Plus, it's 8:20 a.m in Beijing so competition is about to begin all over the place online.

Anybody watching gymnastics? These color commentators are nuts - they just called the fact that the Belarussian coaches hug and comfort their pre-teen gymnasts when they make mistakes "sad" and a clear sign that they weren't good anymore.

They've already started day 3 of the Equestrian Eventing competition.

2
What channel are you watching? I have gotten nothing but swimming lately.

I'm on the east coast, watching NBC, so you might have to wait three hours to hear these overbearing maniacs.

I guess everyone left to go to the liquor store.

Um, US women's gymnastics is either really good or really bad so far. Not gonna say which.

The "Um" makes me think it is really bad.

"hey bill, think fast!"

SMACK.

"do-over!"

SMACK.

yeah, that about sums it up.

7 ...?

Bob Costas is interviewing our President...!

maybe i should of stayed out the state, I arrived home last night only to witness the two of the most frustrating games of the season

Whatever happened to Andy Dick?

11
I liked it when he waved to the women's basketball team and they all seemed to find it hilarious.

13
He molested a woman last month, so hopefully he is in jail.

Bob Costas is still interviewing our President...!

You mean people actually are waiting for the TV broadcast to see what happens in the Olympics?

That's so very 1972.

13 He may have decapitated someone on a Canadian bus.

Does Goergia have an Olympics team? And are they playing the Russians in any sport? That would be interesting.

19 Women's air pistol. The Russians drew silver, and the Georgians drew Bronze.

Boy, the Chinese must be pissed off that not everyone's focus is on them and their Olympics.

19
http://tinyurl.com/5sq95t

My friend was Alan Cumming's personal assistant for a few months, and she told me Andy Dick tried to lick his face (and other body parts).

"You want to lash out and say something, but that's a rash decision to come out and say something," Ethier said. "I could have been emotional and rash and said something, but I took a step back. You know your place and know your role."

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/dodgers/

They just got an new interview with Ethier.

Ethier should look at LOLcats.

More wonderful news on this marvelous Sunday:

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA quarterback Ben Olson broke his foot and will be sidelined for at least two months...

Kevin Craft, a junior college transfer, and redshirt freshman Chris Forcier are expected to compete for the Bruins' starting job.

25 What did Ben Olsen ever do to you?! Other than completely suck over the last three years...

Air Pistol! That could have been special.

I don't like the headlines in the Times or Dodger.com. Saying Kuo blows save and game in ninth is misleading.

The first hit was not a Kuo mistake. The ball just found a place to land.

The double play grounder that got through the infield was a Torre mistake for playing Blake on the line. Kuo did his job.

The double play grounder that Blake didn't catch was Blake's mistake. Kuo did his job.

The double play grounder that Ozuna bobbled causing the relay throw to first to be late was Ozuna's mistake. Again, Kuo did his job.

RIP, Chef.

29
Did you see the game on Friday? Our running game looks even better. Passing game still the same though.

On the Next ep of Law and Order, the visiting Dodgers manager is murdered after two bad games at Shea Stadium. Joe Torre guest stars.

28
The groundball went right between Kuo's legs, Osuna had little chance. Kuo was lucky on the first hit that it was only a single and on the lousy bunt by Omar. He didn't pitch well and he did blow the save. Blake should have made the play and he would have escaped but he still had a lousy inning. Fielding your position is kind of important for a pitcher but he doesn't get much practice since he strikes out everyone.

Tampa must be loving the fact the Angels are making mince meat out of the old boys.

Wow, tandem diving - I've never seen this sport before. Beats synchronized swimming...

Btw, if you still need a laugh and want a break from Olympic water sports, the "E Pluribus Wiggum" Springfield election episode of the Simpsons is being rerun at 8, if you missed it.

Israel has a male swimmer whose first name is "Nimrod".

I believe it's actually called Synchronized Diving.

34
Go, Guo!

So the new one is "Knight Rider - The Series"? What was the previous incarnation, "Knight Rider -- The TV Show"?

30
I saw nothing of the game Friday. For some reason, preseason NFL never excites me.

However, I will see how will USC do at practice in a few weeks.

A friend of mine from Canada alerted me to an NPR podcast about this genius of an actress who is good at math and has posed for Stuff magazine.

He told me that I needed to look up everything I could on Danica McKellar.

I told him that I was way ahead of him.

38
It's too bad Will Arnett had to withdraw as the voice of KITT.

Oh well, I am sure it will be terrible anyways.

why do I have a feeling that after the weekend that I had, I really don't want to know what the dodgers did?

40
I believe the phrase should have been "I already did the math."

41 KITT needs to be William Daniels' voice or no one!

But, yeah, Arnett probably made the wise choice.

42 Friday's game was great. And I was there! Everything after that doesn't count or should be forgotten. Or at least the very end of the other two games. But Friday, that went well.

trainwreck, do you get the feeling that Higgins might be the best receiver on the team? And that's not a good thing.

I wish Russell had received more playing time last year so that he would truly be a 2nd year QB this season.

35 D4P
I wonder what the people who don't like him call him?

44 soundslike my weekend, more or less- except it was more like sat good rest bad

Suffice it to say that she said no

45
I have not seen anything from Higgins as a receiver to show that he is any good. He looked good returning punts though. I would give the nod to Curry. But yeah, our wideouts stink.

Yeah, everyone knows we dropped the ball letting him hold out for so long.

The German women have a 33-year old gymnast.

47 I should say the weekend wasn't really all that bad other than airport security and the aforemention answer

Higgins and Watkins consistently catch the ball with their hands, as opposed to some who body up. Higgins was getting good separation as the slot during the first couple of series Friday night. Looked good at the end of last year as well.

Zach Miller will likely lead the team in receptons. Oh well. Run, run, play D, go 7-9 and buy playoff tickets for 2009. Young team now.

51
Yeah, Watkins did not get a lot of action, but I hear he has a great set of hands.

Our schedule is easy, so we just need to not turn the ball over and not give up huge runs. Maybe we can then get to my wish of 8 wins.

argh - my battery on my iPod is about to die, I'll have to check back when I'm back in the golden state

D4P, I think you were totally right about the Chinese lying about the ages of their female gymnasts.

50 Sorry, man. :-(

52 At least we can all mutually agree that the Chiefs will continue to stink and the Chargers will continue to be loathsome.

Except for Brandon's (hopefully reduced) suspension to start the year and Ryan Torain's elbow injury (2-3 months) I'm feeling cautiously optimistic myself.

Meanwhile, Chargers go 15-1 and go to the Superbowl.

49
Surprisingly, women's gymnastics is not set up like Logan's Run.

55
At the very least, I think we start to see a chink in LT's armor this year. He's getting up there in age for running backs.

L.A Times:

Today marked the second consecutive game in which the starting outfield consisted of Ramirez in left, Kemp in center and Ethier in right. The manager said that Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones would remain on the bench until he felt he had a reason to change the lineup.

"We're looking to win every game," Torre said. "Right now, it's team first and individuals after that."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers11-2008aug11,0,1371518.story

I am excited to see this Simpson's episode now that underdog says it's good.

*Simpsons

59 Yeah, Torre must have not been happy about JP's comments.

Lazy Romanian gymnasts make me so angry.

Apologies if I'm not breaking this news but rest in peace, Issac Hayes.

Ugggh, UCLA loses another player. Backup offensive tackle, Mike Harris seems to have hurt his ankle pretty badly.

63 Lazy, hypercritical American announcers make me angry, too. Now I know what 2 was referring to!

66- Really? I thought they made a good point. Do you think Ceauşescu would have put up with wavy arms on the balance beam?

I'm disappointed in the Romanian people.

That was a good episode of the Simpsons. Guess I will have to wait another six years for one of those.

So two-thirds of the way into the season Torre has stopped tinkering and figured out what's best for the team. Good for him.

These are some not sixteen sixteen year olds.

I don't want to spoil anything for my west coast friends, but the men's 4x100 relay is not to be missed.

This amount of hype can only lead to massive disaster.

The gymnastic gods will not like that very much.

Good lord.

I don't think these boys on the Equestrian live feed know they are still on the air.

D4P, Harbinger of Disaster.

Broxton was ordered to take a breather Sunday after pitching three consecutive games, only one week after missing a game because his arm was weary following six consecutive days of warm-ups or appearances. Chan Ho Park, who pitched 2 1/3 innings Friday but did not appear Saturday, wasn't used either.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080810&content_id=3285829&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

Bringing up a subject from Friday's opening ceremony in Beijing, I found some photos of Jordan's smoking hot flag bearer. Apologies if already posted.

Scroll down to the bottom three pics.
http://kumhianao.com/?p=250

Okay, the last two can have their cats back.

Oh boy, our leader.

67 No, I thought they were right that the Romanians were disappointing, definitely, but harping on the coach giving a consoling hug and then a lot of their commentary for all the gymnasts seemed hypercritical to me. Admittedly I'm a lay person, so i appreciate them pointing out the nuances and mistakes, but they're just a little over the top. And the hype introducing the US gymnasts was pretty ridiculous. No way to live up to that.

Or, what Brock said.

Yikes, and now, after the gymnastics... {change channel}

Awww... America is engaged with China! What's a good gift for them? Are they registered at Macy's.

Oooo, I can watch the end of "Matchstick Men."

what time is the 4x100 on the east coast??? please do not spoil anything

81 Candlesticks always make a nice gift.

what time is the 4x100 on the west coast??? please do not spoil anything

CNBC's olympic coverage just began for those not interested in NBC right now.

This is the type of thing to make me root for other countries.

86
I root for everyone. Let's all have fun.

This Lyukin broad came to play.

Unless they are Tony Parker or Manu Ginobli. Then I hope they fail miserably.

The swimming finals will be live for ET and CT.

So for PT they will be at the same time as ET.

In other words, tune in around 11:15 pm PT.

I'm judging by the time my text alert arrived on my phone.

thanks bob

59 I have been waiting for that! Sweet. Cool. That was my big gripe. This totally makes my day..

Rough night for the young gals.

Andre Ethier baseball regular.

And then it gets worse. Gadzooks.

59 Could it be? 3.5 - 0.5?

95 I hate the slow motion replays. Guh.

80- I was violating rule seven with a vengeance. Except I was giving Lauer crap the other day for being hyper-political in analyzing sports, so there's really no way for them to win, with me. I'm kind of a jerk.

There's a little leaguer from Henderson, NV named Michael Blasko who has dominant stuff for a 12-year-old. Apparently, he throws a legit 82 MPH already and has a really good curve. He struck out 15 Hawaiians in 5.1 IP the other day.

Is he on Logan's radar? :)

I am going to be extremely dismayed at where The Office is going.

I bet he's on Neal El'Attrache's radar.

Is it a curve that screws up little leaguers arms, or change up?

102 Curves. Changeups are great, except that nobody can throw them.

Oops. There isn't an apostrophe in ElAttrache.

According to the logic of one Bela Karolyi, the Dodgers are under the "umbrella of protection" by being in 2nd place rather than 1st.

Whew. That's a relief. It makes the last two days much more palatable.

Bela Karolyi would have been a brilliant Soviet era dictator. One of the smaller fierce ones, like Albania.

Bela Karolyi likes the little girls just a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit too much.

And now an umbrella of confusion!

Lots of umbrellas.

Biasness is totally a word. Google it.

Chris Withrow made his Inland Empire debut tonight. Gave up a walk, single, and induced a DP (which scored a run) in one inning.

Jon would not approve of this swimmer's sunglasses.

I was pretty sweet at badminton in PE. I should start training professionally.

Chess Boxing should be an Olympic sport. It'll be even more rigged than regular Olympic boxing!

A lot of these color commentators are annoying. Probably because they only get to work every four years and want to sound important.

I wonder if Kristy Coventry's family still has their land.

114 They're also doing it in a studio in New York. It gives it that MST3K kind of feel instead of how people normally act when doing a live game.

The announcers doing the Beach Volleyball game between China and Greece were counting how many times the Chinese women were hugging each other. Not that it wasn't... noticeable but it just had that feel that the announcer were there to get a laugh, and didn't really take it seriously.

Also, Beach Volleyball is the best thing ever. EVER.

The pride of Zimbabwe!

My cable system seems to have identical coverage on CNBC as it does on Universal HD.

118- Universal HD has been simulcasting other channels the whole time. It's useful when it's the MSNBC feed, since that's the one that isn't in HD. Something called Mojo HD has the basketball games, and the channel that's usually FSNHD is carrying the soccer.

The Israeli swimmer's parents went old school on the naming.

NBC needs to do a better job of informing me that the race I'm watching doesn't really count. I keep thinking something is happening, but it's just a preliminary.

MJD in Madden commercial!

How is Jim Lampley not involved in the boxing coverage?

I read somewhere that it takes 20 minutes to get into those full-body Speedos.

124 - where you're going, you won't need testicles!

124
Yeah, you have to have people help you into them. My friend is the swim coach at a local club and they have one.

It is becoming a real problem, because the wealthy clubs have been buying those speedos for the entire team.

It takes me ten minutes to get into my wetsuit, but I am a fatty boom batty. I can't imagine it takes twenty minutes for those guys.

Those skin suits are ridiculous.

Automatic two seconds off he said, at least.

Just saw where both Houston and Tampa Bay are looking for left fielders. Looks like the Tampa need is more serious. Any possibility that the Dodgers could unclog their roster by trading JP for 1-2 prospects and pay most of his salary. Know this may sound crazy, but it would allow us to do far more things with the bench and help the infield. Did JP pass through waivers already?

My friend is the swim coach at a local club and they have one.

There are many things I'm willing to share. Swimsuits, underwear and socks are not among them.

129 I'd be surprised if he didn't clear.

This German gymnast could've mothered some of her Chinese competitors.

Hey, cycle!

Yay for the 33 year old!

How she could even menstruate is beyond me.

135 Is that part of the judging?

129 Tampa Bay is not that dumb, but Houston is.

130
Don't forget toothbrushes.

1st post from my iPhone. Couldn't view comments anymore on the Treo so it got kicked to the curb.

That routine made me miss Peter Boyle.

135
I believe that that was the first time that topic has come up on DT before.

140 It attracts bears, you know.

140 You're welcome.

I guess I should've said 'ovulate.' Details.

135
I guess she fell to the Communists.

There is one way that Michael Phelps will never match Mark Spitz, and that is in looking like a 1970's adult film star.

Haven't had time to catch up on the comments from today, but I must say that I am quite demoralized after going to the last two games. Two brutal endings in must-win ballgames. In fact, the last four games I've gone to have ended up being one-run losses. Looks like I shouldn't head out to the ballpark again anytime soon.

145 Did any of our Olympians from that era not rock the pornostache?

147 Sugar Ray!

This is pretty cool. I'm not sure it'll be great--I've read collections of letters, but never a diary; seems like something written just for the writer wouldn't necessarily be interesting to someone who wasn't the writer--but it's not bad, so far. And the period it's covering did not want for things to write about.

http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/

Les Liaisons Dangerous!

55 - thanks. it could have been worse, it could have been a proposal.

oh, and how i hate tsa.

147
Jim Ryun, now there's an Olympian with a hair cut you can set your watch to.

151 I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I'm sorry things didn't go as you hoped.

151
I had a similar thing happen to me last week. You will be fine, man. Just do some stuff that you really love to do.

Wowzers.

That was absolutely amazing.

yeah, that was cool.

Whoooa.

What the flip happened?

What makes it sweet is that it was the cheese-eating surrender monkies who came in second.

Men's 4x100M relay. Whoooa.

The amazing thing about that was that I heard that Lezak was menstruating today.

161 freestyle relay.

d'oh, what'd i miss?

153 - I'm apparently too nice of a guy for some girls. despite being more or less what they need in a guy. I'm just glad that it was at the end of the trip.

164 - and for the record, I'm not really that nice of a guy.

I'm just not edgy.

159.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

http://tinyurl.com/5g5pzy

166 - I'm surprised that they don't have the wake killing lane lines at the Olympics. They came out with those when I was in high school (lo these many years ago), specifically to stop people from drafting.

164 This is probably unsolicited advice, but girls usually say that when the guy in question has already been solidly marked as a friend in their minds. It helps if you're not their confidante/sounding board/shoulder to cry on; be nice, but have solid boundaries.

168 - yeah, it was something like that and something a little more than that... or at least that's what I thought.

164
Take pride in being a good guy. You will find something that appreciates you.

170 - eh, I'm lean towards being the less than good guy I use to be. easier that way.

and more fun.

Jerks tend to have better stories.

Please don't be an ass. There are plenty already without you trying to be one!

Even the replays are amazing.

Even in slow-mo, I can't see a difference between when their fingers hit.

173 - i doubt i would go to that extreme. just mainly tired of finishing where nice guys finish.

If Fox had won the bid for these games, they'd have had X-mo, and then maybe I'd have been able to see it.

177 - yes, but then we'd have to listen to Joe Buck every night instead of Costas. And isn't there already enough suffering in the world?

176
Seriously, that is the wrong way to think. I know you are hurting, but you got to stay positive and just be patient. Things will work out.

Lord knows we don't need more "fabulously douchey" people around.

Les grenouilles seem okay with their silver medals. No visible tears.

i, for the record, hate the full body swim suits.

179 - funny thing is, i'm not really hurting. she and i have a unique friendship, and it'll survive this. it's something different, can't quite explain it yet... and don't really want to make this thread all about me, anyway.

is nbc not aware that a more than statistically significant portion of the population uses Apple products rather than PCs?

how can you have an olympic website and not have universal players?

181
No sweat, just trying to help.

On the bright side of things, Torre is getting slightly smarter. Must be on the ginkgo biloba.

Jerks also tend to be way more confident than nice guys. Confidence is attractive.

Yes for those unaware Manny, Kemp, Ethier is now the outfield of choice for the Los Angeles Dodgers sponsored by Bigelow Tea, Torre's favorite tea for years.

The timing pads in the swimming pools register down to the thousandth of a second, but they don't use that time for record-keeping purposes.

There was a very controversial finish in the 1960 Olympics when the head judge picked John Devitt of Australia as the winner of the 100 free over Lance Larson of the US even though Larson had a faster time according to the electronic timers, but those weren't official.

Devitt ended up becoming a judge. In the U.S. Federal court no less.

184 - dude, i'm a lawyer, i'm well beyond confident and reaching the outer realm of cocky.

My mom just called about Michael Phelps (more specifically, his body). Uh...

186 - all the way down to the high school level, the touch pads are unofficial. I remember trying to qualify for CIF, we needed three clocks with at least two below the qualifying time - I think.

then we qualified and didn't go.

188
He's no male Chinese gymnast.

I tried to hang up as quickly as I could, but the damage is done.

My mom did not even know who Michael Phelps was.

She also thought Terrell Owens sounded like Pierce Brosnan. My mom totally fails.

Then again, she just really likes Pierce Brosnan.

If Sporky ever runs for a Senate seat in Minnesota, excerpts from this thread will turn up in her opponent's ads. "If she'll hang up on her own mother, how can you trust her not to hang up on you?"

If I'm ever in a situation where I'm running for a Senate seat in Minnesota, there are bigger problems than worrying about attack ads.

They did vote for Jesse Ventura.

Then again, I would vote for the Body too.

I hope they replay the USA women's basketball game, because I do not want to stay up till five in the morning to watch it.

196 Latenight report.

I sure hope UCLA finds someone who can block and throw the football because they do have some guys who can catch the ball.

Per your request, I did watch Embree when he was out there. He's kind of like Everett when he first started, seems to run good routes but can grab just about anything in his area. He also positions his body well to make the catch and protect the ball.

Now in terms of ceiling, he's probably behind Everett, Dominique, Terrence, and the other freshman (Moutra had a nice one hand grab today.) Ketchum and Graves are only ahead since they are already upper classman.

But I think he has a shot to make the 7-8 receivors who make the team, my guess is that of the freshman, Moutra is ahead of Rosario and Jerry Johnson.

198
Thanks, sounds like what I have been hearing. Sadly, I think we will be run and dump off heavy. WRs won't get much action. Paulsen certainly will though.

Really sucks about Harris, we cannot afford to lose more offensive linemen.

I cannot understand why they won't let Prince be in the running for starter. He is the most talented, screw experience.

199 I don't know, but my guess is that in terms of eligibility, they will have the depth chart at Craft, Forcier, Rasshan, Prince and Crissman.

I don't know about the dump offs, I would expect a lot of short routes with trying to get the ball to receivors in space.

This photoshopped Deadspin picture is hilarious and kind of sad at the same time.

http://deadspin.com/5035290/oh-sergio

200
Not playing freshmen because of experience is too Dorrellian for me.

Dodgers have given up the fewest runs in the major leagues now- 464.

203
If only our pitchers could combine giving up the fewest runs with Knowing How To Win™.

Going way back to 32 because I just got back to DT after posting 28. Ether time flies of posting at DT is prolific.

By the time the ball got through Kuo's legs the Dodgers had missed 3 double play opportunities. Regarding Osuna's botched play, I was talking about the ground ball to second where he bobbled the ball and was slow to get it to second causing the relay to first to be late and allowing the tying run to score.

Kuo got hitters to hit ground balls that should have been outs. How can it be said he didn't pitch well?

204 - Like knowing to give up 5 when Dodgers score 6 and giving up 0 when the dodgers score 1, etc.

206
Exactly. And if the Dodgers get shut out, our pitchers need to realize that they need to give up no more than negative 1 runs.

Someone help me, I was trying to think of a more heartbreaking Dodger weekend in the last 5-10 years than this one. Other then actually being mathmatically eliminated I can't think of one.

In other news, the National Park System today announced the renaming of Arches National Park to Spires National Park.

Park officials went on to say that "Postcards will soon be available park wide."

208 Baez blowup in SF in 06 was actually worse.

208 - Where do I start?

This Paraguayan athlete stood out to me. Do not know if it was talked about Friday. She was 41st of 45 athletes in the Javelin in 04, she has no chance to medal.

There are bikini shots, never sure if that is SFW or not. Runner up Miss Paraguay 06.

http://tinyurl.com/5sxza9

208
Do you want a chronological list or a list sorted by amount of sorrow? I can do it either way.

I would say that off the top of my head, that there are at least 20 more depressing weekends in L.A. Dodgers history. Maybe even 40.

208 New to the Dodgers are ye? Well, pull up a chair son, I've got tales of woe to tell ye. Let me just stoke up me pipe.

210 how was that worse? those were games in may, this weekend were sept. games that were the difference of being 1.5 GB or 0.5 games up.

211 , 213 - just 1 or 2 examples would be plenty.

Fukudome is looking worse and worse every month, is hitting .269/.369/.399 could get benched in the near future.

At least we've only got Andruw for two years.

San Diego Union-Tribune reports (and this isn't confirmed) that the Padres might slash payroll from this year's $73.6MM down to $40MM in 2009.

217 It's not as dramatic as it seems. They're basically saying they're not planning on renewing and veteran's contracts. Maddux, Giles, Hoffman, Iguchi and Barrett are making 32 million this year.

215
this weekend were sept. games that were the difference of being 1.5 GB or 0.5 games up

It's still August. Early August.

215
So wants to recount the story of the Brian Johnson Game?

How about the game in 1991 when the Dodgers gave up something like six runs in the eighth inning against the Padres in a crucial game with no balls leaving the infield?

How about the end of the 1996 season?

215 The embarrassing pain. The game was in April, but the way he got torched....you had to be there.

216
Eventually, I will be right. It may take me 2-3 years.

220 more heartbreaking Dodger weekend in the last 5-10 years than this one

219 you and your minor details.

Or it was May. It was just bad.

i guess one other game in recent memory where i remember screming obscenities was the Ortmier walk off HR last year off Brox.

I was certainly angry after the events of the last two days, as the text messages in my phone will attest. But I was much angrier at either of the two Baez Blowups® (the aforementioned in SF, and the Baez/Carter duo in SD), and also at the game in SD where Broxton allowed 5 runs in the 9th despite inducing at least 5 outs.

I get more angry at the Broxton game over time because that game is used as the origin for the "Broxton can't close" theory. My uncle (the one "not sold" on Martin & Kershaw) on Saturday thought the game was "classic Broxton". Its like no one appreciates how good Broxton is.

Heck, maybe the Dodgers can use this come arbitration time. :)

225 - I can understand why you have forgotten the 2nd game of the Doubleheader in COL last year.

227
I was actually preparing a comment comparing the opposing batting lines of Saito & Gagne's 2002-04 right as Helton hit the HR.

But I was much angrier at either of the two Baez Blowups® (the aforementioned in SF, and the Baez/Carter duo in SD), and also at the game in SD where Broxton allowed 5 runs in the 9th despite inducing at least 5 outs.

But those games were both April May games, these games hurt becuase we're running out of time. One bad week and our season could be over, these games are so much more magnified than those games.

I moved up to Fresno about 2 months ago so I hardly ever get to see the Dodgers play anymore. I missed the game on Friday because I had to work, then I missed all the way up to the 8th inning on Saturday for the same reason. I watched the entire game yesterday and accidentally broke my mp3 player when they lost.

Thank God I can't watch the Dodgers anymore.

229
Every game counts the same in the standings. If the Dodgers had one either of the Baez games, they win the division outright and get home field against the Cardinals in the first round instead of going on the road. Maybe Beimel feels more comfortable at home, doesn't get in a bar fight, and is available for the playoffs.

225 - and i was at that game! And the Baez meltdown game. Painful. Nothing worse than having to walk home in dodger gear amidst a sea of 'beat LA!' chants of cruel glee. The horror... The horror...

231 true, but i just feel so much worse after this weekend than those games. I just wanted to lay in the fetile position all day today and not go to work.

Maybe the story should begin with the shot heard around the world, or the early 50's World Series passed ball.

Then there was Joe Morgan's, Jack Clark's, Ozzie Smith's homeruns.

232 I was at that game, too, in my blue hat.

I still think this weekend was worse - two consecutive blown saves against a bitter rival that isn't very good when we're in the playoff hunt. Usually it doesn't hurt the next day. Usually.

At least we have today... and no CC and Sheets over the weekend. And no O-Dog for AZ.

I remain optimistic.

233
Think of the flip side. After the 4+1 game, the Dodgers lost the next two. After the D-Backs scored 6 runs with 0 out in the 9th to beat the Brewers 6-5 in July, they lost the next two.

The Dodgers are only 1.5 GB with 49 games to play. Here are the LA Dodgers playoff teams that were in worse shape with 49 games remaining:

1996: 2.5 off division, 3.5 off wild card
1983: 4.5 GB
1980: 2 GB (forced a 1-game playoff with Hou for division)
1966: 3 GB

There's plenty of time remaining.

234
Do you mean Mickey Owen in 1941?

To be fair, in Cargill's original post, he asked for a more depressing moment in the last "5-10 years." Brian Johnson, the Philadelphia comeback, Jack Clark, Mickey Owen et al, all fall outside that range.

In the last 10 years, only the Baez-Carter game, the Broxton-SD meltdown, and the Saito-Helton game would compare. And the first two of those were not in pennant race situations.

Actually, I think back-to-back blown saves against a lousy team in the heat of a pennant race is a good candidate for making the Top 10 Most Depressing Dodger Moments of All-Time list. If we miss the playoffs this year, this weekend will be the one we point to when wondering where the season finally came apart.

Billingsley's career high for IP is 161 (2006--combined between Vegas/LA). He's rapidly approaching this mark; could this be a concern?

Hetlon's homerun off Saito was very painful. I still remember the feeling of seeing the curve hang a bit and thinking, "uh oh". I hate when my split second bad feelings are confirmed that quickly.

I know we won the 4+1 game, but being there in person, I can't express the pure joy that was followed by complete sadness when we gave up the one run in the tenth. I felt like all the air was sucked out of the stadium.

241
That will certainly be something to keep an eye on. His innings have been pretty low the last few years:

2004: 134
2005: 146
2006: 161
2007: 147
2008: 149.2 and counting.

He probably has 9 starts left, so 210 IP isn't out of the question. We'll have to see if he has a dead arm period or something in a month or so.

Broxton has faced a save situation or a tie game in the ninth or later 22 times in his career. He's blown the save three times. An 86% success rate is still very good, (Papelbon's at 88%) and the idea that Broxton can't close is really based on two games.

244 Thanks.

Yesterday's start began to worry me a bit.

After Velez's game winning dribbler the entire Giants team rushed the field and carried him off over their heads like they just won the world series. For me- that makes the bottom 10 in the last 5-10 years. I can understand, somewhat, giving up a HR to Helton etc… but this was just as though the team forgot how to play baseball. I hope the boys can bounce back. 2 tough series coming up- fortunately we may miss CC and Sheets. That is good luck.

245
Does blowing the save include giving up a run in a tie in those situations? Just wondering; I plan to use these numbers to combat family members wishing to do unspeakable things to Broxton.

Maybe it's because I am getting older, but this weekend's games, although painful, did not bother me nearly as much as some of the other Dodger collapses in the 35 years that I have followed the team.

But I think the main reason that these last 2 games didn't hurt so bad is directly related to the bad weekend that the D-Backs also had. They got pounded by Atlanta a few times and despite winning on Sunday, they lose Orlando Hudson for the year.

If these last two losses to the Giants had occurred in mid to late September or if they had caused the team to fall 4 or 5 games out, it would be a different story.

But let's stand back and look at the current situation. The team is only 1.5 games out and it is August 11. Arizona seems to be the only other team capable of winning this horrible division. The starting 5 is healthy and throwing well. Kent, Ethier, and Kemp are hitting. And ....We have Manny Ramirez. How can you not like the Dodgers chances?

The toughest part of Cargill's question is that he specifies "weekend." So he does have a point that since 1998 the Dodgers have had few back-to-back Saturday-Sunday losses to compare with this past weekend's.

However, the Dodgers have frequently had devastating two-game stretches in that time. And the stuff about eliminating anything before August from the competition doesn't wash. There's seven weeks to go in the season, and the Dodgers are 1 1/2 games out. It's not like the season is over, Tony Jackson notwithstanding.

However, I'm certainly not going to tell Cargill not to feel bad. This weekend was a big disappointment.

240 - I've still got a vile feeling in the pit of my stomach from yesterday. Again to see the team give away another game when the pitcher induced playable grounders and then to hear announcers recite a blown save by the bullpen just doesn't seem fair. I lay this horrendous loss at the defenders feet, gloves and lack thereof. I posted most of what I needed to say in comment #603 of the previous thread but suffice it to say, the Dodgers will not win the division because of games like this. Too often, they give away winnable games against inferior opposition. Their record reflects their inconsistencies and the fans may have to just come to the realization that we are going to be somewhere between 78-83 wins and that is not likely to win. I think the Snakes will find a way with the top tier starting pitching to win at least 85. The Dodgers still haven't shown me that they can reel off 8 or nine wins a row and catch real fire, they always seem to stop themselves.

248

No- a tie game is not a "save situation"

248 Yeah. I looked at games where Broxton pitched in the ninth or later in a tie or a save situation. His ERA is higher than normal (over four) because one of those games is his worst outing ever.

I'll try to get a full write up on True Blue later today, but I'm stuck in meetings so it may not happen.

251 Players that the Diamondbacks are starting regularly:

Tony Clark
Augie Ojeda (or whoever is taking over for Hudson)
Alex Romero
Chris Young (as much as I hate to put him on this list)

This is a very catchable team.

242 I don't think the Helton HR off Saito last year was that bad. That was the 2nd game of a doubleheader and when the Dodger's lost the first game in Colorado that same day, that's when it felt like the season was over. The Helton HR was just twisting the knife a little bit more.

I have tickets in the Loge tonight that I bought from an attorney at work that was going on vacation out of town. I am in loge tonight-section 114 Row F - I think seats 5 and 6. I hope the team can shake off this weekend better than I am right now.

I really thought they were going to get away with a win without Bills having one of his sharper outings. When Manny doubled in those 2 runs, I thought there is some justice after all. However, the team still seemed to lack a killer instinct to get anymore runs to ease the burden on the bullpen and the shaky defense. Another effect is that Torre will now be impossible to convince to let Kuo finish a game. I actually applauded his decision to leave Kuo in for the 9th. Now he'll never do it again, even though it was the defense that botched it!

239 - Yes. Thank goodness it was before my time.

256 - I mean leave him in the 9th in a high leverage situation.

251 Do you really think the Dodgers need to reel off 8 or 9 wins in a row to win this lousy division?

254 I agree. I have a tough time seeing the D-Backs winning this thing.

256 - I think it is time we stipulate that with Torre, "never" doesn't exist.

Somebody has to win the NL West. It's in the rules somewhere.

Torre left Kuo in to pitch the ninth because he didn't really have any other options. Broxton and Park weren't going to pitch.

It was part confidence in Kuo and part necessity.

238 my minds gone digital! It keeps telling me GB = giga bites...

Nah but man this weekend was horrible just horrible for the boys in blue.

And the stuff about eliminating anything before August from the competition doesn't wash.

I agree a loss is a loss is a loss, but it just hurts more later in the season. If a basketball team loses by 1, and shaq hits a 20 footer in the 1st quarter just to beat the shot clock is going to hurt a lot less than Kobe making a open 14 foot buzzer beater (I know it's not the same because these losses didn't elimante us) but just the later the season the more painful the losses become.

256 Torre knows that Kuo was not hit hard in the 9th and that the team's defensive collapse cost them the game. Kuo never got wild or lost his composure. What makes you believe that Torre will not trust him to finish any games in the future?

I'm just glad the Dodgers play tonight too, so we can all move on. Of course, playing and also winning would make that easier.

The war on string may be unwinnable (said the cat General in The Onion), but the war to win the NL West is very winnable, bummer games not withstanding.

In most instances, regular season losses don't seem to affect the players as much as the fans. Players have to learn to get used to the daily ups and downs of baseball.

So, I will follow their lead.

247 "After Velez's game winning dribbler the entire Giants team rushed the field and carried him off over their heads like they just won the world series." As painful as this did make it feel for us, seeing that, frankly it says more about the Giants right now than it does the game or the Dodgers. They really did treat it like winning the world series, which is pretty sad. All the Giants and their fans seem to have to keep going right now is the thought of beating the Dodgers, since they're at least two years from competing for a playoff spot again. Part of me just laughed at it all.

Players have to learn to get used to the daily ups and downs of baseball

Plus, they get paid (a lot of money) whether they win or lose.

267 Good point. Thank goodness the players don't hold on to these losses like the fans do. The season would be over today if they did!

I posted about Broxton last week. What I was trying to say is that he just doesn't have that great closer mentality like Gagne and some of the other great ones had. Right now he's probably as good as anyone in the league, we couldn't find a better one. He just lacks that killer confidence and when a dink hit falls in or someone makes an error, he is prone to losing concentration and likely will lose effectiveness. Martin and Torre should absolutely make it a practice to go out and talk to him when those things happen, to settle him down, get his mind flowing in the right direction again. Costs nothing to try...

266 I agree, if we can take 2 of 3 against Philly going 3-3 in SF and against Philly doesn't sound so bad in retrospect.

Comment 269 was as predictable as the rising of the sun.

271
86%

There is something to the visceral nature of a pennant race that makes close losses in late-season games much more painful than those from earlier in the season.

Case in point: Joe Morgan's HR off Terry Forster in 1982. If that had occured in April or May instead of the last day of the season, no one would have remembered it.

271 - "He just lacks that killer confidence and when a dink hit falls in or someone makes an error, he is prone to losing concentration and likely will lose effectiveness."

Same thing keeps getting repeated by people. Still waiting for evidence that this is a trend.

268 Velez being carried off the field for hitting a dribbler up the middle made me laugh too. And Billy Sadler's excessive celebration after striking out Manny on a called strike on Saturday was also amusing. The Giants know their place in this division and they are cleary looking for any big play against the Dodgers to make their season.

Heartbreaking losses are a part of sport. If they didn't exist, sports in general would be really dull.

They're just bad to have happen to your team.

To use another metaphor, a baseball season has many roller coaster like features. Let's just hope that the Dodgers coaster is heading back up an incline instead of plunging off the rails and sending us all to a horrible death.

272. We play Philly 4 times. So we'd have to take 3 of 4 to come out 4-3 vs Philly and SF.

271
Broxton's opponents
With nobody on base: .227/.298/.342
With runners on base: .215/.301/.316

271 I see no evidence of Broxton lacking a closer's killer confidence. He also seems more focused and less likely to lose his concentration than other pitchers his age.

279 well than, let's do that.

Broxton is fine. He doesn't get hit hard (pretty much ever). We have just had a streak of lame bloopers and seeing eye dribblers along with some walks. Saturday- there's no excuse for not scoring more runs on 10 innings of terrible Giants pitchers. Sunday- the defense just folded. Can't wait for the game to start tonight we I can forget all of that....

251.

Actually I think you're on to something. I truly believe the guys need to go on a 8-9 game winning streak in order to overcome the D-Backs. Even then, I believe we'd only be 1-2 games up on them if that happened. While Arizona is really no better than we are, they seem to have that "stickiness" to stay on top, while we seem to lack the push needed to get past them and bury them. I think we're going to go on like this until the bitter end, probably losing the division by a game.

265 - The same reasoning I've seen Torre use this year in when he kept sending Sweeney to pinch hit when Sweeney when like 0 for May and June, using Proctor religously even when Proctor was an arsonist instead of a firemen out of the pen, in using Pierre as a leadoff man and benching Ethier for long stretches. I've seen the same complaint from fellow Toasters about Torre and his pet favorites and players that end up in the doghouse.
Mostly I'm very frustrated because above all, losing to the Giants when they aren't very good is most appalling. The Giants are still my most bitter rivals and every loss to them stings 3 times worse than any other team. I was born in 1960 but I have to mute the sound everytime the "shot heard round the world" is replayed and that was 9 years prior to by birth. I know it's an obsession but it is personal and it is mine and that is why I have never set foot in their ballpark to this day. I can't bring myself to step foot on their evil grounds. I would even root for the Yankees to beat the Giants in a World Series and I hate the Yankees. However, I hate the Giants more! I love the fact that I have the one "in your face" scoreboard retort to any Giant fan, the "How many World Series rings have you won in SF?" I hope I pass on before they get their first!

We face Kendrick, Hamels, Blanton and Myers in the Phillies series. We counter with Lowe, Kershaw, Penny and Kuroda.

For the D'Backs after the off day today they face Jimenez, Francis and Cook in Coors. With the Unit, Petit and Davis facing them.

278 . I'm definitely not looking forward to the latter.

284 - Yes. Also for self confidence that we can be good enough to win 8 or nine in a row when we need to. They have been so inconsistent. I just wish they could put together a real good streak of baseball that would show to themselves what they could be capable of when they apply themselves. None of the young guys have really experienced a truly great run on the major league level, maybe at the AA Jacksonville level.

286
I was going to say something along the lines of "I hope the D-Backs have the same luck the last time Johnson faced a Jimenez," but Jose Jimenez had to go and lose the Arizona in 2003, ruining my fun.

I like our pitching matchups against Philly. Actually I am liking all our pitching when we aren't going against Haren or Webb.

Andy is back in the lineup today after his injury but unfortunately committed an error in his first fielding attempt.

288
None of the young guys have really experienced a truly great run on the major league level, maybe at the AA Jacksonville level

In 2006, the club had a 17-1 stretch, including an 11-game winning streak, featuring almost all of the same young players.

That club also won the last 7 games of the year to get into the playoffs.

Thankfully, I was at a wedding this weekend so while these losses hurt, I wasn't following the games closely and the pain is less.

Seems like baseball karma owes us a crazy comeback win or two to balance things out -- hopefully this will happen against the D-Backs.

288 - The Dodgers won 8 in a row from April 25-May 3 this year in a streak that included two extra-inning victories and four games with 10 runs or more.

Since 6/12/08 Russ Martin's numbers- .246/.335/.374 that's been a huge hole at the top of our line-up the last 2 months, hopefully he can go on a tear down the stretch.

276 - The only evidence I saw of Broxton that may indicate lack of confidence was his throw to the plate - which was way off. He probably rushed it a bit, but a good throw gets Roberts at the plate. But I see nothing from his pitching performance.

From the way I see it, we need Conner Jackson to suffer a horrible injury before I can knock the D'Backs out of the race.

295
How many catcher go on a tear down the stretch? I would be shocked if the numbers showed any catcher after 120 games putting up better numbers in Sept then earlier in the year.

298 Didn't Piazza usually turn it on in the second half?

298 I don't know, but I would think at least 2 catchers a year improve thier OPS+ the last 40 games of the season.

278 perfect!

I'm enjoying the ride.

With less than 50 games left in the season,I believe there will be more of a focus on the moves/decisions made by Torre; or moves "not" made. We shall see if the Manager that guided the Yankees to so many play-offs was a result of good managerial decisions, or the result(s) of very good teams? There are some teams that you can just let them play; and there are teams that need the benefit of some really good managing. We will see if Dodger ownership gets their money's worth out of Torre and his staff.

0 - Goofy Ball certainly works better for me than Ray Milland with visions of a bat. Thanks.

Mike Piazza had some pretty torrid Septembers until the tail end of his career.

I think people should remember when discussing catchers that:

Mike Piazza was a really, really, really, really, really (add more reallys) good hitter.

299
His career OPS in Sept was 888 which is the lowest of any month. June was his best month at 975 and then down to 921, 909, and finally 888.

296 Broxton was off-balance and made a bad throw. It was a play of desperation to get the tying run, and nobody was covering first base so there was no other play. I don't think that play showed any lack of confidence.

305 It wasn't as dramatic as I thought, but those numbers are thrown out of whack by his decline years. In his prime he had a better second half several times.

305
Check Piazza's September numbers for 1997 and 1998 with the Mets.

His .406/.447/.719 September in '97 is probably what made me think that.

285 Those are all good examples of Torre's penchant for sticking with the veterans or his favorites a little too long. But I don't think Kuo will fall into Torre's doghouse based on Sunday's game.

I must say that your obsession against the Giants is quite impressive. They are at the top of my list too, but I don't think I will ever take it to your level.

285
Can I interest you in some obelisk space?

307
Not sure where 1st/2nd half splits are relative, we are talking about how a catcher ends the season, not how he was doing in July/August.

It's pretty obvious that Andruw is going back on the DL tomorrow to activate Nomar.

Ozuna then becomes the 5th outfielder.

Controversial thought I just had: if you don't count the whole steroid thing, Caminitti deserved the MVP over Piazza in '96. When Walker got it over him in '97 it was a reasonable choice.

314 You think Gagne deserves his Cy Young too?

314 I see that it was unanimous. Shocked. The stats are close enough to think that some voters would have given Piazza some 1st place votes?

I just can't think that invisibility is good for humankind. It isn't clear to me, though, whether an invisible thing would be transparent, or some kind of opaque blob.

Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/invisibility.cloak.ap/index.html

315 Nope. Kevin Brown and Hideo would have been better choices from the Dodgers alone.

Everyone should go to Catfish Stew and read the great quote Ken posted.

Hell, there's some logic in saying that the 20 extra innings Guillermo Mota threw made him more valuable than Gagne that year.

ESPN radio just reported Adam Dunn to Arizona

Adam Dunn cleared waivers?

321
ESPN.com has it to. No word yet on the 3 players.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3529966

ESPN.com is reporting that KTAR (an Arizona radio station) is reporting (double secret probation) that Arizona has acquired Adam Dunn for three prospects (who else is left?).

321
...for three prospects.

A quote from a commenter at ESPN.com:

Nice job by Colletti not claiming Dunn just to block the D-backs, was he busy brushing is mustache?

the Reds will receive pitching prospect Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.

Pitcher Dallas Buck and 2 PTBNL.

http://tinyurl.com/5sx3ke

Can Conor Jackson play right?

329 judging from just that one throw on the DP in LF in LA, i'd say no.

Reds doing a good job dumping their base-cloggers.

317 Yeah, just take a look at most internet message boards to see what anonymity/virtual invisibility brings out in people (this being one of the exceptions, of course).

310 - Believe me! 2002 was scary when the Giants were just a couple innings away. That is why I can't really hate the Angels, they did me a huge favor of keeping the Giants from winning that ring. I can stomach the Angels a lot easier, believe me, especially with one of my former favorite Dodger catchers as manager and knowing that except for that bullheaded GM that called himself the "New Sheriff in town", Scioscia would have been the Dodger manager. It was Kevin Malone's call to push Scioscia toward the exits and toward other opportunities. I had a hunch from they way he conducted himself as a player that he would make a very good manager someday.

330 In that case they still have no RF.

Please tell me the 23 year old with 4.77 K/9 in A ball isn't the centerpiece of this deal.

No waiver claim on Dunn. Colletti obviously didn't want to risk getting saddled with yet another outfielder.

Pierre and Andruw really are the gifts that just keep on giving.

Chad Tracy can play right I think.

322 as long as ned claimed him than he wouldn't be able to be traded to Arizona?

My first thought was actually, "The DBacks still have prospects?"

What's the rule on claiming a player on waivers just to block a competitor with a better record from receiving them instead? I mean, could the Dodgers have claimed him and then said, "Naw! Just kidding!" and then pulled the claim. Or do they have to then negotiate a trade? That's the only reason I can think of why Colletti wouldn't have moved to block it, fear of being stuck with yet another expensive outfielder. Otherwise, he should have. Not that I'm exactly quaking in my boots about this.

332
I can't really think of any pro-social uses for invisibility. What else would people use it for other than spying, deceiving, ambushing, etc.?

I definitely prefer a world where people cannot be invisible.

336 If you claim him, don't you still have to agree to the trade? Couldn't he have claimed him and just said no to every proposal?

The Nats announcers are speculating that the DBacks also are interested in Kelly Johnson as a second baseman.

The Dodgers really couldn't claim Dunn because what if they got him and we're stuck with him.

The outfield situation would be something that could not be adequately defined by the word logjam.

Why would no one claim Adam Dunn?

He's a free agent at the end of the season. Its not like the hook for his salary is going to be that much.

Great deal for the D-bax if true.

Do the D-Backs have any good prospects hurt? Maybe they are the PTBNLs.

Dunn is making $13M so this would have been a $4M problem for McCourt. I'm going to be very ticked if Dunn signs a fat extension for AZ.

I suffered this past weekend because I hate the Giants, I hate them beating us and I hate them celebrating beating us. I think that the division is ours to take and I have a lot of confidence that we can do it.

The Dodgers really couldn't claim Dunn because what if they got him and we're stuck with him.

DFA Sweeney
Dunn for a month and a half.

If McCourt cant spend that much on Dunn, while spending a year's worth of salary on Loaiza last year---> something is seriously wrong with the Dodgers.

If the Dodgers had put in a claim for Dunn, the Reds could have just gone and said, "Here, you go, here's his contract. He gets paid X number of dollars. Enjoy."

The Reds could have pulled Dunn back if they didn't like what they were getting back.

The classic case of a team placing a waiver claim they didn't need was the 1998 Padres. They claimed Randy Myers off of waivers because they thought the Braves wanted him. But the Braves didn't. The Padres didn't need him.

And Myers:
1) stunk
2) cost a lot

341 Yeah, but then if they say no, they can't trade him any more.

342 Wouldn't the risk of the Reds just giving us Dunn be somewhere near zero?

341 The way I understand it, either you work out a trade, or the player's current team either withdraws the player from waivers, or lets the claiming team have him for free.

349
I think the chance of the Reds giving away Dunn for nothing was low, but still a nonzero possibility.

The Dodgers could have put in a claim for Dunn, but in reality, there are literally hundreds of players being put through waivers right now. Putting in claims for every decent player passing through waivers could get a team stuck with an awful lot of payroll.

348 Ah, okay, that's what I thought.

347 How many overpriced outfielders would you propose the Dodgers have? With no DH in the NL, where would they all play? That's one hell of an expensive bench. Dunn and the Dodgers would make ZERO sense.

Here's some explanation of waivers:
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2006/08/death_taxes_and_1.php

1. Depending on who the PTBNLs are, aren't the Reds better off keeping Dunn and getting two draft picks (he's a lock Type-A FA, isn't he?) ?

2. If Ned had claimed Dunn, would the Reds dump his remaining $4M and forego the FA compensation? Seems unlikely.

349 So let me just make sure we're on the same page. If Ned claimed him and said no to every proposal than Arizona couldn't get him unless he was released right?

353 It's a nice problem to have. Yeah, there might be chaos but two months of Adam Dunn and draft picks for nothing seems like a good deal.

First, why didn't Arizona just claim him then as opposed to making a trade for him if they are picking up the $3.25 M in salary plus the extra $500K trade kicker.

Second, where does he play? Dunn hasn't played more than 2 games at first base since 2005 (and then he only played 19).

If he plays LF, then Conor Jackson plays RF or does he go back to first base.

Is Justin Upton out for the rest of the season?

356 Basically yes. You're allowed to place the guy on waivers one more time that, but you have to give the guy away if he gets claimed.

As much as I would love to have Adam Dunn or Jason Bay for that matter, I just don't see how having him on the team would solve anything, unless we could miraculously make Andruw Jones invisible and void the contract...oh, and trade Pierre.

Ned prefers zero-true outcome players over three. Dunn is the antithesis of what Ned looks for.

358 Arizona probably did claim Dunn, and then the Reds agreed to the trade, since he was on revocable waivers, not irrevocable waivers.

Justin Upton is about to start a rehab assignment in the minors. He should be back fairly soon.

Adam Dunn doesn't really play LF as much as he is told stand there.

Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn will not be giving NL West fans visions of Gold Gloves.

358 I'm thinking Dunn in left, Jackson at first, Tracy in right. Tracy becomes a sub for the four corner guys once Upton comes back.

Arizona didn't give the Reds nothing because they wouldn't agree to that.

so, who are the big FA outfielders for next year? Can we sign another CF

Justin Upton should be ready this week for RF.

351
Low enough you have to take the chance. He had to know the Diamondbacks needed a LF badly. If we make the claim, what could be the worse that would happen? The Reds say, you get him so we get stuck with him? I could live with that. You could always put Dunn at 1st base for the rest of the year and then collect the type A draft picks. Seems like a no lose situation to me.

365
Scott Podsednik...!

366 [L.A.] could always put Dunn at 1st base for the rest of the year and then collect the type A draft picks.

Whither Loney?

Manny and Dunn in the same outfield? Can you imagine Kemp in between those two?

Arizona has a big decision ahead of them as to where to play Dunn. 1B, LF, or RF?

They could always move Reynolds to 2nd, Tracy to 3rd, Jackson to first and Dunn to LF. That would put their best lineup out there.

366

Good point. It must be payroll

Actually, why wouldn't everyone put in a waiver claim on a type A free agent? There has to be something I'm missing.

368

To that I would say, who cares? We would have Adam Dunn's power in the lineup

There is also the theory that the Dodgers front office wasn't all that worried if Dunn started playing for Arizona.

So they didn't want to take the risk.

Why would the Dodgers want to play Adam Dunn at first base, where he hasn't played much and then sit down Loney? The infield defense would go from bad to extremely bad.

317 - Bob's writing can be pretty dense at times, but I wouldn't call him opaque.

369 A GM would have to be brain dead to give away a type A free agent for nothing. There's almost no way we would have got him.

366 And I agree with you that Ned and Frank need to take the chance, but ~$3.75M for Dunn, plus, what, ~$1.6M to sign two MORE draft picks. I can see the current McCourt balking at that.

The infield defense would go from bad to extremely bad.

I think you're being very kind.

371 - 376 is the only reason I can think of.

I like Loney, but I'd rather have Adam Dunn in the lineup for free. I wasn't going to trade something for Dunn but if someone wants to hand him to me for nothing I'm not going to say no.

Really, who would you rather have batting behind Manny, Loney or Dunn?

At the worse he'd be a pinch hitter, we spent more on picking up Loaiza last summer.

Aren't we talking Adam Dunn? You make room.

369 That seems like a defense that will rise up to bite the DBacks at just the right/wrong moment.

I am conflicted since Adam Dunn is on my fantasy team. That is one thing about Fantasy baseball that I hate...it makes me feel conflicted

The infield and outfield alignment described in 369 is really scary. SCY is going to have to catch everything.

Webb is going to have to become a strikeout pitcher or hope that nobody hits the ball to anyone but Drew.

369
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will be testing JoeyP's theory that defense is overrated but that is a lot of firepower in the offense if Justin Upton comes off the DL hitting.

Has Reynolds ever played 2nd base? They have so few alternatives I wonder if they are thinking about it?

Dunn playing LF in Coors (or any N.L West ballpark) will make me smile like I have a hanger in my mouth. Never has happened to me though, but I can imagine it would be a huge smile.

379 I'm with you strategically, but financially, last year is not this year. Still Ned should have made the claim and made only "payroll neutral" trade offers. Maybe it could have been a Bugs/Daffy type negotiation:

LA: Pierre!
Cin: Kemp!
LA: Pierre!
Cin: Kemp!
LA: Pierre!
Cin: Kemp!
LA: Kemp!
Cin: Pierre!
LA: Kemp!
Cin: Pierre!
LA: OK, Pierre.

Wait - Ned as Bugs? Never mind.

Here's my question, why did the Reds deal him?

If he was claimed, you pull him back and then you keep him for the rest of the year and then you either let him go and collect some picks or you re-sign his contract.

Now, this could be the ultimate money saving move, not only do they get $3.25 M off the books, they don't have to worry about signing bonuses (probably $2.5 M) for any draft picks.

Or, if you are a conspiracy theorist, the Reds play to resign him Dunn anyway, they won't lose their first round pick since it will be protected so they end up saving $3.25 M for next year's second round pick.

So really, this is just a pure rental where Arizona will end up with 2 picks and 2 months of Dunn for $3.75M and 3 minor leaguers.

I think we'd all prefer Dunn on our team than Sweeney, or Pierre for that matter. But I just feel like I'm living in a parallel universe where you can see the Dodgers adding to the already messy, chaotic, expensive outfield and clubhouse with yet another. If they could find a taker for Jones or Pierre I'm sure they would, but I'm pretty sure they couldn't. And I think they like Loney too much to bench him this late in the season. I can understand the desire for Dunn but there seems to be some severe irrationality at work to see a scenario where this would work for the Dodgers, in my humble (but lovable) opinion.

He'll give the Dbacks some more power potential, as well as be a negative on defense (and add yet more K's to their K totals, but that's not important if he hits home runs). So he will overall help the Dbacks, but don't know if it will be more than a game or so of difference.

With Adam Dunn as his new teammate, Mark Reynolds will finally have someone that can strike out as frequently as himself.

Here's my question, why did the Reds deal him?

He's a base-clogger. And I'm not being facetious.

386 That's the other thing, it was a really stupid move for the Reds unless one of those PBTNL is Scherzer. They almost had to re-sign him since they don't have any other outfielders in the system.

382
You don't need the offense on days B Webb is pitching, they can go with a more defensive team up the middle on those days.

Reynolds played two games at second last year in the big leagues and 24 games in the minors.

385 Would you like to shoot him now or wait 'til you get home?

390 Yeah, that's what I don't get. Unless the Reds got some genuinely useful player(s), now they don't get the draft picks they would have for losing him. Makes little sense.

390
If the Reds didn't get either Parker or Scherzer they just gave him away. I would much happier if one of those two was involved.

How is moving Reynolds to 2nd any different then those who advocated moving DeWitt or LaRoche to 2nd earlier in the year?

Anyone see this on ESPN insider?

Los Angeles Dodgers' injured shortstop Rafael Furcal will become a free agent at the end of the season, but he would like to return to the Dodgers next year, reports the Los Angeles Times. "They're definitely the No. 1 choice," Furcal's agent Paul Kinzer said.

Dunn will be more help to the Dodgers in Arizona than he would be in LA.

Kind of like Shaq, only not past his prime.

388 - I didn't even think of that at all. The D'Backs strike out enough as it is. SCY, Reynolds, Upton and Dunn in the same lineup. That's a LOT of strikeouts.

380 Kinda the way our new-look defense bit us this past weekend.

Dunn and Manny in the same OF would be so bad, it would actually experience the wrap-around effect. I would've been excited to see how many flyballs they could avoid catching, and how many lapsed seconds (or minutes) it would take for them to run down gappers or hits down the line.

I am planning on taking the Dodger trolley tonight. I was thinking of arriving at Union Station around 6:30pm. Does anyone know with the crowds for the shuttles if this will get me to DS by 7:00?

397 Seriously, you think replacing Alex Romero or Tony Clark with Adam Dunn is a good thing for the Dodgers?

385 - LOL

396 - Well, I saw it when it was in the Times. I think that one should have been posted on ESPN Outsider.

388 You can never have too many fans in Arizona.

401 - Reg, do you think you're going to do a Broxton post in the next day or two?

397
Which is why you make the claim, one game is kind of important in a race like this. He does help them more then he would help us and when you have the capability to block a move to help your competitors you do it.

I'm of the opinion that the Reds would not have just let him go and thus he would have been blocked from going to the Diamondbacks.

If the worse case scenario is Adam Dunn for nothing but salary you have to do it if you expect to play with the big boys.

The Galaxy fired Alexi Lalas as GM and Ruud Gullit quit for "personal reasons."

You can now resume regular programming.

404 I'm writing it right now.

407
Is it going to include his Sept 07 meltdown with 5 home runs in 12 innings or only the good stuff?

396 If he gives us a discount out of loyalty and due to his injury iffiness, then I'm definitely in favor of resigning him. That's one less other PVL outside the organization the Dodgers will have to get. Raffy at SS, Hu or DeJesus at 2nd, Blakes Dewitt or Casey at third?

This is Ned "no-risk" Colletti we're talking about. Thepossibility of taking on $4 million in salary for yet another outfielder was simply too much of a gamble. Remember, he's under orders not to increase the payroll, and his job is already in jeopardy.

Even if he felt the chances of the Reds letting Dunn go were a mere 1%, he was not going to risk it.

408 - Did we find out if he had a tired arm at that time?

408 Not going to include that because it wasn't in save situations.

396 I'm sure Furcal would like to re-sign with the Dodgers, why wouldn't he "IF" the money is right? That is always the big question: Money,money, money.

I was not in favor of signing Rafy to a five year deal when he was the best hitter in the universe back in May but I'd love to get him on a one year deal for 2009.

410 - Ned "no-risk" Colletti, meet Ned "Esteban Loaiza" Colletti.

I'm going to hold off doing a post then, but a point I would make or would have made is that Broxton has pitched in many non-save situations that would have required more mental toughness than his save situations.

401 - playing left field in SF, SD, and Phx for the rest of the season? I don't think Dunn is going to be much of an improvement, in that I don't think his offense will overcome his defense (and strike out rate coming to a division chock full of strikeout pitchers)

405 - I think you missed my point.

411
Isn't that part of the problem? He has had a tired arm a few times now. I don't think the question is if Broxton can close, the question is can he stay healthy enough to be useful in pressure situations in Aug/Sept. They are already babying him right now.

There was a question on the game broadcast the other night that I was wondering if anyone caught and knew the answer. I had the channel changed on me when the answer came about. The question was which players in baseball history have been an Allstar with both the Giants and Dodgers?

417 Then I assume you think Manny was a bad idea too.

416
That raises a question. Is it possible for a non-save situation to be "higher leverage" than a save-situation?

417
Do you feel the same way about Manny? That his defense negates his offense?

421
Absolutely

Okay, I know most of you seem to hate LOLCatz, but you have to admit this one is awesome. For sci-fi nerds and cat lovers alike:

http://tinyurl.com/6l7p38

420 - I was surprised by the Manny decision, but I'm not sure if it's a bad idea or not. I've never been a big fan of Dunn, though. I think he strikes out way too much (K/AB: .325 for Dunn, compared to .219 for Manny).

Plus, I think when you're trailing in a race, there's a greater incentive to get an impact player. The Dodgers were trailing, the Snakes are not.

Higher leverage isn't always a bad thing. Some people perform better and are more focused in these situations. In Broxton's case, I think the hitters just sit on his fastball and chip at the sliders. He needs to develop a splitter or change that can make his fastball effective. In high leverage situations, I find that it's pretty much just the heater with Broxton.

422 The Manny deal was just basically nagated by Arizona, and the really annoying part is Ned had a chance to stop it. Even when Ned does something right he still screws up.

Both of them can play some scary defense out there. But

1) Manny > Dunn as an all around hitter. Period.

2) Manny + Dunn would be particularly scary defensively. The Dodgers need to get better on defense right now, not even worse.

423
Good.

From ESPN.com

The Arizona Diamondbacks, who recently lost second baseman Orlando Hudson for the rest of the season due to a wrist injury, are interested in Mark Ellis.

The D'backs will most certainly pursue Ellis when he becomes a free agent this winter, but will also likely pounce on the Athletics' second baseman if he clears waivers.

However, one major league executive believes that Arizona does not have enough prospects to land Ellis in a waiver deal, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Manny is a better player than Dunn, but Manny has a whole nother level of bad defense that closes some of the gap.

428 It seems like if Ned claimed Dunn there was a very very good chance he'd never play in a Dodger uniform this year.

I've seen Manny and Dunn play the outfield. Dunn makes Manny look like like Andre Dawson.

Reading what Will Carroll said on BP, I still am not sure who pushed to get this deal done. It was finalized just before the window.

So Arizona did claim Dunn, the Reds pulled him back to negotiate a trade.

Just to be clear, a player to be named later has to be dealt within 6 months and cannot be on the current 25-man roster.

Generally a list is provided to the team and they pick the players.

415 The situation has changed greatly since Ned put in the claim on Loaiza. There are payroll restrictions in place now, and for the first time, his job security is getting shaky. Those factors create a different risk perception.

434 So they actually are PBTNLs and not just unnamed people?

After Vinny commented a couple of times over the weekend about how Manny does not really pay attention to balls & strikes that much, I find it interesting that Dunn has 80 BB's (in 373 AB's) and that Manny has only 55 BB's (in 402 AB's). It may have to do with who bats behind both of them, but it might also show who is aware of the count as well.

419 I would guess Bret Butler and Tom Haller.

Heyman has an article up talking about the possibility of Larry Lucchino leaving Boston and coming to work for noted Red Sox collector Frank McCourt.

He also has this poorly-timed morsel: Anyone expecting stars to be traded after the waiver deadline is probably going to be disappointed. "Teams are being more aggressive than ever in blocking,'' one GM said.

437 - it could also be Dunn not swinging at good (but not great) pitches while Manny is swinging at good pitches

437 I think it just shows who has a more discerning batting eye. This season is similar to each of their career walk rates.

436 Yes, its not like you can agree on a minor-leaguer but just not name him yet.

Justin Upton is starting a one-week rehab at their AAA team today.

418 - That's fair - I think it's great to discuss Broxton's arm strength. But the dominant debate has been about his mental toughness, not his physical toughness, and that's what I was addressing.

That being said, I question you saying the Dodgers babied him? Until a week ago, they were using him regularly, and just in the past few days he pitched Thursday-Friday-Saturday.

442 I thought it was just a detail that hadn't come out yet.

441 - "discerning batting eye" should also consider strike outs looking, no?

Who cares if he strikes out? He produces at the plate more than the majority of major leaguers.

438 Don't forget Old Grumpy.

The Reds are paying Dunn's salary.

448 I hope you're joking.

392 - Reynolds played ss in college(Zimmermann at 3rd), so 2nd should be too much (just doin the DP from the other side).

In 1983, the Braves goofed by saying that Brett Butler was going to be one of the players to be named later in the Len Barker deal. Once that became public, there was a lot of pressure to force Butler to join Atlanta immediately, but eventually Butler was allowed to finish the season.

Rick Behenna did have to go to Cleveland right away.

I'm guessing that in the end, the Braves would like to have that deal back.

Although it did lead to an epic Dodger Thoughts post.

237 when manny swings the bat, he doesn't miss so much. dunn misses a lot. therefore, while they both are patient hitters, manny doesn't have the opportunity to walk as much. he's too busy "running" to first.

449 Nope. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10927672

So in summary: our third baseman of the future and a first round pick for Manny, absolutely nothing for Dunn.

453
regairfield will never be welcomed to Sikesville, Missouri.

450 - meant should not be a problem for Reynolds to play 2nd.

446 - I'm not a fan of strike out hitters (for lack of a better term). not to drag a dead horse to water and then beat it furiously, but: strike outs do nothing to advance the offense and are the third worst outcome at the plate (as far as I'm concerned) behind triple plays and double plays. While Dunn hits the ball a very long way when he does manage to make contact, he just doesn't hit the ball very much.

453 Which conflicts this story:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/122811

"Dunn is owed about $4 million for the rest of the year, and the money is expected to be split between Cincinnati and the D-Backs."

So which is it?

Either way I think it's clearly worth it for the Dbacks.

453 Correction, they got Dunn and 2 draft picks for absolutely nothing.

Shannon Stewart is available now! He comes cheap.

457 "Cincinnati also has agreed to send cash to Arizona to help offset what's left of Dunn's $10.5 million 2007 salary."

That is not necessarily in conflict. That doesn't say the Reds are paying it all, in fact, "help offset" sounds like a "split" of some sort. All I can say is those better be quite some PTBNL or Cincy got took.

Did the Reds really get taken? Dunn wasn't going to resign in Cincinnati, was he? They are getting three prospects (who will have professional track records) instead of two draft picks. That's not necessarily a bad deal for them.

456 That sounds reasonable, but almost everyone who has studied the numbers has concluded that the strikeouts really don't hurt. Keep in mind that half a player's at bats are with the bases empty, so all outs are equal. With two outs, all outs are also equal. With a runner on first, or runners on first and second, a K is usually better than making an out in play. So basically, you're looking at situations with runners on 2nd or 3rd, and less than 2 outs, which just don't happen that often. And when they do, the batters often change their approach anyway.

453 457 the sportsline story only says the reds are sending cash to "help offset" dunn's salary. it doesn't say how much...

So who will Marty and Thom Brennaman pick on now? Who will be the Reds player deemed to be unworthy of respect by them?

Following the Reds on the radio is like having to listen to Bill Plaschke speaking with a more Midwestern accent.

I wonder if both the Reds and the Diamondbacks were and are planning not to offer arbitration for Adam Dunn.

In reading the story on the Reds MLB.com site, it appears that there might have been a thought that they were not planning to offer arbitration nor re-sign him.

And since the D-Backs owe Eric Byrnes $20M for two more years, Young signed a extension, you have Upton and now Conor Jackson seems to like LF more than 1B, why would you keep Dunn and why would you risk shelling out $13-$15M if ends up accepting arbitration.

So really, the Reds just wanted to get something for Dunn, the D-Backs didn't want to pay too much for him and unless someone signs Dunn prior to the arbitration deadline, they probably will just let him walk.

Dunn and the Dodgers would make ZERO sense.

Dunn could play 1st everyday in place of Loney.

Why would you not offer Adam Dunn arbitration?

unless someone signs Dunn prior to the arbitration deadline, they probably will just let him walk

Something he's very good at, BTW.

453 Dunn's not going to be a hall of famer. And the Dodgers aren't going to be paying for Manny's salary outside of the million trade kicker, and I doubt we would have 'dreads night if Adam Dunn was here.

Also, I think something being gone unnoticed is that because the Dodgers farm system was stacked the past couple of years, teams weren't just going to accept crappy and no name players from our system. While they may accept lesser players from other teams because they don't have as much to offer.

For all the talk about "We could have gotten Adam Dunn for nothing!" That's not necessarily true, the Reds would have asked for a guy like LaRoche, or Carlos Santana because they know the Dodgers system has talent like that in the system.

It would have cost more for the Dodgers to pick up Adam Dunn because we simply have more to give.

If he plays LF, then Conor Jackson plays RF or does he go back to first base.

I'd say Conor Jackson will go back to 1st basemen.

I think the reason the Dbax picked up Dunn (not just bc he's a very good player), but bc they dont want Tony Clark starting at 1st the rest of the year.

If Upton comes back and gives them anything, they are going to be very hard to catch.

466

Oh you.

466 joins 269 as "sun rising in the east" style comments.

not a blockbuster move by the snakes but I guess it will help them.

466 Thus completing the all stone-glove infield, Dunn, Kent, Berroa, Blake. Dunn played 33 games there in 2005 and only 2 since then.

You could always put Dunn at 1st base for the rest of the year and then collect the type A draft picks. Seems like a no lose situation to me.

Toycannon, we rarely agree but on this point you are 100% spot on.

i miss benny agbayani. now there was a slow left fielder who didn't make people angry about what he was and wasn't good at.

Benny Agbayani plays center field in Japan.

454 - It's Sikeston, not Sikesville. Don't act like you've never been there, Bob.

478
There was an incident...

Let me guess... someone threw a dinner roll at you.

469 It would have cost more for the Dodgers to pick up Adam Dunn because we simply have more to give.

I don't buy that argument. If I have a widget to sell and I ask you for $15 for it and you offer $10, will I reject Bill Gates offer of $15 because he could afford to give me $1,000,000 instead?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=4808

Small sample size, but in his last 7 games, Dunn's at .148/.207/.185 with a .392 OPS. Not to say he won't heat up at Chase Field the rest of the year, but that's the danger with Dunn. He's not going to help you much defensively, and he goes awful offensively at times.

438. You were right on Haller. Butler was only an Allstar for the Dodgers in 91. For kicks I typed in Kent and he was an Allstar for both the Giants and the Dodgers. After Kent I had no clue, though Butler crossed my mind. Don't know if there's any others though.

480
The incident involved a dinner roll, six units of the National Guard, and a daring getaway in a hijacked blimp.

We need to start trading with the stupid teams, instead of the smart ones.

462 - you raise good points. I prefer guys who can put the ball in play because that at least gives a player a chance to get on base and get/keep the inning going. Putting a ball in play puts pressure on the defense and forces them to execute - a strike out allows them to stand there and balance their check books.

Plus, I'm not sure I "trust" a lot of the analysis.

467 Because you don't want to pay him $15M if no one else signs him.

487 I'm pretty sure someone would sign Adam Dunn.

We need to start trading with the stupid teams, instead of the smart ones

Too bad we can't trade with ourselves.

Has Tracy been hurt if Clark is playing all this first base?

483 I wanted to guess Sal Maglie as well, but despite finishing second in both the MVP and Cy Young balloting, he was not an All-Star for the '56 Dodgers. (Was the question limited to LA and SF?)

484 - I thought I saw something about that on the evening news. I hope you learned your lesson -- never stop in Sikeston; just head straight on to Dexter: www.visitdexter.com

477 now i'm mad :)

485 You can't just trade with stupid teams, you have to trade with teams more stupid than you are.

you have Upton and now Conor Jackson seems to like LF more than 1B, why would you keep Dunn and why would you risk shelling out $13-$15M if ends up accepting arbitration.

Is there really much of a risk in giving Adam Dunn a 1yr deal at 13-14 mils?

Having Adam Dunn, still in his prime, on a 1yr deal at 1st base doesnt seem that bad. I doubt there's much risk in offering arbitration to Dunn, bc he'd be stupid to take it. He'll definitely get a multi-year deal somewhere.

492 - why would you go to Missouri in the first place, unless you were running for national office?

Isn't this the same GM who signed Eric Byrnes to an extension, traded Carlos Quentin to the White Sox for nothing and has 32 HR's? He's not exactly a saint.

Andy is up in a BIG situation in Flushing.

I was disappointed to find out Jason Schmidt wasn't an All-Star for both the Dodgers or the Giants.

Nor was Mark Sweeney.

481 More like Bill Gates offered the full $15 dollars, and you take his offer over the guy offering $10 because its five dollars more. If you only had the $10 offer, you might take it because you don't know if you'll get a better offer and you need to sell it before a certain date.

And its not as if teams know exactly which teams are offering which players.

If Team A offers Team B better players, and Team C can't offer the same quality of players, Team B will likely go with Team A offer. But if Team A wasn't interested, then Team B will likely deal with Team C. And in that vacuum, Team C's prospects can look kinda what you want. If you widen the pool, Team C's prospects are less attractable, but in that small pool, Team C's prospects are kind of hot. Especially for a team that is scared as heck to pay Adam Dunn $15 million next year if he accepts Arbitration.

496
Some of us have relatives who live in the Show Me State.

Heilman hits Andy. But, no damage done.

491. I don't recall the question specifying anything. I'm pretty sure it just vaguely asked about the Dodgers and Giants.

500 - the smartass in my wants to repeat the question, but that's just because I'm in a bad mood.

488 Who is signing him at that price?

Mets
Phillies
Braves
Indians
Yankees

Those are the 5 teams I can think of that might have the money but the Yankees and Mets are probably going to be in the CC race, the Phillies could just re-up Burrell, the Braves wouldn't seem that interested.

Maybe the Indians but that price might just scare them off.

Isn't this the same GM who signed Eric Byrnes to an extension, traded Carlos Quentin to the White Sox for nothing and has 32 HR's? He's not exactly a saint

He traded Quentin to get the prospect needed to get Dan Haren.

Eric Byrnes is hurt this year.
Wasnt he pretty good the last two years, still in his prime?

10 mils a year for Eric Byrnes or Juan Pierre?

If signing E. Byrnes is the worst thing J. Byrnes has done, then he should be heavily pursued by the Dodgers this off-season.

494
I thought the Astros were possibly the dumbest team and they have same record as us.

Pretty much no hope to find a dumber team. Maybe the Giants, but they have nothing to trade.

496 I visited friends there recently. Then I hightailed it to Memphis.

486
The advantage of not striking out (advancing runners and all) is counterbalanced (but not completely) by hitting into more double plays.

Fun Stat
Adam Dunn, career: 4562 PA, 56 GIDP
Juan Pierre, same time period: 5050 PA, 59 GIDP

Even though Dunn makes a ton of outs that don't advance the runner, he rarely hits into DPs.

504--Wouldnt most of the AL teams be willing to sign Dunn since they have the DH?

You should know that many players forego a higher 1 yr arbitration deals, in order to sign multi-year deals.

There's alot more security with the multi-year deal.

And even if Dunn accepts, the Dbax could do alot worse than having Dunn at that price for 1yr at 1st base. Who else would they be in the market to sign that could be an OPS machine like Dunn is?

506 Don't you think Ned covets Rich Aurelia as utility IF upgrade?

Many of the "dumb" GMs lost their jobs over the past couple seasons. Seattle, Pittsburgh, ....

505 - I don't remember comparing one GM to the other.

I'd rather have Carlos Quentin and Dan Haren.

Chris Carter would have been some other prospect.

508 - those fun stats show a difference of about .01% in GDP rate. Now, Pierre's tendency to reach on fielder's choices would probably skew the numbers a bit more in favor of Dunn. But again, ultimately, I prefer line drive hitters who can put the ball in play.

508, 512 - Didn't we air out this debate, like, a week or so ago?

with Rivera and Anderson likely leaving, I could see the Angels adding Dunn as their DH.

Vlad, Tex, Dunn, Matthews - that'd be a fun line up to watch.

508 baseball-reference only has Dunn at 54.

513 - probably, and I've said my peace. sorry.

Sorry to ask again. Anyone take the trolley already? How long did it take from arriving at Union Station to get to the parking lot?

512
I was just pointing out that it's amazing that Dunn only hits into DPs at a Pierrian rate. That's really, really low.

Pujols and Dunn both started in 2001 (Dunn in July though). Pujols has grounded into 148 DP compared to Dunn's 54 (the 56 was a typo).

509 Or I could pay Manny for $20 million and I get the added benefit of Manny being Manny.

What is Dunn's FB/GB ratio?

514 Dunn doesn't strike me as a Scioscia/Hatcher type batter.

518 Dunn GIDP 1.18% of his PA's Manny 2.57%

503 - Hey, pal. Don't take out your anger on Missouri.

The Angels already has Kendry Morales, which is basically A Dunn-type who they can control for the next five years.

517 I have taken but have gotten there fairly early so I don't know what to tell you.

One thing is that there are no special lanes from Union Station to Dodger Stadium so hit the same traffic until you get to the stadium, then you are allowed to go through an employee gate.

If you get their at 6:30, I would expect a line and a little wait but it shouldn't take that long. Also the gate drops you off behind the pavillions so if you are going to any level outside the field levels, factor your arrival on that too.

Can't wait when the Phillies let Brett Myers pitch against the Dodgers. I want to yell "BOOM! OUTTA HERE!" all night long.

520 According to fangraphs.com, his GB/FB since 2002 is 0.73, ranging from 0.62 to 0.99 each season. In his career, 49.3% of the time he either walks or strikes out.

513 Yes, and a month before that, and the month before that, and last year, and zzzz...

I'm done with Dunn.

What else ya got? How about them Olympics? How's the pitching matchup look tonight for the Dodgers? How about that Mad Men?

524
Kendry Morales has 69 walks in 1265 minor league PA (1 every 18 PA), with an isolated power of .196.

Dunn in his MLB career has an isolated power of .273, and he walks to the tune of 1 every 6 PA.

489 D4P, I was in need of a laugh, and that got it.

One reason we were not in a good position to block Dunn to ARI. is because of some goofy manuevering we have already done that has us with 4 or 5 outfielders who need to start. The Dodgers have been gradually losing defense, with Kent aging, our new 3rd baseman, times we play Pierre's arm, and the loss of Furcal. We owe 20-30 million to players we would not play if we didn't owe them. These reasons, and the fact that I believe defense is more important than some people think in the fantasy age, make it harder to pick up Dunn.

526 as do I

The Transaction Guy says Dunn is expected to play right field instead of his customary left, where BPro's Rate2 has him as a typically mid-80's player; imagine how much worse he could be if he played in right.

http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/

Dunn... in right field.

Holy... Dunn in right? Wow. That'll be... adventurous.

whats he upcoming week look like for AZ Houston and Colorado? its amazing how hard our August is in comparison

If we can make through this week hovering around where we are right now in division, I'd be very pleased

525

Maybe I will plan on being at Union Station at 6:15

532--Thats probably only until Upton is back from his rehab.

One of Upton, Tracy, Jackson, Reynolds, Dunn will have to sit each game unless they do play Reynolds at 2nd---> cant imagine that happening.

5 corner guys for 4 corner spots.

536 Or they'll just make Upton a bench player when he returns.

532 Is there any difference between left and right aside from arm strength?

FWIW, Dunn at Chase Field career:

.150/.261/.333/.594

Gmail is down. What am I supposed to do now?

538 Many more RH batters in baseball, meaning more sliced balls to Dunn's backhand side??

Going all the way back to 59 - perhaps I would choose to boldface it a little differently:

"Today marked the second consecutive game in which the starting outfield consisted of Ramirez in left, Kemp in center and Ethier in right. The manager said that Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones would remain on the bench until he felt he had a reason to change the lineup. "

Torre's felt like he had a lot of reasons for a lot of lineup changes this season. One thing I've learned this season is not to put too much hope/despair into Torre pronouncements regarding the future.

Not that arm strength isn't an issue with Dunn.

FWIW, ran the rest of the season for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks on my simulator for 30 seasons, using the remaining schedule for both teams. I ran the DBacks twice, once w/o and once w/ Dunn in the lineup.

LAD: 23.77 - 21.23
ARI: 21.83 - 22.17 (w/o)
ARI: 22.23 - 21.77 (w)

Without Dunn, it's very close to a statistical dead heat. With Dunn, the DBacks come out ahead by about half a game.
vr, Xei

540 Its working for me.

540
Go over to Marty's house.

Gmail wouldn't let me send a message.

Got any fruit left on your trees, Marty? I cleaned out all my apricots last week.

Yay, Gmail is back up.

Except for the part where I can list my email but not read it. So, Marty, what's for dinner?

Actually the question wouldn't go through on my laptop, but it did on my BlackBerry.

Just went down for me.

It's not only down but it's "problem #796"! Makes me worry I've missed out on many previous site outages. I want my money back!

I think Google is just reminding us all of how dependent we all are on them. I know that I can't function without it. What am I supposed to do, work?

I for one welcome our Google overlords.

I just have problem #502.

554 - Ah hah! I win.

552 I have "temporary error 502." What is going on here? Let the panicking commence!

555 Not so fast! I had a 502 error and then now a "problem 796".

Without Google, the entire Internet is broken. My new plan:

1) Sabotage Google
2) Hold out for a ransom
3) Profit!

If I can just figure out how to stay out of jail...

Confirmation!

http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/gmail.google.com

Well, to be clear/fair, Google's not broken; just gmail as far as I can tell.

Ah well, in four days I will be trying not to go through complete internet withdrawal when in the Sierras. I may try to communicate with y'all via carrier hawk or smoke signals.

If I can just figure out how to stay out of jail...

4) Give 3) to fancy lawyer.

gmail working for me. Hah you suckers!

544 - Inside of a Dunn, it's too dark to read.

548 Last of the peaches was a couple weeks ago. Tragedy struck though. It looks like one of my peach trees has died. I'm pretty sure because all the fruit and leaves dried up and fell to the ground. My other one seems to be fine.

But I'm a supersticious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall it, if it should be shot in the trunk by a police officer, or if it should hang itself in its jail cell, or if it's struck by a bolt of lightening, then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room.

I feel like an outcast for still (mostly) using Yahoo. But hey, I have an iPhone!

560 I did that for much of July and realized just how much of an addiction I have when I woke up and felt lost because I could check my email, the news, or the scores. I need an information "patch".

I heard the iPhone has a thingy whereby Steve Jobs can secretly dial it up, activate its robotic legs and have it walk back to Apple headquarters.

Or have it commit mayhem. Like killing fruit trees or something.

564 What a bummer. It's not like you can replace it with a new, mature peach tree overnight. Unless you have some friends from Dubai.

This must be the work of a secret organization, because peachhaters.com is not registered. I expected a press release taking credit for the incident.

564 Was Bob seen in your area recently? He is on the record with anti-peach sentiments.

Although I have professed hatred for peaches before, neither nor any of my organization claims responsibility for the demise of Marty's peach tree.

Troy Aikman wearing UCLA gear on PTI.

572
Yeah, but he couldn't win the big game.

Death to Rodney Peete!

571 - feh. Plausible deniability, I call it. Almost certainly this is the work of pro-Bob, anti-peach factions in your area. Check for subversives and counterrevolutionaries!

572
Q: What do you see when you watch a late 80s/early 90s workout video?

A: You see LA Gear

If you're calling for the death of Rodney Peete, you are living a very sad existence.

565 - I still have an aol account. but i mostly use my mac/me account.

but no iphone. speaking of, is there any word of what is going to happen when the deal with AT&T is up?

Wow, this is the longest I can remember Gmail being down.

Alexi Lalas (sp?) looks strange without the goatee. I wish I had the patience to grow one of those.

573 Aikman just didn't have a quarterback mentality.

If you're calling for the death of Rodney Peete, you are living a very sad existence

You're talking about a man who keeps score at baseball games and visits treaty-signing locations around the world.

JoePos has another great post on "pribbies"

A little late but here is a small list, the first # is K%/PA the second # being GIDP%/PA.

Cust- 33.1%/ 1.26%
R. Howard- 28.5%/ 1.64%
Adam Dunn- 26.6%/ 1.18%
Derrek Lee- 20.2%/ 2.38%
Man Ram- 18.5%/ 2.57%
Pujols- 9.4%/ 2.84%

469 I would say that it is a little premature to say that "DUNN'S NOT GOING TO BE A HALL OF FAMER". Is Ken Griffey Jr. going to be a HOF? Is Manny going to be a HOF? Well, Dunn hits a homerun every 13.8 AB's, Griffey every 15.14 AB's, and Manny every 14.5 AB's.

581

I was planning on keeping score tonight. Is that no longer a cool thing to do?

When Vin says, "for those scoring at home"

I always wonder if someone is really keeping score at home.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3530293&name=law_keith

Keith Law likes the Dunn trade to the D'Backs, but he's assuming he's going to play LF, and move Conner Jackson to 1st.

583 Loney- 12.1%/ 3.54%

582 - Any word on what Joe's big news is gonna be?

I am under the distinct impression that the Dodgers are not allowed to spend any more money on adding players this year. That's probably why they didn't block the DBacks from getting Dunn.

Gmail is now back for me.

584 - Junior is a hall of famer, first ballot. Manny is also probably a hall of famer.

Dunn hasn't played long enough to be dubbed a "potential hall of famer". He hasn't been spectacular over a short period of time, nor has he been very good for an extended period of time. Plus, I don't think a lot of .250 hitters make the Hall, unless they have 500+ home runs (which is a possibility for Dunn, I suppose).

Tonight is a night that I would love to have a beer at the stadium, but I don't recognize Tecate as a premium beer, and I hate to spend that much money on a beer.

I'm not really going to get worked up over the Dunn deal. There is a lot of speculation that Mccourt was at least involved in the Manny trade, if not the driving force behind it. So as much as I'd like to see Ned fired, it looks highly likely to me he was at least told by his boss to make the Manny deal happen.

As for not putting in a claim, Ned has also been told he can't increase payroll. He couldn't take the chance the Reds simply let us have him. I think his hands are pretty much tied in this situation.

There is also zero evidence to suggest that Colletti even values Dunn as a player given the high importance he places on BA and seemingly doesn'tt even look at OBP. It's highly likely he has a JP Ricciardi (sp) opinion of Dunn and thinks some lazy fielding whiff machine going to his competitor is a good thing.

The all-knowing Jon Heyman says that Theo and Larry Lucchino are not doing well together and we may find Larry out here next year (McCourt's love for everything Boston, etc.)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/08/11/heyman.lucchino/index.html

Just how/where would Lucchino fit into the Dodger front office? Discuss amongst yourselves.

584 For the Hall of Fame, All-star games matter, and BA matters. Dunn has one all-star game(2002) to Manny's 12 all star games to 13 all star games for Griffy. Manny has a MVP to his name, So does Griffy. Adam Dunn just has his one all-star game.

Dunn's not in the same league as Griffy or Manny.

591 Even with the 500 HRs, he's not making the Hall. Dunn's defense doesn't make him a serious consideration.

595
I agree with your point, but Manny's best MVP showing was 3rd place (both 1999 & 2004).

Dunn's defense doesn't make him a serious consideration

The bigger problem is his BA and overall lack of "star power". Plus, his teams usually suck. Put him on the Yankees or Red Sox and all of a sudden he's a superstar.

Plus plus, HOF voters don't tend to care much about OPS per se.

The Hall Of Fame doesn't care about defense.

I will never understand why payroll matters to this franchise. They should sign Manny and CC in the off-season.

Let me say as long as the money is spent wisely, there should be no-limit. Frankie is NOT hurting.

597 My mistake.

598 Its not like guys like J.D. Drew or Jason Giambi are suddenly superstars. They're still the flawed players they always were.

595 Based on his age, and the avg # of homeruns he has hit so far in his 7 years of major league experience, Dunn is on pace to hit 656 HR's by the time he is Junior's present age (38). Griffey presently has 607 HR's.

599
Ozzie Smith & Bill Mazeroski beg to differ.

The Reds now have no players left from what Baseball Prospectus once predicted might be dubbed the "Best Outfield Ever." (Dunn, Griffey, Kearns)

Evan Longoria to DL with fractured wrist.

Rays are going to be hurting.

603 If Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire makes it to the hall, you may have a point. But I doubt either of them are going to make it, and Dunn's not better than either of them.

ESPN says Evan Longoria's been placed on the DL for a fractured wrist.

603
Griffey himself had 350 HR through his age 28 season, compared to 270 thus far (and counting) for Dunn.

604 Okay, the Hall Of Fame doesn't care about defense unless it's really, really good.

Good news for Jon and others.

Bruce Springsteen to be the half-time performer at Super Bowl.

Least suspenseful lineup in a while...

Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Kent 2B
Ramirez LF
Loney 1B
Martin C
Blake 3B
Berroa SS
Lowe P

I still wish we could have seen what Griffey would have done if he stayed healthy. It would have been far more enjoyable watching him chase down Ruth and Aaron.

317 . >>>>I just can't think that invisibility is good for humankind....<<<<

Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible.

I just don't think that a human being could resist the peeping-tom possibilities. Okay, I don't think a MAN could resist the peeping Tom possibilities. Okay, okay, I don't think I could resist...

It just wouldn't be good.

Just for context, going by OPS+, Ramirez has 13 seasons in his career basically just as good as Dunn's best season. His career OPS+ is higher than Dunn's single season best. Adam Dunn isn't as good as Ramirez right now. He certainly will never be better.

611 Now if that lineup can give us a 4 to 5 run lead in the ninth so we all won't have ulcers after the game ends.

Also I should clarify that by just as good, he also has several seasons better than Dunn's career high.

I think the way the Hall of Fame voters look at defense is the number of Gold Gloves a player has.

Manny will be helped, immensely, by being a driving force behind Boston finally breaking through. If the Cubs would have won the World Series with Sammy Sosa, he'd be in the Hall too.

610 Ugh. That's horrible news. I would have hoped he'd have a little more class than that.

610
My 5 favorite musicians/bands are Weird Al, Dylan, U2, Springsteen, and Petty. This means that the 3 of those likely to perform at the Super Bowl will have done so.

The other two Super Bowls with my "Fav 5" featured the Patriots and an upset. You do the math.

606

Crud. My Fantasy team was making a push to be out of last place.

603

That reminds me. Did KCAL do a poll on A-Rod, Pujols and Griffey to see who could beat Bonds' homerun record this weekend? I think I saw that Griffey got more votes than Pujols.

608 And Manny had 122 HR's in his first 8 seasons at age 28; where Dunn has 270 HR's in his 7th season at age 28. By the way, who votes for the All-Stars??

613 - who stole my invisibility cloak? oh, nevermind, here it is. The potential for bad has to outweigh the potential for good.

Off-topic: Ubuntu is a pretty fantastic Linux distribution. Just switched from Gentoo and it's easily the best I've used yet. Nearly everything was setup automatically for my laptop, and the rest was very simple to handle.

Players who wouldn't have so much as sniffed the Hall of Fame if not for their defense: Ozzie, Mazeroski, Brooks Robinson, Rabbit Maranville, Ray Schalk, Rick Ferrell, Phil Rizzuto, George Kelly, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker.

623

I tried installing Ubuntu after my OSX install, but it wouldn't let me pick the correct partition of the hard drive. Since then I have not had the energy to try again.

Well, if he's going to make the ultimate sellout move, I hope Springsteen at least ticks people off with his song selection. I'm thinking maybe 41 Shots, Magic, Last to Die, Ghost of Tom Joad, and Roulette would be a good setlist.

591
Let me introduce you to Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew
http://tinyurl.com/55qkxe

625 I haven't tried it on a Mac, but you should be able to use Manual Partitioning to create your own partitioning.

620 You recall correctly. And I still don't understand how you vote for anyone but A-Rod unless you are just being contrarian.

621
Manny had 236 HR through his age 28 season (his 8th).

I just thought it was kind of silly to point out a player's pace for 10 years down the road, especially using Griffey as the comparable since Junior was the king of "on pace for..." for a long while.

621 Homers aren't the only thing that manner when deciding a HOF bid.

623- What's your wifi chipset? I've used Ubuntu, but having to reconfigure the wifi (a torturous procedure, requiring three different software patches, and plenty of cli time) with every update broke my spirit. It was every inch of this (especially the alt-text): http://xkcd.com/456/

I refuse to use Ubuntu since it was the Celtics' team slogan for their 2007-2008 NBA campaign.

XeiFrank - sorry about the loss of Crawford and Longoria. That 150-1 remains what it is.

Is there anybody who, if here were handicapping the odds of Dunn's getting into the HOF would give him better than 3:1 against? I think his chances of being out of baseball in the next four years are better than his chances of going to the Hall. But he's an excellent hitter, and, as a pretend D'backs fan, I'm make-believe thrilled at the acquisition.

573
I also forgot this. Bob, I'm going to assume you didn't care for the Rodney Peete "Best Damn" years, or that you had a crush on Holly Robinson from "21 Jump Street". Surely that's the only reason you could be mad at Rodney Peete.

632 I have an Intel 3945. This was a major source of pain for the past year and a half, but Intel has an open source project on this now. The iwl3945 module is provided with the latest kernels, and so it was installed by default with Ubuntu. I had to add one line to a config file to load the module automatically, and one line to turn on software scanning, but otherwise everything worked out of the box.

Xorg was configured fine out of the box too. Haven't had to recompile a kernel yet, though I did plenty of that for Gentoo. Suspend and hibernate work out of the box. The keys to dim and brighten the screen work out of the box. Sound works out of the box. These are all things that would have given me much pain previously.

Hanging With Mr. Cooper is under-appreciated.

635
I imagine your jumping off the D-Backs bandwagon will be similar to Kramer getting fired from his fake job.

[AZ Snake Pit]: Shimmin, I'm sorry but looking at your actions, its as if you've never even been a D-Backs fan before. We're going to have to let you go.

[Shimmin]: But I'm not even a real fan!

[AZ Snake Pit]: That's what makes this so difficult.

635 I'd say his Hall chances are far greater than the chances of him being out of baseball in 2012. But both are extremely unlikely.

633 I used it as a reason to hate the Celtics even more. I won't let them get between me and my techie happiness.

629

Yea, A-Rod for sure, and I would put Pujols up there as possible, but Griffey? At this point in his career? Come on

635 - I'd probably open bidding at 5:1 against. for entertainment purposes only

ATI video was also a big problem, back when I was trying to be a hip linux guy. Now, I'm just looking forward to when enough people dump Microsoft to make Windows hip, again. The day is coming--mark my words!

642 He only has to average 20 homers a year until he's 45 or 46 to break the record. ;)
Although that does discount the possibility that a light breeze will put him on the DL.

Previewing tomorrow;

Ryan Howard vs. LHP- .190/.250/.348

I love the guy's name who is sponsoring Killebrew's page. Jerry Lundegaard would have been better though.

So I was trying to find out when I could see some Olympic soccer matches on the telly and this is what I discovered on the TV schedule page via Yahoo:

Soccer -- 5 am to 5pm -- NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

What is the NBCOSC and who gets it?

Sigh.

And yet I could get all the badminton I'd ever want on CNBC last night.

644 System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers. It's that easy now.

Waiting for Windows to be hip is like waiting for corduroy to come back in. Again.

645 Also, A-Rod would only be 100 or so back from where Bonds and Griffy would be.

A Rod's going to sniff 800 before its all said and done.

610 - That's my reaction. It's like finding out Kirk Gibson is coaching for the Diamondbacks. Well, it's not quite like that, but that's as good as I'm coming up with right now.

From the way the Snake Pit's tells it, suddenly the fact that Petit, and Davis are pitching horribly don't matter because Adam Dunn is going to smash everyday and hit 4 homers every night, and get 20 RBIs every game.

Prince redefined the Super Bowl halftime show. Before Prince, it wasn't cool. Now it is possibly cool.

Bruce probably could get away with playing "Last To Die," or something like it if he played it on Prince's extra-phallic purple guitar.

Otherwise, I think we can expect:

Thunder Road
No Surrender
Radio Nowhere (he has to play at least one song from this century)
Born to Run

Maybe if it's the Cowboys v. the Patriots, he can do "Girls in their Summer Clothes," for Jessica and Giselle.

Man, I bet the 49's would have picked Aaron Rodgers over Alex Smith if they had to choose again.

650

Will he need a bionic elbow to do it?

655 Oh, I'm sure he's going clone himself a couple of times so he can get another $275 million/10 year contract.

I'll bet money Born in the USA is in the set.

652
Don't you just hate it when fans get excited about an acquisition. Better they should bemoan the fact they only have 2 great starters and not 5.

I remember Ashlee Simpson at the 2005 Orange Bowl. Good times, good times.

659
Yes, the 2005 Orange Bowl was a glorious night all around! :)

630 I agree that Griffey, because of all his injuries, may not be as good a comparison to Dunn. I think the Manny comparison is very legit. It is true that nobody knows what will happen in the next 10-15 years, but look at who holds the current all-time career homerun record. What was B.B.'s stats after 8 seasons? He had 222 HR's in 4,123 AB's for an avg of a HR every 18.5 AB's, far above Griffey's (16.75 AB's), Manny's (14.7 AB's), and Dunn's (13.8 AB's). Getting back to my orginal point about Dunn and the HOF; it is too early to say.

Did anyone tell Bob that the Reds DFAd David Ross? I'm sure he's on the phone to Ned urging him to pick up Ross...

despite my disgust with the weekend's results, I couldn't resist seeing Manny for the first time in a Dodger Uni, so I'm off to the ravine.

Go Blue

Manager Joe Torre said Broxton would resume his closer role Monday night when the first-place Phillies come to town for a four-game series, but there was no indication whether Park would be available.

Andruw Jones getting DFA? Pershaw! It's obviously Chan Ho Park's making room for Nomar. ;P

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080810&content_id=3285829&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

661 I think BB is a bad example, as PEDs are probably not the way to get into the Hall anymore. Not that Adam Dunn isn't great. He is very good.

Adam Dunn Predictions

1) Dunn will not hit .500 in his first week as a diamonback.

2) Dunn in right field might get Andruw to hit the ball opposite field, assuming he gets any ABs.

I think what I meant to say was:

Bill Plaschke.

You know who's a 4 time all star? Paul Lo Duca.

You know who's a two-time all-star?

Christian Guzman.

664

How could we possibly move Park off the roster? He has been phenomenal. In fact, all of our pitching has been great. Man, what if our offense had started hitting well at the beginning of the season?

670
I think he was joking. Although I do need emoticon training. ;P

Lo Duca's BB-Ref sponsorship is hilarious.

How many negative sponsorships are out there? Lo Duca, Pierre, and Grady Little are the only ones that come to mind.

Does anyone know where the Metropolitan Water Building is located at Union Station? That is where the trolley will be, and I am coming from the Gold Line

671

I can't believe I didn't see the ;P

My bad

Question for Eric or anyone else. When a player is optioned, is he considered on "assignment" the same day or the next day?

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/news/story?id=3530435

ESPN highlights the Kershaw vs. Hamels match up on Lefty Tuesday.

So the "Showdown" is set for August 29th, the 30th, & the 31st; the Dodgers versus the D'backs, and Manny versus Dunn. There will be a ring erected in the middle of leftfield; a battle of the heavyweights. Get your tickets now; don't delay!

I'd rather just have Manny and Dunn do Chess Boxing for the next three days.

677 The only problem; you have to travel to Arizona!

648 If you have the Cox Cable High Definition package, you get the Olympic Basketball channel (796) and Soccer channel (797). They show every minute of every game, Live and in HD.

The trolley can be found at the Alameda St. entrance to Union Station. When you exit the station, look left and follow the throngs of Dodger fans.

675
Same day.

Per Article XIX (E) of the CBA:

"For purposes of counting days on option, the date of the optional assignment shall be counted and the date of recall shall not be count-ed, provided that the date of recall shall be counted if the recall takes place after the start of any Minor League game in which the Player was eligible to play."

Manny vs. Dunn - cannonball contest at the RCF swimming pool. Manny's flying beaded dreads should be entertainment enough.

682 Thanks!

I was trying to figure out if Kershaw spend less than 20 days on his option (which would mean it wouldn't count), but apparently he did.

672
Andruw Jones sponsorship is not very flattering.

648 680

On Time Warner Cable, Olympic Soccer is on Channel 413 (which means no FSN HD until the Olympics are over).

Olympic Basketball has taken over MOJO, Channel 422.

I don't see the channels being available in standard definition, though.

684 ...apparently he did spend 20 days.

686
Thanks for that. Looking forward to watching the Germans take on Spain. Kaman was awesome against Angola:)

http://machochip.com/2008/08/bia-and-branca-feres-are-into.php

Synchronized swimming is awesome.

686 Thanks! Hm, I wonder if it exists somewhere on Comcast Digital cable here in San Fran... Going to dig around.

I wonder if there's a Woman's Air Pistol channel somewhere, too?

There are some changes to the Endangered Species Act being proposed that would enable federal agencies to "decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants."

For the past 35 years, government scientists have been performing mandatory "independent reviews".

I hope someday that baseball rules will enable hitters to decide whether or not a pitch is a strike and runners to decide whether or not they were safe. Either that, or I want pitchers to be able to call balls and strikes and fielders to make out and safe calls.

691
Eventually we are all endangered, unless you are a speedy outfielder with no other virtue, then you just keep being reincarnated.

669 - Be careful, Bob is on a crusade as regards the correct way to spell C. Guzman's first name.

NPUT