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
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4) arguing for the sake of arguing
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7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
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Updated and corrected post (3:35 p.m.)
Despite what this article by The Associated Press says, Sunday is not the 30th anniversary of Tommy Lasorda's tirade against Paul Olden after being asked about Dave Kingman's three home runs that day. That game was played May 14, 1978.
I knew right away something was wrong with the article, but Bob Timmermann helped me figure out what it was. I found a three home-run game by Kingman against the Dodgers in 1976, but it was an 11-0 New York Met whitewashing. The Dodgers then lost a 14-inning game to the Mets only two weeks later on a Kingman homer, but the score was 1-0. (In that game, the Dodgers used three pitchers and the Mets two. The teams played the 14 innings in 2:52, thanks in part to the Dodgers going 3 for 43 with one walk.)
In the game that actually precipitated the rant, Kingman hit his third home run of the game off Rick Rhoden.
And now, we can pick up the AP narrative, ill-timed as it is.
Looking back on the incident, Lasorda showed remorse for allowing his temper get the better of him.
"I'm sorry that I did an interview like that, and I'm not proud of it,'' Lasorda said Saturday. "I've been married now 56 years, and I've never used a word of profanity in front of my wife, my children, or anybody else's wife or children. But on the ballfield, I'm bad. I'm really bad.
"So when that guy talked to me, I was as low and depressed and dejected as you can get. I mean, we lose the game in 15 innings, I had to go into my starting pitchers, and it knocked the daylights out of me. Then this guy comes in at the very moment I sat down and asked me `What is your opinion?' So I proceeded to tell him what my opinion was.''
(Saturday game chat continues in the thread below.)
http://www.johnspeedie.com/healy/healy.swf
The Kingman tape thing happened in 1978.
On May 14.
Something is fishy with the people at AP.
I do not believe Tommy was yet managing the Dodgers in June of 1976.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Lasorda
Why do I find this not at all compelling testimony?
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