The best part of the article is him saying "take that, bitches" when he hits the homer off of Niedenfeuer. That was funny.

Nice, Yes we can.

Jack Clark and The Dodgers. Oil and Water, Cats and Dogs, Up is Down, Day is Night. Bad luck just seeing something like that.

Phillips is not a 1Bman, hence him wandering over and knocking the pop out of Kent glove...if he is the backup C, then let him be the backup...

Choi isn't going to play anymore unless there is another rash of injuries...or rarely to rest someone...

I really liked the way Navarro took charge out there running the defense, reminding the pitchers there were runners on base...haven't seen that from any of our catchers all season...

someone must have spoken with Duaner Sanchez...the last couple of times out, he is really going after the hitters instead of nibbling around, and he is looking really good again...with him, Broxton, Schmoll, Wunsch when healthy, and Gagne next year...looking like a pretty good bullpen all of a sudden...where does that leave Brazoban...or Carrera...or Alvarez...

I'd still rather try to have Brazoban as the main set up man next year, at his young age, then any of the alternatives.

Agreed, having new blood like Navarro and Broxton up, along with an effective Schmoll is a breath of fresh air for a stagnant ball club. Hopefully DePo will be able to further invigorate the club this weekend.

July 30, 1917

Rube Marquard went the distance and Brooklyn pounded out 13 hits at Crosley Field as they won easily over the Reds, 7-3. But the win did little to salvage a disappointing season for the defending National League champions, who were 43-46 and 14 games behind the first place Giants and in sixth place.

The Reds scored first in the game in the bottom of the second when Tommy Griffith tripled and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Jim Thorpe. But that lead soon disappeared.

In the top of the third, catcher Chief Meyers doubled and then went to third on a single by Marquard. Shortstop Ivy Olson singled in Meyers to tie the game. First baseman Jake Daubert grounded into a force play to put runners on first and third. Hi Myers singled to right to score Marquard and Jimmy Johnston singled home Daubert to make the score 3-1 Brooklyn.

Brooklyn added a pair of runs in the 8th and 9th innings to seal the win. Marquard had a 2-run double in the 9th off of Cincinnati rookie Herman Pillette, making his major league debut. He would not return to the majors until 1922 with the Tigers.

1917 was a long season in Brooklyn. Coming off the excitement of a pennant in 1916, Brooklyn fell all the way to seventh place at 70-81, 26 ½ games behind the Giants. Only the woeful Pirates at 51-103 were worse.

Brooklyn's biggest problem was that star outfielder Zack Wheat was able to play in only 109 games. He batted .312, but without him, the offense suffered. The team batted just .247 and no other regular batted higher than .261.

The pitching staff was still good and had an ERA of 2.78, but the lack of runs led to some bad W-L records. Jeff Pfeffer was 11-15 despite a 2.23 ERA. Marquard managed to win 19 games and lose only 12 with a 2.55 ERA.

After a slow start, Brooklyn made some efforts to get over the .500 mark and did so twice, the last time after winning the first game of a doubleheader on August 5 to be 48-47. But Brooklyn would go 22-34 the rest of the way, including a 9-18 September, in which they played just 4 games at home, losing 3 and tying the other.

Improving the team would be hard over the next two years, as World War I would make the seasons shorter and personnel harder to keep on the field.

Thanks to New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

First time in five seasons I'm over .500 this late in the year.

Good thing the Dodgers are on the East Coast, most of my trip. I won't have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

14 - I think the Dodgers will win the west, in a close race with the Padres and Giants...the Giants are only 1 1/2 back of us

I've reached the point that I would rather see Choi than Phillips at 1B.

Can Cashman spell E-R-I-C-K-S-O-N. Would love to see him get a shot in NY. They would eat him alive.

The problem with getting on the wrist is that there are a lot of tiny bones there, so it's not too hard to break one if you take a direct hit.

Did Drew have a break that could be reset or was it the kind where they just take the bone out unded the theory of "Well, you've got about 30 others there to do the work"?

Pedro Astacio is 2-9 with a 5.84 ERA.

Life in the NL West!

The Rockies are starting Aaron Cook today. He's been out a year after suffering a pulmonary embolism. That's good for him since most people end up dead after one of those. The story says he had a few embolisms, but they were removed surgically before they blew .

Navarro threw out 34% of base stealers in AAA Vegas. Mike Rose threw out 29% in AAA Vegas.

Delwyn Young was promoted to AAA to replace the traded Thurston.

Fri - Penny
Sat - Lowe
Sun - OPerez
Mon - OFF
Tue - Weaver
Wed - Houlton
Thu - Lowe
Fri - OPerez
Sat - Penny

Would changing the order of the rotation make much of a difference now?

Now, I'll be the first to admit that saying I want someone other than Jason Phillips to play first base is not saying much at all. One could say that of the witch's wing-ed monkeys, Eddie Gaedel, Billy Ashley, and very likely Scott Erickson. Where Choi slots in amongst the virtually billions of possibilities at first base that would be an improvement on Jason Phillips is for each man to decide individually.

At this rate shouldn't the Dodgers do a little more of maneuvering with the minor league roster, I mean the 51' are full of dead weight (other than Aybar), why not give some "organization" guys like Donovan and Tydus Meadows (one guy I am rooting for a sept callup)a chance. You could then move up Kemp to AA where the outfield has no prospects. Also, how about Billingsly to AAA prior to a Sept callup?

We'll tell you later.

I know the Angels are on Channel 11, but I was wondering if this was some weird doubleheader day.

#33 For a guy who played 1B in the majors on a semi regular basis in the past, Phillips makes LoDuca look like a Wes Parker gold glover by comparison at first.

Despite his 40+ RBI, the more Phillips plays, the less he has in trade value. Unfortunately, because the way he's been handled by Tracy, Choi probably has NO trade value.

(/sarcasm)

I read in a Rob Neyer piece that the only requirement for a player to be named later is that the guy can't be from the same league that the other player was from. Since the Yankees AAA team is in the IL, it could be just about anybody.

Re: TV
It's being shown on fox in the bay area, if that makes a difference.

Some of the DBacks fan forums talk about Green being unhappy in Arizona and wanting to be traded, but that could be wishful thinking on their part. A lot of DBack fans don't seem to care much for Green.

Erickson even made the concilliatory statement "I'm surprised it took this long" to the LA times, showing the ability to restrain his mouth that wasn't there ealier this year.

#43
As far as Billingsly in the thin air of AAA, I think a short 1 month stint before Sept 1 would really help management see if he can contribute (to a playoff run), and how much damage could 1 month do to Billingsly's confidence?

you know Tracy used to do these screwy lineups only once or twice a week, but since the injuries he does it EVERY GAME... this guy is an idiot who should be coaching in little league

Phillips is 2 for 5.

Neither sample means much of course.

Let us meditate on that Zen-like "koan."

However, it's just 642.

We could debate the definition of "superior hitters" endlessly, but Tracy has been hinting/saying for weeks now that defense is the key and, while it's not saying much, Phillips does appear to be the best defender of the four (Choi, Saenz, Perez, Phillips). I've also read (reported? rumored?) that teammates are not happy about either Choi or Perez in the field.

why didn't we walk him?

I blame it all on Choi not starting.

Brennaman was implying that Phillips was now the regular first baseman.

I felt a chill when I heard that.

Lowe is an emotional guy. This season started flying off the rails the day game in St. Louis when Lowe melted down after a couple of errors led to some runs. Let's just say Lowe's no Mariano Rivera. He's probably embarassed and pissed and worried that this soap opera is going to cost him a lot of McCourt's money.

Also, Carolyn Hughes might've logically decided that this affair was a career-ender for her. She doesn't have a four-year, guaranteed contract worth millions, but probably gets paid barely enough to cover her LA rent and can be fired at will. She might be backing away, breaking poor Derek's heart.

Lowe should have told Tracy he had a blister and taken a powder for the day.

"It was the best of hitters, it was the slowest of runners, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…"

I'm fairly certain restroom facilities were limited to empty bottles...

Of course, few people outside of Southern California are watching. I suppose the St. Louis market gets this game, but there is no way that the people of St. Louis will change their mind about L.A. fans.

The Cardinals have the self-proclaimed "Best Fans in Baseball" (TM).