Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Was Eric Gagne's decision to serve his suspension Tuesday and Wednesday when he hadn't pitched since Friday completely without portent? Was it because of his temporary ear trouble? Or was it a sign that his arm needs more rest? Ken Gurnick of MLB.com wonders aloud:
(Franquelis) Osoria was pitching the eighth inning because Danys Baez was being held back for the ninth -- because Gagne was unavailable. The ripple effect of Gagne's absence was irrefutable, and the timing odd in that he has not pitched since Friday's Freeway Series game against the Angels, when he allowed a home run to Garret Anderson. Prior to that outing, Gagne pitched in back-to-back games for the first time since elbow surgery.
A more likely scenario to serve the suspension would have been for Gagne to drop the appeal the day after he pitched, knowing he could use the extra time to rebound. With the suspension, Gagne will be going a minimum of one full week without pitching.
For Gagne, he goes that long without pitching only when he's physically unable to. But when he explained his decision on the appeal on Tuesday, he said the MRI showed nothing more than scar tissue. The club said he will be ready for action on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are off today, so we will wait for more information on the fivefecta of injuries suffered Wednesday by Jeff Kent, Olmedo Saenz, James Loney, Jason Repko and Rafael Furcal.
* * *
Curiosity is growing about the genesis of the Sandy Alomar, Jr.-Odalis Perez match, which doesn't appear to have been made in heaven and more likely came out of nowhere, according to Steve Henson of the Times:
Alomar might catch him again, but how much worse could it go with Dioner Navarro behind the plate? Alomar isn't sure how the arrangement got this far.
"What do I know about him?" Alomar said. "His name is Perez. That's about it.
"He kept the ball down the first couple of innings then started getting his changeup up and they hit the ball hard."
* * *
Some stat notes from the opening series. These are not necessarily foreshadowings of the season, but just a recap of what we saw.
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Here's a rather uncomfortable interview with former Dodger catcher and current AAA batting coach Steve Yeager in the Las Vegas Sun. I couldn't decide which part to excerpt.
* * *
He's talking about the Yankees, but today's piece in Baseball Prospectus by Joe Sheehan serves as a good reminder for all teams:
On Opening Day in 1978, the Yankees got a strong start from one of their best pitchers. With the game tied entering the bottom of the ninth, manager Billy Martin brought in his best relief pitcher, Rich Gossage, to try and extend the game.
On the second day of the season in 2006, the Yankees also got a strong start from one of their best pitchers. With the game tied entering the bottom of the ninth, maanger Joe Torre brought in his ... we'll call it fourth-best relief pitcher, Scott Proctor, to try and extend the game.
This is progress?
Now, the Yankees lost both games by allowing ninth-inning runs, so perhaps this comparison is going to be lost on some people. Regardless of the outcome, though, it's clear that Martin was using the talent available to him in the best way possible, while Torre was allowing 28 years of increasing silliness in the use of relief pitching prevent him from doing just that. ...
Forget everything that we write about at Baseball Prospectus. Forget Win Expectancy and the work that people like Rany Jazayerli have done on reliever usage and the analyses by people such as James Click and Keith Woolner. Forget all of that and focus on one idea: a manager wins baseball games by getting his best players into the highest-leverage situations. That's why Martin used Gossage when he did. It's why you try and optimize your lineup to get sluggers hitting behind OBP guys, and why you put your starting pitchers in roughly descending order of ability, and for that matter, have a concept of "starters" at all. In a game in which you can't control who has the bat in their hand in critical times, you can control who throws critical pitches, so a large part of the job is matching skill sets to situations. ...
* * *
Cool hand Bob Timmermann has a chilly recap of his first time at Dodger Stadium this year at The Griddle.
... I believe the last time I had sat in right field was for Game 6 of the 1978 World Series. Not exactly a memorable experience for a Dodgers fan. I had forgotten how far away the bathrooms were from the seats. I also forgot that there are a lot of low-lying beams when you walk under the pavilions. Then again, when you're 12, they aren't so low-lying. ...
* * *
Update: Koyie Hill, whom the Dodgers parted with in the Steve Finley trade, has been claimed on waivers by the Yankees, according to MLB.com.
What a versatile performer!
That Yeager interview was deeply disturbing and somewhat embarrassing for both parties.
Also, does anybody (maybe nate) know where I can watch LV's game(s)?
Unspeakable evil.
7 - I'm pretty sure that Carter had temporarily passed Brazoban in Grady's eyes. The question I have, and I didn't see anyone else ask it, is what about Kuo?
To discuss the bullpen, I thought Hamaluck should have faced Jordan. Osoria was struggling.
But we could pick apart every move. The bottom line is that OP had a 5 run lead and blew it.
What happened to Loney, Repko and Furcal?
I fear that this year is going to be alot like last year but this year there is no scapegoat.
Repko - hit by pitch in wrist
Furcal - undisclosed owey after collision at second base with Andruw Jones.
I must have been helping Hurley off his cliff and missed all that.
Either that or all those injuries are all in your head?
1) The throw by Repko from center to almost gun out a runner at second was spectacular. I didn't expect there to even be a play, yet before I could even comprehend what had happened, he had made a laser throw on the fly into second. It was the most amazing throw I have seen in person.
2) DOdger stadium is looking very nice, except the aqua outfield walls make us look like the Marlins. The field seats along the 1st and 3d baselines look great though with the vegas sportsbook like tables in front of you. May try to sit there for the GIants next weekend.
3) Sometime in the middle innings, a huge fight broke out just below us where 3 guys were pummelling 1 guy. The fight spanned 7 different rows and lasted over 3 minutes. At one point, the lone guy was down, and the other three guys were kicking him in the face and back and noone stopped them. Finally, a 60 year old security guy came and tried to stop it and i thought they were all going to fly over the edge. Then more security came and escorted the guys out. Ahhhh, can't we all just get along?
There is no Dave.
http://tinyurl.com/qoh9w
Over fifty years of baseball in the area before the Dodgers came to town, and all that's left are a couple of hard to find plaques.
If that is all that is left why was the exhibit so great?
Actually, among other things, somebody took the time to make a model of an old San Francisco ballpark out of what looked like toothpicks. Pretty darn impressive.
Yeager's right about one thing. Ethel Bradley was a huge Dodger fan. I met her and the Mayor years ago at their home (long story that doesn't really bear repeating). She had a "Dodger room" with all her memorabilia. She let me swing a bat given to her by (drumroll please) Steve Yeager. She's the one person that I've ever admitted is a bigger fan than me.
The Bradleys' daughter Lorraine still goes to every home game.
In a situation similar to the NY-Oakland game of 2 nights ago, Torre calls on Weatherman, disguised as Scott Proctor. Just like Scott Proctor, the one-armed man proceeds to blow the game for the Yankees. Then, his fake arm falls off (perhaps after being hit by a "zoned-in" line drive up the middle) with fake blood flying everywhere. The one-armed man screams in pain as Joe Torre rushes out to see what's wrong with who he thinks is Scott Proctor.
Then, on national television, the one-armed man says, "And that's why.. you don't just use your closers in save situations."
Some athletes seem to thrive despite all the controversy that surrounds them (see Kobe during his criminal case days, especially after flying back from Colorado) but others may not do as well. I know that it is their job and they get paid a lot of money to do it but it will be interesting to see how Tiger and Barry handle these personal crisis in the coming months.
Plus, I wish I was convinced that Bonds is actually going to struggle this year.
Vin said, during a broadcast that year, Lasorda wanted to fire up the troops with a pregame meeting.
"There are those who make things happen," Lasorda starts, according to Vin. "There are those who watch things happen. And there are those who wonder what happened."
As Lasorda got rolling, Vin said Reuss started humming "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
I know its early in the season, but that's why i never complained about obp in the offseason, but did complain about the power.
We'll have plenty of obp, but in my opinion not enough power this season.
Also, the starting pitching is gonna be a problem, i was complaining about the bullpen at the end of the offseason for 2 reasons.
1 because of the average starting pitching.
2 because i wasn't expecting kuo and osoria to make the team.
Starting pitching is a hot commodity and you'd have to trade some serious prospects to get good starting pitching, which i don't want the dodgers to do, so billingsley is about our only option (but i was for signing millwood in the offseason, now whether or not a 5 year deal for millwood would be worth it is debatable, we'll see if tomko is good enough, that millwood wasn't needed).
Thankfully kuo and osoria made the team (yea osoria had a bad outing yesterday, but it was all about locating his offspeed stuff, he ended up having to go with his fastball and got rocked).
I still think that 4 prospects are wild cards this season and they are billingsley, martin, guzman, and broxton, if any or all of them can get it together and get ready to be called up they can improve our team.
Werth is another one, if he can get healthy he can improve our bench, because i'm still skeptical of repko.
MIAMI (AP) -- The infant daughter of New York Yankees reliever Scott Proctor was released from a hospital Thursday after she underwent successful surgery to fix a serious heart ailment. ...
Proctor had returned home to Miami to be with his wife and daughter during the March 30 surgery, but her condition improved enough for him to join the Yankees for their season opener Monday. The right-handed reliever took his spot in the bullpen for the team's 15-2 rout of the Oakland Athletics.
Too bad Kent and Bonds aren't on the same team anymore. I'd love to see Kent confront Bonds for failing to hustle on the basepaths...
Also, the Dodgers did not have a chance to reacquire Marcos Carvajal, as Tampa Bay picked him up off of waivers. They also released Jesus Colome and signed Tomas Perez to replace Julio Lugo. If they hate Upton this much, maybe they could just give him to the Dodgers, they can even have Carter back.
Jose Vidro and cash to the Dodgers
Jeff Kent to the Giants
Ray Durham to the Nationals
Then I can root for the Dodgers to win the World Series.
McCann just hit a HR
The King is dead!
http://tinyurl.com/ouv6h
the lineup should be potent
hu
abreu
kemp
laroche
ruggiano
raglani
so did i and all indications were that he would be. But, jacksonville is having andy laroche bobblehead night for their home opener.
91 Management decided there was no need to rush him with Mueller around, especially after he struggled a little in Jacksonville last year
He should just retire now.
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