I have never washed any car of mine on my own. I always go to the car wash.

Or usually I just don't bother. That's what we have rainy seasons for.

From 1992-2004, I had a garage or some shelter at the various apartments I lived in to park my car under. Now, I don't. I don't wash my car any more often than I used to - which means that it's absolutely filthy. I could very well be wrong, but I feel it's time for me to get back to some hands-on care. Or get my two-year-old to do it.

What, and remove that protective layer of dirt? Don't be silly.

But, yeah, Bob's philosophy is pretty much my own. And always, always, buy a white vehicle.

Still, when I've had a car less than a couple of years, there's that pesky pride of ownership issue. The self service washes work pretty well then, as long as the car isn't allowed to get too dirty. A quick rinse, a little sponge, chamois and squeegee action, and you're on to important things...like deciding what CD to play.

Jon,
One of the major reasons for having children is to get them to wash the car.

But you could be like my dad, who would tell us to wash the car and then come out to look at it when we were done and he would tell us everything that was wrong with it. (Wow, sounds like Dodger Thoughts after a Dodgers loss.)

Then he would tell us that none of us would ever be able to do manual labor in our lives. (He was a farmer before moving out here.)
He was quite prescient as his four sons moved on to white collar work.

What Would Jeff Kent Do?

Random Dodger game callback

June 11, 1890

On a Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn, a baseball fan had two choices of going to see a game. There could have been three choices, but one of Brooklyn's three major league teams had the day off. But the Brooklyn team, that we care about was playing in its first season in the National League and was at home in Washington Park, where Boston prevailed 3-0. Brooklyn's record fell to 22-17, 4 ½ games behind first place Philadelphia.

1890 was one of the most turbulent years in baseball's history. The Brotherhood, the first successful players union, had succeeded in establishing its own rival major league, called the Players League, and it had a Brooklyn team, managed by one of baseball's biggest stars, Monte Ward. And with the defection of the Brooklyn American Association team to the National, the AA put together a third team in Brooklyn, nicknamed the Gladiators.

The NL Brooklyn team on this day saw its starter, Adonis Terry, give up three runs to Boston in the second inning, with an error by left fielder (and sometime pitcher) Bob Caruthers playing a part in the Boston rally. Boston pitcher Pretzels Getzien picked up a shutout.

Adding to the bizarre nature of the 1890 season was that Brooklyn had won the American Association pennant in 1889. And then left for the established National League with few defections to the Players League. Brooklyn then proceeded to win the National League in 1890 with an 86-43 record, 6 ½ games ahead of Chicago. This gives the Dodgers the distinction of being the only franchise to win consecutive pennants in different leagues. And if you count Brooklyn's win in the 1883 Interstate League, the Dodgers have pennants in three different leagues. The Dodgers also recorded their only tripleheader sweep in franchise history on September 1, taking three from Pittsburgh. (There have only been three scheduled tripleheaders in major league history, the last one in 1920.)

The other two Brooklyn teams did not fare as well. The Players League team finished in second place at 76-56, while the AA team went 26-73, before folding up and moving to Baltimore for the rest of the year.

Brooklyn's three principal starters were solid. Terry was 26-16. Caruthers went 23-11 and Tom Lovett led the team with a 30-11 record. Right fielder Oyster Burns led the NL in home runs with 13 and RBI with 128. Catcher Tom Daly would be an early Craig Biggio as he would later be converted into a second baseman and would enjoy a long career. The Dodgers manager in 1890, Bill McGunnigle, was one of the earliest managers who was just a manager. He was not a player or an owner. He was just a guy hired to manage a team. McGunnigle has the highest winning percentage of any manager in franchise history (for those who managed full seasons) at .660.
Other notable names playing for the first NL Brooklyn entry was lefthanded pitcher Lady Baldwin (who was male), Darby O'Brien (whom I guessing was Irish), shortstop Germany Smith (whom I guess was not Irish), Patsy Donovan (who would manage the Dodgers from 1906-1908), George Stallings (who would play 7 major league games and manage in 1,813 and win a World Series with the Boston Braves in 1914), and Doc Bushong (who in 13 seasons in the majors as a position player would bat .214 with a .255 slugging percentage and who was later reincarnated as Enzo Hernandez.)

Brooklyn would face AA champion Louisville in a postseason series. The teams played seven games with each team winning three with one tie. Louisville had made the greatest single season improvement in Major League history, going from 27-111 in 1889 to 88-44 in 1890. And in 1891, Louisville went back to 55-84. Louisville would move on to the National League until it was effectively folded into the Pirates after the 1899 season and would never finish better than 9th place. McGunnigle would manage Louisville at the end of the 1896 season and went 36-76.

After the season ended, the Players League folded and many of the stars found new homes, including Monte Ward who would replace McGunnigle as the Brooklyn manager in 1891. The American Association would play for one more season before folding. And Brooklyn's run of pennants would stop for a while, as the balance of power in the National League would shift to Boston and Baltimore for several years.

Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

Is it possible that I'm not the laziest person I know? That would shock me to my bones.

Anybody heard the song "What Would Willie Do?" (as in Willie Nelson) by Bruce Robison? That song doesn't cover the specific situation of a car wash, but in this case the answer can be easily surmised. Willie would light a "j" and consider his options. I'm betting Willie's car wouldn't get washed. But it's also a safe bet that Jon's will. After all, it's date night, right?

Jon,
I'm too lazy to even have kids to raise to do my work for me.

My father was extremely hard-working. Always had to keep busy.

This trait was not passed down to future generations.

The great thing about about being a voracious book reader is you can be lazy as all get out and in a socially acceptable way :)

Bob, it just occured to me that you don't have 162 different seasons to work with for RDGC. So you just run out? Or do you have a secret plan?

The last one is scheduled for September 27.

To be honest, I hadn't thought about the whole logistics before I started.

I'm not posting when I'm out of town at the end of this month and the end of July also. They're all written up to the All-Star Break.

7: well, you know me, Jon.

Bob mentions "George Stallings (who would play 7 major league games and manage in 1,813 and win a World Series with the Boston Braves in 1914)".

Those were The Miracle Braves, with a 68-19 record after July 4.

With the brief discussion of the Dodgers '51 season yesterday and the Giants comeback that year, it's worth noting that that 1914 Braves team had an even bigger comeback. They climbed all eight places in the standings (overtaking John McGraw's Giants -- hated even then!) and went on to beat the Philadelphia Athletics in five games.

http://tinyurl.com/8sarr

Actually the Braves beat the Athletics in four games, the first ever World Series sweep.

The 1914 Braves went 26-5 in September. That's .839 ball.

They were the original sabermetric team. Their ace pitcher was Bill James.

Ack! Misread the table at that URL I posted.

I remember reading about that season when I was first getting interested in baseball; I think the concept of being that far back and being able to win was one of the things that captivated me about the sport.

Damn kids bunting all the time.

221 sacrifices in 1914 for Boston! Fire George Stallings!

Anybody watching `Into The West' before baseball? Incredible buffalo hunt segment. Wow.

Oh, shoot...Bob's still here. Change that to bison hunt.

I thought "Into the West" was a study of why the Braves and Reds were placed in the NL West in 1969.

Re: #7
To paraphrase the old Chinese saying: No matter how lazy you are, there's always someone lazier.

In this case, that someone would probably be me. It's been six months since I washed my car. At least. And it's white, too.

If anybody asks, Doug, just tell 'em you're a rugged non-conformist.

Time for me to head over to Dodger Stadium to see if the Curse of Jason Ellison still exists.

Why couldn't Buster Olney have been born 90 years ago?

Is it possible that I'm not the laziest person I know? That would shock me to my bones.

Let me see if I have this right. Your married, have children, work a full time job, moonlight, and do Dodger Thoughts and you think your lazy. I'd be embarrassed to tell you my schedule if you think your lazy. Let us just say that Robert A. Heinlein and I agree that naps and cat's are a good thing. Time for a little snooze just before the Dodger game.

I would just like to say I'm expecting another good game from Hee Seop Choi! It's amazing how good he is when he keeps both of his hands on the bat. Then again, Fred McGriff swung a lot like Choi does and he had a decent career. Is he still in the D'Rays minor leagues trying to mount a comeback??

Has Frank posted an over/under for Lowe yet?

Nope. Whaddya think, 6 2/3?

Jim, that seems like a good number to me. I'll take barely over. I think he can go 7.

Their'n:
Ford
Rodriguez
Morneau
Hunter
Jones
Williams
Redmond
Castro
Silva

Our'n:
Izzy
Choi
Drew
Kent
Werth
Perez
Grabs
Phillips
Lowe

Dodgers have the same lineup as yesterday. When was the last time that happened?

Had to be back when Valentin was still mobile.

Over it is.

Taking the under. The Twins own Lowe, expecting a big offensive game from both teams.

But Molokai, that was American League Lowe :-)

Mauer and Stewart are sitting together in a whirlpool licking each others wounds.

Great, here we go again.

Did I say over?

With Redmond in the line-up I'm guessing Vin will tell the story about him taking batting practice naked when he was with the Marlins.

It won't matter what league Lowe it is if we can't get to those ground balls. Granted most of them have been pretty well hit, but still.

One hose, one bucket three-quarters full of soapy water (I don't care what flavor soap, but there are fanatics who insist on specially formulated car-washing soap), two cotton rags, and a chamois. If you can manage to work in the shade, everything will be much easier. You rinse the car first, then dip the rag in the soapy water. Ring it out, a bit, and rub the top of your car with it. Work top to bottom, generally, and clockwise, or counter-clockwise as you like. Carry the bucket with you, re-dipping and ringing the rag as required. If it's too hot, or sunny, or you work too slowly, you'll have to re-rinse the car to keep from getting water spots. One you've finished washing the car, it's time to do the wheels. With the second rag, wash the wheels, top to bottom. When you finish that, throw the wheel rag away; it's done. Rinse the car, and thoroughly wet the chamois. Ring the chamois as dry as you can get it, then wipe down the car with it, top to bottom, etc. You'll have to re-ring the chamois as it gets saturated. Ta-da!

But you might as well just have your local hobos pee on it, if you don't go all the way and wax the thing. At least that's what my dad always said. Car washing intangibles? Roll up your windows, first.

Nothing like a car-washing tutorial to clear a room, I guess.

That was a pretty useless at bat.

Let's go Werthy!

Grabby!!!!!

Where's Brian Y? :)

Prostate Cancer Foundation picked a good night for their fundraiser ($22k for each hr, either team -- for those of you not watching on TV). Sat. nights are slow here at DT...

Why did Lowe leave, is he hurt?

Anyone know why Cesar is out?

Slow indeed tonight here...but it looks like it's been a decent game so far.

Grabs!
Choi!
Kent!

Maybe the Dodgers hired someone to hypnotize Grabs into thinking he's still in Vegas?

No report on either. Lowe only threw 72 pitches...

Izturis - mild strain right hammy.

According to Vin Cesar Izturis has a mild strain of the right hamstring.

And about three hours later, Carrara walks LeCroy.

Did Gio sell his soul to Satan again, to get out of that inning?

If I was Grabs, I would be PISSED at JT for pulling me after I just jacked another one.

Jayson Werth:

2004: 326 plate appearances, 1 GIDP

2005: 68 plate appearances, 5 GIDP

And now Osoria wiggles out of a mess of his own making.

I sincerely hope the Dodgers at least tie the game up here so that Tracy will bring in Gagne for the 9th. I've had enough of our second-tier relievers for one game.

Come on Tracy look alive. You gotta bring in Robles to hit for Werth so Gardenhire will play the lefty-lefty split. Duh.

Darn, SD one with two runs in the bottom of the ninth.

59 - Robles is already in the game or else he might have.

Wow, this must be a new low in comments since 2003.

Just trying to get another shot against Mulholland. Joined in progress.

Game over, and not in the good way.

Ah well.

The Diamondbacks are still losing, so it could be worse.

It could be getting worse, Green just doubled in a run. Tying run is at the plate.

Snakes lose. Giants lose.

Sorry,
My year of shame:
4/12 - Dodgers 9, Giants 8

then

4/27 - Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3
5/4 - Nationals 6, Dodgers 2
5/21 - Angels 3, Dodgers 1
5/30 - Cubs 5, Dodgers 3
6/3 - Brewers 7, Dodgers 5
6/11 - Twins 5, Dodgers 3

I have two tickets I can give away for the Wednesday afternoon game against the Padres on 6/29.

Days you might not want to watch
7/16 vs Giants
8/24 vs Rockies
9/7 vs Giants

41 - Thanks. You saved my post from being a total embarrassment.