Just the Sunday night show?

Well, its longer than any other DodgerTalk show I can recall.

I had an impression that the Sunday night show was supposed to be a more general sports talk show but during Dodger season, it would be geared towards the Dodgers.

But in terms of the DodgerTalk broadcasts that occur happen each game and the longer broadcast on Sunday nights, I would say its pretty much the same as shows in the past.

I always thought Ross Porter's show were not as open as I would like since Ross generally did not comment much about the players or management of the team (in terms of being critical). But he did have the best trivia. No one has been as outspoken as when Al Downing did the show.

I know that there were some issues during last year's show on KFWB but I really never listened too much.

My only real issue about the Sunday night show is that given the amount of time they have, the show really could get down and discuss the Dodgers in greater detail and have more guests like the author of this site.

Though Bowa isn't bothered by the Dodgers' low home run total, he's baffled by the fact that they're second from the bottom in doubles.

"This is a doubles park," Bowa said of Dodger Stadium.
----
Is he senile? Where does he think he is?

Why isn't Bowa bothered by the Dodgers' low home run total...?

The best guys since Ross, at least. They actually respect numbers and seem like reasonable human beings.

I enjoyed them while out in LA, they were funny and meshed well together, rather Pierreiphilic though. Still a nice change from the guy we get here, the usually mean Skip Caray.

the usually mean Skip Caray

I tend to find Skip decidedly less than average...

6 As annoying as he is during broadcasts, he's a complete jerk taking calls.

The Sunday night show on KABC, which I have listened to since Jon was a guest, has problems like seemingly endless commercials, but the regular hosts are fine.

3 Just the other day on Diamond's blog he specifically stated we were last in HR, 2b, and walks, and cited the injuries to Raffy and Juan. The guy is clueless.

9 I've seen less guys sent to their doom than with Rich Donnelly at least. He's got that going for him.

I must admit, that I never listen to the radio on sunday night, so I've never listened to their show before. Only sports talk I listen to on the radio is on the way to and from work. The quality is pretty poor. vr, Xei

I enjoy listening to Ken Levine and Josh Suchon. When they have 2 hosts that means fewer phone calls from fans who often don't add much insight.

10 True. But if The Windmill and Larry Bowa are the last two third base coaches on earth, I'll still take The Windmill.

OT, but my son's 8 year old All Star team has made it to the Pinto World Series this weekend (part of Pony Baseball). There is a ceremony today at the Reagan Library and Ross Porter and Tommy Lasorda will be there, I'm told. Ross reads DT, right? I'll bring it up if someone can confirm that for me.

We're a small youth league (Toluca) and usually get stomped by the powerhouse So Cal programs. Not this year. And this proud papa just wants to brag a little bit!

7 - Speaking of being a jerk taking calls, Al Downing was the most condescending host ever. Geoff Witcher was similar. Always exasperated at the fans for not having been major league players and yet daring to have an opinion.

I've only heard the show a couple if times this year, but I like it okay and it's great that they have Jon on. He should be a regular host, though

Have not listened to the show, and frankly don't believe that sports talk shows are worth the listening, either. If they have better hosts, I might tune in occasionally.

14 - congratulations.

17 - Thanks! I'll brag more if they keep winning.

14 - Yes, Ross reads or has read DT.

ross porter was best and also gene who used to call in after every game. a martinez had zero insight.

20 - A. Martinez was doing a thankless job. I don't think he was poor at it, it's just the nature of the beast.

I'm still holding out for the return of Fred Wallin.

15 I almost forgot about Witcher. He was absolutely the most arrogant and unfriendly host I've ever heard. Ugh.

SCY-
.228 .296 .401-->78 ops+ 13 HR 49R 36BB 95K 5SB 2CS

The Bison-
.284 .337 .444--> 102 ops+ 9HR 47R 27BB 104K 22SB 6CS

And the Bison is a year younger. Going into the season I thought this was going to be a breakout year for SCY. Looks like he is pretty much doing the exact same thing as last season, but he's running a lot less. I wonder if that's a philosophy, or if he's just not getting opportunity's in his new lineup spot.

24 forgive my ignorance, who is SCY?

I'm surprised that this has not been mentioned here or in the MLB homepages, but Hideo Nomo has announced his retirement. The only link I can find in English is of Daily Yomiuri's newsflash.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/flashnews/

I was already a Dodger fan before his arrival, but he made the mediocre 90's enjoyable for me nonetheless. I hope he enjoys whatever he plans to do next.

24 He's showing better patience at least. His strikeouts are really surprising to me though, I had him as a huge breakout candidate this year.

25 It took me a few minutes to figure it out, too, but it's "short" Chris Young of AZ.

26 - It really is surprising how little mention there is of it here, or disappointing. He had a very, very good career.

It's always revealing when a smart, statistically aware fan calls these baseball shows. The hosts usually deal with such callers in one of two ways.

1. With a humored smirk, as if talking to an overly intelligent boy...but still just a boy.

2. Cut the call VERY short. "Good point Anthony, thanks for calling...ok, Garden Grove you're on with Dibble & Kennedy what's up?"

Notable quotes by Nomo (and one by Yoshii) in Asahi Shimbun (newspaper), translated to English. (I'm not really good at translating. Sorry.) I'm sure a better translation will be available later.

- It is no use to be lukewarm, and I had to draw the line somewhere. I have to tell the fans. I don't think any ballclubs will take me now.

- (Do you have any regrets?) I do not have the ability to perform in front of the fans anymore. I'm sure most ballclubs think the same way.

- (Were you satisfied by returning to the mound in April?) Not at all. There are many ballplayers who say they have no regret when retiring, but I have much regret. My heart says I want to pitch, but this will probably just cause nuisance to the people around me.

- (By Masato Yoshii) Did he really say that? If he did, what we should tell him is 'Congralutations.'.

Okay, I hate the All-Star break.

31
Yeah. What's up with so many teams not playing today...?

And I hate music. So I'm donating my iPod to charity.

32. Bud is trying to push the World Series back to December this year. :)
Seriously though, I wish they'd find some way to shorten the season, so they aren't playing the W.S., in frigid conditions. If they don't want less games, I'd suggest each team play a double header every 10 days and expand rosters by one player on that day (or for the whole season).
vr, Xei

2 new sports books to read:

"How to Retire" by Hideo Nomo
"How Not to Retire" by Brett Favre

34 There is about as much chance of that happening as us trading Pierre and Jones for ARod and Jeter.

36

Heck, I'd take ARod OR Jeter at this point.

Hideo Nomo has always been one of my all time favorite players. I loved his comment you translated about the fans. That's pretty cool. The Dodgers need to bring him back in some capacity. I'm just praying it's not going to be a dual farewell to he and another all time favorite, Takashi Saito.

If Kershaw really does start today, there's no telling who will get called up on Friday. I suppose it could still be him, but Tennessee is pretty far away from Arizona.

35

Simpley put, the Packers want a quarterback who doesn't throw nonsensical airballs to unspecified players in another dimension at critical moments.

39

Torre favorite/old friend Sturtz?

41 I think it will be a player from the 40-man roster. Someone would have to get DFA'd for Sturtze.

Nomo-mania was one of the big steps for me becoming a baseball fan. He deserves more fanfare for his retirement.

42

Plenty of candidates, really.

Is there any reason to not use McDonald?

I echo 11 & 16 . If I'm not in a car I don't have the radio on and I'm rarely in a car. I used to listen to the after game shows if the team won for the ride home but I haven't done that in years.

Watched HBO's When It Was A Game III last night, very interesting to see how empty DS was on nights Koufax pitched. I am sure every night was not like that, but the entire LF PAV empty? Being only 28, I would think people would flock to see him pitch. Then again, offense was not that exciting.

44 Well, it's either cutting loose a young pitcher with bad stats (Miller, Orenduff) or reinstating Sweeney from the DL, then simultaneously giving him a DFA.

I don't see those scenarios happening.

14 wow that is so cool DK, congrats!

45
Rotowire's take on McDonald and Kershaw for fantasy purposes:
McDonald
"He had a great June. In five starts, he posted a .205 BAA and a 39:11 K:BB over 35 innings with three home runs. He has been wrestling with control issues since May. He also has a GO:AO of 0.75, which will not fly in the bigs, as Clayton Kershaw has learned. The time to teach pitchers to keep the ball down is in the minors, not when they are facing live major league pitching. Unless McDonald solves the control problems and gets the ball down, he will not book any quality major league innings. Most major leaguers can pound the high fastball.
Clayton Kershaw (P) LA - AA 7/16/2008
Kershaw struck out five, walked one and gave up two hits over seven innings on Friday for Double-A Jacksonville. He did not give up an earned run. His two starts at Double-A since his demotion are in line with how he pitched before he got called up. He has a couple of issues. First, he does not get a lot of ground balls, so a 0.91 GO:AO at Double-A which yields zero home runs over 56.1 innings is not going to hold in the bigs. He got more grounders with the Dodgers, but he gave up three home runs over 38.2 innings -- not a bad ratio, but in combination with his other problem, walks, it is. He has about a 3:1 K:BB ratio at Double-A. With the Dodgers, it was 33:24. Maybe the walks were from nerves, maybe the Dodgers told him to keep the ball down more, maybe the umps are better in the bigs -- for whatever reason, he was very wild. Finally, he just turned 20 and should probably be pitching at the college level, maybe Double-A, not Triple-A and not the Dodgers. Twenty-year-olds in major league rotations are few and far between, for many of the reasons referenced."

39
Sweeney could be activated from the DL Saturday. I wonder if there's a chance they wait to officially DL Saito until Saturday and just swap him with Sweeney.

Park can already move to the swing role this weekend, and they can wait to call up Kershaw for the start Tuesday, on 4 days rest. At that time, one of Troncoso/Falkenborg/LaRoche/Berroa/Maza could be sent down or waived.

50 I'd still take that over DFAing someone for Sturtze or Jason Johnson.

14
Congratulations, that is a big deal for your son. You should have clued some of in on the championship game, I bet a few of us would have gone to cheer his team on.

52
Me to, just thought I'd put that out there.

30 Thank you - that is much appreciated.

47 From "Time" in 1965: Bavasi must be afraid Koufax will ask for $120,000 next year. The attendance figures show an average of an extra 8,600 fans every time Koufax pitches

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841997,00.html

56 I see now that the attendance average during those years was not that impressive compared to today.

Thanks, Hideo, for many great Dodger moments.

Most 10+ K Games, LA Dodgers
Koufax - 92 (32% of starts)
Drysdale - 32 (7.5% of starts)
Fernando - 27 (8.4% of starts)
Sutton - 27 (5% of starts)
Nomo - 24 (12.6% of starts)

Only 11 LA Dodgers have made more starts for the club than Nomo:

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/aYum

Only 7 LAD have more strikeouts:

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/Muut

Only Gagne & Koufax have struck out more batters per 9 IP than Nomo (minimum 500 IP):

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/aANn

Nomo is the last Dodger to lead the league in Ks (1995). Well, until Chad does it this year.

Thanks again, Hideo. The Tornado will be missed.

14 49 53 - Thanks, guys! The actual Championship Tournament begins tomorrow in Simi Valley. We play at 4:00.

Go to http://www.simiworldseries.com for directions, if you're interested. We are playing our rivals, the extremely strong Simi team in their own park, so we could use all the support we can get. Wish us luck!

According to MLB.com

NEXT HITTING MILESTONE:
• Jeff Kent needs 1 RBI to reach 1500

Projected date: July 19, 2008

So, Jeff will probably not drive in any runs tomorrow.

47 ,56
I looked at Koufax's 1965 season, and he had 20 home starts that year. Average attendance was 37,571.

On the season, the Dodgers total attendance was 2,553,577. They had 3 doubleheaders, so a total of 78 home dates.

In non-Koufax starts, the Dodger attendance averaged 31,072, so the club averaged about 6,500 more (a 21% increase) with Koufax pitching in 1965.

57 In '62 (first year at new stadium) we drew 2.7 million. '63-'66 we averaged about 2.5 million while the league average was 1.3. In '67, the first non-Koufax year, we dropped to 1.6. Last year we drew 3.8 million while the league average was 2.7.

That's probably more than you wanted to know but it's a bit slow at work today. If you are a glutton for attendance stats go to the link below.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/laatte.shtml

I really enjoyed Ross Porter's Dodger Talk for several reasons, most notably his calm and intelligent demeanor and also the fact that he treated callers with respect. Didn't he later get paired on AM 1150 one of the blowhard jerks who later had his own show on that station?

Anyhow, I had a memorable moment on that show. I had taken to sending Ross emails which he often read over the air. Eventually I sent him an email on a night when he had Kevin Malone as a guest. I am sure all DT readers will understand when I tell you that what I wrote was not complimentary to Malone.

Ross, to his regret, read the email on the air sight unseen (he prefaced it by saying "Now here's an email from one of our GOOD listeners.") As he read my rather unflattering comments about Malone, his pace slowed and you could tell he was really unsure what to do. Finally, after he finished the letter, there was this long pause. Malone then starts yelling into the microphone: "Who is this guy? What the hell does he know?" And so forth. Afterward, I felt really awful for putting Ross in this uncomfortable position with a guy who was, after all, his boss.

If you are reading this, Ross, I, like so many others, really miss you on the air. Your departure was one of the last shoes to drop in the post-O'Malley era.

58 Belcher's stats jump out at me. Had no idea he was even that good.

Back to the lecture at hand, I rarely listen to postgame Dodger talk. I would have to be in the car to do so, and that's usually not the case unless I'm at the game in person.

I did not listen to the Sunday night show -- I didn't even know about it -- until Jon co-hosted. I have listened to the Sunday night show a few times since, and I like it. Levine & Suchon have a good rapport.

Always, remember that unlike today, back then attendance was the actual tickets collected that day for the game. Not that I think too many people back then would not show up if they had a ticket like today.

That's why I still maintain that the most people ever to attend Dodger games was 1982 because those were actual people showing up.

66 Of course. Maybe it was an aberration, but the clips that they had showed a lot of empty seats. Maybe it was cold that night, who knows. Can't blame it on Laker playoffs...

66
They could have perhaps tacked on a few more to their total in 1982 were it not for a HR by a certain chicken-winging 2B.

(I have no idea where the one-game playoff with Atlanta would have been, but I was thinking more of the playoffs)

68
The one-game playoff with Atlanta would have been held at Dodger Stadium on Monday, October 4, 1982, a day after Joe Morgan's HR.

http://tinyurl.com/liljoe

While the Dodgers look to add Mark Sweeney this weekend, the D-Backs have added old friend Tony Clark:

http://tinyurl.com/tonyclark

"Under his contract with the Padres, Clark would have received $500,000 from the Padres if traded, but he waived that clause in order to complete the trade."

No word yet on whom the D-Backs gave up.

They love Tony Clark in Arizona!

I think it's because he's tall.

70 You could see a lineup with Clark at first, Tracy at 3B and Jackson in left.

14 I'd like to add my congratulations as well. Great stuff.

To be honest, I didn't even know the Dodgers had a show on Sunday's. I'll start listening.

Sweeney back this weekend! Anybody know the record for most PA's in a season by a non-pitcher with a BA below .100?

I'd rather have Nomo back than Sweeney. And I'm talking as a pinch hitter.

61 Koufax attendance boost at Dodger Stadium, removing all doubleheaders:

1961: 1,894
1962: -4,231 (Koufax missed half of July, all of August, and most of September, and thus missed the summer/pennant race attendance bump)
1963: 4,735
1964: 7,566
1965: 6,218
1966: 6,213

74 100 by Ed Connelly. Sweeney is up to 12th on the list. He needs three more for 11th.

I found just the perfect gift for any of you who have babies or know someone who does, a delightful bit of Dodgers propaganda to get 'em started young:

http://tinyurl.com/5e66d6

(They have them for a lot of other teams, and colleges, too.)

Sammy Strang hit .094/.385/.094 in 1908.

That is a moneyballer right there.

75 Isn't that the truth.

Listening to Dodger Talk is like reading the Dodgers.com message boards. It's one caller after another talking about how Andy LaRoche is overrated and Andruw Jones is fat and Juan Pierre is such a gutty little gamer and thank god Milton Bradley's not on the team anymore and Matt Kemp's got an attitude problem and the kids need to buy into Joe Torre's philosophy of winning and we should trade Kershaw and the prospects for Chase Utley, Jose Reyes, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Wright, Ichiro, or some other completely un-attainable but well-known superstar.

I can't use my cell phone while driving in CA anymore, but DodgerTalk is still there, on the air and causing accidents.

81
Just get a Bluetooth headset so you can get in an accident and look like Uhura at the same

81 Sounds like they need more DT readers calling in for a different perspective. Or do they screen people out if they're too intelligent?

My favorite Dodger Talk call of all time is when some guy managed to plot out the last 110 games of the season and predicted we'd go something like 80-30 the rest of the way. It was five minutes of "well, we've got four with the Mets on July 20th and I think we can take three out of four there. After that we have..."

In spite of the fact that I hate almost every caller, I still listen to Dodger Talk every time I go to a game.

82 Does DL have to wear the mini-dress too?

Trade talk is always fun. Let's trade everyone we don't want for Matt Holliday. Why haven't you done this Ned?

82 , 85 I draw the line at the beehive hairdo.

84
My freshman year in college, I got introduced to a friend of a friend, who was known simply as "The Legend". He had a tape of him prank calling into various radio talk shows, including Dodger Talk with poor Ross Porter.

I asked for a copy of the tape, but The Legend told me he could not give out copies for fear of "the statute of limitations for his crimes." It was one of the most surreal moments of my life.

83 You make it sound like reading DT means you are intelligent. My wife would disagree with you.

88 can u give an example of the prank

89 What mean disagree? Me head hurt.

--

An A's fan friend of mine asked who would "we" give up for Huston Street. He's trying to get us to agree to a trade. I said that is probably something NedCo would consider, but I wouldn't, no offense to Huston Street. (Huston Street and Bobby Crosby in trade sounds good on paper but not in reality. Actually I'm not even sure it sounds good on paper.)

90
Just stupid juvenile stuff, like getting Ross Porter to say this name:

http://tinyurl.com/5dfnj7 (text, but NSFW)

92 how did the screener not figure that out?

did he say his name was jack meoff to the screener and the screener still put him through?

I know Rick Garcia isn't exactly reliable but he said Saito was NOT gonna have TJ surgery.

Is this true?

91 I know the A's love DeJesus so you can probably make that the center point of the deal. I might think about DeJesus, May and Bell if I were the A's, but it would probably take more.

94
How dare you sully the good name of Rick Garcia! :)

I don't think anyone knows yet with Saito. They're in wait and see mode. Official word is he will be reevaluated in 6 weeks, so maybe TJ surgery would be decided upon then.

91
Yeesh, I know Crosby is an upgrade, but no player has frustrated me over the last few years like Bobby Crosby. I don't think I could handle him on the Dodgers.

I bet the Brewers make a run at Street.

I have called DodgerTalk a few times this season, the first time I used my DT name which was misunderstood by the screener when Jon was a co-host.

The other times I have been "Bob" from Pasadena or "Joe" from Alhambra.

98
Didn't Levine call you "DH"?

Quick random question...

What's a good general purpose type of baseball glove to "have" for playing catch/hitting a baseball/softball around with friends/casual gaming thing?

100
Get a softball glove. And one that fits on your hand.

They are usually a little bigger than baseball gloves. You will need it. It's not like you're playing middle infield in the majors and need to get the ball out of your glove quickly.

75 75 Someone--Torre I think--was talking recently about how good Sweeney's swing still is.

What does that matter if he can't hit anything with it?

102 Not a double post, just a double comment link.

A first for DT? Try 74 75

If the Dodgers are smart as some of the other posts have mentioned, the Dodgers should find some position for him in Asia or in the organization. I still wear his No 8 jersey to Giant Games.

I like to listen to the Sunday Dodger Talk because on occasion Jon Souchan does provide an interesting perspective. You can't call in from the Bay Area all of the time which is a drag.

96

But to be honest IMO it didn't look that bad I'd actually be surprised IF he did have the TJ surgery. Veremos...

100 I agree about the softball glove and it's very important to get one that is not autographed by a Yankee.

53 Good luck. I'm assuming you're playing Hart which has always put out great teams. My son played on both a Pinto World Series team and a Mustang World Series team in Simi Valley. A great experience.

Oh man. I just heard that the US women's soccer team's best player, Abby Wambach, broke her leg and is out of the Olympics. :-( That's a tough, er, break.

Another e-mail from Hoffarth:

i was actualy interested in how your readers felt about the entire format for DodgerTalk, not just the sunday night show... about two hosts rather than one, and these two hosts in particular...

OT but IMO too good not to share==

But first, even tho it might sound like it refers to the current officeholder, I think the comments are meant to be general, so hopefully no Rule 5 violation and internet netherworld for this comment--

The New York Post recently interviewed Dolly Parton. She said sometimes people tell her she should go into politics, but she's not interested:

"We've got enough boobs in the White House. People would ask about foreign affairs, and I'd say 'what's wrong with American men'? Then they'd ask about global warming, and I'd say 'when my globes get warm, I just take off my sweater.'"

33 Sorry. What?

I do listen regularly because I can not stand the commentary anymore on FIFA 08, and it makes good background noise while playing.

That said, the callers are the worst. Josh and Ken have a good back and forth when breaking down the game, but they seem to agree on almost everything. Less calls, maybe a guest segment possibly Diamond or TJAX that has some inside info on the game at hand.

Interesting little tidbit: Mark Sweeney was once part of a trade for Fernando Valenzuela, with Sweeney going to San Diego and Fernando going to St. Louis.

111 https://thejuice.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1057018.html

113 I'd rather have Fernando back than Sweeney. And I'm talking as a pinch hitter.

in general I think the show is ok (including the hosts) I don't know man... I do think A. Martinez was a pretty fun & knowledgeable host as well.

Single A pitcher Evan Scribner is apparently who the Padres are receiving in the Tony Clark trade; I wonder if this is like last year's intradivision Sweeney-Denker trade (a pinch hitter for a prospect).

74 If you look just at the Dodgers, though, Sweeny is 2nd on the list behind hot-hitting Jimmy Sebring who had 93 PA for the Brooklyn Dodgers while going .99/.207/.136

From Diamond Leung:

Dodgers' GM Colletti hands out awards

http://tinyurl.com/39s5sz

119 The AA pitcher has a "Flirting With Disaster"-esque name.

117 28th round 2007 draft pick, college pitcher, described as having a non-descript college career.

Was just promoted to Cal League, turns 23 on Saturday.

His combined 2008 line for Cal and Midwest leagues:

44.0 IP, 28 hits, 1 HR, 10 BB, 62 K, 1.64 ERA, .177 BAA

Overall, he's averaging 12K per 9 innings pitched while walking less than 2.5 but he is pitching against guys 2-3 years younger than him.

121 The "overall" refers to his stats in 2007 in the Pioneer and Midwest leagues.

He fits Petco park, averaging more fly balls than ground balls but low HR totals and apparently pounds the zone. He's a 6'3" righthander.

Dodger Talk is one of those traditions that I want to be there, but I don't always listen to. I always listen after attending a game -- almost like a tradition. I hated the pre- and post-game shows on KFWB, because of their insistence of mixing in other programming. I wasn't too happy when they were on that all-sports station either, but I can't remember why. I like this year's version. I liked previous KABC incarnations, too, even though they were probably terrible. I just got attached to them, and wasn't very judgmental. It's just one of those things that buzzes around your head when you're a fan.

Ken and Josh seem like perfect post-modern sports talkshow hosts. They're fans, but they're ironic about it. It's obvious that they care, but their passions are cool, not hot, and cool works better on the radio. The two-man format works for me. What they have to say to each other is usually somewhat interesting. They're literate. They would fit in here as commenters. Yeah, the callers aren't generally that well-informed, but I think it's fine for fans to spout off. Calls onto talk shows are just launching-off points for hosts anyway; nobody tunes into a radio talk show of any genre to hear the callers per se. I thoroughly enjoyed their long interview with Wes Parker a few months ago, and would encourage them to do more things like that. And of course it's great when they bring on Jon. They could even do a Sabermetric Corner, 15 minutes of stat talk, or do a little educating on some of the less well-understood stats and why they matter (or don't.)

Shorter version: Josh and Ken are the best we've had in awhile, so I hope their show sticks around for a few years. It's not mandatory listening for a fan, but it's nice to have them around.

Message from Ross Porter:

Jon...

Don't know if I can get my reply on by afternoon so will give it to you.


Evenatriple......

Thanks for the kind words. One correction. Kevin Malone was not my boss. My only boss was Peter O'Malley.

Tommy Lasorda, Fred Roggin and I will be at the Reagan Library today for the program saluting 25 teams from California participating in the Shetland and Pinto League World Series in Simi Valley.
The players are 6, 7 and 8 year olds. There will be baseball
exhibits open at the library from 3 to 6, and the program will be indoors under Air Force One from 6 until 7. They are expecting 800 youngsters and their parents. It should be a fun time.

Ross

I hate all talk radio, but I can take DodgerTalk until they have a caller on.

124 It must be one of the coolest things to come from authoring this site is establishing a relationship with Mr. Porter.

How much would we need to raise to pay the Dodgers to take him back as radio announcer to replace Rick "No score" Monday? I'm willing to donate, Ross!

81 I don't think you've captured the true spirit of the dodgers.com blog. They hate JP, Ned and Joe as much as they love Kemp and LaRoche. Yes they do think Druw is fat but that is justified. I used to post there all the time last year but most of the more interesting bloggers have fallen by the wayside and I was enlightened by this site so I rarely check there anymore.

So I recently just found out one of my ex girlfriends from HS goes to Padre games is the Little Red Riding Hood for the Wolfpack during Randy Wolf's starts.

Found that to be hilarious because it gave me an opportunity to rag on her endlessly for being "weird".

PS I never told her about my baseball/dodger obsession, which makes it even more better!

124
Ross, I just want to say I never appreciated you until you were gone. Thanks for all the games you broadcast and all the stats and trivia you threw our way. You were the best at giving out the scores of other games. Good luck with your current endeavors.

127 I'm willing to re-allocate my holiday DT donation for that!

100 fanerman
Maybe this doesn't answer your question but IMHO the best gloves made are the Rawlings Heart of the Hide models. They do take awhile to break-in. The leather will mold to the ball over time and make a nice pocket. The Wilson A2000 will break-in faster but will never form a pocket like the Heart of the Hide Rawlings. Pitchers will often choose a lighter glove like the A2000 for better reaction time on balls hit through the middle.

SoSG headline: Dad Speaks Out on A-Rod

So can Lambo get his SLG up to .500 by the end of the season? He's at .475 right now.

OT: What in the heck are the Twins doing holding Liriano in the minors to keep Livan Hernandez in their rotation?

132 Wow, I got a Wilson A2000 when I was twelve, and a couple of months later saw one sitting on the phone box in the Dodger bullpen.
I got all excited and asked a very friendly Mudcat Grant who it belonged to, but his answer has faded with time.

109-

bring back ross.
i actually miss his play by play more so than the dodger talk.

Deadspin has a VERY NSFW column up (as of a couple hours ago, scroll down a few posts) that is featuring a lovely photo of DT's favorite mathematician.

138 - I should say, it's the language in the column, not the photo that is NSFW. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up :)

Thanks for the glove tips... this looks like something that will require a bit of research.

Vegas has Russell Martin with odds of 50:1 to win the NL MVP (highest of any Dodger). Chase Utley has the highest odds at 4:1. They must have a sick sense of humor, because they posted odds for Andruw Jones at 1000:1.
vr, Xei

141 If you ever get 1000:1 odds, you always take the bet. ;)

141 Speaking of sick sense of humor, 4% of people polled on the Dodgers' homepage assessed their first half of the season as "exceptional." I'm assuming the margin of error is +/- 4%.

Is the 50,000-1 odds on Kuo still there?

*From MLB.com 07/13/2008
LaRoche sits with bruised thumb
Pittsburgh-
The Pirates announced on Sunday mornong that Adam LaRoche has a right thuumb contusion. The injury occured during Saturday nights's game against the Cardinals*

Gack. I know FJM has already dissected this, but I just can't let this go. Murray Chass, who must at one time have had a functioning brain, in his first blog (!) entry wrote:

"One way would be to reward [with home field advantage] the team with the better won-lost record. But that idea wouldn't work logistically. Baseball can't wait until days or even a week before the World Series is scheduled to start to determine where Series game will be played. Airlines and hotels don't work that way."

Uh.

Yeah.

See FJM for why that's stupid, in case you're wondering.

146 He stated on no uncertain terms that it wasn't a blog.

If anyone wants two free tickets to the game this Friday at Chase Field in Phoenix, I have an extra pair I'll part with at no charge.
Section 323-W, Row 4, Seats 7 and 8. Along the third baseline at the front of the 3rd deck. They're handicap accessible if it makes a difference. I'm heading down to the game early so I can leave them at will call for someone. Email me at: daniellarussopaintedmyfence (at) gmail.com

147 Sorry, I meant "a site for baseball columns, not for baseball blogs". I love his "about this web site" write-up. Classic.

147. Are people certain the site isn't a fake? vr, Xei

It's real. Oh, it's real all right.

--

I loved this in FJM, too: "So it is possible -- no, probable -- no, certain -- that Murray Chass still does not know what VORP means, and yet hates it with every fiber of his wizened being. This is the equivalent of a person who's lived in Muncie, Indiana his whole life hating a specific dish in a restaurant in Doha, Qatar."

Yankees have a tentative deal with Richie Sexson, for pro-rated league minimum.

http://tinyurl.com/sexsonNY

150 No, FJM said the thought crossed their mind that it might be. I agree as there is absolutely no contact info even though he welcomed emails. Plus it seemed to single out FJM by making all those Red Sox and profanity references.

There's pretty good evidence it's a hoax on Tango's blog.

It's a pretty boring hoax, if it is. It seems like Murray, but I guess it could be very clever in a boring sort of way. (or vice versa.)

Yahoo owns the domain, which is suspicious I think.

And why is everything referring to him in the 3rd person in his bio and about sections?

154. Yes, that's where I read it.
vr, Xei

The only other site that's on Chass' server is BaseballEvolution.com. Compare the look and feel of the two sites.

IF FJM responded to it, then it was a clever ruse.

Phillies just traded for Blanton, not sure what the A's got.

160 - And the Huston Street watch commences...

Getting rid of Harden didn't mean (to me) that Beane was giving up on the season, just selling high on damaged goods. This move feels like it though.

160 Do they have anything worthwhile except Carrasco, Cardenas or Brown?

I guess I could see the A's getting Werth or Victorino.

161 I think that any AAAA guy could match a 4.91 ERA with Oakland's park and defense.

160 Where did you hear that?

Blanton seems like an Odalis type that would be finished once he loses just a little bit of stuff, his walk rate and home run rate is way up this year. If the Phillies gave up anything of value it's a great trade for Oakland.

164
Sportscenter. Apparently A's got three minor leaguers. Yeah, I am already assuming Billy pulled a fast one on Gillick. Blanton in that ballpark is not a good mix.

163 - Wow, I didn't realize he was having such an lousy year (77 era+). His inability to miss bats looks like it's catching up to him this year.

165 - He's an on/off type pitcher. When the balls are finding gloves, he looks great ('05 and '07). When they're falling for hits, he's in real trouble.

168 A lot like Odalis, who could have a great K/BB despite mediocre strikeout rates. Blanton's alredy almost match last year's walk and home run totals and I don't think he has the stuff to improve. At least going to Philly isn't a huge defensive downgrade.

The Athletics get second baseman Adrian Cardenas, pitcher Josh Outman and outfielder Matthew Spencer, all minor leaguers.

170
pitcher Josh Outman

Greatest name for a pitcher since Billy Strikeout on the 1940s Senators*.

*Not real

170. How do they all rank on the Phils minor league depth chart? vr, Xei

171. and Grant Balfour.
vr, Xei

170 2,4 and unranked according to BA.

172
Preseason BA:

Cardenas #2
Outman #4
Spencer unranked

People will be crying for the next three months as this seals the end to the Mark Ellis era.

174/175. Thanks! From a quick look up on FanGraphs, Cardenas is a SS with some pop and good speed in the Florida International League (A+ level league).
vr, Xei

Although a 2B now, Cardenas was the projected starting RF for the Phillies in 2011 by Baseball America. Cardenas was also rated the best hitter for average in the Phillies' system.

Outman was the #5 starter, behind Hamels, Myers, Carlos Carrasco (#1 prospect), and Joe Savery (#3). Outman's slider was rated best in the system.

176 Three months of me saying that Mark Ellis is really really good.

Also, Cardenas was rated by BA as the #78 prospect in baseball back in April.

For reference, Sean Gallagher -- obtained from the Cubs in the Harden deal -- was ranked #82 overall.

159 You give those souls way too much credit.

158 Sorry I'm late to the discussion, but Heath Bell is better than Broxton and Scot Shields just as good, and we didn't even have to go beyond driving distance for those two. I wish Brox the best, but let us not get carried away.

133 Way O/T, but you wouldn't happen to know Han Go-eun by any chance, would you? Loved her as Park Yu-jin in the Bodyguard. Loved her even more after Indonesia.

For those not in the know, Han Go-eun and Han Go-eun in Indonesia [and I love her look for the awards show]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD-hlsB19-4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q61p7zlfr_w

181

I don't get the reference to 158

168 - When the balls are finding gloves, he looks great ('05 and '07). When they're falling for hits, he's in real trouble.

I think that comment would apply to most pitchers.

So, if Oakland is selling, does that mean the Angels are the presumptive AL West winners now? Or do the Rangers (7.5 GB) have a chance to catch them?

Angels were presumptive winners before the A's started making these trades. Frankly, this trade helps the A's in the short term with Gio Gonzalez replacing Blanton.

also, do the Marlins and their -28 run differential have a chance? Or are the Phillies and Mets about to pull away from them?

184 - interesting. i don't typically pay attention to the AL until September, so i really don't know how good any of the teams over there actually are.

If I were the A's I would have traded Blanton for a used glove. I think they did spectacularly well on this one.

I agree. Blanton has been bad all year.

182
He was just referring to regfairfield, because he was praising Broxton yesterday, saying something to the effect that he is the best non-closer in baseball.

MEMORANDUM
TO: Ned Colletti
FROM: Ken Noe
RE: Oakland

Do not make a trade with Beane. He's on a roll.

The A's are going to have a great, great rotation soon. Gonzalez, Anderson and Cahill will all be terrific. And Gallagher is already contributing.

Get used to Rays and A's in the next decade.

The As are really good at trading pitchers for a bunch of good minor leaguers, while still having plenty of good pitchers left (some of whom are the minor leaguers being traded for).

Good trade for the A's.

Dealt PVL for some upside.
I just hope a Street for LaRoche deal isnt imminent.

Not sure what Blanton really does for the Phils. If he struggled in Oakland, he may really struggle in Philly though having no DH to go up against will help him.

190 As long Beane does not trade with Atlanta.

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed notes that today's LA Times sports section contains a grand total of three ads.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/three_puny_ads.php

194
He stole Joey Devine from them at least.

171 Josh Outman - greatest appropriate name?
Bob Walk - greatest inappropriate?

For the previous few seasons, Detroit had minor league pitcher named Chris Homer.

195 wow.

195 Wow.

195 Wow.

Two of the ads are for the same company, which is a website. There is another ad for a car dealer.

They are all really small ads.

Manny

Instead of the normal Manny being Manny stuff coming out of Boston, it seems like he's actually wearing out his welcome. I don't see Boston trading him this year, but if Boston doesn't pick up his option, I wonder how interested we would be in him for 2009.

202 - where exactly would he play? the Bums do already have two overpriced vets in their outfield

Cecil Fielder was a DH. That's a pretty inappropriate name.

195 Might explain some of the hatred being lobbed back and forth between the ad guys and the editorial guys in the Tell Zell comments. If in fact real posters. Still, wow. Simers hasn't dropped a column in a while, but I didn't see him on the list of cuts. Any clue if he's on vacation?

Testing---one--two--I don't remember an All-scar break with an extra day tacked on. And I-I-I don't like it very much

Kershaw is winning 2-0 in the top of the 2nd. One IP so far, no stats except one K.

DeJesus scored one of the runs and drove in the other.

Over pay for Jason Bay!

Untouchables:
Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley, Kershaw, Broxton.

Just a thought

206 There are a couple of teams playing today. But yeah, it's weird.

Why did they have the Futures Game on Sunday, competing with actual major league games, when they could have had it last night or tonight? It doesn't make any sense.

196 Watchmen trailer is online!

http://io9.com/5026402/watch-how-faithful-watchmen-will-be

210 Okay I need to go home now so I can watch that.

210
Nice, it got pulled earlier in day before I saw it. I like the teaser trailer that uses the Rorschach symbol.

Manny

We would have to put Manny in left which would mean no more JP.

202 Has there been another incident?

The Billy Corgan song sounds pretty good too.

Wow. That Blanton trade is truly remarkable. One great and one very good prospect for a so-so starter. 190 has it right: If Beane calls, don't let Ned answer!

Back to the talk show--I always thought Jon and I would make a good team. I will give Ken and Josh a shot but my dream team is Jon and yours truly.

We'd have a long guest list of guests--all of you. Seriously, is there a brighter bunch of Dodger fans? Is there better discussion of the Dodgers going on anywhere?

It would be a good show.

The good thing about this long break is that we could get some of our injured players back. But when I think about the realities of this statement, I doubt I really like the overall result.

217 I'd listen to that. Religiously. Probably would start tithing DT.

Troy Glaus owns Jake Peavy as he's 2 for 2 with 2 HR's so far off him tonight.

Lifetime 7 for 14 with 4 HR's!

Ankiel and Glaus have gone back to back and Duncan missed the third HR by 15 feet.

210 , 211 , 212 - The Watchmen trailer is up at Apple's site now, in all flavors of SD and HD.

Kershaw is cruising tonight.

This SHOULD be his final minor league start.

217 - Tell me when and where.

Okay, this All-Star Break is officially annoying, and I'm officially stupid. I mean, I knew the Dodgers had 2 days off.... yet somehow without thinking I just turned on the TV expecting to see either the game or the pre-game show and got immensely disappointed. I guess I thought it was Friday or something. (sigh)

223 Your mother's basement. Sort of goes without saying, right? ;)

225
But what about Suffering Bruin's mother's basement...?

217 223 What about a podcast?

Kershaw pulled after 5 scoreless, one hit innings.

The announcer says it could be his last start with Jax.

Kershsaw's out after five innings of one-hit, shutout ball. "He might have dealt his last pitch with Jacksonville," J.P. Shadrich says.

Scott Elbert now in.

Where are the strikeouts!??!

230 You want strikeouts? Elbert just K'd all three batters he faced.

"Here are your stinking strikeouts," Elbert says. He whiffs all three batters in his first inning, apparently making the batters look very foolish.

227 I'd download that in a heartbeat. Seriously, lesser men than you two have done it. Why not?

On notice: silverwidow.

If he strikes out two batters in his next inning, Elbert will have his K/IP ratio back up to 1.

Did anyone watch the Costas Now baseball town hall meeting last night? I'm watching it right now, and Pete Rose was on via satellite. Rose would have been there but had food poisoning.

Here's how Costas introduced Rose:

"Food poisoning right before a big show like this. What are the odds of that? [Costas turns to Pete on the monitor] Actually Pete, I'm thinking you know the answer to that question."

Awesome line.

235
Elbert and Morris have made me very happy in July. Nice to have them back and showcasing their stuff.
Elbert in Sept as a LHP out of the bullpen would not be unreasonable. Some always thought he might end up in the bullpen anyway.

Elbert could become a dominant bullpen guy like Broxton.

Elbert in the pen is tempting.

He NEEDS to be protected this winter on the 40-man roster.

There's no reason not to have both Elbert and McDonald on the roster in September. If nothing else, that would save us from any more extra-inning Brian Falkenborg appearances.

West Tenn must be cursing their luck at having to face two pitchers who probably could have combined to shut out a major league team tonight.

Are announcers saying anything about Elbert's velocity?

Kershaw/Elbert is the nouveau Billingsley/Broxton.

243 Not really.

He just walked a guy on a 3-2 pitch that barely missed.

From the latest Gurnick:

"Yes, [surgery] is still an option. The possibility still exists and it may have to happen," Saito said.... "For now, I'm concentrating on the six-week rehab."

[Dr.] ElAttrache diagnosed a ligament sprain, which is a stretching or tearing of the ligament that stabilizes the elbow. It is an injury that often results in what has become known as Tommy John elbow reconstruction, which requires a full year of rehabilitation.

Life without Saito is a very real possibility

247 : (

What's up with Fernando Tatis!

Who would have thought he and Chan Ho would be having these type of years.

Topic: "Jokerman", Bob Dylan's best song?

Cards beat Padres 4-3. Rockies leading Pirates 5-3 in 7th.

250
For me, I probably like 30 songs more than Jokerman.

Not even in my top 30 250

252 , 253 - ditto

246 - if it's time for Tommy John surgery, I think it's safe to say that Saito's career is likely done. He's 38 and would require a full year to recover. It's a shame he wasn't in the States longer.

If Saito decides to retire, would it be in his interest to still have the surgery? For normal, everyday life?

I couldn't even name my top ten, it changes all the time..

255 - if he tore it, he'd probably need some sort of surgery. if he stretched or strained it, he might not (depending on the severity). Though, I'm not a doctor, I just play one on tv.

I was looking at some stats, and here are the numbers of the first 55 starts of some select LA Dodger pitchers*:

Hershiser (1984-1986): 391.1 IP, 27-10, 266 K, 2.09 ERA, 165 ERA+
Billingsley (2006-present): 312.1 IP, 23-17, 285 K, 3.31 ERA, 135 ERA+
Valenzuela (1981-1982): 423 IP, 30-17, 335 K, 2.66 ERA, 130 ERA+
Valdes (1994-1996): 372.2 IP, 24-18, 283 K, 3.24 ERA, 119 ERA+
Drysdale (1956-1958): 359.2 IP, 22-21, 224 K, 3.50 ERA, 118 ERA+
R.Martinez (1988-1991): 370.2 IP, 28-13, 337 K, 3.08 ERA, 117 ERA+
Welch (1978-1980): 364 IP, 22-17, 233 K, 3.12 ERA, 114 ERA+
Astacio (1992-1994): 353.1 IP, 23-19, 220 K, 3.46 ERA, 111 ERA+
Singer (1964-1968): 383.2 IP, 20-18, 335 K, 2.65 ERA, 109 ERA+
Koufax (1955-1959): 294.2 IP, 16-19, 252 K, 4.28 ERA, 101 ERA+
Sutton (1966-1968): 353.2 IP, 18-21, 300 K, 3.46 ERA, 92 ERA+

*I chose 55 starts because that's where Billinglsey is at now. ERA+ figures are approximated.

Is the UCL good for anything other than throwing a baseball to where you were aiming it? Isn't it one of those things you can get along perfectly fine without--like souls?

249 Tatis' success so far this year is a great example of why Ned is so fixated on PVLs.

He probably really wonders why Tatis didn't show much when the Dodgers gave him a chance and now is even more ready to pull the trigger on more long shots PVLs, despite most of the ones he's signed not working out so well. It won't matter if any PVL signings cut into playing time younger players should have. Never has.

Nothing wrong with giving folks a shot, but someone needs the ability to make the right call pretty quickly on whether they really can help, not just leave them on the roster if they can't. Maybe Ned could hire the Logan White of PVL evaluation, whoever that is, or at least pay more attention to whomever pushed to sign Chan Ho.

Looking for PVL lightning in a bottle as a strategy is not the best formula for long-term success as a GM.

In Saito's absence, I believe we should use Hong-Chih Kuo as the closer. Broxton is most comfortable in the set-up role, and Kuo is usually lights out for the first inning he comes in.

huh, i just realized i don't have any of my dylan stuff on my itunes. that's strange.

258 - so does that mean in 2010 that Billingsly is going to throw 65 consecutive scoreless innings?

Because that would be sweet.

ToyCannon,

What do you think of the Clips getting Azubuike?

250 I don't think "Jokerman" is even the best song on the Infidels album. "Neighborhood Bully" is a kick-ass song, his best rock song of that decade. It's shamelessly political, too, on an issue he knows his fans don't all agree on.

There is a radio interview with Saito & his interpreter at Dodgers.com check it out. looking at Saito's history he had back problems in Japan & was out of baseball for I think 1 or 2 full season's so TO ME his arm is still relatively young.

Sorry Nate I'm gonna have to disagree with you for I think the 1st time!! but I think he won't need the surgery, veremos. Management really dropped the ball regarding him & his past shoulder & back problems (ah!!!) I really feel there was miss communication thus the result we're dealing with now.

255

hear the interview Marty (it's a good one) he talks about that & other things.

255

Saito still has the samurai instinct & retirement IS NOT an option judging from the interview.

Jokerman would have a tough time making my top 30. The top ten of which, off the top of my head, would be

Girl From the North Country
Don't Think Twice
Blind Willie McTell
Visions of Johanna
Tangled Up In Blue
Workingman's Blues #2
Like a Rolling Stone
Moonshiner
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
Mississippi

subject to change pending future whims

Kershaw has now pitched exactly 100 innings.

They have around 60-70 to work with in L.A.

Eric Enders and I have reached an historic "Dylan's #1 song" accord!

Mine aren't actually in order, they're only in the order I happened to think of them. But in a happy coincidence, the song on top is my favorite, and the second one is my second choice.

Today, my favorite is "My Back Pages."

"Only a Hobo"

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Desolation Row
Simple Twist of Fate
Masters of War
Blowin In the Wind

275 Um, yeah. I'll take all of those, please.

Those of you who like Springsteen may want to download his live EP that was released yesterday. I'd particularly recommend "The Ghost of Tom Joad" with Tom Morello.

I know that the orginal question that Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News asked was: "DO THEY LIKE THE TWO-MAN COMBO - ESPECIALLY THIS TWO-MAN TEAM - VERSUS THE SINGLE BROADCASTER TAKING CALL?" concerning DT, but I am going to comment about the single broadcasting of Vin Scully. I know this will sound sacrilegeous to some, since Vinny is a H.O.F. Broadcaster (and rightly so), but I believe that the Dodger ownership did Vinny a great disservice by putting him by himself. I hate to say it but I feel like Vinny feels the need to fill the airwaves every second of every game. I have noticed that most two-man teams/broadcasting fill less air time than Vinny, and personally I appreciate the pauses between commentary. How many MLB teams have a single announcer anyway??? I do not blame Vinny; I blame the ownership for being cheap!

277
It's Vin Scully's choice to work alone. He feels he is talking directly to his audience, and not to an analyst in the booth.

True story. Tonight, my g/f and I were coming back on the bus here in SF after going to see Hellboy II (which rocked, by the way, incredible character design). I was standing, she was sitting. Across from us were a couple with their little girl, who was probably about four. We could hear them playing little games with her and it was all generally amusing. Until... until we heard the little girl say "Let's go Giants" and then the dad said (I kid you not), "Now can you say 'Beat L-A?' Come on, 'Beat L-A.'" Little girl: "Beat L-A!" And they chuckled. And said it again.

I muttered, "God, they're not even playing each other. They teach their stupid Giants propaganda to 'em early in this town!"

I wished that I had my Dodgers cap with me so I could've moved over there with it on, then looked down at them teary eyed. "Thanks, little girl. You've made a grown man cry today." That would've been funny.

Sigh.

No particular order:

Just Like a Woman
4th Time Around
Visions of Johanna
My Back Pages
Ballad in Plain D
It's Alright, Ma
Desolation Row
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Mr. Tambourine Man
Love Minus Zero / No Limit
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
She Belongs to Me
Like a Rolling Stone
Don't Think Twice (got a speeding ticket once because I was singing this not paying attention to the speedometer)
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
To Ramona
Chimes of Freedom
Tangled Up in Blue
If You See Her, Say Hello
The Times, They Are-A-Changin'

278. I did not realize that. If it is Vinny's choice then I take back what I said about the ownership; but not how I feel about the broadcasting.

277 If you want more of, say, Steve Lyons, and less Vin Scully, well, you're welcome to your opinion. I'll take Vin Scully.

If we were wondering how well it would work to give Vinny a partner, well, we found out with Joe Garagiola in the eighties. And the answer was: disastrous. Garagiola ended up being nothing but an unnecessary buffoon.

Whenever there are two people together in a booth, they'll usually end up talking about what they had for dinner last night, or what their golf score was this afternoon. I don't really care about that stuff. With Vin it's just a conversation between him and his audience, which is much better.

The attempts to fill dead air that you refer to occur in the first three innings, when he's on a simulcast. After that, he calms down.

I can live with it.

280 "Don't Think Twice (got a speeding ticket once because I was singing this not paying attention to the speedometer)"

I swear this is true: Once when I got a speeding ticket, the cop's lights came on at the exact moment Springsteen was singing "Mr. State Trooper, please don't stop me."

281
When Vin retires, announcers working alone on baseball will be very rare. At least at the major league level. Especially on TV.

279 It would have been much cuter, I'm sure, if she was chanting "Hee Seop Choi!"

Suprisingly, when Joe Garagiola fills in on DBacks broadcasts on Saturdays when Mark Grace works for Fox, he's actually not bad. He keeps up with the players and he isn't prone to repeating any stories about baseball in the 1950s.

Who else besides Vin flies solo at the major league level? The only one I can think of is Bob Uecker.

286 I disagree with all of that, actually. But maybe I'm just disinclined to like Garagiola.

He knows the Arizona players, but usually not the opponents, and he loves to talk about himself.

Speaking of Vin, a couple of threads back, or was it the Griddle,there were some Vero Beach memoirs and it was mentioned that Vin used to bunk with Leo the Lip. I really have a hard time imagining that. Wasn't Durocher almost once excommunicated?

I feel bad for saying this but I don't like Sutton's offspring as a broadcaster.

I just don't!

There are times when my sons get tired of Vin, but I never will. Vin is an artist.
For me he is best when describing the action doing a radio broadcast.
He is always great. Someday he will no longer be at the mike. That is something that I'd rather not contemplate.
Enjoy the ride!

I wonder if Leo used the old college dorm towel-on-the-doorknob trick with Vin.

Scully works because of his extraordinary command of the language, his ability to convey ordinary information in an interesting way and the fact that he is virtually unflappable while the ball is in play.

All of these qualities get set aside when he's got a second guy in the booth. They are not eliminated but they are hampered.

Broadcasting "teams" are a by product of networks meeting to make meetings. That's how Dennis 'The Moth" Miller ended up in the booth. There are no more broadcasters like Scully and Harwell, and the trend is now to team up some communications square to give the play by play while an old scrappy ballplayer sits along side and gushes about Juan Pierre.

288
The historic Enders-Timmermann Peace Agreement which was founded on Bob Dylan has come apart over the issue of Joe Garagiola.

This sort of reminds me of the negotiations for the Treaty of Westphalia.

Eric and I won't even negotiate in the same city anymore and we will use Andrew Shimmin as a go-between to deliver messages.

Well, at least we agree on the important things like Bob Dylan and disagree on the insignificant, niggling, waste-of-space things like Joe Garagiola.

290 - Daron Sutton is very emo. Something goes right the Diamondbacks are the greatest team in the world. Something goes wrong he becomes depressed and the world is ending. At times he's very much like a certain popular baseball blog. But, it has no place in the booth. And anybody with DirecTV/Extra Innings outside of L.A will be forced to watch/listen to him all weekend.

"And the Diamondbacks win!" Bleh...

Vinny > the rest

Though I will say if you listen just on the radio for the first three innings Vin does at times forget he's doing a simulcast. But, so did Chick. That's all the criticism I have for him and it's said with love.

I like Daron Sutton.

298
The Thirty Years War is going to last at least thirty-one years now.

Seriously, all relativity aside. Who outside of Vin is even good?

Who wrote this in describing Scully: "A hack in love with the sound of his own drone." Answer coming in five minutes.

Clue--you all know who he is and he's been very influential for many of us.

298
I could handle Daron Sutton when he was in Milwaukee, but he has become insufferable -- at least to me -- since joining Arizona.

Lest you think it is merely division rivalry clouding my judgment, I submit to you that I liked Matt Vasgersian in Milwaukee and I still like him in San Diego.

And the Dual Eric Peace Accord will now devolve into the Dueling Erics!

300 There are other good announcers.

I don't get to hear too many announcers anymore unless they're doing Dodger games or working for the networks. I will say that one of my more memorable experiences was listening to an old tape of Harry Caray when he was young. I only remembered Harry from later days when he was a charming bumbler but as a younger man, he was technically superb and very, very energetic.

Allen, Harwell, Gowdy, Caray... those are some of the guys who are in Scully's class. I think Scully is the best I've ever heard but if someone said it was one of those other guys, I'm not sure they would be wrong.

300 - The Philadelphia T.V crew is excellent. In particular, Chris Wheeler who is a tremendous analyst next to Kalas.

301 Bill James says some really kooky things sometimes. (Then again, so do I, but he has a wider audience.)

301 Okay, and thank you for all of your guesses! :)

The answer? Bill James.

Yep, that Bill James.

280. I Shall Be Released

in no order ...

masters of war
house of the rising sun
the lonesome death of hattie carroll
isis
don't think twice
highway 61 revisited
it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry
ballad of a thin man
visions of johanna
cold irons bound
it's all over now, baby blue
sara
not dark yet

305 Got it right.

304 I've got a friend in Philly who loves Wheeler.

306 Stat geeks don't get baseball.

Boy, I love Bob Dylan. As a matter of fact, I just drove from Mendocino to Ventura County today, and listened to two Dylan lp's- Nashville Skyline and John Wesley Harding along the way.

I'm way to tired to make a list now, but I will agree that Jokerman is a excellent song, even though it still defies explication as far as i can tell. It is really the only song on Infidels I care about that much.

I can't wait for the series in Arizona this weekend! Let's go!

Final Dylan thought for tonight-
"Mississippi" is one of my favorite newer ones. What a great track.

Wheeler is a good analyst next to Kalas? I thought Kalas couldn't stand being around Wheeler?

I've got a funny Bob Dylan story that you all will find hard to believe. I did, and I was 10 years old.

Bill James is a big Denny Matthews fan.

373 I love the Byrds version of that song.

It appears not everyone is happy with the Marcus Camby trade:

>> Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News, noting that the Denver Nuggets were "fleeced, swindled and hustled" in the Marcus Camby trade: <<

http://tinyurl.com/5wgone

Other good announcers:

Bob Uecker (forget the network TV crap he did -- he really is superb on radio)
Harry Kalas
Kruk and Kuip
Bill Brown and Jim DeShaies
Don Sutton
Jon Miller
Ken Singleton
Orel Hershiser
Ron Darling (I'm cooling on him a bit)
KC's Denny Matthews is supposed to be good but I haven't heard him.

316 Clips sure have had a compelling off-season.

308 ah! forgot moonshiner! good call on that one, eric. some of bob's best singing on that track; god but he sounds stretched taut and faded by life on that song ...

317 The KC guys I heard during Spring Training v. the Dodgers were absolutely horrendous.

315 When we get to 373 , I'm going to have to remember to mention something kooky like "Ice, Ice Baby."

283

I'm curious Eric, what do you think of Social D's version of that song? man, I think it rocks. blew my mind when I 1st heard it.

315 That should be 273

Good for wallowing while getting over a breakup:

Positively 4th Street
Idiot Wind
It Ain't Me Babe
Just Like A Women
Shelter from the Storm

322 I've never heard it... but I guess I should.

i doubt there are many out there that can call a game solo, in any sport, any more. it takes a special kind of confidence to sit there alone in the booth. most announcers seem to need that second guy to bounce things off of. the only exceptions i've ever seen were Harry Carey (granted very late in his career), Vin, and Chick (even though Chick had Stu and others, it always seemed like Stu was waiting for a moment to make a comment rather than having a conversation with Chick). i suppose marv albert and/or bob costas might be able to pull it off, but there really isn't anyone else i could think of.

315
While I hate the Byrds' version of Mr. Tambourine Man, I really like their "My Back Pages."

324
I can't believe I forgot to list Positively 4th Street. I love that song. It's one of the greatest insult songs of all time (narrowly edging "No Vaseline" on Ice Cube's "Death Certificate" album).

261. Guo has put up some nice numbers so far this season (better than Broxton). I don't think there is any way that Torre would let Guo close on a consistent basis, as he's a believer in the "Rest Guo's Arm" voodoo religion. Sometimes, giving him 9 or 10 days between short stints. I am sure Guo would do a good job as a closer, but I will be happy if he shares 8th inning setup duty with Beimel. I think we can all be thankful that Proctor isn't around in this time of need. vr, Xei

317 I like:

Orel Hershiser
Chip Caray
Steve Stone (really like his broadcasting style)
Ross Porter (rocked the mic as well)
________________________

I've heard Bob Uecker is really good but I've never had the pressure of hearing him.

317 i've been very pleased with the david cone and john flaherty combo during yankees games this year ... of course, they always seem to come with michael kay, so it's definitely a mixed bag ... but cone and flaherty quite good analysts ... and they have a nice rapport

Oh, and Al Leiter... there seems to be near-unanimous opinion that he's a jerk, but he's a heck of a broadcaster.

the extent of my hearing Bob Uecker as a play by play man is: Just a bit outside.

I like Hershiser, but tend to suspect my judgment is clouded by 1988 and a shared affinity for poker.

295 - Hmm. I wanted to be Brother Mouzone, but I guess I probably am more like Proposition Joe.

I finished the series off over the weekend. Enders was right about the season five theme being the worst. You have to resolve your chords every once and again. Tonic isn't just for watering down gin.

J.D. Drew is McNaulty. He's good at what he does, but he's bad for everybody around him.

311 tweedle dee & tweedle dum

329 I'm with you on Steve Stone. He's easily my favorite analyst. I miss Ross Porter a lot, but I'm not sure if it's because he was good, or because I grew up listening to him.

You guys should really try listening to Jim DeShaies sometime. He's smart, funny, knows a lot about pitching, knows when to talk and when to shut up. He's basically everything an analyst should be. He's not allergic to modern stats either.

331 He's definitely a reactionary. Like the Malibu Police Chief.

333
You have Brother Mouzone's reading habits.

I have a bow tie, too! Haven't ever worn it (still can't figure out how to tie the thing), but I've got it.

Oh, man, did I forget Harper's again?

328

he has a replacement in Falkenborg, Torre really should let the pitching coach or somebody else handle our pitching staff, sorry man, I just don't trust 'em.

I actually did not know that the Byrds played My Back Pages.

DeWayne Staats is very good for the Rays T.V. Harry's son Todd Kalas is a sideline analyst for the Rays as well. Andy Freed is also solid on radio for them.

by the way, for those who helped last night, thanks, if i forgot to say so yesterday

i think after Vin, they should just not have a play by play man.

342
Have a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH6FB5zGtWw

Could you imagine Ken Harrelson and Steve Lyons working together? My ear drums would crack.

345

a while back somebody was talking about having a "robo Vin" where they just use voice overs of him or something like that.

is that possible??

347 - Bob Brenly has been known to make ears bleed.

348 - probably not in real time.

last year, there was an angels broadcast where they showed the game on both fsn stations. one was the regular broadcast, the other was kind of cool. they showed the game from one particular camera, no replays, no commentary. just like you were at the game. the camera changed from inning to inning, and occasionally they'd have some talking head in to interview someone about their experience at the ball park, but other than that, i thought it was kind of cool.

Anybody else by chance going to the Arclight Cinerama in Hollywood tonight for the Dark Knight? I'm on my way out there now.

350
If I remember correctly, Kobe's 65-point game against Portland a few years ago was broadcast in a similar fashion on both FSNs. I was watching with my brother on the relatively silent courtside cam version.

350

Personally I don't like the idea, don't get me wrong I LOVE technology but come on! Robo Vinnie!? you have to draw the line some where man!

353 - i wasn't suggesting i'd like it. plus, it really wouldn't work, as soon as a rookie came up, we'd be waiting for the story about his dad cutting up old tires to build a back stop or something.

If they can do it with Nancy Marchand, then they can do it with Vin.

looking at the pitching match ups for "The Rumble in Zona" I like our chances, here is Doug Davis ERA the last 28 days:

3.58
3.86
4.50

overall ERA OF 4.31

Kuroda has been on fire the last few starts so I'm expecting good things from him.

having not actually met anyone here, i keep finding myself trying to match facebook profile pictures with handles. i don't understand how i have so much free time.

350 They did that within the last month or so when the Dodgers were off. Same basic setup but I didn't watch for long enough to see any interviews or change in camera angles.

I'll be looking forward to the picnic it's always nice seeing everybody... it's also gonna be cool playing wiffleball or softball what ever you guys decide.

More on Saito from Ken Gurnik -> [ http://tinyurl.com/563kgx ] >>>Saito was injured while pitching in Saturday night's game with the Marlins. Team surgeon Neal ElAttrache diagnosed a ligament sprain, which is a stretching or tearing of the ligament that stabilizes the elbow. It is an injury that often results in what has become known as Tommy John elbow reconstruction, which requires a full year of rehabilitation.

Saito, 38, said he has not considered retirement and has not consulted with any pitchers who have had similar injuries.

"As far as my comeback and retirement, I have not thought about that at this time," he said. "My thought is how can I help the team by coming back as soon as I can? That's my focus.<<<

I'm doing a writeup on Mickey Hatcher... does anyone remember who it was that he did the famous Forearm Bash with in the dugout during the '88 WS? I'm thinking it was Pat Screnar but I wanted to make sure.

359 I'm hoping to make it, and it's looking like I'm going to be able to. Count me in for some wiffle ball. I'm usually good for 50 pitches or so...

I think I could go more than forty-eight seconds with the engineers just calling people stupid, giving them dirty looks, and sketching on napkins.

http://xkcd.com/451/

Funny coming back a few hours later to see everyones lists. I'll go with 10 great songs that aren't even among the greatest Dylan songs but I really love them.

Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
Went to See the Gypsy
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Where Are You Tonight?
Man of Peace
Man in the Long Black Coat
High Water (for Charley Patton)
Workingman's Blues #2
Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread

363 The engineer's a girl. There are no girls in engineering!!

356. Dodgers need to win early in this series as the pitching matchups get tougher each game. vr, Xei

361
I'm doing a writeup on Mickey Hatcher... does anyone remember who it was that he did the famous Forearm Bash with in the dugout during the '88 WS? I'm thinking it was Pat Screnar but I wanted to make sure.

Eric, I just popped in the DVD of Game 5 of the 1988 WS, and Hatcher's forearm bash was with Charlie Strasser.

My favorite Dylan song is Visions of Johanna, but that's because it was written by Matt Kemp.

364
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

Love that one as well.

367 Awesome. I bow to your greatness.

Elbert ended up with 3 IP, 1H, 2BB, 3K.

The Dark Knight was looooooooooooooong.

But very good.

Joe Blanton?? C'mon Patty G, Lidle and Moyer were both terrific in-season pickups but to add the AL's version of Adam Eaton? Seriously??

In other news, upon hearing about the trade, Carlos Ruiz immediately grounded into a double play. So we've got that going for us.

Highlights from Tom Hoffarth's column.

The only real guideline given "to give the team's side of the story - which doesn't mean I [Suchon] have to agree with it or defend it on everything, but a least make sure the discussion is balanced, based on the information I get."

It means Suchon often has more than just an educated guess as to who Colletti - a guest on the show one night to take live calls - might be trying to trade or obtain, what contract baggage a player might have, or what minor-leaguer is due for a call-up.

One of the other perks for listeners is a three-hour Sunday night show (7-10 p.m.), during which Levine and Suchon reset the week, look ahead and have guests on that otherwise aren't available.

Last Sunday's show, for example, brought Jon Weisman, the former Daily News media columnist and creator of the "Dodgers Thoughts" blog, to critique the first half - a rather bold move considering how critical and independent-thinking Weisman and his readers can be of the team's performance.

http://tinyurl.com/5h66fy

considering how critical and independent-thinking Weisman and his readers can be of the team's performance

Not to mention the GM's performance.

I could listen to Ken Levine host an auto maintenance show and still be entertained enough to stop what I'm doing keep the radio on. Levine certainly doesn't need a two-man booth to be successful.

So responding to Tom's q re: the current show, I would prefer that Levine were the sole host - he brings an incredible balance of baseball history and enthusiasm for the game with a healthy does of "reality check" to callers who phone from their hearts and not their heads.