interesting read. Furcal is more than likely just hitting a little rough patch here...

I'm probably the only person who thinks this (and I'll probably get slammed for this) but I think we need another bat. I'd go after a LF...we could really use a nice power source in the middle of the lineup. I'm not advocating trading the farm or anything, just think we could use a nice HR threat in our lineup.

As for pitching, we all know that's the main need...the question is: what pitchers? I can't think of any outside of guys like Livan Hernandez, Maddux etc that'll be available. Willis and Smoltz are long shots....is Maddux really our best option out there?

Not to hijack the thread, but I thought I'd share some photos from my trip last Thursday to Yankee Stadium for the clash between the Bronx Bombers and the Tribe. Here's the link to the photo album, with captions below:

http://tinyurl.com/gr89l

Photos 1-3: Architectural photos for Bob.
4: The street outside the stadium. The blue structure you see is the subway track.
5-9: Various pre-game views from different parts of the stadium.
10-14: Views from our seats.
15: The Bronx Bombers take the field.
16: "Old Friend" and former ROY Todd Hollandsworth crosses home after his 3-run HR off Mike Mussina gives the Tribe a 6-1 lead. In the not-so-old days, the blast would have garnered T-Hol "Game-winning RBI" honors.

I always thought Vin lived in Pasadena.

Glad to hear that Vin considers the area a nice place to live. Wish him better luck with the hiring of contractors. Perhaps he could get advice next time from his neighbors Sparky Anderson, Mike Scoscia and Wayne Gretzky. vr, Xei

3
All that stalking gone to waste, eh?

Vin has lived in the Valley for a while. I just missed being in the same school with one of his daughters (Chaminade Prep) by one year.

For the record, I hated that year of school more than any other year of my life.

5-

something you need to vent about, Bob?

6

You don't want to go down that road. I don't want don't go down that road. Not unless we've got a therapist and a team of police sharpshooters handy.

Not unless we've got a therapist and a team of police sharpshooters handy.

Don't know about the former, but I'm pretty sure the latter is a given since the passing of the Patriot Act.

I used to live in Thousand Oaks. I've had it explained to me many times that TO is not "in the Valley." Unless you mean the Conejo Valley.

7-

The way you wrote that reminded me of the Simpsons...when they'll say something normal then turn around and all of a sudden they're in shadow and talking about something serious....like when skinner talks about 'nam.

lineup is out. its pretty good except i would have put cruz in instead of lofton

Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Garciaparra, 1B
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Saenz, 3B
Kemp, LF
Martin, C
Billingsley, P

Even though Kemp hasnt hit lefties in the majors, this year at jacksonville, he was hitting 329/427/632 against lefties in 76ABs

Jim Tracy should really be managing the Giants. He's that despicable.

but I think we need another bat. I'd go after a LF...we could really use a nice power source in the middle of the lineup.

Grady just needs to maximize his assets at lf and 3b and play kemp everyday in cf.
Platoon saenz/aybar at 3b, which means get aybar back on the team, saenz hits lefties and aybar hits righties.
Platoon ethier/cruz in lf, ethier hits righties and cruz hits lefties.

This darn lofton stuff almost everyday is getting old. He's the one draining the power in the lineup.

Now don't get me wrong, i like grady, i think it has a lot to do with our former manager, grady definately is an upgrade.
And also, don't get me wrong, pitching is our problem not our offense.

But grady could help the team by maximizing his assets by putting the most power in the lineup.
Pretty much everyone is getting on base at a good pace, so sitting lofton and martinez in favor of more power will not hurt the overall obp.

11 - That notion that Kemp can't hit lefties in the majors is silly. He's had all of 12 at-bats against them.

What is there about Kemp that would suggest he would be a right-handed power hitter who can't hit lefties?

Aybar, for that matter, was over-derided for an inability to hit lefties. He had only 15 at-bats against them. He had one hit, but no strikeouts. Last year, he OPSed .732. I'm not saying Aybar can hit lefties like Saenz can, but it's a little early to call him a one-way hitter.

11
I'm tired of having the two worst hitters on the team getting the most PAs. Why does Grittle insist on putting Gaffy (and his paltry .330 OBP) in the leadoff spot?

15 -- you'll love tomorrow.

13 -

Lofton OPS vs. righties: .817
Ethier OPS vs. righties: .845

With Lofton's basestealing thrown in, I'd call it about even. I'd give Ethier a defensive edge, as well as hope that he would improve. But playing Lofton against righties is not a major issue.

But playing Lofton against righties is not a major issue.

It is when you're talking about power.
Ethier 4 hrs 99 at bats.
Lofton ZERO hrs 158 at bats.

Furcal wouldnt be so bad in the leadoff spot if he would walk like he did at the beginning of the year. He wasn't in the top 5 of runs scored in the NL because of of .250 batting average.

This darn lofton stuff almost everyday is getting old. He's the one draining the power in the lineup.

agreed, and while I don't dislike lofton per se, he is sapping power. But since there's a snowball's chance in hell of Grady actually not playing Lofton, I'd go after a legit LF. Although which one is a completely different question.

and while I don't dislike lofton per se

And i don't either.
I just think he should be used to steal a tying or winning run late in the game when the situation comes up.
He's a bench guy, nothing more.

15 For years, managers have either put speedy outfielders or middle infielders in the lead-off spot, in the 70's it was guys like Omar Moreno, in the 80's, Steve Sax or Vince Coleman. Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds were exceptions.

Interestingly, one of the most atypical leadoff guys was Brian Downing, who after he became an outfielder, scored 90 runs, drove in 70 or so, had a lifetime OBP of .370, could not steal a base if it was right in front of him but he scored runs.

Pete Rose was not the classic leadoff guy either.

18 - I'm not going to talk about power defined only as home runs, nor am I going to talk about it in the absence of other skills.

Lofton vs. righties: 158 AB, 12 BB, 0 HBP, 41 singles, four 2B, seven 3B, 0 HR, 12 SB-CS, 94 bases, 170 PA, .553 bases/PA

Ethier vs. righties: 99 AB, nine BB, 2 HBP, 19 singles, five 2B, one 3B, four HR, (-1) SB-CS, 58 bases, 110 PA, .527 bases/PA

Lofton is superior offensively, possibly inferior defensively. Again, not a major issue.

I guess we argue about the lineup because there are identified options, the pitching is just beyond the grasp of comprehension.

This might help explain Lofton in the line-up instead of Cruz:

Washburn vs. LH batters this year - .316 BAA
vs. RH batters this year - .245 BAA

While this might seem like it would be a bad idea to have Saenz in the line-up, he's got a 1.184 OPS against Washburn in 29 career plate appearances.

Hmmm, I should've given a small sample size warning for the BAA stat, there have only been 13 2/3 IP against LH batters for Washburn this year. In the past he has generally been tough on lefties (.243 BAA versus .253 BAA against righties).

5 - My mother is the office manager at the school one of Vin's granddaughters attends.

Can anyone say, "Grandparents Day?!"

Schools have "Grandparents Day"?

28 - It's another avenue for fundraising - I mean, connecting with the family.

Tonights Dodgers Sim Game:
Seattle: 7
Dodgers: 6
It was a tough loss. The Dodgers batted around in the first inning taking a 4-1 lead after one. The Dodgers lead 4-3 after 5 innings. Billingsley was knocked out in the 5th. The Dodgers scored two more in the bottom of the 7th on Nomar's two run HR to take a 6-3 lead which remained the score heading to the 9th. Saito came in to close out the game and quickly gave up a run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Baez was brought in to bail Saito out only to have Jeremy Reed hit a surprising 3-run HR to give Seattle a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. Furcal lead off with a single in the 9th and Lofton bunted him over to 2nd only to have Nomar and Drew make outs to sadly end the game.
Go Dodgers! Hope the sim is wrong again!!
vr, Xei

29
What if your grandparents weren't wealthy?

I mean I really enjoyed the $400 check I got from my grandmother's estate.

5 i hope it doesn't bring back too many painful memories, but i'm a chaminade alum of '00 myself. sorry you had a bad go of it there, but i really loved it. :)

31
Along those lines, my mother-in-law's mother took out a $1,000 life insurance policy some 30-40 years ago. Sadly, she passed away within this past year. This past week, my mother-in-law received the payout for the policy. The value? $1,013.

32
I only went to Chaminade for one, long, painful year in 9th grade, which was on the Chatsworth side.

Much different administration then. Probably no clerical types drowning stray cats in a barrel in 2000.

33
When my grandmother passed away in 2000, the Federal government got to save some money by not paying out her $13/month Spanish-American War veteran widow's benefit.

34 Gadzooks! None that I remembered. The worst thing I can remember is the over-domesticated squirrels having free reign over the place.

Apparently they have a good baseball team, now, too.

Tampa Bay has signed Jason Romano to a minor league contract!

Break out the champagne!

Jose Cruz is dead to me. With all the upside kids behind him and his lack of hitting, I think it might be time to wash our hands of him. Switch hitter or not, depth is just not a good enough reason for him anymore. If I'm way off base here let me know.

36
I suppose the rampant anti-Semitism is gone too.

And the unique Catholic school style of justice of meting out physical punishment on everybody in a clas to find out if one person wrote graffiti on a bathroom wall.

38
The Puerto Rican God of Walks? (apologies to Uncle Miltie) say it isn't so.

39
wow, things really have changed. especially since 1) they're now in west hills, and 2) the student body is nearly 50% jewish.

36
Speaking of squirrels, one of the highlights of my recent trip to New York involved my encounters with black (yes, black) squirrels at the Westchester Community College parking lot (the site of the park and ride for the US Open golf tournament). We arrived at the lot around 7 in the morning, and I saw a little critter running around. It looked like a squirrel, except that it was black. Squirrels aren't black, I thought to myself. But if it wasn't a squirrel, what the heck was it? Well, I pondered the mystery until the afternoon, when (back at the lot) I once again espied the dark, mysterious rodent. So help me God: it looked like a black squirrel. I Googled "black squirrel" later that evening, and found this:

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/blackskwerls/

38 I'll join the ladderkite Marching & Chowder Society.

I drove Grandma Sue to the museum this morning. I asked her about her father, who grew up in Minsk. When he came to the U.S., he was the guy who the other Minsk immigrants came to for check cashing. Unfortunately, he was not good at distinguishing good checks from bad.

I haven't quite come to terms with the fact that I'm descended from Minskians. But I do like cold weather.

At a different time, my great-grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition. His usual method was to dress his three Jewish daughters into church-going clothes on Sunday and have them in the backseat while the liquor was in the trunk. The police didn't suspect a thing.

Was Lofton this bad defensively in his Gold Glove days? How did he ever win those Gold Gloves. I know he had bad arm but he used to make highlight catches in his earlier years. Does age make one worse in his ability to judge flyballs? Lofton still has good speed but somehow he either lost it or never had good ability to take good routes to flyballs or line drives.

Squirrels are my dog's mortal enemies. Followed by skunks, then cats.

41
In my day (1979), Grades 7-9 were in Chatsworth and 10-12 were at West Hills.

I think there were just 3-4 Jewish students when I was there. Man, did they take some abuse. I hadn't been in a school since kindergarten where all the students weren't Catholic. It was somewhat shocking.

The school had some major changes in its administration after I left. The mass cat drowning episode sort of turned things around.

There are two people from Minsk in my department.

These are the most mentions of Minsk I've heard since I saw the musical version of "Rachelle, Rachelle"

49
Bette Midler is fantastic in that.

according to wikkipedia, Minsk has a sister city in america....Detroit.

I have a friend in Minsk,
Who has a friend in Pinsk,
Whose friend in Omsk
Has friend in Tomsk
With friend in Akmolinsk.
His friend in Alexandrovsk
Has friend in Petropavlovsk,
Whose friend somehow
Is solving now
The problem in Dnepropetrovsk.

-- Tom Lehrer

http://www.chaminade.org/alm_news/HallOfFame/Nominations.htm

I have met five members or nominees of the Chaminade Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame.

44 One of my great-grandfathers was active during prohibition working (apparently) unwillingly for some mafia guys. When he decided to refuse working for them, they poisoned him with mushrooms (a favorite dish back in southern Italy). Or so the story goes.

49 - That musical is part of my struggle with my ancestry.

54 - They still haven't found my paternal grandfather's uncle.

53 - Oops, make it six. Mark Dulsky, Curtis Dunn, Jeff Gehl, Daiva Tomkus, Amy Cook, Rich Lawson.

Izturis (Maicer edition) with a bases-clearing double for the Angels today (against the Giants).

53
Impressive! I didn't even know there was an Eagles HOF. The most interesting sports tidbit I know about the place is that Mark Gubicza (of the Royals/Angels/FSW) coaches the baseball team.

53
In my one year at Chaminade, the football team played its games on Saturday afternoons at the Chatsworth campus with about 200 bench seats available. They lost the league championship to Pater Noster High, which does not exist now (bonus points if you know what is on that site now).

Chaminade played in a really low level of football then back in the day when the CIF had "conferences."

As a prep sports stringer, I have found the Chaminade people to be much nicer than they were in the past.

I once covered a high school basketball tournament there and saw an undisciplined, but extraordinarily talented guard for Crossroads play there as a freshman.

That little boy grew up to be....

Baron Davis.

And that's the rest of the story.

Page two ....

38 Every team needs a fifth outfielder. It's not like he's getting a ton of playing time.

Pater Noster High, which does not exist now (bonus points if you know what is on that site now)

I suppose "Wal-Mart" is always a good guess in these situations...

Why do the Dbacks get to play the Drays in interleague play while the rest of us are playing the AL West?

Of course I complained about skipping the Drays in 2004 when we played the east, but then Tampa dern near swept their games against our division foes.

63
The Dodgers are playing the Twins. The Rockies played the Jays.
Things are a little off because Texas plays Houston six times.

I would also think that Arizona playing Tampa Bay would only be a benefit to the DBacks if they, you know, won the games.

64 Why don't they just send the Backs (or somebody) to the American League already. I know. Send the Brewers back.

The fact that NL Central teams have to beat 5 other clubs for a playoff spot, while AL West teams only have to beat 3 is one of the many things about baseball's current structure that is just patently unfair. Granted, the extra team in the NL Central is the Pirates, but still.

The way interleague play worked out this year, the Dodgers also got an extra series, at home no less, with the Bucs.

67 Ordinarily, I'd say that works in our favor, but given last night's Beltre experience, and Lima time last year, I'm not so sure.

When we play the Pirates at Dodger Stadium, Jim Tracy will put out his best possible lineup, with his worst hitter each day batting eighth. Scrappy guys sit. Bad news for us.

Bob, is there something you want to tell us all concerning the Mets game?

Nate, take a look at comments 57, 80, and then 84 over at Bronx Banter!

66 - A six-team AL East:

NY Yankees
NY Mets
Red Sox
Orioles
Blue Jays
Nationals

would solve sooooo many of MLB's problems...

Their love for Sal Fasano does not run as deep as mine!

The White Sox have 29 runs in 10 innings vs. St. Louis.

70 How so?

The one year I lived in Palo Alto (shudder), we had black squirrels in the backyard, chasing each other around all the livelong day. I was pretty sure it was divine retribution for my presence on unholy ground. In penance, I sang CAL songs on my bike ride into the office each day, pausing only to loogify the big stone "S" sign I'd pass on my way up Galvez. My wife stopped me from painting the thing blue and gold during Big Game Week, arguing that it wouldn't be smart, even if it were the right thing to do.

60 Wouldn't be the Ribet Academy, would it?

How is the Wily Aybar fan club holding up? Any one of them jump off the Vincent Thomas Bridge?

74 was a (belated) response to 42.

73 - Put all of the high rollers into one division and make sure they beat each other into submission. Works in the NHL's Western Conference...

71 - I'm almost hesitant to link them to his myspace Nate. Almost.

72 - Still can't understand why so many people think that will be the WS matchup this year. Even the Dodgers have a better potential playoff rotation than the Cards!

78 Hey, it happens, the people who think the White Sox and Cards' will face-off in the WS are probably the same ones that think Wily Aybar can maintain a .800 OPS over a 162 game season....

75

We have a winner! You can see it off the 2 Freeway over on the east side of the freeway near the Fletcher Dr offramp.

Jose Valentin is still better than Adrian Beltre.

Sal Fasano has a myspace!!?!?! Link man, prove the link!

Is Aybar suddenly related to that coyote who spent all of his money on ACME products?

81 Beltre will no doubt hit a grand slam and save a few runs with his defense tonight though.

The White Sox have outscored the Cardinals 32-9 in their last 13 innings.

Jason Marquis has given up 12 runs in 4 innings.

Aybar invested in portable holes. Matt Kemp invented them though.

www.myspace.com/salfasano13 of course!!

Of course as soon as I posted that over there he was pinch hit for by...Shane Victorino!

Why flame Aybar?

I like guys that OPS .851 in their first 200 MLB ABs.

Has nothing to do with being apart of a fan club. Just has everything to do with enjoying productive players.

84

Probably, but he'll still have far worse numbers than Valentin for the season.

Far worse.

Das, is this really him?? If so, this is amazing!

Okay i doubt its him. Im still going to request his friendship.

88 Not a diss to Aybar, just a nudge in the ribs to all the guys who thought that clip could be maintained. Aybar is not a .800 OPS player...

i found this too.

http://www.myspace.com/salspals

definately going to join.

Hey Icaros, I'm going to see Chinatown tonight at an old downtown movie palace, the Orpheum on Broadway.

Over at BP, Joe Sheehan looks at the NL West so far. His conclusion is that most teams have played pretty much to their ability so far. Here's an excerpt, with actual and adjusted (for runs scored/allowed and quality of opposition) respectively:

Actual ------- ........ Adjusted ------

SD 37-33 --- ........ LA 38-32 ---
LA 36-34 1.0 ........ SD 36-34 2.0
AZ 36-35 1.5 ........ Co 36-35 2.5
Co 36-35 1.5 ........ SF 35-36 3.5
SF 36-35 1.5 ........ AZ 34-37 4.5

(Hard to make columns line up on Toaster. All the dashes and dots are an effort to increase readability.)

He thinks that the Dodgers are probably the best team, but have also played the easiest schedule so far, by far.

Aybar is not a .800 OPS player...

Neither is Bill Mueller.

94

I miss having fun things to do.

Aybar is not a .800 OPS player...

His stats say he is.
Thats all that matters.

60- I'm a huge Baron Davis fan back to his days at UCLA. I know he's had a solid NBA player, but I thought he'd be a great one. I was pretty upset when he was taken one spot ahead of the Clippers pick, and they were forced to take Lamar Odom. At the time, the Clippers were almost certain that Baron was going to fall to them and he was very excited about the prospect of playing in his home town. A few years later (before the 2002-03 season), the Clippers were looking for a point guard. They briefly explored the possibility of acquiring Baron Davis, but really wanted another guy from LA, Andre Miller. The Clippers ended up trading Darius Miles for Andre Miller. A few days later, Baron Davis signed a contract extension with the Hornets. From what I heard, he desperately wanted to go to the Clippers (an extreme rarity). He was pretty disappointed when the Clippers traded for Miller, but decided that signing an extension was the next best thing. What could have been....

Interesting that Aybar is doing ok at 3B according to the The Fielding Bible. I'm not surprised about JD Drew either. He really gets outstanding reads on flyballs. That is the guy Kemp should be working with on his defense, not K Loft. Rate2 is a decent fielding statistic (a lot better than fielding %), but it has its flaws. You know something's wrong when it has Kent rated as the best defensive 2B in baseball. The Fielding Bible has Carl Crawford rated as the best defensive LF in baseball and it's not even close.

When did I bring Bill Mueller into the discussion...

Let us see what his stats say after 600 ABs, 1000 ABs, 5000 ABs (if he ever gets there)...

Reyes just cycled

Hitting for the cycle is now officially meaningless.

87

Sal Fasano on myspace. That's hilarious. I foresee hours of wasted time in my future, trying to find marginal big leaguers (and favorite minor leaguers) on there.

That alone justifies the existence of my myspace account. Not to mention the opportunity to put the pictures of me wearing my dodger wig. :)

...and I'm not talking about steroids or the Tour de France.

100-

I don't see why people throw Aybar under the bus when he has a slump. Every player has slumps. Aybar just happens to be a young player, who doesn't get the leash a veteran does.

Also, Kenny Lofotn is not our problem. Rafael Furcal and Ramon Martinez and pitchers not named Penny/Lowe.

When did I bring Bill Mueller into the discussion...

You didn't. I did.

105-

Add are to the end of that.

105
As long as R-Mart 2.0 (russell martin is R-Mart 1.0) is OPSing .834, I have no problem with him playing. When he stops playing over his head, I expect Grittle to bench him. For who? Even I don't know the answer to that.

I get to see LA in HDTV for the first time since Opening Day.

106 So what does Bill Mueller have to do with the future projection of Wily Aybar?

You want to bring up Ron Cey or Jeff Hamilton up next.

Geez, a little jab in the ribs and everyone gets butt heart. That Wily Aybar must be a real loveable guy....

93- I don't have myspace, but I was looking around that page. They have a nice article on Fasano. I can see why you like him. He's a grinder, a dirt player. A fat David Eckstein. I'm on the Sal Fasano bandwagon too....

There was only one problem. As Randa, Damon and Sweeney dazzled the Royals with myriad skills, the organization branded Fasano an excellent minor league player who would never amount to much. Fasano gained the reputation as a full-moon carouser, and it was well-deserved. Every night after games, Fasano would drink a case of beer and a fifth of Southern Comfort. Every night.

"There aren't many places to go in minor league towns," says Fasano. "So I'd be sitting around a bar, talking to people, and all of a sudden I'd look up and see it was 2 o'clock and I'd downed 30 beers."

I'm guessing you are/were a big Rod Beck fan too.

108 Please, you cannot compare Martin's upside and abilities to that of Wily Aybar. Aybar was as hot as he will probably EVER be, lucky for him it was during his first two hundred and some-odd plate appearances.

110

I hope I don't have butt heart. That sounds terrible.

112

I think you are very confused about what I was saying. I said R-Mart 2.0 (aka Ramon Martinez) is playing over his head and I don't mind him playing instead of Aybar until he comes back to earth.

I only mentioned R-Mart 1.0 (Russell Martin) to delineate him from R-Mart 2.0.

Our Aybar has OPSed over .800 in two years. So his numbers indicate that he is actually a "OVER .800 OPS Player"

Wagner blows the lead in New York after having two outs and no one on.

115 LOL! Aybar had OPSed over .800 in two years? How many at-bats does that intail?

And Wagner gives up the lead in Shea after having two out, nobody on. I swear, it is simply not possible for the early game to end before the Dodger game starts in an ESPN doubleheader. Ever.

Hey Bob, what happened to the cycle alert. We didn't get any here. FOR SHAME!

Hey, I updated the Griddle list within seconds after Reyes's single.

I can only serve one master at a time. And I didn't know Reyes was going for the cycle until he got up.

118
wait, is the game on kcal or espn? or both?

Old friend David Ross had a key infield hit in that rally in New York. Thanks mainly to David Wright's overeagerness.

Matt Kemp, the 2006 Jeff Francouer (or however the heck you spell his last name?)?

Actually Kemp seems to walk a tidbit more than the Atlanta youngster.

123

Your skepticism of all things Dodger Farm system is not refreshing :)

Intersting ESPN says Dodgers vs. Mariners but is showing Cin vs. Mets.
But DTV has the D's game on so OK.

Jose Reyes walks more than Jeff Francouer.

Damn, The Griddle just hit for the cycle on the sidebar. I've never seen that.

Especially cool since the fourth post is about the history of hitting for the cycle.

I swear, it is simply not possible for the early game to end before the Dodger game starts in an ESPN doubleheader. Ever.

Exactly, i live out of california so i only get to watch the dodgers when they are on espn or when they play atlanta or the cubs because those 2 teams have their own channels on cable.
But anyways every time the dodgers are on espn the first game never ends on time.
They should schedule the doubleheaders where there is a 1 hour break in between, in case of extra innings or just a long game.

125
i know, i'm confused. i told steevo the tivo to record the kcal feed so as to not miss chadwick tonight. i hope it's not blacked out.. :/

124 Wouldn't that be a compliment? Francouer tore it up in his debut last year.

I am skeptical off all farm systems..

It just kind of scary that the Dodgers seem to have their future vested on a large number of prospects..

LaRoche is down, for a while...

Joel Guzman looks average...

Billngsley, is a nice player, but I do not see the #1 stuff people are ranting and raving about...

Matt Kemp has a hell of an upside, but if he is here to stay, we got to be patient.

Russel Martin, my favorite out of all of them...

Andre Ethier, a good #4 outfielder for the future.

I just hope this is not a ploy by Dodgers brass and P.R. department to keep the payroll down with cheaply priced rookies.

Bottom line, we are not winning ANYTHING with 90% of our hopes riding on a group of rookies for the next 2 to 3 years. This is 2006, not 1976. Cey-Garvey-Lopes-Russell, is dead and ain't happening again.

Hell, what did Mondesi, Karros, and Piazza produce for use?

I am skeptical off all farm systems.

I guess mlb players just drop out of the sky or something.

130 Sure it would be a compliment! Francouer is a nice player, I just do not expect him to learn the plate discipline necessary to really excel with his free swinging tendencies...

Ahhh, I finally get to watch Billingsley pitch. That curve is pretty dang wicked, needs to locate his fastball a little better though.

Kid Cuba why not wait for the players to start to stink, rather than rip them now?

Aybar's a career .851 OPS player.

Its one thing to rip a guy having a career season (like Ramon Martinez, he has a career of failure that makes it seem like this year is out of whack).

However, the rooks have no history of failing, so its useless to label them failures until they've had some evidence that would show them to be failing.

Saying Aybar isnt an .800 OPS player (when he is), is about as asinine as people complaining that Kemp doesnt hit enough singles.

132 No they do not, but winning franchises to put their hopes on 5 to 6 prospects... We need to get good free agents and mix them in with these youngsters, if we want to be champions.

Lofton, Mueller, and the gang are not the type of free agents we need.

For example, there is no #1 starter out there right now, but one comes available via free agency, the Dodgers need to pursue him. A true #1, Penny, Lowe, Bills, and somone else is a NICE pitching staff..

We need one more bat.... The Kent contract extension still makes me sick, we could have used that money for a legit bat, not some slightly above average stick..

I am pissed I guess, I look at New York and their teams and look at the patched up bucket we put on the field...

Why don't we have players like Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, etc... mixed in with our youth? If we did, we would be kicking ass...

131 That's the thing though, we're not the Devil Rays. We're spending $100 million dollars in payroll, so the rookies only have to be complementary players in the future. If only a few of the top prospects become regulars, that still provides a lot of salary relief to sign superstars to build around.

136

New York has a 200 million dollar payroll.

135 I am sorry, Wily has done nothing as a professional player to sell me on the fact he can be a .800 plus player over a year long MLB season. He is a nice utility guy, I think we should keep him...

I guess I am a bitter Dodger fan these days...

wow... Olmedo. are you kidding me?

Wow, I didn't know Saenz had that in him.

138 Hey if it takes 150 or 200 million so be it, I am sick of thinking back to 1988. We fill up the stadium, pay over priced parking fees, etc... Do we not deserved a star-studded team?

KidCuba, did Billy Ashley touch you in naughty places when you were a kid or something? ;)

Hang in east coasters-I know it sucks. Getting worse actually: ESPN used to have several alternative feeds you could watch so you could often choose between three games.DTV carried them all. I haven't seen that yet this year.

Oh no. Bills looks wild.

143 Hell, I forgot about Billy Ashley!!!! Ashley, Karim Garcia, those guys were supposed to be the goods!

Shaky first inning. Chad doesnt seem to have his best fastball today.

145 The guy walks a lot of batters, but has good stuff. I hope he can grow into a #1, we need it...

Shaky 1st for Billz.
2BBs
Rocket that Saenz snared.
Then Sexson just missed a 3run HR.

can we give saenz a +2 for that play alone?

147

Following on gamecast here. what does chad's fastball top out at?

my english professors are rolling in their graves...

21 pitches...

Billingsley doesnt really throw hard, but looks like he does have a good curve ball. First time seeing him, he doesnt "look" impressive.

Furcal, he is another one who gets me hot, what a waster of money.....

Fix that gap in your teeth Furcal, and fix Navarro's snaggle tooth for him while you are at it..

Billingsley doesnt really throw hard

In the san diego game, he was consistently 93-96. he doesnt have his best fb today yet.

Bills is a good young pitcher, I just do not see the #1 stuff people go on and on about....Especially with all the walks...

Sexson hit the ball far, but Lofton wasn't even on the warning track when he caught it.

I question the pitch selection by Billingsley and Martin in the 1st inning. Especially that inside fastball on a 1-2 count to Lopez. Why not throw an outside curveball? He needs to mix in some other pitches because a 90 mph 4 seamer is not going to get it done. He does seem to build velocity later in the game. I wonder why he can't come out of the gate throwing 92-95.

Can this place be anymore negative?

151 The top I've seen is 93 on the ESPN gun, but most of his fastballs have been 89-90.

How come Furcal leads off. That seems strange given his offensive profile.

You want to see young #1 stuff, go check out that filthy dog Francisco Liriano.

160 Hey the more pessimistic we get, the more I appreciate wins. Hell 2004, was a great season, very enjoyable...

162 He is a speedy guy, I guess... I wonder how much managers study baseball. Furcal is NO lead-off hitter...

160
no kidding, nate. on a positive note, i am pumped about getting a fernando bobblehead friday!

thanks Johnson for the FB update.

162
How come Furcal plays SS? That seems strange given his defensive profile...

Bills has really been improving his control.
But having to come up now I think I've heard more than once that he will walk as many as he strikes out.

160, meet 111!

167 True at present.

Can this place be anymore negative?

Or any worse spelled?

168 He is no Daniel Cabrera.... I think his control should improve in time, I just cannot understand why batters get soo many foul balls off of him..

My Cubano brother Betancourt...

112 and 117 seem contradictory, and this invalidates the argument, unless I can be convinced otherwise.

Why don't we just sit back and watch the games and see what happens sometimes instead of assuming that every single thing is going wrong.

The list:
1) Kemp swings too quickly
2) Billingsley is too wild
3) Willie Aybar is not good
4) Rafael Furcal is a character out of "The Omen"
5) Kenny Lofton killed someone's dog

uhhh what channel is the game on...espn is showing espn news right now

Lets go Chad. Get the nervous jitters out of you and pitch like you can.

175 What fun would that be? Atleast I am not some fat out of shape mid-20's cholo at Dodger stadium yelling graphic content our of my yap, while a 7 year old girl eats her Dodger dog, a row in from of him..

This is just uninteligible (we need a spell check in here) discussion..

40 pitches, does he make it past the 5th?

What's most difficult right now is watching the D's offense. They're making pitchers I never heard of look like Babe Ruth. If we had someone who could break out and lead us.

Outstanding play by Furcal to save Billingsley. A crappy shortstop like Jeter would have had to have dived.

Billingsley has been extremely shaky

Furcal must be the nanny.

found it....

Also, one final comment, can someone over there tell Vin Scully when he makes a mistake. I know he might as well be Jesus-Allah-and Buddah wrapped all into one, but if I was 14 years old today, I would have no idea what a great broadcaster Vinny is, because he makes mistakes, like calling Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez for several innings...Come on, whisper it into his headset from the production booth for christ sake!

Billingsley is all over the place tonight.
Another reason why i think we will go nowhere in the playoffs because we have penny and lowe and nothing else for starting pitching.
Now don't get me wrong, billingsley will grow into a good pitcher.
Also don't get me wrong, i'm not advocating trading the future away for a starting pitcher or more.
I think the end result will be the same whether or not we acquire 1 starting pitcher, and that is if we win the division we will go nowhere in the playoffs, we need more than just 1 starting pitcher to win a championship this year.
Just my opinion.

I'd rather save our prospects and become a consistant playoff team then trade our prospects for a chance at 1 championship this year and then fall off the map.

175

Did you spell Aybar's first name the wrong way on purpose just to go along with today's crowd?

You should be above peer pressure by now, Bob.

What fun would that be?

Probably not a lot of fun. But it will sure be a lot less annoying.

Did Washburn not get the memo? I didn't see one breaking ball in that at bat with Kemp.

184 We need more than a #1 ace, we need a real offensive threat. J.D. Drew is nice, but he is not the type of bat that will take us to the promised land... No, Carl Crawford is not that bat either, but Miguel Cabrera on the other hand!..

Kemp must have been reading the comments about his plate approach |)

See for me, you have two sporting experiences going on now:

1) You have the World Cup where you live and die on seemingly each play and hope that your team doesn't screw up because if it does, that could be it and there's no tomorrow

2) Baseball unfolds over a long period time and I like the ups and downs. It's good. It's bad. There's usually a tomorrow.

The two events exist as counterpoints to each other. It's a nice rhythm for me.

Golden Boy!

The only way any other team is getting Miguel Cabrera on their team this year involves kindapping or extortion.

Golden Boy is hitting .343 w/ RISP going into today. It's starting to get to the point where I'm expecting a clutch hit.

192We are talking about the Marlins, any thin g is available for the right package of prospects. Using Florida's methodology, Miguel is probably already over-valued. We should try to snatch him up, before Cabrera is signed to a 20 year deal by Omar Minaya...

I hope the woman animated in the Charles Schwab commercial sees his 401(K) disappear.

I find that ad to transcend stupidity.

189- not really. I think anyone would have walked there

Martin is a real grinder. Is he not the heart and soul of this team (pending Kent's approval)

It bothers me so much that I can't get my pronouns and adjectives to agree in gender!

195
I resent those commercials for stealing a cool effect from "Waking Life" and the upcoming "A Scanner Darkly."

Is Ichiro the first baseball player since The Babe to be referred to solely by his first name?

That's quite an honor.

199
Well, the lineup on the Inside the Dodgers blog always lists Garciaparra as "Nomar."

199

I don't think you can compare Ichiro's name to the nickname "The Babe."

Newspapers called Babe Ruth "Ruth" most of the time when he played.

Ichiro pretty much demanded that he be called Ichiro when he was in Japan. And the fact that he was endorsing a car company that was not called Suzuki was one factor.

200

It's listed as Garciaparra for today's game.

Come on Bills, get out of this inning with under a total of 60 pitches I do not feel like seeing Kuo or Broxton tonight...

Padres take a 3-2 lead in the 9th in Texas on an Otsuka wild pitch.

I love how Beltre only plays when he has motivation to play.

Mench, Wilkerson, and Kinsler due up in the 9th for Texas.

BT:

Interesting. What car company was he promoting?

205 stop being negative.....

Kinsler due up? That is a nice young second baseman... Well, maybe because I want to draft him in my Diamond Mind league...

oyy... chad is not impressing tonight, and he's running out of pitches (i assume he's on a pitch count) to turn it around.

207
I don't remember so I left it out deliberately.

Suzuki is one of the most common surnames in Japan as well.

I love how Beltre only plays when he has motivation to play.

No kidding. 2004 was all about money.

And bone spurs.

And steroids/HGH.

Actually it's Wilkerson, Kinsler, and Laird.

Does someone care to guess why he gets soo many pitches fouled off?

Lew Ford will go by Lew when Ford Motors refuses to pay him advertising money.

Where did that miss?

214

Well right now, his fb velocity isn't swing and miss velocity. That could be one reason.

There is definately a correlation between Beltre in a position to lose playtime or money and his performance, but there's too many other factors to consider to say that it's the exact cause.

Kent is a freaking idiot. He didn't pay any attention to Beltre. Great veteran leadership right there.

214

Ask Brad Penny. What do we know?

I also think Chad is tipping his pitchings. I can tell if he is going to through a curveball or a fastball by where his release point is and how much his back arches.

Question (for Bob): What is the latest date in the season that all teams in a division had the same record? I ask because the NL West is pretty close to a 5-way tie.

220 I thought you might be able to answer that, since you feel you can accurately forecast Aybar's future...

The complete lists of products that Ichiro does not endorse in Japan:

1) Septic systems
2) Feminine hygiene products
3) Murder for hire syndicates

219

That was Martin's fault, not Kent's.

62 pitches for Chad....

221
good eye nate. maybe we can get you to start at 3B ;)

222

I've looked around and I don't think there's ever been more than 3 teams tied with the same record this late.

In the early 1970s, the AL East had all six teams within a game or two of each other around this time.

Re: 225

I think the Seattle broadcasters said that Beltre went when Martin made the throw. Even if Kent had thrown back to home plate, I doubt he would have gotten the out at home plate.

WWSH

223

And I thought you would eventually spell "Willy" correctly.

We were both wrong.

Why not have Nomar leadoff? Because he's not a basestealing threat? Is it bad policy to give your best hitter the most possible ABs? Not being facetious.. just wondering as a relative baseball novice.

Some futures are easy to tell

229- I don't think so. Kent didn't even glance at Beltre. It's like he was oblivious to the fact that Beltre was coming home.

That looked like a foul ball to me…..

231 Because that's how they've always done it.

That was a homerun?

235
It did hit the pole. Just barely.

That ball was fair by a matter of inches.

Re: 231

Because you want your best hitter to be able to bat with men on base.

WWSH

231 That would actually make sense...

234
okay, just checking. that offends my common sense, but what do i know?

i couldn't tell on the replay that it hit the pole.

237 What does it matter if there are no men on in front of him?

237
I get that, but who on our team regularly gets on base? Not lofton or furcal. Maybe martin? but who would leadoff with their catcher? (See: jason kendall) ;)

233

In the dugout, Little was talking to Martin about the play and Martin looked like he was admitting his error.

Martin is the guy with the whole play in front of him.

You can't make EVERYTHING Jeff Kent's fault.

I personally know that he wasn't responsible for leaking A-bomb secrets to the Soviets.

239 Whenever baseball teams do something that doesn't make sense, that's almost always the answer.

I would try Nomar first, Kent third...

240

If the ball Johjima hit hadn't hit the pole, there is no doubt that Kemp would have come runnning in screaming about it.

242 Lofton has a .365 on base percentage.

You can't make EVERYTHING Jeff Kent's fault.

I beg to differ.

"Please, please, let me differ"

242 Lofton has a .365 on base percentage.

This would be my lineup:
1. Martin C
2. Nomar 1B or Drew RF
3. Nomar 1B or Drew RF
4. Kent 2B
5. Kemp CF
6. Furcal SS
7. Ethier/Cruz LF (if Cruz plays bat him ahead of Furcal)
8. Izturis 3B (we need to play him to boost his trade value)

247 You forgot one thing though...he is the devil reincarnate, so we must hate him. The odd pendant he wears gives it away.

247
fair enough. and .330 isn't awful for furcal, either. just wondering out loud.

I am hoping pitchers can learn control right about now...

A's batting in the 9th down 2-1. They have 1 run in 26 innings in Denver.

247, 249 regfairfield with the rare Grover Cleveland double post!

Re: 234 237

Not all received baseball wisdom is dumb.

Of course it matters if the bases are empty. If you're always having your best hitter bat with the pitcher and a no. 8 slap-hitter with a low OBP ahead of them, you reduce the number of RBI opportunities. The no. 1 and 2 hitters should be guys with high OBPs, but low slugging percentages. They can't get themselves home, so let the hitters with high slugging numbers bring them home.

WWSH

The A's have 2 runs in 26 innings as Swisher hit his second home run of the game to tie it up 2-2.

256 I think the real answer is that it makes the difference of about three runs in the end.

I keep waiting for Chad to scream up at Vin Scully: "I AM NOT FREAKING TIRED!"

Scully seems to hold it against Billingsley that batters foul a lot of his pitches off. Is that a fatal flaw?

Ever since pitch counts became the controlling stat for pitchers, there seems to be a premium put on groundball pitchers who don't need three pitches minimum to get a guy out.

Finally the real Adrian Beltre shows up.
He was hacking at high fastballs, inside curves, and low and away sliders in that at bat.

First impressions for far of Billingsley: Good curve ball, but doesnt have a dominating fastball. He doesnt look to be a dominant #1 type at this point of his career. Certainly isnt at a Liriano, Peavy, Willis level when those 3 came up.

I really hope Chad isn't hiding an injury. His fastball velocity is down by like 3-4mph.

You can't make EVERYTHING Jeff Kent's fault.
Did you read Jon's post? Vin Scully, one of the most gentle human beings on the planet, is suing a man named Kent.

Moral of the story: Never trust anyone named Kent. Not even Clark Kent.

Where is the potent Dodger Offense that leads the NL in runs scored?

260 Easy their, you might get your head bitten off! Did you not read and hear and see all the spin, BILLS is a #1. That is it, do not question that, at all....

That homerun was foul. I watched it on TIVO. What is up with Drew? And I think the ch. 9 radar gun is slow.

Since Johjima ran around the bases and a run was tallied, the hit was, by definition, fair.

If the Dodgers had thought it was foul, they would have been screaming at anyone who would listen.

It was foul. Watch it again.

good time for #8 to blast off the bat...

The bat was blasted off. Is that what you wanted.

267

What's the point?

It's not like I'm going to be filing a writ of certiorari to have the call changed.

I find it highly ironic that the posters Dodger Thoughts, a place where the #1 rebuttal for anything is "small sample size", are basing their analysis of a 21 yr old pitcher off about 4 innings pitched so far today.

271I also take into consideration Bills minor league track record in my assessments.

ESPN didn't show a camera angle that even showed the homerun. Their cameraman apaprently thought it was popped foul and parked the view in the 3B/LF seats.

270-It is pointless. Your right. I'am wrong. You win. Congrats

I don't expect Chadwick to be a #1, immediately or ever. If we develop a steady #3 or #2, I'll be plenty happy.

*I'm

271 You're forgetting the five innings he pitched last week.

So his 10+ k rate and around 7 hit rate doesn't show top of the rotation pitcher?

Let him hit for himself.

KidCuba, the ongoing joke where you mock everyone who defends a player that you aren't in love with has passed its expiration date. Sarcasm and personal comments at other commenters' expense is not tolerated here, and I'm asking you to stop.

There's a multiplicity of viewpoints here, so this tease that you're some kind of martyr for having your point of view is off-target, and the repetition is making it worse.

Good inning by The Chad. He threw more strikes and mixed in his 2 seamer.

260 -- Billingsley has had a dominating fastball for three years, and that includes five days ago in his debut, but because his velocity is down in the ONE game JoeyP sees, that means he doesn't really have one. Obviously, Billingsley fooled everybody. For three years.

Billingsley is certainly a better pitching prospect now Peavy and Willis when they came up, but not Liriano. Peavy didn't do a hell of a lot when he debuted, and Willis' funky delivery has always compensated for very average stuff across the board.

CBills reminds me of Penny. (I am not just talking about the foul ball rate).

The crystal ball sees all.

Good outing by Bills. Let's score some runs to give Bills his 1st win.

As long as we get at least 5 innings and stay in the game, that's fine.

Furcal thinks he is a power hitter.

For all the negativism surrounding Chad, he does have a 3.48 era for his big league career so far.

280 Understood.

It is interesting that your folks here can be insulted just because someone disagrees with their viewpoint and can keep ongoing jokes about other foolish subjet matters.

I love the site and will continue reading it, but I guess the comment board is not for me.

Thanks for the fun and great blog.

KC

CBills on a bad day is still better than Tomko. :)

Keep the faith, Nate. Ralphie is our guy.

282- Billingsley is not better than Willis at this point in their careers. Willis doesn't have average stuff either. He gets his fastball up there at 93 and his pitches have a lot of movement. His home run rates in the minors were incredible and they have been very good in the majors. Willis is an excellent pitcher whether you think he's going to get injured or not. Peavy was also a better minor leaguer and he has better stuff than Billingsley. He has incredible movement on his pitches. We'll see if Billingsley can duplicate Peavy's numbers from his rookie year. I really doubt it. Peavy had better control.

hallo all, I wasn't here for the first 5 innings can somebody tell me if Bills pitched well? I know the score is 2-1 but how did he fare?

For once, I agree with herman.

Billingley clearly didn't have his best velocity or control today but he kept us in the game. He battled, only giving up 2 runs in 5 innings. Tomko would have been blown out of the water with 3 homeruns already.

In june, lofton has a 678 ops (that's cesar izturis type ops) and on the year a 761 ops (for an outfielder thats mediocre, and 21 points higher than my prediction for him this season).
Kemp cf.
Ethier/cruz lf.
Saenz/aybar 3b.
Also drop furcal to the bottom of the lineup.

I hope Francisco Liriano becomes the next Koufax, with thrice the career length. I really, really, really do.

Really.

Re: 293

If Bills doesn't get the walks under control, he WILL get burned.

That being said, no