Today, the Pioneer League consists of schools in Compton, Torrance, El Segundo, and Lawndale.

Well, one more from Boz, for obvious reasons:

Washington, D.C.: According to today's L.A. Times, Grady Little likes to rest his players the game after they have a big game because the players relax knowing they don't have to play the next day. Is this the stupidest decision a manager's ever made, or only in the top five?

washingtonpost.com: "Little has made a habit of resting players the day after they excel. Garciaparra, for example, drove in six runs Saturday against the Colorado Rockies and sat out Sunday. " 'A lot of their success has to do with knowing they have the next day off,' Little said. 'It gives them a relaxed kind of feeling.' " Dodgers Display Awful Timing (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 6, 2006)

Tom Boswell: Thanks. That really is hard to believe.

But it only ranks No. 2.

Grady already owns the Worst Decision In History.

Weren't players like Drew, Nomar, et al., supposed to be rested earlier in the year so they could play more now. You know, when the games are growing in importance.

Then again, the Giants have trotted out the JV squad today in Cincinnati.

Old friend update:

Mike Rose just pinch hit for the Cardinals.

You mean you don't remember him?

3 Oooh, points for circling back around to the properly-spelled title of this post.

3 Yeah, but that's the Giants. Their regular lineup is a JV squad.

Grady's theory could be proved or disproved statistically pretty easily. Sounds like something for the boys at Hardball Times to sink their teeth into.

Barry Bonds had today off. He didn't have a hit yesterday when he played.

So, the players are rested because they excelled the previous day? Or they excel because they know they will be resting the following day? Which comes first?

Maybe they know that if they excel they will be resting the following day, and this makes them relaxed and therefore makes them excel?

It's been a strange few days for me. I've been to a few Nashville Sounds v RedRock Express games, which offered up some really good baseball. Then, as they played against the Dodgers, it was hard to root against so many of the guys I've seen play here. They've sort of grown on me. Still I'd rather have had anyone on the mound but the big guy. And I'd rather the Dodger's get the win. But it was definitely weird.

Nationals still up 5-4. Cardinals have the bases loaded one out in the top of the eighth.

Ronnie Belliard coming up.

The Mets have won and the Nats can now no longer win the NL East. It's the wild card or bust for them!

Belliard pops to short and a flying Molina comes up . . .

Flying Molina flys out to left.

Garciaparra was scheduled to sit out Sunday before Saturday's game even started, which I believe the guy in Boswell's chat failed to realize. I believe the more important question to analyze here is the latter of the first 2 in 8.

"Little has made a habit of resting players the day after they excel."

Grady Little likes to rest his players the game after they have a big game because the players relax knowing they don't have to play the next day.

Wait. I'm confused. Don't both of these statements completely misrepresent what Little does? He doesn't wait until after the player has a good game and then decide to give him the next day off. That's already decided before the previous game starts.

What Little was saying is, to paraphrase: Perhaps the reason my players have good days the day before their scheduled day off is because they know they have the day off coming so they turn it up a notch. I don't think Little suggested that was part of his plan; he's just noting that it might be more than a coincidence.

Ragging on Little for this undercuts the Dodgers' greatest strength this year: Depth. Especially now. How wonderful if they can give a guy like Nomar or J.D. a day off here and there, and be able to plug the hole with a player who could, themselves, be starting. It keeps the veterans fresh, gives the backups some significant looks at pitchers, and maintains the overall quality of the team's output. It doesn't guarantee wins, but it seems to have helped get the team in first place.

14 - "the latter of the first 2"

i.e., the second?

Preston Wilson 2 run HR off Chad Cordero in the former of the two halves of the ninth. 6-5 Cards.

16 I suppose that's an acceptable alternate. I had latter already written when I realized he had more than 2 questions, so I just added some words rather than try to find a better word.

I did a quick study of how Nomar and Drew do before they have one game off (assuming 2 or more are caused by injury). Nomar didn't have many such days, I found 7 that seem to fit. He went 10-29, with 3 doubles and a homer (.345/.345/.552). Drew had quite a few more days off, although I didn't include his day off after a double header. He went 19-56, with 4 doubles, 3 triples, a homer, and 9 walks (.339/.431/.571). Sample sizes are small, but there seems to be some minor effect, especially for Drew.

Bottom of the Ninth at RFK. Nationals trail by one. Bases loaded, one out, Vidro up.

Single to right, Nationals win 7-6.

Jon, I think your JV post has a point. This team is obviously playing beyond themselves and it's just us die hard fans that expect to see this team prevail. But, I'm reminded of "Those Amazing Mets" in 69 !! It's been done before by lesser teams then these Dodgers, so if you don't mind, this crazed fan still has hope of making to the finish line in either first or as the WC !!

The Nats are now 1/2 game behind the O's in the DC/Baltimore Metro Area battle.

The Angels passed the Dodgers last night for first place in the LA/OC battle.

Today's lineup:

Furcal, SS
Lugo, 3B
Saenz, 1B
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Martin, C
Kemp, CF
Repko, RF
Lowe, P

Zito is upping his free agency value with his nomination for the Clemente award. :)

Surprised not to see LoDuca's name mentioned after all the money, time and energy he has so willingly donated to his community.

Gange is LA's nomination.

Repko must have barfed in Little's breakfast prunes, he's on the top of the ---- list now, hitting behind Martin

Roberto Clemente never won the Roberto Clemente Award and it was given out during his lifetime, although under a different name.

25

I'm thinking Repko will have a good day today

[26] That is very funny and yet, knowing the MLB, hardly surprising.

27 - The whole team needs to rebound and have a good day today. The Hated Ones and the Padres are making a strong run down the home stretch with just a couple furlongs to go. This team needs a strong shot in the arm from somebody!

Time to pray to that "Great Dodger in the sky"! :)

Pete Rose won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1976.

The only player to win the award while he was a Dodger was Steve Garvey in 1981.

24 I assume you are joking about Lo Duca. Given the numerous reports about his gambling situations, I don't think MLB wants Lo Duca anywhere near the Clemente award.

22 A while back on DT, I predicted the Angels would win the AL West and finish with a better record than the Dodgers. I'm not sure how well I'll fare on either count.

So I just purchased the last month of the season on mlbtv, but it isn't playing very well at all. It keeps freezing and jumping. I am at work, but we have T1 here so I don't think its the connection speed. Anybody else have this problem?

The Tigers and Mariners are stuck in a rain delay in the 8th. It's tied 4-4. Presumably, they will wait forever to finish that game since the two teams don't play each other again this year and if the game were called, it would have to be replayed in its entirety.

Carlos Delgado is the Mets nominee.

This just in:
PHOENIX (AP) — Rich Dozer has resigned as president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a position he has held since the expansion franchise was awarded 11 years ago.
He will be replaced by former Los Angeles Dodgers executive Derrick Hall, who has been Diamondbacks senior vice president for communications since May 2005, the team said in a news release.
Dozer was the last of the senior executives still with the club from its formation under Jerry Colangelo. He was named club president in March, 1995, three years before the team began play.
Dozer and Hall will work together during a transitional period through October, the team said.

Our record when Hendrickson is pitching is 1-11. Has any Dodger starter ever have such a bad record? If we had only won 1/3 of his starts, we could be 4 games ahead of SD. If we end up losing to SD by a game or two, Grady will regret starting Hendrickson so many times.

30 - I remember the 70's when the Reds werre more of a rival to the Blue than the Hated ones. The Big Red Machine was truly powerful during that decade and the matchups with the Big Blue Wrecking Crew from 1973-79 was some of the best baseball I've seen played. I still cringe when I think of George Foster coming to the plate when Charlie Hough was on the mound. Foster owned Ol Charlie!!

[31] Aye.

Well England just pulled out an absolute rubbish victory, but I'd certainly be willing to settle for one of those from the blue crew at this point.

Lots of goal mouth action in the France v. Italy Cup final replay with France taking it 3-1 and the Northern Irish are looking to pull out a win against Spain.

The Dodgers have won 5 times when Hendrickson has pitched if you include his inning of relief against Colorado.

I count the Dodgers record in Henrdickson games to be 5-8.

37 - That is just atrocious!!! I can't believe Grady can send him out there in any good faith effort to win a game. Send Kuo(nervous tick starting), Sele (shaking, Aarg) or until Bills comes back, Tomko(shudder, twitch) for a start. All these would still be better than sending Hendy(full scale Turets attack coming on) out for another guaranteed loss.

Hendrickson's game log:
http://tinyurl.com/qcjld

His first start with the Dodgers was July 1.

While probably not a popular idea around here, I find it odd that Tomko is not even mentioned as a candidate to step in the rotation for a spot start. Does being a late-inning reliever mess up your throwing schedule so much that you can't make a start? I'd take my chances with Tomko before Stults for sure. I'm nervous about Kuo as well because of the situation.

3 I agree with you, Bob, especially regarding Drew. I mentioned in the last thread how much it bothers me that he's not in the lineup today.

How did you come up with a 1-11 mark for Hendrickson? The Dodgers have had an 11-game and a 7-game winning streak. The Dodgers had to have one at least one game pitched by Hendrickson in each of those streaks.

44 My mistake. Thanks for the info. I guess I assumed that we lost all his other starts even though he didn't personally get the loss.

38 I too well remember that. Why will a manager insist on using a pitcher when he has so adequately demonstrated his incompetence? In the case of Lasorda and Hough, I remember hearing somewhere recently that Charlie Hough drove Lasorda into the stadium every day, they were good friends; maybe Hendrickson reminds Little of a friend or relative he liked a lot... Or maybe Colletti insists he play him.

32- the Angels aren't going to win the AL West, not with a lineup where Orlando Cabrera is the number 3 hitter

46 - In my memory, it seemed like Foster either walked or homered in his at bats against Ol Charlie. Maybe even Little even feels some pain in writing Hendy's name on the lineup card. I wonder if Ned is hoping Hendy will eventually justify the trade, what is the old biblical phrase about "thowing pearls after swine". That seems to fit here.

[43 & 46] It seems as if the Dodgers are steadfast on having a lefty in the rotation, hence the continued reliance on Hendrickson and the usage of Kuo or maybe even Stults as possible replacements for the spot.

If you read the comments on Inside The Dodgers, someone is making bad comments as JoeyP, and we know it is not him. There is also a poster identified as Jon Weisman, posting really silly stuff. Today he copied Jon's JV story in there. Is anyone trying to tell the Dodger's Josh about this and having those people banned. If they don't, a lot of people, myself included, will probably quit going to that Web Site. You post a blog, you got a responsibility to the people who come there.

So, the Post has a new local sports blog, called the "DC Sports Bog" because of the local swamp and because Coach Friedgen of UMD apparently calls blogs bogs.

Anyhow, the guy is a pretty funny writer, as this summary of the dramatic finish to today's Nats game suggests: "Cordero blows the lead in the top of the ninth on a two-run homer by ex-Nat Preston Wilson, then Jose Vidro hits a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth, leaving a decidedly non-sold out crowd giddy with mild enthusiasm and leading to this breaking news update."

I link this here for Bob because the author spent some time wandering RFK and asking Cardinal fans why they are the best fans in baseball.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/

48 Wrong parable: "Making a silk purse from a sow's ear" seems more appropriate here.

50 I have told Josh Rawitch. I also vote for the "ignoring" response, at least for a while, since I doubt this person will keep on if he gets no response.

33 nevermind. I got it fixed. I guess it pays to have the head IT guy also be the drummer in your band.

51

Cardinals fans are the best fans in baseball because they have declared themselves to be so.

I am declaring myself to be Pope.

Angels winning, As losing, though both just by one in the sixth.

A's now up two.

now three on a Milton Bradley run-scoring single.

55 What are you using to make the white smoke?

Redleg Nation has a good article on the worst trade in recent memory. Here's how it starts:

With "The Trade," we believe it was Krivsky's hope to solidify the Reds bullpen and defense, while hopefully not taking enough offense away from the club to allow the Reds to maintain their Wild Card playoff aspirations. We since know that the Wild Card is rapidly slipping away, for which the bullpen and a offensive slump are largely responsible.

http://tinyurl.com/s88fw

I like that Saenz is finally getting a start, although if he was at 3rd, Nomar at 1st, and Drew in RF it would be quite alot better.

With Lowe pitching, I guess Grady doesnt want to let Saenz play 3rd base.

Drew (even though he hasnt hit lefties very well this year) still is a better choice than Repko.

Lugo's as a Dodger- 92ABs, .228/.305/.283
Even Izturis never did that poorly.

When I wrote "Septebmer" yesterday, I was typing ex cathedra.

51 Card fans are the best because they saw right thru that 'roid haze and called Big Mac out on it. Oh wait....

That is so getting nailed up on a church door.

62 Lugo's as a Dodger- 92ABs, .228/.305/.283
Even Izturis never did that poorly

.....................

Izturis - 2002: 468 PA, .232/.253./.303 (52 OPS+, .200 EQA)
Izturis - 2003: 593 PA, .251/.282./.315 (61 OPS+, .214 EQA)

Lugo's EQA as a Dodger: .211
Lugo's career EQA: .264

Izturis's career EQA: .225

Izturis pretty much defined "that poorly"

EQA's adjusted for all-time, accoridng to BPro

I almost never read Dodger Blues, but clicked over there today for a minut, and I will say their little Grady Little roll-over cartoon is pretty funny. Very understated.

Dodger Blues is hilarious...used to check it out every day...unfortunately not as much time now. His/her responses to e-mail is very funny too.

2002-- Wow. Its amazing the Dodgers couldnt come up with someone better to play SS that season. Or even more strange that they thought Izturis could handle the position.

Grady's use of Lugo is very Tracy-esque. Keeping him at the top of the order despite a tremendous slump. Shades of last season with Izzy.

68 Dodger Blues must be a very hard site to maintain in winning years like this one... until the last couple days anyway.

I've wondered about that site for a while... the author/authors go to great lengths to disguise their identities, even down to the whois registration data. That makes me wonder if it might be somebody inside the organization who runs it.

I did notice that the Dodger PR guys were browsing Dodger Blues in the press box last month, which I found rather amusing.

69 It reminds me of JT's allergy to HEE SEOP CHOI, HEE SEOP CHOI last year....

and re: Izzy in '03, I think the Dodgers scored about 12 runs that year so it's not as though Izzy was the exception to the rule that year....

70 I think the almost gratuitous use of profanity and the sometimes reflexively low-tech nature of the site would indicate it's someone else. If those people are working for the Dodgers, well, I'd be happy to pay more money for Dodger stuff....

70 - He was inadvertantly outed on DodgerMath earlier this year.

I don't covet draft picks enough to offer Hendrickson arbitration this winter. He played so bad he might accept. Probably some other stupid GM will sign him, but I don't want to take a chance.

Unlike a lot of people here at DT, I don't have any real strong feelings toward Colletti. Some of his moves have worked, others would have been better left undone, but he's done enough right that I have a generally positive impression despite a few real trade stinkers. It's become painfully obvious that Hendrickson does not deserve to be in the starting rotation, and for the last month of the season he should be relegated to a bullpen mop-up role, and then, if we are fortunate enough to make the post-season we can part ways, wish him well, and escort him out of Los Angeles forever.

While not as awful as acquiring Hendrickson, the Lugo trade is starting to bother me even more. At this point, I'm not even concerned about the eventual upside that we gave up in Guzman; my bigger issue is that we are using Lugo much too frequently. The Dodger brain trust knows that Lugo will be gone at the end of the season, and it seems like they keep throwing him out there in order to try and recuperate some small amount on their investment. It reminds me of the time I bought Cisco stock at a near peak, and stubbornly held onto it in an effort to recoup my losses. But it's gone, let's get over it and move on. It's time to cut our losses, and get Lugo out of the lineup - we have 6 infielders at this point that should be in ahead of Lugo (Betemit, Furcal, Kent, Nomar, Saenz, Loney) so there are still plenty of ways to shuffle the deck just please stop thinking that Lugo is our ace in the hole. (That being said, if Lugo goes 3-4 tonight with 2 extra base hits you can thank me but my money is on another 0 for 3/4).

73 Whats funny is that I have absolutely no memory of that.

74 Hendrickson has to accept arbitratrion, he's not eligible for free agency until 2008. It's either arbitration or cutting him.

76 So if we cut him we get nothing? I'll settle for that.

76 - You didn't mean to do it, I dont' think. You reprinted a letter to the editor from the LA Times. It happened to be the letter that's posted on his site, with the name blurred out.

I remember reading it, and thinking holy cow, is that the DodgerBlues guy's name right there?!?

I then got on with my life. :)

The man whose name would garnish a heck of a scrabble score, Youzhny (unseeded), is playing a tight quarter final game against second seed Nadal.

71 Or maybe I should say JT's loyalty to Jason Phillips over HEE SEOP CHOI! HEE SEOP CHOI! last year..

Haha, Replace garnish with garner and please be on your way :)

A couple of thoughts/questions regarding the late season call-ups. Although I have no burning desire to see Oscar Robles as the Dodgers' starting shortstop or second basemen, I did think he was one of the better personal interest stories from last season and he is certainly someone that I would like to see succeed wherever he ends up. Unfortunately, it seems that he is destined to be one of those AAAA players; a guy that mostly chugs along in triple A and occasionally gets called up to the big leagues to make a few starts for an injured player or hang out on the bench in September. So that got me to thinking... what does a Triple A player make in a season? Does it help them financially that they get called up, even for a short period of time?

In a nutshell, what's Robles' financial situation going to look like after a few more years of plugging away in triple A and then having to call it quits before ever really making a splash (or drawing a pension) at the major league level?

apparently Matsuzaka will be posted. and it may cost 30 million just to talk to Seibu. with Boras asking for about a 5 year, 70 million contract, it would be like 100 million over 5 years for Matsuzaka.

Let go Nomar, Hendrickson, Lugo, Lofton, and whoever else we don't need.

82 Robles already will get a pension. All you need is to spend one day on an MLB roster and you get one. Obviously it goes up the longer you play.

AAA players make about $12,000-$15,000 a year, I think. It's solely subsistence pay, and really not even that. If you figured it out I'm sure it would come out to far less than minimum wage.

83 - Or throw 3yrs/$50M at Jason Schmidt and call it a winter.

83 We've got money to blow this Winter and nothing to spend it on. I say go for it.

83 Matsuzaka's arm is one of the most abused in baseball history... I wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole. They are certainly posting him at the right time -- while he still has all his limbs attached.

In high school Matsuzaka threw three complete games in four days, including the infamous 250-pitch game. And on the one day when he didn't pitch a complete game, he relieved.

This from BTF poster CFiJ:

"Matsuzaka started the team's third game on 8/19/98 and threw a complete game shutout.

Then it was a 250 pitch, 17 IP vs PL Gakuen (the Notre Dame of Japanese high school baseball) in the quarterfinal the next day.

Then, with his team trailing 0-6 in the bottom of the 8th inning of the semi-final the next day, Matsuzaka came in as a pinch hitter and hit an RBI. The team caught fire and scored 4 runs that inning. Matsuzaka then pitched the top of the 9th, after which his team scored 3 more runs to win the game 7-6.

Then, the next day after that, Matsuzaka started the championship game, and threw a no-no."

Don't wish for him unless you really liked Darren Dreifort and Kevin Brown.

84
Thanks for the quick answers. Wow, is it really that low? Never knew some of these guys were making less than the burger flipper at my local In-N-Out.

How does the MLB pension plan work? Is there a web site that explains it? I'd be interested in checking it out. Maybe I need to start the Oscar Robles' solid financial future foundation. If we had a charity golf event as a fundraiser, I could invite all of the familiar faces from last season - Tracy, Robles, Phillips - although Choi still wouldn't get to play but maybe he could be the head caddie or MC.

87.

There was a time where pitchers would throw 20+ complete games a year. Maybe Matsuzaka has a rubber arm, like Warren Spahn. I really think we've become too focused on pitch count now a days.

In Matsuzaka's last start for Seibu, he left after 7 innings and 70 pitches.

Which was really surprising.

Matsuzaka had 7 IP, 9 K, 3 H, 0 BB, 70 pitches against Chiba. Seibu won 4-0.

83 Where did you hear that he will be posted? I actually think it may be possible to sign him to less than that amount, as the Matsuis and Ichiro all signed for less and were big stars over in Japan (Hideki signed 3 years, $21 mil, Ichiro 4 year, $44 mil, and Kazuo 3 years, $20.1 mil). Without a track record in the US, Boras only has a limited amount of leverage.

84 Unless something's changed very recently, a player needs to spend 43 days on a major league roster to qualify for full pension benefits. It only takes 1 day on a roster to qualify for medical benefits for life, however.

http://tinyurl.com/quah8

67,68 - I stumbled onto Dodger Blues when I was frustrated once last year, and I've been hooked. I have a similarly dry sense of humor so I appreciate it. A good bit of TYFN #1 on there, but I appreciate it. After the Dodgers lose, it numbs the frustration.

[93] From the article: A telephone call made Thursday night to Selig during Game 7 of the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game was not immediately returned.

You don't say.

93 I'm no lawyer, but the racial discrimination allegation seems to be the usual plaintiff's lawyer's ploy of throwing everything against the wall in hopes some of it sticks.

89 "Maybe Matsuzaka has a rubber arm, like Warren Spahn. I really think we've become too focused on pitch count now a days."

You're right, maybe he does. The question is whether that maybe is worth betting $100 million on. As baseball maybes go, that's even worse than most.

I agree that pitch count is a little too much of a focus these days. It's not the be-all and end-all for preventing injury. What concerned me much more than the 250 game was the fact that he started three games in four days.

Also, the Warren Spahn comparison is a bad one and illustrates exactly the reason why Matsuzaka concerns me. He had those pitch counts in HIGH SCHOOL. Warren Spahn wasn't abused to that degree as a young pitcher. In fact, Spahn did not throw his 200th major league inning until age 26. The Battle of the Bulge almost killed him, but the fact that he was there, and not pitching, is probably one reason he was able to have such a long career.

Also, Spahn pitched to contact, much as Maddux does, and was able to eat up all those innings without throwing an outlandish number of pitches.

93 I guess I fouled that up. Doh!

Either way Oscar qualifies of course.

95 The funniest part about that is Bud, if he read that, would probably say "Hey! Sounds like a great idea!"

84 Not that it's a big deal really, but I was fairly sure Triple A big leaguers made more than that (I was thinking around $30K). Anyway, at least according to http://www.mlb4u.com/pcontracts.php, (which is a couple years outdated, but which would tend to re-enforce the fact), they make 30-40 per.

100 Clearly I need to stop answering questions today. Either that, or read a newspaper published after 2000.

And I think if you look up "Triple A big leaguer" in the dictionary, you'll find Robles' picture. ;)

101 And if you type in AAA as opposed to Triple A, you get all kinds of interesting finds....well, not really interesting, just not what you wanted.

I will have to take your word about the site in 100 because it just made Intenet Explorer crash.

[Insert obligatory question here about why this dunce uses IE anyway... I know, I know]

102 When I started my business, I named it Triple E Productions before I realized there was a porn production company of the same name.

That could result in some interesting confusion, but unfortunately it hasn't.

At least I come up first on Google. Small favors.

The site posted in [100] is outdated according to the site. It directs you here:

http://mlb4u.com/wiki/index.php/Contract

104
I had to research that for uh... fact checking purposes.

Porn produced in Northern California, now I have heard everything.

Will the Cubs win the David Price sweepstakes?

The Pirates have Chris Duffy leading off today in Chicago. He has an OPS of .544 this season and .350 against LHP.

96

The plaintiffs of that lawsuit lost in court about 2 years ago and their appeal was denied. Their site, which includes the briefs and opinions, is still up:
http://www.baseballpension.com/index.html

The late Doug Pappas found the lawsuit ridiculous.

http://tinyurl.com/gtjqy

Fans tuning in to tonight's game via Extra Innings (Brewers feed) get to hear a miked Jeff Cirillo at third base all game!

104 Youuuuuuu're Triple E...um...enterprises...Well yes, of course I'm talking about Eric Enders' site, not....that other one..."Don't be ridiculous" as Balki would say on "Perfect Strangers".

[110] Let us hope his balls stay dry. I hear wet balls really get his panties in a bunch.

The Rockies fans seem to have a lingering hatred for Mr. Cirillo.

112 Uh, sphincter says what?

None of the Dodgers starters tonight have a last name longer than 6 letters.

115 That made me realize how much I miss Ross Porter.

[114] From our resident Rocky blog:

https://badaltitude.baseballtoaster.com/archives/457284.html

Having seen the confidence in our batters, I think our pitching in the first few innings will be very important. If it doesn't hold, it will be a massacre.

We are sending the NL's pitcher of the month up there. No worries mate.

Anibal Sanchez is pitching very well after 5 innings.

Yes, Sanchez is an interesting pitcher.

On the other hand, Kyle Snyder was not very interesting for Boston.

The quality of each teams number 3 hitter today, cannot be understated.

6 interesting innings for Anibal.

The Giant's Jonathan Sanchez pitched very well yesterday, and as they say, one good Sanchez deserves another.

Actually Jonathan Sanchez pitched well today, not yesterday.

Lets face it. The Dodgers are not any good unless they are in the middle of a long winning streak.

[126] Even better, although I have no idea how that got jumbled up in my head.

125 Apparently we still need to get the code down.

Jonathan Sanchez did not pitch very well today. He may have pitched well, super, bodaciously, amazingly, whatever. But he did not "pitch very well." Only guys like Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax do that with any regularity.

Where have the Brewers come up with these young pitchers who destroy the D's lin-up

I've noticed a strange quality of Dodgers being very pitcher sensitive, and even more so during th

eir streaks. I know of no measurement for this, but if a pitcher is slightly below average, they will pile on, and they may still have the most hits in the League. But if a pitcher is a bit above average, they make him look like Warren Spahn. I am surprised they have been victims of no no-hitters.

Announcers are saying Lowe hit Fielder for his mess with Kent. Wrong. A sinker pitcher never would put people on base in a game where the Dodgers look as if they may have trouble getting 1-2 runs.

Could be game over already, Mr Lowe.

Anybody else think Andre was a little too nonchalant on that ball? Gotta play tighter than that.

"I know of no measurement for this, but if a pitcher is slightly below average, they will pile on, and they may still have the most hits in the League. But if a pitcher is a bit above average, they make him look like Warren Spahn. I am surprised they have been victims of no no-hitters."

Funny, over on Bronx Banter right now they are having a similar discussion about the Yankees. One of their posters, Travis, came up with this chart on how the Yanks have done against certain types of pitchers. I wonder what a Dodger chart would look like.

"YANKEES AGAINST:

Cy Young winners: 10 starts, 3-3, 4.85 ERA, 47.5 average Game Score
Cy Young votes: 21 starts, 6-12, 5.05 ERA, 47.3 average Game Score
Rookies: 23 starts, 7-8, 5.69 ERA, 43.4 average Game Score
Other: 83 starts, 23-40, 5.79 ERA, 42.8 average Game Score"

There was a comment that Rick Monday early in the year after he had spoken to a scout about the Dodgers, they are a very good fastball hitting team, so the average righthanded pitcher, they have a good chance to pile up some hits and score some runs. Sure you get the occasional Peavy or Schmidt but for the most part, a fastball/change guy is a pitcher they can handle.

But they are a poor off-speed hitting team, probably due to their aggressive nature and lack of power hitting. They are not a team that is going score many runs when they don't pile up hits.

[129] Ah, I see. For his debut "well" would not seem to do J. Sanchez justice, but he did not, in fact, pitch "very well".

Anibal needs 6 more outs for history.

And Anibal is still interesting after 7 innings. He has only made 81 pitches.

He's going to get it. I know this because I just released him from my Roto team.

He's got Montero, Pinch HItter, Hudson, Jackson, Gonzalez, Byrnes left.

82 pitches through 7 so that shouldnt be a problem.

133 Which is why it is no secret that the Dodgers are at their best when Furcal and Lofton are on base, that guarantees fast balls to Nomar, Kent and Drew. When those guys have trouble, it affects the whole lineup.

138 I would so love to see Eric Byrnes make the last out of a very well pitched game.

Byrnes is the kind of guy that would lay down a bunt and beat it out in that type of situation.

Somehow, I have to believe that even with Glavine pitching tomorrow, we will see with very little change this lineup.

Furcal SS
Lofton CF
Garciaparra 1B
Drew RF
Kent 2B
Ethier LF
Betemit 3B
Martin C

Maybe Betemit will sit out against Glavine and Hall will start one game at catcher but otherwise I expect to see this team through the weekend.

Joe Girardi does some weird things.
The Marlins had 1st/2nd with 0 outs, and Sanchez on deck. Well Girardi has Amazega bunt anyways. Sanchez is an .091 hitter, and of course he doesnt drive in eeither runner.

Just out of curiosity, does ESPN still do live cut-ins on all the "pitching very well" attempts? It's been so long since somebody got one.

For Sam, Bob, et al:

"Mr. Brock, why is it called a 'Glorious Revolution' if they didn't get to kill anybody? What's so glorious about it?."

5 more outs. "Special" game going on in Florida (it's on ESPN right now). I don't think he'll do it.

1 out and Sanchez walks PH- Counsell.
Byrnes cant make the final out now...

The 3-1 pitch was clearly a ball, but Counsell walked anyways. I wouldn't be surprised if the Marlins lose this game only because Girardi is the manager.

147 He can if there is a double play right now.

It appears that Stults' slightly better than Hendrickson relief yesterday may have earned him a start. Sunday's starter is now TBA.

Byrnes cant make the final out now...
Not true, just got a DP.

Interestingness lives on heading into the final inning.

[145] We rid our lives of Bob and his oppressive misspelling of September.

151 Called it two posts above.

Pretty play by Uggla.

Nevermind 147!

3 more outs to go! ESPNNEWS better show the 9th inning.

I like how they kept it special before getting the double play. That's got to earn them some karma points.

Lowe must have his best sinker of the year.
11-0 GB/FB out ratio.

OK, should I watch the Dodger game tonight after I finish working? Last night you guys led me astray!

MLB.tv and Extra Innings were made for interesting nights such as this.

159 "If the victim was led astray, he asked for it."

ESPN's scroll said "stay tuned for live coverage," so I assume they'll have the top of the 9th.

As of this moment you should.

We go to the ninth in Florida.

145 Struggling to find a Rule 5 compliant response.

Connor Jackson. Strike out. One out.

And Jackson strikes out. 2 more outs.

does anyone get furious/disappointed when lugo is at bat?

The 0-1 was another ball. This umpire must really want to be part of the record books.

Luis Gonzalez. pop up. Two away.

2 outs.

Gonzo pops up. Byrnes up.

1 more to go!

Its all on Eric Byrnes!

I have a byrning sensation right now

NO HITTER!

Byrnes almost beat that one out.

Didn't Kevin Brown throw a no hitter for the Marlins?

NO HITTER!

Get working Bob.

Hanley appeared to double clutch, Byrnes may have beat the throw, although it probably could have been ruled an error if he was.

Wow, that last play was close. I thought Byrnes might have beaten it, since the shortstop double-pumped or something.

Big congratulations to Anibal Sanchez!!

Great job.

Byrnes didn't argue at all, but I thought the play was very close.

Sanchez is only 22yrs old.
Great game.

178
Check the Griddle

Byrnes is too classy to argue ;) in that situation.

Sanchez looked as if he was ready to collapse. He put his all into that and fully deserves the result. Congratulations to the kid

If you're keeping score...No hitters:

Marlins 4
Mets 0

132 Eric, I have a similar Dodger chart posted by tomorrow.

Lowe's only thrown 57 pitches in 5 ip.

{188] *I'll

Sanchez threw 103 pitches.

Quality at bats by Kent and Ethier. That should allow Capuano to go at least 7 innings now.

I am having so much fun sending emails to my Red Sox buddies.

Byrnes was out. Just barely, though.

It would have been an interesting decision for the scorer if he'd been called safe. Generally you don't give a guy an error for just half-assing a ball unless there's a bobble, but this was an unusual circumstance. In addition to double-pumping, he took his sweet time, and lollipopped the throw. Three mistakes on one grounder and he still managed to get the out.

194
Byrnes just should have dove into first base.

188 I'll look forward to it.

Lowe is the anti-Odalis tonite.

Tie game in Philly -- Ryan Howard coming up to start the bottom of the 8th. He's ofer three so far.

Two in one night? The Big Unit is pitching an interesting game through 5 innings in Kansas City.

Howard takes three straight strikes.

That was buffalo'd into the OF! Nicely done, Kemp!

Tigers have unconditionally released Dmitri Young.

Stan from Tacoma

Whoa, we're in the lead?

It's been a while, this feels wierd. But I could get used to it.

199 Too bad about Time Zones and all... I wonder if any pitcher has ever pitched two consecutive interesting games? Not like Vander Meer, I mean, but until 10 minutes ago the last MLB interesting game was pitched by Randy Johnson.

Listening to the Brewers announcers on MLBTV - they're not too homer-ish, but they sound a little... drunk. (Not inappropriate given the team.)

37 -- Frustated last night as many of you are about Hendrickson, I did a little research. Here's what I came up with (I hope I didn't miss anyone):
Lowest Winning Percentage, Individual Pitchers, Single Season, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1958-current
(8 or more decisions)
1. Mark Hendrickson, 2006, .125 (1-7)
2. Rick Honeycutt, 1987, .143 (2-12)
3. Mike Kekich, 1968, .167 (2-10)
Carlos Perez, 1999, .167 (2-10)
5. Bob Miller, 1967, .182 (2-9)
6. Tim Leary, 1987, .214 (3-11)
7. Dave Goltz, 1981, .222 (2-7)
Dennis Powell, 1986, .222 (2-7)
Alejandro Pena, 1987, .222 (2-7)
Hideo Nomo, 1998, .222 (2-7)
11. Andy Ashby, 2003, .231 (3-10)
Notes: At 2-12, Honeycutt was traded to Oakland on August 29, 1987. At 2-7, Nomo was traded to the Mets on June 6, 1998. Three of worst 10 were all in 1987, the year before we won our last World Series.

Most Games Under .500, single season – 10, Bill Singer, 1972, 6-16

199 Fernando and Dave Stewart did that in 1990.

Stan from Tacoma

[204] And that one was "very" interesting. This game can only hope to be interesting.

204

Addie Joss
Warren Spahn
Nolan Ryan twice!

204 Nolan Ryan threw no-hitters exactly two months apart in 1973. I think a couple of Koufax's no-hitters might have been consecutive, in a non-Vander Meer way.

Is there any way to get the Dodgers announcers on mlb.tv? I have Brewers right now.

With Lowe pitching and Repko, Lugo, Kemp and Saenz (as opposed to No-mah) in the lineup, I bet the under (8.5) on tonight's game, so now I am saddled with rooting for the Dodgers to win but without scoring a lot of runs.

So far, so good, but no one should do this to themselves......it's painful.

204 209 Also Allie Reynolds.

203 I know it feels strange, but we must not fly too high with it.

On the other hand, perhaps this is a glimps of a year or two from now. A pitcher may handle the heart of the order and find that the whole of the line-up is heart. We can accomplish this if we do not blow it and make too many stupid trades. We have a nice bump of talent in the system that could provide this at low cost.

The cry to win now at all cost is the enemy.

211 Unfortunately, not through MLBTV when they're playing on the road. But if you have an MLB audio account you could also log in there, and then choose the dodgers announcers and mute the MLBTV. Which I'm tempted to do here, tho it's kind of a pain and tends to crash my computer.

Or you could just continue to enjoy the Brewers' announcers continuing to talk about anything but the game going on.

211 Nope. They always give the home team broadcast, unless the home team isn't broadcasting that particular game. Then you get the road team.

207 I knew I wasn't going to be able to word that post so people could understand what I was talking about.

Looks like Bob was able to decipher it though.

I am continuously one post too late tonight.

Thanks guys...I guess I will soldier on with the Brewers' guys.

217
I conveniently had a list of interesting events up on my browser so it was fairly easy to figure out.

Allie Reynolds should also be on the list.

206 Thanks for that. Very interesting.

Hopefully Hendrickson joins Goltz, who is the only pitcher on the list who managed to suck that badly during a division-winning season.

218 I was going to post that at 18:45:01, but it just seemed mean.

Actually, now I like the Brewers' announcers more, especially since they ended the inning by saying "Derek Lowe continues to chew up and spit out the Brewers' bats."

Tonite is one of Lowe's best pitched games of his career.

Harvey Kueen had a couple of memorable at bats to end games against Sandy. The odds of being the last at bat in two no hitters pitched by the same pitcher have to be astronomical.

Stan from Tacoma

Ned Yost is playing with fire by leaving Capuano out there for another inning, against the heart of the Dodgers order.

Ned Yost is playing with fire by leaving Capuano out there for another inning, against the heart of the Dodgers order.

I seem to remember, as a youth, a fellow named Nelson Liriano breaking up every possible no hitter in the American League over a one or two year period.

Yup, somebody remembers Nelson Liriano.

"Unfortunately, not through MLBTV when they're playing on the road. But if you have an MLB audio account you could also log in there, and then choose the dodgers announcers and mute the MLBTV. Which I'm tempted to do here, tho it's kind of a pain and tends to crash my computer."

I've tried that before but there are two problems with it.
1) The audio never synchs up.
2) In IE, at least, MLB.com opens up both audio and video in the same window. So if you click on the video you lose the audio and vice versa. You can combat this by going to "view source" and looking through the html code for the embedded url. But you're right, it's kind of a pain in the butt.

Apparently Lugo is a fireman however.

224 I don't think this is better than his April 27, 2002 game. That one was Anibal-esque.

... But now they're (Brewers announcers) are getting extremely gushy about Rick Monday's saving of the flag, so, never mind.

What happened to Saenz? Gameday has Loney htting for him.

Don't forget the greatest killer of interesting events: Horace Clarke

https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/383960.html

233
Steiner said Loney was going in as a defensive replacement, although I don't know why he had to hit for Saenz in that case.

That was a really poor effort from the Dodgers hitters, against a pitcher that isnt on a full tank.

They must be confident Lowe can get 6 more outs without yielding any runs.

This was not the best game Derek Lowe ever pitched -- or, yes it was:

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B10200NYA2004.htm

Six interesting innings for Johnson now.

229 Ah, yes, good point. That sound is off. Never mind. Honestly, i'm not sure listening to the Dodgers announcers is that much of an improvement at this point (minus Vin).

Best is to have MLBTV on, turn off the sound, and then do your own play by play, mimicking either Vin, or for bonus points, Ross Porter. Do this with the shades drawn and your windows shut. Your cats will still look at you funny though. I mean, I've heard. Never tried it myself.

236 Do you really think they weren't trying their hardest?

Loney had already come in as a defensive replacement in the previous half inning.

237 Unlike his 2002 no-no, I remember the one Eric just posted.

great hustle by mench.

241
Thanks. I feel better now. I've been a little caught up in interesting things.

Any guy who breaks up a perfect game with two outs in the 9th inning either has a special seat reserved for him hell, or 72 virgins waiting for him in heaven, depending on the fans' particular point of view.

Mike Mussina lost one in that fashion a couple of years ago. Can't remember the name of the guy that beat him, though...

Whoo, Furcal used all of his strong arm on that one.

Whew.

Lowe has a 20-2 GB/FB ratio this game.
Has he ever had a better one?

245
Carl Everett.

It was Carl Everett. I had to look it up.

240. No. Mentally they werent. I've seen it before when a pitcher is really on his game, the hitters will just give away at bats. Swing at 1st pitches, etc...Fail to grind out at bats..Usually that happens either in blow out games, or games when the starter is just dominating.

Man, I'm even one post late on correcting my own posts!

(Should've known Bob would have my back there)

Francisco Cordero is NOT Frank Francisco.

Somebody tell Lyons.

I am glad this is a quick game because I sure am going to get a late start on it. Somebody tell all these silly pitchers to stop pitching very well.

[250] The Dodgers must have thought Davis was pitching for them yesterday.

Is he really taking Lowe out?

253 No, no, no! Tell Milwaukee's pitchers that! ;)

250

I love how you can tell all of this just from gameday.

3.5, 8 walks in his last 7 games

I hope not.
Lowe- 79 pitches
20-2 GB/FB

He's been outstanding tonite.

250
I still think you're confusing effort with outcome.

Maybe we need a ruling from Jon on this before the fact. Say a pitcher is pitching an interesting game against the Dodgers. Would it be against site rules to try and jinx the opposing pitcher?

If the internet was around for game 5 of the 1956 World Series I am sure I would have risked banishment to try to prevent what was happening.

Stan from Tacoma

Has Gameday frozen?

How many interesting games are broken up by triples?

I was on Wikipedia's page regarding perfect games, and I noticed this new entry under "Other notable near-perfect games":

On August 13, 2006, Los Angeles Dodger Greg Maddux snared a first inning line drive off the bat of San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, doubling Ray Durham off first to end the inning. He retired the next twenty-one batters before being pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth inning. On August 19, also against the Giants, he retired the first ten batters before a bloop single by Omar Vizquel ended his string of 32 consecutive batters retired.

I believe Nelson Liriano did that once.

Never mind.

Nothing to see in Kansas City. There's only going to be one today.

Yeah, I don't understand taking out Lowe given the low pitch count. The Brewers hadn't solved him all day. My fingers are crossed that this isn't going to backfire.

Maybe the Dodgers expect an extra inning game this weekend in which they'll need Lowe to come in and pitch. Um.

265 There's that man again.

258

andy laroche in vero beach sydrome. when hitters who have demonstrated good plate discipline in the past get hot, they hit everything in sight. when they regress batting wise, the ISOd goes up.

I just don't get removing Lowe with only 79 pitches in the ninth. He'd be throwing a three-hit shutout if not for the Ethier bobble.

Why the heck did Grits take out Lowe?

264 What inning was Seaver's game broken up in? I know it was Qualls, but what part of the game?

batting average wise

When's the last time Saito pitched? Maybe he needs the work.

Sometimes I frighten myself with the stuff that rattles around my memory:

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B04230TOR1989.htm

So, Buster Olney just said that you don't see as many no hitters because of pitch counts and the limits put on pitchers.

I really wonder how many pitchers have been pulled during active no hitters because of pitch count problems. Maddux for the Dodgers, but that was an unusual situation.

Jim Qualls, one out in the 9th
http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B07090NYN1969.htm

276 Oh, heck, Bob. If I worried about that stuff...I wish there were a switch to do a selective memory dump sometimes, though.

1.5 yes!

I love having Loney at first base.

Moot point, game over

Surprised Grits pulled Lowe, but at least Saito got 3 outs.

Well, Saito pitched as beautifully as you can pitch there. He is so crafty.

So, it's hard to complain I suppose. We get a win just in time, with 4 games looming in NY.

Ken Phelps for Oakland broke up a perfect game, 2 outs in the 9th against the Mariners Brian Holman. Phelps was a pinch hitter and he hit a homerun.

Good win by the Dodgers tonight.

Stan from Tacoma

It's not even a quarter after 7 PDT/MST (in Arizona)! What time did this game start?

(And I think Linkmeister is right, Saito needed some work. All's well that ends well!) Gotta do some work. Night all!

We win!

Grady hasn't been wrong much this year. I think it was questionable to take Lowe out. But I also think you stick with the gameplan and the gameplan is Saito pitches with a 1 run lead in the last inning.

OK, I'm off to watch the game. See y'all later. And when the Dodgers win tomorrow, remember it's because of me. They are undefeated this year when I'm in attendance.

I cannot recall the last time I felt that a game played during the first week of September was so significant.

221 -- You're welcome. I enjoy doing bits of research like that.

I think the gameplan should always involve giving the Dodgers the best chance to win.

Not sure taking Lowe out tonite did that.

Not good baserunning down by three in the ninth, esp. with the heart of the order coming behind you:

"Jimmy Rollins singles on a line drive to center fielder Willy Taveras. Abraham Nunez scores. David Dellucci to 3rd. Jimmy Rollins out at 2nd, center fielder Willy Taveras to shortstop Eric Bruntlett."

OK, bring on the Schmets!!! I will be at Friday's game at Shea, in full Dodger gear.

Given our road record, the current state of our starting pitching, and the way we've played against quality teams this year, I will consider it a successful series if we manage a split.

293
Taveras made a very good throw to get Rollins.

289- it's not really worth arguing (I'm going to anyways), but in that situation, you don't stick with the "gameplan"; not when your starter is pitching a masterpiece and has a very low pitch count. If Saito hadn't pitched in a while, he could have been rusty. You really have no idea how he's going to pitch. Do you really want to chance it in a 1 run game? It's not a big deal since the Dodgers won, but I disagree with Grits' strategy there.

Betemit at 3rd and Lugo on the bench should help in the Mets series. However the key is shutting down their offense and the best pitcher going for the Dodgers (Lowe) wont pitch any of those games unfortunately.

295 Oh sure, subtly lord it over us lowly gamedayers. I know what you're trying to say! For shame.

292 I think it's hard to hate this move. Saito has been Gagne like, near guranteed. Lowe pitched a teriffic game. He is also a bit of a headcase and easily rattled. I'd have let him start the inning and pulled him if anyone reached base. But then Saito's not starting the inning like he's used to. It's just really hard to argue with success and Saito has equaled success.

Saito isnt Gagne.
Stop.

Ok, I'm out.

298

I can spot you some money for MLB.tv if you'd like to become a "real" fan.

At this rate it will be a successful series with the Mets if we get a game at Shea. I've never seen our offense more cowed than this year during the streaks. From most of their body language, I can see OK, we are beat--I'll go like a good boy. But as an old D's fan I am used to having a stopper like Koufax,Drysdale, Valenzuela, or Hershiser to stop this feeling. Good for Lowe.
If this offense can only bounce off a great pitching performance.

300 Nor did I say he was.

[301] I've heard MLB.tv is a prerequisite to becoming a Cardinal fan.

302
Is it always psychological? You make it almost sound like the Dodgers are just subjects in some sort of B.F. Skinner experiment.

301 How do I know this scenario won't end up with me signing over my house to you and ending up tied to the railroad tracks?

I'm still amazed that the Padres pitchers get away with scratching their number onto the back of the mound each game. If I were a visiting pitcher, that thing would be gone before my first pitch.

The Dodgers finished in 2:04 tonight, 9 minutes faster than the Marlins-DBacks no-hitter.

Ok, what's everyone's problem with taking Lowe out? Yes, he was outstanding and his pitch count was low, but I'm a heck of a lot more confident in a 1 run game with a guy who K's everyone like Saito than a guy who induces contact like Lowe.

And besides, if Lowe had given up a hit or two, and Saito then came in and gave up the game tying hit, I would have questioned Little. I totally agreed with bringing Saito in.

And by the way, there's no one like Gagne, but Saito is pretty darn close, I mean, look at that out of this world K/9, and K/BB ratio.

300 - nope, he's kinda skinny and clean shaven, and older. And a completely different human being.

But he's got a 11.96 K/9, 4.24 K/BB, and he's solid as a closer. The 0.91 WHIP is nice too. He's stood in quite well, and he was probably the best move of the offseason.

But he's got a 11.96 K/9, 4.24 K/BB, and he's solid as a closer. The 0.91 WHIP is nice too
And unlike Lowe, he isn't distracted by pretty reporters, fans yelling from behind home plate, and shiny objects. I'm happy Lowe is on the team but I'm happy Saito is there to close the 9th in a tight game.

285 And I was there. Darn that Phelps!

Speaking of shiny objects, Bob, did you see the new iMacs?
Sweeeeet.

so everyone, tell me everything you know about cherokee cosmology (preferably 5 pages worth of material.

Apparently the Dodgers will attempt to convert Lucas May and Russ Mitchell to catchers. Both are older prospects with good power but terrible patience. May, 21, hit .273/.332/.493 with 18 homers but a 35/130 BB/K ratio in 450 ABs for Columbus. Mitchell, also 21, hit .239/.288/.425 in 435 ABs for Columbus, and .277/.315/.518 in 83 ABs for Vero. He hit 19 homers overall, with a 33/97 BB/K ratio. Here's the link, but it's subscriber only: http://tinyurl.com/lljux. I'm not a subscriber, so I'm not sure who the 3rd player is.

one more note, my cherokee class teacher looks like Lucille II (not Ramon Martinez).

Well, that'll stop a thread cold in its tracks I guess.

312 I watched the game on tv at my home in Tacoma. Too bad Holman ended up with arm trouble. If he had stayed healthy the Mariners would have been a good team long before 1995.

Stan from Tacoma

If you were asking about Lakota cosmology, I'd be your guy...

But Cherokee, sorry.

i know theres something about a water beatle, a great big buzzard and fire and water and such.

but not much else.

No score through 5 in San Diego. Jennings has struck out 8.

I feel like this no hitter is getting excessive coverage from ESPN and MLB.com. If it were a perfect game maybe I could get behind it a little more. The Marlins carried him off the field like he was rudy for god sake.

320 That's pretty much Wikipedia's explanation of it. Something about strings and mud too.

323

yea i was there for that lecture last week but retaining it is the problem.

If you look up "Dayuni'si" on Google, there's a lot of information on him, although the sources are questionable.

322
There is the novelty of the whole thing since there had been over two years without a no-hitter. And the Marlins got excited because they are all pretty young and this is a big deal for them. Consider this, the Marlins are tied for second in the NL East.

The Marlins in 2003 at this time were 75-64. They started 19-29 that year and finished 91-71. They finished the year on a 72-42 stretch-.642 win percentage

The Marlins in 2006 at this time are 70-69. THey started 11-31. So that makes them 59-38 right now, a .608 win percentage.

If the Marlins can play well enough to make Girardi's goofs ultimately meaningless (think 2004 Dodgers/Tracy), then I think its quite possible they'd be the favorites to win the NL pennant. They hold the aces. Their rotation right now IMO is pitching as well as the 2003 team. Their offense I believe is better now than it was then.

A Twins-Marlins World Series would be the lowest rated series ever. Just a hunch.

And the scary part about this Marlins team is that the only players who aren't too young to know how hard the playoffs are supposed to be, are Miggy C and Dontrelle who each had their share of big moments back in '03...

I may be so late to the party that everyone has gone home. But maybe someone can confirm something===

The offensively challenged Dodgers of the Koufax era tended to win (or lose) a lot of 3-2, 2-1 type games and get shut out a lot.

I think I read once that someone in baseball, told Koufax had thrown one of his no-hitters, replied:

"Did he win?"

Is this accurate? Whose response was it?

330
The statement is attributed to Don Drysdale. I am pretty sure it is apocryphal. I can't think of a time that Koufax would have thrown a no-hitter and Drysdale would not have been there.

Padres with 1st and 3rd and one out in the 7th in a scoreless game. Geoff Blum at bat.

Strikeout and ground out and the Padres fail to score.

0-0 going to the 8th in San Diego.

The Vinny Castilla farewell tour has hit San Diego.

You guys are missing the big picture here...

When is popup gonna let that poor Stan from Tacoma out of his basement?

[331] You'll upset some of your followers using apocryphal like that.

I can tell you about the Four Horsemen of the Apocrypha.

Can you tell us now, Bob...

You know, Aprocrypha Now

I'll tell you about the horror if I record the Cubs-Pirates game tomorrow.

326 Good points. I've just been craving a Mets no-hitter for so long that that other no-hitters are lesser no-hitters to me. Plus, I hate anything to do with the Marlins.

334 HA!

From Baseball-Reference's "Bullpen" wiki:

During the 1964 season the Los Angeles Dodgers had one of the worst hitting teams in the league. On one occasion before the Dodgers were to go on the road and Drysdale scheduled to pitch game 1, Drysdale left before the team. During the game which he missed in order to fly ahead, Sandy Koufax pitched a no-hitter. When a member of the Dodgers told Drysdale of the feat, Drysdale replied, "Did he win?"

2nd and 3rd with no outs in the 9th for the Rockies. Tulowitzki up against Hoffman.

If anyone is listening to Tony Gwynn right now just know that I am feeling your pain.

314 Navajo cosmology, I could help you with. Cherokee, not so much.

309 The biggest problem with taking Lowe out, from my vantage point, is that instead of possibly using Saito against the Mets on both Friday and Saturday, now you can only use him in one of those two. Not to say that Lowe would have been so much better than Saito in the 9th, but it was a completely unnecessary move that tacked on more work for a bullpen that can already ill afford it.

Unless Lowe asked to come out, I think it was a really silly move. But Grady is still well in the black as far as silly moves are concerned.

second and third no outs for the rockies in the top of the ninth

344 I think Gwynn's a terrific announcer.

346 Why do people insist on competing with Bob? It's like Pickett at Gettysburg. ;)

Koufax's no-hitter in 1964 was on June 4 in Philadelphia. The Dodgers played the next day in New York.

Joe Moeller started for the Dodgers that day.

Drysdale had pitched the day BEFORE Koufax's no-hitter and lost 1-0 in 11 innings.

Hoffman gets a K. one down.

I have little confidence in Ianetta getting a hit here for Colorado.

Bases loaded after an intentional walk.

348 One of my favorite historical stories is about the fiftieth anniversary of Pickett's charge, when the surviving soldiers gathered to commemorate the battle.

Fifty years later, the Union veterans wouldn't let the Confederate survivors go up to the top of the ridge. Awesome.

3-1

So bases loaded for the Rockies, one out, vs. Hoffman... and yeah, why is Iannetta batting? Do the Rockies have no one better than .105 on their bench?

355 - if he gets a hit, his average goes up to .150

351 I'm praying for a walk.

And now Torrealba pinch hits...

K 2 down.

Carroll with the .291 average woulda been a good choice though

356 Woo hoo! He'd hit the "suck-sequentennial" average.

But, that'll have to wait for another day.

5-12 this year with them loaded

Piazza doing Sean Forman proud this inning.

Is Hurdle like the worst manager in baseball or what?

Torrealba could have pinch hit for Ianetta. But (in John Belushi voice) nooooooo!

k

I say this game will end on a home run by Cameron off of Mesa.

The Rockies are inept.

3K for hoffman

How did the Dodgers lose to the Rockies last Sunday?

And then Carroll could have hit. And... and...

Oh never mind, the Rockies suck.

Okay, back to my writing. Sigh.

I will change that to Cameron homering off of Corpas.

371 I'm going to start calling you Both ways Bob.

I never should have made that remark about Dick Nen.

372 I was in Colorado last week and there were lots of political commercials calling a candidate Both Ways Bob. I don't know if he was in the House or Senate. Anyway, the commercial aired nine thousand times a day.

373 :)

Cla Meredith in with one out in the 10th and Helton on 1st.

Keeping with the theme of discarded Red Sox doing well today, I think the Rockies won't score.

If you're sent in to pinch run and get thrown out stealing, is that considered failing?

Rockies: Finding new ways to lose every night.

I was right! Carroll pinch ran for Helton and was caught stealing, Atkins singled, and Holliday hit a weaker grounder back to the box.

Tomorrow's pitching matchup portends trouble. Penny is 1-7 with a 6.28 ERA at Shea Stadium, by far the worst record at any park for his career, according to the Mets website. Also, Glavine hasn't lost to the Dodgers since May 2003. On the other hand, another winning streak may have started tonight.

The Dodgers didn't face Glavine in 2005. That "streak" by Glavine consists of four starts.

380 On June 7 Glavine went 5.1 innings allowing 6 ER to the Dodgers. The Dodgers hit 3 homeruns, two came off of the bat of Rafael Furcal. Glavine picked up the victory.

382 June 7 of 2006.

The Rockies have not won a shutout that was longer than 11 innings. Their longest 1-0 loss was also 11 innings.

Glavine's pitched really poorly the last couple months however back on June 7th the Dodgers had a lineup that was pretty good against LH. Now I'm not so sure they do.

But earlier in the year, the Dodgers couldn't hit Alay Soler. Except for Willy Aybar.

385 True. I feel like that is partly to do with Nomar's poor play recently. Maybe we'll get Saenz.

385.

I hope for this line up:

Furcal
Kemp
Drew
Kent
Nomar
Saenz (3B)
Ethier
Martin

But I get a bad feeling we may see Lugo and/or Repko.

132 As promised earlier, the Dodgers' performance against different classes of pitchers:

DODGERS AGAINST:

Cy Young winners: 8 starts, 5-3, 4.25 ERA, 54.4 average Game Score
Cy Young votes: 17 starts, 2-7, 4.68 ERA, 50.2 average Game Score
Rookies: 23 starts, 5-9, 5.56 ERA, 44.1 average Game Score
Other: 91 starts, 30-34, 4.66 ERA, 46.9 average Game Score

Pitchers:
Cy Young winners: Carpenter, Colon, Glavine, Maddux, Martinez, J. Santana, Smoltz, Zito
Cy Young votes: Hudson (2), Lieber, Morris (3), Russ Ortiz, Pettitte (2), Schmidt (5), Washburn, Willis, Zambrano
Rookies: Brito, Buchholz, Cain (2), Gonzalez (2), Hendrickson, Hensley (2), Hill, Johnson (2), Liriano, Maholm, Marshall, Nieve, O'Connor, Olsen, Reyes, Sanchez (2), Soler, Thompson
Other: Armas, Arroyo, Batista (3), Blanton, Bush (2), Capuano (2), Cook (3), Cruz (2), Davis, Duke (2), Escobar, Floyd (2), Fogg (2), Francis, Gregg, Harang, Hennessey (2), F. Hernandez, L. Hernandez (2), O. Hernandez (2), Jennings (5), Kim (5), Lackey, Lowry (3), Madson (2), Marquis (2), Michalak, Milton (2), Myers, Ramon Ortiz (2), Park (3), Peavy (2), Perez (2), Pineiro, E. Ramirez,
H. Ramirez, Rodriguez (2), Saarloos, E. Santana, Silva, Snell, Sosa, Stauffer, Suppan (2), Thomson, Vargas (3), Weaver (2), Webb, Wells, Williams, Wright, Young (4)

Cla Meredith is very Papelbon-esque, but without any of the acclaim.

Although, how does he walk Cory Sullivan?

Looking around the basement, but I can't seem to find my old scrapbooks. When I was a kid I kept what were pretty elaborate scrapbooks of newspaper clippings each season about the Dodgers. I remember the Drysdale quote, and I am pretty sure it was not the 1964 Koufax no-hitter against the Phillies or the perfect game in 65.

Those scrapbooks were really neat. I had a separate one for the 63 World Series with articles and headlines from all the NY papers. Wish I still had them. If I did I could send them to Bob for some great random game callbacks.

Stan from Tacoma

The Dodgers starting lineup against Glavine on June 6:
Furcal
Lofton
Garciaparra
Kemp
Guzman
Cruz
Martinez
Martin
O Perez

Odalis gave up 7 runs on 11 hits in 3 2/3 IP.

Cla Meredith is very Papelbon-esque, but without any of the acclaim.

Maybe because Meredith is a ROOGY with that 302 BA against vs left handed batters.

391
Koufax's no-hitters were from 1962-65.

The 1962 Dodgers scored a lot of runs, so Drysdale's quote wouldn't have made sense.

The 1963 no-hitter was on a Saturday.

The 1964 no-hitter was already described (Drysdale pitched the day before)

The 1965 perfect game was at home.

Todd Walker doubles with one out in the eleventh.

2 run homer. Padres win.

Whonever Paul McAnulty is just won the game for the Padres. Lead stays at 1 game.

Padres wiN!

397

Mcanulty was a Southern League all star in 2005!

[391] A couple references I found:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Don_Drysdale

http://tinyurl.com/n7ajx

Meredith hasnt been used as a Roogy for quite some time. He's been probably the best reliever in the entire major leagues this year.

393 Maybe he was referring to one of the Papelbon twins, specifically the one drafted by the Red Sox in the 49th round. That one is a side armer.

Eureka!

Turns out that Drysdale did make the quote in question. And he said it in 1964, according to an AP story. However, Drysdale had not gone ahead of the team to New York. Instead he had left the team and "went on business" in Washington, DC.

Drysdale made the quote in New York after he rejoined the New York.

Time to edit my Apocrypha.

Anyone perspectives on why DJ Houlton and Mark Alexander havent been recalled to the Dodgers?

What could it hurt?
I know they called up Stults, but why not the other two? Why not recall every possible player on the 40 man roster?

I just realized, despite pitching a no hitter, Sanchez's game is only tied for 7th best game this year according to game score. It was an 89. The best game score this year is John Lackey's 95.

404

why do you love DJ Houlton so much?

i also dont think mark alexander is on the 40 man roster.

He's better than Carrara, pitched some good games last year and had a good K/9, and is still young enough to where he can improve with time.

Other than that, I'd release him.

403 I remember that game as if it was yesterday. Too bad that like Drysdale I was not at the ballpark. But unlike Drysdale I did not have to ask whether Koufax won. I listened to the entire game on the radio.

Stan from Tacoma

Alexander is not on the 40 man roster. And he's pitching for Jacksonville in the playoffs, he's their closer.

Houlton had been impressive in some of his more recent starts after changing his delivery, but I'm not sure he deserved a call up.

408

every single split from him this year in AAA doesnt give me any hope about his future as a major league pitcher.

Speaking of quotes, the most partisan statement I can recall from Vin on air came during a broadcast from New York. It was an ad-lib joke late in a hot Sunday day game, and he said something like "There's my brother-in-law down there (in the stands) and he's wearing a Mets cap. {Pause while chuckling} Ex-brother-in-law."

I updated the Don Drysdale wiki entry.

410

era

april- 3.00
may- 8.45
june- 5.04
july- 7.24
august- 5.28

i dont see a progression that you would be hoping for. He did lower his walk rate significantly in august but other then that, everything else stayed the same.

In 1964 the Phillies were going for a pennant they did not win. Koufax was scheduled to pitch against them that year on the last game of a series. The Phillies called the game for inclement weather when a dark cloud appeared somewhere in the vicinity of Connie Mack Stadium. A rain out with no rain.

Stan from Tacoma

I think everyone on the 40 should be called up. You never know when you might play a 20 inning game.

Is it the logistics or cost of not wanting 40 players in the dugout? Is the clubhouse not equipped to handle 40 players?

Houlton, Miller, Osoria, LaRoche, Diaz are the five dodgers left off the team. Thats a bum deal for them. LaRoche could always pinch hit, or one of them pinch run.

It just seems like by not calling up everyone on the 40, you limit your available resources.

412 That's pretty funny. Although, maybe it could have been his sisters ex husband.

If you bring up 40 guys, then you have to pay all of them major league salaries for starters. And pay to fly them all over the country. And find locker space. And equipment.

The most players ever used in any one game by one team is 30. That's a lot of players by Oakland in 1972. They used seven pitchers in the game. They also used six second basemen in the game, which was a record. Dick Williams didn't think any of his second basemen hit well, so he pinch hit for that position every time it came up. He even used two catchers at second base in Gene Tenace and Larry Haney.

The Dodgers 40-man roster has 19 pitchers! So if the Dodgers played say, two consecutive 20-inning games, do you want them closed out by Jose Diaz and Greg Miller?

414 He had been doing well since altering his delivery. He struggled in his August 13 and 28 starts, but the rest of his late July/August/September starts were decent. Vegas screwed with his flyball tendencies and his control, although those didn't seem to affect his ERA. I doubt he's worth much in the majors, but I would agree that he's at least as effective as Carrara. I'm guessing he'll be one of the first to go around Rule 5 time.

418... Sept. 19, 1972

418 If only the Dodgers would have had six catchers in september of '04, they might have tied that record.

No team has ever used more than four catchers in a game. Aside from pitchers, the most players of one position used by one team in a game is six. The A's using six second baseman in 1972 and the A's using six right fielders in a game in 1965. It was the game where Bert Campaneris played all nine positions.

418 I remember a quote from Tenace after he played second base (possibly that game, or maybe it was when Finley "fired" Mike Andrews in the World Serious). Tenace said something like "Tomorrow I'll probably play goalie."

I wonder what kind of shot Mark Alexander will get with the Dodgers. He has to be put on the 40-man roster to avoid being taken in the Rule 5 draft, and the Dodgers might not even want him taking up roster space.

Oh, just to make all you LA people feel righteous, here's what happens when an Army truck carrying an excavator on a flatbed is a little too high and wipes out part of an overpass:

http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/002052.html

Honolulu traffic headed West (Ewa) came to a crawl for over 12 hours.

Found it pretty funny that Rick Monday was basically calling Prince Fielder dumb for playing in on the grass for a bunt on the play that Kemp got the game winning single on. Then in the same breath Monday managed to call Kemp's go ahead single the "game tying" single. Something along the lines of: "The Dodger tie the game at 2-1". Does Rick Monday always pat his head and rub his tummy during broadcasts? vr, Xei

Read this in the Times:

Little said he would not start Derek Lowe on three days rest Sunday. With an off day Monday, Lowe will get an extra day's rest instead, pitching Tuesday at Chicago

Lowe threw 79 pitches and was solid. Add to that Little also wanted to start Billingsley in Chicago so Mr. Billingsley could see him pitch. Hendrickson wouldn't be good against New York, and that leaves Stults or calling up Houlton, given Tomko and Dessens stay in the pen. Given that the Dodgers are playing the Mets, and I wouldn't want to put Hendrickson up against the Knicks right now, I think Grady may reconsider that.

Well, I can't sleep, so let me be the first to say, Happy Birthday Buddy Holly.

Well, I can't sleep either, so let me be the first to say, grading papers sucks.

Can we say that word? I hope so. If not, sorry.

Sam, are you going to any of the weekend games at Shea?

429- use smiley face stamps. It's a very easy and effective method.

Yup, stamps are awesome. It's just close to test time, and I need to get all the work back to the students to study this weekend.

OCRegister says that Furcal has 51 RBIs in the leadoff spot this year. The most for any Dodgers since Davey Lopes drover in 73 in 1979. I'm gonna guess that Russell Martin and Andre Ethier scored most of those 51 runs. vr, Xei

Stan -- did give it a brief thought, but it just doesn't work to get up to NY this weekend.

Alas.

'nother good game in Nashville. I'm not sure where the 40-man discussion originated, but if it was about the Brewers, then the answer might be that their AAA affiliate is in the playoffs.

One of the good things about living on the East coast is the ability to go to lots of different MLB parks. When I lived outside of Phildelphia I could go to games in Baltimore and New York without too much difficulty.

Stan from Tacoma

I just noticed that the probable pitchers at Dodgers.com for this series indicates a change for the Mets, Dave Williams was going to pitch on Sunday but he went last night (and pitched rather well). Traschel is pitching on Sunday.

Seeing as how poorly this team hit lefties the last two nights, that might be a break (Lefty Oliver Perez pitched a gem yesterday for the Mets as well).

Still, Glavine tonight...

And what about Orlando Hernandez's last 3 starts

8/15 at Phi, 4 IP, 11 R
8/20 vs Col, 6 IP, 0 R, 8 K
9/3 at Hout, 5 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 6 BB

Glavine will pitch outside, outside & more outside, just hit the ball the other way, it's that easy!!

Glavine will pitch outside, outside & more outside, just hit the ball the other way, it's that easy!!

plus the guy throws like 75 miles an hour.

ps sorry peeps, it's just that any NY team gets me realy pumped!!

sorry about 440

With their dramatic win last night the Padres now have a magic number to win the NL West of 25. vr, Xei

The gutty little Padres have had way too many 1-run/extra inning/walk off wins lately, things have to even out soon... I hope.

The Padres exceed their expected W-L by 2 games. The Dodgers are neither a borrower nor a lender to Mr. Pythagoras.

I still have no great idea as to how the Padres have managed to win so many games. Aside from their bullpen stars, I dont really know their main strenghts. Anyone have insight? Is it pure scrap?

I live in SD so I watch a lot of Padre baseball. It seems they are getting way more than expected from pitchers not named Peavy, Hoffman, or Linebrink.

It seems like pure scrappiness because they've been getting it all season from unexpected players (Roberts, Gonzales, Bard, Barfield).

I've been waiting for the smoke to clear and the mirrors to crack but it just hasn't happened.

Hopefully the Giants will continue their mastery (7 out of their last 8 games, I believe) against the Padres, this will be there big trip, I expect them to throw Peavy 3 times although it could be hard to skip the guy who pitched yesterday, if they don't skip him though, Peavy will miss the Dodger series.

When I was looking at some team pitching stats just now about the Padres, one figure jumped out at me.

The Twins have struck out 1002 batters and walked just 294.

447

Padres fans could also be wondering when the Dodgers were going to stop winning all those games in a row as well.

449 Silva and Radke help but that says a lot about Santana and Soriano and whoever else starts for them.

Santana leads the Twins staff in walks with 41.

Billingsley leads the Dodgers with 50.

I was looking at Padre win shares and their leaders are Cameron, Giles, Piazza, Roberts, Barfield, Green(e?), Hoffman and Peavy.

The NL West has been pretty tough this year. SD and LA have two of the best records in the NL and SF is knocking on the Wild Card door. Should be an interesting stretch to say the least.

In the first series the Mets faced Tomko, Lowe, and the Perez/Seo debauchle. The Mets hitters have not faced Penny this year.

Whereas, the Dodger hitters have seen Glavine. Although he beat the Dodgers on June 7, 9-7, he gave up 6 ER with Furcal hitting 2 HRs off of him.

Advantage Dodgers in game 1.

448 Actually I am hoping the Padres knock the Giants out of contention this weekend. If the Dodgers win it does not matter what the Padres do. If the Dodgers don't win, they don't deserve to be in the post season anyway.

Stan from Tacoma

If the Red Sox still had Meredith, they could be using Pabelbon as a starter.

456 and what if they still had Anibal Sanchez...

451. Liriano is pretty good too. :)
vr, Xei