With regard to Grady's love of his bike indicating a potential lack of sense, I was kind of intrigued by it, since my impression of him before today was of Gramps sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair.

2 - Well yeah, that's part of what's scary. I don't ski against oncoming traffic.

I think that's part of his personality. Not that he would never admit a mistake, but that it's done and there's no reason to beat himself up over it.

Probably also the way he'll interact with one of his ballplayers after a bonehead play. It's overwith. I know you'll do better next time.

A manager makes hundreds of decisions in the course of a season. Some will turn out right and some wrong. We can only hope that most of his in 2006 turn out correctly.

I can't judge about how safe or dangerous motorcycles would be since my only attempt to drive a powered two wheeled vehicle (a Vespa scooter) saw me ride it to the end of the block. Then once I stopped, I couldn't figure out how to get the clutch engaged again, so I just picked it up, turned it around and pushed it back to my friend.

I've had my new car for 6 months and I've piled up close to 2500 miles, so I'm behind Grady Little's pace.

I can't believe it's been 6 months already Bob. I remember the day we all went down to the dealer to pick it up with you.

At the rate you're putting on miles, you probably won't ever need to buy another one.

I suppose I should get it washed one of these days.

I gotta admit, I was less than thrilled with Grady's hiring, but the more I get to know about him the better I like him.

Maybe I'm a good ol' boy.

Don't be hasty. I'd give it a wash at 5000 miles or New Year's Day 2007, whichever comes first.

Anyway, you wanna live forever?

Well, not necessarily, but longer than prime motorcycling age.

I wasn't quite clear above. My station-wagon-wielding enemy was turning into the road I was on in the same direction I was going. My choice was either rear-end her (I'd have lost) or hit the ditch with 100-year-old oak trees about 20 yards away.

There are things that are more important to me than a long life. None of those things is a motorcycle. But, if a motorcycle is one of those things for Little, then mazel tov. It's a fair point to question his cost/benefit anaylsis on this point, and to wonder what it means for his analyses of other points. Which, actually, is probably Jon's point. Personally, though, it doesn't bother me.

Oh, I am so ready for the season to start.

Plus, I've never quite gotten over Duane Allman.

The article made me like the guy and think he might be a fine manager, perfect for the veteran's day parade that will be 2006. But Mr. Ned might want to have a backup ready, just in case.

By the way, the story also had a little news in it, didn't it? The sequence of events leading to DePodesta's firing was rendered far more clearly than it had before. DePodesta selects Collins, McCourt vetoes it and tells DePo to give him a list of experienced managers, DePo does so without including Little, and somehow that action represented the last straw.

Maybe McCourt wanted to hire Little before he even came to Ned? That seems unlikely, but the story implies that McCourt at least wanted him interviewed, or at the very least thought a GM who didn't even want to interview Little is a GM who didn't belong on the Dodgers.

It's a bit surprising Collins is still with the organization under these circumstances. McCourt obviously has a problem with him.

What if Pitcher X starts melting down in the 5th or 6th inning? Do we bring in Pitcher MR (as in Middle Reliever)?

When I read the article, I didn't get the same slant on the firing as you did. My interpretation was that DePo said to McCourt, "show me anyone on this list who is as qualified as Collins". I didn't get the idea that either DePo or McCourt had even thought about Grady.

How dare you confuse Tomko with Pitcher MR!

This is how I read it too, and it reminded me of a few days ago when we were comparing Beltre to Drew.

G'vnor?

We could use a pitcher with some resonance.

Somehow, the rider managed to lay down the bike, hit the car with his tires and careen off my car without serious injury.

I ran up to the motorcycle, blubbering my apologies. The rider wasn't wearing a helmet, had a big shaggy beard and looked like how you would imagine a Harley rider to look. He looked at me through sunglasses with one shade popped out and said, "Don't worry kid...shit happens".

It could have been so much worse. I felt traumatized by it, and didn't want to drive for a while after. Motorcycles still freak me out a little.

I agree with Jon, motorcycles as donorcycles. You can't control who is on the road with you. Dumb teenage drivers abound.

73,760 days without shooting someone

I didn't realize he was sitting at the time.

Probably would have aimed better if he'd been standing :)

1. Hunting with Dick Cheney
2. Watching the game at a bar where people are allowed to smoke (second hand smoke kills!)
3. Motorcycle driving
4. Smoking crack
5. Leaving Pitcher X in too long when Steve's in town.

1. Hunting with Dick Cheney
2. Watching the game at a bar where people are allowed to smoke (second hand smoke kills!)
3. Motorcycle driving
4. Smoking crack
...
∞. Leaving Pitcher X in too long when Steve's in town.

Better?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2006/02/unfounded_rumor.html

OT: A.J. Holloway may be a great guy, but this whole Q&A appearence has been dull. I haven't even been irritated enough to shout at the tv (except for the part where he explained that by his own estimation, hurricaine Katrina was a cat. 4, not a 3, as was reported). Q&A is, in every respect I can think of, inferior to Booknotes. If these people were worth talking to, wouldn't they have written a book?

I was driving my dog to the dog park, going west on Wilshire Blvd, passing the VA and I hear the sound of a skid, then some metal hitting cement. I look to my left and see a motorcycle down.

I pull a U-Turn and I'm one of maybe a half-dozen "good samaritans" to show up, including a doctor. The doctor tells him to remain calm, that he'll be okay and that help is on the way but what stands out to me are two things:

1) the guy was dressed to the gills in motorcycle wear--pants, heavy jacket, helmet, the works and...

2) he was conscious but not moving. His whole body was tense, doubtless because he was in such pain he couldn't even scream.

In a separate incident, my uncle by marriage damn near lost his life on a motorcycle; he ended up with permanent injuries. I hear riding one is quite a rush but I'll do without it just the same.

At one point, I was told by some motorcyclists to slow down and I stopped and saw a person lying in the road. Then a CHP officer went to his trunk to get a blanket and put it over the man. He had been wearing a helmet and looked to have been riding a very nice bike.

That event could best be described as "sobering".

That scene in "Boogie Nights" was effective because it made squirm so much. All those firecrackers going off made my skin crawl.

Phillip Baker Hall's character

Phillip Baker Hall
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Phillip Michael Thomas

I really want to see curling.

Giants vs PD Dodgers
Pitching Matchup
N.Lowry vs D.Lowe ... PD Dodgers win 4-0
Game summary: J.Cruz drove in 2 runs, A.Perez had 2 hits and D.Lowe blanked the Giants on 7 hits.

M.Morris vs J.Weaver ... PD Dodgers win 5-3
Game summary: J.Kent hit a 3-Run HR in the first inning and J.Weaver took a shutout into the 9th inning.

M.Cain vs O.Perez ... PD Dodgers win 6-5
Game summary: M.Bradley reached base four times and H.Choi hit a 2-Run HR and scored three runs.
DodgerSims.Blogspot.Com

On another note that other posters brought up riding a motorcycle without a helmet is done because of the feeling it generates not because it is cool. It has been 30 years since I rode a bike and it is still one of my fondest memories. Thank God it was before the helmet law came into existence. Thank God I was a child and was able to ride a bicycle before the helmet law came into existence. It is no wonder that children now spend all their time inside playing video games, fun which involves risk has been removed from their lifes by paranoid parents who are determined to protect their children from anything and everything, including life. Long live the Z Boys and all kids like them.

To me, motorcycles are like cigarettes. They're a matter of personal choice up until they affect others' well being. Which they nearly always do.

And from the perspective of the biker, I agree with TC 72 that responsible bikers are safer than irresponsible ones, but the greater danger comes also from the inability of other drivers to see motorcycles well, no matter how safely they're driving. I ride my bike a lot to commute, and have the same problem. Luckily, I'm not going nearly as fast as a motorcycle, and can generally stop much more quickly if I have to.

And why is it that Speed Racer has become an iconoclast 40 and Kimba the White Lion has faded into animation obscurity?

My brother and I used to joke about writing a "Where Are They Now" book for old cartoon characters. For example, we had this whole bit about how Haji was the Men's room attendant at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas and how he wound up there after a fight with Johnny Quest.

(Guess you had to be there.)

Geez, February is boring. I couldn't care less about the Winter Olympics or the Pro Bowl. College Hoops will get fun at the end of the month, and NBA (if ever again) not until April.

And of course, Spring Training is a still a ways off.

Geez, I just might get some work done this month.

Since then, I've had too many friends and family with accidents (resulting in death and reconstructive surgery) to get back on the bike. These days I commute to work on a bicycle and that's enough of a rush for me.

Tobias...?

I'd love to get a motorcycle or a scooter to cruise around the westside, but L.A. can't be the safest place. Some drivers can't seem to not run red lights and broadside the biggest buses in Los Angeles on the new busway, so why would they see me?

Then one day after tuning it up and cleaning it I took on a putt-putt ride through my neighboorhood. I was taking a fairly tight curve at about 25 when I hit a gravel patch. I was wearing tennis shoes, shorts, and a tee-shirt. The bike and I sustained mostly cosmetic damage and I was unbelieveably lucky that I didn't put my hands on the ground and that I managed to keep my head up. After that experience I could no longer ride without being extremely uptight. To my wife's huge relief I sold it 3 months later.

I got off cheap. One of the lucky ones.

50+ year old guy + big bike = mid life crisis

But back in the Carolinas, and other parts of the country without the daily drama of the 405 Freeway it's just a way for guys to have fun. Jeff Kent sure isn't going to LOSE money with his Yamaha dealerships in San Antonio.

But when the two worlds collide, like groups of bikers flying over the Angeles Crest Highway, bad things usually happen.

Still, motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes are about a third again as likely as four wheelers to have had previous DUI conviction, more than a quarter again as likely to have had speeding convictions, and a third again as likely to have had a previous license suspension or revocation. So, even though motorcycles are almost certainly inherantly more dangerous, there's no good way to adjust, sufficiently, for the difference in the type of person who drives one, in order to to determine the difference in likeliness to die when a normal person is driving either.

Source (PDF warning): http://tinyurl.com/738gl

The Pinehurst area is probably more like living in Ojai or somewhere a bit more rural than LA proper. Unless Ojai has turned into some sort of metropolis in the 25 years since I've been there.

On a side note, when did the freeways in LA start being referred to "The XXX" (XXX=Interstate number). When I was living there, it was "San Diego Freeway", "Ventura Freeway", etc. It is an interesting cultural shift in that everybody has embraced this new nomenclature.

I'd really be impressed if people started referring to interchanges by names.

Personally, I don't like to travel to West L.A. because I find traffic on the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway to be a bear all the time. Sometimes from my home, I try go to Downtown on the Frank Lanterman Freeway. Occasionally, when I visit my aunt in Thousand Oaks, I hop on the Military Intelligence Memorial Freeway.

And that one time I got stuck in the Sadao Munemori Interchange!

It's all pieced together from Caltrans documents and journal articles.

James Taylor does have a bridge named after him in Chapel Hill, however.

Now I have to google Sadao Munemori. I guess work can wait a bit longer.

In Rhode Island, they name bridges after other bridges, leading to the George Washington Bridge in Providence, and the Jamestown-Verrazano in, well, Jamestown. It's a lot like having the lesser Alex Gonzalez on your team.

There's no helmet law in Rhody (and I don't think in Mass., either). Both of my brothers ride and always wear helmets (they're in NJ). I stick with bicycles, sans helmet.

The oddest thing is that we now have a "Rosa Parks Blvd" in downtown Salt Lake City. Right near "Stockton" and soon to be "Malone" avenues.

Angels sweeten the pot for Weaver

So it wasn't the money he was after, but rather another green item of "dubi"ous distinction ;)

everytime someone mentions the orange crush i always think about R.E.M.

[101] if i were a writer, i'd be all over it, myself.

there is a lot of good info here. http://tinyurl.com/8qpk8
i am in the transportation business, and there is a guy that goes by the name "froggie" who maintains a number of websites regarding highway history and nomenclature. he has contacted us on a few of our projects over the years. i think the site in the link is one of his.

i moved from oc to mpls about 8 years ago. out here, people use numbers, but not "the". they find it interesting that i refer to "the 5", but then talk about traffic on "94".

and on a baseball note, anyone know when dodger single game tickets go on sale ?

Probably started doing that when he got asked one too many times why he didn't pull Stan Williams in favor of Drysdale in the '62 Playoffs.

The question is: do you think the double entendre was intentional? I'm guessing it wasn't. Now, had it been the Onion, or Slate, sure. But for some reason, I think that might be too subtle for Fox Sports types.

When I was in med school, I spent a month working on the Spinal Cord Injury Reahb Unit. Lots of motorcycle injuries (the surviviors) The consequences of spinal cord injuries are just horrific. Not being able to walk (or use your arms) is just the tip of the iceberg of the misery that results. One day working there and you would never risk a neck injury again.

That said, the spinal cord doctors had three pretty good rules for avoiding spinal cord injury. Obey them like laws, so you'll never make a bad judgment call:

1. Never dive headfirst into any body of water, not even the deep end of a swimming pool.

2. Never clean your own rain gutters (or trim high hedges, etc). (Hire someone who has the experience, the right equipment, and is being paid well enough that he can go slow and not take any chances).

3. Never get on a motorcycle.

If you have a family to support, taking chances like that for the thrill (or the serenity) is hard to justify.

It's a common point of disdain for Southern Californians among Bay Area types as well.

The funny thing is, the number with the definite article is less "ordinary language" than the LA way.

"Take 10 to downtown"
"Ten of what?"

The Abbott & Costello possibilities are endless.

So lots of folks around the country say "Take Highway 10" or "Interstate 10" or "I-10." How are any of those choices better than "the 10?" The first two add syllables, and the last is inaccurate when the freeway in question is not an interstate.

As for etymology, my guess is that the use of "the" is an artefact of the aforementioned practice of using names. We didn't say "take San Diego Freeway" or "take San Diego." We need that "the." So when we started using numbers instead of names, the "the" stayed behind.

To me, using numbers makes a lot more sense than names, in that freeways change names so often. I like the lower knowledge threshold of numbers instead of names. LA has enough out-of-towners clogging up traffic that the last thing they need is another barrier to understanding of traffic reports.

"There's a backup on the 15 all the way back to 4200 South 2300 East"

Is this (all the OT stuff -- freeways, movies, TV, etc) the type of discussion the old timers had around the "hot stove" when they weren't talking about baseball? Has the hot stove of old turned into a modern day toaster?

brilliant logic, move the best hitter down in the lineup because of Kenny Lofton.

Why not Kent/Drew/Garciaparra or Garciaparra/Drew/Kent?

isnt only lofton going to play against righties? so wouldnt you want a L-L-L at the top of the order? When a lefties on the mound, furcal switches to the right side, but who bats second? certainly not repko... nomar? mueller?

Little said he prefers to go with a set batting order, as opposed to predecessor Jim Tracy, who focused on matchups and probably would have juggled his lineup even without the wave of injuries that hit.

If Little is convinced he needs a set order, then wouldn't he just replace Lofton with Repko in the 2nd spot? Basically, our only hope against Repko batting 2nd is Ross or Young winning the Lofton platoon/5th OF spot

At this point, I'd be happy with Repko for Vorhees

Assuming he's healthy and feels like playing, Drew's the best offensive player on the team and should bat third. You probably want him batting as often as possible while he's actually available. He's probably even more suited for the No. 2 spot, but I guess you go with Mueller or Lofton there.

More often than not, Little's choices will be winnowed for him by the availability of his players.

I'd also give out cortisone pre-emptively to help these guys get through the season's first half. Maybe some of the younger players will be ready in the second half when half the brittle vets are hurt.

That is why the switch has gone from name to number, IMO. Now that I have settled that, I can't believe Wed pitchers and catchers report. Because of this website my interest in the dodgers is all consuming and need actual baseball to discuss. I watched the Carib. WS this year to see Oscar Robles play for Mexico. That's a cry for help.

As for freeway names, I know them all. If there were more people like me in Southern California, we wouldn't have this problem of not knowing which freeway is which.

That problem would be replaced by a whole other set of problems.

I don't know this for sure but I'd assume that some streets were named for where they'd take you from the Downtown area (Venice Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Long Beach Blvd.).

Bob, you mentioned that there's no good book on the history of the freeway system in LA, but can you recommend any good general LA transportation books? (I'll offer a possible reason for there not being a good FWY book: I'm guessing that most transportation historians/enthusiasts are more fascinated with mass transit than they are with freeways.)

But if there is a definitive book on this topic, I'm still waiting.

There is a book titled "Los Angeles and the Automobile" by Scott Bottles written in 1987 which does a good job explaining why the Red Cars died out (not a conspiracy by GM or even Judge Doom).

From Jayson Stark's "Chat Wrap" on ESPN Insider -

Yanal (NY): Jayson, Do you see the mets making any deals to get another SP? Weaver possibly?

Jayson Stark: Omar Minaya is always looking. But the question I've heard from other teams lately is: What does he have left to trade for someone like Zito or Contreras? Other than Lastings Milledge, the Mets have traded away virtually all of their advanced, high-ceiling prospects. In fact, there's a lot of surprise they included Tim Hamulack, along with Jae Seo, in that Duaner Sanchez trade. I remember someone saying last year that Hamulack was the best-looking pitcher in the whole International League. So you know Omar has the will to make a big deal. But does he have a way to make it, without significantly weakening his big-league team or what's left of his system?

can hamulack actually be a sleeper?

"The soon-to-turn 29-year-old left-handed pitcher couldn't have done much more in the Minor Leagues in 2005. He had a 1.26 ERA in 21 games (28 2/3 innings) in Double-A and a 1.02 ERA in 28 games (35 1/3 innings) in Triple-A."

All the teams in the Caribbean Series were adding players before the series started.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/060214winterpoy.html

on topic: 153 - Hobos, when does Griffey's contract expire?

"After more than a year of rehabilitation, Eckert signed with the New York Mets in 2001 and was sent to the Dodgers in a trade last year."

http://tinyurl.com/84puk

I don't know if this has been brought up, but whose stats do mlb.com have up for their spring training preview instead of Furcal? I'll be mad if I find out Furcal only had 27 RBI last year.

167 He was part of the 2004 Vegas squad, hence I just assumed we had had him a little longer. Guess I really should look at his history before 2004. He was acquired that spring as a roster filler

168 He became the 19th prospect almost immediately after the Biaz trade. I have a feeling they were compensating for the trade, as they never skipped a number

I'd hate to think you can't believe a thing the Dodgers have to say, but I heard the Dodgers still haven't signed Lofton or Garciaparra.

"You're correct," a Dodger spokesperson said. "We're still working on the contracts."

Maybe so, but there was also talk the agents for the unsigned players were giving consideration to filing grievances with the players' union.

I suppose rather than ask the principals involved, you can always rely on the "talk" as a source before printing it in the paper.

Just in time to confuse them with unorthodox arm-angle philosophies?

But I'm not getting my hopes up. Maybe it's a way of getting a free sneak peak at ST. If one of them comes up gimpy, then unforseen contract issues arise?