yeah, i'm not going to be able to watch this game. i'll be lucky if i manage to stay awake enough for a decent chunk of the A's-twins. stupid middle-of-the-night day games.

oh yeah, boo to both teams though! i suppose i want the padres to lose more because their pitching is better, but really i want them to beat each other up in an exhausting 5-gamer.

I'm sure the text alerts on my cell phone will be interesting.

2
Like Vishal, I have a problem with both teams. I have a very problematic relationship with the Cardinals involving familial ties and run-ins with jerks from the Bi-State area at Dodger Stadium.

But do I want to see Ted Leitner get more work?

Could we survive a Padres team that won a World Series?

Probably. I bet the Padres would get fewer book offers and be the subject of much less fanfare than the last two WS winners, Red/White Sox.

I'm guessing that the storyline for the Padres that will be pushed on TV will be Hoffman and Piazza. The fact that there are several other good players on the Padres is forgotten.

Yeah, Vishal, I hear you, except I say "Stupid 'ole work in the middle of the playoffs!"

Anyone else growing the beard. I decided it's a 'Hendrickson', or is it just my imaginaion that that's when Lowe and Penny started growing theirs?

Jon, great bunch of writing recently. Thanks for keeping on it.

I'm predicting Padres in 3.

And finally, echoing an earlier sentiment, I think if Mueller had been around we'd have won a few more games. Maybe even better than 90-72....

See the predictions here: http://tinyurl.com/qegj4

I think we all know whom JoeyP is rooting for...

I would have to think a Padre championship would be bittersweet for many around here, given the presence of so many Old Friends down there.

I mean, who would you rather see win a championship: Jeff Kent or Mike Piazza? Kenny Lofton or Dave Roberts? Ned Colletti or Paul DePodesta?

I'm thinking that Pujols should be able to get the Cards one game. Maybe the "best fans in baseball" (heh), can steal a second one for them.

And Bob, the Padres have guys that aren't Hoffman and Piazza? I didn't know that...

6
I wouldn't be sure. I was upbraided by him for being angry at Cardinals fans.

I am still angry at Cardinals fans.

Could we survive a Padres team that won a World Series?

hahah, exactly. it just sounds so wrong. though if they make it there and play the yankees i'm definitely going to root for them then.

and i can't really place a finger on why the cardinals are so annoying to me, but they are. part of it is that they have more championships than the dodgers. what's with that? not fair, i say. we're so much better a franchise than they are. everything about our team is cooler. except for pujols, and ozzie smith. that's it though. maybe bob gibson too.

Did I miss the Dodgers announcing their DS active roster? Didn't see that anywhere...

And finally, echoing an earlier sentiment, I think if Mueller had been around we'd have won a few more games. Maybe even better than 90-72....

Wow, somebody actually read my comment about Mueller. Was feeling a little Charlie Brownish ... thanks for making my day.

The Cardinals did better than the Dodgers did in their dominant stretch.

From 1942-46, the Cardinals won the NL flag four times and won the World Series three times.

The From 1952-56, the Dodgers won the NL flas four times and won the World Series once.

And the Cardinals had one of the greatest stretch runs ever in 1942 and beat out the Dodgers in a playoff in 1946. Stupid Pete Reiser breaking his leg on a pickoff play!

i HATE that "best fans" crap too. i've never had it explained to me exactly what's so great about them. it always seemed to me that the implication was that they're great because they are whitebread middle america, and that irks me.

When was the last time a manager of the year was fired that same year? I'm guessing never...

9 Funny.

For those not intersted in going back to the archives, I culled the only 88-74 predictions I could find:

from Looking Back on 2006 (Fill in the Blanks) - archives/322219.html#comments

88-74
DodgerJoe
88-74 The season hinges on pitchers Odalis and Gagne and position players Drew and Nomar.

trainwreck
88-74 JD Drew and Jae Seo

Daniel Zappala
88-74, Drew and Nomar having their best seasons in 3 years, and Tomko being dropped from the rotation in favor of Chad Billingsley after the All-Star break

Inside Baseball
The Dodgers' 88-74 record in 2006 rested mostly on the shoulders of Nomar Garciaparra

Sam DC
The Dodgers' 88-75

*
I think Daniel's wins.

The Cardinals reputation as the best fans is nominally because they supposedly rarely boo their team (which they have done a lot of this year) and cheer the opposition for making good plays.

However, Vishal's statement in 13 has some truth to it.

I was happy to see the Cardinals winning while Edmonds was a big part of the team. He was my favorite Angel. But then I remembered La Russa was the manager so I gave that up quickly.

I was never a big Piazza fan (heresy!), could care less about Dave Roberts, and would much rather Colletti win a WS than DePodesta. If the Dodgers win, I propose a celebration here:

http://mamacollettis.com/

All these Italians in baseball, maybe I can be a GM some day?

15 Wow. That is honestly the first time I have ever made a preseason prediction, and hence the first time I have ever won. I'm feeling prescient today.

Italians didn't really become much of a force in baseball until the 1930s. Ping Bodie was the first Italian-American player of consequence and Tony Lazzeri was the first star. Then came the DiMaggios, et al.

Prior to that, baseball was dominated by the Irish and the Germans.

I suppose now the largest plurality of any ethnicity in baseball is Dominican, although that's a mixed bag.

13 Yeah, everyone know us whitebiscuit southerners kick midwestern booty.

Seriously, though, I've found the cards fans to be the best, too. I'm taking into account actually going to the games, and also the fact that Braves "fans" really outweigh the greatness of real Braves fans. Of course, I have good friends that ar Cubs fans, and I have to say, they'd share their tickets with me as fast (if not faster) as a Dodger fan.

Mixed bag in the sense that Dominicans are from many different cultures.

Sushirabbit is my hero today.

Perhaps not the time to bring up anything negative but I am often embarrassed to be a Dodger fan. MOST teams east of Denver have better fans. It has nothing to do with booing or cheering, it has to do with having a clue what's going on in the game. You won't see Cardinal fans (or most team's fans) doing the wave or bouncing a beach ball while their own team is rallying. You often won't see Dodger fans recognize important historical moments or even moments vital to the game they are watching. Other fans ARE baseball fans. Our fans are usually clueless in comparison. Oh, and their fans show up on the last days of the year with the team tied for first. / end tirade.

15 Sam was betting on a Playoff game, I take it.

23 - That's bunk. I've seen beachballs at Yankee Stadium, RFK, and Fenway. I've seen people in two of those three leave in the 6th when the game is getting out of hand. I have not seen the wave anywhere else (except NASCAR), but that's because the wave is dumb.

Anyone else feeling a touch of sickness coming on today that might somehow make them too ill to come into work tomorrow?

I actually am starting to feel ill to my stomach, maybe it is my subconscious making me sick so I don't miss the game tomorrow.

Just realized (duh) that the Dodgers-Mets series is an LA-NY matchup. I'm dumbfounded that all the games aren't prime time, purely from a TV revenue standpoint.

25 Beach balls, yes. Wave, yes. But when their own team is rallying or anything important is going on? No. I agree about leaving early; all fans do that.

23 And they tend to sell out playoff games, in less than a week and a half. Is the game even sold out yet?

It's funny how the Dodgers break the attendance record, yet they can't get people to show up when they normally would.

22 Did I know that Daniel Zappala had it in him? Well, Yes, Yes I did. Was he sure to make a bold statement? Yeah, he did, because I put him in a position to do that!... er.. what? Who is this Steve guy? And why is he selling his domain name to some guy at Carnegie-Mellon?

Seriously, that was a pretty amazing prediction.

Man oh man, I didn't feel so great about the 88-74 until I realized the Pirates were 67-95. Wow.

15 Well, my J.D. Drew and Jayson Werth prediction looks rather silly.

28 - So what about the Dodger fans who reversed course during the Monday Night Miracle and went back to their seats after during the pitching change? They must have been "Good Fans" of other teams, eh?

33 How does that make them good fans? Yes, when the greatest game in history is happening, they have left and are in the parking lot, they will come back. Good on them.

29. We were talking about that a few days ago. We can't sell out the last two games of the year in a virtual tie for first (or a playoff game!)but give away a Tommy Lasorda bobblehead or shoot off fireworks and we draw 55,000!
I should revise my geography and say east of Denver, north of Atlanta.

Jon, thanks for the game time info for this weekend. I was wondering whattime to plan on for Sunday.

Maybe I missed this somewhere, but has anyone seen a list of the post-season roster for the Mets series? I am real interested in seeing who Grady kept on the squad for the 1st round.

I think the Dodgers have up until just before the start of the game to make roster decisions. If that's true, I don't expect to see anything until tomorrow.

Isn't it something that so many of us get a lift out of the prospect of hearing more Scully than usual?

13

I hear you and understand where you're coming from. But as much as I love the Dodgers, I must admit the Cardinals fans are pretty good in their own right. I've attended close to 50 Dodgers-Cardinals games in St. Louis in my life, and two in Dodger Stadium (within the last 4 years). Small sample size warning, but in general the Cardinals fans are much, much more closely following the game action than the LA fans. The percentage of people keeping score, wearing Cardinals gear, cheering good plays by the opposition, etc. is much higher in St. Louis than in LA, at least in my experience. Not saying that Dodger fans are not good (they certainly are).

*A's-Twins Game 1 Chat (10 a.m. gametime) can be found at Catfish Stew.

And later this evening, head on over to Bronx Banter for the Yankees and Tigers.*

But, Jon, what if we like our chat PG-style?

As for the NL, I hope the Cardinals sweep the Padres. I loathe the Padres. I'm not afraid of them; if they should happen to win and the Dodgers win -- great. May much Padre blood spill in the NLCS. But my soul would be just as satisfied if the Cardinals, the faltering Cardinals that everyone expects to fold, instead hammer the Padres into the ground.

Wwwaaaahhhhhh -- I have too much work. Too much work. Too much work.

Anyhow, may be a little scare the next few days.

As I recall, I did have a playoff, but I botched the write up and had the final series at home instead of Phone Company Park.

Meanwhile, Keith Law seems to think the Dodgers' NLDS roster is set: "Matt Kemp would have been a nice platoon partner for Lofton here, but he's not on the postseason roster."

Or is he out because they hadn't broght him back up yet?

Personally, I don't see how Matt Kemp would have helped much in the postseason either offensively or defensively.

43 Right, but other than that he'd have been a nice platton partner for Lofton.

I wouldn't be sure. I was upbraided by him for being angry at Cardinals fans

Precisely.

JoeyP : St Louis :: Buster : Grilled cheese

39 Fans of the visiting team usually follow more carefully than fans of the home team. It's beacuse for the visiting fans, the presence of their team is a rarity.

34 The example in 33 is provided as a direct rebuttal to your comments in 28 and 23 that Dodgers fans do not know a big moment. You made a general statement; I provided a counter-example in an effort to invaidate your point. That's the danger of making sweeping statements.

46. Sorry, I understand your point but my sweeping statement, as written, stands. Please note the word "often" in 28.

46 Er, the word "often" in 23

46.

To assist your rebuttal how about the majority of the stadium cheering Maddux (without prompting from the scoreboard) when his no hitter was broken up in the 6th against the Padres, earlier in that series.

Dodger fans have an undeserved reputation

23 "You won't see Cardinal fans (or most team's fans) doing the wave"

They were during the wave at Shea during the late innings of the Maddux-Hernandez game. My Mets fan buddy just looked over at me and rolled his eyes.

27 Nope, Fox is putting the other New York team in every prime time game they can.

23 - 46 - But in defense of 23, I've had similar experiences that the fans around me have been more interested in volleying a beach ball or starting a wave than paying attention to the game. I've had games where it's a 3-3 tie in the 8th, opposition has runners on 1st and 3rd, 1 out game in the balance and beach balls come out. I can understand if it's 7-1 in the 8th to entertain yourselves, but not when a game hangs in the balance. This was a game I went to in late August against the Reds. Also, I was in the stands for the 88 series when Gibby hits his homer but people were leaving in the 8th inning of a 1 run game in the WS on a Saturday night.

36 On some site the other day Little was quoted as saying that 28 or 29 players would be on their traveling squad but the 25 active hadn't been decided yet. I think all of us can figure out which 28 or 29 that will be. Paring it down to 25 will be a little more difficult.

Yes, they recognize no hitters and the importance of hitting 4 home runs in the 9th to tie the most important game of the year. Yay for us. Try watching a game in the ballpark of most any other team when that game is meaningful. It is an entirely different experience.
I will say that in 2004, I thought the playoff crowd was into it.

I'll never argue that Dodger fans are the most attentive around, but I think a good example can be found in Cora's 18-pitch at-bat. I think I noticed what was happening before most people did, but it wasn't long before the crowd really got into it.

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/13349.html

52
They should just go with the NHL style and just dress 25 guys per game but carry the other guys around and make them "healthy scratches."

That's how it's done in Japan.

Aren't the incredible amount of dedicated, knowledgeable fans to be found here at DodgerThoughts at least a slight rebuttal to the idea that Dodger fans are generally do-dos? (I'm being sincere, while also knowing there's some truth to your statement about Dodger fans at the stadium.) But like others have pointed out, there's idiotic fans to be found at every stadium, and very knowledgable fans of each team, too. I think Dodger fans generally get a bad wrap based on some of the more visibly idiotic ones at DS. At any rate, I am happier hanging out here with y'all then I am with most fans at most stadiums. /end mush

51 My point it that these things are not unique to Dodger Stadium and Dodger fans. All of the DodgerBlues Fan Gripes are seen in most other stadia around the country. It's only because a general anti-California, and specifically anti-LA, bias seen in most of the country that these traits are solely attributed to Dodger Fans. Ever wonder why these things are never said about Angels Fans? It's because they're not from LA (any more, or are they of LA? I lose track of these thi... BEACHBALL! Wap!!).

I was sitting right in front of the guy who started the wave at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. It only took about six attempts to get started, and it made at least that many full circuits of the stands.

And there were plenty of late-arriving and early-leaving fans at the game. In LA, of course, that is compounded by traffic, lack of public transportation, and the sprawling nature of the region.

I do agree that it's an embarassment that these playoff games have not sold out yet. However, the Dodgers did sell 3.7 million tickets this year, the best in baseball (I think).

Can you imagine the traffic on Saturday with the hated ones (oh I'm sorry) USC playing at home at 12:30, the Dodger playoff game at 1:00 and UCLA playing in the Rose Bowl at 4:00.

Now I could try the doubleheader of the Dodger game and UCLA but I think I am going to exchange my ticket to a later game but I think I might have to go hangout in the bar on Sunset before the game just to avoid the traffic.

There will never be a legitimate excuse for even having a beach ball at a baseball game. It is your duty to burst everyone you see. You want to play with a beachball, stay home. Your kids want to play with a beacball, leave them at home. Show some respect for the baseball fans and players. Why would any intelligent person spend $50 to $400 for tickets and then play with a beachball? Why would any decent, respectful person interfere with real fans watching the game by playing with a beachball?

53
Not that 26 years ago is a great example, but the Dodgers final games against the Astros were probably the loudest and wildest in the history of the stadium. My brother was an usher at Dodger Stadium at the time and he said it was extraordinarily loud.

I'm trying to think of the loudest crowd for a sporting event I've been to. The Michigan-Washington State Rose Bowl was really loud because that was one of the few Rose Bowls I've attended where the crowd was close to 50-50. When UCLA goes, it's usually 10-30% UCLA fans.

Koshien Stadium was very loud when I was there to see the Hanshin Tigers play.

I've never been to USC-UCLA football game when both teams were playing for the Rose Bowl.

I've only been to World Cup matches at the Rose Bowl and the crowds weren't that loud. It was too hot.

I would also like to add that I think the Dodger Stadium Beachball Crisis has become a humanitarian disaster, and UN troops ought to be sent in.

Frank Thomas says Santana don't try no change up on me.

The Yankees sold 4.2 million tickets this year.

55 Bob, I'm sure you remember how/why Paul Brown 'invented' The Taxi Squad.

Yeah, I should add that I'm not a fan of the beachballs either (though they are part of the "flavor") and would definitely be tempted to pop one if it landed in my possession, and the wave should have died out years ago. But hey, sometimes baseball games are slow, no matter which stadium you're sitting in.

And Americans make fun of soccer for being boring, but it's 90 mins of non-stop action. Not many beachballs flying around at those games (often because fans are too busy singing anthems or beating each other up).

61 The Angel playoff games I attended in 1979 and 1986 were the loudest outdoor events I can recall, after the game in 1979, my cousin and I went to a fast food place to get something to eat and we could barely talk.

For sheer insanity, those few moments of the back to back to back to back were unmatched, people just could not believe it.

65 I thought that was James L. Brooks.

60
I'll ask my friends who are hockey experts about which came first.

BTW - just checked the Dodger site, I could not buy a single ticket to games 3 or 4 for this weekend so I will assume that those games are sold out.

53 Sorry. I have. I notice no difference. People stand up in front of you at inopportune moments, cheer for put outs on sac bunts, and get too drunk to know what's going on between the lines. Plus, the weather is less predictable.

And soccer fans do the wave a lot now. Except in those circles it's called "the Mexican Wave."

61 Bob, I was at ALL of those games ( I was 13) and I fully agree that those were among the most exciting and loud games I ever witnessed. My how things have changed though.
The loudest game I ever attended was in 1995 with the Indians playing in the Seattle Kingdome. I know it's because of the low roof but when I left, I felt like I had been through a war. If we get in to the WS, I'm not rooting for the Twins. Too hard on the nerves!

I'm curious why people keep saying that the playoff games are not sold out. I just went to the Dodgers' website and tried to purchase a single ticket to the various games listed and was unable. Is there some place else that is claiming that tickets are still available?

I already have tickets to the games so this is just out of curiosity, but I'm wondering if there are actually still tickets available.

You beat me to the punch bhsportsguy!

If the beachballs come near me, I try to knock them to the level below. It gets them away from me and the ushers are better at collecting down there. Some people advocate the hidden pen pop, but I'm worried about poking someone's eye out on a swing and a miss.

71 Okay capdodger. Dodger fans are as knowledgeable and enthusiastic as any in baseball. We'll go with that.

72 Darn, the beautiful game has been corrupted.

Btw, speaking of: "Once in a Lifetime" (story of the NY Cosmos) is out on DVD today. Fun watch for soccer fans.

The loudest I can remember is the Finley grand slam game. But it could be I have just forgotten other game's loudness. I was at the 1965 pennent clincher and the Drysdale phantom hit-batter game but have no recollection of the decibel level.

nice, a quick inning! barry almost never has those.

77 - And I'll concede that Dodger Fans haven't had much to know or cheer for over the last 18 years. Truce?

haha, whoops, wrong toaster blog :)

81 That is true although I don't know if they'd know it if they saw it =)
We all need to pull together now and root for the team.
Truce

I attended the University of Michigan. I have never heard a crowd nearly as loud as at Michigan Stadium, especially on big games (Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State).

for the record, my opinion about dodger fans (and i think i've mentioned this before here) is that while yes, beach balls are annoying and i'm not into the wave, i think it's very special how the dodgers are able to bring such a widely spread area full of all sorts of different types of people (ethnicities, social and economic groups, etc...) all together. it's one of the very few places in southern california where you can truly feel a sense of one-ness with the people around you.

A few years ago, when taunted by my Giant fan friends, I would say "More fans leave Dodger Stadium in the seventh than even show up at Candlestick at all."

I can't say that anymore, but it's important to remember that we were the first fans to break 3 million, and only the Yankees outdrew us this year.

Dodger fans don't strike me as the most knowledgeable in the land, but numbers count for something, and I agree with Vishal's comment in 85 about it being a nicely diverse crowd.

I used to really hate the beachballs, but I have a Phillie fan friend who loves them - thinks they're very "California" -and that made me hate them less.

Now if the McCourts would only enforce the no-swearing rules that used to exist...

77 - I'm not saying the majority of fans at DS are clueless, but enough of a minority can still spoil the pot. I have visited ballparks in the east and the fans generally know what is going on in the game. I was at Shea last year and I saw maybe one beachball the whole game on another level.
Fans at DS do rise to the occasion when a big playoff or WS game is played. I guess most fans in LA haven't caught on to the importance of the Division series yet.

It's funny; while I have no problem with Dodger fans critiquing themselves, I always seem to end up defending Dodger fans when another team's fan starts belittling them. Ah well.

Speaking of which, did anyone catch this gem from the NY Sun (I found it on 6-4-2)?

http://www.nysun.com/article/40781

87 Of course, the Dodgers have only had four or five home LDS games since realignment.

88 - Yeah. I guess I'm just ultra-sensitive to it because I hear the same critiques all the time, and usually I hear them in some horrid eastern accent.

hahahah "horrid eastern accent". so right.

The only reason Dodger fans get a bad reputation for coming late and leaving early is that the parking lot is easily visible from inside the stadium. Other stadiums have plenty of fans coming late and leaving early, but they aren't shown on TV.

I also point out that even after 10% to 20% of the fans leave early, the Dodgers have more fans there than almost any other stadium.

I will not be surprised if the Twins go down to the A's. The A's have been doing it with smoke and mirrors all season long, no reason to stop now. I just hope somebody beats the Yankees.

88, 90 - Yes, I am also sick of hearing Dodger fans get bashed - especially by Yankee fans.

There is nothing easier in this world than being a Yankee fan. It requires nothing.

[94] let's be fair: it requires a hat. heh.

There is nothing easier in this world than being a Yankee fan. It requires nothing.

Not even a soul.

Check out Joe Morgan actually saying something I agree with.

Nice grab by Kotsay.

For the most part Dodger fans blow for all of the following reasons.
1. Booing Dodgers who've had great careers and no longer play for the Dodgers who were traded and didn't leave via free agency or if they did leave via free agency it was because the Dodgers choose to not pay the going rate.
2. Booing current Dodgers who are in a slump even though the effort is obvious.
3. Drunken profain behavior in front of their own and other children.
4. On any given weekday night when the attendance is announced in the 40,000 range, 1000's of season tickets stayed home. I don't think I had to sit one time in my rogue Loge seats during a weekday game this year even in the Sept race as I'm always able to sit right behind the dugout pretty much whenever I want. Giveaway nights excepted.
5. Vague knowledge about their own team and complete lack of knowledge about any other team.
6. Sitting in lines for beer after beer missing about 3 innings a game.
7. Being much more excited about a beachball that may come within two feet of them then any actions happening on the field.
8. Constantly on the lookout when you bring kids that some drunken fool doesn't knock them over yelling for a ball from the bullpen
9. Fans yelling for the ball from the outfielders and when the outfielder pays them no mind they start cursing him as though they should be the center of the universe.
10. Fans chanting "??? sucks" as that team is whacking the crap out of the Dodgers.

I don't mind the wave. The kids love it and since baseball bores most kids these days, at least it gives them something to do for brief moments.

I love Dodger baseball, the fans, not so much. Clipper fans are the best fans in Los Angeles. Hands down, no contest.

The Dodgers would be embarrased if they actually posted the turnstile count compared to tickets sold.

[98] oh yeah, none of that stuff ever happens anywhere else. nope. and it's totally the fans' fault that there are beer lines.

88 Sounds like the Mets, at least the beat writers, may already have let Kou get into their heads. No mention of Lowe or (gulp) Penny

[100] sorry, that was too sarcastic.

Umm, that should be Kuo (Guo for Xei Frank), not Kou.

On a slightly different subject, more than a few times this year, I was in a bar or restaurant in L.A. and they had a baseball game other than the Dodger game on and I asked them to change it and got rolled eyes or sarcastic anti-Dodger responses.
I went to a sports bar on the Friday of the last Padre series and had to ask them to put it on. The manager said I was the only one who cared and he only reluctantly put it on.
This entire city is totally apathetic about baseball (until postseason).

99 I don't disagree too much but there was an article last year that noted that no-shows at both Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium were high, the American League has never listed turnstile count in their official attendance, most pro leagues go by tickets sold.

As the Clippers become more successful, I wonder if their core fans will be replaced by corporate types.

ESPN radio just reported that El Duque may have hurt himself today during the workout and just went to get an MRI on his calf, status unknown for tomorrow.

All of that said, I was just thinking about all of this and it occured to me, "hey, we get to actually SEE one of those posteason games at Dodger Stadium THIS weekend!".
I hope the fans (even the frontrunners) are loud and excited. I can't wait.

98 ??? sucks certainly isn't L.A. local. I think SNL's point-counter point, "You suck Jeter", vs. "No, I don't" illustrates this relationship perfectly.

Derek Jeter: Thanks, Tina. I know my friend Seth Meyers here is a Red Sox fan, and that's great. The fan really are what keep Major League baseball going. But I hope Seth can see that I play hard all the time, and I always do my best for the team.

Tina Fey: Seth, Counterpoint?

Seth Meyers: You suck!

Tina Fey: Seth, you still have, like, thirty seconds.

Seth Meyers: I'll elaborate. Jeter, you suck in three very specific ways. So Hard, So Bad, and Wicked Bad.

Tina Fey: Derek? Response?

Derek Jeter: Well, I've heard this argument before, Seth. In fact, Red Sox fans have been nice enough to share this argument with me every time I play in Boston. Or walk in Boston. Or go on a date in a fancy restaurant in Boston. Also, sometimes they drive to Baltimore, when we play the Orioles, to tell me I suck. [ Seth starts chanting "Der-ek!" in Derek's ear ] But if you look at my numbers, you'll find that I'm a very productive shortshop. Seth, what are you doing? You've been following me around all week screaming at me.

Seth Meyers: I'm sorry, Derek.. really.. I really am. It's just you and people like you ruined my entire childhood. So I swore if I ever got within six feet of a real Yankee, I'd kick his ass. But then I saw you.. and I knew that that could not happen. But, thankfully, this can happen - You suck!

Transcript from here: http://tinyurl.com/fhbw4

98
1) Happens everywhere.
2) Hello, Philly? They booed Santa.
3) Ditto. Plus NY, BOS.
4,8,9) Different town, same old dung.
5) The same could be said of the LA media, and of the fans of many other teams.
6) Yeah. That's dumb. Drink in the parking lot. (j/k)
7) Getting hit on the head isn't fun. Knock the ball away so it won't come back.
10) I wish they would come up with something more original, too. I don't like this chant when the Blue are whacking the heck out of the opposition. Mostly beacause I think it's more fun to needle them in a PG kinda way.

Hindsight is 20-20.

Interesting thread to look back on:
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/322219.html#comments

Looks like Daniel Zappala, trainwreck, and yours truly win the prize but all the predictions are entertaining.

Other baseball news:
Fredi Gonzalez, most recently a coach for the Atlanta Braves, was hired as the manager of the Florida Marlins today replacing Joe Giradi.

98 - Good list, Toy. You've nailed all of my peeves about Dodger fans, but in #4 I would say that purchasing a season ticket indicates a high level of fandom. I wouldn't count season ticket no-shows against the fans. It's the purchase of the seat that is one's measure as a fan.

I think we used to have the highest number of season ticket holders in the majors Does anyone know if that is still true?)

94 - I agree there. The Yankee fans of the present never have to experience decades of ineptitude from management, and they can be so spoiled that getting to a WS is so blase to them. For fans of most teams, getting to the WS is truly the prize and winning is just cool whip on the Hot fudge sundae. Yankee fans have only been without a WS champion for 6 years and their fans are ready to run A-Rod up the flagpole burning like Joan-of Arc at the stake.

Try being fans of the Cubs, Phillies, Pirates and White Sox who are thrilled for one or two runs a decade at a pennant.

109 And yes, I know that it was Eagles fans forty years ago that booed St. Nick., but still...

El Duque may not be able to go game 1, the Great Dodger in the Sky has woken up

el duque needs an MRI! he hurt his calf running today, and he may not even start game 1. wow.

116 El Duque is not Curt Schilling, Clemens, or Randy Johnson, and I always worry about facing guys that we have not seen a lot of but in the playoffs, I will take any advantage I can get.

106- just saw that on ESPN. That would be a huge blow to the Mets.

I'll also say, this Zito fellow is quite good, and he's not even hitting the strike zone today. I'm sticking to my original prediction that he gets 5 yrs, 90 million.

100 109
I was never comparing Dodger fans to anyone else, just pointing out the things that bug me. I'm sure most fans are jerks at most ballparks since drinking is the common element. I've been dealing with drunks at Dodgers stadium since 1975 so it is nothing new but it has gotten to a point that my wife won't allow me to take kids to my own season seats in the rogue area. I got into a bit of a tiff with 3 drunks last time and embarrassed her since they were her students.

113
Try being a Clipper fan:)

84 You need to come on down to RockyTop some time. ;-) My friend from Michigan now laughs about the comparison.

If I'm ever wearing Dodger regalia, I'm usually approached the most by fans of the Cards, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Braves (I am in the south), all the rest. Along time ago, I spent a night in Raliegh-Durham (NY Air, I think) yacking it up with a crazy Cardinals girl, but it sure made the time go by a lot quicker.

120 Even worse, I was once Hartford Whalers fan.

The loudest game I've ever been to was a regular season game between the Yanks and the Mets at Shea. The crowd was about fifty-fifty for each team.

In the interest of fairness, accuracy and small sample sizes, I have been been to several Cardinals games over the years, and I cannot recall one single game during which the wave did not happen.

Waves, mullets and blue jean shorts. It's baseball like it oughta be.

113 - In regards to the Cubs and Phillies, I should say once or twice in a half century.:) Point is Yankee fans with the exception of 1965-75 and 1982-1994 have not experienced long bouts of mediocre play.

121 I once drove to the Manchester, NH airport from Central Maine with a crazy Cardinals girl riding shotgun. My CCG had the same effect as yours. They sure talk a good game.

84. The Big House is actually very quiet for how many people it holds. Ohio State fans actually call it the Big Quiet, because the Horseshoe in Columbus is much louder. Most SEC stadiums are actually louder than Michigan, but the loudest place I've ever been was Autzen Stadium about 10 years ago or so. I've heard they've changed the architecture of the stadium to make it less loud, that is just sad.

Autzen Stadium is still deafening and so is McArthur Court.

Walked through the Mets Rally Tuesday in Midtown a couple hours ago. David Wright jerseys as far as the eye could see. But only one Mookie Wilson jersey, he was wearing it. Everyone in this city is talking about a Subway Seried like it's a given. Here's to making New Yorkers mad.

Here's to making New Yorkers mad.

That's always worth it.

120 - Different sport, I was just trying to keep it to baseball. My main point is that Yankee fans do not know the meaning of suffering fans like many other teams. To me, being a fan of teams like the Cubs, Dodgers, ect.. is more like real life, you experience many more heartbreaks and disappointments but there are times you experience pure joy and it is so much sweeter the few times you achieve ultimate success. The hope for those moments is what keeps you alive and coming back for more even knowing failure to reach the peak is more likely to happen. Lessons of life and baseball are very similar. However, those lessons usually escape Yankee fan.

Boy, I sure wouldn't mind Barry Zito being a Dodger next year. Too bad we probably will priced out by our friend Scott Boras.

Baseball fans are the worst.

123 Try a Tucson Toros (or whatever the nickname is now) game if you're lookin' for blue jean shorts. I went to Hi Corbett Field a few teams when I attended U of A, and the scenery within the park was wonderful.

I apologize if this is old news, but it appears from the website www.metsblog.com that El Duque injured his calf today and is doubtful for tomorrow. I'm at work and don't have time to go back and read all the posts before.

130. I really don't think you can put the Dodgers in with most of the long-suffering fan bases like the Cubs, Phillies, and others. The Dodgers have a decent amount of success in their history. Also, the most overrated fans in all of sports are Cubs fans, they're too drunk and busy calling their friends bragging about being at Wrigley on a workday to be suffering with their team.

164 and as I post that, I scroll up to see it's already been posted. chalk my post up to the Department of Redundancy Dept. sorry guys.

If it is so easy being a Yankee fan then why didn't Don Mattingly ever play in a World Series?

137 Because no one went to Yankee stadium when the Yankees were bad.

Dodger fans are long suffering????
I guess all those World Championships in 59,63,65,81, and 88 were just mirages. Cub fans would give both balls to have one of those banners.

I don't feel long suffering. I just feel jerked around by management over the last dozen years.

Fox. Malone.

139 - We are long suffering only in that we had so many close pennant losses - losing on the last day or weekend of a season or in a playoff and of course all the WS losses especially at the hands of the Yankees. Dodgers were so close to being a dynasty on their own but for the Yankees dominance in the WS in the 40's and 50's during the Boys of Summer reign. Those teams tried their best, but fell just short of their ultimate goal, just like I was saying in 130. Bur granted, Cubs, Phillies, ect. have suffered much longer with poor to mediocre teams.

Cub fans would give both balls to have one of those banners.

Now that's a win-win(-win) situation if I've ever heard of one. Somebody get McCourt the number for UPS.

[139] who's comparing us to the cubs?

141. But there were still titles, long-suffering generally means that the suffering was uninterrupted. Plus, the Dodgers have had plenty of close pennant wins as well, you seem to fixated on close pennant losses and convinced that the Dodgers have more than most, I would say that might be the case primarily because they have been in the pennant hunt more than a lot of other teams.

143. Look at post 130. gibsonhobbs88 is saying that Yankee fans don't understand what it is like to be a fan of the Cubs and Dodgers, thus making them equivalent. To me, Dodger fans over the last 50 years are probably among the 5 least suffering fans in baseball.

Return of Moneyball!

okay, nobody is on the cubs' level. the dodgers have had their share of success, but there's been plenty of angst too.

Morgan closes observing "the A's will now be trying to win the second one tomorrow."

148 - lol!

Anyone else getting this "Enhanced Gameday" option on the Padre game? Have you seen this before?

215 comments on Bronx Banter, 5 hours or so before game time.

Dodger fans have no business talking about angst. Angst is knowing year in and year out that your team has no chance. Very few years % wise have the Dodgers gone into a season and not expected to contend. We are one of the most successful franchises in baseball history based on any criteria. Anyone talking about angst must be 25 years old and not understand anything about LA Dodger history.

A question for the cognoscenti: Who gets a World Series Ring IF we make it that far: The 25 man roster or the 35 to 40 players who actually played on the team this year? I know the players vote on the money distribution for players who were on the team part of the year but I don't know about the rings.

147. But almost all baseball fans have plenty of angst. Honestly, their are only two fanbases that I would say have definitively less angst than the Dodgers, the Yankees and the Marlins, on the other side of the spectrum are teams that haven't won a title in 40 or more years like the Cubs, Mariners, and Indian and teams that have had extremely limited success with a lot of horendous years like the Phillies, everyone else is in the middle with the Dodgers being more towards the positive end of the spectrum.

150 - I just saw this, never have before. Looks fancy, and possibly more appealing than ESPN.

153 I think its very subjective to the team in question, for instance, Nomar received a ring for the 2004 Series win by the Red Sox. Also, most front office personnel, executive staff, broadcasters and others receive rings too.

AP via ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=2611746

[25] i disagree. what you're talking about is hopelessness. angst is having a chance and then falling short, especially when heightened by dramatics. the cubs had an angsty year in 2003, for example. not so much most other seasons.

ps. i am 25 years old, actually. and while i'm not an expert on dodger history in general, i do know the dodgers have been very successful over the past 51 years, and especially since they moved to LA. i also am aware of not having won the world series at all for the first many decades of existence, and having lost to the yankees many many times during the course of our success and failure. as well i am aware of having won one single postseason game over the past 18 years, a game which i was fortunate enough to be able to attend in person. i've seen enough fades and flops to be frustrated my fair share though, and apologies if i don't find history especially comforting when i'm engrossed in a pennant race or playoff game.

157
This quote wasn't in that story.

"I was sprinting in the outfield," Hernandez told Newsday. "And I pulled my right calf. It's not a cramp."

150 - I got the option but because I use a Linux desktop (Macromedia has stopped updating Flash for Linux, and so 8.0-dependent products are verboten), I can't use the "enhanced" version. I have a feeling all MLBAM content will be offlimits by next year; I can't get Gameday Audio to work on the Mac, either. They don't seem to be especially concerned, as they've had six months to fix the problem and it's still broken. And I'll be damned if I switch back to a Windows environment; one day totally wasted cleaning up my desktop from malware is one day too many.

that was supposed to be re: [152]

158 - Vishal, it doesn't seem your link was pointing to the right comment.

In general, history makes a nice marketing tool for people who believe that Ron Cey can still help the 2006 Dodgers win anything.

158. To me, angst is really both, as it is really a feeling of anxiety or dread, you can feel just as much anxiety about your team because they are horrible for years (like the Pirates now) or because they compete, but still fall short.

160 - Oh, I'm at work. I didn't think about the impact it might have on my Mac at home. They seem to be offering you both Classic and Enhanced options right now.

Separate post about El Duque up top, FYI. Game chat, etc. can continue here.

160 I wrote a scathing letter to MLB earlier this year, taking them to task for not providing an experience that caters to the widest audience possible. I pointed out that most companies that are serious about promoting their product on the Internet supply content that can be viewed on Macs and on Linux. I pointed them to live365.com to show them how easy it is to provide audio in a variety of compatible and open formats.

Their response: they canceled my MLB audio subscription, without a refund for the portion of the year I didn't use, without me asking for a cancelation They made no attempt to address any of my concerns.

MLB's website is on the dead-to-me list.

155 I'm not certain, but it looks like it might track the the ball's break.

If you look at the bottom of the expanded gameday thing, there's an "about" with some info on the new pitchtracking features.

Me, I find change scary and unsettling.

152 - I haven't said anything on the subject, but I guess it depends on how long term you have to go. Forgive my long-windedness.

Now if you just go with the last 15 years, that's not a lot of history, but how has LA done? A single playoff win, mediocrity at a high price, watching Pedro, Piazza, Konerko, and for that matter Mike Scioscia have success elsewhere.

I don't think you have to have 50 years of no pennants to have angst, especially if you haven't been alive or followed the team that long. If you just have no chance, I think that tends to lead more to apathy than frustration, see Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Kansas City Royals (and all the "let's talk about something else" posts on Bad Altitude).

What causes angst, I think, is believing that each year you have a shot at it, and then everything just goes horribly wrong over again, especially if you get a taste of success. The Cubs (definitely a model of angst) had 2003 show them a world where Wood and Prior were healthy and productive. The Dodgers have had so many seemingly great years at the beginning that soured, especially considering how high their payrolls are.

Honestly, I think being a Giants fan would have to be incredibly frustrating. Their last World Series win was in 1954, and the Dodgers first was in 1955. Sure they've won a few pennants, even one 4 years ago, but 52 years is still a long time without a world series win.

I hope I don't need to upgrade for this to work at home.

That's pretty cool that the posted the Postseason media guy at Inside the Dodgers.

[168] haha, yeah, but i don't feel bad for giants fans at all.

anyway, g'night, and i hope the pads-cards game is enjoyable.

on the other hand, I like Hershiser's commentary, so maybe no Gameday

152
For me, angst is wanting the Dodgers to be World Champs every year, and suffering the misfortune of owners, management and/or players who are not capable or not giving their all. This year has been a huge reduction in angst. In fact, I'm optimistic there won't be any angst in a few more weeks.

Can both of these teams lose? I hate both of them.

170 The question is, will any fans print out the whole thing and take it with them? You'd probably need to put it in a three-ring binder. Can you get those into the park?

164 - Flash 9 is currently available for both Intel and PPC Macs. So I suspect you're covered. Too bad there still isn't a solution for audio on Intel Macs. MLBAM is absolutely apathetic to non-Windows platforms.

173 - Have your read back through these comments? The angst is flowing now, not ebbing. ;-P

But they don't show the box score on Enhanced Gameday?

150 I was just coming over to mention the snazzy new GameDay. I wasn't offered it for the Twins-A's game.

174 - I can't hate the Pads. Some of our dearest friends are season ticket holders. Besides, they might throw a couple postseason tickets our way. :-)

174 What you want, in that case, is a 5-game series which ends with one team or the other winning in the 18th inning. That way whoever we'd have to play (assuming we beat the Mets) would be exhausted for game 1.

178 - Could that be why they let you flip back to classic mode?

Super Improved Gameday has its own blog, too. http://gameday.mlblogs.com/

Huh... Enhanced shows called strikes outside of the strike zone. Editorial, bug, or fact?

Okay, where's the little baseball diamond to tell me where the runners are? That seems like a key oversight.

I think I dig the new Gameday, although it's certainly a lot of info to throw at you. FYI, I'm running it on Safari on an old G4 at work, so it should work fine for anyone on the Mac platform.

Does anyone know when they will set a definite time for the game on Saturday? My friend and I have tickets but he has something else that evening.

185 Again, I think this is an enhancement to Gameday, not a replacement. You can get that by clicking the Gameday picture at the top left.

187
They are talking 1:00 but hasn't been confirmed. Very doubtful it would be a night game since NY is the primary target.

I don't see the diamond either, but maybe it only pops up when there's a runner on.

nope, no diamond whatsoever. I really want that. Looks like I have to go back to "classic" gameday

188 is right. You gotta go back and forth between "classic" and "enhanced" to get the diamond.

The new Gameday is nifty, but unspectacular. If they could get it update in a timely manner and to quit freezing in key game situations, now that would be spectacular.

DodgersSims has the first two games of each of the divisional series that start today. So far it is 1 for 1. It is predicting a likely Cardinals victory in todays game.
http://tinyurl.com/f2axk
vr, Xei

Rough day for former Dodgers trying to catch fly balls.

It's official gentlemen; I will be representing DT at Shea tomorrow, screaming my head off every time Russell throws Reyes out.

Also, just tried that new energy drink Cocaine. Not good.

In old days, Piazza would get an error.

Pujols takes care of business. Padres down 2-0.

The way the Cardinal's bullpen has been pitching, they need both of these runs.

Old friend Chan Ho warming up for Peavy.

Ahhh Scotty Ballgame, if you had stayed with us you'd actually have an offense around you!

Quick. Call the smoke jumper or a shrink. Peavy thinks he's Odalis Perez.

194- Well, there goes that theory. Nice shag for Dave Roberts.

195 Are you supposed to imbibe it through your nose?

Padres blow a chance.

so is it cero cero still??

205- Nope, the Cardinals have three; San Diego hasn't score, though.

It's pretty obvious the Cardinals have shaken off whatever malaise they were dealing with at the end of the regular season.

202 - on TV?

Make that four.

208- Yep.

207 They still have Jeff Weaver pitching game 2 and possibly a game 5 for them so I would not say everything is going their way, but for today, yes they seem to be back.

1) For whom should we be rooting in this game?
2) on "enhanced" gameday, isn't having a diamond a heck of a lot more important than knowing the break inches of the pitch?

I just realized, we could really be in for a Dodger episode of "I Love the 80's" this postseason. Mets in the NLDS, Cardinals in the NLCS and A's in the World Series.

Well, it was a pitch out, but still: Way to go, Piazza!

Wow booing in Petco, I guess they are upset.

Would most of us be 0-2 in our picks for today if this score holds up.

Forgive me for asking a dumb question but why are there 2 speeds listed for every pitch on the enhanced Gameday? Or am I reading something wrong?

216

I'd be 1-1.

My wife asked me right before the game who I thought would win, and I first said that I had no idea, but then I realized that this was Jake Peavy pitching in the postseason. I figure if you can let a first base couch get in your head ( Mariano Duncan ) then you're a good candidate for a postseason pressure meltdown. Plus, Pujols has a way of inducing meltdowns.

Of course, this game isn't over yet.

OK, I have to take credit for the playoff media guide being posted on Inside the Dodgers, since I was the one to ask for him to post the PDFs. :-)

Actually, all credit goes to Josh; he's doing a fantastic job.

211 Aren't they treating Jeff Weaver for ADD now? Maybe he's getting better grades and is less restless in class.

Seriously, I thought Weaver was actually a bright spot for the Cardinals during their slump. He lost a game to Pittsburgh, but by something like 1-0.

The key to this series is whether Cardinal hitters can break through Padre pitchers. The Cardinal pitching is mediocre to poor after Carpenter, but the Padres don't have the offense to take advantage of it, especially if they're facing Carpenter twice.

217 -

From Gameday's blog:

"Speeds are displayed with two values, indicating speed as the ball is released from the pitcher's hand, and speed as it crosses the plate."

What kind of insight does this give you? Do different pitches change speeds at a different rate on its way to the plate?

My souvenir for the season: 56 pages, double sided, a cover copied onto photo stock, the whole thing spiral bound -- instant professional-looking 2006 postseason media guide. I am a happy camper today.

Hi everyone... I'm back on DT after a long hiatus, but just for a day. I've been swamped at work.

I was able to attend the clinching game in SF though. The level of play I saw from the Dodgers in that game was incredibly high. They are playing better than I've ever seen them play. Lofton scoring on that sacrifice popup to Durham was a joy to watch. It won't be as easy against the Mets as it was against the Giants, but if they can keep this up they will be competitive against any team they face in the playoffs.

221 - What speed do they use when they show just one speed?

Has anybody else noticed the new locution for hits has changed to "In play, no out" from "In play, no out(s) recorded" on Gameday?

216. A likely 2-0 and perhaps 3-0 if the Yankees win. http://DodgerSims.blogspot.com/
vr, Xei

218 - that's a very good point.

Cardinals trying to knock out Peavy and still lose? Tying run up for San Diego.

Grr and that's it for the Fathers today...

Who is everybody going for?

I guess I want the Cardinals since we would have homefield advantage and their pitching stinks besides Carpenter.

Re: the Enhanced Gameday, for me it's like trying to learn to read a book I've read before, except in Portuguese.

But I'm sure I'll get used to it.

It looks like the whole stadium is dark except for a spotlight on the pitcher's mound and home plate.

I don't want either team to win. Is that possible?

Me for the Cardinals, but purely out of blind hatred for the Padres, their fans and their announcers.

But there's also a practical consideration. If the Dodgers get past the Mets, I'd much rather face the Cardinals than the Padres. Both teams have been bugaboos for the Dodgers in 2006, but I think the current team will match up better with the Cards.

But if they don't get past the Mets, I will root for any team playing the Padres. Maybe even the Yankees (well, maybe not that.)

231 I don't think we can have homefield advantage regardless of the regular season records because we are the wildcard. Is that right?

Chan Ho still has that WBC magic!!

I'd kinda like the Padres to take this series, mostly because this is a far far inferior Cardinal team than the one that couldn't seal the deal these last two years.

Ronnie Belliard's GameDay photo makes him look like someone from the cast of The Wire.

Just noticed that the Fox Sports game tracker lists umpire stats -- runs, walks, strikeouts, and batting average. I wonder if anyone has ever shown whether umpires make a difference in the game?

It's not over yet - not with the vaunted Cardinals' bullpen in to save the day.

212 The Padres. Since we were co-division champions, I still think we can legitimize the playoff berth by beating the Pads.

According to espn.com box score, Dave Roberts today is 9 for 9 with a run.

I'm just hoping both teams use up their aces in a game 5.

Adam Wainwright came to the Cardinals from the Braves in the JD Drew trade

Yahoo!s box score is similarly wacky. Brian Giles has been productive today:

Top 4th: St. Louis
- B. Giles homered to deep center, C. Duncan scored
- B. Giles hit sacrifice fly to deep left, J. Edmonds scored
Top 5th: St. Louis
- B. Giles singled to right center, D. Eckstein scored, A. Pujols to third
Top 6th: St. Louis
- B. Giles singled to center, R. Belliard scored

and I have to admit I love seeing Piazza fail to get RsBI in the postseason after all his October flops w/ the Dodgers

213 - Not to mention if they face the Yankees in the WS, "1981" revisited.
244 - Yes. Yahoo is all messed up. They had the Cardinals with 1 run on 33 hits, nobody is that futile in driving in runs.:)

Only boxscore I could get to work properly was Fox Sports. Others were either messed up or the Flash wouldn't load properly.

244 - Not to mention, B. Giles being credited as a Cardinal. When was he traded?:)

246 - maybe the Cards know that Bob is hoping they'll break the postseason LOB records?

Those on DuckSnorts are really down (as expected) after today's game.

Peavy's BABIP was pretty unlucky/bad today.
16 outs, 2Ks, 11 hits, 1 HR.
10/24 = .417 BABIP

Carpenter on the otherhand.
5/17 = .294 BABIP
(No gaurantees on the math warning!)
vr, Xei

Wow, the Padres made the Cardinals' bullpen look vaunted after all!

Pujols claims that after his first at-bat, he told the team that Peavy did not have his best stuff, so look for pitches to hit.

I think someone answered this already, but who gets homefield in the NLCS if it's Dodgers-Cards?

I'm just wondering because of this whole "co-division champs" thing. The Bums did have a better record and technically tied for the division title.

249 - I guess it is possible for a team to score only one run with 33 hits. That is 3.67 hits an inning for 9 innings. You would need about 5 innings where two potential runs are being thrown out at the plate and one inning where 1 player is thrown out or they are infield hits and then a DP thrown in. You have to assume all the hits were singles.

254 The Cardinals do since they won a division and we won the wild card. Perhaps someday this will get fixed as well as the silly notion that teams in the first round cannot play each other but for now we are destined to be the visitor in all playoff series.

Here is the lineup for the first two games courtesy of Josh R.

Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Garciaparra, 1B
Kent, 2B
Drew, RF
Martin, C
Anderson, LF
Betemit (vs. a righty)/Lugo (vs. a lefty)
Lowe/Kuo

Pretty much as expected, no news on final roster.

254 - Unfortunately that is the case. That is where those blown games in Chicago and the brain dead games against the Pirates cost us. Take a win in any of those two games in Wrigley and one from those two we lost to Pitt. and we are sitting pretty at 90-91 wins and we are playing at home.

257 - Other than maybe flipping Nomar and Drew as Drew is healthier and also shows a little more plate discipline, I like the lineup. Please, Grady do not have Lugo batting 3rd under any conceivable starting lineup.

258 And where would we be without the 4HR game or the gutsy come behind wins in the last week? We'd be in WhatCould'veBeen land. Instead we are in the playoffs. Can't we finally put to bed the games we lost over the 162 game season? We got to the playoffs in fine fashion!

By the way, given that the Mets may be without Hernandez OR Martinez and given how we played the Cards this year... we may have wound up with the best draw anyway.

261 If losing El Duque really is that big of a blow to your team, you weren't going far anyway.

Fortunately, the Mets solution is to start Olvier Perez, not Aaron Heilman, so it's okay.

John Maine is he were to start is no slouch. He hasn't been all that sharp in his last four outings, but his seasonal stats are very good (low era, low whip, low baa, decent K/9). He's probably as tough as Glavine minus the experience. Now if it were Trachsel or Oliver Perez we were facing, that would be a reason to celebrate.
vr, Xei

263 I thought Maine was already their number three or four starter.

http://www.metsblog.com/

261 - My earlier comments were in reply to another DT poster that was talking about the WC and us having a better overall record. Personally, I'm glad we are matched up with the Mets first. Though their lineup is tough and versatile with speed and power, we played them pretty tough. Now with injuries hitting their rotation, they are vulnerable and if we continue to play the way we finished the season, we can upset the Big Apple Mets.
I am quietly confident knowing this team, when in a good streak is capable of beating anyone.
I'm gone, workday is done!! Talk to you tomorrow!

I like the draw too, don't get me wrong. It just makes little sense that the team with a better record would not get homefield advantage - especially when that team finished tied atop a division. I could, maybe, understand if the Bums finished a game or two back of the Padres, but that's not the case.

That's ok, game 3 is one of the most important in a seven game series, so I'll take it.