June 22, 1903

On a Monday afternoon, Brooklyn and St. Louis played a doubleheader at Washington Park and the Superbas were superb, sweeping the Cardinals 5-2 and 8-7. Brooklyn improved to 27-24, but were in fourth place and 9 ½ games behind first place Pittsburgh.

In the opener, Brooklyn parlayed a home run by Jimmy Sheckard (he would lead the National League in homers in 1903 with 9) and some good pitching by Oscar Jones for the win. Jones gave up just six hits and walked none in a complete game win. Jones finished 31 out of his 36 starts and threw 324 1/3 innings in 1903.

In the nightcap, the Cardinals broke out to a 3-0 lead against Brooklyn starter Roy Evans. But Brooklyn came back with seven runs in the fourth to take the lead off of St. Louis pitchers Jack Dunleavy and Clarence Currie.

St. Louis rallied in the 9th off of Brooklyn reliever Ned Garvin to close the gap to 8-7, but Brooklyn catcher Fred Jacklitsch threw out St. Louis third baseman Jimmy Burke trying to steal to end the game. Brooklyn had 10 hits in the second game and St. Louis had 14.

It was a long day for Jacklitsch who caught both ends of the doubleheader. Brooklyn manager Ned Hanlon used the same eight position players in both games.

Brooklyn was never able to put together any success for more than a few games at a time and finished the season in fifth at 70-66, 19 games behind pennant winning Pittsburgh. (Brooklyn's longest winning streak was six and its longest losing streak was four.) Pittsburgh would go on to lose the first AL-NL World Series to Boston in 8 games.

In addition to leading the league in home runs, Sheckard also tied for the league lead in stolen bases with 67. Only Chuck Klein of the Phillies in 1932 would also pull off that unusual double. Sheckard batted .332 and had an OBP of .423. Shortstop Bill Dahlen had a solid season, batting .262 with 82 walks for an OBP of .373, but he was traded to the Giants at the end of the year anyway. In fact, Hanlon remade the entire offense for the next season with the exception of Sheckard.

The pitching staff was good, but not outstanding by the standards of the day. Jones went 19-14 with a 2.94 ERA. Henry Schmidt went 22-13 with a 3.83 ERA in his only major league season. Garvin was 15-18 with a 3.08 ERA.

The fifth place finish was the worst for a team led by Hanlon since his 1893 Baltimore Orioles team finished 8th. From 1894-1902, Hanlon's team, the Orioles and the Dodgers, finished first five times, second three times and in third once. But Hanlon's greatest days were over and his time in Brooklyn would end poorly.

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

It just amazes me that two teams could be that close (yeah, I remember stats classes and regression, but still) over that long a period.

The trick, therefore, is building a team suited to your park (since half your games are there) to take maximum advantage of what the park allows and to suffer minimum loss from what the park suppresses.

This was part of the argument for why Derek Lowe was worth more to the Dodgers than to anyone else. He (supposedly) suppresses HRs, with his extreme GB/FB ratio, and Dodger Stadium suppresses doubles and triples. He was poorly suited to Fenway, perfectly suited to DS. Or so the argument went.

Well, two relatively even teams should be - with flukey things evening out over the years. But I bet the consistently superior teams (NYY) and consistently awful teams don't have too many teams with whom they are break-even over the years.

If baseball were more fair in terms of revenue (had more parity) nearly all dyads would be relatively break-even over time, because they'd adjust to market forces, copy success, benefit in lean years (through reverse-order drafts) and so on. That there are any dyads with very uneven records over time points to structural inequalities of some sort (more money, or perhaps a longtime owner unwilling to spend, or somesuch).

Unfortunately, there is no way too guess how each of the Dodgers will do when facing rookie Tim Stauffer, since none of them have had at least 11 at-bats against him yet.

Coming in to the year the score was
Cardinals 927
Dodgers 910

The Dodgers and Cubs were tied at 919 starting this year over that same period.

Counting up to tonight's game the score is:
Dodgers 316
Padres 290

GB, your logic is good. Maybe I'll go look at bbref and see what the Yankees look like compared to, say, the Senators.

The Cubs were 1-2 starting the season, but recently were swept by the Yankees.

Dodgers
Izturis
Repko CF
Werth RF
Kent
Saenz
Choi
Phillips
Grabowski LF
Houlton

Padres
Roberts
Fick
Klesko
Giles
Sweeney
Burroughs
Greene
Jackson
Stauffer

Wow.
Just wow.
I'm going out.
This is going to be painful.

I like to stack my lineup with having three guys who aren't hitting well batting 1-2-3.

Starting Lineup
C: Jason Phillips ($0.38)
1B: Hee-Seop Choi ($0.40)
2B: Jeff Kent ($9.00)
SS: Cesar Izturis ($3.10)
3B: Antonio Perez ($0.34)
LF: Jayson Werth / Cody Ross / Jason Repko($0.38)
CF: Milton Bradley ($7.50)
RF: J.D. Drew ($11.00)

Bench
2B/3B: Willy Aybar ($0.32)
OF: Ricky Ledee ($1.50)
OF: Jayson Werth / Cody Ross / Jason Repko ($0.34)
C: Mike Rose ($0.34)

Starting Pitchers
P: Brad Penny ($5.50)
P: Derek Lowe ($9.00)
P: Odalis Perez ($9.50)
P: D.J. Houlton / Derek Thompson / Ryan Ketchner / Eric Stults ($0.34)

Relievers
Closer: Yhency Brazoban ($0.35)
Setup: Jonathan Broxton ($0.32)
Swing: Wilson Alvarez ($2.00)
RHP: Franquelis Osaria ($0.34)
LHP: Derek Thompson / Ryan Ketchner / Eric Stults / Hong-chih Kuo ($0.34)
RHP: Steve Schmoll / Justin Orenduff / D.J. Houlton ($0.34)

Disabled
Closer: Eric Gagne ($10.00)

Including expected benefits costs (~$7.55) and insurance claims (~2.50), the total projected salary is $77.65 million for 2006.

Assuming a cap of $95 million ($100 million minus $5 million for mid-season pickups), that leaves $17 million to fill the following holes:

#1: Fifth starter
#2: Left-fielder
#3: Third baseman

I would suggest going for an ace starter either in free agency (AJ Burnett) or through trade, which I'd estimate at $11 million for the season. For left-field and third-base I would suggest picking up left-handed sides for platoons. Matt Lawton and Jose Valentin seem like good candidates who could be acquired for approximately the $6 million that would be remaining.

The (amusing) thing is this would give us a similar team next year as we have this year, but with an ace starter, and expected improvement from a number of young players. Even with this year's disappointments, I would be very comfortable with this arrangement.

Has Tracy given up? How can you sit Drew against the division leader? I've gone from thinking JT is inept to believing he is certifiably insane.

I'm gonna hurl if Choi hits 6th and Repko/Izzy at the top of the lineup, and Antonio Perez on the bench.... AGAIN.. AGAIN.. AGAIN...

Why? How many outs do Izzy/Repko have to make to be moved down to 7th/8th???

Can Mike Edwards not play OF for Repko, and keep Antonio in there at SS?

Amazing.

This must at least tie the Ja(y)sons-in-the-OF record. Unless someone had 4 in a softball game, or in one of those goofy bottom-9th switches.

On that note, the Dodgers season is starting to remember the scene in the blind man's house.

Come back! I was gonna make espresso!

[thinking of a scene that would end with Melissa Lima saying "Sssank you , Doctor!"]

Is there a cure for such maladies?

Very true and I never really thought about that but when he was in Vegas he hit the ball well a few games and had a couple HR's. Even if Werth doesnt come back full strength I'm sure we can find someone to platoon with him out there. I'm thinking Antonio Perez but that's just because I would LOVE to see Guzman or LaRoche be able to handle the job next year (which isn't likely).

unfortunately, our man choi just swung at ball 4 twice in a row, the exact same high fastball each time.

http://www.triumphtheinsultcomicdog.com/

Of course, I note who was involved: Kent, Saenz, and Phillips. NOT Repko/Werth/Grabs.

Like Bob, I feel a strange compulsion to follow this game through.

i think he already had the MRI today, which didn't reveal anything, but he's still feeling discomfort and is only available for "emergencies". as if we ever really need an emergency strikeout with men on base.

i guess dodger blues can take down their "jd... injury free?" counter down.

http://tinyurl.com/977q3

And that concludes the extent of my knowledge of motorcycles, though if I always needed to, I could go ask my housemate. Who, if anyone cares, is currently restoring a classic BMW car in our garage.

That URL was not about the Dodgers, and...I smell a Snope coming on.

I believe Jim's joke, though, was that the baby is so offended by the Dodgers' current state that it's kicking up a storm.

I've heard that LeBron James routinely hits 80-90 shots in practice too.

"Beltre for MVP!!!

No wonder the Dodgers got rid of him."

Hee.

I'm home now, by the way, but I'm still not clicking any links . . .

i think the answer to the aflac trivia question is david wells.

They're quite therapeutic.

If he can pitch, I'll go pick him up and drive him out here.

can we call them "kuotables"?

Blake Johnson was the starter for Columbus and he's cementing his place as a legitimate prospect. His line was 6 IP; 3 H; 0 R/ER; 2 BB; 7 Ks.

It's just that I expected it to be this past half inning, and it wasn't. I'm not exactly eagerly anticipating the next half inning or thinking he's turned a corner here...

Have been surprised over the years how close a bond we've developed, pretty much the same as with a dog or cat. He really is my pal Love 'em all...the difference is, a dog lives to please you, a cat meets you halfway on it's terms, but to a parrot, you exist for them.

What types of conversations do you and the conure have over dinner?

Kendall's also gotten back on track with his hitting--he should be back at his usual season average of .300 soon. No power, he only hits for average, but the As knew that when they traded for him. And finally, that trade allowed the As to get rid of two players they needed to get rid of. So overall I'd say the As are still ahead of the Mariners in terms of value for the Kendall trade versus the Beltre trade.

Watching DJ on the mound tonight, I can only say I'm still wishing to see Zito, who's pitching a gem tonight, in Dodger blue. Guess what, his ERA is below Mulder's and he's got the 4th lowest opposing BA in the AL. Gee, if he just had some run support...

Repko's monthly stat lines:

April: .239/.327/.522 (.849 OPS in 46 ABs)
May: .219/.265/.313 (.577 OPS in 32 ABs)
June: .129/.289/.226 (.515 OPS in 31 ABs)

Overall: .196/.291/.366 (.657 OPS in 112 ABs)

Not only should he not be batting 2nd, I don't think he should be on the team. His already weak .657 OPS is being bolstered by a "hot" streak in April which he doesn't seem to have any chance to reproduce.

Time to give Cody Ross a chance. I've never been a big fan of mixing things up for the sake of mixing things up, but this team may be the exception.

Oh wait...

And Satan just put on mittens.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050622&content_id=1100534&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

Hearing this reminds me of the old Sports Center commercial that ends with Cam Neely saying, "Why don't you just kick my dog while you're here?"

On the bright side, LAT, getting preened by a parrot (which involves a beakful of my hair, then a yank) hurts like hell...

I'm speechless.

Again I'm strangely drawn to this game.

I certainly don't.

Look up "done" and there's a picture of Schmidt.

This all feels very off the rails right now.

Lesson? Even a great pitcher has a bad game every now and again, and even a poor pitcher has a good game every now and again.

I just cannot understand how DePodesta allows this to keep happening. He must agree with it. That's all I can think.

My disenchantment is many-layered.

De-lurking to scream: WTF!

My mind is boggled: firstly, because of the numbing decision to pinch-hit for Choi, but whatever, at least that's par for the course. And, of course, Perez is one of our better bats right now.

BUT HAVING HIM BUNT?! A fast guy who doesn't hit into double-plays, and you WASTE him on a pinch-hit sac bunt? Why not simply have Choi do it -- it's not like Perez has shown he can successfully execute a sac bunt anyway.

A gift run was just given us, but I'm utterly appalled.

Please, dear God, I hope some reporter asks Trace how/why he arrived at that particular decision.

Wow, that's quite the move, I've got to say. I'm nearly speechless myself.

At least now I'll get some criminal law studied tonight.

Sure enough, ground ball to second....

and it's booted! Pads get the force at second, but a run scores.

Osoria in at P
Saenz at 1b
Edwards at 3b
Perez at 2b

But Tracy just can't stand to let him see a friggin' lefty.

So he removes his best power hitter w/ 2 on and none out in the 6th inning!

And then, has Perez bunt. WTF!

Couldn't Choi have bunted?...he's done it before successfully...this month, in fact.

And then Kent is safe. And he blows up due to the mounting frustration and that bs call against the white sox and gets tossed.

God, I hope the nadir is close...I might have to get a gun and shoot my TV.

Who do we send out to pitch now?

I'm going with the uncoached bunting for a hit. Maybe I'm a Tracey apologist at heart, but I cannot believe he would pull Choi to have Perez bunt. I just can't.

Feels like it's been a while since we've had a good Olney around here, anyhow.

Grabowski had an Olney!

Jim and his large bird having slumber parties,

or watching a team of doctors open up Jim Tracy's skull only to find two cracked marbles and a piece of used dental floss inside.

Why can't you believe it? He did it last night, too...Perez bunted right back toward the mound and the runner was out.

"The Dodgers couldn't handle the White Sox's speed."

I would trade for him as much for next year as for this year. Basically, spend $5 million and a couple B level prospects to see if he returns to form. If so, we'd be getting the only true ace available for 2006, at a very reasonable $10 million. If not, we can exercise the $3 million buyout. It would be an expensive bet, but there aren't a whole lot of other options.

But, this is all a theoretical exercise since it's very unlikely the Giants would trade him to a division opponent.

Folks, in a tie game with four innings to play, Drew (and Bradley) injured, and your No. 5 starter on the ropes, you simply cannot play small ball and bunt. Nor should you pinch hit for your power-hitting first baseman. Nor can you possibly justify pinch-hitting for Choi and not pinch-hitting for Grabowski against a lefty.

Werth just homered against a righty. Repko bats ad infinitum against righties. Grabowski bats against a lefty. At this point, I wouldn't care if Choi were truly a .200 hitter. You can't possibly justify pinch-hitting for him.

On that note, Sweet Lou could be on the market real, real soon...though I'm not sure he'd be the best choice. He seems to be in the Davey Johnson in LA/Leyland in Colorado phase of his career.

I still can't possibly fathom the rationale behind both actions.

It's become clear, JT is insane.

if we actually win this monstrosity of a baseball game, then that just confirms its absurdity. so much is just dumb luck. and i do mean dumb.

osoria batted in the last inning with a runner on, only to stay for ONE MORE OUT. so tracy can bring in wunsch, to face the exact same hitters for the third night in a row. this should be fun.

Like Bob, I was actually okay with not PHing for Osoria. That's because I stupidly assumed that unless Osoria got into major trouble, he'd pitch the full inning.

Stupid stupid stupid! (banging head against wall) The only question is, am I stupider than JT for making that assumption?

Sigh

Hmm. The White Sox are fifth in the AL with 344 runs scored. They are tied with the Angels for the lowest ERA at 3.57.

The White Sox success seems simple. They pitch well and they are scoring enough runs.

They also happen to be FOURTH in the AL in home runs.

Jon -- Let me just say that this game is setting a pretty high bar for your imagi-game. A high bar indeed.

This game is the absolute apex of managerial absurdity. And today on the radio I heard both Vic the Brick and Lee Hamilton rant about how Tracy's job is sacrosanct, and what a hero he's been given that Depodesta ruined the team. And I think there was some criticism of McCourt, implying that he doesn't need to spend $ because the Dodgers draw well when they lose. I guess the Penny, Perez, Lowe, Kent, Gagne and Drew contracts were the unstated examples of his penny pinching.

Linebrink, Otsuka, Hoffman...too bad we won't have a power-hitting lefty to face those guys.

Choi is a better bunter than Perez anyway!

Sorry for the late posts to events - i've been eating and posting and losing my mind all at once.

If he's pitching, that's a good thing because then the Dodgers are ahead by 5 runs or the Padres have run out of pitchers. He's a left-handed and fat Scott Erickson now.

Saenz leadoff double...time to bunt.

I'm interested, Jon...but I can't take a heartbreaking fictional loss ;)

saenz wins.

Besides, it's moving day for me Sunday, so I'm gonna go Suffering Bruin on ya all.

If Sanchez comes in, I'll turn off the Gameday until he's done. I've decided his implosion last time was definitely JT's fault for overusing his arm. I jinx Sanchez when he would otherwise be good, but that's not the same as being a good luck charm for him, like I am for Gio.

foul, though.

The only pitchers who are hard to bunt are guys who throw really hard. And Chris Hammond is the slowest thrower in the majors.

Of course, Perez's hit bounced about 45 times before it got to center and Dave Roberts has a pop gun for an arm.

(a) the Perez for Choi bunt

(b) Wunsch hitting and then facing 1 batter

(c) Adam Dunn batting 7th, again

He hit 32 home runs, most on the team.

They won the pennant anyway.

I'm sorry for imagining that you have a large bird, by the way.

Please make the pain go away.

grabowski is the worst dodger player in a long time. wait, i forgot about robles.

kent was ejected.

He did have Jackie Robinson who had the highest OBP in the NL that year batting third.

Billy Cox batted leadoff a lot. He had an OBP of .308.

Yet, they still won.

They may be Exhibit A in the case against batting orders making a difference.

1) Drew is injured.
2) Tracy pulled Choi to bunt with Perez, even though Choi can bunt and Perez can't
3) Werth homered, bringing down the wrath of God upon all of us
4) Osoria hit for himself in a one-run game, then pitched to one batter
5) The Orem Owlz run the bases just like their parent team -- with reckless abandon

Sayeth the wire service box scores.

(crosses fingers)

My bird likes to take playful nips at my nose...whereas a Macaw could rip it off entirely if so inclined :)

2)and perez bunted into the exact same forceout at third, only this time kent got ejected for arguing the call, so we lost both kent and choi from the game in the same at-bat. our biggest home run threat in the game is now jason grabowski.

4)he not only hit for himself, there was a runner on base.

Did he ever serve his suspension for this year? I wonder if the Dodgers said he did before they put him on the DL.

If not, Gagne will carry that suspension with him until he's activated again.

I don't know why, but the image of you and your bird is bringing me to tears of joy.

I really think this team is messing with my body chemistry.

Haha...Primey!

Ooops...wrong site. never mind.

unfortunately, i think grabowski's strikeout has balanced everything out again. sanchez is gonna blow it now.

C: Navarro
1B: Free Agent or Prospect
2B: Perez
SS: Izturis
3B: Guzman or Laroche
LF: Free Agent or Prospect
CF: Bradley
RF: Drew

SP: Lowe, Odalis, Horchevar, FA, Prospect
Bullpen: Depodesta's college drinking buddies.

I can't look.

I don't have the courage. I'll check back in the morning...

Don't look back.

You're a good man.

Save yourself, for your family.

1) Play to keep it close
2) Have a crappy bullpen

Another that I've culled from the comments tonight:

1) Either another umpire screwed up, or he at least reveled in the chance to throw out someone who dared to complain.

Jim Tracy keeps them under his hat.

Fortunately our best outfielder is in center. Where the Padres have hit a grand total of two balls to all night.

Also because every other trade he has made has worked out wonderfully, so he can screw up every now and then.

SS -- Guzman
3B -- LaRoche

8 million dollar contract from Arte Moreno, who loves banjo-hitting middle infielders -- Izturis

a. Replo bunts
b. Cesar tries to steal

I've long wondered when we would first see an ambidextrous pitcher.

Here is the dilemma: The Padres really are not that good and could easily be cought. But we are worse and not good enough to catch them. If that bottom of the 8th takes place this weekend against the Angels, we lose.

318: Guzman, Laroche 2007 makes 70 errors. Im sure Lowe will love that.

HIRAM BOCACHICA!

Speaking of which, I really miss Tom Meagher.

Antonio Perez = Darth Offerman

I didn't know this year was going to be a Greatest Hits year.

He'll probably love having a five-run cushion every game he pitches as well.

Who killed Jayson Werth and replaced him with a hitter?

Werth rediscovers loft!

The player we got, Henri Stanley currently has a .369 OBP and a .860 OPS. These numbers are equivelant to what Cody Ross is putting up down there, and are better than Chin Feng Chen. They key piece of information I'm missing is how old he is. If he's young, that could end up looking like a very good trade.

Maybe he just thought bloggers were a bunch of dorks.

He's 27...not so good.

Time to go to bed. Very draining game.

Did we really win?

Is the Ghame really Over?

the man spent many hours crunching thousands of numbers and writing lengthy analyses for free, as a hobby. i don't think anyone like that has any business judging anyone else to be a dork :)

Okay, Stanley's 27, not too great, but who knew that Dave Roberts would have an .817 OPS this year?

Either way, not a lot of dates being made.

Some of us weren't doing too bad around here last night, though (laugh).

1. If we win tomorrow, we are only 4 1/2 games back.
2. Aside from Lowe in KC and the 1st game in Chicago, the starting pitching has been pretty good lately.
3. The hitting can only get better if Werth heats up, Bradley comes back soon, and Drew is o.k.

I'd bet quite a lot that he will be safely under .800 by the end of the season.

Kent was safe, but it was close enough that I can excuse a blown call.

He does, in the fridge.

Where'd Christina go?

Everyone's urine smells after eating asparagus, but not all people have the gene that allows them to detect the smell.

This is the sort of stuff I read about when it's not baseball season.

Amen to that.