We don't do that Oakland thing

If you ever visit Miller Park, you will take with you the fact that it's big.

WWSH

Be there. Aloha.

My loss. If it were tomorrow -- and yes, I realize the library is likely closed on Good Friday -- I would have been there.

Nope, the library is open Good Friday.

The library is closed on Easter Sunday, although no one gets paid for that.

It doesn't take much. In high school, during my very first hit I put the kid in an ambulance. And he was forbidden to play contact sports for the rest of his life. I hit as hard as a June breeze, but evidently did some funny thing to his cortex.

An unlikely match, Tatum and Kenny Stabler were best friends. Tatum, like Mike Tyson, generated so much power by technique, but also by having thick thighs, which he used as industrial grade coiled springs.

Though I remember one goal line stand where The Assassin bounced off Earl Campbell like a beach ball. It was hilarious.

Anyway, about a decade after the hit, Stingley filed suit against Tatum. I guess one can grow pretty bitter sitting in a wheelchair with not much else to think about. Very sad.

Similarly sad was seeing Lester Hayes selling football trinkets in the aisle of a Bakersfield Wal-Mart. Surreal, since he was my boyhood hero.

Until Jerry Brown became governor.

The hitting approach shouldnt change even if the pitcher gets ahead in the count. The batter should not be concerned about striking out. Its just 1 out.

I'd rather see a guy strike out on like 6-8 pitches, than make an out on a 1st pitch.

Certain guys with high skill level, yeah sure--Pujols can swing at anything they want bc he can hit even bad pitches out of the park. But guys like Kent/Gonzo/Pierre/Nomar need to be more patient about swinging at 1st pitches. They arent good enough to just hack. If they are going to make outs, at least make the pitcher work.

Now if you swing at the first pitch and bounce out weakly, then there's a problem.

But there is something to be said for making a pitcher work, and the possibility that a pitcher isn't going to give you your easiest pitch to hit on his first offering.

27 - Those are a lot of conditions, and it's not as if that stretch of 11 batters featured all power hitters - especially on this team.

It's true there is more frustration with hitters like Nomar who, by reputation at least, always swings at the first pitch.

While I agree pitchers should be made to work, Karros drove me crazy not swinging at the first pitch.

3, 4, 5 hitters should be looking for a type of first pitch in a location and if it is in that location they should be swinging, hard.

Does he have a history of this?

The thing I think we should be concerned about is the guys who swing at the first pitch as a matter of course, like it's their legal obligation to swing at it whether it's a hittable pitch or not. Yes, I'm looking at you, Nomar.

It's pretty easy to tell who should be swinging at the first pitch a lot and who shouldn't, just by looking at the splits at ESPN.com. If you're swinging at the first one, it should be one you have a damn good chance of getting a hit on. Those who hit less than .350 on the first pitch are really the ones we need to worry about.

Here are some Dodger first-pitch batting averages from last year:

Kemp .538
Saenz .448
Ethier .411
Furcal .409
Loney .385
Kent .333
Nomar .308 (104 AB -- team leader by a mile)
Drew .307
Betemit .278
Martin .235

From that it seems to me that Kent, Nomar, Betemit and Martin are the ones who are really hurting us by swinging at the first pitch and should work on being more selective.

Note that the averages above are artificially high because they don't include all the swings and misses which put the batter in an 0-1 hole. Also, the value of making the pitcher work harder and therefore forcing the opposition to use mediocre middle relievers has to be factored in.

You could provide additional insight here by looking at those players' performance after an 0-1 count

Don't really know what happened after that aside from the fact that they started hacking away.

>>> What happened to pitching-rich Dodgers?

Schmidt could be the true ace, if he can manage to consistently top 85 mph on the radar gun, something he had trouble doing this spring. <<<

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17957829

And he wasn't much more popular than Juan Pierre.

So here's what he did, overall, in any at bat where he swung at the first pitch:
.295/.318/.470 (308 PA)

And when taking the first pitch:
.316/.446/.567 (211 PA)

Note that the first group also includes at-bats where he took the first pitch for a strike. In Nomar's case this is probably a number we can count on one hand.

He got four walks all year after swinging at the first pitch.

His pitch recognition and judgment on when to swing are really a problem. You can tell by watching him hit, but the stats bear it out even moreso than I would have expected.

All hail Katy Feeney!

>>> The best-selling book Moneyball opened the eyes of many fans to the statistical revolution in baseball.

This revolution actually predates Moneyball by several decades, but it's become more of a phenomenon of late, thanks in part to the popularity of Michael Lewis' book. It's engendered (silly and petty) hostilities between the stats crowd and the traditionalists, and it's led to a great deal of mutual misunderstanding.
Still, we're certainly not here to rehash old arguments. What we are here to do is provide an introduction to the statistical movement that's now an indelible part of the game. No, we're not trying to turn you into a "stat geek," but we are trying to show that the new generation of baseball statistics is nothing to be afraid of or put off by. They're just another way to enjoy this great game and enrich your understanding of it.

So to get the ball rolling on this series we call "Stats 101," we'll take a look at five principles vital to understanding the game through a statistical lens. Let's get started ... <<<

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6641066

36 degrees, with a 12 mph wind.

JD Drew is in the lineup.

While Nomar may hit better after taking one pitch it is much to simplistic to break a hitters numbers down that way. The inning, pitcher, score, and other variables go into each ab. These are professional hitters who have an idea every time they go to the plate about what they are going to do. Nomar is quite successfull doing it his way.

Greinke got Lugo to fly out to LF, then walked Youk. Ortiz up now.

Here comes Dice-K.

If you'd prefer, we can give you a numbered wristband so you can come back later.

Well, yes and no. First of all, the argument isn't that he's a failure - it's that he's not nearly as successful as he COULD be, were he to modify his approach a bit.

Second, yes, context matters. This is a bivariate comparison, and it's a mutlivariate world. If his split is only that big for a single season, I too would be inclined to discount it as fluky. But if it's that big every year, then that's piling up enough at bats that I'm quite sure that the relationship would hold even if everything else were accounted for.

Sometimes, patterns just jump out and poke you in the eye, and no amount of qualification will make them go away.

The two guys who really stand out and it makes sense to me, Pujols is pretty deadly anytime and Miguel Cabera.

Does that still count?

Assuming you meant Miguel Cabrera. If it's Orlando, you can keep him.

Nice tribute Jon.

its going to take alot more then loney for miguel cabrera.

I took that as a satirical joke at the Dodger's expense, but then I am a cold hearted cynic.

o.k.

Royals baseball! Catch it!

Now players who are signed before they turn 19 do not have to be added to the 40 man roster for 5 years and those 19 and older are protected from the Rule 5 draft for four years. This change was applicable to all players in the system once the agreement was made in principle.

This will probably have an impact on the pace of development of players, particularly high school players because of the extra year. But even a player like Meloan who was signed in 2005 out of college now has two more years instead of just this year before being exposed.

Elbert has 2 more years instead of just this year before being exposed.

Guys like Kershaw, Orr and Mattingly can play for 4 more seasons before having to be placed on the 40-man.

Yankees: Rodriquez
Jays: Glaus
Orioles: Mora
Red Sox: ?
Devil Rays: Longoria

White Sox: Crede
Twins: ?
Indians: Marte
Royals: Gordon
Tigers: Inge?

Angels: Wood (end up there)
Mariners: Beltre
Rangers: Blalock
A's: Chavez

Mets: Wright
Marlins: Cabrerra
Nationals: Zimmerman
Atlanta: Jones
Philly: Helms?

Cardinals: Rolen
Cubs: Ramirez
Brewers: Braun
Houston: Ensberg
Reds: Encarnacion
Pirates:?

Dodgers: Laroche
Padres: Kouzamanoff
Rockies: Ian Stewart
Giants: ?
Diamondbacks: Tracy

A few teams are struggling, but obviously a ton of teams have top prospects coming up to join the established guys. Laroche could hit 30 home runs a year and never make an all-star team, if everything worked out.

Followed by a double. Sizzling!

The one prospect missing and he will probably start his Dodger career in the Pioneer League is Kyle Orr.

Its good that we have some nice young guys back in the system but I think it also points to one of the things that Logan White is supposed to improve, which is getting guys out of the Dominican and other Latin America countries. Its hard to just be successful with just the draft.

111- I've been in KC since Sunday because I'm doing a feature on Alex Gordon. My plan was to fly back to NYC tomorrow, but my editors told me I couldn't go home until he got his first hit. They way he was swinging and missing, I started looking into renting a condo, here.

7IP 6H 1R 1BB 10K

108 pitches: 74 strikes.

"Shockwave Flash has detected an error. You are strongly advised to restart Firefox."

It wasn't a blue screen of death, but I liked the foreboding tone.

*Everyone quickly left, stared at me from outside, and I slumped quietly in the corner.

first and second, no outs. omen!!

1IP 0er 1H 2bb 2k

shaky inning.

All spring long, we've been hearing shortstop, then second base, then shortstop again, then second base again. I guess we'll see when they actually take the field.

Will be also interesting to see how La Roche does in the outfield. Unlike Loney, he's not a really solid fielder in the infield, so I don't know how much that will mess him up but we'll see.

Miller's their #4 starter.

Although not quite to Eric's extent.

It was kind of an interesting moment when at a recent SABR convention Rob Neyer introduced me to Bill James. "Oh, do you know Eric Enders?" The scowl on James' face was classic.

elbert 2IP 0H 0er 0bb 2k

Anyway, I wonder what the weather is like. April games in the Midwest League are notorious for being played in terrible conditions for pitchers. As a Southerner, Kershaw may never have pitched on a cold day in his life. This is why I hated the news that the Dodgers moved their low A team from the South Atlantic League to the Midwest League.

says gametime weather was 32 degrees with 19mph winds L to R

My coworker just saw Brett Tomko shopping on Powell Street here in SF, with his wife.

I'm heading out to a nearby coffee place; will let you know if I spot anyone myself.

I think we can chalk it up to nerves and high expectations so unless he gets bombed for the next couple of months, I wouldn't worry.

Speaking of loon announcers, even this Class A guy is way better than Rick Monday.

They have ST at vero at the minor league complex.

The weather in Indiana today is horrible. That 32 degrees and 19 MPH wind doesn't do it justice. The last two days, we've seen snow, hail, rain, extremely strong wind gusts, etc. I didn't want to go check the mail in the weather, pitching had to be very difficult, and South Bend is 3 hours north of where I am. Unfortunately, Kershaw's next start will be in Ft. Wayne, and the weather might not be much better.

He was, after his initial double-take about Tomko. He's also a Giants fan so I don't think Tomko's high on his list of favorite former players.

No Dodger sightings from me just now, btw, but maybe tomorrow. I think I'll have my morning coffee with Russell and Broxton.

Party like it's 2001!

Thanks

http://tinyurl.com/3ao6ds

You can also listen to it live on MILB.com for free.

ps I little help would be appreciated

Abreu 2B
Bigbie DH
Loney RF
LaRoche
Young LF
Jones, M 1B
Freeman CF
Stinnett C
Perez SS
Stults P

http://tinyurl.com/2ertby

How long till this guy replaces Rick Monday?

6 IP, 4 hits, 1 BB and 9 K.

You gotta love Elbert's K rate but you hope he can get guys to hit a few balls a little earlier in the game so he can last a little longer.

Who the heck is Mitch Jones?

Either Stults morphed into Hoorelbeke, or it was wrong all along; perhaps Stults was a late scratch and the Gameday bots took awhile to catch on.

It appears he'll be 30 his next birthday so I have no idea why he's our AAA first baseman.

http://tinyurl.com/2vsvuq

Stults 3.2 5 3 3 1 4 0 7.36
Hoorelbeke 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

http://tinyurl.com/2ertby

Whoever he is, he's the only 51er to get more than 1 hit in 9 innings. 3 AB, 1 R, 3 H.

And Josh Bell, too.

And for anybody else that was having trouble with ESPN.com's fantasy stats from Rich Harden the other night...I think I win:

http://tinyurl.com/2jzk4l

His career OPS was .745

Did anybody catch this in Jayson Stark's latest Rambl...er, "rumblings"?

>>
Stephen Drew had a reputation in college as a guy who often seemed disinterested. But he has looked anything but since he arrived in Arizona. "The guy looks like a hell of a player," one AL exec says. "It seems like he plays the game very aggressively. I don't see him turn it on and off like somebody else in his family."
<<

99 - That useless old vet was born in 1973!

And anybody who considers him/herself a baseball fan NEEDS to go vote on this week's Sportspickle.com poll question...gogogo!

Probably not.

But they sure should. One can dream!

>>> With the score tied, 3-3, Bees designated hitter Kendry Morales lined a one-out single off Chin-hui Tsao (0-1) and scored the winning run when Gorneault doubled to left. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/386u7u

>>> 8. The three coolest pitching-stat revelations from The 2007 Bill James Handbook: 1. Joel Zumaya threw 233 pitches over 100 mph last season. New York's Kyle Farnsworth was second with 26, which suggests that the Tigers' Guitar Hero might be the most overpowering reliever since Goose Gossage's reign of intimidation three decades ago. 2. Josh Beckett led the American League in pitches over 95 mph (1,072), which suggests that his granite-skulled refusal to change speeds also is the reason he was second in the league in homers allowed (36). 3. Barry Zito was second only to Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in pitches thrown slower than 80 mph, which suggests the Giants just spent $126 million for a junkballer. <<<

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6646242

This would give the Dodgers some future versatility. So would playing Nomar at multiple positions which we were told he was available for...

212 , 221 Mitch Jones is a 29 year old Yankee farmhand who fits the Russell Branyan mold

Since the current Dodger outfield is not a good defensive outfield should mean that Kemp, Ethier, Loney only have to outhit Gonzo, Peirre, RFer.

Larry Dobrow on CBS Sportsline
Meanwhile, in my unofficial role as deputy corresponding secretary of the Jonathan Broxton fan club, I point you toward his performance on Tuesday night against the Brewers. Three batters, 11 pitches, 10 strikes, three strikeouts. Forget the comparisons with Dodgers closer Takashi Saito -- Broxton might be the best reliever in his division.

http://tinyurl.com/2cuxgo

http://tinyurl.com/2wqdhq

>>
-- The Devil Rays had a day game in New York Monday followed by an open date and a rainout. "Put it this way," said outfielder Carl Crawford, when asked how the players planned to pass the time. "It won't do no good to try to call somebody in their [hotel] room. You better have a cell number."
<<

also a semi-informative article about new Padre padre Bud Black:

http://tinyurl.com/38haew

James is handling himself like a professional so everyone can step back off the ledge now!

Had a little more drivetime this morning than usual, and I heard Peter Gammons say (on sports radio, we don't carpool or anything) that he thinks MLB would block a sale of the Cubs to Mark Cuban. Which made me think back to how baseball handed the Dodgers to the McCourts while simultaneously preventing Vlad from becoming a Dodger.

Baseball's owners must be an interesting lot.

If he made the Dodgers as a pitcher, he could be traded to Boston, who could trade him to the Yankees, who could make him a right fielder lofting balls over the short right field corner fence.

He mentions nothing that states how exactly Juan Pierre is a steal (pun aside) already for LA. I mean, he's hitting .167 with a sub .400 OPS, and has yet to attempt a stolen base. What is Tony Jackson getting at???

http://tinyurl.com/3dzhp8

We will have a better bench that way. Sorry about $20 million thing.

Am I reading too much into this or can it be inferred from this article that throwing away 5/$44 mil away on Slappy McPutout is Ned's tribute to Jackie?