Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
The Nationals were asleep for six innings Monday - fair enough, considering they didn't arrive at their hotel until 6 a.m. Then they woke up and then some. So much for that excuse.
* * *
Joel Guzman is batting .276 with a .375 on-base percentage and .579 slugging percentage for AA Jacksonville. He has walked 14 times and struck out a heaping 29 times in 104 plate appearances.
Independent of this, Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus said the following in a recent chat:
Here's a secret: strikeouts are a good thing for a young power hitter.
Let's reverse things for a moment and think of things this way: if Adam Dunn hits .266 and slugs .569 in a year in which he strikes out 195 times, that means he's absolutely murdering the ball those times that he does make contact. In other words, *if* he's able to improve his ability to hit for contact at all, the upside is real, real high as compared with, say, Sean Burroughs or someone.
Now, it isn't quite that simple, but that's the big picture.
* * *
From Baseball America:
Dodgers shortstop Chin-Lung Hu went 5-for-6 in high Class A Vero Beach's 11-6 win over Jupiter, raising his season totals to .313-2-9 in 24 games. In his last eight contests, Hu is 17-for-33 (.515).
* * *
While Chin-Feng Chen is already the all-time home run leader in Las Vegas minor league history, Joe Thurston passed Joey Cora (yes, Joey) to become the all-time Las Vegas leader in hits and at-bats on April 23. Thurston is 451 for 1,493 in his Strip-side career, and also first in triples (22) and HBP (48).
Cora (448 for 1,471) played for the Las Vegas Stars from 1987-90.
Chen, who has 76 home runs with the 51s, is batting .338 with an on-base percentage of .409 and slugging percentage of .597 with Las Vegas this season. By comparison, Jeffrey Hammonds, recalled today by Washington to replace injured outfielder Terrmel (Not Sister) Sledge, is .250/.343/.467 for New Orleans - albeit playing in a less hitter-friendly ballpark.
You guys know I love Hammonds, of course.
* * *
If your Jim Tracy, Scott Erickson or Joe Morgan Sensitivity Meters are running high, brace yourselves. Erickson's next turn in the rotation, at Cincinnati, is scheduled to be televised nationally on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.
I would guess that if you adjust for park, Chen's and Hammonds' performances so far are roughly equal.
The Pugs, "an eclectic ultra-Punk seven- piece band," drew such rave reviews when they played the prestigious 1997 South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival that they were immediately signed to a five-record deal by Roadrunner Records. However, their first two albums were so unsuccessful that the label decided not to bother with the last three.
The androgynous lead singer and guitarist of The Pugs is named Steve Schmoll. (No relation to our hero.) Wrote one reviewer: "Vocally speaking, Steve Schmoll's rants -- I think something to the effect of 'Godd---n your beautiful everything!' -- seem to cross the gender gap in both style and content."
And Jon Garland is having a great year.
And Garret Anderson has 4 walks to go with 16 Ks and 3 HRs.
- Jon Landau
are they even playing the same game? because if stats that far apart are "roughly equal", then what's the point of even keeping stats?
Props for getting the phrasing of the quote correctly, which I think about 0.003% of people get right.
Bob and Vishal, I have no idea what mistakes in the post you think you saw. I don't see them anywhere...
Number of comments: 17
Although I don't think they used that nickname when he went to the school back in 1909.
I'll let you math whizzes figure out frm there whether Chen or Hammonds is having the better year. I've no idea, myself.
Where have you gone, Tom Meagher?
Speaking of sons....Peter Marshall's son played first for us when I was there....Pete LaCock....
I was a year or so behind Larry Dierker..
This should eliminate all "I didn't know" responses. If you decided to use something that wasn't approved, then no excuses.
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Alex (Houston): When was the last time that an offense was as bad as Houston's?
Nate Silver: The 2003 Dodgers were pretty stanky.
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Love to see those Dodgers references :).
Just to clarify, EVERYONE from Simi Valley is as lazy and stoned-looking as Jeff.
Bonus Question: can you name other most prestigious athlete produced by Simi Valley High School?
Kevin Brown is getting blasted, as we speak, by Tampa Bay. Just outright murdered. So. Happy. I. Can. Hardly. Finish. This. Sentence.
My dad claims that Robin promised him tickets to an Angel/Dodger game when he made it to the big leagues (depending on whether an AL or NL team drafted him) if my dad would give him a passing grade to make eligibility for baseball.
I'm not sure if that story is true, but we never got any tickets...
My other claim to fame is getting a hit off of Brewers starter Doug Davis in a junior college summer school practice game. He threw me a curve, which I poked into right field for a Bako-esque single. The coach started chewing him out for wasting anything but a fastball on someone like me. That's when I realized I wouldn't be making the team at that school, or any school for that matter.
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Well, I guess that beats my dad, a probation officer, who once had Gary Sheffield as one of his "clients" (as they're judiciously called).
My cousin was classmates with Ventura's younger sister. My mother's family are all Santa Maria natives.
I can't believe that Sheffield was ever in that kind of trouble. Didn't you see the restraint he showed a few weeks back?
But yes, there is a reference site:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/high_school/
This discussion reminds me of a favorite conversation topic. All time, all LA baseball team. My rules are, the player has to have played high school in LA County - no college only guys like Randy Johnson, and no Orange County guys like McGwire. Here's a working list:
1b - Eddie Murray
2b - Jackie Robinson
ss - a tough one, but I'll go with Ozzie
3b - George Brett
of - Gwynn, Duke Snider, and I'll stick Yount out there
c- don't know if Gary Carter counts, if not I'll go with Kendall
p - Saberhagen, Drysdale
Other suggestions? Any other cities that could take us?
Random Dodger game callback
May 3, 1996
The Dodgers opened up a nine-game road trip with a deceptively close 10-1 win over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium before 18,268. The Dodgers led 2-1 going into the 8th and needed a great defensive plays by Raul Mondesi and Todd Hollandsworth to keep that lead. Then the Dodgers exploded for 8 runs in the 9th against Dan Miceli and Lee Hancock to give Chan Ho Park his third win of the year and even the Dodgers record at 15-15, 3 ½ games behind first place San Diego.
Manager Tommy Lasorda sent out a lineup that likely made everyone raise their eyebrows a bit with Chad Fonville leading off and playing center and Greg Gagne batting second. Fonville finished 1996 with a .250 OBP and Gagne at .333. The little-beloved Delino DeShields was in the sixth slot and the quickly forgotten Mike Blowers was in the #7 slot. Eventual Rookie of the Year Hollandsworth batted 8th.
1996 would be a year that most Dodgers fans would likely want to forget. The Dodgers finished the year 90-72. But the Dodgers were 90-69 and two games ahead of the second place Padres with three games left against their rivals to the South at Dodger Stadium. And, then, well, Chris Gwynn happened. The Dodgers made it to the playoffs as a wild card and disappeared with little protest against the Atlanta Braves in three games.
The biggest change to the Dodgers that year, of course, was the resignation of Lasorda as manager for health reasons in June. Bill Russell finished the season.
Some of the immortals who donned Dodger Blue in 1996 were: Wayne Kirby, Dave Clark, Milt Thompson, and Rick Parker. Tim Wallach was brought back from Anaheim to fill in for the injured Blowers. Chad Curtis also parachuted in to Dodger Stadium that season and was also quickly forgotten.
Thanks to Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.org and the LA Times
I'll be sure to provide more updates on this story as they become available.
Giving up 6 runs is already getting bombed.. I should have said "bombed so more" or something like that.
Wow, the Big Train. Unfortunately that's Orange County, but I might make an exception on 2 counts - it really predates the whole LA/OC distinction, and starting pitching is kind of a weakness on our team.
The name came from a habit of posting links to news stories in a Yahoo book club. I liked it enough to register the domain and build my site there.
Kinkmeister sounds blatantly S&M, which I assure you...nah, never mind.
Really? I had always thought that McGwire was from Huntington Beach, though he may have been born in LA County.
At any rate, I hate to take Eddie Murray's switch hitting out of the lineup. Plus, he's got the same-high-school-team-as-Ozzie mojo working. Is there anywhere another high school that had 2 hall of famers on the same team at the same time?
Bobby Doerr is in the Hall of Fame and he went to Fremont.
C Joe Torre
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Frank Frisch
SS Phil Rizzuto
3B Edgar Martinez
LF Hank Greenberg
CF Willie Keeler
RF Manny Ramirez
SP Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Waite Hoyt, Larry Corcoran, John Candelaria
RP John Franco, Don McMahon
Bench: Rocky Colavito, Tommy Davis, Lou Whitaker, Ed Yost
He became famous as cultivator of orchids in Glendale in his retirement. For all of his oddball antics on the field, he supposedly was a very smart guy.
Whatever high school the Waner brothers went to would be a good candidate. They were three years apart.
For one year in the mid-1950s, the outfield at McClymonds High in Oakland consisted of Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Vada Pinson.
I wonder if the team was any good...
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At the same time, their basketball team also featured Bill Russell -- but Frank Robinson was the team's leading scorer.
what is with the NYC team having torre and rizzuto on it? Hall of famers as managers or broadcaster? is that what you going for with that list?
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Uh, they were good players? Not sure I understand the question, but anyway, I just picked the best player at each position. Torre was a hell of a player, a borderline Hall of Fame player. Rizzuto wasn't, but made it anyway.
Rizzuto: Is a HOFer, but shouldn't be.
Torre, Edgar, Manny: Not currently HOFers, but will be soon.
The closest thing I've found is Team Spirit (http://tinyurl.com/89tzg), but it's not a great match either.
Another Taft High grad here (class of '77). In addition to Yount, Locock and Dierker, Taft has produced Rick Auerbach, Kelly Paris and Gabe Kapler. I'm probably missing a couple of others. Jane Wiedlin of the Go Go's was a year ahead of me at Taft and rumor had it that a couple of the Runaways went to Taft as well, although no one could ever figure out which ones. Oh yeah, and Ice Cube went to Taft too.
To the great sadness of the Buddy Carlyle fan club, tonight Alvarez is activated, and Buddy gets to visit Wynn Las Vegas after his next game at Cashman Field.
Valentin has been moved down a slot to 7th behind Ledee. What's the over / under on how long until he gets dropped to 8th?
* Mike Witt, California Angels and the Yankees, threw a no-hitter of his own in 1984 and then combined with Mark Langston for another in 1990.
* Steve Buechele, Rangers, Pirates, and Cubs in a 10-year career, also played at Stanford, Jon
and, I just found out thanks to the BaseballCube page...
* D.J. Houlton
OK, now he HAS to stay on the team all year long.
The only reason I know of its existence is because WFUV (NYC station) is playing a song from it right now. The song is called "Poor Man's Shangri-La" but one of the lyrics says "there's a red cloud over Chavez Ravine."
Most unlikely college town in the world.
the other day...would have like to have read it, but wasn't willing to pay for it.
The Waner brothers actually attended separate high schools in different cities in Oklahoma.
He sure has a lot of street cred, doesn't he, for someone who grew up in Claremont and is married to a WASPy Hollywood actress.
The LA Times Calendar section last Sunday ran a verrrry long piece on Ry Cooder and the Chavez Ravine album.
Looks like another attempt at mythmaking about the "utopia" of Chavez Ravine before the land was taken by eminent domain by the city, first for a housing project that was aborted, then for the Dodgers.
If anyone wants me to email them a copy, I can oblige.
I'd probably be similarly ticked if someone took my home and gave it to a millionaire for building a private stadium. (And yes, I know they didn't own the land, yada yada, but I doubt that fact lessened the blow.)
Arroyo: A rivulet or stream; hence, the bed of a stream, a gully. (in U.S)
Gulch: A narrow and deep ravine, with steep sides, marking the course of a torrent; esp. one containing a deposit of gold.
Interpreting their definition, it seems a ravine might have a steeper dropoff than the others. And a ravine is bigger than a gully, but smaller than a canyon.
In practical terms, I think "ravine" might be more of a general, non-geographically specific term. I think "gulch" and "arroyo" mean basically the sdame thing, but I've never heard "arroyo" used outside the context of the American West.
"Blackout territories are drawn by Major League Baseball and their member clubs. They are based upon the reach of a particular broadcaster and not due to mileage or stadium attendance, so, some of the territories can be large at times. Blackouts are based upon broadcast rights and not whether or not a team is at home or away. These rules apply whether or not the local network airs the game.
Blackout territories are determined by MLB and their member clubs, so you may want to send any comments to the MLB as well as the teams."
The Chavez Ravine property was actually taken by eminent domain by LA city council action in 1950, for use as a housing project of 10,000 units. The program ran afoul of political interference, but the City still owned the property when O'Malley came to town eight years later.
With the exception of really big things (like mountains) nearly every major landform in the world is formed by water. And in arid climates like Southern California, much of our landscape is going to be shaped by hard rains that make a sharp cut into the earth.
Most of the world would use "ravine", but since we're out west we sometimes say "arroyo" which is the Spanish equivalent. A "gulch" is just another name for a ravine.
These are unlike canyons which are shaped by rivers.
And with all the rain this year, the Arroyo Seco has been anything but Seco.
Halsey vs. Rueter.
Due up: "Old friend" Shawn Green.
maybe something like Arroyo Seco.
Snoop Dogg is indeed Jim Tracy's neighbor. I envision a "why ya pin-chizzle for Hee-sizzle" call out last week...
Choi, .818 OPS (1.071 against lefties, .811 against righties)
Green, .712 OPS (.432 against lefties, .878 against righties)
I'd never seen Rauch before until yesterday. Man, he's a big.
and yeah, there are good reasons not to send weaver, especially against guillen's arm. however, the throw was off line, so in retrospect, maybe he shoulda gone, but that's hindsight.
ps. choi!!!
If the Dodgers are as good as that team, I will be a very happy guy.
The 1941 Browns left the most. And they finished 70-84. That team drew a lot of walks, but not much else. And some really bad pitching.
....Take THAT, TJ!
That means they were one hard team to get out in order.
And they scored more runs than anyone else in the majors. The next closest team was 87 runs behind.
I forgot just how good that team was.
But in many seasons preceding, I don't recall seeing a successful pitchout.
Brandon Lyon trying to save it.
Let me guess. Two dollar night.
Manager Tommy Lasorda
C Pat Borders
C Marcus Jensen
C Mike Kinkade
IF Brent Abernathy
IF Sean Burroughs
IF Brent Butler
IF Mike Coolbaugh
IF Gookie Dawkins
IF Adam Everett
IF Doug Mientkiewicz
OF John Cotton
OF Shawn Gilbert
OF Anthony Sanders
OF Ernie Young
OF Brad Wilkerson
OF Mike Neill.
P Kurt Ainsworth
P Ryan Franklin
P Chris George
P Matt Ginter
P Shane Heams
P Rick Krivda
P Roy Oswalt
P Jon Rauch
P C.C. Sabathia
P Bobby Seay,
P Ben Sheets
P Todd Williams
P Tim Young
But just what is going on with the people in RF?
The only MLB player to come from my old school (Central HS in Phoenix) was Gary Rajsich, a 1B-OF in the early 80s.
Time to cancel two dollar night.
Sheesh, Dodger Stadium is turning into Heysel.
Is it getting to the point where I should hesitate to bring my small kids when I visit next time?
Regarding Lowe and stolen bases, I seem to remember a few years ago seeing a report that the Red Sox didn't worry about the running game at all. Kerrigan didn't teach the slide step because they thought it flattened pitches out. Might explain the lack of attention Lowe pays to base runners.
But unless the people involved are season ticketholders, in which case the Dodgers could revoke their season tickets and put them on a banned list, I'm not sure how much good it would do.
Sure, they could blacklist them and refuse to sell to people with those names (based on credit card). However, someone could always use his wife's credit card, give his buddies cash to buy tickets, scalp tickets, or get free tickets from friends and work associates.
Practically speaking, it would be very difficult to prevent these people from coming back, but symbolically, it would make a statement.
Wunsch and Sanchez are up and at the ready.
Come get Weaver after he walks Schneider.
The match was not played at Heysel. That's just where the office was.
The Heysel stadium itself has changed beyond recognition since the disaster.
The old venue, built in 1930, was demolished after the disaster and replaced by the all-seater Stade Roi Baudouin, which has never been used to stage club football.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/768380.stm
Good question...
Did Guzman know how many outs there were? What ever...
Need a DP...
Jose Valentin sprained his right knee. MRI tomorrow.
vr
Xeifrank
Exactly, would have had 1st and 3rd w/ 0 outs.
He played a total of 2 games for 5 innings at 3B last year.
If the Dodgers aren't willing to bring up their stud minor league infielder, then why don't they consider trading for one. The Dodgers minor league is loaded, and with Kent able to play more than one position the Dodgers could trade for a 2b or 3b.
vr
Xeifrank
Just when Damian Jackson joined the Pads is a mystery to me.
Give him a week or two of playing everyday, and see if he sorts himself out. At worst, he will provide better D than Jose V. At best, he will settle down and hit to his potential.
...let's make it 4/5 then win tomorrow!
Better D at 3B and his bat will come arround...
vr
Xei
Where was that?
What made the game great, besides Hansen's success, was the intensity of the Tigers-Giants rivalry, on the field and in the stands. In Japan, the left field stands are always filled with the visiting team's fans. The fans on both sides cheered and sang the entire game. There were horns, banners, giant flags with the numbers of favorite players. And best of all, not a single beachball, or someone sitting behind me asking for an explanation on the infield fly rule.
I'd love to see Aybar get a shot.
I bet they weren't dropping the Japanese equivalent of F-bombs the entire game either...
GoB, regarding Nakamura, I have to admit that I am at a disadvantage in that I can't watch the games on TV. So, if he is really overmatched, then I agree he needs some seasoning in the minors. On the other hand, maybe Wallach can work his magic, and Nori can adjust his swing. At this point, it seems that Nak is the best option.
The bad part about Nakamura is that what you get is no hits and no walks.
Nakahoma's swing makes Tony Batista's look like Ted Williams'
#370. Well, they did play the Imperial March earlier in the game when the catcher and pitching coach went out to the mound.
vr
Xei
I seem to remember that when Ted Williams was coaching the Senators his hitters did much better than they had in previous seasons and regressed after he left. That could be an old wives tale though.
Yes!!!!!!
No bunt, no comeback.
vr
Xei
waiting to see if I just jinxed Braz.
I finally get that Ghame over thing!
Dodgers win! Dodgers win!
You can now go back to your massage parlors.
vr
Xei
4/5,,,let's make it 5/6.
Star#1: Phillips
Star#2: Wunch
Star#3: Weaver
Sayonara from Tokyo.
Braz just wasted Wilkerson with that breaking ball. Beauty pitch.
I'm hoping that Perez can become comfortable with 3B in the next couple weeks. He's projected as .250/.330/.399 for the year, which would be just fine. His numbers would be even better than that as the right-handed side of a platoon.
One thing I hadn't realized about Perez is that he played 71 games at SS last year. He started at SS tonight for the 51s.
Beltre OPS = .575 (including three walks total)
Um, does this mean Nakamura is catching up?
And I have shows on tape to watch.
And I'm trying to figure out how to properly pronounce Tubingen.
(ghame over)
Brazoban, through yesterday, had 11 K/5 BB in 10.1 IP.
Our bullpen might be deep enough that dealing Gagne might work out. But it would be second guess by every T.J., Bill, and Harold like you cannot believe.
I think DePo has the you-know-what to do it, and chances are Gagne, dominant though he is, is really overpriced in the market.
But only if we can get a Helton-esque cornucopia in exchange.
All that said, it's so comfortable to reduce a game to 6 or 7 innings with both Braz and Gagne available, especially since we have to go through St. Louis to win anything.
But yeah, as ugly as it might be, I can see us trading Gagne for a top 3B and using our prospects and the $10 mill available for another power arm in the starting rotation. I just don't trust Weaver against great hitting teams.
Yeah, in units per roster dollar, a Ghame Over is cheaper than a Game Over. But I wouldn't take Helton though, since he's just another overpriced commodity.
Jon is indeed correct - besides Jeff Weaver, the other notable pro athlete to transcend Simi Valley High School is indeed Don Maclean, of PAC-10 basketball career scoring record and the first player ever suspended by the NBA for steroid use.
I went to his basketball camp back in the day. Of course, the NBA will never be dragged before Congress for steroid or substance abuse hearings.
Re-read my post. I offered to spare any friends I may have had at the game. All Dodger Thoughts readers in attendance would also have been granted immunity, provided they were behaving themselves.
Since that stupid interference of Drew didn't end up losing the game, I'll rescind my pleas for death and replace them with really bad stomach cramps.
At the end of his fifth season, he had started 100 exactly. A truly tenuous moment. Then, in his sixth season, he played nine games and started none.
But in his seventh season, he made it to the opening tip 10 more times.
If you look at this link, you'll notice that his seasonal GS numbers don't add up to what's listed as the total.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/don_maclean/?nav=page
I was down on MacLean when he graduated UCLA. But when he first got there, in the only Rotisserie League in any sport I've ever participated in, I drafted him in the second round before his first college game - based on his performance at Simi Valley High.
Sorry, LAT. It's been fun.
Alas, I think that would change the pronunciation. But something like "Jeu Fin" would do nicely. (Or whatever "Game Over" is in French; I don't know the language so I just made that translation up.)
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