Jon, you were truly missed last week. What a wonderful post for today. I, like most, cannot get enough Scully stories. Keep them coming.

Headed to the stadium today to root the Dodgers on. Have a great day everybody

Bavasi might have been proud to show off Dodger Stadium, but in his New Yorker piece after the season was over, Roger Angell panned the stadium. He didn't like all the colors.

Howard's homer into the loge was the first one to make it there. And in 1963 it was about 15-20' further down the line

Great stuff. I've been meaning to have the wife clean some of these up a bit and get them online.

Bob, Why am I not surprised the New Yorker roaster Chavez Ravine?

Killer Tomato (as Steiner calls him) joined the Howard Club today.

Jon, with posts like today, it is clear to me that the shark is in the refrigerator, the motorcycle is chilling, the live bait is jiggling, and this website is very far from the jumping ramp.

roasted not roaster

My post from last night... 367. Xeifrank
I can see it now. LA Times sports page headline reads... "Reds Steal Game"
.............
www.latimes.com/sports
Headline reads: Reds Steal One From Dodgers.
.............
So predictable.
vr, Xei

Rob posted a picture of the Adam Dunn Scouting Expedition Team on 6-4-2. So... who's who?

6. the real challenge would have been to come up with a headline that did not have "steal" in it.

8. I had one of those in a later post which said "Red Takes Five". I liked that one better. More original. But with the LA Times being so predictable and all... vr, Xei

My post from the last thread on last night's game:

A great time was had at the ballpark last night. A great bunch of guys. Many thanks to Suffering Bruin for putting it together. We were treated to a fun, though disappointing game. After seeing Dunn both Monday and Wednesday, I'm not so keen on giving up the farm for him. Dodger stadium may really cut down his offensive numbers (large sample size, right?). He also looks very slow in the field. First base is the only place for him it seerms to me.
I was on field-level Monday and reserved level last night and the food/beer selection is much better on reserved for some reason. You can get Gorden Biersch beer and garlic fries, where all I saw on field-level was dogs and Budweiser.

how about "Reds Run Freel over Dodgers"

My brother once wrote a headline for the UCLA Daily Bruin that read "Bruins Welp themsleves to a Schrempf cocktail"

He said he was going to use it regardles of how the game ended.

12. Classic. It almost reaches the ny post level of "Headless woman found in bottomless bar"

11,12,13. It's amazing how creative some people can be. Then there's the LA Times. :(
vr, Xei

I suppose I should give a lukewarm thanks to Adelphia Cable and their dubious service.

Last night, I lost cable service with 2 out in the bottom of the eighth. Since I have a cable modem at home, that was out as well... nor, bizarrely, do I get good radio reception in my apartment. So I was left with no way to follow the game (short of going out to my car and listening there, I suppose).

I was annoyed at the time -- but in retrospect it saved me a few moments of major frustration.

P.S. Can our catchers perhaps throw out a runner, once in awhile?

7. I'm the fat guy on the far left.

Last year and during the off season, DePo sang the praises of Hee Seop. Then, this season he has watched as Tracy has basically benched his prize acqusition.

Do you think this is causing a rift between Tracy an DePo or are they on the same page?

My feelng is that they are not on the same page, and such decisions will lead to Kirk Gibson (or the former intern who shot t-shirts out of cannons with DePo) being named manager of the Dodgers next year.

T.J. Simers has his Dodger article in the LA Times today. He only takes two shots in fun at Choi. Jeff Kent really got a couple of good punch lines in on Simers, and told TJ to go write about hockey. And DePodesta's computer wasn't mentioned until the last sentence. I thought the reference to Erik Karros was pretty funny though. vr, Xei
http://tinyurl.com/dupff

I doubt that it helps, Jeff, but don't forget who signed Olmedo Saenz for 2005. It was DePodesta.

Jon, no gameday link?

Are the line-ups out yet?

18. I think from a strategy and player management point of view that Depo and Tracy don't see eye to eye and that Depo would like to replace Tracy. But I think that Tracy probably gets alot of respect from his players making firing him during the season a very unpopular move with his players and with the public. I think 3-4 years into his reign, Depo should have his fingerprints pretty much on everything (Players, Manager and Prospects). vr, Xei

I wanted my morning post to get a little airtime. I was going to do a separate chat thread, but I guess there's no reason not to put it here.

The top three teams in the NL West all play day games today.

AZ at CHI
CIN at LA
STL at SD

I hate it when there aren't many night West Coast games to choose from. The only late game today is Cleveland at Seattle.

I hope Extra Innings has that Kansas City at Tampa Bay matchup. That should be a thriller.

The MLB.com headline for yesterday's game was "Freel steals the show in Hollywood".

So that's why Phillips couldn't throw him out. He couldn't throw the ball from Dodger Stadium out to Hollywood.

I watched a copy of the seventh game of the '65 Series that I got from MLB.com the other night, and had similar thoughts about Scully's postgame interviewing ability. Sadly, there weren't all that many to see, Koufax, Lou Johnson, and Alston, followed by O'Malley and Warren Giles. It left me wanting many more.

Jon, DePodesta signed Saenz to a minor league contract prior to last season, well before trading for Choi. And, considering his stats, I doubt he expected him to do more than platoon or pinch hit against lefties.

I must admit that I have been pleasantly surprised by the killer tomato.

Time to take an intentional walk on the wild side

Random Dodger game callback

July 28, 1974

Reliever Mike Marshall's throwing error in the 10th allowed pinch runner Leo Foster to score the winning run and the Atlanta Braves prevailed at home over the Dodgers, 3-2, before a crowd of 23,485 at Fulton County Stadium. The Dodgers were still 65-37 and 3 ½ games ahead of Cincinnati.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Bill Russell singled home Ron Cey. In the third, center field Jim Wynn hit his 23rd home run of the season to give starter Geoff Zahn a 2-0 lead.

The Braves tied the game in the fifth, Ivan Murrell led off with a single and Marty Perez followed with another to send Murrell to second. Atlanta manager Clyde King, who had recently replaced Eddie Matthews, had shortstop Craig Robinson bunt the runners over. Vic Correll grounded to short and Murrell scored to make it 2-1 Dodgers. Pinch hitter Paul Casanova then blooped a ball to left that Bill Buckner and Russell both converged on, but neither could glove it and the tying run scored.

In the bottom of the sixth, Davey Johnson singled and Darrell Evans hit into a force play. Dusty Baker followed with a single to left that Buckner misplayed and Evans went to third. Manager Walter Alston brought in his ace reliever Marshall. Marshall got Murrell to pop up to left, but Buckner lost the ball in the sun and it fell in, but Wynn alertly picked up the ball and forced out Baker at second while Evans held at third. Ralph Garr flew out to end the threat.

The Dodgers were able to get only two hits the last seven innings and the Braves finally broke through in the 10th. Pinch hitter Henry Aaron popped up to lead off the inning. Pinch hitter Frank Tepedino followed with a single and Foster ran for him. Johnny Oates then laid down a bunt down the first base line. Steve Garvey picked it up and appeared to tag out Oates, but Oates was called safe. Garr followed with a bouncer back to the mound that Marshall tried to go to second with to start a double play, but he threw it in to center field and Foster scored the winning run.

There would not be many losing days for the Dodgers in 1974 as they finished with a Los Angeles best record of 102-60 (.630) and beat out the Reds by four games. The Dodgers got an MVP performance out of Garvey and a Cy Young from Marshall.

Garvey batted .312 a drove in 111 runs and hit 21 home runs. Marshall pitched in a major league record 106 games and threw 208 1/3 innings, all in relief. He won 15 games and lost 12 with an ERA of 2.42 and 21 saves.

Of course there were many other stars. Wynn might have been the true MVP of the Dodgers. He was acquired in the off-season from Houston in a trade for Claude Osteen. Wynn batted .271 with a .387 OBP. He slugged 32 homers and drew 108 walks.

Andy Messersmith was the best starting pitcher, going 20-6 with a 2.59 ERA. Don Sutton went 19-9 with a 3.23 ERA. The staff had an ERA of 2.97.

The Dodgers made their first ever appearance in the National League Championship Series and handled the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games, with Sutton winning games 1 and 4.

In the World Series, the Dodgers faced the Oakland A's in the first-ever all-California World Series. Despite the Dodgers great pitching, the A's were just a little bit better. Oakland won its third straight World Series, the first time that had happened since the Yankees had won five straight from 1949-53. Four of the five games were decided by scores of 3-2. The Dodgers won 3-2 in Game 2 when Marshall picked off "designated runner" Herb Washington and then struck out Angel Mangual to end the game. But it was Rollie Fingers who was the relief hero, earning Series MVP honors.

The 1974 Dodgers were a surprising sneak preview of the champion teams that would follow a few years later. They were going to have wait their turn behind the great Cincinnati Reds teams for a couple of seasons.

The Dodgers set an unusual record in 1974. Manager Walter Alston ordered the fewest intentional walks for any team since the figure was totaled. The Dodgers issued just 9 free passes all season. And Bill Russell led all hitters in receiving intentional walks too. He had 25, the most of any Los Angeles Dodger player and just one fewer than Duke Snider's franchise record of 26, set in 1956. Russell had 20 intentional walks in 1973. His two-year total of 45 intentional walks tied him Snider and Eddie Murray (1989-90) in that obscure department. Russell was walked intentionally 106 times in his career, the most of any Dodger.

Thanks to Los Angeles Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

28 - And after Choi was acquired, and Saenz's contract expired, DePodesta re-upped Saenz for 2005, did he not?

Not a big deal - I'm just saying ...

27 - 1965 WS postgame is next on Stan's audio tape.

25 - I'm not sure we should refer to the Pads, Dbacks, and Dodgers as "top 3" of the division, that's giving them too much credit.

Dodger batters vs. Brandon Claussen
Bradley 0-2
Izturis 0-2
Phillips 1-2
Weaver 0-2
Werth 0-1

Reds batters vs DJ Houlton
Aurilia 2-2, 2B
Casey 0-1
Dunn 0-0, BB
Freel 1-1
Griffey 1-1, 2B
Kearns 1-2, HR
Larue 0-2
Lopez 2-2, 2B

Not a lot to go on. Houlton just pitched in mopup against the Reds early in the year.

Claussen pitched 3 innings against the Dodgers in mopup last year.

Shawn Green starting in center today in Wrigley for the DBacks.

Tony Clark is starting at first instead of Conor Jackson.

Sept. Lineup if we trade for Mora and Drew comes back which would be a medical miracle.
Have to admit it looks pretty nice.

1. Perez-3B
2. Mora -LF
3. Drew-RF
4. Kent-2B
5. Bradley-CF
6. Saenz-1B
7. Navarro/Phillips C
8. Izturis-SS

I assume you're idealizing somewhat, Stubbs. I agree with getting Perez in the lineup, but don't you think Tracy has basically given up on him as a third baseman?

With Robles fading as one would expect, we'll probably see Valentin get a lot of 3B action in September.

34,35. Yeah, everyone seems to be forgetting about Valentin. Is there some rumor about Mora now? vr, Xei

How bad can Perez be at LF?

Bob's Flashback was great as alwayss.

Jaw dropping numbers:
28 games over .500 in late July.
2.97 ERA for the season.

Is this (the possibility of duplicating these stats in this day and age) the real life, or is it just fantasy?

10) The voice of reason about Dunn, plus he has his beer priorities straight.

Xeifrank,
Check out the Hardball Times today. They have an article about "taking the extra base." I think you'll find it useful. I know I did.

Here's the latest on Dunn from a Jayson Stark chat...

"Jayson Stark: (1:22 PM ET ) The Astros gave up on getting Dunn two weeks ago, when the Astros asked for four players for him - two off their big-league club (including Backe), and their two best prospects. So this has no affect on that. PLUS _ and this is an answer to every Adam Dunn question on this list (all 700 of them): At this point, Adam Dunn is NOT available. Period. To anyone. For anything. That's what everyone has been told, anyway."

Melvin Mora can play third, right? I'm assuming that's why DePodesta wants him - to fill in and be productive until the Kids are ready in 2007. Valentin becomes a Super-utility guy, Mike Edwards goes away.

Re: 36

Baltimore wants pitching and the Dodgers have Odalis and Weaver. To give them up, the Baltimore Sun says that the Dodgers would want Mora in return.

Probably just a rumor

If Perez can adequately play LF... I'd suggest this line-up when Valentin comes back:

LF - Perez
CF - Bradley
RF - Ledee
3B - Valentin
SS - Izzy/Robles
2B - Kent
1B - Choi
C - Nav.. I mean Philips

Though I wonder, what are the cons of bringing Navarro up?

I thought Perez looked pretty good Tuesday night at 2B, but that takes Saenz out of the lineup.

Is Kent at 3B not even on the radar? How bad could Perez really be in LF, its not like Mike Edwards has any idea what he is doing out there during his few games in LF.

Just to pick nits...

According to retrosheet, Saenz was signed by the Dodgers on Jan 2, 2004. DePo wasn't the GM at the time and wouldn't be the GM for another 6 weeks.

But...

Jon's point still stands. DePo re-upped Saenz for this season.

Ramon Hernandez is opting for surgery on his wrist. Prognosis as of now is a 3-6 week recovery.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2117960

40. Fan, thanks i will take a look-see.
vr, Xei

Addendum to #44

Since Ledee shouldn't start every day from what I've been told, he can "platoon" with Werth. Except Werth becomes LF and Repko becomes RF since Werth doesn't like RF. Or perhaps Valentin can play CF and Bradley can move to RF.

OF combos can then be:
Perez/Bradley/Ledee
Werth/Bradley/Repko
Werth/Valentin/Bradley

Choi is our 1st baseman.

I wonder if Kent can play 3B, as well.

44 - That's not your suggested batting order I hope... Kent hitting behind Izzy is probably not going to happen.

I like the fielding lineup except there is no way JT is going to platoon ANYBODY with Izzy on a regular basis. 1B will remain a Saenz/Choi platoon.

Jon, yeah Depo re-signed Saenz. to platoon and pinch hit, not play every day.

My point is, if Depo controlled the starting lineup, it would probably be quite different from what Tracy throws up there. I just wonder if this is causing a conflict.

Personally, I hope it is, and that it leads to a change in managers.

My dad and I go back and forth on this. He is pro Tracy, while I think he is a well-intentioned drag on the team. My 2006 wish for him is that he is happy in life, financially secure, and as far away from Dodger Stadium as possible.

#50,
That's just going from left to right across the field. No way it's the hitting order.

I know 1B will remain a platoon, but I wanted to emphasize Choi.

I didn't mean to suggest a platoon with Robles and Izzy. Just that Robles can play at SS. He can also play 3B, but he probably shouldn't be playing as much as he has been is all.

Lets say for fun the Red Sox trade Manny Ramirez. How much would you give up for the best run producer in the game?

Guzman, Bradley and Brazoban?

"How bad could Perez really be in LF?"

This was my question weeks ago, but apparently, he is truly awful. A recent article (Dodgers.com?) quoted John Shelby as saying that Perez was missing balls that Shelby was fungoing to him in left field, even though Perez knew where they were coming.

Kent is not and has never really been on the 3B radar at all, as far as I can tell. Again, he hasn't played an inning there in 10 years - the idea that they'd move him to a position requiring quicker reflexes and longer throws seems pie-in-the-sky at this point.

There is no way Tracy will play Choi today.

#54,
Well there goes that idea.

#53,
I wouldn't give up Bradley. He's younger, cheaper, and plays better defense.

Manny makes over $20 million a year. That's way more than Bradley and Drew. It's just way too much.

55-Agreed, just curious considering the mismash of players and positions we have right now. At least we are strong up the middle, Izzy, Bradley and last nights hero. 2 of 3 isnt bad.

For those of you (not me) who think J.D. Drew dogs it, the Boston papers are all over Manny today as Chief of the Mutts.

Kent anywhere but second base is counterproductive, offensively and defensively.

Last year, did anybody see "The Trade" coming (somebody brought this point up before)? I don't remember hearing anything about it until it actually happened.

I wonder what's going on, if anything.

Lifted off of Cyril Morong's website. How important are stolen bases you might ask? Not very! But last night they sure were.
...
Stealing is not correlated much with scoring at the team level, either. The table below summarizes the correlation and r-squared that various stats had with team runs per game from 2001-03

Stat Correlation R-squared

AVG 0.858 0.736
SLG 0.917 0.842
OBP 0.891 0.794
OPS 0.950 0.903
SB/G -0.032 0.001
Net SB/G 0.136 0.018
SB% 0.303 0.092
- a correlation of 1.0 means the two stats have a perfect correlation.

59-I dont think Drew dogs it. Its just Manny is a monster compartively with runners on base and has played at least 137 games 8 times and 147 games 6 times in his career.

How would DT'ers feel if nothing happened besides maybe a non-glamorous, relatively inconsquential deal? Depo was quoted as saying a lot of deals he's working on depend on other deals... if it all falls though, this is the hand we're dealt.

Hey, but that may be good enough to win the division. Crazy thought... can a team be sellers and also win the division?

Any trade for Manny is going to have to have the Red Sox paying a significant portion of his salary, kind of like what the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are doing with their new centerfielder. So what would I be willing to give up for Manny (for args sake)? It depends greatly on how much of his salary Boston would be willing to pay. The more they pay, the better prospect package you'd have to put forth. I don't see Manny coming to the NL. If his defense is so bad, put him at DH and trade your current DH for a decent LFer. vr, Xei

61 - I agree. I wrote a piece about my fatigue with Hot Stove League last winter and the fact that the rumors had so little bearing on reality (a piece that rubbed some people the wrong way, as it happens). Anyway, speaking for myself, I'm just content to wait and see what happens rather than follow every reporter's misinformation.

Rotoworld is reporting the Dodgers have asked Toronto about the availability of somebody named Reed Johnson (their fourth OF who I am unfamiliar with). Rotoworld says he is a "better version of Jason Repko". Does that mean more scrappy?

64. Fanerman, I was in So Cal during the trade last year. As I recall, rumors of it didn't hit the airwaves until the day of the trade. That day, I was in the car heading to San Diego to attend the Dodgers-Padres game, and the rumors were all over talk radio. The previous day, I don't think I heard anything.

So, I would agree with your implication that, whatever the Dodgers do this year on the trade front, it very well could be a surprise.

If we're going to be conservative (as in "No Dunn"), I'll take Lawton and Guardado, and Broxton/Kuo.

65-Lets say they take back the Odalis contract (10 mil per for 06/07) and we give them:

Odalis and X , Y and Z.

64. Even if we did nothing I still think we'd have a decent chance of winning the division. We'll have bullpen help from Broxton and Kuo, Navarro can come in and split time with Phillips, and Drew will be like a waiver period mega deadline deal. Of course, it will take Drew a couple weeks but I still think we'd have a very good chance. Randa helps the Pads, but they need to fix their catcher situation. Jackson may help the Dbacks, but they will soon discover how important CF defense is with shawn green playing there.

67. Reed Johnson has a .798 OPS as a LF/RFer, his OPS is ~50 points above his career OPS and 100 points higher than last years. I believe he is 28/29 years old.
vr, Xei

Lineups are in: Perez at second, Saenz at third batting cleanup, Phillips at first (!!!), Edwards in left, Rose at catcher. Kent rests.

I will go on the record as saying that if DePo picks up Ramirez and a good portion of his $20M in any deal involving prospects and god-knows-what-else (not MB please) he should be fired immediately.
Ramirez is great offensively, no question. But he's 33 and definitely on the downward slope of being an everyday player.

Now an AL team picking him up for DH is another story...

69. I'd be down with that... but of course it all depends who we are giving up.
vr, Xei

73. Looks like we're throwing in the towel. Why not just start Erickson and get it over with!!! vr, Xei

#69,75
Same here.

Phillips at 1st? Why oh why oh... okay. I will try to remain calm...

Well, winning isn't everything.

As for standing pat, I'm ok with that. I would rather pick up some help for the division run AND the future, but pragmatically I could see why DePo wouldn't make a move weighted towards '05 help only.

Now, Bob, about Tracy's Saenz pledge?

What's the over-under on Reds baserunners taking third base on a groundout, once the play goes to Phillips?

on paper we have no chance today.

Why Choi is resting.

This is what Claussen's arm looks like:
http://tinyurl.com/9jlyg

Clausen is a lefty, so I have no problem with Choi on the bench. BUT, that's a pretty weak defensive infield.

I think Tracy is trying to keep Phillip's confidence up. Maybe not a bad idea. Still, I'd rather see Werth in the limeup. And if he is hurt, then use it as a chance to
bring up one of the studs.

Phillips at 1B? Tracy might have figured out he wouldn't have to throw a lot... that MAY BE a bigger advantage than having Choi face a lefty.

84 - Ugh - another confidence matter to discuss :) Guess you weren't around late last night.

Phillips' confidence issue is a) all about his throwing and b) not really a confidence issue. Phillips is at first today because of the lefty pitching, Werth being hurt (forcing Edwards into the outfield) and this apparent but bummer of a need to rest Kent.

Hi my name is Jim and I'm a Saenzaholic

Hi, Jim.

I've been Saenz-free for zero days.

GET THEE OUT!

I have another theory...Tracy has been told to showcase Phillips and his versatility, similarly to the Reds and Aurilia

Phillips over Choi isn't a no-brainer? Even against a lefty? Blah.

Watch... the Kreuter Phenomenon will take place and Phillips will hit an important home run.

I'd put my money on Billinglsey and the Suns against Houlton and today's Dodger lineup.

88 - Don't buythat. We haven't tested Navarro in the bigs yet so we can't get rid of Ragarm yet.

This is truly a pathetic line-up. What away to give Cincy an opening. Houlton better be lights out today or we're losing another one.

What's the O/U?

#89 should read "Phillips OR Choi"

So Choi gets 1AB against the homer-giving-upest team in the MLB? Position to succeed, position to succeed, position to succeed.

Either Phillips is just plain lousy at throwing because of physical limitations, or he needs to work harder...
If it's the latter, then there's hope he develops a better work ethic. If it's the former, well, I hope he got his college degree.

confidence is a state of mind. If Phillips gets a couple of knocks today, last night's agony will fade much faster than if he lingers on the bench, pondering his acute bipolar Mackeysasserism.

We should start chanting:
HEE SEOP CHOI! HEE SEOP CHOI!

Now just the seniors:
WE LIKE ROY! WE LIKE ROY!

95 - Yeah, but was last night an anamoly? I don't think so. I don't think Phillips has any confidence issue that his offsensive abilities are going to resolve... if he's lousy at throwing, well then see 94.

95 - So the next time Choi gets a start, he should play as badly as possible so that he will get another start the following day to salvage his confidence?

Just teasing ...

Over/Under picks for today are in...

7/28, Cincinnati vs DJ Houlton
.........................
Colorado Blue: 5-2/3
Joekings: NA
.........................
Louis in SF: 5-2/3
Xeifrank: 6
.........................
Howard: 6
CT Bum: 5-2/3

Hey, I'll take 7 2/3. I feel lucky.

100. 7-2/3 stolen bases? :) vr, Xei

Can Mike Rose throw out the occasional runner?

97. Colorado, I'm only trying to rationalize Tracy's decision. Personally, I would have Phillips as my backup catcher.

But, if he can improve his frame of mind with a couple of hits today, maybe he will have a little bit more jump in his step (and throw) tomorrow.b Wishful thinking I suppose, but I'm a Dodger fan. What do you expect?

102 - Apparently 1/3 of a runner =)

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3831980

Apparently we "need" to trade Kent to the Twins.

Also, the Yankees "need" to trade for Griffey. What's Cashman got to lose, he's out of a job next year anyway.

Houlton-6.
Claussen- 5 2/3.

Isn't Kent a 10-5 player? How the hell does he get traded? He'd have to agree to it. I wish I was a sports writer so I could just make stuff up on the fly and get a nice fat paycheck at the end of the week.

If you trade Kent, you might as well trade Bradley, Weaver, Odalis, A. Perez, Brazoban, Guzman and Billingsly. With that combo we might get back Griffey, Manny Ramirez, A.J. Burnett and Lowell.

And Depo could change his name to Kevin Malone.

I'm pretty confident Griffey will retire a Red. Evidentally he has a wound which won't heal that frequently leaks onto his jersey.

Rick, Kent hasn't been with the Dodgers for 5 years, which would be required to be a 10-5 player.

109 -- Tasty. And I was about to go to lunch...

But he was with the Giants for more than five. Isnt the rule, if you have played for 10 seasons or more, and been with a team for more than five, any team?

10 years in the league, last 5 with one team.

You have to be with your current team for 5 years and have 10 years of service overall.

The only holdup with trading Kent is that newly signed free agents can't be traded without their permission until midseason.

If DePodesta got Johan Santana out of the deal, I would be quite happy.

Can someone explain the infield fly rule to me?

#115,
Sounds good to me.

Can someone explain the infield fly rule to me?

Rose has 2 CS's...out of 16 attempts this year

105 - Mr. Dayn Perry seems to think we could use more pitching prospects, and that the Twins can provide them.

Kent for Joe Mauer or Santana? Great. But why would the Twins make that deal?

just kidding, just kidding regarind the IFFR.

runners on 1st and 2nd (or loaded), less than 2 out, any flyball with a reasonable chance of getting caught by an infielder - the batter is immediately called out. Runners advance at their own risk. If the ball is dropped (a la Richie the other night) I don't believe the runners would've had to tag on that.

It prevents an IF from intentionally dropping the ball, then throwing to 3rd and to 2nd for a double play.

121 - too late, I'm a nerd.

i thought it was the 10 yr 5 months rule, then kent could reject it.

Terry Mulholland would have loved the 10 yr 5 monther.

The infield fly rule covers situations where there are runners on 1st and 2nd or bases loaded with none or one out. If the batter hits a fair ball that can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, the umpire declares the batter out. The runners can advance at their own peril. (I love that phrase).

It keeps the infielders from deliberately dropping popups to get double or triple plays.

sorry db. That's a great explanation. I will copy it and hand it out the next time I go to the game and some tosser behind me asks his buddy the same question. (And I know I am not the only one here that has heard someone ask that question at the Stadium).

But I got to use BOLD!

A little off topic, but doesn't the picture of the author of the FOX story remind you of a young John Travolta?

Thanks to Bob as well.

The game is starting.

Lead-off double for Freel. Soon to be a triple?

Houlton looks to continue his inability to pitch in the first inning

Bob gets bonus points for bold and "at their own peril". Makes it sound so dangerous!

Feel Freel to scream.

Time for Freel to steal.

A bunt? Freel could have easily stolen 3rd and Lopez could have batted

why would you bunt in that situation?

Speaking of the Fox Sports article..

How much of a burden is Kent's contract? He only signed a 2 year deal. It's not like it is a Dreifort or Brown contract.

Why do reporters make up asinine reasons for trades?

126. Thnx for adding the "fair ball" caveat. In our softball league I play SS and whenever I get an easy popup hit to me, especially if it is near 2nd base with a runner on first, I always drop the ball or let it bounce one time. Half the time the batter doesn't run out an easy popup. I've gotten atleast one double play out of this. Another thing I use to do when I played 2nd base back in the hey day (baseball not softball) is when a runner would steal 2nd on a hit and run and I was covering 2nd, after the hitter hit the ball I'd throw my hands up in the air and yell "I got it, I got it". Two times I got the runner to run back to 2nd base on line drive hits to right field, for an easy force out at 2nd base. It's also amazing how so many people don't watch their base coaches.
vr, Xei

A sac bunt in the 1st inning to get a runner to 3rd. Scrappy.

That's one thing I never understand is bunting a guy as fast as Freel over to third. Let the guy hit, then if he doesn't move him over, have him steal on the first pitch to the next batter.

Dumb bunt. Why play for one run against Houlton? and why this early? We obviously don't have the only dumb manager. Does that make anyone feel better? vr, Xei

I feel better.

Why exactly are you guys complaining about the break the Dodgers received on the bunt?

143. that makes me feel better. Houlton will give up some runs early, and the Reds are foolish to not try and take advantage.

Despite the run, that's the fastest I've seen Houlton pitch in the 1st in quite awhile. Am I the only one who thinks they drag on forever?

IZZY!!

See, that is why you don't just play for one run in the first inning.

Wow, that fox sports guy is an idiot. Why would we want more pitching prospects? We have some good middle infield prospects, but none are sure things except maybe Guzman who will probably be moved. As someone else said, Kent doesn't have a "burdensome" contract over the next two years, it's only one more year and it's only 10 million. How do these guys get paid?

I love day baseball. So does Cesar.

Well, Vishal, there's that second Izturiz HR we were talking about last night.

I thought Saenz had a bad back? Why does he keep playing on afternoon games, and Kent is rested?

I love it when DT updates faster than my Yahoo!Sports page at work. :)

Darn. I was kind of hoping Izturis would go the whole season with his only homerun in his first AB. Oh, well. I'll take the run.

one before the all-star break, one after. not bad!

That's how Izzy started his 2 month streak...

Perry, who wrote the FoxSports article is a major idiot. He always writes absolute garbage, and some of his stunning preseason predictions were "The Yankees payroll will top 200 million." The Nostradmus in him just gives me chills.

I was sure Izturis' second HR would come on the last at bat of the season.

Jim Brower pitching for the Braves against the Nats.

Jim Brower's July ERA: 2.16. Perhaps Leo Mazzone IS that good.

I predict bradley will try to steal

#159
Jon, with the injury problems we've had, you probably should just not say anything. ;-)

Anyone realize that since Bradley did his best Bo Jackson impersonation on Tuesday with the broken bat over the thigh, he's stroking the bat well?

So what were the hot (or cold) topics of conversation among the Dunn Expeditionists last night?

Saenz had said that his back has been feeling better since he got an extended rest.

Not only did the Reds sacrifice, they had one of their best hitters do it.

Who is this Jon guy you speak of? A new member? :)) vr, Xei

The way the ball is being knocked around, if Jim Harrick were around he might say, "This one is gonna be a ball burner."

FYI,
Felix Hernandez the top rated pitching prospect in the minor leagues is suppose to get called up to the Mariners this saturday and will initially pitch out of the pen. I believe he is only 19 years old. vr, Xei

I think those 4 "balls" to Aurilia missed by a total of 4 inches total.

Hopefully the Reds try a few more bunts!
vr, Xei

164 - I was seated on the aisle, so I wouldn't be a very good source.

I do remember Icaros changing his seat `for luck' prior to Freel's walk, two steals, and scoring on the sac fly :)

The way things are going we might see our long relief specialist Scott Erickson. vr, Xei

172 Sooner than we might hope.

I blame that HR on XF's lack of faith...

Well that was swell.

As this is a game in which Erickson might pitch, a sincere question: which would have been the better acquisition for the Yankees, Hideo Nomo or Erickson?

I have nothing to do at the office, except look forward to afternoon Dodger games, and here they are trying to throw it all away in the second inning.

Maybe since the 1st inning went by so fast, Houlton was still in "1st inning" mode.

Erickson is a much better pitcher during the day as he is at night. We're in for a masterful performance courtesy of Scott imo.

Looks like it's gonna have to be a slugfest to win this one. With the way the dodgers were swinging in the first, i don't see that as out of the question.

#180,
Our 5-8 hitters are:
Phillips
Edwards
Rose
Repko

DJ has allowed 17 ER in 20.2 IP in July (with a measly 8 Ks and 5 HR). He posted a decent 4.3 ERA in June, but a 7.40 ERA in July (and he isn't done yet) makes me think that we should use Dessens (remember him Tracy?) or bring up Stults or Hull from Vegas.

For everyone who has been hoping for the Dodgers to do a silly trade (i.e. trading for a reliever), there's a good article at Baseball Prospectus (currently Free Preview):

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4265

Here's what it has to say about Danys Baez:

"Some of the worst deadline deals usually revolve around overpaying for closers, and Baez looks like he'll be no exception.

Danys Baez H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 ERA
PECOTA 8.8 3.9 6.9 1.1 4.40
Actual 8.4 5.0 8.6 1.2 3.18

Baez' peripheral numbers have not really been any better than PECOTA had anticipated this year; in fact, depending on how you want to evaluate that walk rate spike, they've arguably been somewhat worse. But his ERA is more than a full point better than our preseason projection. The reason? Baez has allowed just a .210/.288/.274 batting line with runners in scoring position, versus a .238/.315/.425 line with the bases empty. A starry-eyed GM might refer to that as clutch pitching ability, and tell some story about how Baez' makeup has improved. We refer to it as good luck. Caveat emptor on a closer with a walk rate this high."

The same general reasoning applies to Bob Wickman and Ugueth Urbina. Let someone else overpay for a reliever who may or may not be better than what we already have.

Edmonds hits a 3 run homer with Carpenter pitching. At least things are looking up there

181. The OPS for those four are...

Phillips: .659
Edwards: .681
Rose: .575
Repko: .681
Yuck! to say the least. vr, Xei

183. I don't see Paul "Moneyball" DePodesta trading FOR a closer. The MB book says the same thing. Closers are misused and overpaid/rated. vr, Xei

By the way what is up with this lineup? Is Tracy going out of his way to construct the worse lineup possible? He wants to load the lineup with Righties, but Kent, Ledee and Choi are better than Phillips or Edwards no matter who is pitching. This lineup is a nightmare and it is absolutely begging for trash like Claussen to shut it down (Claussen by the way has split much worse against Lefties this year albeit in a small sample size).

RIP, Washington Nationals 2005 season.

Houlton looks like he's past 1st inning mode

May collapse - Dodgers
June collapse - Padres
July collapse - Nationals (most saw this coming a mile away) with a dash of Orioles
August collapse - running out of candidates. Diamondbacks?

#187,
I myself am hoping for a Kreuter Phenomenon (See post #89). If we bash these AAAA scrubs enough, one of them is bound to hit a home run.

#190,
I'd take a dash of padres and a dash of diamondbacks thank you very much.

So many wasted 3-2 counts

164-
I was fortunate enough to pull up a chair next to Don Burns who recounted his visits to Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds. There was some discussion of the mind of Bill Plaschke and the responsibility of bloggers. Don cited the Heisenberg Principle of analyzing atoms, and how that pertains to the media. Vishal was an undergrad recently enough to recall this. That's the level of discourse I'd expect from a blogger roundtable.

Cards just stretched the lead 4-0

One thing's for sure: Choi is not being showcased for a possible trade this weekend.

Hee's a keeper.

"Don cited the Heisenberg Principle of analyzing atoms, and how that pertains to the media."

I'm torn between responding with "Please elaborate" or just leaving my mouth agape.

195,
I keep expecting you to get in to a really violent fight with Ernest Borgnine.

i'm sure this has been discussed before, but on the radio broadcast, why do we get the wonderful vin for the first 3 innings and the mediocre steiner/monday (or whoever else) for the rest of the game?

Jon,
You missed my proposal of the Timmermann Denial Paradox.

#194,
"Don cited the Heisenberg Principle of analyzing atoms, and how that pertains to the media."

How exactly does that pertain?

Oh God I cannot endure watching Phillips at first base. Anyone know why Choi isn't in today against a weak throwing lefty?

Oh God I cannot endure watching Phillips at first base. Anyone know why Choi isn't in today against a weak throwing lefty?

I seem to be missing a lot lately. Which makes sense, given how little computer access I had recently.

201-
I brought up the internet reporting of exit polls in the 2004 election- and whether it influenced undecided voters. I think Don cited the Heisenberg Principle as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you're trying to measure the particles in an atom, the measurement itself alters the results.

#202,203
The best answer we've come up with is either:
1) Phillips = righty and Choi = lefty
or
2) Phillips struggled last night and so tonight is attempting to get his confidence back.

#2 leads to interesting possibilities. Such as Choi intentionally losing his confidence to get more playing time. Of course Buntermaker would just see that as a reason to bench Choi, but nonetheless, an intriguing situation.

#206,
the tonight should be a today.

something tells me houlton doesn't have his best stuff out there... does he look any better on TV than on gameday?

194 - That was sorta frustrating for me, because I heard the remark about analyzing atoms, but couldn't make out the rest of the conversation.

Mark Sweeney just doubled in 2 runs, 4-2 Cards

No way Houlton goes more than 6 IPs. The under (6-IPs) looks pretty safe. vr, Xei

from Encyclopedia.com

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
places an absolute, theoretical limit on the combined accuracy of certain pairs of simultaneous, related measurements.

In between beers and peanuts, Icaros and I discussed Straw Dogs and the Godfather movies. Plus his escapades in Montreal.

Greene just doubled in Sweeney, Carpenter chose a bad day to suck

So is the point of the Aflac commercial (we've all seen hundreds of times) to make people believe they can get injured at work and then sit on their asses all day while getting paid?

McCourt himself must carry this insurance for the Dodger players or else why would it be the most prominent commercial sponser of Dodger games?

The quacking duck interrupts Vinny at least once every two innings, and that really pisses him off I'm sure.

Marty, I seem to remember the food choice at field level as pretty good. I was pretty dissapointed not to be able to find frozen yogurt.

Also was dissapointed to find they only had Gordon Biersch Light beer on the reserved level.Love the Dark. Oh well, it was still pretty good. Due to the long lines for it, my second beer was a Bud. Yuck.

216 - what price are beers going for these days at Dodger Stadium?

$7.50 for draft beer!

62 - I did the same type of study for my stats class using the years 2002-2004 and this is what I found:

Stat Correlation R-Squared
Stolen Bases -.144 .02
Home Runs .7396 .547
Batting Average .8479 .719
OBP .8801 .775
SLG .9336 .872
OPS .9610 .924

R-squared measures the amount of variance in Y explained by the X. So OPS explains 92% of the variance in runs and luck, errors, baserunning and RISP only accounts for 8% give or take 3-5%. SB meanwhile accounts for all most nothing and further has a slightly negative correlation.

Gordon Biersch is now $8.00 a pop. Up from $6.00 two years ago.

$8 for the GB.

Jim, at the stands on the left field side of field level, it was pretty slim pickings.

John Rodriguez homered, 5-3 Cards (and Edmonds had just lined into a DP before)

At least last year, the beer was actually cheaper in the Stadium club than out in the regular concession stands. You could get a big glass of Sierra Nevada for $7 when the "premium" beer outside was $8.

OTOH, my Super Dodger Dog was appropriately burnt...

yawn.

Luis Gonzalez homered, 3-0 Dbacks

Will they ever get a hit against Claussen?

I understand not bringing guys up too soon and all that, but geez, Navarro isn't the next Ivan Rodriguez so we don't have to worry about shelling out THAT much $ one year earlier. There seems to be as much help in the minors (C and bullpen) than there is via trade. When Depo??

Unless Depo knows he's bringing in some guys soon via trade, but still, any help for these games between would be nice.

Fun stat of the day.

Cincy team OPS: .789
Oakland teams OPS: .736

Cincy runs scored: 919
Oakland runs scored: 916

Why are the A's scoring as many runs as the Reds? It's not like they steal bases, they're actually quite poor at it.

AVG/OBP/SLG
Cincy: 265/337/452
A's: 265/336/402

Looks like the Reds aren't getting enough bang for their buck out of the SLG%. More than likely they are getting unlucky with their HRs and hitting a bunch of solo jobs (unlike today). vr, Xei

Also, going into today the Dodgers have scored two more runs than the White Sox. haha @ "smartball"

Excuse if this is repeated among the other 228 comments, but would love to get in touch with Stan in Tacoma to hear those tapes.

So it basically boils down to one bad pitch by Houlton?

Dunn's "fly out to deep right"? Did it look gone?

Dodger Stadium plays pretty small during the day.

229

Runs YTD:
Dodgers, 437
ChiSox, 485

The CIN/OAK runs don't look right either. Am I mistaken?

229-
Cincy has scored 515 runs to the A's 482. I think you're looking at hits. Oakland has closed the gap by hitting 17 pts better with RISP and has managed to get 8% more RISP to begin with.

219. Interesting. My favorite college stats class was "Gambling Statistics". We studied and calculated the house edge in the basic Vegas casino games like Keno, roulette, sports. Blackjack and craps were more complicated and you needed a computer to compute. My teachers claim to fame was a program he and another professor wrote that predicted if a pro football team would beat the point spread. The concept behind his program was flawed as it looked at historical data, and of course the teams change so much from year to year. But nonetheless they put him on a local radio station each week to pick a few games. vr, Xei

231 - It looks that way, as the Dodger bats have gone somnambulant.

233 - He did say "going into today". What's the White Sox score today - 48 to 4?

one bad pitch. If the "start a reliever and bring in the starter after 2" thing catches on, it'll be due to DJ.

233. Oops. Forget anything I ever said. Wrong column. Back to the drawing board. :)
vr, Xei

237 - Yeah uh, my bad...

239 - How can we trust any of the stats you've ever given us???? =)

240 - Don't put anything past Ozzie Guillen and his SmartBall TM. If he needs 48 runs today, he just needs to put his mind to it.

So 0-for-40 or whatever Oscar Robles gets sent to PH, and he gets hit by a pitch? Hee. At least he got on base...

With games like this, I have to find the humor where I can.

If I see "In play, out(s) recorded" one more damned time I'm going to go insane.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

John Donovan at SI.com has his buyer/seller article out.

"Los Angeles Dodgers Why they should get out: Don't expect the Dodgers to roll over. GM Paul DePodesta has too much invested. But injuries have killed these guys, and inconsistent starting pitching, and injuries, and a lackluster offense at times. And then, of course, injuries. Forget the NL West standings: The Dodgers are nine games below .500. Pull the plug already.

Who they should move: Somebody should want lefty Odalis Perez, a good bargaining chip. The Dodgers have some talented minor-leaguers, too, and could package Perez with some of them for a big hitter they need."

they get your hopes up...

All of the talk about how Repko is getting to be a better hitter is wishful thinking. He's actually striking out quite a bit more in July than over the rest of the year 27 Ks in 71 ABs (38.0% of his ABs). What he has been in July is extremely lucky as 47.7% of his balls in play have dropped for hits (21 hits out of 44 balls in play).

Fearing Blue,
Where do you get your stats from?

Giovanni's new nickname is now "The Towel," and he does not relieve, rather Tracy throws him in.

249 - He keeps score at home, right?

Man, I'm sick of seeing Gio's mug on Gameday.

carrara has been the towel for about 5 years now.

250. I like it! I was about to name him "the white flag" but yours is better.

236 - Somnambulant would imply that they're at least sleepWALKING, which is at least SOMETHING. I would argue that they're just plain asleep.

Good news is San Diego has given up a few more runs and St Louis still has the bases loaded

#249: For the most part, I just ESPN.com and Baseball Prospectus, but occasionally I'll look at Yahoo or CNNSI as they have slightly different splits. The monthly splits are available at ESPN.com and I added in Repko's 2 ABs today:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=7519

So...is that a triple?

If Freel goes on a busted pickoff, I'll bet Phillips can't throw him out from first.

Gio reminds me of Scott Radinsky-decent era but would always allow inherited runners to score or give up runs at the worst possible time.

this makes u feel good going into the 7th and 8th:

O. Saenz 3B 0-2
J. Phillips 1B 0-2
M. Edwards LF 0-2
M. Rose C 0-2
J. Repko RF 0-2

257-
FB- do you have a source to do "meta-splits" e.g. RISP in July?

261 - Just means they are all due to get a hit.

geez, 4 pick off attempts and a pitch out ...

257 - Doug, have you noticed that the MLB.com splits have been unavailable for several weeks? Do their splits work for you currently?

Sometimes I try to look up things like runs in a given inning, HRs allowed with 2 outs, etc, especially after games like last night. MLB used to offer those splits, but now it's like their site is broken.

261 -

Wow. Claussen is making our lineup look like a bunch of minor league scrubs.

we are a bunch of minor league scrubs...

Edwards singles!

ESPN.com's page2 must be big Atlanta Braves fans. They have Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz all as surer bets to make the HOF than Big Unit.

1 and 1a is Bonds and Clemens.

other than his last two starts in which he gave up a combined 16 runs, Claussen has been good this year. Whats the word on kent?

Why didn't Tracy pull a double switch right there, and have Kent bat for Rose, and then move Phillips to catcher, and kent to first? I mean, I love watching Rose botch every opportunity today with runner's on as much as the next guy...

#270,
I think Kent is just getting a day off.

I would think it would have been better to give Kent a rest on a Cardinals game. We actually have/had a shot at this one.

Tracy has to figure that since the Pads are losing, it would be great to try and steal this win. Might as well bring in Kent the last couple of innings, and see if he could've jump started this offense, and maybe gotten a run or two in the 7th. Now the Dodgers are forced to use all the rookies in the 8th and 9th to scramble together some hits and runs. Doesn't make sense to me.

Well, the pitching spot is coming up to bat after this, so perhaps Kent will PH for Gio.

270 -

16 runs in the last two games?

The Dodger lineup today has definately been a confidence boost for Claussen.

Yeah, but I think they were betting off using Kent with Edwards on first, to try and string a couple of runs together.

But then again, nothing is definite, especially from Tracy, who used to rest the Giant killer LoDuca on days when Chan Ho Park would pitch to Chad Kreuter.

whos going to stick around for suns thoughts at 4?

Dunn's trade value taking a slight dip at the right time if we're going to get him.

#279, Nate
I'll be here.. though I won't be watching.

It's games like this one that make me regret all the times I've teased my European relatives about how boring soccer is.

280 - Dunn is not available. Jayson Stark has spoken.

All it takes is the Dodgers defense to make the pathetic Reds feel like they can be winners in the future.

Arizona is making a good push to be only 2 games back after today. That move of Green to CF is really paying dividends already. He's like a vacuum cleaner out there... in that he sucks alot (drumroll please). I'll be in town all week.
vr, Xei

Has Choi gotten 2 hits in his last 2 pinch-hit at-bats?

Dodgers at bat and i see "Pitch 3 - In play, no out recorded"

Can someone tell me what's wrong with my GameCast? =)

286 - yes. Last night was an infield single, IIRC.

#262/265: I just checked MLB.com and their splits seem to be working for me. The site allows you to do limited double-splits.

http://tinyurl.com/c5fbn

#279: I'm going to miss Suns Thoughts. The Mrs. and I are going away for a couple days starting this afternoon and she won't let me bring my computer :).

282. I like watching and playing soccer. People complain it's boring to watch but great to play. Well, I would prefer playing any sport to watching it, as long as I was decent at it. Your post struck me, along time ago a friend from Germany was visiting me and I put on a Laker game on the car radio. He laughed and said how could you listen to basketball on the radio. Yesterday I was trying to avoid hacksaw and the Angel game and flipped to one of the other sports stations and an LA Galaxy soccer game was on the radio. I laughed and said out loud, how could you listen to a soccer game on the radio. I guess I know how my friend felt. Maybe it just takes some getting use to, but I have no problem with baseball, hockey or basketball on the radio, but something like soccer, tennis or golf would just be awful on the radio. vr, Xei

Time for Milton to redeem himself after that out with guys on 2nd and 3rd in the 6th.

either of those two hits to left catchable?

A trip to Europe will let you realize that soccer's one of the greatest sports out there. Bar none.

Do we have a rally in the 8th? Oh please do tell! for those of us with no radio or tv access. vr, Xei

How deep was deep right?

Is it remarkable to anyone else that Choi is still third on the Dodgers in homers?