I know that not everyone is sold on Loney, but he is hitting .372 here in Vegas. I was at the game last night when he went 3 for 4 with a homerun and two doubles. Maybe the power is developing?

I was just thinking (while in the shower) that it seems almost inevitable that Flanders will try to acquire a "veteran" 3rd baseman (e.g. David Bell) in the near future. With Mueller gone, and Aybar likely to be traded, and Saenz too old to play everyday, and Lucille II not good enough to play everyday, there aren't really many options. I can't see Ned being content with the current situation at the hot corner.

I think David Bell is too expensive for the Dodgers tastes thankfully.

Izturis for Jose Valentin, let's do it.

Is Bell really even as good as our options?

Maybe this has been discussed here already, but why can't Nomar play 3B and have an extra outfielder or Loney play 1st? Or acquire a 1st baseman with some power - there have to be lots of those guys out there.

Sorry to give you a soccer comment here, but I thought people here would like that ABC soccer commentator Marcelo Balboa blamed England's lost on the coach not putting his team in "a place to win."

7 - Did the English show up at the wrong stadium or something?

Er, Nomar's got pretty good power numbers for all first basemen not named Pujols at the All Star break. Maybe not in HRs, but RBI looks pretty good.

7 What happened to Beckham? Was he really injured bad enough to come out of a game this big?

6 I don't think they'll move Nomar. Players who are hitting really well do not traditionally switch positions during the season.

I know nothing about soccer, but I'll voice my opinion anyway :)

How can a major sporting tournament that happens only every 4 years allow it's matches to be decided by penalty kicks? It's like deciding the winner in the baseball playoffs with a homerun derby contest.

I just noticed something pretty fascinating - the guy who plays Fredo in the Godfather movies (John Cazale) appeared in only 5 movies in his career. According to allmovieguide.com, they were all 5-star movies

The Godfather
The Conversation
The Godfather Part II
Dog Day Afternoon
The Deer Hunter

Talk about picking good scripts...

13 Yes, then he died of cancer. I really liked his acting.

12 The game was 0-0 after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of OT. Humans can only run for so long.

15 Yes but one team or the players on one team will tire a little more or a little quicker than the other. Then one team becomes better than the other and scores a goal to win the game legitimately on the field of play as it should be. (I can't believe I'm actually commenting on the most boring, senseless, pointless "major" sport on earth) Better thought: Do away with the stupid game and let them learn baseball and football.
Prior to fifty-some years ago, all professional baseball players were Continental US born; then we discovered there were some great players in Central American countries. Soon South America was contributing great players, followed by Japan, then Korea, and finally Taiwan. We as yet have no players from Spain, Russia, England, Poland etc. God knows they must have them, if only we can wean them away from that silly unorganized game designed for little girls in schoolyards. Running up and down the field was all that was required of them, no particular talent or even understanding of the game, just kick the ball in this direction, stop the ball when the other team kicks it back. Scoring is not required.

16-I'm not a soccer fan either. Only watched when my son played in H.S.. There must be something that makes it the world's most popular sport, however. We must not be getting it.

17 Because we found something better.

LOL. Lofton DHing today. Gotta get that bat in the lineup one way or another...

You guys are crazy. Soccer is the beautiful game, and it only looks simple to you because you are looking at it with completely ignorant eyes. The finesse, the footwork, the passing, the strategy and stamina... The World Cup is perhaps most consistently exciting sporting event known to man. The only thing I know of that is close is the NCAA brackets, and that only because I don't have to wait four years for my fix. By comparison the past two World Series have been completely anticlimatic.

I agree with Benaiah, most American's that critisize Soccer do so because theyre ignorant. I wonder why people feel such a need to denigrate the sport, when a Tennis or Golf major comes up people dont suddely start critisizing those sports with incoherant arguments.

People seem to miss one of the best parts of soccer though, no stoppages of time means no commercial breaks for a half hour at a time. Compare that to the dozens of timeouts in football or basketball. On that count alone I could see soccer as the most exciting sport in the world.

20 I'll grant all of that, and if it's true it means it's even more ridiculous to end it with penalty kicks. That's my only point. Never end perhaps most consistently exciting sporting event known to man artificially.

While that is an artificial ending, it sure was exciting. Penalty kicks are BS, but still I had a sick feeling in my stomach watching Christian Renaldo walking into the box, and I am not even English. That was drama baby!

22. Does it make more sense just to let the game go on indefinitly, like in baseball, forcing each team to send its worste pitchers and bench players decide the game? Id rather the best players end the game in exciting fasion than watch the game last until the wee hours of the morning.

What do you mean by "artificial?" Is it any less "artificial" than stopping after a foul to shoot two free throws or stopping after a touchdown to kick an extra point? Really, who cares about non-sensical terms like "artificial", penalty kicks are exciting and entertaining and provide a great climax to a hard fought contest.

How is it our new .231 hitting catcher with no power can hit in front of Izzy but our rookie of the year candidate with a much higher average, more home runs, more RBIs, has to hit behind him???? Little.... is that his name or his IQ? Second the motion to move Nomar to third and bring up Loney. Would it really hurt anything to simply ask Nomar about it?

Izturis is batting 9th, Toby Hall 8th.

Toby Hall is not better than Martin. Toby Hall is not better than Izturis. Toby Hall is a slightly better hitting version of Mike Matheny mius most of the defense (I know that doesn't make any sense)

It's like ending a tie baseball game with a home run hitting contest. Kind of makes a mockery of all that came before.

I have the same criticism of hockey. Otherwise I like both sports.

And I agree with Tom Boswell that one of the reasons football stinks is that you can't cheer after your team scores a touchdown. You have to look around for penalty flags first.

25-

All I know is that with Izzy in our lineup we're gonna have some innings of Izzy, Furcal, Lofton.

I'll now go slam my head against the wall.

I'm almost willing to start up a fundraiser to raise the money left owed to Izturis so we can just pay him and have the Dodgers release him.

Can we go ahead and trade a lousy prospect for Weaver already?

Then after he makes a couple good starts for us, we could try to dump him back on the Angels in a blockbuster deal. Izturis, Weaver, and Aybar in exchange for Izturis, Weaver, and Aybar.

25. with regard to moving Nomar to third, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Leave the best hitter in the NL right where he is and don't mess with him.

30 More to the point, leave the best defensive 1B in the NL right where he is and don't mess with him.

Although that statement may no longer be true now that Derrek Lee is off the DL.

9th is the best spot for Izturis, interleague game or not.

26. Toby Hall is not better than Martin. Toby Hall is not better than Izturis.

Toby Hall is not better than Dave Ross. Toby Hall is better than Jason Phillips (but than who isn't?).

29. That's funny. Imagine all the press it would get. Would be funny to read the diffrent takes in the OC Register and the LA Times.

Imagine the posts here if Hendrickson and Baez get bombed today.

Meanwhile, Navarro has been on base in 5 of his first 9 PAs since becoming a D-Ray.

I only bring it up because the Izturis Fan Club swelled with pride when he had a hot first couple games. Even though he has been very Mordecai-esque with the bat lately, I'm sure he's saving tons of runs with his spectacular and gutty defense.

9th is the best spot for Izturis, interleague game or not.

I disagree. The bench or on another team is his best spot.

Where do people get the notion there are plenty of heavy-hitting 1Bs and 3Bs out there just for the plucking? The few that might be available would come at the cost of prospects. Why give up anything for a short-term or high-cost 3B when LaRoche could easily be ready this year?

>>>...one of the reasons football stinks is that you can't cheer after your team scores a touchdown. You have to look around for penalty flags first.<<<

I don't watch much football because of all the penalties and down time.

There just isn't enough scoring in soccer to get more Americans interested. Maybe an arena soccer league would catch on...ah maybe not.
Their talent an endurance are amazing however.

I heard great news last night when Hall was being interviewed before the game and he said he also plays some third and first.

Whereas Tracy would probably be salivating at the thought, I think Grittle will be much less likely to take Toby up on his offer to show his "versatility".

36-I was going under the assumption that he had to be in the lineup because obviously, him not playing is not an option for whatever reason.

Where do people get the notion there are plenty of heavy-hitting 1Bs and 3Bs out there just for the plucking?

Who said anything about heavy-hitting?

39 I read somewhere that Hall did play 3rd. If so, the trade makes more sense.

Line up

Furcal SS
Lofton, DH
Nomar 1B
Drew RF
Kent 2B
Ethier LF
Kemp CF
Hall C
Izturis, 3B

Gotta like Izzy, Furcal, and Lofton in a row.

Goal! France takes a 1-0 lead.

Gotta like Izzy, Furcal, and Lofton in a row.

uhh... why?

anyways, time for the savior to make his debut.

Hendrickson to the mound. DT posters shiver.

time for the savior to make his debut

I'm going to humbly suggest that "Baseball Jesus" (or "BJ" for short) be considered as a nickname for Hendrickson.

uhh... why?

anyways, time for the savior to make his debut

Sarcasm meter required

And what do you know Jon, Hendrickson allows a line drive out his first batter.

Izturis is in a 2-24 slump with 0bbs.
Overall he's .250/.314/.250= .564 OPS

I think Izzy might have more trade value if he was left in AAA, put up good numbers, and played SS everyday.

He's not proving anything to anyone by OPS'ing .564 while playing 3rd right now.

I dont miss Edwards, but I do miss Izzy being on the DL. Those were nice days.

In a couple years, when asked to name 2 former Dodger catchers who OPS'ed under .700, one can simply say, "Hall & Oates".

42 Why would the worst starting catcher in baseball be a good third baseman?

48

oh got it. sorry. I should turn on my sarcasm meter before the game starts :)

Cabrera hasn't had an 0-4 in 57 straight games.. Says Lyons.

Yes he has, he hasn't had a 57 game HITTING streak, but now a 58 game reaching base streak.

Well, what can I say about BJ except that... He's really really tall.

The Fox announcer (not Lyons) keeps calling Hendrickson "Fredrickson"

Hendrickson-no hitter through 1 !!

If Toby Hall ever gets put in at 3B, I will set something on fire. I don't know what, but something.

Lets nickname Hendrickson, Fred now.

The bearded junk baller had a nice quick inning.

If Toby Hall ever gets put in at 3B, I will set something on fire. I don't know what, but something

No doubt Bob already rounded up all the Hall effigies...

57-How about Hall's catcher's glove?

J.D. did that bunting thing again.

56- Even in jest, that's no good. Superstition does not require much of us here, but not spoiling a no-no is non-negotiable.

Hey Drew, you know that baseball thing that comes toward the plate? ...wanna swing?

JD Drew's weakness

2 seam fastball coming back to the inner part of the plate and, change ups away.

just do that the whole AB and you'll K him.

57 Better make it an American flag while you still can. Oh wait, maybe a Soviet one, since we're all John Birch sympathizers here.

60, 61- I was thinking more along the lines of a liquor store. But, I'm open to suggestions, I guess.

Now Kent tries to bunt, what's going on?

Also, if Drew ever played a full season, he'd probably lead the league in striking out looking.

Thats what happens when you swing.

65 Drew's weakness seems to be that he is unable to swing the bat.

Fantasy baseball question:

Would you trade Shawn Green for Jason Kubel? Neither player will be kept, so it's simply a matter of deciding who will be better over the second half. OPS is a counting stat, so Kubel's lack of patience does matter.

Escobar looks to eat us alive today. I should post a comment on his myspace congratulating him on his win right now.

Struck out the side.
I like the taking pitches approach. I'd rather Escobar run up his pitch count and be out of the game.

JD Drew's weakness

2 seam fastball coming back to the inner part of the plate and, change ups away.

just do that the whole AB and you'll K him.

Yeah, think Drew will EVER swing at one of those 2 seamers? I mean, C'MON, there with 2 strikes, you MUST swing at anything close.

And yes, he is the biggest sucker for the change up.

72 What if Hendrickson gets his Jae Seo tying fifth quality start?

Well, another satuday afternoon without Dodger baseball for much of the country, thanks to Fox TV.
Hope Gameday is at its dubious best.

I guess his nickname is BJ. I didn't even realize this:
(B)earded (J)unkballer

DJ has been really getting screwed by the umpires lately. That last pitch was at least a couple inches off the plate.

oops!

73 All it takes is 81 strikes taken to end the game. I bet he can last that long.

Well, thats fitting.

Escobar looks to eat us alive today. I should post a comment on his myspace congratulating him on his win right now.

Escobar could pitch a 7 inning shutout, and we'll still win because he gets zero run support.

I like the taking pitches approach.

Yea, just take stike 3, great idea.

Ok, well now Escobar might win with a 7 inning shut out.

There's the Hendrickson we will all come to love. I especially love him now as Napoli is on my fantasy team.

51

1) I said play 3rd. Not just stand there.
2) Izturis won't be there long, so there is another option.
3) If he can play 3rd it would give the team some flexibility.

71-

I'd just keep Green. Neither is going to help you much but unless you're improving there's no point on making a deal.

GA is no longer a threat.

Yea, just take stike 3, great idea.

If a hitter thinks it a ball, then dont swing. Force the umpires to make the correct call.

Hacking at everything rarely works.
Look at the opponent today for further evidence.

Memo to Lyons, PUT AWAY THE --- MARKER!!!

Gameday shows Napoli's HR barely reaching the warning track.

83. But why would you ever want Toby Hall in the lineup at 3rd base?

BJ? How about DR2? He looks like the second coming of Doug Rau.

A perusal of the first two innings on Gameday and it looks like we are facing Nolan Ryan. He's too old to comeback isn't he.
Gameday is jambed on the first Angel batter in the second inning, but I'm getting a bad feeling.

88

it was a line drive that didnt really go that far over. but it was hit really hard.

88 It's weird because it looked like he absolutely crushed it, but it was pretty much the shortest possible home run in the stadium.

If a hitter thinks it a ball, then dont swing. Force the umpires to make the correct call.

And he did, 3 straight times to Drew.

Hacking at everything rarely works.
Look at the opponent today for further evidence

Think maybe you should swing if it's that close with 2 strikes?

Look, early in the count I'm all for looking for a certain pitch in a certain location, but don't just take a close pitch for strike 3.

88- Then Gameday was being kind. It was a legitimate homerun, well back into the stands.

Look at all those line drives, what stats were you looking at Jon?

Huh. Maybe 95 is wrong. It definitely didn't look like a cheapy, but maybe it didn't go as far as I though.

Ethier?

Ethier fell. Oops. slippery grass.

That was a 4th outfielder type of play...

Think maybe you should swing if it's that close with 2 strikes?

#1 Drew thought it was inside.
#2 Have you ever been at the plate when one of those cut fastballs is coming at you? It's not as easy as you think.

Drew thought the pitch was a ball, so he did what he should have done: he didn't swing.

83 But, Toby Hall isn't any better than Martinez or Izturis offensively (sacrificing on base for a little more power), and I'm guessing he's a lot worse defensively.

Plus, the man has played one inning there in his career. If we have Toby Hall as our third baseman, someone in the chain has made a horrible mistake.

That was a 4th outfielder type of play...

3.5!!!

You can't make mistakes behind a junkballer

Rookie mistake. Sign Marquis Grissom and get rid of Ethier.

Lets go Kemp!

105
Good point. Veterans run slower, and are thus less likely to slip.

Well tthe way are first few innings go recently, its worth giving up a run to get an out. What a deke.

107 Then let's get Anderson...

the Cubs thing cracks me up....they really might have the worst GM in baseball.

46 - "Hendrickson to the mound. DT posters shiver. "

Sarcastic.
Mocking other commenters.
False generalization.

Three strikes, thinkingblue. Knock it off.

#1 Drew thought it was inside.
#2 Have you ever been at the plate when one of those cut fastballs is coming at you? It's not as easy as you think.

Drew thought the pitch was a ball, so he did what he should have done: he didn't swing

But he's done the same thing, 3 concecutive times!!!!!!!! Make the darm adjustment!!!!

And no, if it's that close, SWING!!! If it's like really a ball, then yes, take, bu you gotta swing if it's that close.

110 The man couldn't even beat Sabean. His only problem as that he doesn't understand he's Dusty's boss.

"To" "By" "Hall"
"To" "By" "Hall"

Toby breaks up the no-no.

edit: darn

102
>>>Plus, the man has played one inning there in his career.<<<

Did not know that. Well, so much for flexibility and his ability to play 3rd. Can't believe everything you read.

What on earth?! Who covered I Love L.A.? And why is Fox playing that version instead of Randy Newman's?

Ah, thanks Psycho. It was an American Idol.

Izzy with his first hit since the homestand!!

why in the heck was Quinlan playing so far in? Man, the coaches need to position their players better....

But can Furcal or Lofton do anything?

why in the heck was Quinlan playing so far in? Man, the coaches need to position their players better....

Well, Morales is no better.

How the heck do you go 3-20 in a month and only fall 4 1/2 back?

Chan Ho Park is the answer. Dang it, Brennaman, stole my glory.

i really really really don't like this IZzy, Furcal, Lofton thing we've got going on....

107 >>>Good point. Veterans run slower, and are thus less likely to slip.<<<

But, Marquis Grissom would have misjudged it. By the time he was released from the Giants he was maybe the worst OF I have ever seen.

And no, Furcal and Lofton still stink.

Is there a reason why Russell Martin cant DH? Am I missing something here?

i really really really don't like this IZzy, Furcal, Lofton thing we've got going on....

Perhaps because combined, they aren't even half as powerfull as Matt Kemp.

111 - go away for a half inning and suddenly you miss all the fun.

121 et al. - Quinlan is a converted outfielder who learned how to play the infield in spring training of 2004 IIRC. It got him a job when Troy Glaus went down in the second half; Quinlan was absurdly hot, almost to the point of carrying the team for about a month. He's now one of Scioscia's favored bench pieces, but his infield D remains shaky.

128 Didn't he DH one of the games at Minn?

Sign Marquis Grissom and get rid of Ethier.
I prefer Tom Goodwin. Imagine the defense with Lofton and Goodwin in the same outfield.

Nice at bat by our DH.

127-

but you like Izturis?

128-

that's what is baffling me as well.

Brennaman and Lyons make me think Monday may be easier to listen to.

Am I missing something here

Grady likes "speed" and had Martin DHed, you can bet he'd be batting like 7th.

I'm pretty happy that Martin isn't starting. Hasn't he only gotten four days off this year?

135 He'd probably be batting 9th.

136

I agree. Let him get his rest.

Grady likes "speed" and had Martin DHed, you can bet he'd be batting like 7th.

Martin has had 150 ABs in the 8th spot this year, and 10 in the 9th. That's it.

I'm just surprised Grits would play KLofton over both Saenz/Martin at the DH. With the way all 3 are playing, i think the latter two are better options at this point.

Wow, first time I've ever seen Nomar screw up a play like that one. First base doesn't require a lot of defensive ability, but he makes some great plays.

Oh yeah, Little also likes to have "productive outs," and having Lofton "lite a fire" under Drew. Yet Drew still looks like he's stone at the plate.

Also, IZZY WAS OUT, Nomar lost it in showing the ump. And that WAS NOT AN ERROR.

Nomar snowconed it, but he caught it. These umpires have been awful in the series so far.

136. I consider playing DH resting. They have 4ABs all game and sit on the bench the rest of the time. If that aint rest, I dont know what is. You'd get more wear and tear on your body from batting practice, than playing DH.

Wow, first time I've ever seen Nomar screw up a play like that one

HE DIDN'T the UMP screwed that one, Nomar lost the ball showing the ump.

The Chan Ho karate kick game is still one of my top three games that I've been to.

Izturis NEVER SHOULD HAVE SCORED. That ump SUCKS!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Replay shows Lyons is an idiot. But we all knew that.

Settle down TB.
Its just 1 run.

Just keep the exclamation points under 100 so the screen doesn't go wide on us.

We UNDERSTAND what you're trying to say WITHOUT using caps.

I guess thinking blue makes one get pretty emotional at times.

Napoli certainly knows what he's doing at the plate.

152 - or short circuits in one's keyboard.

Sooo many unearned runs.

Mark Erickson is the answer to the Angels' offensive problems.

Nice of the umpires to give the game to the Angels.

These aren't unearned at this point, are they?

couldnt we have just let seo do this and kept navarro?

At least Hendrickson gets to maintain that low ERA.

thank god we got hendrickson ... not our bullpen won't have to work so hard

At least I have my Tom Gorzelanny scouting expedition to look forward to today.

Napoli sure seemed to come out of nowhere to me. I'd never heard of him before he was on the big club. Rob, was he considered a top prospect?

The error occured with only one out, so only one of those runs should be unearned.

153 - Scioscia's moaning about the team's lack of OBP just kills me. Maybe it's because they don't develop it... the fact that Napoli somehow ended up at the major league level despite a systemwide offensive philosophy that treats OBP as a second-class citizen is just staggering. And to think, they let him slide off the 40-man so they could keep... Josh Paul.

158- Gameday has them unearned. The inning would have been over but for the error, so, he's off the hook, I guess. Four unearned runs in his first three innings in L.A. Sweet.

Just letting you guys know, I'm trading Odalis Perez and 2 million for Brett Harper so if you don't see Odalis on the dodgers.com 40 man roster, you'll know why.

Gameday says that only 1 of BJ's 5 runs was earned. No wonder his ERA is so low this year...

Consensus on the Maicer play: safe, but not an error? That was my view - Nomar caught the ball but his hand was above or to the rear of first base when Maicer crossed it.

It was a very difficult play - the ball being thrown right into the runner. Kind of play that could have ended Nomar's season.

163 He probably should have been the Texas League MVP instead of Ethier, after hitting 31 jacks as a catcher. He had great patience, but no average. Maybe he's getting more pitches over the plate in the bigs.

I think regardless of when an error is committed in an inning, if there's 2 outs when all the runs are driven in, that the runs are unearned.

Time to mount the comeback...

No doubt about that inning's runs being unearned once that play is ruled an error. Cabrera would have been the third out.

166 The unearned run rule is very dumb.

169 My fantasy team hopes they change it to a hit, which is what I thought it would be. Seems on a play where it's a hurried throw and the runner almost beats it anyway that they usually give it a hit.

175 How deep is your league that you have Maicer on your team? Or are you facing someone who has Hendrickson?

175
You'd think the home-town scorer would err on the side of "hit" as well.

167- Why is Sickels letting a crazy man play the Mets in your simulation?

163 - how do you classify a guy who did an incredible Rob Deer impression at AA by hitting a league-leading 31 homers while only posting a .239 average? He was depth at best going into spring training; he was on the BA radar, though well behind Jeff Mathis. That he's hit for average so far in small samples is just staggering; Napoli credits winter league ball in the Dominican to helping him figure out that part of his game.

If Napoli keeps going at this rate, he's an All-Star catcher next year, and one of the top offensive catchers if not the top offensive catcher in the league.

Why is Sickels letting a crazy man play the Mets in your simulation?

We're trying to make it as realistic as possible...zing!

179 Mauer

179 Navarro

176 10-team AL-only league. I picked him up because I have McPherson as well. Either he or Hollandsworth will get the axe when I activate Mark Ellis though.

181 - assuming Mauer can stay behind the dish, sure. I'm betting against it.

(mine was a joke)

184

Why? He is extremely athletic.

wouldn't it have been easier to just have Seo give up these 5 runs?

Nomar, what the heck were you thinking?

Nomahhh!!!!

Even though we're worse off, trading Seo for Hendrickson makes it look as if Ned's trying.

Can the Dodgers fire their 3rd base coach now?

186 - his size. Not many big guys can stick behind the dish.

Might want to not kill a rally when you're down by 5 runs.

Bases Juiced with 1 out for Kemp might have been nicer.

Andre Ethier singles on a fly ball to center fielder Juan Rivera. Nomar Garciaparra out at home on the throw, center fielder Juan Rivera to catcher Mike Napoli. D. Drew to 2nd.

"D. Drew". Heh heh.

190 - mostly my patience.

I give up. Do you think the Mets have an opening for a fan?

196 - LOL!

I would like it if Kemp can keep two hands on the bat when he swings. He seems to have better bat control that way.

Rally is executed with extreme prejudice.

196
Why not root for Tampa Bay? Pretty soon they'll have more Dodgers than LA...

The Marlins are more deserving of your fanaticism I think. They should have more fans.

196
the mets 2-story bandwagon has been loading up since last year. don't break a leg jumping on.

I'm putting nomar getting out on the 3B coach. It's one thing to green light him and have him run right through it, but don't make Nomar decide on his own. He slowed to turn his head. he shouldn't have had to.

192

While I agree with that, Mauer isn't just some big guy. This guy was recruited to play QB at Florida St. His athleticism is off the charts.

Ned looks sick. Is he already regretting the trade or did he see a replay of K Loft's last at bat?

199
Reporter: "Tell us about your team's execution."
D4P: "I'm in favor of it."

205
ha!

205 Nice

Where's that Jim Mora line?

"Playoffs, Playoffs..."

204 - that's what you get for "doing something". It's a good thing the fans aren't running the team... right?

205 - Ha!

Meanwhile, women's pro beach volleyball is on FoxSports right now...

201 -

1) Aren't the Devil Rays more deserving by virtue of their lower attendance?

2) Are Dodger fans transitively Devil Rays fans by virtue of there being so many ex-Rays on the team?

Now the error in the last inning has been charged to Hendrickson, which makes more sense. Originally it went to Nomar.

Steve Lyons only hit .247 in college? How'd he get drafted?

I'm still not unhappy about the trade. One start whose stats will be marred by errors doesn't say enough to me about whether the bearded giant can be at least a #4/5 guy for us.

If I was willing to give OP 8 starts before writing him off, TBG is going to get more than one from me. Just keep it around or below 4.50. That's better than what Seo could do.

Banjo hitting must be in old man Isturis' genes.

But just being better than Seo isnt enough to warrant giving up Dionner Navarro.

213 that does make more sense. i was wincing when i saw the throw would be off line, thinking of the furcal/lee collision that sidelined derrek for so long. our guy's kind of brittle in recent years, too.

217
reasonable minds can differ on that point. :)

Something interesting's happening in Oakland right now...

216 - well, he was apparently hitting on the gal down the path while Cesar was in the oven, hence Maicer...

That type of throw to first is also what cost Rolen half a season, right?

boy, the rose seems to have fallen off our 2004 gold glove winner. at least at the plate.

We seem to get a lot of scheduled days off. I say just throw Lowe,Penny,Billingsley, and Sele and take our chances. We would just gradually improve over the next two years as prospects matured. We might even produce a pitcher or two from the system.
Any wild scheme to trade prospects might give some instant gratification. But with what most D's fans have been through, whats two years for almost certain success.

The Dodgers third base coach has visions of AAA dancing in his head today.

Another horrible baserunning gaffe, nice impression for the national crowd boys in blue!

See: 205

226
That's Gaffy for ya.

i was about to say kudos to raffy for hitting .380 since izturis came onboard to challenge him, then that happened.

who knew that Juan Rivera had his bionic arm's oil changed before the game.

Furcal's BAL: .21

(blood alcohol level)

That's kind of in poor taste, imo.

226 - In case you missed the one the previous inning, we got more for ya.

So, how do we statistically compare the defensive difference between Izturis and Aybar with the offensive difference?

229 - every 3,000 miles or ten outfield assists.

BJ!!!

Hendrickson gets nailed by a Vlad line drive in the upper body. How do you deal with that?

236

You have magical healing powers because you are the Baseball Jesus. duh.

i'll never get why sliding into first is a good idea. if TBG's willing to block a few more balls with his body, i'd leave him in for the 6th.

why show highlights of TBG looking awkward and out of place for the Bucks? That was pretty hilarious.

Furcal's BAL: .21

Large sample size.

Nice play, Izzy!

237 - is he the one responsible for the opening to Genesis ("In the big inning...")?

233 highlights like that make me forget aybar, for the moment.

232. Mine too.
As for the new guy's start; he looks significantly better than Seo or Perez and I believe all that they expect of his is to be a useable 4 or 5 starter. He looks capable of that to me. Seo and Perez were not.

not to go off on (another) myspace tangent, but has anyone else seen kelvim escobar's? it's rock solid.

244 - Is that a myspace tangent? I feel like that's the only myspace conversation I ever see.

Baywatch alert: David Hasselhoff underwent surgery for a severed arm tendon. From AP:

The 53-year-old actor, who played lifeguard Mitch Buchannon on the TV beach drama for 11 years, was shaving at a gym in the Sanderson Hotel on Thursday when he hit his head on a chandelier, showering his arm with broken glass, his publicist, Judy Katz, said.

How do you hit your head on a chandelier while shaving? Was he hopping up and down at the same time?

245 - probably because Escobar's page is the only one worth looking at, and that only as a prank.

I thought I remembered Nate getting in an extended myspace conversation the other day. I'm a self-hating myspacer, sometimes.

248

www.myspace.com/salspals

243- Seo had five (of ten total) starts better than this one, this year. Perez has three, of eight.

why did BJ only go 5 innings?

Wait, why is Sele coming out of the pen?

246- That is very funny. Maybe the article was translated in to German, and then back before publication.

Something amazing isn't happening in Oakland anymore, but something special still is...

251
why is his nick BJ?

Baseball Jesus

Bearded Junkballer

Betty Joe

whatever works...

251 - "BJ"?

250 By what standard? Not earned runs. I'm watching him pitch and he's better than Seo or Perez. Don't really care what any stat says about this one start. He's got better command, better stuff. Not great. Better that Perez or Seo.

and now not only is there nothing special happening in Oakland, the shutout's gone as well. Big Hurt hit a 2-run homer off Miguel Batista, ending his no-hit bid after 6 2/3 IP.

BJ only made 80 pitches

255-
Baseball Jesus
Bearded Junkballer

252 - 236 might be the answer.

No longer interesting in Oakland.

258 Quality starts.

Small sample size (100 AB each), but anyone have a reasonable explanation for the following split for Jeff Kent?

OPS - home - 1.022
OPS - away - .683

249 Is that yours? Mine is www.myspace.com/voiceofthepanthers if you care.

264

No thats not mine, just the Sal Fasano fan club.

Taking out BJ made no sense

258- I'm watching I Love Lucy reruns, so I'll just defer to your judgement.

Maybe the shot in the arm he took from Vlad's liner was starting to tighten up?

He's got better command, better stuff. Not great. Better that Perez or Seo.

The problem with being slightly better than 6+ ERA pitchers, is that you'll probably still lose if you're only slightly better than terrible. So giving up anything of value (and Navarro has value), is senseless.

If Sele's already been brought in, cant he just mop up? Why cycle through the pen when the game is out of reach?

I'll consider it a victory if Kuo doesn't walk Figgins.

Just wondering. You know the game in San Deigo in which Kemp had a pinch hit homer? After that game, I created the Matt Kemp Fan Club on Myspace. He hasn't homered since and is barely hitting .200. Did I curse him or is it just a coincidence that his slump started at that time? And should I delete the club?

I don't care what a guy does in a single start, but it looked to me like Mark was getting hit pretty hard throughout the game. Just the one homer, but several line drives.

What's Sele doing in the bullpen now. I had him figured for a starter who would luck out occasionally.
For my fellow east coasters, I was at a Barnes and Nobles today for a Red Sox book
presentation, and Bill Lee was a guest commentator. He is always fun to listen to, and was full of jokes today. Someone mentioned Damon, and Bill said "ahh,Damon; he looks like Jesus, throws like Mary, and acts like Judas!

Oh well

Is it okay to concede this game and hope that Maicer gets some RBI right here?

The Padres won again. Looks like the Dodgers will be 2 games back.

When it was 3-2 and Kuo was throwing strikes, I still knew that he was going to walk Figgy

271 - not a victory.

262 I sometimes feel like the games are only on Gameday and nobody bothers actually watching. Stats are the only way of judging no matter how small the sample or how irrelevant the stat. He give up only 1 earned run and comes out after 5, apparently because he was hit with a line drive. So it's not a quality start and he's not as good as Seo or Perez? Sorry, I just don't get that. I don't think he's an ace. But watching him pitch tells me more than the fact that he's 0 for 1 in quality starts.

276 For my fantasy team that is

274 - I've heard that line before. It's pretty funny still.

276 Is he on your fantasy team? It was kind of nice for me to see Lowe pounded earlier. The Dodgers were going to lose that game no matter what and my big rival has Lowe on his team. And it's not like the pounding will affect the rest of his season at all making it no worse than pitching well in a loss.

Game day hasn't revealed much yet, but we brought someone in with the bases loaded. I'm getting a bad feeling.

280- He gave up seven hits and two walks, while striking out two. He didn't look any better than Seo or Perez have looked at points this year. It's one game, it's not the be-all-end-all, and sure, quality starts aren't a good measure of anything. But declaring Hendrickson better on the basis that of the five runs he gave up, only one counts, doesn't quite cut it, does it?

280 As a counter point, I watched the game, saw Napoli absolutely destroy one of his pitches, and get all of his runs nullified because of one error. Hendrickson was absolutely terrible today.

272

here, ask him yourself. http://tinyurl.com/rj27z

Stats are the only way of judging no matter how small the sample or how irrelevant the stat.

Hendrickson has a whole career to sample from. Seo and Odalis do also. Some here just judge guys baed on all available data, and not one start or one fluke season.

Oh, we brought in a wild whaler with the bases loaded. Well we might as well get everything wrong in one game, if possible.

280 He gave up 5 runs. Only 1 was earned, but he gave up 5 runs in 5 innings. That is awful.

273 He threw a lot of mistakes over the plate.

Hey stupid announcer, Kemp wasn't part of the Jacksonville 5 ya idiot.

But declaring Hendrickson better on the basis that of the five runs he gave up, only one counts, doesn't quite cut it, does it Boy, don't think I could have been any clearer

272 joined your group. let's see if that swings the tide.

280 i mostly agree with you, but the only thing that worries me is that this is easily one of the worst offenses in the AL. it's one thing to lose a 3-2 game to such a team, but not giving up 7, even if most are "unearned."

Toby Hall is listed at 6'3 240.
Thats huge for a catcher.

...I'm judging on nothing more than what I saw of his pitching. Not his career, not the results of the game... just watching his pitching

Cesar looks positively hopeless at the plate right now. How are we to fleece some other team if Izzy can't get any hits?

292 Did we ever figure out who the Jacksonville five actually were?

One of Broxton, Loney, Laroche or Jackson had to get pushed out.

Tuby Hall isn't batting his weight

295- wow, I didn't even think he was that big. I was guessing 230.

293- When the centerpiece of your argument is that you watched him pitch, you don't leave a lot of options for rebuttal. I guess that was the point.

Izzy is 2/27 with 0bb slump.
I think he ceded the Venezuelan God of Walks title to Abreu.

I'm judging on nothing more than what I saw of his pitching.

So seeing a guy one time pitch, you've deduced that he's better than other pitchers? Based on watching the pitcher pitch once, in a game that he wasnt really at all effective?

I dont know what to tell ya.

302- He's turned into the Venezuelan God of Unproductive Outs

301 Yes, not much room for rebuttal based on stats. If you think he truly appeared to not have the command and stuff of Seo or Perez, fine. But no, you can't say I'm wrong for having the opinon that he looked better and base it on stats after one game.

What I find most troubling is the opposing pitchers line after we fall far behind. It is way better than most of his other efforts. How can you explain that but for psychology. Escobar 7 innings, 6SO, 0 bb>

303 I didn't declare him to be better. I said he looked better to me after watching him today. Considering that I'm accused of not allowing others their opinion, I certainly don't seem to be allowed mine-- unless I can back it up with stats.

Baseball doesn't hold pitchers accountable for unearned runs -- hence the distinction between earned and unearned runs. Statheads hate that this distinction is even made. I'll side with the rules of baseball. The pitcher's job is to get three outs in an inning. If runs score because bad defense led to the other side effectively getting four or more outs to work with in an inning, the pitcher is not logically at fault. One earned run in five innings is fine. Hendrickson did a decent job today, and one considerably better than Seo or Perez would have done.

305- He looked like garbage to me. But why should you care what he looked like to me? Why should you care that I thought he looked slow and that his breaking stuff mostly didn't?

That he gave up seven hits and two walks over five innings in which he struck out only one is more important than my theory of what he looked like. It's what actually happened.

Struck out two. Sorry.

Hendrickson did a decent job today, and one considerably better than Seo or Perez would have done.
The defense and the umpires were horrible. BJ was ok today.

I don'think BJ looked all that horrible. I wish he went longer though. One of his biggest selling points was that he averages 7innings a start, 5 aint gunna cut it.

309. Okay. Nothing matters but the scoreboard. Yes, why would we come here to discuss opinions? The results say all.

Boy, good thing I didn't say something good about Lofton or bad about Kemp.

Tom Gorzelanny starts at in 30mins, are my scouts ready and on hand!??!

313

Greg don't worry, I am on your side on this one.

307 - There's a difference between disagreeing with someone, or not buying into what someone says, and not allowing an opinion.

Your opinion is allowed. Someone can also say your opinion is wrong. That's their opinion. And then you can say they're wrong. And so it goes.

I don't think I've seen anyone get rejected when they present evidence along with their opinion.

Baseball isnt a beauty pageant.

298 -- At the start of last season, Billngsley, Guzman, Broxton, Martin and Loney were called the Jacksonville 5. After LaRoche was promoted to Jacksonville, the phrase "Jacksonville 5" persisted, but LaRoche seemed to have pushed out Loney.

314 I'll do the best scouting I can do while tracking his pitches on gamecast

The pitch to Drew was also a ball!

Drew is so confused up there.

Very frustrating game today - bad defense, mediocre pitching, non-clutch hitting, bad baserunning.

I just read for the second time every comment from 200 on. Hendrickson's performance today has both supporters and detractors, plural. The discussion has been civil with slight defensiveness. I don't think anyone on either side should be worrying that a point of view isn't getting fair play.

Good thing Kent didn't kill the rally.

At least Kemp isn't up. He'd swing at the first pitch.

Nate-If it's any help to your scouting report, I met Gorzelanny's family while sitting down by the Pirate bullpen last season and they were pretty nice people. He seemed like a genuinely good guy too.

So under the "niceness" and "character" column that all scouting reports have, you can pencil in a "10".

C'mon Outfielder 3.5!

Nate-I could also ask Grabow for an inside scouting report on Tom Terrific too. I'm sure he can vouch for his "niceness" as well.

Damn do I hate Shields

317- My repeated point here is that sometimes there is no evidence. Evidence=stats. There is room for interpretation based on observation. When I said Matt Kemp's approach at the plate was lacking, I got attacked because his stats were awesome. It is possible to go beyond the stats. Never more true than when the sample size is small (e.g Kemp, Hendrickson). I would like to be able to state an opinion (and read yours) without stats being the only possible answer. Disagree with my opinion all you want, but saying that without statistical backup my opinion is illegitimate, that's just wrong.

329

I have some decent scouting reports, mostly from my Interational League scouts. My big league scouts haven't had a chance to see him yet so they want to get a look at him today before I tell the Pirates GM yes.

Tuby makes Jason Phillips look good offensively.

324- My defense is not as good as the Dodger infielders. But that's just my opinion.

331 - Greg, don't you see? You're doing exactly what you're telling others not to do. You're calling the responses to you illegitimate.

It's becoming just semantics at this point. You believe X. Someone else believes Y. I think both sides have made their case and we should move on.

All I can contribute to this argument is to say I still don't like penalty kicks :)

Never more true than when the sample size is small (e.g Kemp, Hendrickson).

The sample size on Mark Hendrickson is not small. He's been starting for the D-Rays the last 2.5 seasons, and getting regular innings.

Scot Shields should be the Angels closer. His stuff is unbelievable. He gets so much movement on his pitches. It would be almost impossible to hit a home run off of him.

Lyons is actually giving out good info right now.

287 Thanks. The Matt Kemp on my friends list is just an add. Thanks for finding the real one for me.

The sample size on Mark Hendrickson is not small. He's been starting for the D-Rays the last 2.5 seasons, and getting regular innings.

and he's improving. He is a different beast to try and analyze because his history and background is so different from most pitchers.

Matt shouldn't have even been throwing to third - the runner was five feet away from the base when he let go. And then he missed the target by about 50 feet or so. Life goes on, but that was one of the worst throws I've ever seen in my life.

335 Where did I say anything of the sort? I guess I'll move along. I tried.

That Kemp throw just hit Keith Olbermann's mom.

341 - Improving? I'm just... wow.

to expand on 339

Lyons said he asked Ned yesterday who was untouchable, and apparently Colletti listed off a bunch of names including some still in the minors (im assuming laroche, elbert etc).

so that should be nice to all us paranoid fans.

It would be kind of awkward, though, to send him a message saying "I made a Matt Kemp Fan Club right after the game in which you had the pinch hit homer against the Padres and you haven't gone deep since."

338 Was there a reason why Shields stopped starting? Seems to me he would be even more useful if he pitched twice as many innings.

Not batting for Hall with the bases loaded was a concession statement, but I had gathered that a couple of innings earlier.
I accept this if we are satisfied with improving gradually for the next few years. I even like it. But if we pull some heroics to try to go from the bottom to the top without waiting for our farm system, I will resent the several games that to my mind we conceded rather early this year.
Within this division, 3 games could mean winning and I don't want to give up prospects when we might have won anyway.

At least Hendrickson didn't walk 8 batters like that darn Koufax did in his debut start for the Dodgers on July 6, 1955.

346 - this is

a) a clear lie for Colletti
b) a recapitulation of the obvious for Stoneman.

343 - "saying that without statistical backup my opinion is illegitimate, that's just wrong."

What you say there is just the converse of what was being said to you. You're making a blanket statement that anyone who asks you to provide the slightest staistical support for your arguments is automatically wrong. They want stats on the table, you want to be allowed to take them off. It's just a disagreement, that's all.

That's why I feel like you're overreacting. You're feeling persecuted when you're just being disagreed with. It's a big difference. I don't think you need to leave - I just think you need to accept the disagreement.

338 Sheilds unfortunately has found himself in a role where he won't make big money, if he went back to starting, he could end up with a nice deal or if he ever became a closer, he could become a high priced stopper but as a very good set up man, he will never get what he is really worth to the Angels.

I'm going to watch tomorrow, if only to see if Izzy can get a hit.

348- look how's he built- his nickname should be skeletor. He did throw something like 250 pitches in a high school game, so apparently he has a rubber arm. Shields is one of the most underrated players in baseball. He was a solid starter, but is an absolutely dominating reliever.

I used to hate Steve Lyons. When he isn't clowning around and eating hot dogs on the air, he's actually a good announcer. It's too bad that they pair him up with clowns like Thom Brennaman (who is nothing like his dad) and Charley Steiner.

I love watching Shields pitch (he rocks!)

Nate-You need to clean up your MySpace page. I can't read anything with Burt Reynolds splattered all over the place.

If Colletti really did want to sell off the kids, he wouldn't have kept up the, what seems to be a policy of aggressively promoting the prospects. None of the kids are being permitted to stat pad in lower levels; if they were going to be sold, it seems like they would have been.

At least, that's what makes sense to me. The alternate explanation is that he wants to get rid of them, but also wants to get as little back as possible, in return. But that seems paranoid.

357

Burt Reynolds signed that picture. Its lovely isn't it?

Notice to everyone: please dont take my myspace seriously, it pretty much has a ton of nonsense.

359-It's a vision. It just doesn't make a good backdrop, that's all.

338, 353 - Shields isn't starting because he just isn't very good at it. His big pitch is his fastball, which has more movement than anybody's fastball I've ever seen. Jarrod Washburn was able to make that trick work for about a year, but Shields is a far better setup man, and yes, closer.

351 We joke but there is no evidence (not one top 10 prospect even rumoured in a deal) that Ned will sacrifice one of the top kids in a deal.

But I do agree about Stoneman.

Should the Dodgers aquire Jeff Weaver?
http://blog.myspace.com/voiceofthepanthers

355 - Shields reminds me of a praying mantis on the mound, especially with all those little nervous tics he has.

359

yeah nate, you having Burt Reynolds in the back ground is pretty creepy.

Now on CNBC, Tim Russert is interviewing Willy Randolph, Joe Torre, Lou Pinella, and Whitey Herzog. Yogi Berra is in the audience. It's a fun hour.

Well, Hendrickson is fairly unimpressive, Toby Hall strands a small village on the basepaths, we run out of a couple scoring chances, and Kemp sends one into the stands (in a bad way).

Two runs on ten hits. Meh, this one gets erased from the memory bank.

360

I know. Im too lazy to change it.

Gorzelanny is facing a tough Tiger lineup. This should be a good test.

361 We talk about Dusty Baker blowing out arms but c'mon couldn't Mike used somebody else instead of Shields in a 7 run game.

I know wins are scarce but Shields and Frankie are going to be exhausted again in August and September.

Nate-You didn't watch Gorz last year?

371

I did a bit. he only had like 7 or so big league innings though.

Nate, what is your myspace url? Would you add me?

And you don't have to be a friend to post on blogs, so you can all put down your opinion on Weaver.

decent first inning.

fb 89-94 looks to have good sink, delivery is a bit deceptive. Tossed in a 2-0 change up for a strike that looked pretty good. SO far, Guzman sould better have his bags packed just in case.

hey Gagne55, it wont let me add you unless I know your last name lol.

Great AB Drew. Not that I'm blaming the game on JD, but he's really been sucking for a long time. 10 runs batted in in over a month is just terrible.

Anyone else trying to grow a Hendrickson beard? I'm trying to do it without the mustache in honor of BJ. My ex would force me to shave.

367.

Don't forget about that stupid umpire.

377 I don't think he has been right since that collision in Colorado hopefully the break will rejuvinate him.

323 overkill94
You nailed it.

331 Greg S
I see Kemp pulling off pitches.

378

I would but my work would probably get mad. And I need money.

Can we trade our BJ for a good BJ, such as BJ Ryan (sans his contract)? 5 Ks in 1.2 IP for Ryan today, 51 in 40.1 IP for the year (with 8 BBs, no homers, and a 0.45 ERA)

wow he just touched 97...

378 I'd try, but I just can't do it, at least not yet.

379 Umpire didn't give up 9 runs.

And I tend not to blame umpires or refs for loses as a general rule.

2nd inning Gorzy buckled down. gave up a run and had 2 on no out and then proceeded to strike out the side. I like that.

My last name is Boone. lol, if you looked through my comments it would be kind of obvious.

Of course, I don't know if you're done with this thread and will read that.

Umpire didn't give up 9 runs.

No, but he did give up 3.

I don't think he has been right since that collision in Colorado hopefully the break will rejuvinate him.

How many times do we have to rest Drew for him to be "rejuvinated?"

wow he just touched 97...

But did it go over the batter's head?

Umpire didn't give up 9 runs.

No, but he did give up 3.

I don't think he has been right since that collision in Colorado hopefully the break will rejuvinate him.

How many times do we have to rest Drew for him to be "rejuvinated?"

wow he just touched 97...

But did it go over the batter's head?

An excellent, revisionist banana peeling theory:

http://www.slate.com/?id=2067407

Come the revolution, top down banana peeling will be a hanging offense!

391

no, gorzy has good control.

Clippers sign Tim Thomas, Lakers sign Radmanovic.

-LA Times

Is anyone really scared of the Cardinals anymore?

393.

Then I'm impressed.

392 Contrarianism for contrarianism's sake.

I love it.

Gorzy strikes out pudge and magglio in the third on 2 nasty 82 mph sliders.

I better pull the trigger before the Pitt GM changes his mind.

I think Ethier leads all rookies in batting, is that right?

392 Now that I think of it, it's more like MoneyFruit, challenging conventional wisdom, and engaging in the uphill battle to redefine the way the fruit is handled.

399 natepurcell

I was wondering the other day with all the talk that Ethier is a 4th OF, isn't he in the running for rookie of the year?

Jason Schmidt must be rubbing off on Matt Cain.

Cain's line today:
6ip
11ks
4bbs
115 pitches

358 Andrew Shimmin
At least, that's what makes sense to me. The alternate explanation is that he wants to get rid of them, but also wants to get as little back as possible, in return. But that seems paranoid.

What are we to take away from this statement? You're paranoid?

The Truth is out there, Fallout.

6-0 KC over STL

What ever happened to STL? All of a sudden, I'm looking foward to facing them.

Lakers sign Vlad Rad from the Clips, 5 yrs 31 mil.

Eh....

Edit: Almost looking foward to facing them.

This probably means Cook is gone since we cant have two 6'10 shooting guards.

Ive heard rumors Lakers are interested in Al Harrington.

This is pretty amusing. Grist for everyone's mill apparently. But hendrickson sucks, and no amount of wishful thinking or quirky baseball scoring rule will change that.

406- 394

The Lakers wasted their MLE on a 3 point specialist

vlad= european brian cook?

411- pretty much, but he has more talent. He's inconsistent, but when he gets hot, he's fun to watch. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, he will be their starting SF and his defense blows.

Missed ths game today but from reading the comments I'm glad I did. Comment 333 sent a shiver up the spine.

Here's a suprise: Russ Ortiz didn't make it through 5 in his Orioles debut so even though he's winning he can't get the win.

Ugh Gagne news:

http://tinyurl.com/s4csy

Neither Gagne nor the Dodgers have any credibility left. Just shut-up, say nothing and we will all be pleasantly suprised if he ever comes back in a Dodger uni.

405 It's hard to make a team with three really good players, and 22 bad ones.

This should be the offical drink of Dodger fans everywhere.

http://tinyurl.com/fr5py

It's hard to make a team with three really good players, and 22 bad ones.

See: 1988 Dodgers

RE: Vlad Radmanovic

I think he fits in better with the Clippers, as a complement to Brand's inside game. Whereas The Lakers don't have any sort of an inside game to speak of.

I wonder why he chose Lakers, since both teams offered him the same deal.

Yes, please dodgers, don't try and encourage us, we don't buy it anymore on Gagne.

419.

It just amazes me that players like Vlad can make that much money in basketball. That'd be like Olmedo Saenz getting a 5 year, 31 million dollar contract.

Kupchak has no concept of athleticism or defense. Lakers defense is gonna be awful next year.

Farmar/Smush--they'll get torched
Kobe- he'll be good
Radmanivic- torched
Odom- torched
Kwame-he's ok but his help side defense is non-existent

Kupchak really messed up when he didnt trade LO for Artest. You put Kobe/Artest/Use MLE on PG Marcus Banks/Turiaf/Kwame. That team has a chance to compete.

This upcoming year is just gonna be another wasted prime year of the best player on the planet.

Read the comments, saw Hendrickson only allowed 1 earned run, but then saw he was the knucklehead that made the error in the 3rd inning that allowed 3 runs to score. Odd ruling.

"It's not the pitcher's fault those runs scored, someone made an error!"

See us. We have hendrickson, baez, and Carter and the rest of the team is terrible.

"It's not the pitcher's fault those runs scored, someone made an error!"

It was actually the umps fault, Nomar had controll of the ball the whole time, but when he stepped off the bag to show the ump the ball, then he lost the ball. The runner should have been out.

405. Ponson, Marquis, and Suppan are all garbage basically.

The Cards will get back on track if they dump at least 2/3, and put Reyes/Wainright into their rotation full time.

Carpenter, Reyes, Mulder, Wainright, then one of 3 washed up bums i meantioned above. Mulder of course needs to get healthy first. It all starts with dominant starting pitching, however the Cards have enough offense probably to play .500 ball until their rotation gets fixed. Eckstein has an OBP of .380, Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds should be enough to keep theam afloat.

It pains me to break so many hearts but the truth must be told. When McScrooge was looking for a new GM, knowing he was still going to have to pay DePo, he wanted to hold the price down as much as possible. So he advertised for bids on the job, low bid gets it. There were quite a few bids and several bidders offered to work cheaply just for the prestige of the job. The winner of course was Flanders who offered to pay him $100,000 a year for the job. Unknownst to McScrooge the money was actually put up by Brian Sabean of the Giants and John Tower of the Padres, who thought that was small payment indeed to embarrass the Dodgers so much and ravage the team in senseless trades for the very worst players available. When it is all over, Flanders will return to his true love, the Giants, as a hero and be promoted to GM For Life.

We have hendrickson, baez, and Carter and the rest of the team is terrible.

It's nice to have a secret weapon waiting in the wings in AAA like Lance.

I wonder why he chose Lakers, since both teams offered him the same deal.
Vlad chose the Lakers over the Clippers because they offered him a starting job. He's 25 years old and I'm sure he doesn't want to be known as a bench player. On the Clippers, he would have back up Maggette and Brand and gotten about 25 minutes a night. I'm sure in his press conference, he'll mention Vlade Divac being a huge influence on his decision though.

Nick Johnson walkoff solo HR in the bottom of the tenth. The Nationals finally (i) win a game and (ii) make it past the mighty Devil Rays. Probably because Paul got the start, not Navarro.

425 - I thought Nomar caught the ball but the runner was safe.

Ouch -- Derek Turnbow four pitch bases loaded walk to Shannon Stewart to put the Twins up 8-7 w/2 out bottom eighth.

Has anyone mentioned ken berry yet?

I thought Nomar caught the ball but the runner was safe.

No, Nomar caught the ball, and the runner was out by a mile. The umpire just screwed it because he ruled Nomar did not hold on, but he did hold on, and lost the ball when he was showing the ump the ball.

Wow -- I actually have tickets to the Rays/Nationals game tomorrow; hadn't realized it would be Jae Seo. Chances of the Nationals PA announcer (who called Daryle Ward "Dwayne" at the last game I attended) pronouncing Seo's name correctly: vanishingly low.

Unf. I have about four thousand other things I need to do and there's a real chance I just won't be able to go see the all-ex-Dodger battery charge.

429.

On the Clippers, Vlad started. I think he would have remained a starter had he stayed, since Dunleavy likes to bring Maggette off the bench. In addition, Maggette has been on the trading block (at least up until Vlad jumped ship).

But I do agree with you that he'll probably get more PT on the Lakers.

It's nice to have a secret weapon waiting in the wings in AAA like Lance.

You mean like Hee Seop Choi for the Red Sox?

It's nice to have a secret weapon waiting in the wings in AAA like Lance.

You mean like Hee Seop Choi for the Red Sox?

re: lakers

Vlad doesn't make much sense unless they plan on packaging Mihm+cook+filler to get something useful.

Ive seen them linked by a couple of sources to a S&T with the Hawks for AL Harrington. Although that doesn't really help defensively either.

Vlad will get a lot of open shots with the Lakers IMO. Teams will always double/triple team Kobe, and Odom is a great ball handler and slasher. The triangle needs a deadly shooter and Vlad fills that role. I just didn't want to spend 31 million on that.

Does this mean the Lakers won't get another PG?

When will Drew hit another home run?

The problem is Vlad isnt much different than Brian Cook. The only difference is that one just signed for the full MLE, and the other is still on his MLE.

The Lakers are going to get ran straight off the court when they face the Mavs and Suns.

its the first day of free agency. lets see it out before we totally bash the lakers.

The Lakers got no money left but the LLE and the draft is over.
Its time to bash.

434 - The runner was by no means out by a mile. Let's be serious.

443. Cook's on his rookie contract still is what i meant.

445

trades.

441. The Lakers need another point guard as much as the Dodgers need another mediocre pitcher.

The fact that Nomar caught the ball does not change the fact that the batter/runner was hitting the bag as he caught it.

On the Clippers, Vlad started. I think he would have remained a starter had he stayed, since Dunleavy likes to bring Maggette off the bench. In addition, Maggette has been on the trading block (at least up until Vlad jumped ship).
He only started a third of the games in the regular season for the Clippers and that's when Maggette and/or Kaman were injured. In the playoffs, he started 2 out of 12 games. He was never really a "starter" for the Clippers. Maggette and Quinton Ross were the starters. Dunleavy started Vlad one game when Kaman couldn't go in the postseason. He went to the Lakers because of playing time.

Vlad will get a lot of open shots with the Lakers IMO. Teams will always double/triple team Kobe, and Odom is a great ball handler and slasher. The triangle needs a deadly shooter and Vlad fills that role. I just didn't want to spend 31 million on that.
He probably would have had more open shots with the Clippers because they have better bigs (Brand and Kaman) than they Lakers. These guys demand double teams. On the other hand, Kobe is always double teamed and Vlad will be more of a focal point in the offense with the Lakers.

The Clips lost Ramo, but they got Tim Thomas. Let's hope it's the Laker-killer TT, and not the TT of old.

thomas only plays well in contract years.

The Lakers need another point guard as much as the Dodgers need another mediocre pitcher.

Smush Farmar might be the worst PG in the league. It'd be hard not to improve by bringing in another PG.

already ragging on farmar? come on, give him a chance. hes only 19.

454.

Well, Smush was all right in the regular season, given it was his first year of big minutes. But don't forget the Lakers also have Sasha. Bringing in another PG would give them four PGs on a 12 man roster.

The fact that Nomar caught the ball does not change the fact that the batter/runner was hitting the bag as he caught it

The runner was out. Did you see the replay?

457 - Five times. I might be wrong, but if so, it was by a hair. The fact that they showed it that many times, indicates how close it was, as opposed to him being out by a mile.

Quick Vegas update:

Loney is 2-3 with 2 doubles so far today. Aybar is 1-3 with a HR.

James Loney has 10 errors already in Vegas. Isn't that unusually high for him?

Speaking of the Lakers, has there been any additional news concerning Lamar's son? What a horrible horrible story.

The play was close. I thought the throw beat the runner. I think that's why the ump didn't make the call immediately. Then, when Nomar flapped his arm up to show that he had the ball, it dislodged from his tenuous grip. If it were football, it would have been an incomplete pass, but for a baseball play, he probably had a hold of it long enough to properly be called an out. Probably.

Okay Ive made two moves as Dodgers GM. I don't know whether to go for it this year or not. So im just hovering a bit and see how the team is doing.

but the two moves

1- Traded Odalis Perez+ 2 million to the Mets for 1b prospect Brett Harper.

2- Traded Joel Guzman and Justin Ruggiano to the Pirates for LHP Tom Gorzelanny

Gorzey is taking Perez's place on the 25 man roster so he will be on the big league staff. He is MLB ready and I'm letting little decide what he wants to do with him.

Right now I'm looking for decent middle relievers that can be under control for more then this year. I have targeted Jon Rauch and I do have an offer on the table for him that the Nats GM said he likes but want sot wait a bit.

I honestly don't know if Im going to do much else. I prefer to gather pieces that will help this year and the next year. The deadline is a week before the real deadline is. So at the end, we can judge my moves compared to Collettis (I think im going to win).

It is so hard to root for the Giants.
1-1 Bottom 9th leadoff walk

giants go up 2-1

make that 3-1

[per Andrew's Instructions]

So, the argument is that Hendrickson isn't responsible for today because of a play that happened six batters before he gave up all the runs?

Please.