PSI. No wonder our gas mileage was so "low" (42-43 MPG).

Biggest single driving tip for extending your mileage is to get to speed quickly and then tickle your accelerator to keep the car running off the battery.

Kershaw suddenly looks mighty mortal out there, walking two straight with David Wright at the plate.

168
Actually the SNY announcers aren't that bad compared to the YES announcers. Hernandez and Darling can be quite critical of the Mets.

87
That is an insult to Ceballos to lump him with those jobbers.

Strike or no strike, that was a hell of a 3-2 pitch to David Wright.

164

It really is that easy BUT he has to BELIEVE he can do that, that's not so easy, plus (to me) it seemed like he was thinking to much out there when he was facing Castillo (he's castillo darn it!) but it's a learning process.

169
There hasn't been an immortal pitcher in baseball since Connor McLeod took that line drive off the head.

170 - Hm, I think it's the main announcer who does more of the cheerleading yah. And was quite upset at the unfair strike zone that Kershaw was getting but not Maine (according to them). And Kershaw three straight walks seems to disprove that theory.

Wow, Martin kept calling for breaking balls and the guy had just walked the last two hitters

call a time out Russeell & have him take a deep breath & relax out there! {let's go!}

I'm probably the millionth person to say this but Kershaw's Gameday picture sure makes him look like Orel.

174 - but there have been plenty of immoral ones.

No time to fiddle here, Kershaw.

Hmm, well that was better than a grand slam!

He really does look like Hershiser in his gameday pic.

Ah, Tatis eases the pain.

181 That's the spirit.

"Just sit on the fastball," suggests the SNY announcer. Yeah, okay, I guess, since they certainly aren't gonna hit his curveball.

Well, that inning could've been a lot worse.

169 How much for the nitrogen inflation?

Meh.

I'm still not sold entirely on the Kershaw-as-a-major-leaguer idea just yet. I just don't like the idea of having guys skip levels like the Dodgers did with Kershaw, and nothing I've seen so far dissuades me of that.

Certainly, that was a terrible inning, though it could have been worse.

ya delgado meet mr. snappy

Your always told to:

1)take a time out when your not throwing strikes

2)walk around the mound, take a deep breath & visualize what you wanna do.

Mets announcers were sure exited by that sac fly. Guess they didn't realize it lowered their run expentancy for the inning.

the mighty GOLDEN GOD delivers.

mammoth shot, YES!

Bomb by the Golden God.

169 - $5/tire.

Martin goes deep to get his pitcher off the hook. Now that's a catcher!

Before a Mets game earlier this season, Willie Randolph asked outfielder Carlos Beltran to state the most important thing he wished to accomplish that night.

"Hit a bases-loaded sac fly?" Beltran asked.

Randolph beemed with pride.

When apprised of the conversation, Dodger third base coach Larry Bowa responded, "(Expletive) straight."

Woot.

Hah hah. As Nelson would interject.

Golden God!

187 - please tell me I missed the sarcasm in translation. It was a terrible inning when he struck out one and allowed only one run on no hits?

If those are what are going to qualify as terrible innings for the remainder of Kershaw's career I say sign him right now to a 20-yr, billion dollar contract.

194 Beltran just knows how to tie.

108 Bluebleeder87

How do you feel now?

If we give Kershaw a billion dollars, it's going to really hamper our ability to lock Blake DeWitt up long term.

A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there and soon you're talking about real money.

Ok, honest question, which would everyone rather have:

(a) 2 guys that can hit 40-50 home runs and five guys that hit 15-20

or

(b) 7 guys that hit 20-30 home runs?

Personally, I'd go with option (b) for balance in the line up, never know where it's going to come from.

Beltran just knows how to tie

And everyone knows that you play for the tie when you're at home.

It takes at least 5 years in the league to understand such things.

200 , 201 - over 20 years, that's not really all that much, but okay, fine, $500 mil.

197 - oh, come on. Walking all three of the baserunners to load the bases is pretty godawful.

193 That's all? The so-called economic guru on CNN was recommending against as a way to save money. Too funny.

202 - It really depends on what their secondary attributes are, i.e. do they get on base? The Reds have fielded lineups that don't vary far from what you're describing and yet they lose and lose.

202 In the long run, A. It's a lot easier to make improvements to that team than the second one.

Russell Martin could be the NL All-Star catcher again this year.

205 That's the worst kind of cherry picking.

I'm going to inflate all my tires with argon.

202 Easily option A.

169

[taking notes] I'll definitely try that.

205 - It wasn't a very strong inning, it's true, he had command issues tho he did settle down and only gave up the run. I think to judge him, or to prove or disprove your point based on one inning also seems a little impatient and unfair but that's just me. I also don't see what Kershaw was going to learn in the Pacific Coast League, frankly, though I could see the argument for leaving him in Jax a bit longer. But personally, I'm excited he's here and think he'll be fine.

208 - on the other hand, the Mets are a good example of what happens when you think you're getting (A) but end up getting (B) or worse (see Beltran, Carlos).

If you've seen South Park you know what gas Prius drivers should use to inflate their tires.

He gave up a hit to Carlos Delgado.

Might be time to send him back down.

2 bad innings in a row aren't much fun, however.

Well, at least Kuo could probably come in again today if needed.

214 - Kershaw exceeded my expectations for him in his first appearance by quite a wide margin. I think he'll get hammered and hard; with only two pitches, it won't take long for the league to catch up to him, especially if he can't throw one or both for strikes.

Away away away...To Evans.

Tradesville. Population: Kershaw.

211 I had a good inert gas joke lined up there, only to find that nitrogen is even more inert.

Can we just fire the coaching staff and let the team run itself, sandlot style?

211 - you noble gas snob, you.

211 I could help you with that if you're ever in town.

now would be a good time for three straight strike outs

One out.

199

walks are death to a pitcher, but I saw him pitch live & I'd be unwise not to believe in him.

My main point (if I do have one) is that Kershaw is going to struggle at times (as he has here) and that's to be expected and okay. Being in the minors a bit longer may have been the right thing, but how much longer, and to what ends? I'd rather him learn here at this point. Just mho.

though I could see the argument for leaving him in Jax a bit longer.

I think ALL of us agreed on that BUT the way our 1 & 2 guys were pitching it was a necessity to bring him up.

Jose Reyes has more home runs this season than any Dodger. I wouldn't have predicted that.

America's heartthrob, not helping his pitcher.

Darnit, that should've been an inning ending double play!

Luis Castillo squares around on 3-0. He's ten years old, apparently.

the learning curves of a young stud pitcher, he'll be all right, I ain't worried at all.

Keith Hernandez does not care for Blake DeWitt's fielding.

87 Bob Timmermann
Is D4P at your house?

236 Busted clock, twice a day, et cetera.

236
He probably thinks DeWitt should play second. Or perhaps DeWitt doesn't field as well as the slick fielders that the Mets have.

229 - Being in the minors a bit longer may have been the right thing, but how much longer, and to what ends?

Two more years, the same as every other prospect, barring some notable improvement in his numbers, and to improve his confidence and ability against better hitters. Neither of those should be controversial. How allowing him to get shelled by batters two levels better than him is going to help him is beyond me.

Wow, Chan Ho's throwing 95. That's surprising.

222 - An argon atom and a covalently bonded nitrogen molecule walk into a bar...

Mazza! Glug, glug, glug...

Good times to bring in Kuo:
4th inning, tie game
10th inning, tie game

Good times to bring in Park:
5th inning, trailing by three

What am I missing here?

scareduck: two more years is far too much for Kershaw.

"notable improvement in his numbers" - Im not sure how his numbers could get better than they did. They sure wouldn't get better in Vegas.

new ball game 4-4.

i knew in early march i could always count of you chan hoooooo

Two more years in the minors for Kershaw just wasn't going to happen. But again, I could see arguing for him staying down there longer this season.

But he's a confident guy, and a good learner. Getting shelled in the majors and then learning from it as presumably he will, is better for him than facing AA batters and reaching a ceiling with what he can learn there, is my point.

That's not very effective bunting.

right to the pitcher, smart Pierre.

248 - you mean AAA batters. I simply can't believe that people continue — willfully, I might add — to forget Edwin Jackson. No, he's not a perfect example. But he's instructive enough.

I see Rob's point but for me I agree with underdog.

Scareduck vs. underdog The Movie, coming soon.

245 - okay, fine, finish this year, and let next year be contingent on his work in AAA. But what purpose does rushing him serve? Wishcasting? Well, as this game shows, it's not working. And the fissures in his first game hinted that this might be coming.

253 - It'll be on pay-per-view soon enough.

Kershaw is way more polished than Edwin Jackson ever was.*

*Not an endorsement of leaving him up all year.

Park has been such a pleasant surprise.

There were fissures Sunday?

Where?

What is Chan Ho's shelf life?

I'm taking "fissures" literally.

Chan Ho Park came in aseptic packaging.

260 So is Kaz Matsui.

before you know it, we will win this game the D-Backs will lose & we'll be 2 & a half games back.

nothing to it.

every young pitcher will get shelled in his first year, we can't let one performance dictate whether the move was correct/incorrect or successful/a failure.

I see your point but you can't use "as this game shows" as the hard evidence. I'm not even arguing that sending up Clay was the right move but lets not panic after the 2nd start.

UCLA leads UVA 2-1 in the bottom of the 6th at Fullerton.

Aw, it's a discussion not an argument. Which I'm getting something out of. At any rate, I feel like - and presumably the Dodgers feel the same - that he's more mature and ML-ready than Jackson was, or at least I've heard that from them and from scouts. I don't see them giving up on him as they did with Jackson (unfortunately). But we shall see.

I sometimes wonder about the differences between pitchers and hitters' development, and know that, too, has to do with the individual player and their makeup, among other factors. But I remember when the Dodgers sent Loney back down beginning of last season for more seasoning or whatever, most of us were pretty aghast. I know he was. Maybe that extra time was a good learning experience for him, who knows. I recall him being frustrated, but he did rake when he finally did arrive. Apples and oranges, of course, just wondering aloud.

Rats, I can only watch one more inning and then have to go out.

The Dodgers are going nowhere this year. Therefore, its as good of time as any to get Kershaw experience. He'll be better for it in the long, as will the Dodgers.

Why spend more time in the minors? Experience. So, what does experience do? He's not going to throw harder or have a better breaking pitch. He'll develop some tangible and intangible improvements.

I'd suck at UFC. Hopefully scareduck can spot me a handicap to start. ;-) Otherwise I may break into my old Navajo Indian trick... of screaming and begging.*

(c) Woody Allen, 1960s

Enough with the everybody just getting under it. Stop it, Steiner.

Stop.

Dude, Russel Martin esta en fuego!!

That was a nice little smile from Chan Ho after getting Tatis. Wonder what the Nicknamelessone said to him.

Martin's looking on fire today.

Yellow alert! Yellow alert!

If Martin is involved in a CI and hits for the cycle in a three day span, that would be amazing. It's not hitting for the librarian or anything but pretty sweet.

under the circumstances, I really feel the Dodgers did the right thing in bringing Kershaw up.

I'm not worried about him, BELIEVE me.

251 - As long as you're ignoring every positive example of a player bypassing AAA, I'd call it even. Show us a pattern instead of an isolated example.

If Kershaw continues to struggle, they can send him down. No big deal.I haven't seen evidence yet that giving him a look was inherently a bad idea. Saying Edwin Jackson over and over again isn't evidence. Tom did a comment that basically showed how little the two have in common.

I'm going to call a spade a spade (what do other people call a spade?) and say that tonight, Kershaw stunk. Much like 1st year Billingsley, every fastball was sailing high and outside. It seemed mechanical to me. I mean no other analysis of his future, but tonight Kershaw was a dud.

And in which stadium did Wes Parker hit for the cycle?

278
Club.

277 - Yah, and of course the other thing is it all could be moot if Jason Schmidt comes back and then they may very well send Kershaw back down anyway.

Who's this Chan Ho Park fella, btw? He seems like quite a find.

Hats off, Chan ho!

Cue foreboding music.

canta pajarito, canta... (spanish saying when an ump doesn't call a strike)

Welp, I have to leave. Will check out the archives late tonight. Good luck to the Dodgers! Night all.

279 - Standing down. Oops, what color is the alert when it is not an alter anymore and actually happens?

let's alert the people in texas, chan ho is more than living up to his contract.

The alerts never are altered.

I didn't realize Chan-Ho Park was still capable of throwing 94mph heat let alone occasionally hit 96, really good year so far by Park.

mlb.tv has been frozen for over five minutes. Can I get my soul refunded?

Crosley?

290 And to think I praised it this morning. Restarting it worked for me.

Did Maza double clutch going down the line?

Why is Chan Ho hitting here?

Hernandez doesn't like DeWitt's base running either.

it seems like Castillo has a ghost injury, but hearing Lyons it was probably the pevit (sp?) or something to that affect.

295 What does Hernandez like?

295 - Well, that's what happens when you go from AA straight to the bigs. ;)

dern it..solutions single for nothing, i guess if we had bunted..its not extremely likely park or pierre is bringing him home right

297 The he didn't take out Castillo on the slide.

That was a dangerous almost recklace play by DeWitt, I'm thinking he could have gotten hit in the dome.

299 - I assume that M. Sweeney would have... well, you're right, same difference.

Mets' announcers think Kemp is slow.

destiny is calling Park...

277 I think my stance was/is basically this:

1. The idea of Edwin Jackson that is generally invoked seems not to match up with how he had actually performed.

2. Jackson and Kershaw are not particularly similar. That both of them are Dodgers invites a comparison that, while not meaningless, needs to be counterbalanced by hundreds of other comparisons to help out in the big picture.

3. Jackson and Kershaw are not wholly dissimilar, especially if you are just talking about their AA stints.

4. Many parties seem to think Dodger pitchers should be protected from Vegas. There are two primary issues, as I see it. The first is whether putting up poor numbers hurts a pitcher's development. If it does, then I think that bad coaching is responsible; if your development system can't overcome that flaw, then you should flat out fund a AAA affiliate at sea level. The second is whether breaking balls in particular would take such a hit that the pitcher's development would be stinted. I don't really have the resources to study the latter at the present time, but I have my doubts that any of the involved parties have themselves.

5. AAA seems like it would have been a more appropriate stop for a pitcher like Keshaw in general, but the talent is probably good enough that the aggressive promotion is justifiable. If he were playing in AA, AAA, or MLB today, I don't think any of us could say that the decision was obviously wrong or suboptimal.

6. Kuo is probably, at this point, a more effective major league starting pitcher than Kershaw. Even with a 4-5 inning cap, I think he's a good option. Cutting Sweeney/Tiffee to bring up an extra arm so Kuo can get some 4-5 inning starts makes an awful lot of sense to me. I would probably have a hard cap of 27 batters faced for Kuo, and could see tighter caps as reasonable based on legitimate medical analysis.

I just can't believe that both Park and Tatis are in the league to face each other 9 years later. I also can't believe that was 9 years ago.

I might by wrong but I don't think Tatis could turn on a good fastball.

303 - I thought he played that quite well, given his relative inexperience playing CF. Anyone fast enough to have caught that ball would have slammed into the wall going 20 mph.

father time is cruel.

306 My problem is I have no problem believing either is still in the league, but I can't believe a lot of other things involving why they are facing each other right now.

noone thinks it was a bad call to have Park hitting after 2+ innings of work in a tie game?

if i'm not mistaken' the game were Tatis hit the granny was an ESPN sunday game, I was watching that game but can't remember if it was a sat. game or sun. game.

96 mph!

Dewitt's only play was to 1st? I swear he could have thrown home

That's how the Mets are doing it, frustrating just frustrating.

He really didn't have a play at home?

thats a bloody shame

The Mets announcers are killing DeWitt

I REALLY hope Martin NOSE NOT call for anything off-speed.

Park has more guts in his little finger than all of us have in our entire bodies...Including the colon!

come back with the out side cheese.

that's how we do it, yes! (good call Martin!)

cool underpressure = Park.

well as much as I hate to say it, and even with the way we're hitting today, I still feel like we need a miracle

Yep, didn't think it was a good idea not to hit for him, but he is gutting it out.

324 He was cruising, and the chances of scoring with 2 out and nobody are negligable in any case.

wow good break to get a rabbit on board..

323 - No mircale needed, just a walk and a couple of singles, and then Brox followed by Sammy.

That was way too close for the Mets announcers to get outraged about the call.

323 - Not needed, just a walk and a couple of singles, and then Brox followed by Sammy. Well, there's one of the singles.

According to Gameday, Pierre singled on a pitch well into the batter's box on the other side of the plate.

come on we're due for some type of break aren't we...

Tinkle guy is up.

WOO!

Oppo mental mistake by Matt Kemp.

Tie game.

whoooooooo bison baby

i was going to bet 1 million bucks he caught that, about time

I wonder what the SNY dudes are saying now.

i can't believe it, but man it feels good

Tatis looking silly out there.

Heilman has had a really bad season and he's continuing that tonight.

Squee!

This is a very Angels-like rally. Pierre, Kemp and Kent are using their bats like pool cues (Pierre, Kent) or a gun (Kemp).

337 "Helped out by a bad call to go 6-5".

Class. . .

Hit parade.

I can hear my best friend screaming at Heilman from three miles away.

I would rather that the camera doesn't focus on Willie Randolph right now. It's not his fault that Heilman is giving up these hits.

J-LO cha-ching man its great to see him hitting the ball again

Remember. It's a yellow alert!

Durnit, just an RBI single :)

The yellow alert is still in effect!

poor guy just got shelled

BABIP is awesome!

That's some serious booing.

352 'Tis music to my ears.

I'm as giddy as a schoolboy.

When they finally demolish Shea Stadium, a great, multitudinous "boo" will rise to the heavens and shower the city with a yellow rain of bile.

I know I am a horibble fair weather fan, but I'm back. Was there a cycle alert on?
I'm happy with Martin's single. We need more, if ever anyone did.

355 How could you hear it over the planes?

They're not booing. They're actually greeting the Secretary-General of the UN.

Wow, these Mets announcers are tough to take.
They initially had Ethier out on strikes and the run not counting.

358 Boooo-tros?

Mets fans won't be happy until Davey Johnson is managing, Mookie Wilson is coaching first, Wally Backman is coaching third, Ron Darling is the pitching coach, and Daryl is the hitting coach.

They're a miserable lot, stuck in the past even worse than the average Dodger fan.

Woot!

Just wanted to get that out.

360
Someone isn't getting an A in current events.

Moooooon!

361
A Mets World Series win would be 10000X worse than a Cubs World Series win.

And I'm going low on that estimate.

364
Sporky gets the A!

Spooooooooooooooon!

/Tick

Of course with the Mets, when they win, you get a ton of useless books, like "Nails", and then when they're bad you get a ton of useless books, like "The Worse Team That Money Can Buy."

363 I'm more of a history guy.

Hernandez managed to praise DeWitt, but only by referring to Martin's "rockhead" move.

Man the Mets annoucers created a scenerio in which Martins incredibly poor read of where the ball was forced DeWitt to give himself up to allow Martin to score. Even if this amazing fantasy was true it would have been a good move for the team in any case.

Unforunately for Mr. Moon, his name also means "spiracle."

370 Well put, indeed.

372 Never mind. I was temporarily confused with the Korean/English way of organizing first and surnames.

Joey P update

Loney- 2-4, 2 runs scored, and a RBI double

Tex- 0-3, and 1 RBI on a sac fly

Loney batting .281 to Tex's .270

Did Keith Hernandez noticed that Jose Reyes was practically standing on second base anticipating a pickoff throw that never came?

On that thought, let's hear it for Chan Ho Park.

hmm, Kershaw looks like he needs a 3rd pitch. Really bad command tonight. Hope we win anyways. WE is 95%
vr, Xei

I'll say this for Hernandez, he seems equally negative toward everyone.

Indeed. Park's fourth inning escape act will turn out to have been the ballgame.

378 - The thought being he is less likely to be in bad command of three?

371 priceless.

CHan Ho used to have an ice cream bar named after him in Korea.

that kid behind home plate has waved ALL day

379
Remember, Hernandez played the game the right way.

Snorting coke.
Showing up his manager.
Fighting with teammates.

Rays win battle of first place teams with a Cliff Floyd homer in the 9th off of Scott Linebrink of the White Sox.

Rays 2, White Sox 1

If we didn't have the Mets, we wouldn't have "100 Things Met Fans Should Know or Do Before They Die."

And you know what that means!

385 Maybe if today's players had the dedication to snort coke they would have the agression necessary to take out second basemen properly. What's with this generation.

Carlos Muniz lives in Wilmington?

He needs a new agent.

387 That my Tim Teufel memorial statue would be ignored?

Just kidding. Tim Teufel isn't dead...Yet.

388 Or at least got rid of the gray hair. Re-jected! And ironically, Sweeney comes up....

hah just listened to the call on dewitt's single via gameday video from the mets announcers...they just sound extremely bitter, and I love it..

387
I believe that the title of that book should not have the second and fifth through ninth words.

Sweeney now at .093, but he knows how to win!

389
For years, Rod Barajas was always listed as living in Norwalk.

You would think that by now, he could afford some place nicer.

And yes, I'm in a grouchy mood.

Well, Kemp pulled something.

A ball I mean. Don't get nervous.

Bruins win a postseason game! 3-2 over UVA on a 9th inning error!

Woo hoo! Take that Yahoos!

I forgot to wake up for Kershaw's start...

Was he leaving his shoulder open and letting fbs sail?

399 Yes. Flying open all over the yard.

398 excellent!

399 Um. . . he no pitchie good.

Now UCLA needs Rider to upset Cal State Fullerton.

Well, I can dream can't I?

398 My two favorite teams are Virginia Tech and whoever's playing UVa.

Hernandez just compared Saito to the camp commander in "Bridge on the River Kwai."

349 Can I stand down yet? My feet are getting tired.

404 His most insightful observation of the night.

385
Conversation with the mirror every morning, "I can do anything, I'm Keith Hernandez."

401 When he steps to the mound, his front shoulder falls toward third base, instead of staying in and keeping his mechanics tight. His throwing arm drops and the ball flies away.

404
Saito doesn't look at all like Sessue Hayakawa.

He loves Maza, though. Maza "knows how to play the game."

Reading over the comments, over the last 3 years Scareduck has gone from "our prospects are overrated, they haven't even done anything in the majors" to a complete 180 of "OMG we are rushing him and ruining him! EDWIN JACKSON!!!"

I find it humorous.

Let's ask Bill Singer what he thinks of Takashi Saito and his resemblance to Asian actors of yor.

Take it away, Bill..

Loney has the yips.

"knows how to play the game."

I'll die a happy person if I never hear that phrase again.

Victory. Squee!

Does anybody know why UCLA intentionally walked the leadoff hitter of the game for ASU?

Peeping between my fingers I see Saito with the possible last pitch, nail some big fat Met right in the middle, and my body bows to remarkable tension. But all is soon well, and we win, as we should repeatedly with our talent after this bad streak.

416
That's a softball game BTW.

411 -- I've chosen to take the high road about Scareduck's beliefs from former days. We all end up being wrong about something, and we don't need it rubbed in our faces. Of course, maybe I'd feel differently if he hadn't written some nice thing about the two articles I wrote for Jon -- about the Dodgers' thriftiness when it comes to international signings and the 40-man roster additions last November -- on his blog.:)

416 - to set up the double play?

Is flip taking dressing advice from craig sager? that tie is atrocious...

By the way, while you are around Canuck, do you think we might get Hicks?

419

Did you see Keith Law's mock draft Canuck? He says Dodgers have been looking at Andrew Cashner and Daniel Schlereth!

nooo!!

Deceased to me: Mark Sweeney.

That article is absolutely hilarious. Comic relief aside, what has he done for this team? I'll never forget his blunder running the bases, that was great.

What did I just hear about Japanese gangsters getting transplants at UCLA? Anyone hear about that?

Ahh, UCLA has decided that ASU's leadoff batter is the best hitter in the game and UCLA has opted to never pitch to her.

Didn't work this time.

425
It was on the front page of the LA Times.

I have to say I thought Kershaw did OK for a kid of 20. Despite a few bad moments this year, Park, Broxton and Saito are consistantly good. And Kemp, Loney, Martin, Ethier, and DeWitt are clustered around a .300 batting ave., although I admit I haven't looked much deeper. I can't help myself, from seeing things improving over the long term.

422 -- I like Hicks, but I don't know if the Dodgers are interested in him.

423 -- BA says that some clubs are interested in moving Cashner back to starting. If the Dodgers like him, they must think he can start. I hear that Nolan Ryan loves the guy, so maybe he'll be off the board before we pick. After the Dodgers took Adkins last year in the first supplemental round, I wouldn't rule out anything as possible.

well looks like we're getting what everyone wanted...gonna be a heck of a challenge opening in bean town

427 Nowadays, that's a good hiding place for an important news story.

When he [Sweeney] did that I was very upset bit looking back now it kind of gives me the giggles. Jehehehe

427 Ah, I heard about it on channel 9. Sounded pretty weird.

Nationals 6, Diamondbacks 3, top 7.

Nats lead the DBacks 6-3 in the 7th.

and Scherzer coming in.

The player UCLA keeps intentional walking (three times so far) is Katie Cochran. She came into the game with an OBP of .621.

Which was only third best in the country.

437 How is that possible when they score less than the average soccer game?

If someone only watched the Lost Pilot and the last episode could they think anything but "this must be the stupidest show ever?"

Demetri Young makes MoVoughn look like Verne Troyer.

Softball's scoring is higher than soccer.

Not every time has an unhittable pitcher. ASU is ahead 4-0.

I've switched to Fullerton-Rider. I did not know that the West Coast was known for playing small ball and SEC teams are known for swinging for the fences.

440 Is Taryne Mowatt pitching?

Vin would have loved Lastings two-handed catch.

441
No, not that I know who he is.

Since when did mlb.tv start running ads for itself between half innings? I preferred the white screen and silence.

443 "She" is the star pitcher of U of A. She also attended my high school.

They keep telling me to "keep watching". They already have my money, what do they care?

I can't believe Bob Ryan still gets a press pass.

445
Since the unnamed school wasn't playing in the game today and you gave me a name that had no gender ID, I was confused.

6-3 Nats, keeping my fingers crossed.

Celtics start a Beat LA chant during their trophy presentation. This is going to be intense.

Its actually now 6-4, Chad Tracy dinger.

448 I always get the two schools confused.

450
The hatred has started to build for me. I say we go 1985 on 'em, minus the Memorial Day Massacre of course.

Sacks load for the Nats. Scherzer with control issues.

Maybe this series will remind people that Dennis Johnson probably belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Arizona now losing 7-4, starting bottom of 9th.

This is great. I love it that the Lakers are playing the Celtics. Boston owes me a lot still. Stupid Don Nelson.

455
I agree with you about DJ.

Game over, Arizona lost to Washington. Dodgers 2 1/2 behind. SF just tied SD 3-3.

457
I wasn't even alive then but I hate Don Nelson. I think the Lakers will win as long as Jerry Buss doesn't announce the booking of the USC marching band and load the rafters with balloons before game 5.

460
I was alive for that game. I don't remember it. So I will hate Don Nelson for you.

As long as I have your continued support for my hatred of Jose Guillen.

461
Agreed. Who says "the system" of DT politics doesn't work?

For the record, I got tired of Bill Simmons long before almost anybody I know. Certainly before it became hip to do so.

Just saying.

Triple play in SF.

That's amazing that as bad and as unlucky as the Dodgers have been, we're only 2 1/2 games out of first place.

I imagine the fans of all the other NL West teams can't be too happy about the way their teams have played this year.

But will Indiana Jon be rooting for the Celtics. He's the resident basketball contrarian in these parts.

Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded into a round the horn triple play in San Francisco

460

Great to see Lakers-Celtics, although it may not feel quite the same. There was nothing like seeing those kelly green uniforms light up the golden court at the Forum.

463
I still like Bill Simmons, but he clearly tried a reverse jinx with his column today. Nice try, Sports Guy.

Also, I don't know if I hate anyone as much as those teams like ML Carr, Ainge, and McHale, although I guess Ainge is the GM...

468
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the color black becoming increasingly prominent on the Celts road uniforms.

The MLB.com boxscore has a new stat listing.

"GITP - Kouzmanoff"

They actually have a code for it in their software!

Kouzmanoff does not get credit for a GIDP because three outs were made on the play. Which is something I've not figured out the reason for.

471

I've noticed that sometimes the trim is black, sometimes white, and sometimes a sort of Notre Dame gold.

Kouzmanoff does not get credit for a GIDP because three outs were made on the play. Which is something I've not figured out the reason for.

??? Imagine we want to know three stats: the number of times someone grounded into a double play, the number of times someone grounded into a triple play, and the number of times someone grounded into either one.

The way you want to track stats, you would need:

a) GIDP - GITP
b) GITP
c) GIDP

It is much more intuitive to do it the way MLB is coding it:

a) GIDP
b) GITP
c) GIDP + GITP

473
sometimes a sort of Notre Dame gold

That would solidify and intensify the hatred for me

For those of you not up on all things Celtics, Tom Heinsohn is still alive.

I know...Pretty crazy.

476
Does he still love Walter McCarty?

Johnny Most? Still dead.

Donny Most? Not dead.

There will be a certain symmetry to Phil Jackson beating the Celtics to pass Red Aurbach on the all time coaching championships list

Hmmm .... Giants/Padres extra innings .... orrrrrr ..... Harvey Birdman reruns?

Decisions!

475

I know. I also wrote that to try and get Bob to care more about the Finals.

481
Didn't you taunt Eric Enders today over the NCAA baseball tournament results?

481

no taunt-worthiness yet ....

484
I say, "Taunt 'em while you got 'em"

482 ,483
Bob to care more about the Finals

I think I saw Jose Guillen wearing a Celtics jersey after the Royals game the other day.

485

if we beat them in basketball .... THEN I taunt.

485

if we beat them in basketball .... THEN I taunt.

481 It never ceases to amaze me, how funny Harvey Birdman is.

But they never show the one where he's addicted to suntan lotion!

My Extra Innings is showing the Padres-Giants game on two channels.

But both channels are showing the Padres feed.

Double-barreled Vasgersian action!

489

actually I caught that one a couple of weeks ago ..... classic! (not as classic as the Fred Flintstone one, but ...)

I forgot to cancel the cycle alert for Russell Martin.

Stand down.

Kevin Kouzmanoff just bounced into a double play. 5 outs in his last two ABs.

I'm watching the 1987 NBA Championship video right now to get me fired up for Thursday.

494 I'm wearing my shorts up around my nether region in honor of this NBA Finals.

I graduated from UCLA the day the Lakers finished off the Celtics in 1987.

The day went:
1) Massive graduation ceremony at UCLA as this was before the days of small departmental graduations.
2) Mom tells me that she's proud of me (not allowed to be said in my family until you graduated from college)
3) Family goes to my brother's apartment to watch Game 6. Which was played during the daytime.
4) Game ends. We celebrate and I get taken to dinner at Gladstone's where I was given some truly awful food.

This will also be the first Lakers-Celtics NBA finals which I will not painfully recreate on a NERF indoor hoop.

Or will I?

Cialis .... for when you absolutely MUST find out whether the Padres win (and you don't have Tivo)

I watched Game 4 of the 1987 Finals by myself in my apartment as my two roommates had left to go study. It was Finals Week at UCLA. I didn't have any finals to study for as it was my last quarter and all I had left were two mulitple choice exams for my Bach and Jazz classes.

LaRoche played third tonight: 1 for 3 with two walks and an RBI.

http://tinyurl.com/52244j

The first regular season game I remember watching was the Celts-Lakers in 1987. Lakers were down 17 in the 3rd quarter (Mychal Thompson's first game as a Laker, wearing 00), but Magic hit a 60-foot shot to end the 3rd quarter and the Lakers completed the comeback.

It's Cha Seung Baek's Padre debut!

The Padres have used 20 different pitchers already this year.

Not that I needed a reason to hate Duke, but Gerald Henderson, Jr. goes to Duke. Stupid Worthy pass.

For comparison purposes, the Dodgers have used 15 pitchers.

Matt Vasgersian is reading off the names of the 37 pitchers for the 2000 Padres, which was a team record.

Matt made fun of Buddy Carlyle.

What is it with these lame N.L. West announcers and reading off lists of player names? Last time we played the Rockies, their announcers spent two innings reading a list of every guy who ever played a game at shortstop for the Rockies. Which was a very long and undistinguished list.

Incidentally, Texas lost to St. John's today with their #3 starter. Augie Garrido thought that the Red Storm would be pushovers, so he saved his #1 and #2 starters for the two anticipated games against the more challenging team, Rice. Oops.

The Longhorns' ace, by the way, is the son of ex-Rockies closer Bruce Ruffin. I can't wait for the Rockies to read their all-time list of closers on the air. That's gonna be even more gruesome than the shortstops.

Um, we lost? UC Davis is really becoming the Siena of the West Coast.

Uh oh,

From Sunken Diamond:

UC Davis 4, Stanford 2

I know I watched Game 6 of the 1987 NBA Finals, if it was on Sunday afternoon, I probably ate some KFC as was the tradition back then.

I have the 85, 87 and 88 Finals on videotape, I may have to find a VCR to play them to get into the spirit of the series.

The National Spelling Bee sure is a whirlwind of emotions. So many highs and lows. And some middles.

510 How are the seats? Pretty???

Other #1s who lost included Florida State, 7-0 to Bucknell, Long Beach State 7-3 to Fresno State, and Georgia 6-3 to Lipscomb.

Bucknell calls its teams the Bison.

Lipscomb calls its team the Bisons.

510
I think I still have Game 7 of the 1988 Finals on VHS. I had a bunch of key plays marked, using the counter on my mom's old VCR (she owned 2 VCRs in her life), such as Byron Scott's dunk to open the 2nd half, Laimbeer's technical foul, both of Cooper's big 3s in the 2nd half, etc.

513 Apparently it's hard to beat a team whose players are all robots made of nails.

I totally forgot to watch the Spelling Bee today. Darn it.

I really wish there was a "Well Roundedness Bee."

Spell a couple of words, answer a few history questions, hit a pitched baseball, do a few pushups.

Maybe the first round could be spelling, the second round could be kickball.

We win!

Oh wait, sorry, did someone say that already 4 hours ago? I just got home but followed the last few innings on my cell phone rudely while at dinner with friends. Glad to see the offense wake up for this one, figured they would eventually.

Has there been a bigger surprise on the positive side for the Dodgers this season, other than DeWitt, than Chan Ho?

Oh and just saw highlights of that triple play that happened up here tonight. That was neat, and I was glad to see the Giants still lost. Tee hee. A good night all around.

Would be nice to have two good days in a row for a change.

I won the school spelling bee in the fifth grade. Made it all the way to the city finals, where I was the second kid to go out. I've spent my life since then wondering if I peaked too early.

519 We all have the stories underdog. Ask Bob about "parallel" one day.

He'll tell you about it...If he can fight through the tears.

I lost on Democracy...But I'm still protesting. Utter garbage. I spelled it correctly.

I'm going out for the evening...Night, kids.

I lost a trip to the regionals in 5th grade by misspelling "niece" (I had e before i).

The top two spellers (Erin Reich & Raj Latwalla) moved on, while 3rd place Eric cried his eyes out.

I defer to the irony police, but at the time of my misspelling, due to many older brothers and sisters, I had 2 nieces at the time of my misspelling (as an 11 year old).

Besides being wild, Kershaw's other problem is that he only throws two pitches. I wonder how quickly the Dodgers pitching staff and veteran pitchers could show him how to throw a slider, and a cutter, to go with his curve and fastball. Then he might be someone to be reckoned with.

523
Didn't Kershaw throw like 15 or so changeups in his debut?

Wow, what a bunch of spelling nerds we are. I should've known I was in sympathetic company.

I believe I went out pretty quickly and I think the word was one I'd never heard of at the time, like "mneme" or something tricky like that. I think my dad still has the Goleta Valley Sun paper's scintillating recap of the event somewhere, but it's too painful to revisit. I tried telling chicks about it at bars some years later and it didn't get me anywhere, man.

I lost on a word I've never seen used in everyday English before or since... douanier.

Kershaw has a change-up, giving him three pitches theoretically. But it's clearly still a work in progress and he doesn't feel as confident in it yet, obviously. But he did throw it in his debut. More on that here, in case you missed this breakdown:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/is-clayton-kershaw-worth-the-hype/

526 - Didn't he used to pitch for the Dodgers and Mets?

Time for more parsing:
From the LA Times:

Bowa was quick to warn that maturation isn't something that occurs overnight, that it will take time for the kind of at-bats the youngsters had in the eighth inning to occur with greater frequency.

That being said, Bowa noted that he told the players in a team meeting Thursday to stop using their ages as a crutch.

"Tampa Bay is young," Bowa said he told them. "Florida's young. Arizona's young."

Alas, the definition was "French customs officer" and not "van-dyked relief pitcher."

Which player has used his age as a crutch? Maybe it's time for Bowa and Torre to stop using their ages as a crutch.

(the players' ages, that is)

492 Too late Bob-o, I stood up so long that all the blood sank to my feet and I fainted. It wasn't until right now that I regained consciousness thanks to you.

On the bright side, I did get my first LA County library card today. You can blame my new girlfriend for guilting me into reading books.

533
One of the green ones?

I work for the City, and we have these funky orange and purple ones.

I used to work for the County. But that was back in the day.

534 Actually it is a funk orange and purple one. I don't understand how the City and County of Los Angeles can work under totally separate circuits when one is contained in the other.

Either way, A Farewell to Arms is due in three weeks.

535
I could tell you, but you would end up on the floor weeping and begging me to stop.

#523, If your two pitches are good enough, that is all you need. I saw plenty of Randy Johnson when he pitched for the Mariners, and of course Sandy. Randy Johnson had a fastball and slider and Sandy had a fastball and curve. Mariano Rivera has thrown the same pitch for ten years plus and all he does is get everybody out. I have not seen Kershaw yet, but if he has two outstanding pitches I would have him throw those two pitches and scrap the other stuff.

Stan from Tacoma

Do we have an official Archivist of Stupid Larry Bowa Quotes yet? Anyway, here's another one for the collection... he tells Dylan Hernandez that he'd rather see Russell Martin hit more with two strikes, and that he hates it when Martin gets a 2-0 or 3-1 count.

Bowa is a loudmouth jerk that never won anything as a manager.

Imagine Fredo's incompetence with Sonny's temperament. The perfect blend of dumb and angry.

I won every spelling bee we had from 3rd through 8th grade, in a class of 20 - 25 students. I never got to advance to city, regional, or state finals because our private school didn't do that sort of thing. I am undefeated but untested.

I think Greg Brock, in 520 had the greatest suggestion I've seen in a while. Instead of geography and spelling bees, it would be great to have an all-subject bee.

By the way, Greg Brock, I have to call you by your full name, "Greg Brock", because "Brock" is now associated in my mind with a character on the Pokemon television series. He's the one that blindly falls in love with every girl he meets. You don't want to be that Brock.

NPUT

526 Not up on your art history. The French painter Henri Rousseau is almost always referred to as "the douanier Rousseau" (that was his day job).