For those wanting to fight the good fight from Washington:
Tonight at RFK:
Phillies
Rollins 2B
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Conine RF
Burrell LF
Lieberthal C
Nunez 3B
Myers P
Nats
Castro 2B
Lopez SS
Soriano LF
Zimmerman 3B
Vidro 1B
Schneider C
Logan CF
Church RF
Ortiz P
this is great i don't care how things come out, just the fact that we're in this thing makes me happy. i will get mad here & there but in the end, i'll be happy we maid it this far.
I hate the Yankees, so the Phillies are by extension dead to me for gift wrapping him and sending him to New York. Too bad the Dodgers weren't willing to take on that payroll this year. They could have used Lidle and Abreu in exchange for the salary dump.
Interesting, just following up the revenues issue, can you imagine the capital gains tax of the Mara family if they ever sold their share of the NY Giants, they bought the team for $500 back in the 1920's.
Al Davis, Lamar Hunt and the Rooney family also paid very little in comparison to what their team is worth.
Jerry Buss of course made is money many times over since he bought the Lakers, Kings and the Forum for $20M in 1979.
The Cardinals being in #3 spot has made it possible to have a bigger family reunion of sorts in two weeks. My brother who lives in St. Louis will be out covering the Blues playing against the Ducks and Kings. He said that if the Cardinals were playing the Dodgers or Padres that weekend, he would have been conscripted into that, but the Cardinals will almost assuredly be at home that weekend.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch uses approximately 500 reporters to cover the Cardinals in the postseason. I think my brother once had to write what he described as "Sidebar #7" for a game. I think it involved Ray King at the time.
Ok, ran 10 sims of tonight's Dodger/Rockie game. Dodgers won 8 out of 10. There were alot of late inning heroics and bullpen disasters in many of the games. According to the sim the Dodgers are a 1.5 run favorite to win tonight's game. Win I asked the computer to Automatically select the Dodgers lineup it kept wanting to go with.
1. Furcal, 2. Lofton, 3. Anderson, 4. Nomar, 5. Kent, 6. Drew, 7. Martin, 8. Betemit, 9.Maddux. vr, Xei
If Xeifrank's computer says that the Dodgers are a 1.5-run favorite, I take that to mean that his comptuer thinks the Dodgers should win by 1.5 runs 50 percent of the time, and win by less than 1.5 runs (or lose outright) the other 50 percent of the time.
If you can get better than 50-50 odds at a sports book, you will be profitable in the long run with that information. (As long Xeifrank's computer is smrt.)
I, too, would like to know how to get a copy of that program.
2 on for the Phillies... they've got 6 hits through 1.2 innings.
I feel like the Dodgers are the Rohirrim holed up in Helm's Deep, the evil Philly hordes are streaming and yelling outside, storming the keep, and the Nationals are the Elves getting slaughtered out in front.
The program needs a little more work before I'd feel comfortable relying on it's predictions. It does a decent job simulating hitters tendancies as you pretty much have all the data necessary in your OBP, 1B/2B/3B/HR rate, speed and splits. I am going to redesign how pitcher skills come into play. vr, Xei
11 - I saw Cory Lidle pitch in Baltimore. I took my girlfriend, who's a Yankee fan, and the pitching matchup was Lidle vs Bedard. Surprise, surprise, she saw the only game of the series that the Yankees lost. We don't need him; we already have Brett Tomko.
If there are any make-up or tie breaker playoff games, they would fall on Yom Kippur (Mon). Is Mike Lieberthal the only player potentially affected by this?
If this is how the Phil-Wash game is going to go for 9 innings, I'm not sure I can handle it... not to mention once the Dodgers start playing... not to mention 5 more days of this.
Well, to try to steer this back to my original question - Carpenter pitches for StL today, so he'd get the ball in any tiebreaker game on Monday (as opposed to Marquis). If Brad Ausmus were to miss a playoff game, which he wouldn't because he's an ice skater, no big whoop. And Lieberthal is good to go Monday as well.
90
I doubt you will find anyone named Timmermann, with my spelling, who is Jewish. Timmermann is the German spelling of the name. If there were Jews in Germany with that name, well, there was some unpleasantness there about 60 years ago.
There are a lot of people named "Timmerman" (with one n) and they tend to be Dutch or Danish.
The Germans added an extra n to nearly every surname that ended in "-man" back in the 18th Century for some reason.
I'm sure the Giants and Barry Bonds would be very happy if they had to board a plane on Sunday night and head to St. Louis to play a makeup game that means nothing to them. Man, I hope that happens.
Jeez. Ramon Ortiz was wriggled out of some serious doo doo this evening. 10 hits through 5. Who's left in the Nat bullpen after they traded all their relievers to Cincy?
lEAD-OFF hits, one of the reasons I've come to accept and even love Furcal. How many times has scored a run in the first inning and had it given back in the same inning. It must be a modern record--Bob?
as an aside, atkins and holliday have had terrific seasons. things should be looking up for the rockies in the coming seasons. although i think that's been said before. just don't let him carry anyone's deer meat up the stairs.
OK, just getting back online. Gosh, what a snoozer at RFK.
Ryan Zimmerman -- not Jewish.
Nats bullpen -- scary, yet sometimes good.
Mike O'Connor -- rookie, went to GW here in town, had a strong first few starts but has been shaky since. Lets just say, none of the starters the Nationals are running out there this week, or ever really, are real intimidating.
From the discussion on Dodger.com. today they don't know whether to play Nomar, Kent, or even Muellar at first base next year. We shouldn't bother developing players like Loney and Navarro cause we certainly won't get anything for them (except a Hall). We will probably keep a squad of small market teams going and smiling.
Now, just hypothetically saying, if you're the Nationals, and you can get two 1-2-3 innings, you can get out of this without facing Utley or Howard again.
Chad Cordero, fine closer, not known for his 1-2-3 innings, however.
It occurs to me that, unlike last year, our pitchers haven't given up too many homeruns to the other side's pitchers (he says, as Jennings grounds out).
I don't have kids but I've heard it said that having two is manageable but three is out of control. Just too many to keep track of at the same time.
That's how I feel about the games tonight. I can't keep up!
Yadier Molina has been awful offensively this year. I wonder if the Cardinals will consider going after Toby Hall. Molina is a fantastic defender, but he is a black hole in the lineup.
This is shaping up as another game in which we score a few runs early and then do nothing at the plate again. It seems to happen too often. Most recently, see last Saturday night.
221- one of my favorite quotes from Vin. Despite Betemit's recent struggles, I still think it was a great trade.
224- that's why I used the word "truly"
in that situation, I'd have walked Howard, even if it moved the tying run in scoring position and winning run on base. Fortunately, I'm not Frank Robinson.
Really? Walk Howard to put a guy on second? Aren't the chances that he gets a double or better lower than the chances of Conine getting a single or better?
286 You need at least 5, but I hope Maddux can use his wiles to get through six, and maybe we can add a few more runs but then you probably go to Beimel, Broxton and Saito because you have to win today to get that 1 game lead.
294 Maddux is serving up just what the Dodgers need -- effective innings.
Early in the game, Scully was speculating that the old guy would run out of oxygen. When Maddux's bunt failed and he wound up on base, I think Scully was afraid Maddux was going to expire right in front of us.
Its pretty obvious that Furcal is the Dodgers best player, and that's appropriate because he is also the Dodgers' highest paid player. When was the last season where the Dodgers best player was also their highest paid?
Not last year, Drew and Gagne made more than Kent. Not in 2004, Beltre wasn't the highest paid player and Green wasn't anything special. 2003? Gagne was better than Kevin Brown and Shawn Green. Did Brown make more than Green every year prior to '03? The last time must have been before Brown was signed, I guess, I didn't pay attention to the payroll prior to about ~03-04.
316/317. I care about one thing and that is the postseason. Once we're in the postseason, we can worry about how we play the Mets or the Cards or the Astros or whoever. For right now, we are fighting for our life and postseason is LIFE.
I had both good guys going today (Carpenter and Ortiz) in one fantasy league where the pitching stats are going down to the wire. I was expecting a meltdown from Ortiz and a gem from Carpenter, but somehow it ended up being the other way around (sorta). Maybe I underestimated the Pads' road prowess.
I think it's a fairly safe bet that if the Dodgers make the playoffs, it'll be against the Mets. I don't see the Pads relinquishing a two -game lead all of a sudden, especially with four games left against the Arizona Deadbeats.
The cards deserve to lose the division at this point...I never could stand them, but I'll be damned if I don't want them to kick the tar out of the Pads.
Those games are in Arizona and it's not as if the Pads absolutely own the Dbacks...not to mention they're going to have to face Webb on the last day of the season I believe.
I just want to get into the playoffs...it'd be a little more sweet if it was the division title, but I'll take the WC...but I really don't think the division is completely out of the question yet.
353 You're right. 2 games, if it stays 2 games, isn't insurmountable. It would be sweet indeed if Arizona reared up and kicked the Padres out of first, while we're beating the Giants.
354 - Furcal is having one of the best Septembers/Octobers in Dodgers history. Ranks right up there with Mike Marshall in 1985: 340/384/667/1051, with 11 homers and 37 RBI
The problem is, with SD holding the tie breaker it's really 3 games. If the Dodgers and Padres tie (assuming the WC isn't an issue), the Padres get the division title.
363 I think he can go one more inning, I mean unless you think this will be a game filled with Carrera, Dessens and Stults, though Stults and Hendrickson probably are not bad bets for action tonite.
360 - That makeup game in SF might wreak havoc with that situation, but why not? How sweet would it be, after winning 100+ the last two years, for some NL Central team to come out of that division with like 82 wins?
Lofton, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Drew, RF
Martin, C
Anderson, LF
Betemit, 3B
Maddux, P
today's line up from Dodgers.com, Martin batting 5th? WHAT!? I like it.
Tonight at RFK:
Phillies
Rollins 2B
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Conine RF
Burrell LF
Lieberthal C
Nunez 3B
Myers P
Nats
Castro 2B
Lopez SS
Soriano LF
Zimmerman 3B
Vidro 1B
Schneider C
Logan CF
Church RF
Ortiz P
Or maybe he was just clogging up the payroll?
I was so shocked when I saw that the Astros were only 2.5 back yesterday.
We get to root for Astacio tomorrow in DC!
old friend Astacio, for shore.
They like that in Philly.
I was shocked, shocked, to see today that the Padres are 3.5 games ahead of the Cardinals.
AVG .342
OBP .438
SLG .508
I hate the Yankees, so the Phillies are by extension dead to me for gift wrapping him and sending him to New York. Too bad the Dodgers weren't willing to take on that payroll this year. They could have used Lidle and Abreu in exchange for the salary dump.
Al Davis, Lamar Hunt and the Rooney family also paid very little in comparison to what their team is worth.
Jerry Buss of course made is money many times over since he bought the Lakers, Kings and the Forum for $20M in 1979.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch uses approximately 500 reporters to cover the Cardinals in the postseason. I think my brother once had to write what he described as "Sidebar #7" for a game. I think it involved Ray King at the time.
wow, & the guy still has a tip on his shoulder.
oops sorry i meant Al Davis.
I'm missing the word "third" in that comment. Put it wherever you think it makes sense.
"Realistically, it'll be a stretch to think we'll be there in '07," Gillick said.
was he hammered in Phillie for saying that? i bet he was.
2 on, 1 out, Ryan Howard up. Top of the first.
1. Furcal, 2. Lofton, 3. Anderson, 4. Nomar, 5. Kent, 6. Drew, 7. Martin, 8. Betemit, 9.Maddux. vr, Xei
you have a computer that does that? i'm not kidding do you really
But has he ever baked himself into a loaf of bread...?
Well, it all went downhill after he started sleeping with the legs.
And he goes through doves like you wouldn't believe.
"I wish I were a Brett Myers winner"???
what kind of guy get's pumped up to that song?? i'm not joking that song reeks so bad!!
vr, Xei
If you have faith in that computer simulator of yours, you might have something fairly profitable on your hands.
This program you speak of, how can I get my hands on it?
this is baseball though so i doubt it.
40. you could ask me for a copy. The GUI needs alot of work (xeifrank@yahoo.com).
vr, Xei
If you can get better than 50-50 odds at a sports book, you will be profitable in the long run with that information. (As long Xeifrank's computer is smrt.)
I, too, would like to know how to get a copy of that program.
you did prodict the score the other day. but still....
I feel like the Dodgers are the Rohirrim holed up in Helm's Deep, the evil Philly hordes are streaming and yelling outside, storming the keep, and the Nationals are the Elves getting slaughtered out in front.
Who will be our Gandalf to the rescue?
i'm scared of things i don't know, stuff like that fraiten & confuse me (caveman lawyer SNL)
for the record i'm just saying #"s say only half of the story i'm sure all of you know that.
what's the score??
Such a website would be superfluous.
Jason Marquis being Jewish does not suprise me at all, Brad Ausmus is a bit of a suprise.
does it suprise you that i'm mexican?
You're Mexican in a Ted Williams sort of way.
I wouldn't think that's the case. Zimmerman is actually a fairly common name in Germany.
I thought about saying that. But then what would I do with the number 16 written on my hat?
Maybe if I don't pay any attention to Gameday or DT the Dodgers will win.
nah Bob, i'm mexican in a full blooded sort of way. :o)
you're name seems jewish Bob??
Sorry, I am a member of The One, True, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church.®
(A Delaware Corporation)
(I'm no longer a shareholder; I divested myself or it excommunicated me a long time ago.)
Timmermann?? please explain.
83
& vise versa, we all love baseball & that's the bottome line
There is the problem of Gary Majewski being on Cincinnati.
I doubt you will find anyone named Timmermann, with my spelling, who is Jewish. Timmermann is the German spelling of the name. If there were Jews in Germany with that name, well, there was some unpleasantness there about 60 years ago.
There are a lot of people named "Timmerman" (with one n) and they tend to be Dutch or Danish.
The Germans added an extra n to nearly every surname that ended in "-man" back in the 18th Century for some reason.
I'm buying Bob all his cousin's books for Christmas.
If you make it past the first 10 pages in any of them, you win a prize!
Try this one!
http://tinyurl.com/lg6zz
The title alone freaked me out!
With respect to the names, look into the possibility of added letters to identify gender.
Russians, I believe, us Petrov or Petrova (for example) as a way of differenciating males and females.
It's a possibility.
I base this on two years of HS Russian 40 years ago (40 years ago? Egad!).
I need a bigger monitor.
There's Rauch, Rivera, Wagner, and Cordero.
let's hope so, maybe there glove's are melfuctioning also!!
I have no idea. The most runs in any baseball game are scored in the first inning however.
All the hits have been grounballs.
(vin called kaz hideki)
http://tinyurl.com/edlp6
I believe the Phillies are the team with a keener interest in the out of town scoreboard.
Jennings blooped it
Personally, I do not wish to see Olmedo Saenz attempt to track down hard hit grounders to third at Coors Field with Maddux pitching.
Or else I will find myself angrier at Frank Robinson.
Whoops, I guess I just did point it out. Force of habit. I'll take the 3-0 lead.
i hear you, but darn it does it hurt seeing Betemit makes those kind of outs.
Could someone please describe how one triples on a ground ball to right?
Vin needs to retire. It would be sad to see what happened to Chick Hearn happen to him.
Presumably the ground ball was hit very hard and rolled into the corner.
Ryan Zimmerman -- not Jewish.
Nats bullpen -- scary, yet sometimes good.
Mike O'Connor -- rookie, went to GW here in town, had a strong first few starts but has been shaky since. Lets just say, none of the starters the Nationals are running out there this week, or ever really, are real intimidating.
Then you run. Run Really Fast.
Andy Pettitte meanwhile is shutting the Buccos down, and Jim Tracy is looking so old and haggard he can only be described as Leyland-esque.
And now it's time for...DENNY CRANE!
Didn't you mean
K! + SB + E2!
I've seen more Phillies coverage on our local tv sportscasts than I have Dodgers', because of Victorino.
gameday is dead to alot of us.
Chad Cordero, fine closer, not known for his 1-2-3 innings, however.
he's a monster
good news! YES!
Carpenter keeps on keepin' on through 5. Still 3-2.
That's how I feel about the games tonight. I can't keep up!
103. Greg Brock
"I think the Dodgers just need to execute. It's all about execution."
Um, you might be onto something there. Who did you have in mind? Lugo? A few pitchers?
My remote is burning up.
This despite the fact that they scored two runs with the bases loaded and one out in the 5th.
OK, now I'm annoying myself with that.
:)
Something else? What else is there?
224- that's why I used the word "truly"
yeah usually they just shut it down. but so far in this game they have had runners on and the double plays have just killed them.
4-2 Nationals.
1st inning - 26 pitches
2nd inning - 14 pitches
3rd inning - 10 pitches
4th inning - 6 pitches
Boooyaahhh!
Well Nomar screwed that rally.
Dodger folklore hero!
{gulp}
Woo-hoo!
Probably the most fantastic thing about the Dodgers contending this time of year is hearing Scully do one of these. Oh, joy.
Howard flies out!
33% of Today Agenda, DONE!!
That's not "Game Over." More like, "phew, it's over."
Russ Ortiz comes in to relieve Hayden Penn.
Padres have the bases loaded with one out in the 7th. Carpenter is on the ropes.
Since Jim Kaat is 68 years old, this is easier to do.
san diego is rallying in st. louis, however :/
Given that I am Dodger fan and have $500 on Carpenter to win the Cy Young, that was a really bad result....
Much improvement over recent years. No gaping holes.
5-4 Cards...so far...
Early in the game, Scully was speculating that the old guy would run out of oxygen. When Maddux's bunt failed and he wound up on base, I think Scully was afraid Maddux was going to expire right in front of us.
As it turns out -- no worries. Maddux lives!
303 By trading with a team that considers Beckett and Lowell better than Sanchez and Rameriez
Not last year, Drew and Gagne made more than Kent. Not in 2004, Beltre wasn't the highest paid player and Green wasn't anything special. 2003? Gagne was better than Kevin Brown and Shawn Green. Did Brown make more than Green every year prior to '03? The last time must have been before Brown was signed, I guess, I didn't pay attention to the payroll prior to about ~03-04.
Greatest. Collapse. Ever.
I know that Reyes and Rollins will get some consideration as the best NL shortstop but I don't think Furcal has stand aside for anyone since May 1st.
They really don't have a good lineup, yet they're managing to not only win 5 in a row but bash Carpenter no less.
Boy, that was some stubborn sticking with Carpenter that inning. Wonder if the Old School approves?
Hearing footsteps, St. Louis?
Just kidding.
The cards deserve to lose the division at this point...I never could stand them, but I'll be damned if I don't want them to kick the tar out of the Pads.
Those games are in Arizona and it's not as if the Pads absolutely own the Dbacks...not to mention they're going to have to face Webb on the last day of the season I believe.
I just want to get into the playoffs...it'd be a little more sweet if it was the division title, but I'll take the WC...but I really don't think the division is completely out of the question yet.
356-
Thanks for the numbers...knew it was something absurd like that but didn't feel like looking it up.
Nice hit Russ! Another triple!
365- do you have Brian Jordan's September numbers from his only healthy year is as a Dodger. All I know is that he had 30+ rbis.