Given the way the Dodgers have been before this year, this could be his last NLCS (or playoff series, for that matter). Joe Buck doesn't even LIKE baseball, he can sit at home.

142 You made me look at the '21 Yankees. They led the league with 481 K's in 1364 IP. Supposedly the strike zone was arm pits to knee's back than too. Dude's must been throwing the 70s back than.

Lowe stood in front of his teammates, with the Dodgers leading the Cubs two games to none, and said, "Listen, I've been down 0-2, 0-2 and 0-3 and we've won the series each time: [against] Cleveland, Oakland and New York. All we needed each time was a reason to think we were going to win. Right now they [the Cubs] know they're in trouble, and they're looking for a reason to think they can win. Don't give it to them. I've seen teams leading 2-0, 3-0 all of a sudden start changing their game. I don't want to see that. I don't want you to think, 'Oh, it's O.K. if we lose this one because we'll just get 'em tomorrow.' Don't give them any reason to think they can win."

Pretty... pretty... sweet!

149. dzzrtRatt
87 I was in what is usually the rowdiest part of the stadium, there were Cub fans mixed into it, and I saw absolutely nothing happen that Dodger fans should be embarrassed about.

The "leaving-early" canard is tried and true, but false. From our seats I could clearly see the Academy Drive and Stadium Way exit lanes and they were empty, or virtually so, until the end of the game. From my seat in the last row, I could also turn around and see the departures through the Reserved Gate, and they didn't start until the bottom of the eighth -- and most of them were people wearing Cub gear! Moreover, about 20 percent of the crowd if not more hung around to wait for the Dodgers to retake the field after the champagne celebration.

The Cub fan writing that lament 87 linked to saw what he saw, so I can't challenge it. I can only speak to the behavior of a few hundred people in my sight lines. However, if you read what he said he objected to, I'd have to call him a bit oversensitive. What did he expect, a hug?

I remember that Vin did the World Series for CBS Radio during the 90's. So he was still a big part of the National Scene up until, you'll love this, ESPN Radio took over National Radio broadcast rights in 1998.

From the last thread - Molly, I think the game is actually at 8PM ETZ. So you might be spending a lot of the time at the bar if you get there at 2PM. Not like there's anything wrong with that.

I'll probably get to Chickie and Pete's around 5:30 - 6PM on Thursday. Will DTers still be there then?

And then Jon Heyman died in a pothole.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/10/06/heyman.dodgers/index.html

11 You should post that on BleedCubbieBlue if you can. Or I can post it for you.

I did find the CC Sabathia discussion at the bottom interesting, though. Can you imagine how insane the staff of the Giants would be if they added Sabathia? Only problem is, he could also probably bat 5th.

High praise. High praise indeed.

Even if Vin wants it and the networks want it, I don't know if such a thing is possible. Wouldn't the broadcasters have something in their contracts guaranteeing that they will be the ones calling the action? I don't know how they would feel if they were asked to step aside...

...but maybe they'd feel just fine about it. I could certainly see a scenario where Scully is invited into the booth for an "interview" and then calls an inning or two. It could definitely happen.

Now I've seen everything.

Btw, speaking of Vin, do we know if he'll be making the trip to Philly to call parts of those games on the radio, at least?

I know that's one of the reasons he hasn't generally called post-season games, is not wanting to do as much travel. But seems like he's making the effort for the Dodgers this post-season.

So, they are the only professional athletes who got years of praise and kid-glove treatment. Interesting. They must be really good then.

I saw it happening, because you had the Torre Factor, the Manny Factor, the 50 years of Dodger Moments factor, the LA factor, and so on.

Oh yes, when I think of the Phillies I think of:

1) The Phillie Phanatic
2) Mike Schmidt smacking home runs
3) Steve Carlton
4) Fans booing Santa Claus
5) The Vet and its dangerous Astro Turf
6) Harry Kalas
7) Boy Meets World
8) Jim Halpert
9) 10,000 losses!

My recurring thought throughout the series broadcast was that those three guys hadn't seen the Dodgers play all year. Or at least in the last six weeks. They routinely butchered names, botched story lines, and even managed to list Hu as the starting 2nd basemen on Saturday. Darling was OK but hardly insightful, Gwynn may be a nice guy but should never by allowed inside an announcers booth, and the 3rd guy (Stockton?) seemed like he'd rather be playing golf except when he got super excited on every routine fly ball hit. The scary thing was that as mediocre as the announcing crew was, the "analysts" were ten times worse. Someone should notify TBS that ex-players often make really poor analysts; they were so bad that they made Kevin Kennedy and Lyons seem highly professional.

Of course, I can easily live with TBS' cruddy broadcast team, if the Dodgers keep playing like they did against the Cubs.

This brings up a very, very important question. Are the Phillies the saddest franchise of all time?

Their all-time .470 winning percentage is bad -- tied for third-worst with Colorado and Seattle, and only San Diego's 462 and Tampa's .417 (!) are worse.

What's more, despite being around so long, Philly has only five pennants and one championship in the franchise's long history.

I mean, the Braves also spent years in the wilderness, but they've pulled themselves nearly even (.499 all-time, 39 games under .500) and have 17 pennants and 3 championships all time.

They have a good club this year, but over the course of baseball history, has anyone been more mediocre than the Phillies?

I open the floor to discussion.

Do we have any update on Kuo's status? Just hoping to get some positive news, having him in the pen could be critical to the NLDS!

Thanks in advance!

This is the logic that makes me reluctant to wear Dodgers garb around Phillies fans on Thursday.

The Dodgers are hopeful of reinstating left-handed reliever Hong-Chih Kuo to the active roster, although he has pitched only once in the past four weeks because of persistent discomfort in his left triceps area. Kuo, who has had four elbow operations, is expected to throw off a mound Monday for the first time in three weeks.

Interesting.

The amount of technical incompetence I noticed on TBS blew me away. Even simple things, like what levels the ambient crowd noise should be mixed at, and the camera operators' inabilty to track fly balls to the outfield. The direction was lousy too; often I saw them cutting to a camera that wasn't set up right, so the viewers all saw jarring camera movement. This is all without even discussing how bad the announcers were.

TBS put together a good studio show, I'll give them that. I wouldn't mind seeing them take over for the Baseball Tonight circus.

One of the greatest moments ever. Think about this: America was sick of McCarver way back in 1992! How he has somehow managed to be the lead baseball analyst on three different networks is beyond me.

I'd really like to hear Al Leiter again, though; he was excellent in his appearances a couple of years ago.

Victorino is about 100 points of OPS better against lefties.

I just shook my head but where was Dodger security. A guy lit a cap on fire and held it up in the air and no one even notices, never mind tells him to put it out or eighty-sixs him. Are you kidding me?

Flyin' Hawaiian as LHB
2008: .298/.355/.407
Career: .289/.346/.404

I used Baseball-Reference.com. You can click on any team page or search for a player. Once on a player page, there are drop down menus for either game logs or splits, and you can choose a specific year or their entire career. Here is Victorino's split page:

http://tinyurl.com/3ksqtf

Has anyone brought the idea of Vin announcing NLCS games to anyone in the Dodgers org?

Looking forward to meeting up with other DT'ers before the game...wherever that may be. Chickie and pete's?

Look forward to seeing you there.

Cole Hamels career OPS against:
vs RHB: .671
vs LHB: .742

Maybe Loney should start Game 1.

That's a class move by Mike and Mike. Should I spring the 15 bucks to get to archives of Vin calling the NLDS? Can you podcast game broadcasts?

I'm worried about Manny's slump. He didn't hit a home run in the last game and I only saw him take his bat off his shoulder once.

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=151211

I could not imagine any other announcer in the sport today being able to say something like that. the deliver was absolutely perfect.

I've enjoyed TBS' sparing use of the extreme-super-closeup. Say goodbye to that on Thursday. We should be able to tell if Lowe has gotten over his cold symptoms.

Also, as bad as McCarver and others have been for so long, CBS fired Billy Packer, so there's hope.

well we can't control the media, I just hope we stay level headed and keep that "team mentality" we keep hearing about.

The former. I was just wondering if the mlb audio service allows the broadcasts to be downloaded, so I can preserve them to listen to down the line.

I just wanted to make sure those of you who didn't attend Saturday night's game aren't misled into thinking Cub fan abuse was widespread. I really don't think it was.

There was a great vibe in the crowd and the parking lot, but it was all pro-Dodger, not anti- anyone else. The victory Friday put to rest 20 years of frustration and disappointment, so I didn't sense that many in the crowd wanted to take their emotions into such a negative place.

And I should say, the reverse was also true. The Cub fans I encountered were very polite and engaging. I had a great talk with a guy in a food line who was clearly yearning for his Cubbies to turn it around.

I am pleasantly surprised by the Boont Amber Ale from Trader Joe's. Much better than I expected.

I just love to enjoy the ride. Everything else is meaningless.