Dodger pitcher Steve Schmoll has a dirty little secret: He grew up a fan of the San Francisco Giants, particularly Barry Bonds. "I guess that will have to change when I make it up to the big leagues," Schmoll told the Maryland student newspaper upon signing with the Dodgers. "I won't be much of a fan when I'm facing him." Continued Schmoll: "Part of the decision was financial. The other part was finding what team would fit me best. ... They have a good organization and I think this will be a good opportunity to learn and get better."

And a note to Gold Star for Robot Boy from a previous post...in no way does Rome deserve credit for coining the terms NoCal and SoCal...My point in bringing that up was in the context of a prior comment about the mix of Dodgers and Giants fans in Santa Barbara. Saying NoCal (or Nor Cal as the northeners called it) and SoCal became a point of pride among us southerners in SB. This was back in the early 1980s. Rome wasn't even on the radio back then, although he was in Santa Barbara in the mid or late 80s and that's likely where he picked it up, too. FWIW...

Other than that, taking a page from Milton Bradley's self-restraint book, I have no comment on #6. ;)

Loney was 4-for-5 with a walk, a homer, and two doubles. Guzman was 5-for-5 with a walk, a homer, and two doubles.

"Rob Neyer: This is just a guess, but I suspect that many, and perhaps most of us "experts" based our evaluation of the Dodgers' chances on our personal opinions of Paul DePodesta. Make of that answer what you will..."

Editorial comment - my apologies for my comment about Neyer. Error charged to me. I thought Neyer was talking about his own opinion about DePo but it's clear after re-reading the transcript as posted in comment #97 that he was talking about "other" analysts.

However, the smug "experts" at ESPN and other sources continue to be unimpressed. If it were the Gnats off to a hot start, they'd be popping champagne already.

[in best John Hurt voice:] "I am not a worm! I am a human beeee-ing!"

http://www.culturecraze.ca/article-192.html

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TODAY'S FACT OF CHOI, SB'S FAVORITE PLAYER, 2005:

And now, for a mini-editorial: Last night my computer was afflicted with several different viruses. I got rid of them but in the process, I missed "fact of Choi" for the first time (the goal being to have a fact on every day the Dodgers play).

It gives one reason to reflect. Well, at least it gives me reason to reflect but I digress.

Does anyone else agree that Choi looked by far his best at the plate last night? Up until last night, Choi at the plate looked like a seven-year old who was just asked to go find his socks. It's partly because of that that I started this whole "fact of Choi" thang. You want to take that five-year old and say, "It's okay, take your time, you'll find them." Well, I was one proud papa last night, folks. Choi looked in control, he looked comfortable. His attitude bordred on cockiness. "Socks? Yeah, I know where they are but I'm playing a video game. Go find your own socks!"

Okay, I digressed again. I let slip the communique I sometimes have with my own son but bear with me.

Choi was starting against Adam Eaton, a hard-throwing right-hander who likes to bust the ball inside. That's a guy whom Tracy all but bluntly said Choi can't be successful against. And I thought last night Choi was very successful in his approach.

So what else am I to conclude but that "fact of Choi" is a curse on our hero? I've been consistent, right? Every damn game I've trotted out a Choi factoid for the masses because I wanted to know what it was like to be Jon Weisman or Bob Timmerman and do some actual research. And dammit it all, I liked it! Being well informed on your chosen topic? I don't know about y'all but that's a new one for ol' SB. However, if it means sacrificing even a point in Choi's OPS, I cannot in good conscience continue.

Except I realize the Dodgers lost last night.

Okay, now I'm confused... never mind.

Shirts are scheduled to be delivered to our Southern California Distribution Center on May 6, and to your mailbox shortly thereafter.

that way it can be a celebrational choi fact to revel in. or if the dodgers lost, a consolational fact of choi.

eric: why not say? it's not like it's something to be embarrassed about. if anything, it'll give us an barometer for the level of enthusiasm there is here.

Score tick tons
No cricket toss

Maybe to put less pressure on yourself, you need only do a Fact of Choi on the three days a week Tracy actually puts him in the starting lineup.

On the other hand, don't know if we're ready for "Nori Notes", "The Big Grabowski", or "Saenz of things to come".

What about the guy with the swastika tattooed on his neck?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/caple_jim/1523575.html

Granted, it's a Native American symbol, but don't tell me Mitchum's character wouldn't approve. Kid can chuck it, too - definitely worth checking out if you get the chance. Nasty changeup and aggressive as all hell.

al bundy...i'm also in SB...well, i work here (off Hollister near the airport) but can't afford to live here (so must commute from Oxnard)

During the 2002 season, whenever I was in the Dodgers' clubhouse when they were on the road, the letters of every player's name over his temporary locker would be rearranged into anagrams. I believe it was Chad Kreuter who enjoyed doing this.

I wrote some of them down, but alas, like any bad reporter, I can't find my notes.

2002? Time for one of Dr Love's small handful of somewhat interesting/amusing Dodger stories.

Darren Dreifort was throwing off the mound for the first time, a bunch of coaches, scouts, big wigs, etc were gathered around. I guess this was a monumentous occasion. It was about 3 PM or so, and we were testing the PA system as we usually did every day at about that time. My boss was in the control room, the audio guys are outside in the press box, he said that over headset he could hear Jim Tracy scream "TURN THAT %@$& OFF!" to them.

- BY A BRAZEN NYC HO
- A HORNY ZEN CABBY

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3559392

Jayson Werth: Ah, Jews no try/Trash new joy

Paul Bako: Koala Pup (that might be my favorite)

jon, you're a baaaaaad man!

drugged host! hot!

As noted, it's a typo. But still cool nonetheless. Koala Pub sounds like a decent place to get a Fosters.

Odalis Perez: Praised El Oz/El Oz Diapers/I lapsed zero

(Well I've got myself occupied for the day)

They can't maintain this torrid clip, but I fully expect a 100-win season and the best record in baseball. In other words, we could be looking at one of the great Dodger teams of all time.

On cnn.com, we find an article regarding Senior Baseball Analyst Bruce Springsteen that describes the influence of both Night of the Hunter and little league baseball on his songs. Glad to see he's keeping up with the discussion on Dodger Thoughts.com.

http://tinyurl.com/cyrtr

"Then I discovered two things. One was the guitar... the other was girls. Guitar is the only one I became proficient at."

He's also a Yankee fan (hey, nobody's perfect) and is famous for attending games at Yankee Stadium incognito.

Nobody goes to Yankee Stadium anymore, it's too crowded.

What I should have said was "famous among quasi-stalkers like me."

Devils and Dust/Youngstown/Lonesome Day/Black Cowboys/Long Time Comin'/Silver Palomino/For You*/Tougher Than the Rest*/Part Man, Part Monkey/Maria's Bed/Highway Patrolman/Used Cars/Further On (Up the Road)/My Hometown*/Lost in the Flood*/The Rising/Jesus Was an Only Son*/Leah/The Hitter/Matamoras Banks//This Hard Land//My Best Was Never Good Enough//The Promised Land

*=piano

Promised Land is a good song to end on. I shudder to think he might have played UCS as part of an encore.

Good, balanced article. I was thinking it was too balanced and smart for Fox Sports, and then realized why. Dayn Perry, the author, is a Baseball Prospectus writer. Good for him, getting a wider audience with the Fox exposure.

One quibble, though. It's true that the Dodgers have done this without Werth, Penny, Alvarez, Gagne. But have they actually missed those guys? IOW, have their replacements really performed worse than the starters would have? Over the season, sure, you expect more out of the starters. But so far, the backups have done quite well. So I think it's false to project that the team will improve over this fast start once those guys are back.

What the.....??

I missed out on the shirt order?

I would have ordered Qty 3 @ XL size.

If there are extra shirts available,
or another order in the future,
I would like to participate.

Thanks.
Kevin

It's possible there may end up being a small number of extras left, I'll post info on that when the time comes.

Thanks for the reply.

This week I started a second job in the evenings.

My relentlessly thorough devotion to DT is clearly suffering.

I will try to stay alert.

Kmax