Just a couple of thoughts.

It was a great decision to leave Saito in for the ninth, especially with the ease of the 8th.

All along I have been an advocate of Tomko, unlike many DodgerThoughts readers. He's relatively inexpensive and always seemed to pitch well against the Dodgers. Let's hope he keeps it up.

And when does Aybar warrant another start? Is defense more valued than offense right now? With Robles starting tonight, does it have anything to do with Olmedo's error? Or does he need rest?

Sorry to ramble a bit.

I added a sentence up to the post. Little said that Saenz needed a rest, implying that he'd be back in the lineup soon.

Heh. Jon, you're not turning into Ralph Wiggum on us are you?
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/127/1720/320/choo.jpg

Anyway, I agree. What you said.

1 I think Robles starting tonight is due purely to his record against the Rockies' Kim. I bet Aybar starts tomorrow.

I think that solo in the 7th was a pretty good piece of hitting. The pitch looked low and away to me. And if my lip reading is right Tomko said, "How did he get that?"

1
I think that defense is, or at least should be more valued than offense right now. The Dodgers are 1 run short of leading the NL in runs right now. We haven't lost many games because the hitters couldn't get going. I would love to see Izzy back at shortstop because he is quite simply as good a defensive shortstop as has ever lived. I have spoken with major league coached who agree with this. But I don't know what we can do now that we owe $13M per year to a guy who won't happily change positions. I don't believe there is any way to deal with this and I fear we will have to trade Izzy for less than he's worth and continue to deal with RFs mediocre defense.
Not the end of the world, just not as good a team as it could be.

"In another ballpark, this might have been when I'd have pulled the trigger; in Coors Field, it was probably worth a shot to try to get pinch-hitter Jason Smith."

Jon - do you mind clarifying this statement?

Interesting piece on Adam LaRoche and Attention Deficit Disorder via the AP today:
http://tinyurl.com/jvwxk

6 - I might have taken Tomko out then and certainly would not have let him face a batter after that, but I can also rationalize facing the consequences of giving up something to Smith in a ballpark that I feel I can score again in.

It stinks that Aybar has to be benched for making an error when he really is playing out of position. Although, it is tough to argue with seeing saenz in the lineup IF he is rested.

Does this feel like deja vu all over again, watching Saenz being run out to play everyday by our manager, when seemingly other options are available and potentially more productive?

I really don't like the idea of Saenz getting so much playing time, especially against RHP. He fell off a cliff last year, and I'd like to avoid a repeat of that.

Aybar's been playing third for a while now. Like it or not, that's his position now. Maybe second base down the road.

What's more painful is that Furcal, Mueller and Saenz have been making errors left and right. In his second start of the season, Aybar should be given a little bit of slack.

But so much changes in a week, I'm not gonna worry about it too much right now.

Last night Saenz made his first error of the year.

I think Aybar is still learning the position wether it is his permanent possition or not. I agree that he should have been given some slack. If the dodgers had a decent pitcher in that game the error would never have been spoken of again.

12
Saenz has two errors this year. But he's been generally decent on defense this year, about as good as one could hope for out of him.

12 - first of the year at third base.

What Grady said in the paper was that as long as Saenz has a hot bat, he wants to let it ride. That's different from saying we want him to be an every day player. I don't have a problem with that, though Aybar certainly deserves to play, too.

I think Olmedo gets a bad rap around here, somewhat, because for the last two years, he's gotten playing time over guys we'd like to see get more of a chance. He does produce, though. The danger is in losing sight of what he's good for - part time player and designated lefy masher.

Is it possible, as long as Mueller is hurt to have Nomar play some third, and give Saenz starts at first?

What's wrong with Saenz at third? I would have watched Around the Horn one thousand times in a neverending loop if it had gotten Saenz a start at third last year.

It seems like defensively there is not a clear cut solution while Mueller is hurt. Why take Aybar or anyone else out when the replacement is just as bad?

16 - I don't have a problem with Saenz per se, though I think he fools people into thinking he has a hot bat by pounding lefties, then getting one hit against a righty. His OPS against righties this year is .710, from 2003-2005 it's .723, and overall against all pitching, he's 1 for his last 10 at the plate. That's not a hot hitter. So I don't really see a strong case for him playing against righties except in a pinch - which this isn't.

17. He doesn't have that much range and he will fall apart by the end of the year if he gets too many starts there.

20 -- I agree with both of those things. I'm just saying that if Grady is making a mistake, it's at least a defensible one.

16. I can't see them moving Nomar while he is hitting like this.

21. Yeah, I don't think it is a mistake I just don't think there is a single player who is the solution at 3rd.

I'd probably just play Saenz against lefties and Aybar against righties. But the willingness to play Saenz at third at all is I think the more important point in the long term, and frankly, it's simply impressive. There's no way to get around the difference.

Saenz played 17 games/120 innings at third base last year.

As opposed to the 75 he should have played, I stand by my statement.

Great SI article Brian Cashman.....um I mean Jon.

Right now, I don't see a problem because Grady is usually playing at least 2 rookies, so three out of 8 might be a bit risky.

The real drama right now is what are they going to do with Odalis, although he has remained mostly quiet, I'm not sure the bullpen is the best place for him to work out his problems and he is really the last man in the bullpen (with 2 LH relief pitchers already).

Ned and Grady do face some interesting issues in the next month.

Gagne - Due June 1st - probable demotion is Broxton so he can go back and close in AAA (longshot if he has options is Osoria)
Navarro - once he is able to play, probable re-hab assignment, then we'll see how Martin is doing, unlikely that they would keep both up MLB.
Izzy - Sounds like more a mid-June issue, probable demotion - Robles

Potential mid-season trade bait:
Perez
Izzy
Navarro

MIA
Jayson Werth

I predict that Jayson Werth will never play again for the Dodgers.

I'm pretty irritated that Aybar isn't starting. Does Grittle not expect some growing pains? Give the kid a LEGIT shot before deciding he can't hold the job down.

And I don't know about the rest of you, but I hope Izzy comes back and is dealt ASAP...simply because I don't want to hear about the drama that's going to come along with him riding the pine.

Right now, the first guy to be sent down from the bullpen has to be Hamulack.

29 Well, we do like dealing young players with power.

Saenz is a defensible selection (as in, not "Ramon Robles"), but if you want Saenz to be productive down the stretch, regular AB's against RHP right now will be counterproductive to that.

1 - "does it have anything to do with Olmedo's error? Or does he need rest?"

I say Olmedo is tired, did you see those swings from a suv par pitcher? We all know Saenz tens to get tired.

Regarding Itzturis' return: should Ned/Grady

1. Give him some PT, so as to demonstrate to other teams that he can still play (at the risk of showing teams that he can't), or
2. Trade him without giving him PT?

I just had lunch with a family friend who is visiting from LA. Smart attorney, Dodgers season ticket holder since the early 70s. Many of the games I saw as a kid, I saw from his seats. He is an older fan, certainly not a stathead or webhead or anything-head. He gets his news about the Dodgers from (i) going to games, (ii) watching local news, and (iii) reading the LA Times.

The heart of our Dodgers conversation went basically like this.

Me: So, the Dodgers have been showing a little bit of life.

Him: Don't be fooled.

Me: What do you mean?

Him: If you sign a bunch of old broken-down players, eventually they will play like old broken-down players. Mueller's gone, no telling who's next but it'll be somebody.

Me: Well, it can't be as bad as last year.

Him: At least last year we had a plan. This guy has no idea what he's doing. At least we have some good young players.

Bored third person at lunch: So, do you live near the White House?

Me: (internally) Aaargh, and I was just getting to the interesting stuff.

Anyhow passed on without much comment except that I wouldn't in a million years have expected so traditional fan to have these views.

35 - Doesn't really matter. If you can get a satisfying deal, trade him whenever. Otherwise, I'm fine with him being a spare part in place of Robles or Martinez on a division-contending team, especially with Furcal's health issues. I wouldn't give Izturis away.

36
So: do you live near the White House?

37
I wouldn't give Izturis away either, which is why it might be a good idea to give him some PT first before trading him. I don't know for sure, but it seems like teams might not give much for a SS coming off such a significant procedure and layoff without knowing whether he can still perform at a "Gold Glove" level.

gotta love mlb.com fact checkers...
reading the lead article on past all star games in pittsburgh, there is a capsule on the 1974 game. no mention of mvp steve garvey, but they do attribute the game's lone home run to "dodgers right fielder reggie smith".

"Yanks eyeing Furcal for center"

This strange headline is from a Ken Rosenthal piece on foxsports.com. Unfortunately, the copy is missing below the headline.

38 - But where does this PT come from? Does Furcal sit? Do you shift Kent to 1B, and Nomar off first?

There's a lot of time for injuries to happen, so it's kind of pointless to talk about. I just don't know, situation as is, where Izturis plays.

38 10 blocks from the Capitol.

"Anyhow passed on without much comment except that I wouldn't in a million years have expected so traditional fan to have these views."

I have friends that think just like that as well (although there not lawyers just regular folk) I was speaking to a friend (huge Dodger fan) & I told him watch out for this kid Russell Martin he's alot better then Navarro, I swear to you he didn't even know who he was, & trust me he's a huge fan, goes to atleast 50 games a season & even has that plaque "fallow me to Dodger stadium. Like you mentioned they get there news from local channels & newspapers.

40 - I think that was from this offseason, when Furcal was still a FA.

Of course, if the Mets would hurry up and trade Cliff Floyd for Odalis, LA could spin them Cruz, Jr.

41
But where does this PT come from?

Yeah, that's part of the dilemma.

44
That trade makes so much sense but we'd really be pinning our hopes on Billingsly being ready and the other starting pitching to stay healthy all year. We know Sele will eventually bomb so that would leave us with only 5 real starting pitchers if you include Billingsly. I don't see anyone else in our bullpen or in AAA ready to step up if our rotation does suffer an injury. While I'm not an OP fan I wouldn't be trading him just yet.

Aybar's original position is 3rd not 2nd. He has played every year at 3b in the minors except last year when they tried to convert him to 2nd. He's been playing 3b now since he was 17, he should be able to handle the position. I have no problem with playing Saenz while he's hot but last night he looked tired and we all know he gets tired after a few starts. Nice to see that Grady recognized that and has him on the bench tonight, to bad it is Robles and not Aybar.

From BA yesterday:
"Speaking of the Dodgers, we'd like to throw out some special props to lefthander Greg Miller, who, after multiple shoulder surgeries, is 1-0, 0.82 coming out of the pen for the Suns. And it looks like the velocity is all the way back--Miller hit 97 mph in his last two outings."

46 - I think the main weakness of this team is the lack of left-handed power, both in the lineup and on the bench (not to mention the minors, too). Cliff Floyd would be a nice acquisition to play left and hit 6th behind Kent.

Trading Odalis would be a bit premature, but right now he's a very expensive long reliever. This trade would allow Billingsley to pull a Liriano/Santana and pitch long relief in 2-3 inning stints, getting accustomed to the bigs before moving to the rotation in the 2nd half. Hopefully Sele can keep it together through the All-Star Break.

47

that translates to about 93-94 mph with the Dodger Stadium gun, not bad at all great news, I wonder if there thinking of making him a starter again? You know, once he builds arm streagh again.

Tom Boswell writes a Bonds column. Best line: "Now, when it comes to Bonds, everyone dares, even Joe Beimel."

http://tinyurl.com/zzyan

Regarding Bonds: I liked this little bit from ESPN. I wonder what's different now from before...

"I just go home and sleep," Bonds said Monday, before going 1-for-3 against the Astros, with a walk, a strikeout, a pop-up and a bad-hop double to right. "Normally, I go home and work out and train and everything else. Now I'm just exhausted all the time.

"I'm tired," Bonds said, wearily. "I'm always tired. It's never been like this before. I sleep all the time, all day."

How about some L*U*V*I*N for my boy Brett Tomko? I had a hunch he may be the steal of last offseason's free agent market. I thought he would ve very good, NOT GREAT!! WOW!! And how about the go ahead belly flop in the 7th! After that gem in Coors is it too early to be talking All Star game or even CY YOUNG?
5 down, 10 to go for my boy to reach the 15 wins I projected. I'm thinking 20 now.

GO BRETT!! GO DODGERS!!

Laroche has homered for the second straight day today. Nice to see him starting to hit

52. Since I was, and remain, a Tomko skeptic, I'll man up and admit that he's been much much better so far than I expected. Or that anyone had any reason to expect. And boy, have the Dodgers needed that, given OP's and Seo's foibles.

But it's a long season. I fully expect his season averages to end up right around his career averages, adjusted for park effects.

Did you all see the stat in last night's game that, so far, Dodger starters lead the league in ERA? The difference between that and the expectation is almost all Tomko, and the end of these heady days is, sadly, inevitable.

52 Want to put some money on either the Cy Young or All Star Predictions?

51 One of the benefits of anabolic steroids is that it aids in recovery. No wonder Barry Poo is so pooped.

Cy Young voters tend to look at the pitching "Triple Crown" stats (wins, strikeouts, ERA).

The only category in which Tomko is in the top 5 is wins.

Guys like Brandon Webb and Bronson Arroyo are having better years. Not to mention lesser luminaries such as Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine.

Gentlemen, start your Tivos. Grey's Anatomy moving to thrs at 9 pm opp. CSI.

http://tinyurl.com/l7wgq

It isn't all Tomko, all the Dodgers' starters with the exception of Seo have great numbers so/seo far. (And Seo looked good last time out.) Again, so far, insert skepticism and/or notes about how long the season is here...

36 Sam, your friend the fan certainly doesn't reflect all long-time Dodgers fans, as you know from reading this blog and so on. Still, I think people are entitled to their skepticism or modest goals for the team. On the other hand, I'm sort of trying to ignore the numbers of "nattering nabobs of negativity" out there and just try to enjoy what comes this year.

I'm pretty optimistic about the team's future, more guardedly so about their immediate future (this year).

The last line of that article is the best. "[A] thriller that uses elements of the movie Groundhog Day"?

60

Calista Flockheart and Rachel Griffiths are supposed to be related to each other?

In what universe?

Dodgers BABIP

Beimel: .154
Sele: .227
Saito: .234
Lowe: .235
Tomko: .247

This is, to say the least, a sign of bad things to come. On the bright side:

Perez: .361
Hamulack: .385
Baez: .390

In the middle you have Penny and Seo.

No Grey's Anatomy talk about Monday's finale yet, except to say that hopefully it was better than Sunday's episode.

The big talk is whether NBC will move their "Studio 60" show away from Thursday at 9 now that GA is moving there. Grey's Anatomy, not Garret Anderson.

Nice to read the Sheehan comments on the 51's. Would have been an even better read if he had called Logan White our head of amateur scouting, instead of our head of player development (Terry Collins' job).

63

I won't say anything about GA Monday night except that Jon's hopes were likely not met.

Terry Collins. Haven't heard that name in a while. Sort of surprised he didn't leave out of disgust. Guess he found it tolerable to stay.

[50] my favorite line was the one about pulling the pin out of a grenade to see if it works.

my favorite line was the one about pulling the pin out of a grenade to see if it works.

My friend Lefty did that once.

was he a Righty beforehand? :)

ABC entertainment head Steven McPherson called GA the best show on television, which is a pretty stunning comment considering it's not even the best 9 p.m. ensemble show on his network.

Looks like I just missed Joe Sheehan on my Billingsley scouting trip. I totally agree with his take on Vegas' lack of viability for a ML team. I've uploaded a few pics from Cashman Field for those interested.

http://tinyurl.com/mm9e3

Grey's Anatomy needs a musical episode to let Sara Ramirez sing. I heard her last night (this morning) singing on the Late, Late Show on CBS. Wow, she earned that Tony award.

71 - Delwyn looks squat. Almost oompa-looma squat.

There's a new blogad up - an opportunity to support a DT reader/violinist.

Jamey Wright info courtesy of rotowire:
"Wright is scheduled to pitch Tuesday night against the Astros. He is 0-12 in his career versus Houston, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That is the most losses against one team, without a victory, in major league history. While Wright has been solid so far this season, considering his ugly career numbers versus Houston (7.35 ERA and 1.89 WHIP), the safe play would be to bench him."

75

"Past results are not a guarantee of future performance."

75. Showing that rotowire, as is true with most folks, has no understanding of probability theory. JW is not worse just because it's Houston. He's been very unlucky so far against them (relative to his average performance). The best prediction is that he'll be average (for him). Unless you believe that Houston knows something about him that no one else knows (they've read his "tells" and know what's coming). And that would require that their secret knowledge somehow has not spread around the league, despite movement of players and coaches.

Or maybe only Biggio and Berkman know, and they're the ones who kill JW every time.

Here's a sign of how strange this season has been (and that the Earth may have tilted off its axis): Someone in my fantasy league just picked up Tomko. And no one is making fun of the move.

58. Lucky for me, I don't watch any CSI. That schedule would be a real problem if NBC hadn't moved The Office back an hour.

70. I can see him saying that, while I prefer Lost, I've always just assumed that is because I lack ovaries.

Hey -- congrats in order for someone who finally made the si.com baseball writers dropdown menu. Guess you've arrived.

Tomko deserves the kudo's. The Cy Young talk is silly but at this moment he would be in the discussion for an all-star berth. Money well spent even when he comes down to earth. At least we didn't throw money down the hole at AJ Burnett or Loiaza or Weaver.

77
Or maybe he gets shown a very good time while in Houston and has the energy of a post steroid testing Barry Bonds when game time arrives.

Worse record in history against one opponent is one way to get in the history books when your as bad a pitcher as Mr. Wright.

80 - They got my humble e-mail request ...

82. Nicely done.

Jamey Wright's stats in his career against the Braves are pretty bad (6.01 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, .313 BAA).

And he is 8-2 against them.

85. Yeah, I figured the 0-12 was more than just anomalously bad pitching, but also bad luck in terms of run support or defense (that he'd pitched better than 0-12 against Houston). But in this case, I didn't attribute the fallacy of W-L records to rotowire, because they're giving advice about stats that are important to roto players, right? So W-L record matters even if it's not a good way to judge pitcher quality.

Does anyone still collect baseball cards? If you collected cards but no longer do, why did you stop?

87 - It got too complicated. When I started collecting, there were only Topps to deal with. All these other brands came around, and I grew content to look at the old cards I had rather than buy new ones.

Also, I actually liked the gum. I missed it when it was gone.

87 I did as a kid. Still have the collection intact. Worth thousands of bucks. Love looking at it every once in awhile. Why'd I stop? Because I grew up(?) It also did become even more "another formerly fun hobby that turned into an ebay industry" that took the fun out of it.

Jon apparently has a palate that is lined with steel and cannot be pierced by the razor sharp gum that Topps used to include with its baseball cards.

I had a post on the Griddle back in April about the decline in card collecting. The oversaturation of the market was a big problem.

87 - P.S.:

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/17079.html

88 - The Topps Heritage packs come with a stick of pink, cardboardy gum. The stiffness, the dusty sugar coating--it's all there.

that translates to about 93-94 mph with the Dodger Stadium gun

huh? How does 97 mph translate to 94? are you saying the scouts use a hot gun or the DS gun is slow? I don't get it.

91 - Thanks for that.

93 -- This must be a trick question. Guns are only allowed in the right field pavillion.

93. Well, I think the point prediction here was pure guesswork, but it does seem as though every Dodger prospect loses a few MPH when called up. That means that one or both guns are off, or that coming to DS actually slows down pitches (weather, altitude?).

well so far we've seen kuo and broxton.

the reports of him throwing 98+ was BEFORE he left a jax game when he thought he heard a pop in his elbow. it turned out to just be some scar tissue moving around. Ever since then, he was throwing low to mid 90s and not the high 90s again.

with broxton, I think his velocity is as advertised. But i think he isnt going all out yet because he wants to control his fb. But he has topped out at 97/98 as a Dodger.

93

I'm saying the gun is hot. I trust the Dodger gun more. JMO.

In the sixties there were baseball card "machines" where one would drop a penny into a slot, twist the handle and you would receive one card. I had a few full shoeboxes only to throw them away in a state of rage -- we moved from Monrovia to Walnut.

96

good point I didn't consider that.

Physical baseball cards are so bulky. Can you just scan them in and keep them on a CD?

My little cousin used to collect baseball cards. This was back in the late 80's, early 90's, when he was an 8 year old kid. I asked him what made a card valuable. He said that it depended on the rarity and the condition. To demonstrate, he took his favorite, pristine Frank Thomas card, and dog eared the corner slightly. I remember being surprised how cavalierly he devalued the card in an instant.

99

Police officer's use too give them away as well, I was always to shy to ask them, My friend didn't care he always asked them. "POLICY OFFICER CAN I HAVE SOME BASEBALL CARDS!!?"

99 Hey, I grew up in Monrovia in the sixties too. I had about 3000 cards including some nice Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella ones from the fifties. Somewhere around my 12th year I decided I was too old for them and gave em to a kid down the block.

I imagine mine must have gotten tossed along with all those "Baseball Digest" magazines when we moved from LA to DC in 1962. I still remember riding my back about three blocks from our home to a drugstore on Westwood Blvd to buy Topps cards and the latest copy of that little magazine. Then maybe I'd go across the street and down a few blocks to the Union 76 station to see if there were any new Dodger player portraits out.

Er, bike, not back. I don't think breakdancing was in style yet.

104 Do you remember the 76 Dodger plastic drinking cups? They'd have a Dodger portrait and an action picture ob them. We used to try to collect those. We'd also steal the 76 antenna balls and play pitcher-batter with them.

Linkmeister - my go-to guy for a Baseball Digest conversation:

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/10528.html

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/10529.html

Grins. You sayin' I'm livin' in the past too much, Jon?

106 I don't have specific memories of cups; the portraits were reproductions of oil paintings. Lithograph, I suppose.

I think my family had two of the portraits that accompanied a record (it was 33 1/3 RPM, but it was 45 RPM sized) which had an interview with Don Sutton on one side and Maury Wills on the other.

I don't know which was the "A" side.

108 - You and me both.

I didn't see this linked or mentioned so if it was I apologize. This is from LAT baseball notes on Sunday. I feel I need to paste all of the story on Maddon for it to make sense.

DT might have a new Patron Saint. I think this is appropriate after the discussion of Grittle and the bullpen:

Baseball ...the Maddon Way

Joe Maddon, spoiled by a premier bullpen while in Anaheim, has shown little tolerance for relievers who pitch behind in the count in Tampa.

So far the Devil Rays manager has replaced seven pitchers in mid-count, only two because of injury.

"Why wait?" Maddon said. "If you believe something bad is going to happen, why stand around and let it happen?"

Of the five strategic changes, three have been on 2-and-0 counts, and only one ended in a walk. Travis Harper, Chad Orvella and Tyler Walker have been on both ends, as the reliever and the relieved.

On May 6 in Oakland, Maddon had Orvella pitch to Marco Scutaro in a bunt situation, because Orvella is a sound defender. When the count went to 1-2, the sacrifice presumably off, Maddon summoned Walker to pitch for the out. Scutaro grounded into a fielder's choice.

Although pitchers generally find such a strategy humiliating, only Orvella has spoken up

"I know some of them don't like it," Maddon said. "But when things start to go poorly, I'm not going to let it go very poorly."

The Devil Rays won four of the five games.

http://tinyurl.com/jcrjp

Whenever I think of those cups a picture of Ron Fairly comes to mind. So I must have had that one.

Didn't Willie Davis and Wills make a Dodgers-themed music record?

Although pitchers generally find such a strategy humiliating, only Orvella has spoken up

Orvella is on the Baez/Cordero/Walker/Herges list, so he should feel free to shut up.

Putting aside the fact that this news comes from the less-than-hallowed turf of Tampa Bay, I'm almost thinking that there could be a budding rebellion against the setup/closer mentality.

insidethedodgers blog puts up a link to Jon's article in SI.

theres also some pimpage of Dodger Thoughts. It seems we might we getting more more new vistors soon.

But Jon, Cadillacs are for closers!

Setup/closer idea has taken root because it is so elegant and simple. It implies that you don't have to think. You just manage a game according to formula, and it all works out as long as you have the right personnel.

Sigh...if only it were so simple in baseball and in life.

118 - If so ...

Hi everyone. No profanity, no personal attacks, no sarcastic remarks, tolerance for opposing views, polite conversation, decent spelling, easy on the capital letters and exclamation points (i.e. shouting) - that's all it takes to make Dodger Thoughts a happy place. Thanks for coming.

I know this is sooo last hour, but my father attended both the first Dodgers game in Los Angeles and Disneyland on opening day. He tells me how well he remembers finding his ticket stubs and pennants from those events in his closet a few years later and throwing them away. I cringe when thinking of that story.

122 -- Ah, but the memories.

121
no sarcastic remarks

Yeah, right.

greg miller on baseball america - next billy wagner?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/261281.html

One reason they got rid of the gum in baseball card packs was because it would leave a residue on the card next to it devaluing the card. Now the gum comes enclosed in a wrapper.

I stared buying baseball cards in the later 70s and enjoyed cutting out the team logos on the cards. It makes me sad to think of all the Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, etc cards missing the team logos. Probably not as bad as all the kids in the 50s who put their Mickey Mantle cards in the spokes of their bikes so they make that cool sound. There went their retirment fund.

Like another blogger said, I actually loved the gum.

The gum was great! Do they still sell Big League Chew?

Just a personal preference -- Martin over Navarro. I do, however, think it's pretty close -- in this time and space.

I remember seen it a while back, So I guess so? (I'm not sure)

The rookie cards were fun. The team cards were instant bike spoke fodder.

125 It's nice to hear that Miller is looking sharp, though I must admit that it's disappointing to see him suggest that he won't be returning to a starting role. As young as he is I still held some hope to see him both wearing blue and in the rotation.

I still remember attending a 51s/RiverCats game in Sacramento to see Hanrahan in one of his earliest AAA starts. At that point, I was really jazzed about a 2006 or 2007 rotation that included Hanrahan, Jackson, and Miller. Those guys were a tough way to learn that TINSTAAPP.

I think I'm still picking out remnants of that Topps card gum from my teeth chewed 25 years ago. I loved Big League Chew though, and, contrary to my mom's fears, I didn't develop an interest in graduating to chewing tobacco.

Regarding Greg Miller, I think he and the Dodgers don't want to take any chances on overtaxing his arm after the surgeries, and why push it? As much as starters are of a premium, aren't we all convinced - after our discussions of the past week - that good relievers are as rare as, well, as Mickey Mantle rookie cards?

Speaking of which, among my most prized cards in the collections are ones I got out of a pack and saved as opposed to ones I later bought directly - rookie Rickey Henderson and a rookie Cal Ripken. I love those cards that had three rookies on them - "Orioles Top Prospects" or whatever and you could have one golden boy like Ripkens and then two Joe Schlabotnicks.

At some point in the late 80s/early 90s, I traded all of my Barry Bonds' to my buddy for all of his Ellis Burks'.

131 -- My favorite Dodgers rookie card -- Nate Oliver, the next Jim Gilliam.

135 D'oh.

I think that could be a long running thread akin to discussions about worst trades in reality - "worst baseball card trades we've all made"...

One of my best was acquiring George Brett's rookie card for a couple of Ellis Burks-type players (hot at the time, forgotten now) - in fact, I've literally forgotten.

Worst: Trading away my second Cal Ripken rookie card (I had doubles) for an Orel Hershiser (2nd year, not a rookie even!) and a relief pitcher rookie, I think it was Rob Dibble or some jerk like that. Sheesh, that was dumb. At least I still have one.

The best card I have was a Steve Every rookie card, '87 I think, I'm sure it's not worth much, but that's the best one I have. I also have a Mark McGuire "record breaker" card when he broke the record for most HR'S by a rockie.

Was Dante Bichette a rockie in '87? I have his card as well. I gotta go thrue them, I have atleast 800 baseball cards stashed under the bed, I gotta go thrue them again for 'ol time sake.

I said in another thread that one year the Monrovia market was flooded with Nate Oliver cards. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a Nate Oliver card.

Easily the most satisfying thing I did with my baseball cards is throwing all of my Darryl Strawberrys in a blender. You can't put a price on that kind of satisfaction.

MMm.... Strawberry smoothie, oooooooohhh...

139 I don't think Dante Bichette was ever a Rockie.

Anytime someone is described as having big ears, the response can always be "Not as big as Don Sutton's on his rookie card."

I remember trading for a Darryl Strawberry Dodger card when he bacame a Dodger. I pretty much only collect Dodgers cards back then. My Hershiser from the '89 season was one of my faves because I could show everyone how his '89 and '88 seasons were almost identical in every statistic except that in '88 he led the league in Wins and in '89 he led the league in Losses.

138 Avery's rookie card was in '89, it's probably worth $1 or so now.

I've got 75,000 or so baseball cards still sitting in my parents' hall closet, although since they were collected by a kid with a small allowance when cards were overproduced (late 80's, early 90's) I don't have anything worth all that much. I quit because of the oversaturation, the expensiveness, and because I started playing computer games instead.

My three biggest sports cards blunders are as follows:
1. Traded all my 1986 Topps 49ers cards to my friend who was a 49er friend. Included was a Jerry Rice rookie card worth like $80 now.
2. Trading all my Alex Rodriguez cards to my friend because for whatever reason I didn't really know much about him and my card-collecting days were ending.
3. Sitting on my Michael Jordan 2nd year card, basically ruining its $200+ value.

My single biggest blunder came when I didn't drive down to LA and sell my Billy Ripken obsenity card the minute I saw a report on TV that they were being sold for $300 there.

142 - I don't think Dante Bichette was ever a Rockie.

He was one of the original greats of Colorado, with Galarraga, Walker and Castilla. The Blake Street Bombers, IIRC.

I see the conversation turned towards baseball cards at one point. I'm putting together a LA Dodgers Topps set: 1958-.

Can anybody help with checklists, cards, etc...

I got some excellent condition cards from 1964 the other day. The Gilliam, in particular, is splendid.

Strawberry -- my mood has turned bittersweet.

I used to have the entire 1981 Dodgers team. Sadly, I gave them all away.

But my worst trade was giving my older brother my Hank Aaron commemorative card for hitting #755. I don't even remember what he traded back to me, I just remember regretting it as soon as the trade was completed.

132- it would seem to me, barring injury, his ascension to dodger blue isn't far fetched, considering his history of dominance and stuff. As indicated, he isn't working on his third pitch, making it clear that for now, the dodgers are content with building his stamina in the pen, a tag which has the potential to alter his role in an mlb uniform. granted, a bullpen role is a downgrade from the starting role envisioned, but as made obvious by this year's bullpen debacle, an arm in the bullpen that can get people out would be welcomed. Clearly, his eta as a reliever would be mid 2007 at the earliest, 2008 as a starter.

miller is still young, around the age of 22 i believe, so its not inconcievable to think the dodgers would be willing to wait for his arrival. the references to kazmir and hamels are indicative of the possibility, as they themselves worked through arm trouble and have rebounded nicely. either way, its good to see that the possibility exists taht one day we might see this kid pitch for the dodgers.

Worst deal I ever made was not hanging on to my 2001 Bowman Albert Pujols rookie card, worth $150 now.

I also sat on an Ichiro card worth $200-$300.

rocky outing for Miller today:

Mobile Bottom 7th

* Pitcher Change: Greg Miller replaces Spike Lundberg, batting 9th.
* Kennard Jones singles on a ground ball to left fielder Justin Ruggiano.
* Brett Dowdy grounds into a force out, second baseman Tony Abreu to shortstop Chin-lung Hu. Kennard Jones out at 2nd. Brett Dowdy to 1st.
* Vince Sinisi grounds into a force out, first baseman A. J. Zapp to shortstop Chin-lung Hu. Brett Dowdy out at 2nd. Vince Sinisi to 1st.
* Brett Bonvechio walks. Vince Sinisi to 2nd.
* Steve Baker reaches on fielding error by second baseman Tony Abreu. Vince Sinisi to 3rd. Brett Bonvechio to 2nd.
* Luis Cruz reaches on force attempt, missed catch error by second baseman Tony Abreu, assist to shortstop Chin-lung Hu. Vince Sinisi scores. Brett Bonvechio scores. Steve Baker to 3rd.
* Matt Lauderdale walks. Luis Cruz to 2nd.
* Juan Ciriaco singles on a ground ball to right fielder Wilkin Ruan. Steve Baker scores. Luis Cruz scores. Matt Lauderdale to 3rd.
* Pitcher Change: Adam Thomas replaces Greg Miller, batting 9th.
* Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Michael Johnson replaces Ryan Meaux.
* Michael Johnson singles on a ground ball to right fielder Wilkin Ruan. Matt Lauderdale scores. Juan Ciriaco to 3rd.
* Kennard Jones walks. Michael Johnson to 2nd.
* Brett Dowdy walks. Juan Ciriaco scores. Michael Johnson to 3rd. Kennard Jones to 2nd.
* Vince Sinisi grounds out, third baseman Andy LaRoche to first baseman A. J. Zapp.

The thing no one talks about in regards to Greg Miller is that in addition to the stuff that leads to K's and low oppBA, he induces a ton of ground balls. Even today, a fairly rough outing, Mobile couldnt hit the ball out of the infield against him.

147 Ah you're right. Though I was of course gently ribbing a typo (I'm sure he meant rookie), not remembering he did indeed play for the Col. Rockies - starting in 1993.

153 Thanks for the update - sounds like it was their defense that was really the problem, not as much Miller's stuff.

Did anyone read Fridays article in Hardballtimes about groundball pitchers?

154 - I figured it was rookie too, but I was just awestruck by his Steve Avery rookie card.

That's gold, Jerry!

142

"I don't think Dante Bichette was ever a Rockie."

oops a rookie!, was he a rookie in in '87?

158 1988 was Bichette's debut, actually.

Steve Avery was a Dodger Killer.

141 I agree with the sentiment, but why did you think of the blender? When I was on Kwajalein we got rid of our Top Secret Crypto cards that way, but then that was the only serious classified stuff we had.

In the Navy we burnt the stuff.

145

I have a topps card of him, I think the picture was taken in high school, ahh! I'm curius now, gotta look & make sure what year it was, I'll be back.

160 - Steve Avery was a Dodger Killer.

He pitched in the early 90s. Who wasn't?

108 - "We'll go walking out
while others shout of war's disaster.
Oh we won't give in,
let's go living in the past."

Roger Clemens.

What? No talk of the Clippers' game six vs. Phoenix?

Tonight's game will probably determine the series. Go Clips!

make that game five.

there probably will be some talk once the game starts.

Steve Avery was 8-6 in his career against the Dodgers with a 2.66 ERA.

I just found an interesting card, Its a Gregg Jefferies 'Future Stars'card worth anything? He's wearing an NY Mets Uni. The card says I quote "one of the stringent exercises employed by Gregg during workouts is swinging a leaden bat under water"

ps it's an '88 card. I think they spelled stringest wrong no? the spelled it stringent? that's wrong no? I swear I'm not lying.

Wandy Rodriguez has given up four singles and a walk to the first five Giants today and the Giants are already up 2-0 with the bases loaded.

We've only got about 5 Clipper fans on this whole board. Uncle Miltie and I lead the bunch but the rest have been weary of jumping on the Brandwagon. My hopes have already been met with at least a six game series in the 2nd round. I predicted 53 wins for the Clips at the beginning of the year on Clip chat board and including the playoffs they will meet my optimistic goal.

166 -- I'm purple and gold, but residing in the land of AZ, go Clips.

Make that five singles and a walk for the Giants and it's 3-0 and the bases are still loaded and there's only one out.

170 Dictionary.com is your friend. (Man, I sound like my mother, or I would if she'd known about online dictionaries.)

Stringent is a perfectly good word; I leave it to your search to learn what it means. ;)

Five singles and two walks and it's 4-0 Giants.

Bases loaded for Jamey Wright. Who may get a chance to beat the Astros finally.

hah!!! personal bête noire shawn chacon gets some comeuppance against texas :)

To bad Steve Avery couldn't have had a Frank Tanana career after blowing out his arm like Frank did. Still think Frank Tanana had the best stuff for a LHP that I ever saw pitch before he blew his arm out.

i have a lee smith card with statistical misprint on it. i don't think it's worth much, though.

Avery turned down a Stanford scholarship to become the guy who was supposed to anchor the Braves rotation for a dozen years. He would have been a Mike Mussina teammate there.

I had forgotten who had the animus toward Chacon.

I knew somebody would be happy when I saw that score.

Worst investments/decisions:
-Dewon Brazelton autographed cards
-Edwin Jackson rookie cards
-Not selling my Adrian Beltre rookie cards!!
-Not selling my Alfonso Soriano rookie card
-Not selling my Lamar Odom autographed rookie card

Best investments:
-Vladimir Guerrero rookie card, autographs
-Ryan Howard autograph
-Frank Robinson autographs
-Bob Gibson autograph

6 singles, 2 walks, 5-0 Giants.

The Giants have not advanced more than one base on any single.

Now that I think about it, my Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza rookie cards from trading card day are probably worth something. There were probably only 10-15 thousand printed.

172. Yeah, the Clips have probably met or exceeded any fan's early hopes. But now that they're this close -- two more victories -- from moving on, I would be disappointed to some degree if they lost the series.

It's kind of like how UCLA made it to the championship game, but lost.

I want to thank the Cubs and Astros for continuing their feeble attempts to help the Dodgers when playing NL West teams.

alomar on russell martin: "he could be a pudge rodriguez type of guy"

pretty optimistic, though defensively he has that potential. with the bat, if he could develop some more power, maybe he could be a poor mans irod..though more realistic would be irods D and LoDucas Bat.

I found it & you're wright, it is an '89 card, he's wearing a 'Kennedy' jersey, I guess it's his high school uni.

I started collecting cards in '87 so I guess that's why I confused the year.

Well, it's 5-2 Giants, in the 1st still - nice pitcher's duel. Morgan Ensberg has eaten J Wright alive in the past so it's not a huge surprise he just hit a two-run homer.

178 I never saw Tanana pitch in person. Koufax, and Seaver had the best stuff for lefties that I actually saw.

187

if he swings any thing like LoDuca I'll be perfectly happy.

I almost want Jamey Wright to win just to prove my point about past events not affecting future outcomes.

It's a battle between my id (Must Hate Giants) and my superego (Must Show People I'm Right).

nice.

192 Go, Id, go!

148 - Beckett used to publish a team checklist book every few years. It contained team checklists by year for all Topp/Bowman cards....not sure if it included pre-Bowman cards such as Goudey, Play Ball, T cards, E cards, etc. I have one from the mid-80's that I used to compile Dodger team sets.

HALLO!!

Coraesque AB for Lofton.

Kim just thrue one of the wildest pitches I've seen all year.

Ball 4 to Lofton on Gameday apparently came at Lofton's rear end.

Heh. Over at the Yankees blog Bronx Banter, they're wondering if Scott Erickson's gonna come in (not hoping mind you, wondering) as the Yanks are getting blown out. I feel sorry for them a bit, almost, but it's actually pretty amusing to read their comments as the game unfolds (implodes).

Wow. Kim has nothing.

I don't think that's pine tar, just bad pitching.

Kim: 15 pitches, two walks, no outs, two wild pitches.

Maybe we can have the 1st inning the Giants had, only with walks instead of singles.

Kim seems ummm... a little wild.

'87 thrue '90 wasn't good years to collect BBall cards.

bases loaded, nobody out for Drew... all on walks.

I am banning the Dodgers from hitting into a double play this inning.

did they walk Nomar intentionally? (I'm just watching it on Gamechannel)

I'm rooting for another wild pitch, just for fun in a Nuke LaLoosh kind of way.

Our third base coach ran out of luck.

was that Hawpe? he should be pitching.

The Dodgers are playing moneyball

I don't think there's an excuse in the universe for getting thrown out at home in that situation.

Didn't Lofton get the memo that today is "one base at a time" day in the National League?

Wha' happened? Was that Lofton's fault or Donnelly's?

Is Kim the Colorado version of Kaz Ishii?

214

I remember commenting yesterday, that Rich Donnelly seems to be very aggressive this year with sending runners home. By all accounts, Tomko should have been out yesterday.

Clutchmaster Kent comes through again.

Have to go to class now.

I started collecting baseball cards in 1967 and never really stopped until around the time I turned 30 in 1989. In the mid-80's I was a pretty serious collector, completing all of my Topps sets from 1967 through 1985. I also collected Willie Mays cards and have a pretty nice run of his Topps & Bowman cards from 1954-1973. The glut of new cards in the late 80's turned me off to card collecting and I turned my attention to non-card memoribilia. My favorite set is still the 1967 Topps set. Sadly, my '67 Topps set was stolen from my home while on vacation a couple of years ago. Fortunately, many of the key cards in that set (Seaver rookie, Carew rookie, B. Robinson, Mays, Aaron, Mantle,etc) were stored separately from the set and the thieves didn't find them.

My two favorite cards in my collection are the T206 Christy Mathewson (portrait) and 1948/49 Leaf Jackie Robinson. Another favorite is my 1958 Hires Root Beer test set Willie Mays. Though I've stopped collecting (other than the occasional vintage card) I still have my entire collection sans the aforementioned '67 Topps set and the 74 Topps set which was also stolen.

Kim has only 2 passed balls, but he's thrown balls to the backstop three times this inning, including the one that went behind Lofton's back.

wow, only one run. geez.

That inning was Shawn Chacon-like for Kim.

I think that throw was Hawpe's fault, he fielded that ball perfectly and then made a perfect throw. wow.

216

Vinnie said it was a great throw.

Disappointing

My Nuke LaLoosh analogy wasn't too far off, apparently. Well, thank God for Drew at least. No runs would have been even more embarrassing than one. I'm going home now, back later.

222

Kim was affectively wild.

224 I suppose it is better he made that throw tonight versus last night.

What's Juliet's line in the play? "I have no joy in this contract tonight."

Getting only one run when your first three hitters walk leaves me feeling like she did.

3 walks
PLUS
2 wild pitches
PLUS
1 single
EQUALS
1 run?

Dodger math is hard!

Intentional walk in Houston for ...

Randy Winn. Giants have the bases loaded with one out in the third, up 5-2 with Vizquel batting.

Bonds could have three at bats in three innings from the #4 slot.

I've seemed to have always collected something. I still have my stamp collection, but got rid of my coin collection in the 70's. I collect antique California pottery now. I've got about 200 pieces.

It was a great throw, but it beat Loften by ten feet. He shouldn't have been running--whether he ignored a sign, or the sign was wrong, I couldn't tell.

3 walks, 2 wild pitches, another ball to the backstop, bases juiced with no outs, and we get one run. the dodgers are here to stay.

#3 Ray Durham (?????) made the last out for the Giants, so Bonds will lead off the fourth. Giants lead 6-2 now.

234

IMO Little gave Donnelly kinda a weird look after that play.

A nifty eight-pitch inning for Lowe.

Nomar has 11 walks in 22 games this year, compared to 12 walks in 62 games last year.

That's a positive trend I'd like to see continue.

Robles in the 7-hole, ahead of Martin?

There actually is the possibility that an outfielder can make a good throw. That's why you don't take that chance with none out.

Nice AB for Martin. How'd he lay off that last one?

234 - There should be a stat on runners thrown out at home.
Career leader: "Waving" Wendell Kim.

238 yeah, nice comparison for the first inning. Kim = 33 pitches. Lowe = 8.

I like that. Second inning looking like more of the same for Kim.

...and robles is now 6-for-13 against kim.

I love it when a pitcher knows how to bunt, Remember Nomo, He couldn't bunt at all.

Furry has the goofiest GameDay photo.

stop hitting it to todd helton

I can already tell this is going to be one of those games that infuriates me to no end.

Good thing I'm no longer married.

is anyone else watching on mlb.tv with the Colorado broadcast? they arent going to commercial and we can hear everything theyre chatting about

249
Women are turned off by guys with a penchant for burglary.

Watching the replay, I'm wrong about the ten feet. It was probably half that. Still, he was out by plenty. And now I'll let it go.

251

Every deviancy has its fan base.

Apparently Clint Hurdle is expecting a 3-2 nailbiter.

and there it is. im sorry but ill take repko in center over lofton anyday

Let's get a DP

Rox, if you want your No. 6 hitter bunting, go right ahead.

Well, that's not an error, at least.

i am following the game on yahoo. the picture they use for luis gonzalez shows him in a dodger hat. i am guessing they have the wrong guy - he was never in our organization, was he?

Oh, Lord. With DTV I have the Rockies announcers again. Well, maybe it will make me strong. I'd like to get to the point where I could watch with the sound on most of the time. I did that in the 2004 season.

Good play by Robles.

259

Don't the Dodgers have a Luis Gonzalez pitching at Las Vegas?

The Yahoo photo is definitely not the Colorado Luis Gonzalez.

Good on Lofton to beat that one out.

Is it a Kim. We have had trouble with both Kims. I just got here but it sounds like we should have got about 5 runs out of one inning.
At least these guys didn't try to say Lofton was out. He could have paused for a while and be safe.

255

and there it is. im sorry but ill take repko in center over lofton anyday

I'll take a bag of balls in center over lofton.
Seriously tho why aren't the prospects playing everyday.
I mean come on, ethier and aybar are way better than lofton and robles.
I'm getting so sick and tired of the prospects waisting away on the bench, let alone old man lofton playing over anybody.

Are the pitches to kent as far off the plate as they look on gameday?

the Rocks guy says" With Kim's high leg kick, it was foregone", when actually it looked like a good throw might have got him!

Five walks in 2-2/3 innings.

Cruz Jr. seems to swing at alot of first pitch, pitches. Or is it just me?

The Giants are up 11-2 on the Astros. I think Jamey Wright will get his win.

The Rangers have almost Odalised their 9-0 lead over the Yankees. It's 10-8 in the sixth.

Odalised is quickly becoming my favorite word.

269 - Cruz Jr. seems to swing at alot of first pitch, pitches. Or is it just me?

i think its just you because i havnt seen a swing out of cruz since he joined the team. its more like a pathetic flail.

the Astros aren't playing good.

Jon needs to tell us how to pronounce "Odalised". Short "i" or long "i"?

Would someone please tell me again how lucky we are to have such great players as Cruz and Ledee? I'd take any combination of Repko, Ethier or Choi and be grateful.

10-9 Rangers now in the sixth. And the Yankees have 2nd and 3rd with one out.

I pronounce it with a long "i". I also say San Pedro with a long "e". And usually eliminate the "San".

Robles has nothing to show for those ropes! Last year he went something like 5for5 in one game.

That could easily have been number four to the backstop. Ardoin made a good stab.

Oh Dallased.

277

so you say Robleees instead of Robles?

thats a hammy

looks like martin grabbed his hammy as he reached first

Martin almost beat out a routine grounder. He seems mighty complete for a youngun.

Speaking of the Astros, pitcher Springer was just tossed for hitting Barry Bonds on a 3-1 pitch. I guess because his first pitch almost hit him too the umpire'd seen enough. Didn't really look intentional to me... Then the Houston crowd gave Springer a standing O as he walked to the dugout - which seems a little classless.

"in play, run-scoring play"

And the Odalis has been achieved.

And the Rangers have been Odalised. A Miguel Cairo single puts the Yankees ahead 11-10.

281 No, just that anyone who has spent any time in San Pedro calls it Peedro.

285

I believe the Dodger Stadium gave Tim Hamulack a hearty round of applause for doing something similar.

it did look like a hammy, Let's hope he's o.k.

oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh Derek.

pujols: oh, dallas
hawpe: lowe

289 Classless as well, especially since it meant applauding for Hamulack.

and... argh - 3 pitches, now three runs for the Rockies. Nice. I wish it was hawpeless.

the wheels on the bus go round and----its gone

shouldn't it be odalisized? kind of like "italicized"?

Brad Hawpe is Barry Bonds as far as the Dodgers are concerned.

Boy, Lowe lost it quickly.

295 - you're overthinking.

And I was about to say I'm very pleased with our starting pitching!
Well, we'll have to go back to the ERA destroyers thing. Or let the youngsters lose.

295
He's too upset after discovering that Shawn Chacon won't get a loss tonight.

Ron Villone is in line to get a win for the Yankees and he threw just one pitch.

[298] yeah, it's a habit of mine.

That was until Scott Proctor walked a batter and gave up a home run to put the Yankees behind 12-11.

I wouldn't want to poke in on Bronx Banter now.

293

I saw the replays, I'm suprised they didn't tose him out on the 2nd pitch! It totally looked like he wanted to hit him.

303 I was courageous and did so. Latest comment:

"And Erickson is warming..."

They killed Kenny!

Uh oh, is Lofton hurt, or did the thin air get to him?

306
Those (fatherless children)!

308 Shouldn't that be "unacknowleged children?" Biologically there ain't no such thing as a fatherless child (unless that cult in San Diego has gotten further with cloning than has so far been publicized).

190
Everyone else let this go but Marty did you really see Seaver pitch lefthanded? I heard he was ambidextrous but I didn't know he could do it and be in Sandy's class.

I think some guy on this message board thinks i am Ron Perranoski. Wierd...

This sidewinder has our number.
But I'm curious, I've seen signs of both the late 2005 gang and the 2004 gang here.
The 2005 crew would usually role over if you got a few runs on them and avoid a long and difficult evening of comeback.
Once Kim's gone we'll see. But we must get rid of him soon.

Rael. That's the name of that bunch of loonies. Couldn't think of it.

So are the Dodgers just throwing in the towel here already or are a bunch of players suddenly hurt or sick?

311
I've always thought you were Ed Roebuck.

What's up with the Lofton and Kent replacement? Please give some details if you have them.

[305] i think erickson is already warmed over.

Joaquin Benoit of Texas in line for the prized "BS, W"

Tight hamstring and tight back for Lofton and Kent, respectively, listed as day to day.

We're all day to day.

lowe hasn't struck a single batter out in the past 14.2 innings

holly shhhnykie! that was close.

320

Vin Scully original.

We will come back

woo, walkin' willy with the base hit.

What does Wilber have to do to get some playing time? I guess hope that a lot of Dodger players get injured.

The old Blues are going down fast. Whoever wishes for the guys like Aybar And Ethier to get off the bench should do OK. I'm just as glad myself. But I don't think our win perc. is going to do anything good.
I just enjoy watching youg guys get to play.

and oscar robles is now 6 for 15. that must mean he's due for a hit next time, right?

Nomar is a great athlete.

The White Sox trailed at Tampa Bay 10-1 in the 8th.

It is now 10-7 Tampa Bay and the White Sox have two on and two out for Jim Thome against closer of the moment Tyler Walker.

326, he needs to not take sharply hit grounders off his dome, knee, or jock.

He took a bad beat in that first start, is now labeled as a deffensive liability, and will need about 18 innings of error free ball to win Grady back.

And Walker strikes out Thome to keep the D-Rays ahead 10-7 going to the bottom of the 8th.

[330] did maddon do it again? did he replace meadows in the middle of the at-bat??

333
No. Walker came in to face Thome fresh.

aw.

I have a feeling that Fookie is going to do something here

330

it seems like the whole league is having pitching woes.

336

not?

[336] i thought he was furry? i think maybe there are too many dodger thoughts player nicknames.

That's not what I was thinking of. Game over.

Grittle's gut feeling failed him today.

Can I get some kind of refund from Rich Donnelly for this game?

I don't get it, Kim was suppose to be bad today!!, He couldn't find the strike zone!! I just don't get it!.

There's no way we can come back without Kent and Lofton's Veteran Leadership™. Now I have to do some work.

Some teams can't hit a submariner. But at Colorado we should get some runs!

We're throwing in the towel. Hamulack is in.

Hamulak has the prototipical left handed walk.

Hamulack = Human White Flag

As an outspoken Aybar backer for some time, I am giving Little the benefit of the doubt on how Aybar is being used.

I can see why Saenz got the start yesterday -- it didn't work out so hot, but that was a decent matchup

There were also suggestions Aybar missed a sign. If Willy needed to be disciplined or at least brought up to speed behind the scenes, I'm fine with that, too.

Nor should anyone attribute defensive problems to the position. Willy's best spot is 3B. His actions at 2B are questionable. Third-base has been his primary spot. He's played more 3B than most 23-year-olds. If he can settle in, he should be pretty good there.

I just hope things can settle down. Aybar has the skills to become a solid 3B.

rad, we got something out of hamulack. but it doesn't look like we're able to hit joe table, either.

JA[D]FWA

Shaaaaaaaaane Victorino with a clutch ninth inning TRIPLE!

Now it's all up to David Bell and possibly Sal Fasano to drive him in :'(

old friend dave ross has a pinch hit homer in pittsburgh, his fourth. he has four homers in 35 at-bats, and is OPSing over .900. good for him.

352 Oh my. That will make the evening sportscast out here. "Maui boy Shane Victorino..."

Cruz is struggling, I think he's 1 for his last 12. My gut tells me he needs a day off tomorrow.

I think Little has forgotten he has the Bull in his bullpen.

why would he ride the bull when we're down by four?

356 - Nah. Grittle is going lefty-lefty.

Because the Bull hasnt been ridden in like 5 days.

Cruz has a .946 in May. It's all where you cut things off. The guy is just a hot and cold hitter, like so many.

I'd figure Lofton will sit tomorrow, and Ethier and Cruz will play.

He's clearly his up by three in the seventh inning pitcher.

I think Odalis is crazy enough to refuse to come in to the game for mop up duty.

We're not winning anyway. Might as well see what Hamulack is made of.

358 - Whoops. Only after I posted that comment did my molasses-slow work CPU update Gameday with the K-WP and ensuing single.
My job sux.

Not bad.

363

He almost gave up a dinger, thank god it was a foul ball.

As for Jon's item that "everyone's been thinking out loud" on Furcal moving to the OF. I didn't realize this was such prevalent conjecture.

I've been pretty consistent since the winter saying that Furcal's defense at SS didn't project as many were saying and that ultimately Furcal should go to CF late in his contract.

Let's be clear: I wasn't saying you do that this year. No reasonable person would make that suggestion. No way do you try something like that midstream.

But I stand by projections regarding his defense. I believe down the road CF would be his optimal position, with the huge caveat that he'd have to buy into it.

People who say he would lose value in CF may need to reconsider their valuations of him as a SS for 2007 and beyond. Defensively, he's simply not a good SS anymore. He's certainly capable of being OK and of making great plays. Shouldn't be a liability. But the odds are against him being a six-month, good defender at SS. I suspect those odds will worsen in coming years.

I said everyone's been thinking out loud about what happens when Izturis comes back, not that everyone's been thinking about moving Furcal to the outfield.

Robles was sure an improvement over Aybar tonight.

perfectly places for a triple.

Can't believe the worthless graphic they throw up next to relief pitchers. It does have innings and SO/BB but it doesn't have hits or saves. I've seen this several times now. What outfit is it --Fox Sports-or who?

Doh! Scott Doh!mann gives up a triple to our new star catcher.

Martin didn't give up.

Come on Tomato

Olmedo was sure an improvement over Aybar tonight.

Furry, fukie: it sucks in any language.

360 Yeah, Cruz is as streaky as they get and Coors is the place to turn it around. I was just messing around with the gut feeling quotes from Grittle recently.

Kim was pitching bad! I just don't get it!

378

See "Chacon, Shawn".

377

My gut feeling says I know you were.

Wait a minute; I know its early, but isn't Furcal hitting about .230. Thats not outfield territory.

Don't know if this came up, but apparently Russ Springer lived the dream tonight.

381 -- Las Vegas needs a centerfielder.

Thats true, aren't the vets there about 28 years old.

367- Last year was his best ever at SS. He's been bad over a month and a half this year. He's 28. Why are you predicting he'll move, again?

310 Oh my goodness. I'm an idiot. Of course he was right-handed. I did see him though :) He was so good he mesmorized me.

Come to think of it, Las Vegas needs a shortstop too.

Yankees win 14-13 on a 2-run, 2-out homer by Posada.

Now that I think about it, we don't want Fur-kel blocking Valdez's development.

388

were they playing at home? (the yanks) I don't like the yanks at all, I wish the other team woulda won.

O man; Listening to these Colorado guys rationalize everything cracks me up. They say "Penny has a bad back-well see how far he gets. Our guy, if it hadn't have been for that one bad call, he wouldn't have lost 12-1. I couldn't write this stuff for the funny papers!

So if Lofton is out for tomorrows game, Drew is going to be forced to play in a day game after a night game. Which also denies his obligatory back to back days off with no game on the schedule Thursday.

Per adventure, if Kent were to have back trouble in August-September, put Izturis at SS and Furcal at 2nd.

I hate to even go to this place, but comparing to last year, Drew and Garc go down soon after realizing they are on the spot. Lets hope its nothing like last year.

put Izturis at SS and Furcal at 2nd

AKA "Dueling Banjos"

395 D4P

lol

You guys think Izzy will be delt this year or next? I for one hope next year (for insurance porpeses) it's to bad he won't be playing for the blue, his D when halthy is spectaculer.

Speaking of baseball cards, did you guys see this.

http://tinyurl.com/lyh7o

395 -- Well played, sir. Well played.

396,399
Thankyou, thankyou very much. I'll be here all week (as usual...)

Dueling Banjos!?!?! Why, thats Gritts favorite tune!

I think it's Tracy's favorite tune.

398

OUCH!

Clips down by 6 at the half. Maggette and Cassell are killing the offense, they need to start driving to the basket instead of settling for jump shots, especially early in the shot clock.

why dose the # come out blue only at times? It looks alot better that way (with the blue [#])

398I'm usually the offender rather than the offendee...but that was offensive. I hate Bonds, but using a kid in such a dire situation for a cheap laugh...

406- It's the second time a link to that has been posted. I'm glad somebody else did the scolding this time.

Sorry guys, I didnt think anyone would find it offensive.

I apologize for posting something so distasteful.

I have a question, have any of you participated in the Q&A on MLB.COM? I've tride posting questions there but for "some mysterious reason" I could never log on to the live chat. It's not like I'm gonna ask mean spirited question or anything like that, I'm a fan that just what's to ask questions.

408

we live & learn.

Tomorrow is another day, evening game sounds mighty good to me.

Tomorrows game will be shown on ESPN as well, ofcourse I won't watch it on ESPN, Because they never give any love to westcoast sports.

The Padres reign in first was brief. All hail the new leaders: ARIZONA!

Dude we're tide for last place. not cool! it seems every time we're getting closer something happens.

There's only 2 1/2 games between first and last in the NL West and none of the teams has a losing record.

I can stomach the Dbacks in 1st a little bit more than the Padres.

415 - When did the 2005 NL East turn into the 2006 NL West??

The AL West is the worst division in baseball. The division is 72-82 overall and 42-54 against the other AL divisions.

(I wasnt a math major)

(or an ethics major, for that matter)

Are Sam Cassell and Steve Nash being paid on an hourly basis? I can't find any other reason to explain how stupid both of them were there.

Boneheaded plays all around. Worst 29 seconds to end regulation, ever.

415

That's true.

Quick question to the DT community for my baseball pool....Who do you think will have a better record for the remainder of the season: Toronto, Texas, or Atlanta?

Thanks.

Raja Bell is going to go on a list of mine.

424
Atlanta.

They just do that.

426

That's what I'm think also. They seem to find a way to win. Plus they play Florida and Washington so many times this season.

thinking

I'm also thinking of trading the Yankees for Boston. I just don't like the Yankees pitching at this year.

I could take the Dodgers over Atlants, but that just seems like bad karma.

Raja Bell needs his own list.

425 No doubt about it now.

The Clippers are now set up to tie the series in Game 6 and then go back to Phoenix, lose badly and have Plaschke accuse them of having no heart.

I think he's pulling out the Kobe Bryant column and using a "find and replace" with Elton Brand.

I know it must happen in the NBA all the time, but that was one heck of a forearm shove that Bell gave Ewing to get free at the end of the first overtime. This is one of the reasons I'm not a huge NBA fan -- there is just no way to play clean.

The Suns seem to be living by the miracle three in the playoffs, so I'd be amazed to see them get past the next round, if they finish off the Clippers.

420

are the clips still winning?

no :(

Dallas and Phoenix mesh really well together. SHould be some very entertaining basketball.

Since when did Jack Nicholson join the Clipper bandwagon? The Clippers are almost impossible to like with Billy crystal, Frankie Muniz, and Penny Marshall as their 'super fans'...Does anyone like any of those people?

Billy Crystal is a Yankee fan, so why dose he even like ANY L.A. team, It's an insult, to the L.A. sports community. JMO.

What a tough loss, I feel like I wasted my time. Just finished a huge Sociology paper. It's almost 4:30 AM right now. Dodgers lose, Clippers lose, and I have class in less than 6 hours :(

according to the times, Martin isnt going to vegas once Navarro is activated.

Yes!!!