First here... Well Secondd to Jon...

Guess. I am:

a. over anxious
b. over excited
c. over beer'd

yes, c. is correct.

Go Dodgers!

I decide to go with Jack and cokes instead of beer for the game.

I think last night was good for our Mojo against the friars.

Did any of you guys realize that Dr. Pepper had 23 different flavors in each can?? I really only thought it had one flavor, but hey...

Nomar sits, Kent to first, Lugo at second.
Other than those, the usual lineup.

Hold the champagne. Mets lose in Pittsburgh. No clinch today.

Great to see the return of Billingsley.

5 - You mean you aren't rooting for the Mother of all Comebacks Bob? Ya gotta believe!!!

Nice way to start.

Play Ball!!!

Looks like the forecasted 1000 comment chats are going to come up just a bit short.

The Mets can also clinch the NL East if the Padres lose three more games.

chad isnt missing by alot.

Adrian Gonzalez didn't miss that piss by much.

you cant hang curveballs.

Adrian Gonzalez didn't really miss the pitch at all.

Bills falling behind the count quickly...

The hanging curve has been a staple of many pitchers who have had short careers.

From the previous thread -- I watched the whole Ducks game except the last part of the fourth quarter. I had to go to run some errands before the store closed, so I left with them down 10 with about 7 minutes left.

I really really really should have pressed record on the Tivo.

Uh ... Bob ... that was a really bad typo.

19

But it does bring up some unusual imagery doesn't it?

19
I didn't know how to react to it. I just pretended it didn't exist.

Thank God I didn't misspell "Duck" at some time.

19 Especially the fact that it was a hanging curve.

Before this game, were any USC fans really worried about Nebraska? I wouldn't have been.

A 40-pitch inning.
Effective!

40 pitch 1st inning.
We're gonna see Hendrickson tonite :(

That's a good way to start the comeback.

YES!

Against Woody Williams, no lead is insurmountable.

Lugo-3rd and Drew-5th I dont understand.

The Dodgers best hope is to hit four solo home runs.

However, that likely won't help as Billingsley will walk the house.

After three weeks without game action, Billingsley is rusty, and should probably be taken out sooner rather than later. Instead of having Hendrickson or Sele come in and pitch mop up, Stults should be brought in to see what he can do -- treat it like a second start following his fine start against the Mets.

32

stults was warming up in the bullpen.

Looks like we will live or die with vets.

get chad out of there. he cleary doesnt have it. we cant afford to fall behind anymore. woody williams always dazzles the dodgers with his 83 mph fastball and high cutters.

Drew is really locked in at the plate.

30 I know what you mean, a no. five hitter who leads the team in walks leaves me cold.

There's that 1st inning walk for Drew again.

Obviously Billingsley is rusty, but did he have command of his fastball? I can't see him making more than 80 pitches tonight. The Dodgers are going to need a healthy Chad if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs.

I saw Snakes on a Plane last night and did some other stuff. I think I'm going to take it easy tonight.

I wonder if Stults coming in will make Bochy take out Walker and Branyan?

good move by grady, had to get him out of there.

Great play calling and execution by Nebraska.

13 19 20 Bob probably was checking further into kitty toilet training and was thinking about that.

http://www.citikitty.com/

Good move. Padres couldn't have prepared to face Stults.

they didt have to it looks like. a seeing-eye single and a duckfart by giles and they are in trouble.

Is it really a good move? Did Billingsley just not have it?

The only way this makes sense is if Billingsley pitches sooner than 5 days from now or if they saw something mechanically wrong with him that could lead to an injury.

every curveball he threw almost went over martins head. he cleary didnt have it.

I don't think Billingsley had any command of his pitches. With a lot of relievers available and Stults coming off a good start, why wait around to see if Billingsley can find his way.

The Dodgers aren't the Orioles and they can't afford to turn Billingsley into Hayden Penn.

46, 47- ok, if he didn't have good command of his fastball then there's no point risking it. These games against the Padres are extremely important.

think russel could swing? maybe once?

And a cycle for Chone Figgins!

think russel could swing? maybe once?

why? that called 3rd strike was 5 inches inside.

No one has mentioned that it is possible the oblique strain is bothering Chad. If that is the case, he may have pitched his last inning for the season.

52 - I thought that was implied.

and the others 2 pitches he took we right down the middle.

For once in the past two weeks Grady pulled someone before things were a total loss.

52. yep, I was thinking that also...

tomorrow is another day.

Stults look like the career AAA pitcher he is tonight.

So when do we start chatting about the first game in the new Stanford Stadium?

57. I was thinking that also...

I detect a pattern (actually someone else pointed it out to me):
Starting with 9/5
LWLWLWLWLW

here comes the corp of terrible relievers. who says we let tomko mop up tonight?

Three innings, three pitchers. I'm not sure but I think that's not a good sign.

Hamulack?? Ok, I'm done for tonight...

61 I thought of that too, hopefully it continues tomorrow and then we change it starting Monday.

62 - Sucks when the terrible relievers are in for the 3rd inning. Why not use Dessens or someone in long relief? 5 runs is a lot, but not insurmountable, especially against Woody Williams.

I guess I meant 6 runs now.

thats the purest number 3 hitter in the league. todd walker.

Time to put the kids to bed (if I had any).

We'll see Hendrickson, Sele, and Carrara tonight!

70. Bob Timmermann
We'll see Hendrickson, Sele, and Carrara tonight!

forget about them. let tomko go in there and throw 120 pitches.

So I guess that Timmy is nailing his audition for the post-season roster (knock on wood).

I believe I should also be acknowledged for my keen insight about how the lefty relievers would have an impact on Branyan and Walker!

I guess I won't be taking it easy tonight..

There will be a silver lining for me after this game is over.

71. Here, here

Maybe our strategy is to tire their hitters out for the rest of the series.

everyone going to tune into brett tomko before the bigs?

Pretty sad when the most amusing thing that's happened all night is Bob's typo.

At last last a proper use for Hamulack. Things weren't going to go our way tonight and I would leave him in to save relievers.I had the sound of after 5-1 an just checked in.

Hey, just rushed in from doing errands. Haven't even had time to turn on GameDay. How we doing?

I'm so jacked. I think we're gonna sweep!

A tough question. Is it time to put in our real future players? They shouldn't be sitting all fall, but on the other hand we don't want to give them too much losing experience.

81. You're are in for a slight letdown. We'll guys it's been fun but I'm out for the night.

you are kidding right?

Dodgers pitchers threw 109 pitches in the first 3ip.

Billingsley- 1ip- 40 pitches
Stults- 1.2IP- 50 pitches
Hamulack .1IP- 19 pitches.

If there's ever been a time for Hendrickson to pitch the final 6ip, and for Kent to get a rest; Now would be an appropo time.

the dodgers done made the 1981 team pround tonight.

29 How about this lead? With Hendrickson in there, they might get a 20-run lead.

Well at least we won't lose any ground to the Giants.

Back to vacuuming.

wow, henrickson just went in there and restored order.

This awful game should take almost as much out of the Pads as it does us. If we are smart we won't tire any of our important pitchers, and we have plenty of mop-ups at this time of year. We may be able to make them score themselves to death.

I just watched episode 11 of "Rome." I didn't anything could be much bloodier, and then I went on-line to check the score.

Who is this R. Martinez guy?

Well, I see that things are not going well.

By not going well, I mean total disaster.

And Stanford is likely going to blow the chance to have an unbeaten Pac-10 day.

Is there any way that my fellow DT commenters can give me a quick recap that doesn't involve euphemisms?

I'm guessing Chad threw a lot of batting practice.

Upon further calculations, my silver lining after this game doesn't exist. I must tell Sam.

Hendrickson has the potential to be one top seven best left-handed long relief specialists in the national league.

Thanks to the commenter who posted the video for "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse the other day. "Black Holes and Revelations" is a great album.

2006 has been a good year for new music discoveries for me. My Morning Jacket became my new favorite a few months back.

It's almost as hard to find music I love as it is to find females to date. Almost.

I smell a ten run rally

I'm watching Texas A&M and Army. And I'm very bummed to have discovered that my math was off and a Padres win does not eliminate Washington.

It is probably best to get this over as quick as possible. The D's seem to have grasped this by the last two innings

well, I'm glad I was at Busch Gardens and missed that whole mess

Well, I guess we just need to spot Hendrickson a ten run deficit, and he becomes Frank Viola circa 1987.

95 There wasn't even much of a chance to jinx Chad by mentioning the word 'no-hitter.' He did get Dave Roberts out to start the game and that's about it. Here's hoping Derek Lowe pitches better tomorrow.

Stan from Tacoma

While Stanford may be down to Navy, Arizona leads Stephen F. Austin by just 14-10 in the third.

If there's ever a college named after me, make sure it has my middle initial in it.

Colorado tied Arizona with 2 in the top of the 9th on an RBI triple by Jeff Baker and then a wild pitch.

105 While I love the Pac-10, and especially Stanford, I am a Navy man. I would love for the Middies to win as much as possible.

Anchors Aweigh!

A&M and Army game hinging on a big replay challenge.

Army is at home in San Antonio.

Stanford appears to be playing with anchors.

Linescore for Hendrickson: 4 IP, no runs, no walks, one hit, and EIGHT Ks.

What gremlin has gotten into Gameday? This can't be right, can it?

A&M went for it on 4th and 1 from their own 28 with 2:45 to go.

They lost three yards.

Then I just looked at the line for Mark Hendrickson.

4 IP, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks, 1 hit, 55 pitches.

Go figure.

Stating the obvious here, but if Chad's missing his next start, Hendrickson's showing here will tempt Little to have him take his spot in the rotation.

My brother and his wife picked up a King Charles Spaniel from a rescue group today? Anybody familiar with them? Aside from what I can read online?

Most mornings if I saw "Hendrickson pitches five shutout innings" I would figure we done good. Now, we can only do good by getting to bed early somehow.

114 All I know about King Charles is that he was beheaded, his son governed The Restoration, and Spaniels are energetic.

Hope that helps. I doubt it.

Apparently a King Charles Spaniel sort of looks like this:
http://tinyurl.com/lba8l

At, least Kemp looks alive!

Stanford has scored its first TD in its "new" stadium.

They missed the PAT.

Army ends the game at the A&M 3. If our nation's security depends upon the Army executing a 2-minute offense, we're doomed!

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is an active, graceful, well-balanced toy spaniel, very gay and free in action; fearless and sporting in character, yet at the same time gentle and affectionate.

105 OK, just so I can file this piece of information away for the next time I decide to name a college: what is your middle initial?

Mark Hendrickson: The pitcher you want when you're down 10 runs.

121

So what group are we in?

What, exactly, do I have to do to make sure that Gio Cararra never pitches another game for the Dodgers. Is this a blackmail situation? Do I have to lay down in front of a tank?

Please, Gio, just go away.

Hendrickson does have experience as a garbage time player. After all, he was the 12th man on a couple NBA teams.

V

Delwyn Young doesn't look anything like his brothers.

Who the heck is 49, who just god robbedof a BB by the Umpire. I can not blame the Ump however--he wants to get to bed too.

Delwyn Young is the first Littlerock Lobo to make it to the big leagues. If you've ever been to Littlerock, you'd be surprised that there are any athletes of consequence coming from there.

124 The Dodger Thoughts Spaniel is an excitable, enthusiastic breed. The DT Spaniel enjoys frolicking in the fields, yet his volatile nature makes him a difficult to control. The DT Spaniel is fiercely loyal, yet finds an easy excuse to attack his master. The DT spaniel is a fine breed, but must be controlled.

Will upset Stanford fans start hammering "For Sale" signs on Walt Harris's lawn? And or will they just be by real estate agents trying to score on the real estate bubble before it collapses?

Stanford fans may put up "For Sale" signs in Walt Harris's yard, but since nobody can afford to buy the house, I think his job is safe for now.

Who's on first for the Padres. That was classic. Those are the video clips I would really cherish, but all we get are people hitting home runs.

Toby is working the bullpen. Thinking about tomorrow's game. What a guy.

Stanford fans don't get upset when the football team is losing - they just get surprised when it's winning.

Or that's how I feel, anyway.

But then we wait for our upset of UCLA or USC.

136 How much did last year's loss to UCLA hurt?

I'm guessing...A lot.

A record for fewest comments on a game tonight?

138 - I think after the Dodgers gave up 11 runs, everyone gave up.

I still say this isn't as bad as giving up a walkoff double to the Pirates (see the Mets).

yuck, glad I missed tonights game. Atleast USC won, Notre Dame lost and Navy won. Good things come in threes. vr, Xei

138

I hope this doesn't disturb the chance for a record, but I just checked, and the Dodgers are 1 game below their Pythagorean projection.

Guess I picked the wrong day to attend my only Dodger game. Plus, the concession stand behind us ran out of beer in the FIRST inning. The crowd was getting ugly.

128. Who are his brothers??
vr, Xei

I just heard Billingsley interviewed on Fox. That might be the most overwhelmed, intimidated kid I've ever heard in my life.

"Um, yeah, I, uh, didn't pitch well, and, uh, I, uh, didn't do a good job. It was, uh, it was tough. I, uh need to pitch better."

Deer, say hello to my good friend "Headlights".

144. Not everyone likes to talk on camera with tens of thousands of viewers. Add the bad performance on top of that. I don't care how well he interviews, just how well he pitches. vr, Xei

145
I was making no judgements, just reporting what happened. Just describing the interview.

146. Ok. :) Just curious though, what did he seem intimidated by and what did he seem overwhelmed by? vr, Xei

128. Who are his brothers??

Dimitri and Delmon.

145 Funny you should say that. I was interviewed today (1st time ever) on a local tv station, talking (shhh...) politics and our upcoming primary.

It was very much "man in the street," except that it was my driveway and they called me to set it up in advance.

I discovered I completely forgot the camera (one, on a tripod) was there and just spoke naturally. Looked like the devil, though, since I haven't shaved since Thursday.

The dog barked a couple of times and made it on the air, which was amusing.

I blame Herman for this game. Didn't get to watch it, but feel much less bad about that, now, than I did three hours ago. I read through the thread; is there any final word on whether Billingsly's still hurt?

Highlights from attending tonight's game:

1. Honoring and seeing the 1981 WS champs

2. Furcal's leadoff homer in the 1st.

3. Pitcher to home to first DP on Piazza in the 2nd inning.

(Pause for the long black hole of time between the third to 7th innings)

4. Leaving the debacle in the 8th-having no traffic on the way home!

That's it!

BTW, any Dodger starter taking notes from Maddux's game on Friday, apparantly not!!
Hopefully Lowe will follow the Maddux plan and we can guarantee a split tomorrow before the toss-up of a game between Penny & Peavy.

Not all baseball players named D. Young are related.

151
I'm not nearly as pessimistic as others, but I don't see Monday's game as anything but a loss for the Dodgers.

148. Those are not his brothers. Delmon grew up here in town and played high school ball a few blocks away, Delwyn is not related to Delmon nor Dmitri. Dmitri and Delmon are related though. :) vr, Xei

Well I have been to 11 games this year and with the loss tonight, I am 8-3. Losses to the Cubs when Maddux was with them, the Cardinals during that terrible stretch after the AS break and tonight. I have one more game on Wednesday against the Bucs, hopefully they will win that one and I will have a .750 win percentage as opposed to a .667 if they lose. They need to win tomorrow because Peavy is always doubly tough on us here in LA.

147 No, that's not good enough. I demand an apology, and some form of penance.

Penitence is also acceptable. I'm kidding Xeifrank.

Or am I?

152 You mean Dmitri, Delwyn and Delmon aren't descendants of Denton?

Tell me it's not True!

Watching the replay of the game on Fox Sports is the worst. Vin seems so enthusiastic before the game, and I don't have the heart to tell him that we got destroyed.

Poor Vin.

Delwyn isn't related to the other Youngs?

Wow. I've read and heard that he was many times.

159. He's not. I've read the same error many times. You got snookered. Consider yourself unsnookered or desnookered or snookerless, or desnookified. Perhaps Bob being the DT grammarian can decide which it is. :)
vr, Xei

Well, I guess we don't have to worry about getting the lousy brother again.

I would go with desnookified.

That's one cool word.

Tonight is one of the few games I've attended where I actually bought tickets. The last time I bought tickets was the day game where Peavy doubled and hit a home run off Penny. I will never buy a ticket again. Its freebies from here on out.

Ok, as a regular reader of this site I had to comment on my relative shock to see that no one here seemed to be disappointed in Grady's complete erosion of faith in his rookies, which to me culminated in his decision to pull Billingsley after 1 inning. Personally I am fairly sure that it was the first time that I had ever seen a manager pull his starter, other than by reason of injury, after 1 inning of work, 2/3 of an inning sure, 1+ inning most definitely, but after 1 inning in which his (young) starter appeared rusty (and he was just missing in most cases) why would he not send him out to see if he could shake it off. Its not like pitchers don't regularly shake off bad first innings and go on to have respectable outings.

Worst yet I worry about the message that sends out to Chad and any of our other young pitchers who happen to get off to a shaky start. Normally I wouldn't get worked up about a managing decision like this, but I am sensing here, after seeing Andre get benched for a couple of bad at bats and Loney's lack of playing time, that our skipper has no faith in our rookies and I wonder if they can't sense it as well. (Chad did seem quite shocked that he had gotten such a quick hook in the post game interview).

Oh and I was also quite surprised that a search for fire grady little came up rather empty as I had assumed someone in here would have already got that going, and I figured that would have been the place for me to vent tonight.

Anyway great site Jon

-Scho

164 Reading a game story, it appears that Chad had no physical problem, he just could not get control of his pitches. The Padres plan against him and probably Penny will be to make them throw pitches, if they can get pitches over, like Maddux, then they will have to attack but otherwise they wanted Chad to prove he could throw strikes, he couldn't so they waited him out.

On playing rookies, I can understand it, he probably isn't going to put Loney and Kemp in game situations at this time if he can avoid it, Billingsley, I didn't see the game but I would say if Chad was pitching regularly, maybe he stays in but after being out for nearly three weeks and the game being a winnable game, down 3-1, he probably felt he had guys down in the pen who had pitched more successfully recently.

From espn.com: "Onley: Red Sox Might Consider Adding Gagne."

I report, you decide. Although I'll note they really "might consider" just about anything. "Sam DC: Red Sox Might Consider Kidnapping Johnny Damon, Giving Him Facial Reconstruction Surgery, Deprogramming Him In a Uzbekistan Prison, and Running Him Out in Centerfield Next Year."

164 Pulling Bills was the right thing to do. Sometime a guy is just getting hit and sometimes a guy looks like he lost all ability to pitch. This was the latter. He couldn't throw strikes, his cuveball was sailing above guys heads so they just waited for fastball strikes and pounded them.
And this is September baseball and it's no time for coddling rookies who can't find the plate. This is on the job pennant race training and if he has gone one more batter in the first, he would have been pulled before the end of it.