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
I've never been a doctor ... but I've been a patient once or twice. So I'm using that experience as my right to comment on Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal's condition.
Time and again, more often than not, we've seen the benefits of letting Dodgers heal and the detriments of them playing hurt. We're not talking about the sniffles, here. We're talking about real pain. In recent years, Adrian Beltre is perhaps the only Dodger - out of so, so many - who thrived while hobbled.
What exactly is the argument that Furcal doesn't need more than two days off?
"I'm frustrated because I try to get healthy and something every day starts bothering me," Furcal told Allison Ann Otto of the Press-Enterprise. "My shoulder, forearm, finger, back. Everything."
Steve Henson of the Times wrote that Furcal has been getting better - sort of:
Nagging injuries to his right shoulder and the middle finger on his left hand have contributed to Furcal's slow start with the bat as well as the glove. He is batting .202 and is hitless in his last 14 at-bats. He has scored 14 runs largely because he has drawn 13 walks.
"The team needs me on base, and I don't feel right," he said. "So I'm taking more walks."
The finger injury — which he said is all but healed — has been especially bothersome when batting.
"I couldn't hold the bat with two hands," he said. "I couldn't finish my swing."
He believes the shoulder injury was caused by altering his swing because of the sore finger. Furcal's physical problems began before the season when he had minor knee surgery that forced him to begin spring training late.
Whether or not this is the end of Furcal's injury troubles or the middle, once again I wonder why Dodger players and staff can't see that trying to excel in this sport while injured can be so misguided. Certain injuries lead inevitably to diminished performance, diminished performance leads to compensating for the injury, compensating for the injury leads to another injury.
The Dodgers are certainly more educated about physical and medical matters than I, but it is decidedly not showing.
I'm sick of anti-sick day bias.
Update: Old school mindsets die hard. From Kevin Kennedy at FOXSports.com:
I read the other day that Washington's John Patterson is going to miss a start with soreness in his forearm. Several pitchers have had a similar complaint this season. I don't know whether these guys are spending too much time in the weight room or they're simply reporting every little ache and pain.
I would never question another man's injury, but I know that guys years ago seemed to tough it out more and often refused to come out of the lineup. Maybe they feared for their jobs then because they didn't have long-term contracts and guys who went on the DL sometimes never came off ... at least not with the same team. But there's a big difference from being hurt and just sore, and playing through pain. When we had the A's Eric Chavez on our XM show the other day he told us that he flat-out loves to play and wants to be in the lineup. He feels it's his responsibility as the leader of the team and he will continue to play through pain whenever necessary. Look at Cal Ripken, Jr. Do you think he never had pain or minor injuries during his great consecutive game streak? Ripken obviously felt an obligation to play. He wasn't about to come out of that lineup.
Amazing. Obviously, some ailments are not significant, but it doesn't seem to occur to Kennedy at all that these "little" aches and pains might affect performance.
And how long has it been since the free agency era started?
Don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but Will Carrol (Under the Knife on BP) reports that Cesar suffered a big setback in his rehab. He wonders if it might not just be a case of CF-itis, but anyway says no Cesar before mid-June.
Personally, I'd add Jeff Kent to the list of Dodgers who need more than two days off. He hasn't looked right to me since he got hit in his triceps. I don't think he needs as much time as Furcal to recuperate but I'd bite the bullet and sit him too at least through this weekend's series. We need both of them at 100% if we are going to do anything this year.
Don't forget about his terminal case of BB-itis.
That's what I think. It seemed like a very odd specialty.
Or the DR.
Perhaps that explains why they're major league ballplayers and I'm a lowly mouse-jockey... But at least I'm a mouse-jockey without lingering performance-decreasing ailments.
11 - The commenter so nice, they named him twice.
For the record, I knew he wasn't Dominican. The joke just worked better that way, and sometimes that's what is most important.
Loop.
Speaking of that, I was surprised to see a message from Kaiser in my email Wednesday, the day after I took a cholesterol test. They sent me a link to the results (I had to log in obviously). I'm almost below the Mendoza line!
My cholesterol level and Rafael Furcal's batting average are nearly identical!
For the sake of argument, an injured Furcal is no better than a healthy Oscar Robles right now. If you are going to get similar production from them, let Furcal get healthy. It will help the team more in the long run.
As far as Kent goes, he isn't acknolwedging any discomfort - not that I'm saying he would - so it's harder for me to speculate about whether he needs rest or is just in a bad slump. He certainly looks weak at the plate, though he smoked a line drive in the ninth last night that could have helped the Dodgers toward a miracle rally.
HDTV
Since then, I've solved the problem - by not getting my cholesterol checked again.
In May 2004, the bad was in the 200s. Following a bitter reduction in hamburger and candy bar consumption and an increase in instant oatmeal, I knocked it down to 130 in May 2005.
I'm due to see if it was a fluke.
128 LDL
385 OBP
385 OBP
That was yesterday's thread, Bob. We've finished boasting about our "baseball" exploits for the time being.
By the way, I'm slugging around .525 this week.
Really? I figured someone as tall as you could see over today and into tomorrow.
http://tinyurl.com/psexf
LOL. The headline is the best part.
OT, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a DirecTV user looking into HD with Tivo?
vr, Xei
I used to draw vertical lines for innings and horizontals for players in spiral notebooks while listening to Vin and Jerry on KFI.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/alex_belth/04/27/new.stadium/1.html
Not according to Will Caroll. He says Izturis is still a ways off from returning.
Also at the bottom of that article is an interesting response from Navarro after Little talked to him about pitch that was not blocked and allowed runners to advance.
"There isn't a catcher in baseball who can block a 94-mph fastball that's out of the strike zone like that one," he said.
I don't think Little wants to hear that from a 22 yr old rookie catcher.
I learned how to keep score from my best friend's mom, of all people. She was fanatical about it and never left a Dodger game early. Even when she knew she'd be stuck in Dodger stadium traffic with 3 obnoxious teenagers for the long ride back to Calabasas. In retrospect I wonder if that says something about the mindset of a person who keeps score. It certainly speaks to determination and single-mindedness. I always loved the fact that she never left early. I don't see her using a palm pilot to keep score though, or wanting to. The scorecard and program are such a large part of the score-keeping experience.
do you color in the diamond on all runs scored, or just home runs?
All runs as regfairfield said.
I don't draw small portraits of the players. I actually make lithographs.
"New software makes scoring fun again"
You mean it wasn't fun before? Why the heck did I drag that scorebook with me wherever I went?
Isn't this the sort of thing that belonged in yesterday's thread?
It looked cool when you carried it in your briefcase.
I found some perfect ones at Sportmart six or seven years ago that had tons of space, and didn't waste room by giving 20 spots in the batting order, but I haven't seen them since?
Where can you get a good scorecard from?
You can order them at
http://www.bcscorebook.com/
And I think Bob Carpenter himself (the Nationals TV announcer) handles a lot of the orders himself. At least when I got one last year, he told my brother in the press box in St. Louis that I had ordered one from him.
Good thing he only sells scorebooks.
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5542626
"I read the other day that Washington's John Patterson is going to miss a start with soreness in his forearm. Several pitchers have had a similar complaint this season. I don't know whether these guys are spending too much time in the weight room or they're simply reporting every little ache and pain."
"I would never question another man's injury, but I know that guys years ago seemed to tough it out more and often refused to come out of the lineup. Maybe they feared for their jobs then because they didn't have long-term contracts and guys who went on the DL sometimes never came off ... at least not with the same team. But there's a big difference from being hurt and just sore, and playing through pain. When we had the A's Eric Chavez on our XM show the other day he told us that he flat-out loves to play and wants to be in the lineup. He feels it's his responsibility as the leader of the team and he will continue to play through pain whenever necessary. Look at Cal Ripken, Jr. Do you think he never had pain or minor injuries during his great consecutive game streak? Ripken obviously felt an obligation to play. He wasn't about to come out of that lineup."
Amazing. It doesn't occur to Kennedy at all that these minor aches and pains might affect performance.
And how long has it been since the free agency era started?
I just don't know if I could drop 35 dollars on a scorebook.
30 years.
The history of baseball is built on layers upon layers of torn rotator cuffs, ruptured ACLs, and empty beer bottles.
Believe me, I have the same worry.
11 and 12-man bullpens have made 6 or 7 pitcher games quite common.
I believe the Giants used 9 players in the #9 spot yesterday.
But I'm saving up my "Tribute to My Old Scorebook" for a later time. When I've tried to write it, it ends up sounding like Johnny Cash's "Ragged Old Flag".
Xei, if you have a Mac version of your scoring program I'd be happy to beta it!
Fortunately nearly every stadium keeps track of pitches now on the scoreboard. If there's a particularly long batter-pitcher sequence, I will note it.
I think James Loney had a 11 or 12 pitch at bat against Mike Remlinger.
It was a technical draw as Loney reached first on an error by Edgar Renteria.
Reminds me of the Bill James essay, in one of the Abstracts, discussing a man from his hometown. When he died, he was forgotten - not because he was forgettable, but because he left behind no statistics.
All I've got are scorebooks and cholesterol test results.
Does anyone think there's a correlation between Rafael Furcal's lack of production and his weight? He weighed in at 195 in spring training. I believe he weighed between 175-180 pounds last year, so he may be 15 pounds overweight. I think a lot of it has to do with the knee surgery he had before spring training. It is probably preventing him for doing rigorous workouts. So far this year, he hasn't hit a lick, but he is showing tremendous patience. He is seeing 4.43 pitches per plate appearance and his walk rate so far is the best of his career. The thing I'm very concerned about is Furcal's lack of power. He regularly produces (around) 50 extra base hit seasons. This year, he only has 2 extra base hits (both doubles). I think he is covering up an injury that is affecting him at the plate and in the field (with his footwork).
I guess Mariano Duncan agrees with me regarding Furcal's footwork. The Dodgers need to rest him for a week and start Oscar Robles, not Lucille II, in his place.
He threw the bat. Hard. And from a pretty good distance.
That kid needs a major suspension for that.
"53. Bill Bene, Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 5, 1988) No, that's not Billy Beane, the Oakland general manager. This guy was a hard-throwing right-hander who was more wild than Charlie Sheen on vacation in Cancun during spring break. Bene rarely pitched at Cal State Los Angeles, but the Dodgers clocked him at 100 mph and took him over such future big leaguers as Jim Abbott, Robin Ventura, Tino Martinez and Alex Fernandez. At one point, the Dodgers wouldn't let him pitch batting practice to live batters and had him pitch to a department-store mannequin. Career totals in the minors: 18-34, 5.45 ERA, 516 innings, 543 walks, 502 strikeouts."
http://tinyurl.com/lvf4b
First game I tried to score was against the Dodgers. 8-25-95. You've all heard this before.
85 - Good thing everybody uses tiny tiny bats these days. If it had been, say, Ryan Howard tossing his bat...
I never understood that one. Why did they have to use the fifth pick in the draft on Bene?
Who else was going to take him? Seems like he could've been had later on if they wanted to take the gamble.
LA got Ventura 15 years too late.
That's the clip I saw. You don't see Young throw the bat, but it comes flying pretty fast.
What I'm impressed most by is that the ump doesn't even seem to flinch.
That's a man who trusts his chest protector.
From memory: Kiki Jones, Dan Opperman.
http://ericenders.com/images/scoresheet.jpg
I'm very fussy about my scoresheets and finally got tired of not being able to find one to my specifications, so I made my own.
A few years ago I had some printed up and spiral-bound and started selling them on the internet and in a few Barnes & Noble stores. I sold about 1,500 before I got tired of the hassle and quit. The profit margin wasn't enough to make it worth my time in filling orders. Every once in a while I still get an angry/desperate e-mail from somebody who wants one really bad and doesn't want to accept that it's out of print.
The key part of the design, IMO, was that the spiral was on the top, which made it possible for left-handed people like myself to use.
I mention this, because the past Dodgers brain trust would've done far better in the draft had they employed a strategy of doing nothing more than picking players from, say, Arizona State, USC, Texas and Florida State.
I went to the show on Tuesday night in Asbury Park and it just blew me away -- one of the great musical experiences of my lifetime. (Maybe THE greatest.) The Seeger Sessions Band kicks the E Street Band's butt any day of the week.
Bob Carpenter has better name recognition I guess.
I don't know who's playing there next week, but any show at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park would be worth seeing.
I love that place.
He even tries to get players that fill needs at other positions. He might not exactly be good at it, but he does try.
That's like saying "that HR kicked the Gibson HR's butt." Even if that's true, I cannot process it.
That's like saying "that HR kicked the Gibson HR's butt." Even if that's true, I cannot process it.
I've just never seen a band have so much darn fun playing music. There were 20 musicians on stage, all of them excellent ones with the possible exception of Patti Scialfa. The effort and passion they put into it just made you feel glad to be alive. I don't get that feeling from the E Street Band in recent years -- they seem to be going through the motions a little bit. Particularly Clarence Clemons.
Imogen Heap 5/2 Pomona
Ladytron 5/2 El Rey; 5/3 Pomona
Kupchak has also done pretty well with his recent draft picks.
In the title years, when they were getting the last pick, he got Walton and Cook, who are at least decent (one can shoot, one can pass).
I also think Turiaf will be a valuable player in the near future.
I'm not saying he's great, but people always rag on Kupchak, sometimes unfairly.
I still don't think trading O'Neal for Odom, (ultimately) Kwame Brown, and a first-round pick was that terrible. He wasn't going to get Wade or Dirk for the guy, and people who chastise him for not getting more aren't being realistic.
Shaq for Kwame and Odom looks terrific now, and not just in the "addition-by-subtraction" way that I've looked at the Shaq trade to date.
Of course, he did that to placate Kobe, but he could've kept it between them.
I don't think he was going to get Dirk or Wade for Shaq even if it was quite.
I suppose Kupchak could have pretended he wasn't going to deal Shaq, but nobody would have bought it and it may also have cost the Lakers #8/#24 as well. Considering the circumstances I think Kupchak did OK.
Not how I remember it, but all's well that ends well. Glad to be rid of the Big Baby.
I heard Michelle Rodriguez mention the steroids a while back when she was on Leno. The amazing was that I was watching Leno. She did look quite different in California than she does on "Lost". She does strike me as a "high maintenance" woman.
If she wants to get back to making money does that mean her character is going to survive the season on "Lost"? Fans seem to think "Ana Lucia" is the next person to get killed. She isn't the most popular character, although I don't have any objections.
http://tinyurl.com/h4d2e
Honolulu Star-Bulletin coverage:
http://tinyurl.com/g6dxf
S-B has photo of what the well-dressed actress wears to start a four-day jail term.
Given that or 4 days in jail, what's more of a hassle?
So I just want to take stock of the DT domestic and foreign bureaus. There's Sam in Washington, Link (Other Steve) in Honolulu. Colorado Blue has handled Denver well in the past. What else have we got?
Cher, I believe, has abandoned Ogden.
/pats self on back.
jello.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx
"Beltre felt so defeated Monday, he began running to first base to complete a strikeout after flailing at a pitch in the dirt - for strike two. He then did the same thing one pitch later for the real strikeout."
Eric E., I love those scorecards (and I'm right handed), where can I buy one?
reporting from the twin cities, i'm sad to be in an AL town.
back to you in the studio.
It used to be "Julio Franco".
Yeah, Grant is an albatross, but you have to match salaries in NBA trades, and Shaq makes a ton, so taking Grant couldn't really be helped.
What stupid team signed Grant to that deal? Portland? Miami?
Kupchak was blessed with the best player on the planet, and another superstar, and has done nothing but transform the Lakers into a mediocre average basketball team, that is still over the luxury tax threshold with Odom (who's not a max level player yet is getting paid max dollars. Same with Kwame Brown).
Cook and Walton serviceable? Just because you draft at the bottom of the round, doesnt mean there arent players there. Look what the Spurs have done in the draft. Or even Dallas.
Jerry West should have never left.
Simple. Dont trade Shaq and let him play out his final year. Resign Kobe Bryant to his extension, with the assurance that its Kobe's team once Shaq is gone after that year. Kupchak's "managing" of two big egos was terrible. Part of "managing" is getting people to work together underneath you. He couldnt do it, even when he had all the bargaining power- #1. The Lakers could pay Kobe more than anyone else, making it easier to resign him. #2. No one forced Kupchak to trade Shaq. Even if Shaq just dogs it that final year in LA, its still better than having Brian Grant's deal for 2 additional years.
Kupchak is a poor evaluator of talent and a poor manager of people. Jerry West was excellent at both. Its just a shame that Buss wouldnt let West have any ownership of the team.
If that's now questioning another man's imjury--what is it?
Kwame has terrible hands and very few basketball skills. He's not a shotblocker either. I'm not sure which top centers and PF's he has played against and shut down, but I wouldnt trust him to slow down Duncan, Garnett, the Wallace's, Amare, Dwight Howard, Shaq.
He's not even as good (defensively) as Tyson Chandler, and Chandler is in no way a max-level contract player.
He has played well against the top pf's/c of the league. His man defense is stellar. Have you watched laker games consistently this year? His help defense isnt as good as chandler because kwame isnt the shot blocker chandler is, but his man defense is top 5 in the league for big men.
Yeah, Aybar, 3 RBIs tonight, Guzman two...
I do wish they'd call him up but keep in mind it's better for him to play all the time right now then to just sit on the Dodgers bench. I'd prefer him to Martinez, or Robles, for that matter... only a matter of time I think.
Keep doing what he is doing til at least june before im convinced. He has never hit for significant power before so call me a bit skeptical. If he has a slg over .550 by the time of the mlb draft, ill be more convinced.
Play defense and show that he can do this for a whole year. Although I would be interested in having him up instead of Martinez or Robles if he keeps this up.
This is the longest basketball game ever.
The Nuggets shot 15 more free throws.
I even named it: Expected Value of a PA. or EVOP for short, or E(PA).
someones probably done this before but i had fun crunching numbers for 20 players or so.
"The Dodgers are contemplating putting in a waiver claim for right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Walker, who was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Walker had 23 saves last season after Armando Benitez was injured, but fell from favor late in the season and struggled this year, blowing two saves and posting an earned-run average of 15.19 in six appearances.
Colletti, the Giant assistant general manager the last 11 years, is familiar with Walker, who was injured late last season and has not regained his velocity."
Ineffective? Injured? Lost Velocity? Former Giant? How could we not have seen it coming? It's like a script.
Hee Seop Choi (hamstring) has hit safely in eight straight games at Triple-A, but his rehab assignment ends Wednesday. While they'd be better off with Choi than J.T. Snow, the Red Sox are expected to keep him at Triple-A after the 20-day rehab assignment is up. Because Choi has options remaining, the Red Sox can do what they please.
He's horrible! When the Giants give up on a reliever, that's not a good thing.
Except for the Dodgers giving up on one of their relievers. But Lance Carter is a lot better than Tyler Walker.
I know our bullpen has struggled but why would this be better than bringing up Broxton or Houlton or somebody? Please... God... tell me it's just a rumor...
Seriously, I don't know. Seems like a really pointless move to me...pointless rumor even. Doesn't even seem worthwhile to claim him just to stash in AAA (if they can).
-Albert Einstein/Tyler Walker/Ned Colletti
"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders."
-Hal Abelson/Jonathon Broxton/{Insert Dodger fan's name here}
The mind boggles. I can see some sort of reason for getting Kenny Lofton. I can even see a reason for getting Brett Tomko (though I don't agree). But I can't for the life of me see why we'd want Tyler Walker.
I wish there was some direct DodgerThoughts --> Dodgers brass pipeline where they'd hear us out before making any moves...
Can the mind boggle? Or only be boggled?
Hmmmm........
And I'm only being partly facetious when I say that this is a more important question than the Tyler Walker thing.
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