From the previous thread: #442 - Nice one First! Actually I think DePo created a clone mutation of Lowe and Weaver and trade it for the entire TX outfield.
things to do for Depo:
-get adam dunn-will tiffany, navarro and werth be enough?
-trade weaver if we are 8 or more out by next sunday.
-trade odalis if anyone will take him and give us anything of note.
-resign weaver this summer if numbers are right-3 years 18 million.
-move kent to 1st, robles to 2nd, start perez at 3rd and dunn in left field next year. hope russ martin is ready by next spring.
-bring up kuo and broxton now. why not let kuo throw his arm out in LA rather than jax.
Here's a quote of Beane via a USA Today article I find on Baseball Primer on DePo:
"Paul has seen the ups and down of developing young players and trusting the three, four years they've had in the minor leagues and discounting their first few months in the majors," Beane says. "Developing young players can be a lot of fun, but you've got to have the discipline to live with their mistakes and understand their trend line isn't always going to go straight up."
I suppose this helps explain the patience DePo had with Grabowski--that, and the lack of much better alternatives with all our injuries. I still think that the string was way too long. And someone needs to tell this to Tracy with regards to Choi.
The USA Today article, weirdly complimentary to DePo for a mainstream rag, is at:
I elected to stay in denial. My wife has been telling me not stay up and watch the games. "Honey, I'm worried about you"...
:-) (not really, work is worse than the Dodgers if one can imagine that).
Two in a row! Tivo is great, I can settle in on the couch and speed watch if I want or just half-sleep through it.
Whoever thinks Kent should move to first needs to seriously reconsider that notion. If nothing else the ball gets to you that much quicker at 1B, and the only thing I can see is that he occasionally shows a little slowness in reaction time compared to his old mvp self. I'm all for the notion of stability up the middle at this point.... as if there is such a thing this year!
8 - I think I've come around in regards to Kent... he should stay at second UNTIL his contract is up... if, at that time, we have no prospect at 1B I say sign 'em up.
It seems that Odalis and Burnett are the same age, yet Burnett has never had a better season that Odalis, and Burnett's best season is worse than Odalis' second best.
Are you suggessting trading a good, yet slightly injury prone pitcher for a slightly better, yet far more injury prone one. Or is the prospect of having Derek Thompson and D.J. Houlton as the 4-5 starters appealing to you?
I'll give OP the benefit of the doubt after the NLDS since his mom had just gotten cancer. The media didn't report that until much later, so I like everyone else thought he had just choked.
1. Citizens Bank Park has an incredible climbing, sliding playground thing, with a brewpub stand in the wings. Missed innings 1-4 (was late, so only missed 2- top 4), but fun was had by all.
2. Repko's throw to third had them ooing and aahing (though to me it was a very good, but readily makeable by lots of major leaguers play). After the out, all the Phillies fans asked me (and my festooned in blue crew) who he was, and my boy got to say, as I've taught him, "Jason - they're all named Jason". (Though this was, of course, not exactly accurate.)
3. After getting to my seat in the bottom of the fourth, I noted the no hits, no errors on the board. During the bottom of the fifth, jinx bedamned, I had to find out, so I subtly asked my Abreu-jersey wearing neighbor if any Phillies had walked? No clue. "Why you care?" (If he was a Dodger fan, TJ Simers could get an article out of that.) Asked guy behind me, "sorry just got here." Gave up at that point. Flame away, but I had to know.
4. Bottom of the Ninth, home team down by 1 -- really loud music. Video clip -- Jim Carrey as Riddler from Batman Forever -- "Now the game begins." Cheers. Video clip -- Bull Pullman from Independence Day -- "We will not go gentle in the night. We will not go down without a fight." More cheers. Dodger pitcher running in from bullpen. Music stops -- odd moment of quiet, guy behind me says really loud "Thank f-ing God Eric Gagne's not playing this year."
5. Brazoban throws two out of like his first 5 pitches posted as 98 mph on the scoreboard. Same guy says to me "So, um, who's that."
Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese homered and Sandy Amoros had three hits as the defending National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers pounded the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, 8-5 before a crowd of 5,408. Despite the win, the Dodgers were still six games behind the first place Giants with a 56-37 record.
Carl Furillo scored the first run for the Dodgers. He had his sixth straight hit, a single to lead off the second and Amoros, filling in left field for the injured Jackie Robinson, doubled to right to score Furillo. The Dodgers scored twice more in the fourth off of Cincinnati starter Karl Drews, on a double by Amoros and singles by Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, and Jim Gilliam.
The Reds cut the score to 3-2 in the fourth when Ted Kluszewski hit his 26th homer of the season with Roy McMillan aboard. Snider homered in the fifth to make it 4-2 Brooklyn and Reese hit his homer in the 7th off of Moe Savaransky to make it 5-2. Another run scored on a double play to make it 6-2.
The Reds closed the gap in the bottom of the seventh when they converted an error by Gilliam into a pair of unearned runs. Manager Walter Alston brought in Jim Hughes to relieve Newcombe and he got out of the inning.
The Dodgers scored two more runs in the 9th on an RBI single from Duke Snider, which gave Hughes a cushion in the 9th and made Gus Bell's home run in the bottom half merely cosmetic.
Alston was the biggest change to the Dodgers in 1954. Charlie Dressen had won two straight pennants and finished an agonizingly close second in his three years managing the Dodgers. Prior to the 1954 season, Dressen asked owner Walter O'Malley for a multi-year contact. O'Malley's response was to fire Dressen and promote little-known minor league manager Alston to the position. While the decision was not well received at the time, Alston would go on to be the winningest manager in Dodgers history.
But in 1954, the Dodgers could not overcome the Giants. They finished 92-62 and were five games back. The hitting was not as good as the 1953 squad and the pitching staff couldn't keep up with the Giants, surrendering 190 more runs than their neighbors in Manhattan.
Injuries were a problem. Robinson played in just 124 games. Campanella slumped to a .207 average. There was no regular third baseman with Don Hoak playing the most there.
The pitchers were a mixed lot. Carl Erskine went 18-15 but with an ERA of 4.15. Billy Loes went 13-5 with a 4.14 ERA. Newcombe was just 9-8 with a 4.55 ERA. Hughes made a league-leading 60 appearances with 24 saves.
Two rookie pitchers debuted. One had a spectacular start. Karl Spooner threw 2 complete game shutouts in his only games of the year and struck out 15 batters in his first game. He struck out 12 in his second game.
The other rookie was a young lefthander from Pennsylvania named Tom Lasorda. He appeared in four games with no decisions and gave up 5 runs in 9 innings of work. More would be heard from him later.
Thanks to New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet
The renovations for the most part sound fine. I don't mind ads, but many do, so those need to be more tastefully done. Most importantly, McCourt needs to make sure he doesn't have a fiasco similar to the botched sightlines with those new seats. But I most especially liked the idea of larger restrooms and trying to find a way of improving traffic flow in the lot. The valet parking may be a start--I certainly won't be able to afford something like that, but if that can implove traffic flow overall, it definitely should be done. Escalators are also a good idea.
The renovations sound fine with the exception of the ad-board and the soundsystem. I don't want to be constantly bombarded with noise like I am at Anaheim Stadium. Also, three Stadium Clubs seems like overkill, doesn't it?
Since almost all these things mention expansion, I wonder what will be removed.
16 - Bob do you accept Billy Ashley rookie cards and Dodgers 2005 NL West Champions shirts? I was amazed to see Jeff Kent on the front page, anything interesting and not totally asinine in those Insider articles?
Gillettes article was pretty good, while Crasnick's article started off neutral, then suddenly turned towards Lo Duca, chemistry, and J.D. Drew not being a gamer.
Crasnik: "For Dodger fans pining in Chavez Ravine, the 2005 L.A. story is injury, poor chemistry and a 43-52 record reflecting it. But the NL West offers hope"
Gillette: "Dodgers' GM calculatingly cold"
and this (possibly non-Dodgers-related because I can't access premium Insider content) gem from Steve Phillips: " How to handle a wayward club" [snicker]
Based on the headlines, ESPN's writers are copying and pasting the pre-framed stories they wrote a year ago, complete with "In the 2003 book 'Moneyball'..." lead-ins, in Gillette's case.
#21 - I wouldn't say Gillette's article was good, maybe "unbiased" is a better term. Our standards for the mainstream media are skewed due to people like Crasnick, Plashke, and the like. Gillette makes valid points that most of us agree with, but it reads like an encyclopedia article. Of course regular DT readers are spoiled.
23 - Uh, it sounds like ESPN operates with the same business model as the Church of Scientology...
Anyway, I would be extremely curious as to how Crasnick analyzed the Dodger clubhouse and determined there is a "lack of chemistry". Does he site specific examples? What method did he use to measure and quantify "chemistry"?
For answers to those questions and more all you have to do is join ESPN's 3rd layer of obfuscation at the incredibly ridiculous price of you'll-know-once-we-bill-your-credit-card.
"It's also no great revelation that DePodesta focuses more on stats than personalities and "chemistry" and how players might mesh as a unit. The running joke in Los Angeles is that Bible-toting Drew and standoffish Kent have yet to be introduced.
Drew -- who signed a five-year, $55 million contract this past winter -- didn't exactly enhance his "gamer" credentials even before getting plunked with a Brad Halsey pitch two weeks ago. On June 26, he was unable to pinch hit late in a 5-3 loss to the Angels. When he went 2-for-2 the next day against the Padres, some people in the organization wondered whether he couldn't have sucked it up and come off the bench to take a hack.
And naturally, word got around.
"If you have a five-year contract and you're on the active roster, at worst you go up to the plate and swing the bat and they pinch run for you," said an official from an AL club. "This is the city where Kirk Gibson basically needed a wheelbarrow to take him to home plate, so something like that doesn't go over real well." "
I just read Crasnik's article thanks to a buddy at work who has no ideological qualms with cutting and pasting ESPN content.
Same old, same old. His anecdote to support "no chemistry" is that people in LA joke about the "Bible-toting Drew and standoffish Kent have yet to be introduced." Then he moves on.
He sort of admonishes DePodesta for trying to "build a bench on the cheap, and he's paying for it." Does he think it would be better to spend a ton of money on backup players? I dunno. But I'm trying to find out how these "cheap" bench players DePodesta acquired are hurting the Dodgers:
I thought gillete's article was good, his main premise that its probably to soon to judge depodesta a stirring success or failure is faily enlighted for a sportswriter. Crasnick's article on the other hand seemed to rely heavily rumor. He seems to reach, like many others, for some reason to prove that the dodgers were destined for this. Unfortunatly, all he can come up with is; well the they took a long time to sign tracy, and drew didnt pinch hit that one time, oh and tj simers doesnt seem to like whats going on.
Attending my first two Dodger games of the season on Saturday and Sunday at Shea.... last year the Dodgers were 0-3 with me in attendance, so this doesn't bode well.
#31 - We should've spent more on the backups for the backups. After all, every team should prepare for their starter to go down, then their backups to go down. A strong AAA roster was vital to the success of the Yankees earlier this decade. :-p
32 - Yeah, half of Crasnik's piece was repeating things that were reported in other places. There seems to be very little original research or background work that was done - he references the work of other reporters in a couple instances. I felt like I was reading an RSS feed of stuff I'd already seen. Not surprising that it was stale and repetitive.
31 - Cransnik is a moron, when he talks about the bench he is referring to Repko, Grabbo, Ross, Chen et al who aren't our bench as much as our AAA roster. The bench has been decent, the problem is that the bench has been starting do to so many injuries.
Geez, I want Crasnick's job... I could do it in my sleep! On second thought, I probably couldn't live with myself aspiring to such low standards. What a bunch drivel... ok, here's my version if the Dodgers were 10 games in 1st and 20 games above .500:
"Although J.D. Drew is deeply religious and Jeff Kent is a rough-hewned scrapper they've managed to overlook each other's vast differences in personality and put the best of interest of the team first. There is no better example of clubhouse leadership than Drew's quiet, unassuming demeanor where his play speaks for itself and Kent's willingness to pull a teammate aside and give him a talking to if need be.
"As the Dodgers continue their roll to the W.S. the other NL contenders better get used to the fact nothing short of nuclear meltdown can dissolve the ideal chemistry that is the Dodger clubhouse."
#43 - If the Dodgers were 10 in front, every other article would be a love letter to the genius of Jim Tracy. His ability to overcome the .XML feed of a roster that Depo has given him, and instead translate them into a "baseball team" is testament to his reputation as one of the 3 best managers in all of baseball.
45 -I'm not sure if there is sarcasm intended given the sideways comparison to Gammons, but I thought the article took, if not a somewhat obvious, at least an objective view with some importance placed on facts.
Never heard of Bodley before so I do not have a background context to put him in.
I'm not sure if Bodley was ever on a team's baseball beat, which is one of the requirements for the Spink Award (remembered its name!) from the HOF.
Some people who are likely to win it in upcoming years, mainly because it will be their time, will be Tracy Ringolsby and Rick Hummel. I imagine that Jayson Stark will get it one of these years, but he's relatively young.
Ringolsby is the guy with the big cowboy hat who works for one of the Denver papers. Hummel was the Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a long, long time.
"Given that Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn and hitting coach Tim Wallach are both extremely well-regarded and could have gone elsewhere if not for their loyalty to Tracy, that makes you wonder."
No evidence is cited for this comment, but if it's true then that must make the cost of firing JT considerably greater.
"The Los Angeles Times' Tim Brown recently reported that Tracy's two-year contract extension includes an out clause allowing him to leave after this season."
I must have missed Brown's original article. This is interesting...we might not need to fire him after all.
Our crosstown rivals (Angels) made a nice pickup in Paul Byrd this offseason for about 5M and he's been very good so far (9-6 with 3.71 ERA). Maybe, Depo should have signed him instead of Lowe or Perez.
Does anyoneknow if 69 different lineups in first 95 games is a record?
And Tracey does seem like the type of guy who would go for breaking such a record, so maybe he's trying to get ledee hit on the hands with a Zambrano up&in.
This is not mine, it comes from FirstMohican at the end of yesterday's thread. Very funny stuff FirstMohican. But it explains why Phillips was not in the line up yesterday and maybe not today. Clearly, he is in Vegas at the Debbie Reynolds Hotel filling in for Rip Taylor in his one man confetti show.
Scattered thunderstorms expected in New York today, although I would assume that the game would get played.
The Dodgers have been pretty fortunate with the weather this year. No postponements yet and I think only a couple of games that have started a little late. There was one in Denver. Were there any others?
July 31 is quickly approaching. What's the threshold for buying/selling in terms of games behind the Padres?
Pads and Dodgers have the same schedule for the rest of the month - it's our turn at the Mets, the Pads get the Phils. Then both teams are home to host the Reds and Cards.
I say if we're inside 5 games (make up 2 games in the next 8 games) we definitely go for it.
If we drop 2 games over the next 8, may be time pack it in.
So, 8.5 back - sell. 4.5 back - buy, baby, buy!
But what about in between? Depo almost needs to have two trades (at least) in place as the 31st comes up.
Nothing for breakfast, but I just went out and had "Pizza Medals" for lunch. Good dough. Sauce was spicy in a way that very little food in Utah is spicy (my wife ordered a Reuben in a restaurant here once, and the waitress warned her that it was "spicy").
I cannot think of a reason in the world that Brother Kent would dislike J.D. Drew because he owns a bible. That is nonsense.
Quick tease on 570am sports radio that the Dodgers were rumoredly shopping Jeff Weaver and that the Baltimore Orioles were supposedly interested. I'm not sure how the Dodgers getting closer and closer to the Padres in the standings would affect such a trade scenario were there some truth to it. I think the Orioles have a pitching prospect (Penn?) that many teams are interested in.
vr, Xei
I didn't realize Drew was a Christian. Man, DePo really does need to get rid of him. Christians are clubhouse poison. If he can't get Green back, maybe Texas would be willing to deal Kevin Mench.
Dodgers are 4-6 in The Weaves' last 10 starts, and 9 of them were quality starts. The Dodgers averaged 3 RPG during the stretch while his UnERA has been 3.26.
This trade deadline is going to come right down to the wire. He's going to have the Orioles prepared to take Weaver for Penn and Bigbie, or try to get Lawton from the Pirates, depending on the couple of games leading up to the deadline.
Padres get the Cards first, while we should be beating the Reds. But the games leading up to the deadline is the reverse scenario. We could close the gap against the Reds, only to fall back against the Cards.
#101,
At least we get the Cards before the deadline. It would suck to get to within 4.5 or so before the Cards, make the deal, then slip back to 7.5 back.
DePo isn't afraid of making a deal at the 11th hour, so we'll see what happens.
The more I think about it, the more I want to keep O Perez and dish Weaver for a good ML player, or more likely a very good pitching prospect (i.e., Penn). Even before Odalis' performance yesterday, he's been an above-average pitcher and will make about what available average pitchers seem to get paid these days.
Why not get someone good for Weaver, then make him an offer during the offseason? He strikes me as lazy enough not to want to look for a new place to live and may sign with the Dodgers for less than $9M per year. He'd have to find a whole new dealer and everything.
83 - I still thnk my proposed business model of importing Louisiana style hot sauce into Utah is sure fire. If I can only get around the illegalities...
My favorite Utah memory is a big billboard along the highway with an ENORMOUS picture of a coiled rattlesnake's gaping jaws and fangs lunging toward the viewer. The caption:
106 - To me, that is the worst case scenario in the Weaver situation - trading him now, and then signing him to a contract at season's end. I don't think that we'll be able to get any real impact players in a deal for him. Maybe Fearing or Nate can comment on where this guy Penn would rank amongst our current pitchers - I would think that he might not even be top 5 in our system, especially if Hochevar signs.
And, if we were to resign him, he'd want 3 yrs./$27M at least. Remember, there are few starters available this offseason. Burnett will get traded and extended. Weaver might very well be best pitcher available (unless I'm completely forgetting someone - Jason Schmidt?).
I think we deal him and be done with the season (and don't try to resign him), or go for it this year and offer him arbitration.
We can flip Penn for other ML talent without yielding the blue chips, if that's the case.
One of the problems the Dodgers have is that everyone asks for these great prospects for players that, frankly, aren't worth it. The prospects are just SOOOOO good that it's difficult to get equivalent value in return. A Penn-type broadens the field of impact MLB players that we could get fair value for.
Deal him for sure, but what have we got to lose by making a fair offer as a FA? He might accept it. Radke, Koskie, and Clement did last winter. What we shouldn't do is RELY on re-signing him regardless of cost.
In some link I read, probably from The Hardball Times, said that "the worst thing about Moneyball was that it made every arm chair sabermetrician think he can be a GM."
Anyway, I often wonder how the Dodgers would do if us Dodger Thought-ites became a sort of collective brain trust GM for the Dodgers.
he has a lot of potential. but similar to jackson, he has had his pysche hurt when he got called up to the bigs. he has been bad since returning to AA. Penn would definately be a top 5 pitcher. but his cieling isnt as high as billingsley and miller. so you can put him anywhere after those two based on your preference.
I would be open to signing Weaver if we unloaded Odalis. I'm just not real comfortable with having 4 starters locked up long term, knowing we have all of these dynamic arms in the minors. I'd much prefer to have Weaver back on a 1 year deal.
119 - Agreed. To me, having Odalis/Weaver is almost a wash. Weaver is probably a little better, more durable, but more expensive. Odalis is a lefty but he's surly.
I'm indifferent in terms of keeping one or the other, but not both. When are the kids going to get a chance?
i am still drooling over how the dodgers are hording pitching. it is actually unbelievable how many arms we have. imagine, by ST of next year:
chad billingsley
greg miller
luke hochevar
jonathan broxton
hayden penn
edwin jackson
justin orenduff
chuck tiffany
mike megrew
julio pimentel
scott elbert
blake johnson
hong chih kuo
all of them have cielings of a #3 pitcher and greater or a lights out bullpen arm. wow
116 - nothing would ever get done. One of the central tenets of political science is three or more people are almost always incapable of consensus agreement on anything. That's why governments exist with all their crazy rules and procedures for setting policy.
A team run by collective brains would be totally paralyzed. That's why being a good GM, or executive in general, is so hard. You are forced to make decisions that affect the entire organization that not everyone agrees with, then show up at work the next day with those same dissenters and get to work on the next problem/task/issue in a professional manner.
Wow, I've taken your comment way too seriously. But you make a great point - 'sabermetricians' and other math-and-stats-type people are suddenly craving work in baseball. But stats and evaluation are probably less than half the battle, especially given the inherent uncertainty and randomness in player performance. I think that the ability to think clearly and make decisions, especially with an understanding of the labor market is the single greatest skill a GM can have.
A Steve Phillips-type is the opposite of this, letting the local newspaper make decisions for him while totally misjudging the value of specfic players to his team.
#125,
Yeah, that was my first thought. We'd probably have to set up some sort of branches with checks and balances to ever agree to anything, but then it'd take us forever to get anything done. And a certain sense of decisiveness is necessary to be a good GM.
116 - We'd have no major league team but a load of great prospects with high potential. Kind of like now except it wouldn't be due to injuries but because we trade players who can start in the majors right now for prospects who may never make it.
128 I take that back. There would be a group satisfied with DFAing him. But another would want him drawn and quartered. Still another would want him burned a the stake. . .the possiblities are endless. Well a guy can dream can't he.
125. If Joe McDonell, Steve Mason and Collen Cowherd were the three headed GM of the Dodgers we'd still have LoDuca, Lima, Green, Beltre and Mota each future HOFers due to their chemistry and Eric Gagne wouldn't have gotten hurt. I think I'd prefer the three headed monster of Steve-Fearing Blue-Jon than to anyone else outside of Depo. This of course only if Steve gives up his yearning for a seat on the SCOTUS.
vr, Xei
The best way I have of evaluating minor league talent is through John Sickels' web site, and he has Hayden Penn as a B prospect and the best pitcher in the O's organization (5th overall). This would have him behind Billingsley and Broxton and tied with Jackson and Tiffany (all of these rankings are coming into the season).
re 116 Anyway, I often wonder how the Dodgers would do if us Dodger Thought-ites became a sort of collective brain trust GM for the Dodgers.
Are you sure we aren't? Jon might as well retitle this blog "Free Advice for Tracy, DePodesta and McCourt." Some folks here just spout opinions, but we have quite a few who take the trouble to construct logical, complete and coherent arguments to support their positions, including relevant documentation.
If in the dark of a sleepless night Paul DePodesta doesn't read through these comments, then he's not the geek I thought he was.
Since I apparently can't get away from all this prospect talk, the Yankees landed dead last on the list with 2 prospects and our rival Giants and Padres had 4 and 3, respectively.
You may be aware of this but Tuesday, July 25 is Joe McDonald bobblehead night at the RC Quakes. But you better get there early becasue only the first 1,000 get the bobblehead. I'm guessing Joe will be there as well.
Who knew every Wed. at the Quakes game is honor Frank McCourt night. . .but they call it Weenie Wednesday where hot dogs are only a buck.
Charley Steiner just way oversold Jason Phillips' routine fly ball. I know this is common, but I'm only just getting used to it due to lack of exposure.
OK, I'm seriously stumped as to why Phillips is batting ahead of Choi against a RHP. I can't even think of a Plaschkian reason why that makes any sense. Is it because Phillips strikes out so infrequently? Choi bests him at every other way of measuring offense, including speed and name-chantiness.
7/22 Jeff Weaver vs NY Mets
.........................
Colorado Blue: 6
Xeifrank: 6-2/3
.........................
Joekings: 7
CT Bum: 7-1/3
.........................
Louis in SF: 6-2/3
Howard: 6-2/3
.........................
Standings...
Louis in SF 2-1-0
Xeifrank 3-2-2
Howard 4-3-0
CT Bum 3-2-2
Joekings 1-2-0
Colorado Blue 2-5-0
I'm not sure if you just want to know how Gutierrez is doing or don't realize that we traded him to the Indians for Bradley, but either way he is at #64 despite struggling mightily in AA - .233/.294/.389 with a 65/23 K/BB ratio and 10 SB.
168 - I was curious because from memory, he was previously a ranked prospect. Since he's been traded I've only heard bad things about his performance. If he's not on that list, then DePos move is great.
169. I'm getting used to Steiner and actually like him. He oversells everything but he is funny at times. Monday on the other hand is so so so very bad. When Steiner is on TV and its Monday and Downing on the radio. . .ugh!
I am fine with Steiner. Lyons is stupid. Mostly you have to get used to the fact that if you aren't watching the screen, and Steiner starts to get excited about a flyball, you can relax a little bit.
Werth moves up a runner in front of Repko. And this is supposed to be a good thing.
I agree that Downing is quite possibly the worst announcer ever. It'd be one thing if he had good insight but a bad voice/presence or vice-versa, but unfortunately he has neither. Monday is tolerable, I actually like Steiner, and Lyons is a little too Hudleresque for me.
We are having a classic V Zambrano game so far. We have had runners in scoring position every inning and his WHIP is 1.5 including two doubles, yet we have no runs. I can't imagine being a Mets fan and having him and Ishii on the same team.
Repko is a beastly outfielder! If only his bat had a little pop... That said, until Bradley comes back I am fine with playing him everyday since he roams CF with the best of them.
Downing always sounds irritated to me. As if each play is so completely obvious to him that he cannot possibly tolerate explaining it.
Monday reminds me a bit of John Miller in that he emphasizes phrases that by themselves are mundane, i.e., Floyd's weight.
If Vin is telling the same story it's so different as to be interesting. I think Monday strives too hard for validation and, unlike Steiner, feels he has something to prove.
Steiner bothers me at times because he sometimes talks too much off subject and loses the rhythm of the game.
#210,
I'm fine with Repko for now because our other bats aren't that good anyway... except for Perez. But if anything, he should be taking Werth's spot.
Bob, is it really denial if we're within 5 come the deadline with Bradley and Valentin back and Drew a month away? Our line-up would be at least respectable again and our starting pitching has been improved (and healthy for once). The only hole I can see would be in the bullpen, maybe trade for Baez or Guardado and put Brazoban back in his 8th inning role?
If you have to ask if it's denial, it's probably denial.
Asking someone if they are in denial cannot be answered honestly. The act of answering it changes your answer. Either you are denying your denial by saying no or accepting your denial by saying yes, in which case it isn't denial anymore.
144- I read Thank You For Smoking last night, the Chris Buckley book. He'd rendered HHS the department of Helpless, Hopeless, and Stupid. I'd like to submit my resume for the post, please.
Ha Watching Phillips run to third was hilarious. It took him around 5 or 6 seconds. Even if the ball was in the OF I think they could have gotten him if they had tried.
It used to be very amusing when Downing hosted a call in show and somebody would inevitably ask him how it felt to give up the record setting HR to Hank Aaron. He would get very irritated, maybe he still is and that's why he sounds that way.
Wow, I didn't realize our old friend Reggie Abercrombie got released by the D-Backs and claimed by the Marlins, I was confused when I saw him in today's Jax box score. The Finley trade is looking better and better with all three prospects we gave up performing poorly.
248 - ditto - The Weave has been solid and when he wasnt, he was determined to be better. LA needs more players like that, no matter what the PR is about them. Look how Milton Bradley turned out.
The problem with Vin is that he's too good. He can tell a long, involved story and still relate everything that's going on in the game. That's because he worked in radio for so long. Steiner can't adjust his tie without losing track of the game. Mr. Lyons seems to have quite the mancrush on Mr. Repko. I'd hate to see how Hudler would react to Jason the Scrappy. He's just the kind of player Rex loves. I think on the catch Repko made when he crashed into the scoreboard in right field, Hudler's head would have exploded.
Repko has a 300/339/360 since July 4 (note I didn't see Olneys in the game by game listing on MLB.com so his OBP is lower than that. While his overall high 600 OPS is not fantastic AVG is still more important than walks or power (by that I mean that AVG is more important than walks by themselves or power by itself, not better than SLG or OBP which includes AVG) and a ~.290 hitter in the 8 isn't awful.
Veterans' Affairs? How do I parley that into a cushy consulting gig after my term is up. I could make Julio Franco my Chief of Staff. Maybe not, he would have to reveal his true age of 67 yrs old.
It's too bad that Julio Franco had to wait for the Dodgers to bring up Jackie Robinson before he could get his chance to play in the majors. He must have lost 3-4 good years!
I haven't seen many Dodger games this year and none since the Cubs Series. I've watched the last three Dodger games just because I've been in the cities that they've been playing in. Anyone care to buy me Extra Innings ;) ?
Well Choi was out, but Ledee would have scored anyway, so unless Werth brings Choi in the only damage is extra pitches by the Mets bullpen but I think they are in mop up mode anyway.
In the 162 game seasons, the record low is 82 by the Mets in 1973. They were 82-79 and the only team in the division over .500.
However, with as little as four days left in the season it was possible that the NL East would have finished in a 5-way tie. Everybody but the Phillies was a contender that year.
In a full 162 game season, the fewest wins a Dodgers first place team has had was 91 by the 1983 team.
In the 154 game season, the fewest wins by a Dodger first place team was 88 by the 1959 team and two of those were in a playoff.
Going the other way, the 1962 Dodgers won 102 games (101 before the playoff with the Giants) and finished second. And the 1942 Dodgers won 104 games and finished second.
On that note, let us also hope the Dads continue their woeful offensive output.
-get adam dunn-will tiffany, navarro and werth be enough?
-trade weaver if we are 8 or more out by next sunday.
-trade odalis if anyone will take him and give us anything of note.
-resign weaver this summer if numbers are right-3 years 18 million.
-move kent to 1st, robles to 2nd, start perez at 3rd and dunn in left field next year. hope russ martin is ready by next spring.
-bring up kuo and broxton now. why not let kuo throw his arm out in LA rather than jax.
"Paul has seen the ups and down of developing young players and trusting the three, four years they've had in the minor leagues and discounting their first few months in the majors," Beane says. "Developing young players can be a lot of fun, but you've got to have the discipline to live with their mistakes and understand their trend line isn't always going to go straight up."
I suppose this helps explain the patience DePo had with Grabowski--that, and the lack of much better alternatives with all our injuries. I still think that the string was way too long. And someone needs to tell this to Tracy with regards to Choi.
The USA Today article, weirdly complimentary to DePo for a mainstream rag, is at:
http://tinyurl.com/dsz5s
WWSH
I elected to stay in denial. My wife has been telling me not stay up and watch the games. "Honey, I'm worried about you"...
:-) (not really, work is worse than the Dodgers if one can imagine that).
Two in a row! Tivo is great, I can settle in on the couch and speed watch if I want or just half-sleep through it.
Whoever thinks Kent should move to first needs to seriously reconsider that notion. If nothing else the ball gets to you that much quicker at 1B, and the only thing I can see is that he occasionally shows a little slowness in reaction time compared to his old mvp self. I'm all for the notion of stability up the middle at this point.... as if there is such a thing this year!
VORP since 2002:
Odalis:
2002 - 59.9
2003 - 19.3
2004 - 49.7
2005 - 1.9
Total - 130.8
Burnett:
2002 - 40.9
2003 - 1.6
2004 - 26.8
2005 - 19.7
Total - 89.0
It seems that Odalis and Burnett are the same age, yet Burnett has never had a better season that Odalis, and Burnett's best season is worse than Odalis' second best.
Are you suggessting trading a good, yet slightly injury prone pitcher for a slightly better, yet far more injury prone one. Or is the prospect of having Derek Thompson and D.J. Houlton as the 4-5 starters appealing to you?
I'll give OP the benefit of the doubt after the NLDS since his mom had just gotten cancer. The media didn't report that until much later, so I like everyone else thought he had just choked.
WWSH
1. Citizens Bank Park has an incredible climbing, sliding playground thing, with a brewpub stand in the wings. Missed innings 1-4 (was late, so only missed 2- top 4), but fun was had by all.
2. Repko's throw to third had them ooing and aahing (though to me it was a very good, but readily makeable by lots of major leaguers play). After the out, all the Phillies fans asked me (and my festooned in blue crew) who he was, and my boy got to say, as I've taught him, "Jason - they're all named Jason". (Though this was, of course, not exactly accurate.)
3. After getting to my seat in the bottom of the fourth, I noted the no hits, no errors on the board. During the bottom of the fifth, jinx bedamned, I had to find out, so I subtly asked my Abreu-jersey wearing neighbor if any Phillies had walked? No clue. "Why you care?" (If he was a Dodger fan, TJ Simers could get an article out of that.) Asked guy behind me, "sorry just got here." Gave up at that point. Flame away, but I had to know.
4. Bottom of the Ninth, home team down by 1 -- really loud music. Video clip -- Jim Carrey as Riddler from Batman Forever -- "Now the game begins." Cheers. Video clip -- Bull Pullman from Independence Day -- "We will not go gentle in the night. We will not go down without a fight." More cheers. Dodger pitcher running in from bullpen. Music stops -- odd moment of quiet, guy behind me says really loud "Thank f-ing God Eric Gagne's not playing this year."
5. Brazoban throws two out of like his first 5 pitches posted as 98 mph on the scoreboard. Same guy says to me "So, um, who's that."
Fun game.
July 22, 1954
Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese homered and Sandy Amoros had three hits as the defending National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers pounded the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, 8-5 before a crowd of 5,408. Despite the win, the Dodgers were still six games behind the first place Giants with a 56-37 record.
Carl Furillo scored the first run for the Dodgers. He had his sixth straight hit, a single to lead off the second and Amoros, filling in left field for the injured Jackie Robinson, doubled to right to score Furillo. The Dodgers scored twice more in the fourth off of Cincinnati starter Karl Drews, on a double by Amoros and singles by Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, and Jim Gilliam.
The Reds cut the score to 3-2 in the fourth when Ted Kluszewski hit his 26th homer of the season with Roy McMillan aboard. Snider homered in the fifth to make it 4-2 Brooklyn and Reese hit his homer in the 7th off of Moe Savaransky to make it 5-2. Another run scored on a double play to make it 6-2.
The Reds closed the gap in the bottom of the seventh when they converted an error by Gilliam into a pair of unearned runs. Manager Walter Alston brought in Jim Hughes to relieve Newcombe and he got out of the inning.
The Dodgers scored two more runs in the 9th on an RBI single from Duke Snider, which gave Hughes a cushion in the 9th and made Gus Bell's home run in the bottom half merely cosmetic.
Alston was the biggest change to the Dodgers in 1954. Charlie Dressen had won two straight pennants and finished an agonizingly close second in his three years managing the Dodgers. Prior to the 1954 season, Dressen asked owner Walter O'Malley for a multi-year contact. O'Malley's response was to fire Dressen and promote little-known minor league manager Alston to the position. While the decision was not well received at the time, Alston would go on to be the winningest manager in Dodgers history.
But in 1954, the Dodgers could not overcome the Giants. They finished 92-62 and were five games back. The hitting was not as good as the 1953 squad and the pitching staff couldn't keep up with the Giants, surrendering 190 more runs than their neighbors in Manhattan.
Injuries were a problem. Robinson played in just 124 games. Campanella slumped to a .207 average. There was no regular third baseman with Don Hoak playing the most there.
The pitchers were a mixed lot. Carl Erskine went 18-15 but with an ERA of 4.15. Billy Loes went 13-5 with a 4.14 ERA. Newcombe was just 9-8 with a 4.55 ERA. Hughes made a league-leading 60 appearances with 24 saves.
Two rookie pitchers debuted. One had a spectacular start. Karl Spooner threw 2 complete game shutouts in his only games of the year and struck out 15 batters in his first game. He struck out 12 in his second game.
The other rookie was a young lefthander from Pennsylvania named Tom Lasorda. He appeared in four games with no decisions and gave up 5 runs in 9 innings of work. More would be heard from him later.
Thanks to New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet
Also ESPN insider had two stories about the Dodgers. But I won't discuss them unless somebody pays me.
The renovations for the most part sound fine. I don't mind ads, but many do, so those need to be more tastefully done. Most importantly, McCourt needs to make sure he doesn't have a fiasco similar to the botched sightlines with those new seats. But I most especially liked the idea of larger restrooms and trying to find a way of improving traffic flow in the lot. The valet parking may be a start--I certainly won't be able to afford something like that, but if that can implove traffic flow overall, it definitely should be done. Escalators are also a good idea.
WWSH
Since almost all these things mention expansion, I wonder what will be removed.
Gillettes article was pretty good, while Crasnick's article started off neutral, then suddenly turned towards Lo Duca, chemistry, and J.D. Drew not being a gamer.
Given ESPN's track record I must ask if they are even worth paying for?
Crasnik: "For Dodger fans pining in Chavez Ravine, the 2005 L.A. story is injury, poor chemistry and a 43-52 record reflecting it. But the NL West offers hope"
Gillette: "Dodgers' GM calculatingly cold"
and this (possibly non-Dodgers-related because I can't access premium Insider content) gem from Steve Phillips: " How to handle a wayward club" [snicker]
Based on the headlines, ESPN's writers are copying and pasting the pre-framed stories they wrote a year ago, complete with "In the 2003 book 'Moneyball'..." lead-ins, in Gillette's case.
Yeah, no one's ever written THAT before.
I don't know why Gillete's article got that title, because it's certainly not anti-DePo.
Anyway, I would be extremely curious as to how Crasnick analyzed the Dodger clubhouse and determined there is a "lack of chemistry". Does he site specific examples? What method did he use to measure and quantify "chemistry"?
For answers to those questions and more all you have to do is join ESPN's 3rd layer of obfuscation at the incredibly ridiculous price of you'll-know-once-we-bill-your-credit-card.
"It's also no great revelation that DePodesta focuses more on stats than personalities and "chemistry" and how players might mesh as a unit. The running joke in Los Angeles is that Bible-toting Drew and standoffish Kent have yet to be introduced.
Drew -- who signed a five-year, $55 million contract this past winter -- didn't exactly enhance his "gamer" credentials even before getting plunked with a Brad Halsey pitch two weeks ago. On June 26, he was unable to pinch hit late in a 5-3 loss to the Angels. When he went 2-for-2 the next day against the Padres, some people in the organization wondered whether he couldn't have sucked it up and come off the bench to take a hack.
And naturally, word got around.
"If you have a five-year contract and you're on the active roster, at worst you go up to the plate and swing the bat and they pinch run for you," said an official from an AL club. "This is the city where Kirk Gibson basically needed a wheelbarrow to take him to home plate, so something like that doesn't go over real well." "
http://tinyurl.com/dut9b
vr, Xei
Same old, same old. His anecdote to support "no chemistry" is that people in LA joke about the "Bible-toting Drew and standoffish Kent have yet to be introduced." Then he moves on.
He sort of admonishes DePodesta for trying to "build a bench on the cheap, and he's paying for it." Does he think it would be better to spend a ton of money on backup players? I dunno. But I'm trying to find out how these "cheap" bench players DePodesta acquired are hurting the Dodgers:
OBP/SLG/AVG
Saenz .342 .473 .280
Ledee .344 .411 .277
Perez .392 .429 .324
Bako .362 .300 .250 (40 ABs)
"Extra" backup players acquired by DePodesta:
Robles .419 .459 .351
Edwards .318 .381 .286
Rose .286 .281 .219 (32 ABs)
Yeah, he should have spent more money on backup catchers - look at that terrible line from Bako and Rose.
I think watching DJ Houlton pitching against Pedro Martinez doesn't bode well either.
Sunday should be a better game.
http://tinyurl.com/d83y3
They are mashed together but most of the info is rehashed so I wouldn't worry about it.
http://tinyurl.com/dsz5s
Because we could save a lot of bandwidth by accepting these premises and moving forward, I sense.
But then Steve wouldn't be able to have a blog.
Or else he'd just spend all his time writing about what he had for breakfast.
"Although J.D. Drew is deeply religious and Jeff Kent is a rough-hewned scrapper they've managed to overlook each other's vast differences in personality and put the best of interest of the team first. There is no better example of clubhouse leadership than Drew's quiet, unassuming demeanor where his play speaks for itself and Kent's willingness to pull a teammate aside and give him a talking to if need be.
"As the Dodgers continue their roll to the W.S. the other NL contenders better get used to the fact nothing short of nuclear meltdown can dissolve the ideal chemistry that is the Dodger clubhouse."
Speaking of that, Gammons will be making his acceptance speech for his award at the HOF induction ceremonies on July 31.
Never heard of Bodley before so I do not have a background context to put him in.
Some people who are likely to win it in upcoming years, mainly because it will be their time, will be Tracy Ringolsby and Rick Hummel. I imagine that Jayson Stark will get it one of these years, but he's relatively young.
Ringolsby is the guy with the big cowboy hat who works for one of the Denver papers. Hummel was the Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a long, long time.
"Given that Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn and hitting coach Tim Wallach are both extremely well-regarded and could have gone elsewhere if not for their loyalty to Tracy, that makes you wonder."
No evidence is cited for this comment, but if it's true then that must make the cost of firing JT considerably greater.
"The Los Angeles Times' Tim Brown recently reported that Tracy's two-year contract extension includes an out clause allowing him to leave after this season."
I must have missed Brown's original article. This is interesting...we might not need to fire him after all.
Anyone want to try the LINEUP MATCH GAME today.
Robles
Izturis
Kent
Ledee
Werth
Choi
Rose
Repko
Penny
I'm guessing that Tracy will give Phillips another day of rest.
Robles (3B)
Izturis (SS)
Werth (RF)
Kent (2B)
Choi (1B)
Edwards (LF)
Phillips (C)
Repko (CF)
Weaver (SP)
The following criteria will be used to determine whose lineup was the most accurate to the actual lineup.
1st tiebreaker: Correct players in the actual lineup.
2nd tiebreaker: Correct players in the actual spot in the batting order.
3rd tiebreaker: Correct positions in the actual position played.
Izturis SS
Kent 2B
Ledee RF
Werth LF
Choi 1B
Rose C
Repko CF
Weaver P
Yeah, picking Werth 3rd was probably not good especially since Ledee will probably be in the lineup.
And Tracey does seem like the type of guy who would go for breaking such a record, so maybe he's trying to get ledee hit on the hands with a Zambrano up&in.
My advice for batters tonight:
Duck.
The MLB leader in HBP for pitchers is Casey Fossum with 13. Sandy Koufax hit just 18 his career.
On the other hand, Don Drysdale hit 154.
http://tinyurl.com/9tupv
The Dodgers have been pretty fortunate with the weather this year. No postponements yet and I think only a couple of games that have started a little late. There was one in Denver. Were there any others?
Izturis (SS)
Kent (2B)
Choi (1B)
Werth (RF)
Ledee (LF)
Rose (C)
Repko (CF)
Weaver (SP)
vr, Xei
Pads and Dodgers have the same schedule for the rest of the month - it's our turn at the Mets, the Pads get the Phils. Then both teams are home to host the Reds and Cards.
I say if we're inside 5 games (make up 2 games in the next 8 games) we definitely go for it.
If we drop 2 games over the next 8, may be time pack it in.
So, 8.5 back - sell. 4.5 back - buy, baby, buy!
But what about in between? Depo almost needs to have two trades (at least) in place as the 31st comes up.
I cannot think of a reason in the world that Brother Kent would dislike J.D. Drew because he owns a bible. That is nonsense.
Robles 3b
Izturis ss
Kent 1b
Ledee rf
Perez 2b
Phillips c
Werth lf
Repko cf
Christy Mathewson in Jeff Weaver's uniform - p
Robles 3B
Izzy SS
Kent 2B
Ledee RF
Werth LF
Choi 1B
Philips C
Repko CF
Weaver P
Izturis SS
Kent 2B
Phillips C
Ledee LF
Edwards 3B
Werth RF
Repkowski CF
Weaver P
They seem similar to me. Both relatively quiet, neither very emotional.
Most of Crasnik's recent column would be inadmissable in court on those grounds.
vr, Xei
Padres get the Cards first, while we should be beating the Reds. But the games leading up to the deadline is the reverse scenario. We could close the gap against the Reds, only to fall back against the Cards.
At least we get the Cards before the deadline. It would suck to get to within 4.5 or so before the Cards, make the deal, then slip back to 7.5 back.
DePo isn't afraid of making a deal at the 11th hour, so we'll see what happens.
Of course, we could get swept by the Mets this weekend too. Ask the Padres how that felt.
Go Phils!
Why not get someone good for Weaver, then make him an offer during the offseason? He strikes me as lazy enough not to want to look for a new place to live and may sign with the Dodgers for less than $9M per year. He'd have to find a whole new dealer and everything.
"Pornography. It's Just as Dangerous."
'Pork. The Other White Meat' is ain't.
Robles 3B
Izzy SS
Kent 2B
Phillips C
Choi 1B
Ledee RF
Edwards LF
Repko CF
Weaver P
Having a pitcher that has about a 90% chance of getting you to at least the 6th inning, with 3 or less runs?
Oh by the way he's making 2 Mil this year. Wow
And, if we were to resign him, he'd want 3 yrs./$27M at least. Remember, there are few starters available this offseason. Burnett will get traded and extended. Weaver might very well be best pitcher available (unless I'm completely forgetting someone - Jason Schmidt?).
I think we deal him and be done with the season (and don't try to resign him), or go for it this year and offer him arbitration.
billingsley
miller
jackson
broxton
on our pitching depth. have we traded lowe, odalis or weaver yet?
One of the problems the Dodgers have is that everyone asks for these great prospects for players that, frankly, aren't worth it. The prospects are just SOOOOO good that it's difficult to get equivalent value in return. A Penn-type broadens the field of impact MLB players that we could get fair value for.
Deal him for sure, but what have we got to lose by making a fair offer as a FA? He might accept it. Radke, Koskie, and Clement did last winter. What we shouldn't do is RELY on re-signing him regardless of cost.
Anyway, I often wonder how the Dodgers would do if us Dodger Thought-ites became a sort of collective brain trust GM for the Dodgers.
Just a random thought.
he has a lot of potential. but similar to jackson, he has had his pysche hurt when he got called up to the bigs. he has been bad since returning to AA. Penn would definately be a top 5 pitcher. but his cieling isnt as high as billingsley and miller. so you can put him anywhere after those two based on your preference.
I'm indifferent in terms of keeping one or the other, but not both. When are the kids going to get a chance?
chad billingsley
greg miller
luke hochevar
jonathan broxton
hayden penn
edwin jackson
justin orenduff
chuck tiffany
mike megrew
julio pimentel
scott elbert
blake johnson
hong chih kuo
all of them have cielings of a #3 pitcher and greater or a lights out bullpen arm. wow
probably right after billingsley and miller. some people dont realize how big of a steal it was in getting hochevar at pick #40.
A team run by collective brains would be totally paralyzed. That's why being a good GM, or executive in general, is so hard. You are forced to make decisions that affect the entire organization that not everyone agrees with, then show up at work the next day with those same dissenters and get to work on the next problem/task/issue in a professional manner.
Wow, I've taken your comment way too seriously. But you make a great point - 'sabermetricians' and other math-and-stats-type people are suddenly craving work in baseball. But stats and evaluation are probably less than half the battle, especially given the inherent uncertainty and randomness in player performance. I think that the ability to think clearly and make decisions, especially with an understanding of the labor market is the single greatest skill a GM can have.
A Steve Phillips-type is the opposite of this, letting the local newspaper make decisions for him while totally misjudging the value of specfic players to his team.
I don't want to be the Angels.
Yeah, that was my first thought. We'd probably have to set up some sort of branches with checks and balances to ever agree to anything, but then it'd take us forever to get anything done. And a certain sense of decisiveness is necessary to be a good GM.
vr, Xei
President - Jon?
VP - Bob "Haliburton" Timmerman?
SCOTUS: Steve and who else?
and the rest of us Senators. Sounds good to me. I think Steve would find the employment of Jim Tracy as unconstitutional.
vr, Xei
Are you sure we aren't? Jon might as well retitle this blog "Free Advice for Tracy, DePodesta and McCourt." Some folks here just spout opinions, but we have quite a few who take the trouble to construct logical, complete and coherent arguments to support their positions, including relevant documentation.
If in the dark of a sleepless night Paul DePodesta doesn't read through these comments, then he's not the geek I thought he was.
Hi Paulie, don't forget your cookies and milk!
They are:
#5 - Guzman
#17 - LaRoche
#19 - Billingsley
#50 - Jackson
#51 - Martin
#53 - Tiffany
#57 - Miller
#79 - Loney
#89 - Broxton (not as much faith as Sickels apparently)
#99 - Orenduff
#132 - Navarro
#141 - Aybar
Not sure how Elbert and maybe Kuo didn't make the list.
BTW, Penn ended up at #67 on this list
odalis weaver penny= all under 30
You may be aware of this but Tuesday, July 25 is Joe McDonald bobblehead night at the RC Quakes. But you better get there early becasue only the first 1,000 get the bobblehead. I'm guessing Joe will be there as well.
Who knew every Wed. at the Quakes game is honor Frank McCourt night. . .but they call it Weenie Wednesday where hot dogs are only a buck.
And now, the results are:
Actual Lineup:
Robles 3B
Izzy SS
Kent 2B
Ledee LF
Philips C
Choi 1B
Werth RF
Repko CF
Weaver P
56. Colorado Blue (8
I'll give it a whirl:
Robles (3B)
Izturis (SS)
Werth (RF)
Kent (2B)
Choi (1B)
Edwards (LF)
Phillips (C)
Repko (CF)
Weaver (SP)
65. Bob Timmermann (8
Robles 3B
Izturis SS
Kent 2B
Ledee RF
Werth LF
Choi 1B
Rose C
Repko CF
Weaver P
80. coachjpark (8
Robles (3B)
Izturis (SS)
Kent (2B)
Choi (1B)
Werth (RF)
Ledee (LF)
Rose (C)
Repko (CF)
Weaver (SP)
84. Steve (8
Lineup
Robles 3b
Izturis ss
Kent 1b
Ledee rf
Perez 2b
Phillips c
Werth lf
Repko cf
Christy Mathewson in Jeff Weaver's uniform - p
85. fanerman
oh what the heck. I'm bad at these but here's a line-up
Robles 3B (9
Izzy SS
Kent 2B
Ledee RF
Werth LF
Choi 1B
Philips C
Repko CF
Weaver P
86. the OZ (8
Robles 1B
Izturis SS
Kent 2B
Phillips C
Ledee LF
Edwards 3B
Werth RF
Repkowski CF
Weaver P
110. Midwest Blue (8
Lineup:
Robles 3B
Izzy SS
Kent 2B
Phillips C
Choi 1B
Ledee RF
Edwards LF
Repko CF
Weaver P
Congratulations, fanerman. You are the winner tonight.
fanerman correctly guessed all the players in the lineup tonight even though the lineup order was slightly off.
fanerman must be getting good at reading Tracy's mind.
Thanks again for participating you guys.
Wonder if we can predict the EXACT LINEUP one of these day.
but we PRETEND penny is the one making the 9 mil a yr and weaver is making pennys contract.
see, it works out :)
What did fanerman ever do to you?:-)
7/22 Jeff Weaver vs NY Mets
.........................
Colorado Blue: 6
Xeifrank: 6-2/3
.........................
Joekings: 7
CT Bum: 7-1/3
.........................
Louis in SF: 6-2/3
Howard: 6-2/3
.........................
Standings...
Louis in SF 2-1-0
Xeifrank 3-2-2
Howard 4-3-0
CT Bum 3-2-2
Joekings 1-2-0
Colorado Blue 2-5-0
I'm not sure if you just want to know how Gutierrez is doing or don't realize that we traded him to the Indians for Bradley, but either way he is at #64 despite struggling mightily in AA - .233/.294/.389 with a 65/23 K/BB ratio and 10 SB.
Steiner oversells every fly ball. I get it.
After explaining the order of the first four teams, Steiner says "...aaaand the Rockies have already been mathematically eliminated."
I decided then that Steiner had a good chance at being liked in LA.
Much better than the Mondayesque "Line drive, its... here comes... the ball... going foul... IT'S GONE."
Werth moves up a runner in front of Repko. And this is supposed to be a good thing.
Or visa versa ...
I assume he didn't want to get into a collision with Mintiekiewicz.
Instead its 0-0.
Ugh!
MIENTKIEWICZ
The Mets have Mike Piazza batting 6th.
Let the Denial phase begin!
Monday reminds me a bit of John Miller in that he emphasizes phrases that by themselves are mundane, i.e., Floyd's weight.
If Vin is telling the same story it's so different as to be interesting. I think Monday strives too hard for validation and, unlike Steiner, feels he has something to prove.
Steiner bothers me at times because he sometimes talks too much off subject and loses the rhythm of the game.
I'm fine with Repko for now because our other bats aren't that good anyway... except for Perez. But if anything, he should be taking Werth's spot.
#209,
You mean continue?
I think I'll just settle in to Bargaining with a dash of Anger.
Asking someone if they are in denial cannot be answered honestly. The act of answering it changes your answer. Either you are denying your denial by saying no or accepting your denial by saying yes, in which case it isn't denial anymore.
Steve, its Friday afternoon and I'm doing timesheets. Only a couple more weeks of a time-sheet free existence for you.
Like in quantam theory. The very act of observing the electron changes the electron.
The Timmerman Uncertainty Principle.
It's all part of the Dodgers Thought Philosophical Principles:
1) The Grabowski Principle
2) The Chad Kreuter Effect
3) The Timmermann Uncertainty Principle
went through a rough 2nd inning. lol
Isn't it a prerequisite that the player is considered "bad"? I'm not exactly sure and want to clarify.
I think it came up after Repko got an RBI sometime.
thats why i hope we could get at least petit and milledge for odalis from them.
Maybe DePo's models help him guess which prospects are overrated.
Given his long and deeply-held support for Shawn Green, I nominate LAT for Secretary of Veterans' Affairs
IP H R ER BB SO
3 7 5 4 1 1
The universe may implode or something.
I thought the same thing at first, but after watching the replay the ump got it right, Cairo made the sweep tag too early.
Anybody else starting to get excited? For once we're actually winning by more than 2 runs, and it is happening for the 2nd time in 3 days.
I don't think the Dodgers will be allowed to get so comfy against Pedro.
However, with as little as four days left in the season it was possible that the NL East would have finished in a 5-way tie. Everybody but the Phillies was a contender that year.
In a full 162 game season, the fewest wins a Dodgers first place team has had was 91 by the 1983 team.
In the 154 game season, the fewest wins by a Dodger first place team was 88 by the 1959 team and two of those were in a playoff.
Going the other way, the 1962 Dodgers won 102 games (101 before the playoff with the Giants) and finished second. And the 1942 Dodgers won 104 games and finished second.
I love when the outfielder goes ass over teacup making that throw
82-79 might just earn us a trip to St Louis again (but send