In a tight game against righties, these are generally the team's pinch-hitting options: lefty Betemit and righties Olmedo Saenz, Ramon Martinez, Wilson Valdez, Brady Clark and Lieberthal. That's a situation that's asking to be rectified

Gee, maybe it would make more sense to have Martinez/Loney or Valdez/Loney on the roster than Martinez/Valdez.

Nah, that's crazy talk.

How about Nomar in left, Kemp in CF, Ethier in RF, Loney at 1b and Gonzo and Pierre creating bench character and left handed bats.

Strange that they would make the call-up the day after Betemit finally gets his first HR.

Good luck for LaRoche today. I´m very happy for his promotion, will he play some LF too?

will he play some LF too?

Bench LuGo for a 23-year old kid? Doubtful.

5 Yeah, LaRoche is 23, Gonzalez is 39. 39-23. Gonzalez is 16 better.

Good luck to LaRoche today, I may not be able to watch much. A good example of someone getting the call who is not in a hot streak so I hope it kick starts him.

I mentioned Hu having some pop yesterday before I saw yesterdays box--the Kid had three doubles among 5 hits. Did they change his feed or something. If he can keep about 2/3's of this pace up, he will have to be taken seriously.

This is exciting. While the timing is strange, coming after Betemit hit that HR (ask my wife, I woke up the neighborhood when it happened), and LaRoche isn't tearing up AAA, I'm just stoked. I can't wait to see what this kid's got. I've said before, I'd rather see this team struggle with all the kids than be mediocre with the mediocre vets.

Hopefully his AAA numbers this year are simply an aberration...

Very un expected. Andy also had a some errors to go along with his 0.235 BA in AAA and really bad spring for the Ds.

Hasn't LaRoche had some incredible Mays the past two years? Maybe the Dodgers are hoping that trend will continue.

Wow.

How will LaRoche's name be written in boxscores?

AnLaRoche to differentiate him from AdLaRoche?

AdLaRoche is batting .163 with twice as many Ks as Hs.

2 - You keep putting me in the weird position of defending Gonzalez. Nomar in left would probably be the one person who is worse defensively than Luis. And Nomar isn't outhitting Luis, either.

Its very probable that this train had been set in motion before Betemits HR, FWIW.

If he would make up his mind, Bob it could be La Roche vs. LaRoche.

15
Perhaps using the small sample size of last night, the Dodgers determined that Betemit was better suited for a role of coming off the bench. :)

Vaya con dios, Andy LaRoche.

Now let's call up Kemp, Loney, Brazoban, and Kuo, and we can start playing baseball!

I found it weird last night when Laroche wasn't in the lineup for Vegas on a Friday night. I was initially skeptical that it may be a bad sign for his shoulder. Luckily it was just the opposite. This is a great move. He's the 3B of the future. He can either play now or he can't, but it's time to find out. Kemp shouldn't be far behind.

I think Kemp is eligible to be called up after today or tomorrow, I suspect he will be.

Perhaps the thinking here is to platoon LaRoche and Betemit for a week or two while Abreu gets to play third base - which is a new position for him - every day in Vegas. If (i.e. when) the platooning is not overly successful, and if Abreu is now ready, he comes up to the majors, Betemit is put on waivers at last if he hasn't transformed himself (homers every day), and LaRoche is returned to Vegas, having had some big league experience. Or at least it gives options to see who really is developing better at 3rd - LaRoche or Abreu.

20
I thought that Kemp is eligible to be called up whenever the Dodgers want. I'm pretty sure he was activated from the DL and optioned to AAA.

when is the last day to give larry bigbie a shot?

22

When a player is optioned to the minors he can not be recalled for 10 days (unless he is replacing an injured player). So unless there's some other mystery injury we are un aware of???

24
I didn't know about that 10-day rule. Thanks.

So essentially all they would have to do to get around it is decide that Wilson Valdez's slump is caused by some previously undiagnosed "injury."

Anderson went to what is sometimes called the "phantom DL". There is nothing wrong with him. Not legal but not provebale either.

26

That doesn't make sense, then, to drop the best lefty bat off the bench. Why wouldn't Valdez be "phantomned" instead?

Should we all get a card to sign for Marlon to tell him to get well soon?

Branch Rickey, isn't that the same phantom DL that the Marlins discovered Jorge Julio belongs on?

Congrats to Mr. LaRoche...but Jon, will there be separate threads for LaRoche Thoughts and later on, Lincecum Thoughts?

If not I smell another big night for the Toaster...

I believe Bob said he is handling Lincecum Thoughts.

[26] i suspected as much.

Dodger trainer: "hey Marlon, i hear your elbow hurts".
MA: "Nah, my elbow's fine. Where'd you hear that?"
DT: "Ned told me that your elbow is still sore from surgery. Says you're going to have to go to the DL for a bit, take some time off. We're calling up LaRoche while you're down, to help the team at 3rd base."
MA: "Oh, right. I guess it could use some rest..."

I figured that some non-Dodger fans would want to comment on the game.

27. I don't know this but I would guess that Valdez will be gone for Kemp.

I believe Bob said he was going to handle Lincecum Thoughts

31. Perhaps it's something more like "you have a choice and this may be the better alternative".

34
If the situation were to present itself, I might think of handling Lincecum-Hamels Thoughts, but I have not been able to determine if there will be a sufficient amount of interest. Nevertheless, I had intended to do so in any instance.

[32] they don't have as much of a stake in lincecum as we do. unless they are giant fans, but who cares about those people? :P

The team has only 4 OFs right now and Clark is the only righty.....
Hello Mr. Kemp! He already has 2 taters for the 51s (to go along with 3 doubles and 2 tripples).

"Bark in the Park" day?

33

Works for me. And Nomar needs to take his annual trip to the DL soon, so he can get Wally Pipped.

"Willie Harris with the day off" sounds funny.

Someone should really tell Steiner that Willie Harris is not all that good. He really isn't. Trust me on this.

Walking Pierre on 4 pitches (or any number of pitches) = Grabowski Principle

Please bench this clown.

[42] yup. but... pierre walks! it's like an elvis sighting.

Never trust a 14-letter named catcher.

Getting picked off for the second day in a row = Grabowski Principle

Walking Pierre is apparently not a bad move.

...and elvis has left the building.

Another new and exciting way to make an out.

D4P must have been editing his dissertation lately.

hrmm, looking at the replay, i think pierre might have been technically safe, though i guess i don't blame the umpire for not giving him the benefit of the doubt after his bonehead baserunning.

I actually feel sorry for Pierre. At this point, he can't do anything right.

Pierre's bad baserunning truly negates his speed.

Nice inning for the old and overrated. I'm this close to calling Jeff Gillooly.

I think I will put the name of the Braves catcher's wife in the comments:

Ashley Saltalamacchia

I've been getting a lot of hits on the Griddle when that gets Googled. Perhaps it will do the same for Dodger Thoughts.

I'm still trying to figure out why "Brad Ausmus" is one of the most popular search phrases on Google for the Griddle.

51 Just so

Juan has zero confidence in anything right now. Got half way to second and turned around. That's crazy.

52. Actually, he has been getting on base a lot. Just hard to remember that because he doesn't stay around long.

Do you think maybe the point of LaRoche is to motivate Betemit? Like Tyler Houston?

Afte the first pitch to Furcal to start the game, and the count was 0-and-1, the TBS announcer, Skip Caray I believe, said, "We're off to a good start." It's nice to know we never hear that kind of stuff from the announcers for the Dodgers.

59
Andy LaRoche should aspire to being more than Tyler Houston.

[59] please let's not start comparing laroche to tyler "career 89 OPS+" houston just yet.

Pierre and Francouer walk in the same inning!

Film at 11!

wolf appears to have no command from the stretch.

Wow-that was a sharp break on that pitch. or it was an illision.

what happened to liebs?

Glad it wasn't Martin.

Andruw Jones' backswing caught Lieberthal in the ear and opened a small cut. But Dodger cut man Stan Conte closed it up.

ahh. andruw does take some mighty hacks.

I'm expecting Steiner to say that Willie Harris would have hit a triple there.

wolf again allows first inning runs.

Is the TBS gun juiced? Randy Wolf's fastballs are at 90 and last night Broxton was 99-100

i was hoping after getting diaz 0-2 he might get out of it

Ohhh, those BB's

"salty expectations"? what does that mean?

NaCl = K

Ump bails us out on that strike three call.

76

Yes, I have a unique view of chemical reactions.

72

Wolf gets into the low 90's. 91, 92 etc....

i happen to know for a fact that salt does not equal potassium, bob. :P

76 I am electrically pumped.

79
Did Broxton just step it up last night then?

Why didn't Skip get an "arry" in his name?

Nice of the Braves to get Mom tix like that.

LaRoche's nameplate says "LA ROCHE"

Skip Caray's real first name is Harry. He's actually Harry, Jr.

My mother grew up hating Harry and Skip from a young age. She started hating both of them in the 1940s and kept it up until she died.

Andy will never forget that weak pop fly to right field.

Is Chip actually Harry III...?

That was a pointless pick-off attempt.

My grandmother (who doesn't care about baseball and doesn't drink Bud) loved Harry Caray

Chip Caray is Harry Caray III also.

Not that Harry Caray's real last name was Caray. He was actually born with the name Carabina.

I suppose Chip's first-born son will be "Bip"

Chip's official bio says he has two sons: Christopher and Stephan.

It looks like the dynastic form of the name is over.

I started hating Skip Caray in the early 80s, while I was simultaneously introduced to such phenomena as Goody's Headache Powder, Old Milwaukee Beer, and Skoal Bandits.

So is Skip Caray working the TBS broadcast today and not Chip? It's blacked out in L.A.

To be accurate, Chip Caray has three children. He also has a daughter named Summerlynn.

So, Randy Wolf's brother is an MLB umpire. I wonder if the league avoids having him ump Randy's games.

Davies (and his 8 ERA) are cruising.

Skip and Chip are working the game together, along with Larry, Skip's dog.

I started hating Skip in the early 80s as well, along with all the other boring Braves announcers.

97
He can umpire Wolf's games, but he cannot be behind the plate for them.

If Edgar Renteria is a "constistently great player" then why did he stink for the Red Sox?

Francouer has turned into a good hitter this year. he has 11 walks so far!

I'm afraid the D's gave Davies just what he needed the first time through the order. Instead of using his wildness to make him pitch with men on base, we let him off the hook and he seems to have found some command. At least Wolf may be finding some.

If Chip isn't gonna name one of his sons "Harry", he should at least name one "Dale"

Wolf is going to lead the NL in strikeouts.

not really, but imagine if he did!

Wolf's 91 mph fastball right down the middle is sure a tricky pitch. Hitters just aren't expecting it.

The AFLAC trivia question is not hard today.

The FSN chicken commercial has not yet become annoying to me. This may very well change by August.

Um, Juan? That wasn't a strike, and it really wasn't even close.

the hardest guy in the major leagues to strike out and the easiest guy to pick off

109

he just doesnt have any idea what a strike is.

Oakland's staring outfield today:
Jack Cust in LF
Chris Snelling in CF
Danny Putnam in RF

this guy better not beat us today

NaCl = FO8

(pretend the 8 is a subscript)

I'm not a chemist, but I can't imagine that Flourine and Oxygen can form a chemical bond.

Old friend Brian Falkenborg was called up from the minors by the Cardinals today.

nice, way to go andy!

And many more, Mr. LaRoche!

Andy will never forget that line drive ground-rule double to right field.

Welcome to the big leagues Andy LaRoche

Whew.

Ooh, I like opposite-field gap power. Nice, Andy.

The Laroche-Ethier combination has the makings of a beautiful thing in the coming years.

Andy was out.

It does not make sense to place your best left handed bench hitter on the disable list when you know he is not hurt. You think there might be a trade in the mix get rid of Betemit?

He was out.

Wow - Rich Donnelly just got bailed out big time.

Yeah, he was out.

Ahh, Salty didn't get the tag down because the throw beat LaRoche.

Laroche almost got Donnellyed on that one...Go Blue!

125

or betemit becomes your best LH PH?

Steiner was saying that Grady has instucted Betemit to take groundballs at 2nd and short. Goodbye Mr. Valdez, hello Mr. Kemp.

Meet the future.

I'm pretty sure that Saltalamacchia knew he didn't get the tag down or he would have started arguing.

132

oh that would be a dream come true. please let it happen.

123 I concur. I'm glad I got to see this inning and hope it foreshadows many good years.

He seemed definitely out but we'll take it. Nice to see La Roche running the bases.

132 Didn't Betemit used to play some middle IF when on the Braves, too? Not a bad idea. I'd certainly prefer he remain over Valdez.

131. Exactly. And if that doesn't work out you haven't cut Anderson loose.

115 There is fluorate (FO3-), but it's pretty rare.

137

Betemit was a top 10 prospect in all of baseball as a SS.

Betemit has played 55 games at shortstop and 11 games at second.

Let's load em up for our power hitting CF.

That was dumb. Thank you Braves.

133.

Not only meet the future, the future has come home (with a run).

134 Replays on TBS are pretty conclusive that the tag on the helmet was well before LaRoche touched the plate. Saltalamacchia probably didn't argue because he's played only a handful of games in the bigs.

I've seen the replay of the play on LaRoche from two angles and it seems pretty clear to me that he was safe. Saltalamacchia didn't tag LaRoche.

Davies has quickly lost control of that hammer he throws.

Ah hah! Thanks Bob and Nate. You guys are like my Google for those of us too tired and dehydrated to open another browser window.

Did I mention I played soccer at 9am on a field that was 90degrees?

145 146

We obviously need a new Warren Commission to settle this dispute.

LaRoche is a below-average runner. Donnelly should know that, because someone should have told him that if he couldn't observe it himself in spring training. Francouer has a cannon for an arm. Donnelly should know that too. As happy as I am that the umpire blew the call and LaRoche scored, I am depressed that our third base coach is an idiot.

Replays on the Braves telecast showed that LaRoche was clearly tagged out. Salt slapped the tag on the back of his head, and his head clearly moved as a result.

It was unambiguous.

Nice job Wolf! More than one way for a pitcher to win a game.

149

i wouldnt mind a good ole witch hunt.

151

So, it was back and to the left?

Ouch. Thank goodness Kelley Johnson's spikes didn't catch in the dirt. Wolf's slide was clean, but could have taken out his knee.

Wolf with a sweet take out slide!

RE: LaRoche play at the plate
TBS replays show him getting tagged on the back of the helmet pretty clearly.

149 There was a second tagger.

150 I prefer "strategically-challenged." Or "lobally-shortchanged."

149 I suppose you're going to tell me that there's some sort of "magic baseball" that starts out by the mound, moves abruptly towards the plate, suddenly changes direction and goes into right field, then turns around and goes back to the plate?!?

150

there are greater things to be depressed about.

violence in the world, the AIDS epidemic, juan pierre signed for 5 years, and so on and so on.

@154

I believe there was another thrower on the grassy knoll in CF.

there ya go juan

Pierre's so money and he doesn't even know it.

So, it was back and to the left?

The tag hit the back of Andy's head, and his head moved in the direction of the plate.

Bob, LaRoche was tagged. The TBS camera angle shows that conclusively. Salty's glove made contact with the helmet.

163

to be exact, hes $44M money.

In my opinion most 3rd base coaches are too conservative. People seem to think that if there's any chance of getting thrown out you shouldn't go. If you never get thrown out that's a sure sign you're too conservative and costing your team wins.

LaRoche moved his head in a premptive strike to avoid the tag.

He's a pre-cog.

(btw, today's my first day posting here, long time reader. Good to see some familiar posters from scout.com boards)

All we can hope is that very soon Juan Pierre starts doing exactly what Darren Dreifort did during nearly all of his five-year contract.

169 I don't remember Darren Driefort letting Matt Kemp step in for him for five years...

Arrrgh..."Dreifort".

I watched the FSN replays of the LaRoche play at the plate several times and I don't see anything definitive one way or the other, but it's not like my DVR is the greatest tool for such things.

And it certainly appeared to me at first that LaRoche was not tagged and I'm not giving into peer pressure.

Donnelly was acting alone!

Donnelly is a patsy... wait... wait... we're just getting word that Jack Ruby...

172
You obviously haven't seen the angle that the Braves telecast showed.

167
It just seems that Donnelly sends guys home if there's is any chance that they will score. If there's a 10% chance he will score and a 90% chance he will get thrown out, that's not a good situation to send a runner.

It doesn't make sense to send a guy if there's zero or one outs because there are so many different ways that a guy can score from 3rd with fewer than two outs (Sac fly, slow ground ball, base hit, wild pitch, etc.).

From an ump perspective, impossible to get that call right. Too fast, too close.

Anyway umps judge by sound as well as sight. So maybe we should be a bit more deferential while judging his call from our couches.

So what's your take on how many starts LaRoche gets in the next 2 weeks?

Why was LaRoche called safe? Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?

177. If he plays well, all of them. They didn't call him up to ride the bench.

177
Unless LaRoche is a butcher in the field or turns in the second coming of Kevin Kouzmanoff, LaRoche will likely start everyday at third.

178 Who benefited?

Randy Wolf, whose brother is an umpire. Coincidence? I think not.

I'm not surprised the ump called LaRoche safe, because he didn't have a good angle to see the tag. I'm also not surprised Pierre was called out on the pickoff in the first inning, even though the replayed showed that he was probably safe.

There has to be a second spitter.

I don't want to defend Donnelly because I think he's generally idiotic and running on Francouer there seemed real risky but just to play devil's advocate, it's also possible he's being particularly aggressive now because the Dodgers aren't scoring runs much or getting good clutch hitting as of late.

Okay, given his track record it's hard to think that's the main reason. But still I can see a case for being aggressive there. But they did get a little lucky.

There has to be a second spitter.

I don't want to defend Donnelly because I think he's generally idiotic and running on Francouer there seemed real risky but just to play devil's advocate, it's also possible he's being particularly aggressive now because the Dodgers aren't scoring runs much or getting good clutch hitting as of late.

Okay, given his track record it's hard to think that's the main reason. But still I can see a case for being aggressive there. But they did get a little lucky.

lol @ "second coming of Kevin Kouzmanoff"

I wonder if the Pads still have Vinny Castilla on speed dial.

"If there's a 10% chance he will score and a 90% chance he will get thrown out, that's not a good situation to send a runner."

That situation is practically non existant. Throwing a runner out at home from the outfield is a very difficult play. Even if it looks like there's enough time, the throw has to be on the money. People overreact to the damage done by a thrown out runner compared the opportunty cost of taking the chance.

Argh, sorry about that. My browser froze for a second and posted twice.

There has to be a second poster, too.

Nice grab by La Roche.

I'm always annoyed that Diaz pronounces his name "Dye-az." Is that a Portuguese thing?

I sincerely believe that at the end of the year Randy Wolf will out pitch Barry Zito, especially for the money.

I also believe that Dave Roberts will out play Juan Pierre, especially for the money.

In general, a tag on the head (or anywhere in the upper-body region) means the runner is safe. In this instance, it looked on TBS like LaRoche hadn't touched the plate yet.

182
Holbrook appeared to be looking straight at the play. The problem was that Francouer's throw was up the line and caused all the action to take place away from where he normally would be set up. Also Saltalamacchia tried to tag LaRoche on his head and that's not exactly expected.

"I'm always annoyed that Diaz pronounces his name "Dye-az." Is that a Portuguese thing?"

Vin Scully's investigative reporters are on it. I'm sure he'll find out and spend the next ten years telling us about it.

Kouzmanoff is 0 for 2 today in Florida and is now down to .112.

Seanez warming up? What about Tsao?

191
Diaz pronounces his name the way he does because that's how he wants to pronounce. It's not Portuguese. It's a Spanish name. If the name were Portuguese, it would be spelled "Dias" I believe and would sound something like "DEE-ash".

190
Yeah, I don't blame the homeplate ump at all. It was tough for him to see, and tags on the head aren't common.

See right there, the runner would have almost certainly scored, but no one will blame the third base coach because there's no smoking gun. He still made a mistake though.

where is tsao!!?!?

187 Dias is portuguese, Diaz is spanish.

Tsao has graduated to the 7th inning.

Is Seanez really the best guy to bring in here?

Let the record reflect that I am against the bringing in of Seanez.

It's human failing to rate sins of commission higher than sins of omission. It's easy to keep your hands clean if you don't do anything.

Here's the game.

He very well might get the job done, but Seanez wouldn't be my choice here. In fact, he'd be my last choice.

Jake Peavy's bid for the first interesting game in Padres history ended in the 6th on a Dan Uggla triple.

C'mon it's not like Donnelly sent him into machine gun fire, it's only baseball. I'm glad he sent him home. Excitement value trumps everything.

186
If the only time Donnelly was sending a runner was when a perfect throw would get him I would have no problem with that. That is a risk worth taking.

The problem with pushing the limits even more is that it no longer takes perfect execution to nail a runner. A throw that is off-line or short-hops the catcher can still result in an out at home if there is enough time to recover. These are the times that I have a problem with Donnelly's aggressiveness. If you're betting against perfect execution, and you're right, but you still get a guy thrown out, that's bad basecoaching.

rudys the man

Seanez was the perfect choice for this situation ;)

Rudy Seanez has all of your names and addresses.

I'll take it, still would've used Tsao.

The Brave thrid base coach just made a crucial error that cost them the tie. Think it will make Sports Center?

Ha, room service double play ball.

I totally would not have brought in Seanez there but he got the job done perfectly.

C'mon it's not like Donnelly sent him into machine gun fire

its a close second though!

If I were the Braves, I might have pinch-hit Chipper for Woodward there.

210 I hope that Bob is wrong. Rudy, I apologize for what I was thinking when you were brought it.

Hey there and I thought my day was made with a chip in birdie on the difficut 7th hole at Alhambra Muni Golf Course in the early morning sun.

So Andy LaRoche is up while Marlon gets a couple of weeks off while the Dodgers try to figure out their roster.

217
And Rudy is a martial arts aficionado too.

194 Maybe, but I'm still on record as being annoyed by it. Less annoyed than if I'd heard "Gar-sigh-a" but up there. Then again, a lot of things are annoying to me today.

laroche has pretty good batspeed.

LaRoche still hit that on the button.

Nice shot by LaRoche.

La Roche does have a powerful compact swing.

Smoked that one. LaRoche's bat looks quick and powerful.

Andy just got robbed, sort of.

218
Now I'm a horrible golfer, but the 7th hole at Alhambra isn't all that difficult. The back nine is a lot harder.

They didn't trick it up did they?

Purely conjecture-- Anyone believe that Ethier could play CF with, say, Kemp and Gonzo flanking him?

221 Surprised by the callup. I have to say did not see this coming at all.

227 They have done some things but no tricking up, and yes the 7th hole is rated as the second easiest hole on the course.

The 12th hole, to me, is the hardest hole because of the OB on the left and very small opening to land your second shot.

Different sources online state that Diaz's family chose a different pronunciation for the family name once they emigrated from Spain.

I have a feeling that not only did Diaz's family want to appear more American, they also wanted to make sure people didn't think they were Mexican also.

OMGzzzz boom goes the betemit!!!

Betty goes bye bye.

I think Betemit has found his niche.

Oh baby

Boom Boom got the message.

I think Betemit has adjusted to his new role

I think a fire has officially been lit under Betemit

are you kidding me????!!!!

One more PH homer and Wilson ties Del Unser's record of three consecutive!

Betty goes bye bye.

WIIIIILLLL-SONNNNN!

...and Betemit is consigned to being a pinch-hitter for the rest of his career.

Okay. Now this 3rd base thing is getting intersting. In a good way.

We've got our left handed pinch hitter.

Nice.

Meat!!!

Hah hah, I love this new pinch hitter the Dodgers have.

are you kidding me????!!!!

Boom BOOM

Okay, back to back pinch hit homers, have to go pull out my SABR record book for this record.

YES!! that's more like it.

sorry, thought my first post didn't get through.

@ 238

So.... having Ramon Martinez and Wilson Valdez get his playing time didn't light it?

Steiner is a spaz. He does The Spaz better than anyone though. I bet he goes absolutely crazy in bed.

Lee Lacy also had three pinch homers in three ABs, but he had a walk in the middle.

stealing 2 of 3 in atlanta would be huge.

240 Nice, did you have that at your fingertips and is that record in the SABR book.

240 Ok that was some quick random access even for you.

Coincidence Betemit's breakout is taking place in Atlanta?
Look for stories about Wilson running into a friend or former coach/teammate, and he noticed something wrong with Betemit's stance/hips/hands...

Betemit's OPS has jumped up to .609.

I knew about Del Unser because I remember the baseball card about it. I had to check on Lacy.

248 I think that phrase is saved for the NCAA Basketball tournament.

Hindsight is 20-20 but I was a little surprised to see Davies left in there as long as he was. They don't like their 6-7 inning relievers, apparently.

253: OK, that's the last any of us want to hear about Steiner's love life.

262 - They like Soriano and Gonzalez, who are both new to the team this year.

253 Okay, I really didn't need that image.

254 - You can't walk off the island, or into the pinch-hitting-for-power record books.

Furcal and Pierre get picked off/thrown out stealing a LOT for so-called speedsters. Hit-and-run is the way to go for this team.

Betemit's much better as a LHB. I could definitely see some semi-platoon action at thrid.

Whats the record for consecutive batters retired?

269
41 batters in a row.

I doubt Jim Barr is losing a lot of sleep over Tsao.

258 Coincidence Betemit's breakout is taking place in Atlanta?

Dunno about Atlanta, but I think his breakout weekend might have something to do with the fact that the Dodgers called up LaRoche at the same time.

Anyone else remember the Dodgers trading for Tyler Houston in 2003 just to light a fire under Adrian Beltre?

258 I think it has something to do with sticking to batting left, as noted above something he should stick to, and not starting every day, too. More than Atlanta (he looked terrible on Friday).

strike 3

D'oh. What's this base on balls thing Tsao just experienced?

I really wish I knew this was going to happen, so I would have watched the entire game.

Koufax retired 29 straight. He retired the last batter the game before his perfect game and then got the first batter out the next game before he gave up a double.

I don't think Gagne ever had a streak of 24 straight did he?

up until that walk, tsao had 8 perfect innings.

Seems Steve Lyons is a bit less silly this year.

273 Looked good to me.

278 Needs this gig.

[271] please see [59], [61], and [62].

seems like all the braves hits have been bloopers

278 - Maybe his firing from FOX put the fear of God into him.

stupid braves broadcasters jinxed tsao.

So much for that. Guess we can move off the topic of Tsao's perfection and just hope to win this one.

I'm thinking Betemit might get a start in place of Kent maybe on Thursday afternoon in Florida. They always say he can play second. Now that he is starting to bring it home, it seems wrong not to try to get that bat in the lineup for now.

Tsao got robbed on that breaking ball call. That was a strike.

I found a streak of 24 for Gagne in 2004 which was ended by a Brandon Phillips single in Cleveland.

What the tsao?

I guess something has to give when you have an .045 BABIP.

blow him away mess around with that spin ball

Nothing wrong with that pitch.

Rudy Seanez has set up a special address you can mail your apologies to.

Write to him at:
Sorry, Rudy
2020 Hindsight Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90001

If you include a check, Rudy will endorse it so you can have his autograph.

281 I should've known. If there's any people on the planet who still remember Tyler Houston, it's DTers.

289 That makes sense.

Along the lines of Tyler Houston, during yesterday's Fox broadcast of the Angels-White Sox game, Eric Karros was asked by Matt Vasgersian about why Paul Konerko didn't get a shot in L.A.

Karros - "He didn't get much of a chance to play ..."

Is this an unintentional intentional walk, I guess not.

Apparently Roger Clemens just announced that he signed with the Yankees

295 Now that is really funny.

That is the kind of expert commentary I expect from Matt Vasgersian and Eric Karros.

297
Hooray for my DT fantasy league team.

296
Shouldn't it be called an intentional unintentional walk to be more precise

[297] apparently roger feels like ending his career on the DL....

Clayton Kershaw, the No. 1 pitching prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system, felt a twinge in his hamstring and missed his scheduled start Saturday.

301 Okay by me.

301
Maybe it should be called "second degree walk."

The pitch to Harris was better than that one to Chipper.

Bobby Cox will get tossed.

Make up call baby.

295

2017:
Mr. Garciaparra, why didn't James Loney get a shot in L.A?

Ahh, Bob Davidson, at last your incompetence works in the Dodgers favor.

the kershaw article..

http://tinyurl.com/ypqtoj

interesting line...

Tuesday's game may be one of the last chances for Midland fans to see Kershaw, who could soon make his way to Advanced Class A Inland Empire in San Bernardino, Calif., or even Double A Jacksonville.

that would be sweet.

Bob T. no doubt thinks he did, but Larry didn't go around.

I love when Bobby waddles out to argue. Even when he's wrong.

308 Nope, I was wrong, good call.

312

see 310

No cable here. Why was Jones arguing?

(After watching replays) ...or even when he's right.

i don't think he went around either.

303
If we were the Yankees, someone would've already been fired.

Son of a gun

316
Jones was called out an appeal of a checked swing.

michaeltucker!

picked the wrong day to suck tsao

{censored}

[316] he was called out on a check swing, and on the replays it doesn't look like he went around.

315

I saw 310 after I posted 312

So far, Tsao is so-so.

So long.

[323] is there a "right" day?

Ahhh how terrific to see all-American Larry Jones cursing out an umpire on national television!

Time for Tsao to give Randy Wolf back that old #41...

Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

321 Thanks. Tsao outs the 15 - 0 record in jeopardy. Nearly 40 pitches in one inning, thus far (?)

tsao pitched much better than the results would indicate, however.

328
February 11th

OK, I bit too much excitement for me.

Again, I know Grady was trying to save pitchers but I think he should have brought in someone (actually to pitch to Chipper) since Tsao had thrown more pitches today than he had in any one outing.

[331] what 15-0 record?

Crappety crap crap

Grady Little is back in postseason form.

michaeltucker!

NaCl in the wound.

NaCl = Pain

Man, I'm having flashbacks to Baez and Carter.

I had almost forgotten the unpleasant feeling of a lousy bullpen.

Get the ball down, Chad!

way to stop the bleeding chad

I, frankly, am hugely tired of the Tyler Houston story. It's very popular and tidy, but there was never any evidence that the pickup of Houston was responsible for Beltre playing better. Pure correlation.

It might have been Houston, or it might have had nothing to do with him.

So we've like, lost.

That would be great to get a lot of first hand reports on Kershaw.

jeff kent "has the range of a rosebush" right now according to the tbs crew.

jeez, look slike Bills finally remembered he has a curve ball thats pretty good.

346
I suppose so since Bob Wickman is on the DL.

342 - There's a difference between having a lousy bullpen, and having a lousy back end of a bullpen.
We have the latter. The Dodgers are quite solid with a lead; when trying to keep a deficit close, less so.

348
The personality too

can juan for five get on?

Oscar Robles pinch-hitting again for Kouzmanoff.

345 The story would have less legs if they didn't do the exact same thing the year after (year before?) when they traded for Robin Ventura

[352] :)

@ 345... in a related story, the Mariners have announced they have signed Tyler Houston.

Atlanta announcers, "Jeff Kent has the range of a rose bush right now. He can't move at all. He's been out there a half an hour it seems."

I wonder if basically Beimel and Broxton were not available today due to yesterday's outings and Grady was down to Tsao, Billingsley and Saito, it sure seemed that way.

That is the flaw with this pitching staff, they don't have anyone who can bounce back and throw multiple innings in back to back games.

Plus they play 10 more games in a row so you can't burn through the staff.

345 - But what did correlate, was Houston's lack of playing time after Beltre got hot. Which cheesed Tyler off to no end, IIRC.

Bills throwing a fastball down & in to a left handed batter is flat out criminal! sigh.

can juan for five get on?

There's a 30% chance

360
Tyler Houston was easily cheesed off. He burned more bridges that an army in full retreat.

they don't have anyone who can bounce back and throw multiple innings in back to back games.
I'd say we don't know that, as few managers use their relievers like that these days.

wow he sucks

363 - Heh. Indeed.

"Now playing centerfield, Matt Kemp." I am waiting for those words.

336 The 15 - 0 record LA has when leading after 6 innings.

Tyler Houston played every position during his major league career except pitcher and center fielder.

Did Stiener just say Soriano, or Kent, was "born cranky"?

367

i dont know if it means anything but hes been playing CF in Vegas.

"Now playing centerfield, Matt Kemp." I am waiting for those words.

Right after we hear, "Juan Pierre retires to focus on rap career"

Looks like I picked the wrong weekend to have family obligations. So much going on!

LaRoche comes up
Boom goes the Betemit X 2
Marlon on the DL.
Tsao is human.

Holy smokes.

365,366,367

well at least i'm not the only one feeling crummy about what just unfolded.

im starting to lose a little faith in the middle of the lineup, i dont know...we all know kent is another year older, and nomar just doesnt seem to have nearly the bat speed he had after coming off the dl in april last year. and gonzo...im not so sure about that 3-4-5.

Ugh, enough with the dog lap dances, ATL fans.

Ugh, enough with the dog lap dances, ATL fans.

365-There are very few baseball players (or for that matter, people) to whom I find myself actively wishing misfortunte, even serious bodily harm.

I am having a hard time this season retaining my sportsmanlike perspective. The fact of having Pierre on this team is like looking at a girl who would be pretty...if not for that grapefruit-sized boil on the side of her face. If Grady ever had the cojones to bench him--not temporarily, but for keeps--it would forgive any other managerial decision he could possibly make. We could fire Maury Wills and clone Rich Donnelly to coach not only all the bases but to serve as a special baserunning-instructor...fine. ANYTHING but Pierre. I might give up James Loney, if another team would take Pierre off our hands and not replace him with something as terrible.

OK, maybe not Loney. Tomko?

Dodger hits and runs today coming from positions 5 through 9 in the lineup.

The Yankees don't need Clemens. They got a combined shutout from Rasner, Proctor, Henn, Farnsworth, and Bruney!

Padres win 3-1.

378 - absolutely. theres not on good thing that goes into my mind watching him play. noting positive.

Apparently the rose bush is thinning.

[380] if everyone gets healthy again, they could potentially have a rotation of clemens, wang, mussina, pettitte, and hughes. that's a big if, though.

jeff kent needs a day off.

375 Yeah, but the 6-7-8 could make up for it.

Today was just one of those days for Tsao. The guy had retired 24 in a row. I wouldnt lose confidence in him yet.

So does Betemit's 2 pinch hit Homers solidify his status as a pinch hitter, or propel him back into the 3rd base starter discussion?

383 It needs water.

If Dodger Thoughts averages 25 complaints per game about Juan Pierre, that will mean there will be 4050 negative Juan Pierre posts during the regular season.

And I think 25 is low because I think the number is increasingly geometrically as the season goes on.

I may have to set up a logarithmic scale to track the Juan Pierre complaints so the chart can be read.

Do or die time.

388

They said he was a player who would create excitement!

[388] i'd say it's unfair and we should stop ragging on him, but i think our dissatisfaction is justified.

Billingsly reminds me of Andy Roddick in that he doesn't appear to think much, but just motor along.

385 - some things don't change

I think the effects of the 19 inning game showed up on both the Dodgers and San Diego bullpens this week and for the Dodgers, I think they may have to bring in a 12th pitcher sooner rather than later especially since even when they pitch well, only Lowe can get into the 7th inning with any consistency.

They said he was a player who gets on base an awful lot!

391
I just wanted to make a chart with a logarithmic scale on one of the axes.

Come on, let's make it 16-0!

BTW, that fastball that Chad threw to strike out his last batter was the one he needed to do the first batter he faced.

biggest ab of LaRoche's career thus far... and he pops out

If Laroche did not try to come out of his shoes on that swing, he might have gone somewhere.

Wilson Valdez or a 12th pitcher?
If the 12th pitcher is Meloan, then it could be beneficial.

Looks like LaRoche's back foot slipped out as well.

Russell Martin pinch-hitting? Good news!

Ethier's hitting .250 vs LHP this year for those keeping score at home, although with only a .544 OPS

399 - Is that you just being comically unfair?

Come on...didn't Ethier get a hit off this guy yesterday?

401 40 man roster would seem to indicate that Yhency would get the first shot.

388 Just like his hits though, that high total is only because he gets so many at-bats. If he was dropped lower in the batting order, or got himself benched, that number would drop.

You need to come up Negative Posts Created stat to accurately gauge Juan Pierre. Call it NPC/27.

I like Martin, but why not pinch hit Martin for Lieberthal, and let Ethier hit?

So we know that Betemit's a better pinch hitter than Martin.

Where is Saenz?

Well that was awful

411 He was on deck to bat for Chad.

[396] do you think it would be a logarithm, and the complaint levels will approach an asymptote? or do you think it may be more of an exponential chart?

409 - I'm losing confidence in Grady Little, but I think it's because he's getting dumber.

just 1 of 162 fellas...

Or Martin for Ethier, and Saenz for Lieberthal?

Killer Tomato against a LHP is a matchup you want in that situation.

1st game that really got away. very upsetting.

This is one that will sting for a while but then again, we came back against Hoffman last week so in the end, it all evens out.

the dodgers middle of the lineup...just dont know.

It was the first game of this series. Ethier hit a sharp single between third and short off Gonzalez.

I feel bad for Wolf. He pitched a quality game (with some help from Seanez)

Maybe the loss was our punishment for staying inside on such a beautiful day.

I know people hate the Proven Vet thing and even though Russell is great, I don't think you pinch hit Lieberthal with Russell, with Saenz maybe but Russell hitting for Ethier makes sense.

My complaint about Grady was leaving Tsao in to pitch to Chipper but having just one lefty in the pen hurt today since it appears that he was not available to pitch.

Why didn't we see Beimel at any point in the 7th? He wasn't even throwing in the pen.

424 Beimel has pitched an inning in the last two days with the off day before that.

371 I know. I didn't mean today. Just the sooner the better that we call Kemp up from Vegas.

414
I don't see Juan Pierre complaint levels leveling out anytime soon.

And he's going to be starting every day in center field, most likely for the entire season, so you would have more luck cursing the darkness.

I'm sure its been touched on, but the LaRoche promotion IMO cements the fact that Nomar will never move off 1st base.

Since Nomar's signed for next year too, I can understand why Loney wants traded.

It'd be one thing if LaRoche was destroying AAA, and they just wanted to get him in the lineup. But his promotion says more about Nomar's status than anything else IMO.

But what happens if/when Nomar gets injured and Loney starts to perform well?

I think those who compain about the middle end of the bullpen for the moment are being too hasty too judge-I believe today was the aberation.

My frustration on the Pierre front is the mistakes he makes, especially in the 8th inning. His job there is to get on base and not pop it up. For those on this site who dislike Maurry Wills, don't think Wills pops up there.

428 I don't know, I'm kinda geting bored with complaining about him myself. How often do people complain about cancer? Eventually you just accept it.

In Maury Wills' career, his OBP in the 8th and 9th innings was lower than his career OBP. Juan Pierre's OBP in the 8th and 9th inning has been higher than his career OBP.

I haven't adjusted that for era however.

But I've never thought much of Maury Wills.

432 - Yeah, kinda like having a retarded child.

432
Juan Pierre is sort of like a chronic illness. You just try to manage it and deal with it. There will be good days and there will be bad days.

434
I don't think that's the best parallel.

May I micromanage on behalf of those who would chastise Grady? Try and stop me! :)

Bottom of the 7th is all that I saw in the midst of a family breakfast.

1--Harris walks on a borderline pitch. Tsao does not have the great slider working this AB but a pretty good heater.

2--Johnson goes with the pitch (good outside fastball) and doubles to left. A good piece of hitting. Tip your hat to him.

3--Renteria, who looked like he knew what was coming, doubles. Three pretty good pitches by Tsao followed by a horrible slider that Renteria jumped on. Two runs are in and it's 4-3.

Now, here's a question for you, DTers. At what point do you put Beimel up? Or anyone, for that matter? At the beginning of the inning?? Please. After Renteria's double, Honeycutt was on the horn, as he should've been. Billingsley begins to throw (I don't know if anyone else was throwing).

4--Francouer pops out. Tired of throwing an inconsistent slider, Tsao ups his fastball a notch and Francouer cannot--and does not--catch up with it. One out, man on 2nd.

Does Beimel go up now? With Andruw Jones up? Tsao hasn't pitched terribly, Billingsley is throwing... I'm sticking with Tsao.

5--Jones walks. Tsao does not want to "miss" with a fastball and avoids the strike zone with the heater. But a hanging slider fools Jones, a nasty slider gets strike two and on 3-2, Tsao misses with a slider. Still one out, men on first and second.

What do you do? Beimel should've been throwing the whole time here? I think it's just as important, in a regular season game, to let a guy who has been pitching brilliantly to try and work his way out of a jam. I think that's what Grady did and I agree with the thinking. So, Tsao pitches to Chipper Jones and...

6--Jones strikes out.

2 out, 2 on. 4-3 Dodgers. Tsao is throwing hard. Do you stay with him? If not, why not?

7--Thorman singles to right. Tsao, IIRC, threw a slider that hung ever so much and the ground ball was not hit softly. Tie game, 4-4.

In comes Billingsley.

What I want to know is this: what was the obvious move to make here? What was so evident to those watching at home? 'Cause I don't see it. An inquiring mind wants to know.

So, Juan Pierre = Cancer. Retarded child. Chronic illness.

How about famine? Polio? Hunger?

14 - 2 - You keep putting me in the weird position of defending Gonzalez. Nomar in left would probably be the one person who is worse defensively than Luis. And Nomar isn't outhitting Luis, either

Since Nomar is going to play somewhere and third seems very unlikely I thought I would start floating into the ether thoughts of Nomar in left because I would rather watch and cheer Loney instead of a one-year rental like Gonzo. Nomar will at least be back for one more year and lobbing the ball back into the infield shouldn't pose an injury risk.

If I wanted to put the best offense in the lineup I would have Nomar, Loney, Bigbie, Kemp, Ethier starting.

438

I think you run the risk of equating someone with subpar baseball skills as someone born with some condition that causes their brain to develop wrong.

But I think I should just drop this whole thing because when people want someone head's on a pike, it's pretty hard to dissuade them.

Okay guys, not that I'm too thrilled with Pierre right now, either, mind you, but more thrilled than I would be with Cancer. Let's get a perspective check here.

437 I've been mulling this over, too. I guess I would have had Beimel throwing to start the inning, too, just in case. Tsao's been so lights out that it's hard to fault them for not worrying about it too much but if Beimel is really a LOOGY right now - even if he's been used a lot this past week, he should be able to come in to face one batter. But you're right that Tsao wasn't really getting hit badly - he left a couple of pitches up there but other than that, I can understand why they'd stick with him a bit longer than some guys would have been allowed. But I still would have had Beimel in there warming up early in the inning just in case.

Of course, I wouldn't have brought in Seanez when they did and he did great, so what do I know?

437 - Well argued.

Between my soccer game this AM and the Dodger game, I want a day of "do-overs". Sigh.

At some point the Dodgers need to put the best players on the field and let the vets back them up. No doubt that would make for an interesting clubhouse but with all the character this team has the coaches should be able to make it work.

I think that the choices of Pierre in the batting order of 1st, 2nd or 8th, 2nd may be the worse choice.

438 I see where you're going. It's just dicey ground. I have a son who has a learning challenge and initially, it wasn't easy to accept. But what else are you going to do? He's ten years old now and I wouldn't change a thing. Acceptance has led to an advantage in working with and overcoming the problem. In some ways, we've turned the "disability" into an advantage. It's been great.

I think that's what you're trying to communicate. At least, that's what I'm inferring. Pierre is with us for a little while at least. He's not a gold glove fielder, he's not an OBP machine. He is what he is and I'm rooting for him. If he helps us win, great.

"worst"

I think you should repost 437 on Tony Jackson's blog, since he's harping on that inning.

448 I think I will. Thanks...

When Billingsley came in was anyone else thinking Broxton?

449

Now back to your grading!

451 (grumbling... moaning and whining with more grumbling....)

OT - Watching the end of one my favorite movies, "The Hustler."

If pool is a sport or at least a game of skill, then this is the best film of that genre.

453 A remarkable film with terrific performances. Anytime someone talks about that movie, I always bring up Piper Laurie's work. Newman, Gleason, Scott... they always get talked about but Laurie seems to get overlooked.

Great movie.

454 I agree, she was really good.

"I loved her Burt but I traded her in for a pool game."

"Fatman, you shoot a great game of pool."

"So do you Fast Eddie."

The best line is Scott's "You owe me MONEY!"

IMO the main problem is Billingsly. You just cant have a guy in the 'pen who allows almost 2 base runners/inning. He did the same last year also (albeit, oddly lot ERA) so its not just a few bad outings at this point... too many walks, too many 93mph fastballs right down the middle when he gets behind. Seems to have decent stuff, but I think its well past time for AAA work for him. Let him come back in August as a starter. I suspect in the next wave of transactions Billingsly should go back down. Also, I think 437 made a good point in that several braves this series got hits off really nice pitches. McCann's double yesterday off Tomko was about 8" off the plate. Theres just not much you can do sometimes.

There is an interview with Clayton Kershaw over at Baseball Prospectus today.

This excerpt won't make him any friends over at FJM:

DL: Which lineup would you least like to face: one with nine David Ecksteins or one with nine Adam Dunns?

CK: I'd least like to face nine David Ecksteins. He's a pest. Every at-bat he seems to foul off eight pitches, and then he puts the ball in play somewhere. You'll give up a few bombs to Adam Dunn, but he won't make you work as hard. Not to disrespect Dunn, but I'd hate to face a lineup full of guys like Eckstein.

[458] in his defense, he was answering the question about whom he would "least like" to face, not which one would be the most productive. pitching against shrimpy contact hitters is probably not very enjoyable, even if they won't do as much damage.

440 - You draw the wrong inference. The theme from the previous poster was stoic acceptance. We have to accept Pierre's poor play, like parent's have to accept a retarded child.

I was not saying Pierre is a retarded child.

458
P/PA

Eckstein:
3.84
3.71
3.86
3.77
4.01
3.75
3.65

Dunn:
4.12
4.28
4.33
4.24
4.24
4.18
3.91

Another OT but sports related.

Tiger Woods is about to win his 25th different PGA tournament (his 57th career win overall).

There are only 3 tournaments in which he is played more than once that he has never won. One, he can never win because it no longer exists, The Sprint International. The other it is going another name/sponsor change but the former Buick Classic, will be the Barclays Classic that is part of the new playoff in the late summer.

The other tournament is the one that you wonder if he will ever win which is the Nissan Open at Riveria. He has never contended at Riveria, his one playoff in the tournament was when it was played at the TPC Valencia.

Some feel he conveniently skipped this year's tournament when he was on a consecutive win streak but regardless, I think it is probably the only non-major left that he really wants to win.

In a bases loaded, 2 out, game tied situation, I think that most pitches would rather face Dunn than Eckstein.

460
I also don't think that a lot of people stoically accept having a child with special needs. At least not good parents.

462 I forgot one other tournament that he has played more than once and not won, the Phoenix Open.

I doubt he will play there anytime soon, not because he hasn't played well the few times he did play it but with the huge crowds and the fact that he hasn't teed it up there since 1999, it seems that this tournament is off his radar.

Let C = That which Eckstein does in Clutch situations that he doesn't do in Unclutch situations

Two questions regarding C:

1. What is C?
2. Why doesn't Eckstein choose to do C in Unclutch situations as well?

I think Tiger will win at Riviera eventually. There's no reason he shouldn't, other than skipping the tournament. He probably won't win at Phoenix, though, as he probably won't play there again.

I think that all pitches would rather pitch to Eckstein in a bases empty, late inning, tied ball game situation.

467 Tiger has won 57 times in 216 starts (26.4%), I doubt that anyone else playing has a winning pct. in double digits.

[463] i was thinking more in a vacuum, from an aesthetic kind of sense...

but:

eckstein with the bases loaded, career:
.226/.239/.468 --> .707 OPS with 39 RBI in 62 at-bats

dunn with the bases loaded, career:
.226/.286/.597 --> .882 OPS with 58 RBI in (coincidentally) 62 at-bats

eckstein with 2 out, RISP, career:
.272/.338/.406 --> .744 OPS with 108 RBI in 382 at-bats

dunn with 2 out, RISP, career:
.207/.426/.427 --> .853 OPS with 104 RBI in 323 at-bats

470 Vishal

Interesting but I would like to know their OBP with bases loaded rather than OPS.

Not a good day for LA bullpens today, I guess the one difference is that the Angels lost with their main guys, I suppose you can argue that Scioscia should have started the inning with Sheilds rather than bring him in with men on base.

While the Dodgers can be pleased that the Giants traded Nathan, Liriano and Bonser to the Twins for A.J., A.J.'s subsequesnt exile led him to Chicago to be a pain in butt to Mike Scioscia.

Colon was cruising until the 7th and left after an injury.

458 Nate, ToyCannon, JoeyP hope that Ned never makes this come true (actually we all do)

When asked what team name (they were talking about being a "Loon"), Clayton Kershaw was asked what team name he did like.

CK: I've always thought the Montgomery Biscuits is a pretty cool name. It would be fun to be a Biscuit. I like being a Loon, though.

Be thankful for a couple of things, Ned cannot trade Kershaw this year (first year draftees cannot be dealt for a year after they sign) and I think he is pretty well regarded by everyone in the organization.

474 Not that you were, but I wouldn't worry too much about that, obviously it's just a playful question about nicknames. Of course, he should have said "My favorite nickname is the 51s, after the Dodgers, of course." Will be cool to see him after he is promoted to the next level, assuming that's more than a rumor.

466 D4P
If you are referring to my 463

Is Question 1 the right question? Let C = That which Eckstein does in Clutch situations that he doesn't do in Unclutch situations...1. What is C?
Eckstein is always short. That makes it more difficult on the pitcher to throw strikes. His ability to work the pitcher,fouling off pitches, and not swing at balls puts even more pressure on the pitcher. That doesn't change either. Most likely he will swing at a strike and put the ball in play. Compare that to Dunn.

475 Actually, I like the name "Biscuits" too, considering some of the other ones out there, its pretty cool. I think it would have been more political to say "Dodgers" but he was being truthful, you know one of those "makeup" traits.

How long before Nomar's .280/.333/.381 line gets Management's attention?

[471] Fallout - i included their batting averages, their OBP, their slugging... it's all there in 470. i presented it in BA/OBP/SLG -- > OPS format.

eckstein's OBP is almost 50 points lower than dunn's with the bases loaded (.239 vs .286), and almost 100 points lower with 2 outs and RISP (.338 vs .426)

478 One, Nomar is not going anywhere. Two, he is slumping in the daytime which is affecting those numbers (6 for 36, all singles).

Under the lights in over twice as many at bats. .341/.396/.476

458--As long as Russ Martin doesnt think that.

479 Vishal

Got it. Thanks. BA/OBP/SLG

Eckstein bats right. Dunn bats left. Kershaw's just playing the percentages. Doesn't happen often, but I agree with JoeyP--as long as nobody lets him walk Scrappy to get to Pujols, I don't care very much whom he'd rather face.

It doesn't bother me that Kershaw would rather face Dunn. What bothers me is that I think Colletti might be on the same page.

Lincecum, to me, looks like the Giants future closer. Not Ace. Not only is he very slight for a power pitcher, but his 97mph 1st inning fastball is now a 91mph 5th inning fastball.

Well, his 5th inning fastball is also after having thrown 103 pitches.

Lincecum probably shouldn't be judged too much based on today. I really think the Giants made a mistake calling him up for his major league debut in front of home fans and on national TV. He certainly seems to have a ways to go but I think he's going to be a good one (alas). Maybe he would make a good reliever; they do seem to need help there, still, but I dunno if I'd declare him one way or the other based on today. (Not that I didn't enjoy seeing him rocked today.)

I will probably jinx the Phils, but I have been enjoying Joe Morgan commenting while some young speed merchant named Bourne has single handedly scored another run to help bury the Giants. Thank god the G's brought up Lincecum too early because I constantly wonder that this excellent young pitcher could boost the Giant's push. He may yet be trouble.

I think that a whole lineup of Eckstein's would indeed be hardy for a power lefty like Kershaw to pitch to than against a whole team of Dunn's. Eckstein's got speed and he's right handed.

single

double

triple

homerun!

(yeah, I've been grading for the last few hours...)

The Roger Clemens affair is the most disgusting story in MLB I have seem since the strikes. Living in western Ma. among many intense friends and enimas who are both Yankee and Red Sox fans I truly hope that the Yanks and Clemens are made to look like fools for this contract.

495 - Free agent signs rich contract, just like many, including him, have done with many other teams. What's the problem?

Did anyone else (just for a day) think that LaRoche looked pretty good out there. Ground rule double and then another hot liner almost over Diaz's head in LF.

The Karate Kid comes out of his crawlspace, and I miss it. Whatever. Stupid Suffering Bruin, posting when I'm not around...grumble.

I missed the whole series with the Braves. So much happened! LaRoche is here? Wow...

Best of Saturday Night Live in the 90's is on...Phil Hartman makes me sad.

My main objection is that he makes MLB in its entirety look like foolish fops. To proclaim that he is so large that he can wait till May when he can see how the races are shaping up, avoid training and then pick who he will allow to pay him 4 mil a month offends me somehow. Obviously it also shows how good he is and how shallow baseball execs. are. Some network just said he is the equiv. of Barry Bonds. Call me old fashioned but I find it as awful as Bonds shortly passing Henry Aaron.

If Clemens' value is so high that he can call shots like that, then I say, more power to him.

It's no different than a high quality actor just being very choosy about which roles to accept.

I'm assuming that Red Sox fans are done giving standing ovations Clemens. I wouldn't even ovate for him sitting down.

You turn ovate when you sit down down?

Clemens can sit out a quarter of the year, sign with whomever he choses, get paid top dollar, and pitch like a Cy Young winner.

I hate him too. For living the dream of every baseball fan in history. Prettay, prettay, prettay...Prettay nice life.

Clemens should enter the hall of Fame wearing a generic uniform. I know loyalty ended decades ago, but I think wide stripes with a 5 diget no. would be suitable.

499 - I don't think it has anything to do with being old-fashioned. He's a 20-plus year veteran, a proven commodity, paying what the market will bear. It completely makes sense in this day and age that he take advantage of his stature and ability - that's what every single other player does.

With age and talent in most professions come privileges. Any free agent has the right to do what Clemens is doing. What he's doing isn't even new at this point.

There is seriously no problem here.

You turn ovate when you sit down down?

Can you rephrase that?

504 - Now he's a criminal?

Ovate

http://www.oneplan.org/Crop/noxWeeds/Gloss3.htm

508
Was "down down" a mistake?

Yes he is a criminal. But you are right in all respects and he has my admiration. As much as I hated the strikes, I realized that the real criminals were the Execs. My salute to Roger and any player who gets his due.

I'm not a big Clemens fan but did I miss the part where he became a criminal? Did he knock over a bank or something?

Clemens threw that broken bat at Piazza. Assault with a deadly weapon.

Clemens is over 40 years old and frosted his tips.

That's good enough for me...Send the man to prison. Frosted tips? Really? Dude, you're like 44 years old. Get over it. You're not cool.

509
Yes.

He also wore white after Labor Day, I heard, and drank bourbon before 10. I believe he once read Vogon poetry to unsuspecting minors, too. Book him, Danno!

513
If Clemens is back in time to face the Mets, there will be a new entry in the oldest batter-pitcher matchup, passing up the Johnson-Franco matchup from last week.

514
All right, now it makes sense.

Clemens plays in celebrity golf events on television. Celebrities should not play golf on television, unless they are the professional golfer kind of celebrity.

512 And Piazza did nothing, which gained him zero respect from his fellow ballplayers.

Dude crushed your skull, and then threw a bat at you. Way to be tough, Mike Piazza.

518 Bruce Jenner-type celebrities?

Clemens has not reached true free agent status. A true free agent bids his service for every fifth day to the highest bidder. Big series coming up with the cross town rival could create a bidding war for for one day of service for the truly free free agent.

520
Kevin Costner-type celebrities.

519
Mike is a lover, not a fighter.

Brian Cashman on ESPN just said that Clemens has loyalty to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Houston. What a guy.

524
I wonder what it was that tipped the scales in the Yankees' favor.

What did Kemp and Loney do today?

526- They were one of quite a few 51s to get 2 hits today, but it was good ol' Mitch Jones who hit the big 3-run homer to give 'em the win.

I didn't realize B.J. LaMura was called up to Vegas. He pitched well today, apparently.

523 I'm not exactly Tony Soprano over here, but how do let a guy throw a baseball bat at you after hitting you in the chops with a fastball a few months earlier?

526 - Both went 2-5 with doubles, an RBI and a Run scored.

Miller was ugly. 6 walks and 5 hits in just 2.2 innings.

And Greg Miller had another poor outing. Rats.

528
I do wish someone had retaliated, if not Piazza. Every time Clemens rejoins the league, I hope he gets beaned. But I don't think it has ever happened.

Thanks to Underdog, Improbable88,

I can see where Miller would have some wildness. I think Koufax walked quite a few as a youth as well.

531
Shawn Estes tried to hit Clemens in the leg with a pitch back in 2002 when Estes on the Mets. Both Estes and Piazza homered off of Clemens in that game.

521 Shawn Estes was supposed to hit Clemens when the Yankees came to Shea the next year.

Estes missed Clemens...He actually threw the ball behind him, and Clemens had a little smirk on his face. Estes did homer in that game, but both benches were warned after Estes missed, and nobody tried to retaliate after that.

Estes was traded to the Cubs three weeks later.

Oh come on...One stupid second, and Bob beats me.

Timmermann...

Woo hoo! One second faster!

At the time I was a little surprised with Piazza's reaction but now I just think he cted maturely. Also, if Clemmens had acted as if he was throwing the bat intentionally at Piazza, Mike would have reacted differently. Clemens was just being a competitor and Mike gave him a look like he couldn't believe a guy could be so wierd.

The whole concept that AL pitchers hit more batters because of the DH and don't have to face retaliation has never been proven in any study of HBP rates.

Drysdale once said if he were thrown at he wouldn't waste pitches throwing back at the pitcher that threw at him. He would burise their best hitter instead. Hit a few of a pitcher's teammates in retaliation and those teammates have something to say to their pitcher.

Also, if Clemmens had acted as if he was throwing the bat intentionally at Piazza, Mike would have reacted differently

Of course Clemens was throwing the bat intentionally at Piazza.

536 You think you're sooooo cool, with your one second. You think it makes you the bigger man. Well, I've got news for you. There are other things that make you cooler, but this is not one of them.

Bravo.

Don Drysdale was hit by a pitch five times in his career. Bob Gibson was hit eight times.

Drysdale hit 154 batters. Gibson hit 102.

Greg Maddux has hit 126 batters and he's been hit 8 times.

I think Eddie Plank had the most HBPs of any pitcher. He had 24.

For me, Clemens' greatest crime is naming all his children with K- names. Dude, are you such an egomaniac you feel to tar your own children with stupid monikers that pay homage to your own almighty strikeout capacity?

(Yes, that question is rhetorical.)

Past which, I don't really have a problem with having-a-problem with Clemens. Yes, it is precisely analogous to high paid actors being choosy with their roles. Insofar as that choosiness rotates almost entirely around financial incentive and rarely incorporates aesthetic or other sorts of concern, the analogy works still further. One might, of course, wonder what else a baseball player is supposed to consider--it might be sentimental to think, anything at all--but it remains a valid criticism. One is free to hate not just the playa but the game, as it were.

In any case, I look forward to Clemens' postseason (or hopefully just late-season) disappointment, which will come as night follows day.

Christy Mathewson got hit 17 times! And he was considered to be one of the nicest guys ever to play the game.

519 I hold nothing but respect for how Piazza kept his head and didn't do anything to get tossed out of a World Series game. I completely lost respect for Clemens and the umpiring crew, who comprimised the integrity of the game by not ejecting him. Deplorable.

545 Piazza should have rushed the bum, been held back, and he wouldn't have been suspended.

Made worse by the fact that he rushed Mota during spring training the next year, and tried to get him in the locker room after the game in an attempt to repair his reputation.

543 Well, at least he's not George Foreman or Jose Cruz.

545 He wouldn't have been suspended but I think he would have been ejected whether or not he made it to the mound (in his first at bat). He also had run up the line a bit not knowing where his foul ball went. I'm not sure Posada would have been there to stop him. It's also asking a lot of a guy who just had an extremely unusual event occur to him to be aware of who could be there to stop him. I do agree with your assessment of his skirmish with Mota.

I missed all the excitement (laRoche) today. After checking in to see that L-Cum got bombed, I checked the Dodger box score and did a double-take as I saw LaRoche's name on the Dodger ledger. I guess Grady Little has been reading our posts this past week. Also interesting that Abreu is playing 3B at AAA now that LaRoche got called up. vr, Xei

Lincecum really didn't pitch all that poorly for his first game in the majors. He gave up two home runs and his pitch count got a little high, but Lincecum wasn't exactly Gio Carrara out there.

550. Yeah, I didn't see him actually pitch but his boxscore line looked pretty bad. Lots of walks and home runs. I'm sure he'll rebound when he goes to the pitching friendly Coors Field.
vr, Xei

549 Abreu was actually moved to 3B a week ago, which makes it all the more surprising that it was not he but LaRoche who got called up.

552 It's not at all surprising. As I said earlier (21), since Abreu has only been tried at 3rd base in Vegas for one week, this way he gets some time to get used to a new position in AAA before coming up to the majors. LaRoche gets a short period in the big leagues and a chance to prove himself here, and Betemit a short time to prove them wrong before being traded or placed on waivers.

It's a good way to go about it. When Abreu gets called up, he'll have had a bit of time at 3rd first.

The Dodgers have the best lefthanded pinch hitter in the major leagues. His name is Wilson Betemit. Who knew? :-)

While watching Lincecum's delivery I was reminded of Orel Hershiser. And not because of the number Lincecum was wearing.

Looks like it's nearing last call at the Wilson Valdez Happy Hour.

" 'We feel like very shortly we're going to need 12 pitchers,' he said. 'We don't know when. And we don't know exactly who that guy will be. [But] it's a long time before we have another off day. . .' "

http://tinyurl.com/2jlsj3

Meloan on line 1.

When I post this time of day I feel like I am talking to myself.

While I am talking to myself I just want to say that I am glad to see LaRoche in LA. I am also glad to see Wilson hit the ball but I think the future of the Dodgers is much more likely LaRoche. I sure would like to see Kemp in CF and Loney at 1B. Stay tuned. BTW every team in the NL West except SF is 5-5 over their last 10 games. Giants are 4-6.

If the Dodgers wanted veteran left and right side pinch hitters, Saenz and Gonzo would qualify. If the Dodgers want to make a trade in June, I think Pierre can be traded along with a pitcher and get value in return.

Beginning June 1, the Dodgers could have an outfield of Bigbie, Kemp, and Ethier. If third base is still a problem by then, Nomar's bat is making it less of a loss if he gets injured playing third because Loney should be able to hit with as much power as Nomar has shown and probably hit for better average.

Your not quite talking to yourself as east coasters look in from time to time and I like the fantasizing at this time of day. Sometime early in the day I can believe we are going to trade certain vets we just gave big contract.
On a side note if any young guys and/or mathematicians are listening can you help.
How much memory can a 64 bit processor adress directly. I'm getting about 4 gigabytes.

Also early in the day I obviously don't proofread for typing/spelling.

Being on the east coast I rarely see a Dodger game and I don't read the LA papers so I know far more about what DT posters think than I do what average fans are thinking.

I have read on this site that LA fans seem happy with Pierre and I wonder why that is. Is it because it is fun to watch him run? I would think his outfield misadventures would be wearing thin as well as constant bunting with men on base and being picked off. Am I off base?

Vegas News:
As others noted it looks like LaMura got sent up to Vegas and he picked up the win yesterday in his 1st Vegas game. Abreu is now playing 3b with La Roche in the majors. Eric noted he started doing this even before La Roche was promoted. I wouldn't get comfortable if I was La Roche. I think he'll have to produce over the next two weeks or whenever Marlon is due to come off the DL. Sounds like they will release Valdez and bring up Yhancy for the 12 man roster. Greg Miller has been awful lately. Kuo is pitching today and it is an early 12:00 day game.
Suns News:
Hu continues to swing a torrid bat and now has his average up to 371. A dark horse no one has mentioned is Matt Riley the ex-oriole fireballing prospect who blew out his arm several years ago. He always had talent but seemed to have mental hang-ups when he was a top prospect. He is now pitching in relief for the Suns and he picked his 2nd save of the year. He now has 29 K's in 18 innings so he might have gotten some of that arm strength back. I have no idea how hard he's throwing so it might be LH guile or maybe things are clicking for him again. Might be a LHP we could use for trade bait or later in the year in Sept. Nate already mentioned this but Megrew threw a gem on Saturday night. He has been inconsistent but he's had several gems so far this year. Still no info on Elbert and when he'll pitch again. Orenduff gets the start tonight.
Inland Empire:
Leach is making a nice transition to relief as he picked up his 4th save to go along with 0.48 ERA. Nice K rate but he needs to work on his command. Hoffman continues to rake and has an 963 OPS. Lucas May seems to have cooled off after his incredible start with only 1 HR in his last 10 games. Dewitt continues to struggle and Greg Brock may have been right all along. If he can't hit in the California League pretty good bet he can't hit.
Loons:
Hopefully Carlos Santana is starting to get untracked with his 1st 2 hit game of the year. Felix had another strong start and after 29 innings has walked only 7 with 33 k's and sports a 0.98 ERA. He is already 23 but this is his 1st full professional season in the United States. Since he's from Mexico he may have been pitching in the Mexican league so I'll check on that.

How much memory can a 64 bit processor adress directly?

More than any available motherboard can hold. The theoretical limitations depend on which 64 bit chip you're using.

562
Fans who go to the games sound quite unhappy with his defense and most would be happy if Kemp was given a shot. I think the media is shocked he has been this bad defensively and they are starting to make some noise about it. Stiener was even mentioning how underperforming his OBP has been compared to his historical level so I think the tide is starting to go against him which probably just means he's due for a hot streak to keep the wolves at bay.

[557] shouldn't we bump him up to AAA first?

[558] i'm on eastern time too, at least for a couple more months. there are a few of us out there.

560 In theory 64-bit microprocessors can address up to 2^64 bytes (~17,179,869,184 gibibytes according to WikiPedia). However due to obvious limitations most PC-based 64-bit microprocessors are artificially restricted to sizes ~ 16 Gb or less.

I bounce back and forth between Eastern and China Standard with 2 or 3 trips to LA each year. I almost always manage to time my LA trips to see a Dodger game.

Riley is walking a lot of batters, 6.75/BB9. Tiny little sample, so, there's that. With Hendrickson in the rotation, Beimel is the only lefty out of the bullpen. Is that often thought to be a problem?

I just hope Joe Mays isn't the call up.

If Hu really can hit the Dodger middle infielders of Hu and Abreu could be with us for a long time starting no later than 2009.

Offering Betemit to Atlanta would be timely after hitting 2 homeruns there and them being familiar with him. They need a left fielder and Chipper Jones has been used there before freeing up a spot for Betemit at third, or Betemit could learn to play left field.

464 - Apparently I don't share your enthusiasm for tragedy. Fair enough.

546 - I'm just beginning to realize how much the secret desire to "be held back" figures into macho posturing, almost-fights.

Did anyone else hear that Clemens had been working out with Houston? If that is true, it must hurt to see him go to NY

566 And put him on the 40 man roster, too?
I love Meloan but it'll be Brazoban next getting The Call.

570 Well, there's always Kuo. (If they decide to have him relieve to start, or if he switches with Hendrickson, which probably wouldn't happen - yet.)

[570] we've still got tim hamulack stashed down in vegas too, if we really are desperate for a left-handed reliever.

571 Atlanta seems an unlikely destination for Betemit, if he were to be traded (imho). Now, Philadelphia is another story - Betemit can certainly improve upon Wes Helms, anyway.

(Desperate being the key word in 575)

Up: Brazoban, Kemp, Loney

Down: Billingsly, Valdez, Clark.

Play Ball, seriously.

572 I think the point Bob was making is that most parents of special needs children don't think of their situation as a tragedy.

578 Clark can't be sent down, Valdez, you're right, he's probably a goner, Billingsley could possibly be sent back down to work on starting but I'd still be surprised. I think it'll be Brazoban up, Valdez down. And then a trade or another move's gonna have to happen for anyone else - Kuo, Kemp, to come up.

570
Riley has always had control issues since he turned 20. At age 19 he was the Clayton Kershaw of his day and was pitching in the Major Leagues by the time he was 20. His age 19 A season is pretty much what we could expect Clayton to put up this year. He was pretty much unhittable. Things went downhill after that.

If the goal as Grady said was to have a 12 man pitching roster during this stretch of consecutive games the only name that makes sense is Valdez. They could bring up anyone from Yhancy to Hamulack to Kuo.

The Braves have to get a LF, they have Salty backing up McCann. The trade team that makes the most sense would be Tampa dealing either Baldelli or Crawford for Salty and something else. Navarro has been a bigger bust then Betemit and catching is really the only thing the Devil Rays don't have in numbers. Everyone assumes they need pitching but they probably have more pitching in the minors then anyone in baseball. Neiman and Sonnanstine are already in AAA and McGee and Wade Davis are ready to start moving up. Figure they get Price in the draft and they will not only have a scary young positional lineup but the rotation of Kazmir/Shields/Nieman/Price/McGee would be plenty scary as well. See what happens when your always crappy and you get to draft high and you also make the trade of the century.

The guy starting against us tonight, Ricky Nolasco, has only pitched twice this year at the ML level. He had 1 lousy relief appearance and one good start against the Mets (5 IP; 1 ER). He is from Rialto. Was 2 time All State selection.

I wonder how Penny will look to them tonight after Peavy last night.

Dodger Trivia:
In 1959 Roy Campanella Night drew 93,103 to the Coliseum to see an exhibition game with the Yankees.

In 1960 Norm Sherry hit a HR in the 11th that allowed his brother Larry to get the win over the Phillies.

Trade of the century? I assume you mean Zambrano for Kazmir? That was a steal, I'll admit.

I think the thinking now is to keep Betemitt as a pinch-hitter and infield relief, so maybe Martinez and Valdez are the ones to go. No point in keeping Anderson either. How about Tomko and Loney for Crawford? I would love to keep Loney but it is obvious that management sees Nomar as a permanent block to him. I'd rather send Tomkp and Pierre but that ain't going to happen...

New post up top.