This comes two years too late as I hid my wife's ring in a chalupa when I proposed. It would have been so much better if I could have done it at a ballgame!

Is Taco Bell saying that one $500 gift certificate equals a year of food from Taco Bell?

Its like the time Kramer got a lifetime of free Cafe Lattes and he got all hyped up on the caffeine.

Does anyone else remember the Taco Bell Burger?

Two things:

Got my shirts, I'm happy.

Unfortunately, especially since it was pointed out by an attractive member of the opposite sex, I've been informed that David Herman is a dead ringer for myself.

The most sure-fire way to make the most magical moment of a woman's life even MORE special is to have it sponsored by Taco Bell.

I wore one of my shirts to bed! That way I know I will have pleasant dreams.

Dodger Thoughts: Soothing the subconscious since 2001.

Or whenever it started.

Oops; third thing: I'm happy to provide graphic production services. :-)

4 I prefer going to a restaurant where Bruce Cambpell is the Maître d'. (think Bubba Ho-Tep)

ouch:
http://www.wsoctv.com/mlb/13222064/detail.html

That's one of the lamest promotions I've seen. Getting engaged with the help of Taco Bell at a ball game is like having a Pizza Hut delivery driver tell you that you tested positive for an STD. It just doesn't make sense (to me anyway), but I'm sure people lacking any creative thought(sheep) will eat it up like a Mexican pizza..........

I like that "signage" is a real word.

7 Ouch is right! I hope that got by some sleepy editor, but perhaps I am being naive.

how is this the "first time ever?" Technically, isn't everyone free to purchase the ad space? I also find it very dubious that any little girl grows up dreaming of her engagement being sponsored by the all- new 7-Layer Crunchwrap (R in a circle).

8. Oh, you just have no sense of romance and fun. I can think of no partner in a proposal that would be more appropriate than Taco Bell and the Seven Layer Crunchwrap. Oh, if I only wasn't married already, perhaps I'll get a divorce just to meet a new girl and enter the contest.

12. . . . sort of a Drew Barrymore type?

12 now that I think about it, a lady whose heart is set a flutter by Taco Bell would obviously have low expectations in a parter, and low expectations is the first thing I look for in a woman.

I might have missed this (as unfortunately I've missed much lately), but are Furcal and Penny like best buddies on the team or something? Maybe the camera just coincidentally catches them together alot cutting up.

2 I believe you refer to the Bell Beefer.

I wore my shirt to bed too.

14
now that I think about it, a lady whose heart is set a flutter by Taco Bell would......

probably weigh A LOT! I hope you like big girls with low expectations.

12. I don't think it says that you can't be married as that may be discriminatory. However, it is obviously set up to cater to those that aren't married yet.

I think I'd like to sign up, just to get the free food. My wife might not appreciate her name showing up for millions to see, however.

18 Much like the federal income tax code, Taco Bell is allowed to discriminate against married people.

9 - I got into a discussion with people at work about the existence of that word. They organize confrences and they kept saying: "What about the signage?" "Is there a enough signage?" I asked if it was even a real word, and they said it was, something like "wordage." Which to me is like saying "Superman is real, just like Batman." But, hey whatever floats their boat.

Any wedding proposal not done in private is dodger nacho cheesy and shouldn't be taken seriously. Would be great if a gay couple in a state that does not allow gay marriage won the right to propose.

21 - Someone should organize a lot of gay couples into an attempt to do just this thing.

20 - The American Heritage Dictionary Considers it a word, for what that is worth.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/signage

23 - Yeah, it is a real word. I looked it up. Still, sounds fake and when a person uses it they sound ridiculous.

24 - I agree. Speaking of agreement, apparently "agreeance" is also found in the dictionary. Something I would not have believed unless I had seen it with my own eyes. I hate fake words.

Additionally, John Stewart used the word "irregardless" the other day in an interview on the Daily Show. I lost a lot of respect for him after that.

24 I work in marketing, and before that, politics. "Signage" is a word used a lot in both fields.

21 & 22
Just so you notice, those are close to (if not actually) violating rule 5. Or maybe you don't care. Or maybe it doesn't matter because no one else cares; and we all think that everyone else shares our viewpoint.

And I didn't mean that as an attack, or a disagreement. I just notice from time to time the implication that everyone reading agrees with a viewpoint whether it's Pierre or politics. Or the old 'objectification of women' thing (guilty). Which is OK, because part of the coolness of this place is feeling like you're among friends and that people get what you're saying. But sometimes it is the off-the-cuff remarks that bring me up short.

And for all I know I am the worst; but I strive not to be. I do have a sort of reverence for this Blog as much as Dodger Stadium... and we all might have differing ideas on what lowers the standard of conversation.

"Signage" is a word. The one I'm concerned with is "utilize." Yeah, of course I know it's a word, but it's a dumb, pointless word. Just say "use." The extra syllables don't make one sound smarter.

Good point, Sush.

29 It's funny, I was just thinking of posting something about the corporate-speak habit of conflating "utilize" and "use". I agree with everything you said.

29 - I like to say (in jest of course) "utilitized." That said, interesting note from dictionary.com:

Usage Note: A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences of utilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But utilize can mean "to find a profitable or practical use for." Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.

28 - I am sorry, though there is a line somewhere where it isn't a question of politics and more one of morality. Gay rights aren't a political issue for me, it is a moral imperative, and the idea of someone being offended by a gay friendly discussion is straight up offensive. I apologize however, because this is not the place for such a discusion.

I received my handsome DT T-shirt yesterday as well. And a wave of dread came over me.

I realized that I've owned 4 other Dodger t-shirts over the past 10 yrs or so: Piazza 31, Mondesi 43, Nomo (sanshin), and Team Depo. And each of the aforementioned was summarily dismissed from Dodger service (for Nomo it was the first time) very soon after I suited up. It's bad enough that I've considered buying a Pierre shirt just to test the theory.

Now, I'm nervous that Jon will pack up shop and start D-Ray Thoughts just because I have cursed this place. Someone talk me down from the ledge, because it's cool shirt and I want to wear it without a feeling of doom.

32. Harumph. I'm not buying it. Go with "make use of" or "find a use for" in that case.

But I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one tilting at this particular windmill.

21 and 22 were off-the-cuff humorous comments. I don't think any reasonable person could find them offensive. Maybe they skirt the Rule 5 line a little bit, but I don't think post 28 was warranted at all.

(Quietly agreeing with Toy and Ben)
---
I was bored so I read through the in-game comments on that Cardinals' blog. Pretty amusing. Especially to see them talk about Vin Scully. At least there were no more wacked-out trade proposals with the Dodgers.

An In-N-Out proposal on the other hand would be acceptable.

25. The language is always changing, and personally, I have no problem with "fake" words. This isn't Spanish or French where we have an institute handing out edicts about what are the words, (or in Spanish what are the actual letters of the alphabet). English is an organic language with some basic rules and we all work from that. At what point exactly was English perfected and no new words were allowed?

33. - Insofar as the term "politics" refers to the activity of the "polis" in a way similar to the relationship between the terms "athletics" and "athlete," one could argue that political and moral issues are necessarily connected. Abortion, gay-rights, gun-control, global-warming, socialized health care, and tobacco are all issues that are both moral and political and should all be avoided at all costs.

That said, fart jokes are totally appropriate.

34, nah, this years team was like 7-0 when I was watching and wearing dodger regalia. Then they lost and I realized it was OK to wear my Jerry Falwell Rocks shirt again.

(that's joking, Benaiah, joking-- although you might note the similarity in positions taken; in fact "moral imperative" might even be word for word)

There was a note on Dodgers.com about the Angels series vs. all righties, and who will play DH - mostly Saenz - and possibly Betemit, the only LH hitter on the bench. I was thinking, wouldn't it make sense to have Gonzo DH one game and have Clark play out there for him, but then I realized Clark is a righty, too, so that wouldn't add an extra lefty to the line-up. Sure would make sense defensively though.

An In-N-Out proposal seems so much more acceptable.

35. So want to people to not use "utilize" because it is a useless use of extra syllables, but you do want them to use phrases that have even more unnecessary syllables because?

39
At what point exactly was English perfected and no new words were allowed?

I think English was perfected when "bootylicious" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. No new words were needed after that.

34 You are not cursed. All good things come to an end.

28 I think the comments you referred to are legitimate here because they referred to a baseball topic (not to mention that they actually discussed the content of Jon's original post!).

21 22
Cheesy is cheesy. These posts try to say otherwise.

39. Absolutely. French and Spanish themselves would not exist without the uneducated misusing Latin. The language of the masses always wins, no matter how stridently the educated odject.

40, 41 - I am far enough left of center that I don't want the government interfering in my social issues at all, but obviously that is a political position. For me, gay rights are like race rights, which overrides politics and transcends into another realm altogether. Still, in our current climate, clearly this is a rule 5 issue and I will put it to bed.

If this turned into Jerry Falwell Thoughts then I would have to blank out all of my rule 1 violations.

48 - I like that I misspelled "object."

49 Heh. For me, JFThoughts would cause me to violate rules #1, 5, 7 and possibly 11.

Speaking of which... off to work! Have a nice "off day," Dodger fans.

48 - My favorite example of this is the word "nauseous" which is defined as: "Causing nausea; sickening" but it commonly used as "Affected with nausea." This usage is so prevalent that it is now the standard.

Note: The Random House Unabridged Dictionary says that both usages are correct, and historically have always been correct, but the American Heritage Dictionary disagrees.

Perhaps its naive to think so, but politics and morality aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

52 - What word ought one to use for "Affected with nausea?"

53. I would argue that they are never mutually exclusive.

54 pukefaced

54 - That's sick

s choir--I like yours best

56,57 - Thank you.

'Taco Bell is the "Official Quick Service Restaurant of Major League Baseball."' What a claim to fame...

55 - Political morality = Do as I say, not as I do.

How can we have a language/grammar discussion without Bob? That just seems wrong, and perhaps violates rule #19-3/4.
vr, Xei

58 - Interesting note on "nausea": It is etymologically related to the word "nautical," as it originally refered to "seasickness." From whence the word "pukeface?" One can only wonder...

As a librarian, "signage" is a word I deal with a lot. It's a perfectly cromulent word.

There is a quote I heard in college that I always liked, 'In polite company one never speaks of sex, politics, or religion, but in intelligent company one speaks only of sex, politics, and religion.' It was attributed to G.B. Shaw, but I've never been able to prove that or find out who did say it.

Anyway this is clearly intelligent company, but it is also polite company. It makes the line between impolite and witty a bit harder to define. Juice Blog has a bit to say about that. Personally, in this company, I'd prefer to focus on the wit and less on the manners.

60 - It was that or the Official E.Coli Source of Major League Baseball.

55- That's a bridge too far, for me. What about venality and the will to power? And spite! Can't forget spite. They're never exempt from moral judgment, but not all politics is motivated by morality.

62 - I agree and when Bob arrives lets include these words along with the use/utilize words:

were/was.....
than/then.....

Try to convince a layman that flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

If you are nauseous, you make others sick.

If you are nauseated, something has made you sick.

So there.

And in the Dodger Thoughts movie, I want to be played by Billy Crystal. I don't know why.

If I were king of the world, then no would ever confuse "was/were" and "then/than."

In the who'd a thunk it dept......the Dodgers 25 wins is tied for the league lead.
Looking back on the sad state of affairs following the 2005 fiasco .... you can't help but grin.
In other news....Tomko is getting skipped over....resulting in a 8 man pen. Is that necessary?

65 So the corollary is, if in intelligent and polite company, one should not speak of anything at all.

37 - Were Cardinals fans making derogatory comments about Vin?

This from the organization that trots out Mike Shannon and Al Hrabosky as beloved and iconic broadcasters?

(Speaking of Shannon, last night he did a pre-game interview with Don Newcombe. It was really interesting, especially when Shannon spent several minutes trying to think of the name of "that Colorado pitcher... the lefty... Mike something-or-other..." and then Newcombe said "Mike Hampton?" Hilarious.)

71 ... but I am king of the world.

The world of Mike Shannon:

http://stlbaseball.johnsebben.com/index.php?page=18

Of those, "than/then" is the most perplexing. It's not a grammar issue, or a synonym issue. The two words have nothing to do with one another. I have no idea how people get these confused, but some do.

And the answer to the question "when did English stop changing" is obvious: when I finished high school. However, I'm willing to grant an exception for bootylicious. That's just too creative to ignore. There's no synonym, so clearly, it was a word we needed to make the language complete.

-Grumpy Old Man

Jack Cust has 7 home runs in 35 Abs thus far.

The word "signage" is used a lot in landscape architecture.

I wonder if DePodesta influenced the Cust deal. Don't mess with horse....you're bound to get kicked.

65 - Well that or pretend that you aren't thinking about sex. Or politics. Or religion. But mainly sex. I concur with weatherman's statement that fart jokes do remain the gold standard of humor in both categories.

76- How could they tell, over the radio, that Shannon misspells Santa Claus?

My favorite: "If you're writing a thesis or something, you could finish it in a week or so if you were catching this guy."

To continue the bashing of the Cardinals' broadcasters, one of the nobodies in last night's pregame coverage, after telling us that JD Drew was the answer to that night's trivia question, followed up with:

"You've gotta miss J.D. Drew. (Pause) Not really."

You stay classy, St. Louis.

80 - By trading him away to his buddy for next to nothing? I'm not following...

83 - Philly fans missed JD. They vowed next time to have better aim.

If I'm reading it right, I believe he's implying that the failure to see Cust breaking out like a monster is an indictment of DePo's knack for player evaluation.

Jack Cust is Chris Shelton 2007 ed.

Wouldn't that make every G.M. in baseball, including Billy Beane who released Cust in 2005, a complete idiot for not seeing his potential?

86 - But Cust is a player only Depo (and his laptop brethren) could love...

Again, I'm not following.

Terry, no, for the most part they were much happier listening to Vin vs. the Cardinals' buffoonish announcers, except for one guy - but most of them were surprised at how much knowledge Vin has seemingly out of thin air. And how he can be his own color man. Mostly they were just amused by the change, and to hear a real old school guy. But no for the most part they weren't derogatory as much as stunned.

I'm still trying to figure out "If you're writing a thesis or something, you could finish it in a week or so if you were catching this guy." -- do I need to knock back several scotches before I can translate?

This is Dodger forums .... so I need to keep it the Dodgers......but DePodesta was a bust for us. Thank God for the present ..the here...the now....and the follies of 2 years ago are gone......4ever. He's the Padres baggage. Let them trade for their Kouzmanoffs ... sign their Cruz's ... and start their Wells'. We'll just sit back ... chuckle ... and enjoy 1st place.

Back from lunch.

67 - I was trying to point out that political and moral issues are both concerned with human activity in such a way that it is difficult to distiguish between the two.

73 - This we have already covered: fart jokes.

When will the criticism of Colletti begin for not only failing to keep the following players, but for getting nothing (nothing!) in return for them and signing Juan Pierre partly in their stead?

Jose Cruz Jr.: .295/.364/.514/.879 (including .346/.417/.596/1.013 on the road)

Cody Ross: .302/.383/.642/1.025

Cust has bounced around everywhere.

2001- Dbax AAA
2002- Rockies AAA
2003- Orioles AAA
2004- Orioles AAA
2005- Athletics AAA
2006- Padres AAA
2007- Athletics

Cust's 2006 AAA season was pretty incredible though.
30HRs, 143bbs 124ks
.293/.467/.549

Is anyone here vexed by the generally accepted pronounciation of Betemit as BET-te-meet, which is half-way English and half-way Spanish?

The correct way to say it is Bet-te-MEET with the accent on the last syllable. Right? Spanish speakers?

bluetahoe to grey

There, that's better.

92--Is the quack quack guy.

Everyone ignore.
Until it's inevitably banned again.

98 I don't think it's the same guy.

I think Vinny is at his best the 1st game of every series. By the 3rd game I'm tired of the same stories but at least I know what is always going on in the game. I still think he's wasted on TV and should be doing 6 innings of radio with Langer doing the other 3. No color man. I don't need the insipid insight of Monday/Ruess/Downing/Karros. I would get more done instead of watching TV and I'd enjoy the game more. A double win. I guess I just need a radio that broadcasts the TV audio.

I'm new to these forums. Posted for the first time yesterday.... I thought this was a forum for Dodger fans..... my bad...i'll be going now.... :::confused::: ...

94 I don't feel bad at all about Jose Cruz, Jr. He's so erratic - he gives some good at bats but over the course of a year. Certainly he'd be cheaper than Pierre, but separate from that I don't think getting rid of Cruz was a big deal nor do I think he could have gotten much for him. Cody Ross: I felt a little bad that we got rid of him then, but it was sort of like Wilson Valdez - do you think he'll keep it up, and is he worth holding up a roster spot for. I do wish we'd gotten more for him but he hadn't exactly done much in the majors before then to warrant a hefty price tag. I wouldn't mind his power coming off the bench, though. But I'd rather that roster spot eventually (soon) go to Kemp.

101 No need to skulk off. We welcome you with open paws. I think it's just the subject of DePodesta is a dead horse around here, beaten to a pulp and turned into glue. But stick around.

I just calculated that Juan Pierre is on pace to set the major league record for outs.

94
Not from here. I have zero interest in having Ross or Cruz playing CF even as much as I dislike JP. Now if were talking Shane Victorino then I'd pipe up because Shane can play CF, has an arm like Repko, can run like Pierre, is gracefull like A Jones, can steal bases like Furcal, and has just enough power to keep the outfield honest. As a corner outfielder he's miscast, as a CF I'll take him.

102 105 I think that was in response to the logic that it's DePodesta/Towers' fault that they traded Cust.

102 - Absolutely. What is the greater sin: holding on to a player who ends up playing poorly or getting rid of a player who ends up being productive? We have gotten rid of more deadwood than we have acquired over the last couple of seasons (he claims, having little evidence to offer in support).

103 Mmmmm... Depo Glue. I hear it's good for sealing up your laptop so that the chaw-chewing scouts don't spit their juice on your motherboard.

Cust can't play in the NL so it seems to be a moot point. I think they took his glove away several years ago. Depo was just doing him a favor getting him some ab's so he could have one last chance and it has worked out great for both Cust and the A's.

107 I believe an article in this years BP annual calculated that his moves resulted in no change one way or the other. He pretty much gave up exactly what he got back. I'd have to have it with me to tell you the exact numbers.

I'm very impressed with our long the Padre's hung in with the slumping Kuoz. It looks like it might start paying off.

111 Ditto KC and Gordon. Of course, the Padres have something to lose (playoff aspirations), while the Royals don't.

111- Especially with Branyan on the roster. I don't know if I'd have had the courage to do it. But I'm glad they have. For more than one reason.

111 - I'm feeling good about my faith in Wilson B.

Geez I come back from lunch and everyone is talking about baseball, lame.

I have a 9 hour drive on Saturday and my I-Pod is broken, does anyone have any ideas of how to pass the time?

Yes, yes, let's talk about grammar. If you were my students, you would all have lost serious points for several important and maddening errors.

1) The case of "whomever", like that of "whom" is governed by the case for its use in the relative clause. Thus, "I will be happy to see whomever plays CF, as long as it's not Juan Pierre." Is very wrong and nauseous. However, "He is spectacular, whomever Grady Little puts in CF, so long as it's not Juan Pierre." is perfectly acceptable.

2) "Its" is a possessive pronoune like "whose" and "my, mine". "It's" is a contraction for "it is", and has no place in an academic paper-- but goes well on this blog.

3) And where did you people learn that "-'s" is the way to pluralize a noun? "David Wells'" is not the plural for "David Wells". Rather, you would be forced, if you decided for some reason to use such a construction, to say "Davids Wells". How on earth someone came to the conclusion that the plural for "Cruz" is "Cruz'", I have no idea.

You might criticize me for my putting punctuation outside of quotations marks, but I will defend that to the death with reasoned arguments and appeals to sentiment.

115- Peyote.

What? You did ask for good ideas. . .

114 - That one definitely paid off. His ISO numbers are off the charts (.222 ISOpower, .128 ISOpatience). If his batting average was even .240 then he would be over .800 OPS.

I don't feel bad at all about Jose Cruz, Jr. He's so erratic - he gives some good at bats but over the course of a year. Certainly he'd be cheaper than Pierre

Cruz is not only cheaper than Pierre: he's also better.

110 - Thanks for pointing me towards that. I will check it out. I wonder, did their calculations take into consideration the increase in chemistry?

116 Says the guy who doesn't even use a period when abbreviating "junior." (Note punctuation placement.)

Also, can it be coincidence that 115 was immediately followed by 116?

"I have a 9 hour drive on Saturday ... does anyone have any ideas of how to pass the time?"
"Yes, yes, let's talk about grammar."

Fun times.

116 - Who pluralizes David Wells? He is big, but there isn't two of him. His last name ends in an "s".

Woo Hoo! T-shirts have arrived, white long sleeved and blue short sleeve versions.

Not sure when they will make an appearance at Dodger Stadium?

Anyone planning to go to the Golden State Fwy Series and wear their new shirts?

116- I'm responsible for violation number two. I knew it the second after I submitted, but I also know how tiresome it gets for half the posts here to be apologies for grammatical boners.

And, I dismiss your entire post since you haven't taken on ellipses abuse. Coward.

122, 92 pluralizes "Wells" and "Cruz".

104 I have him on pace for "only" 557 outs, which would be second all-time. Are my calculations off?

141 outs / 41 games = 557 outs / 162 games

New post at Screen Jam.

114 So what does Grady do about 3B?

125 - Wow, that is shocking

124 - I occasionally improperly use an ellipse to signify that I trailed off, rather than omitted something. However, a few posters recently have used them as the sole form of punctuation, which seems excessive.

When I worked in the call center raising money for SUNY Buffalo, we used to play games as an incentive for success. We would play in teams based on the rows we sat in. Once a teammate suggested that we call our team the "Al Gores". I was, of course, infuriated by this, and suggested that we call ourselves rather the "Als Gore", which lasted for some time, until I came up with "The Desmonds Tutu", which I thought was by far the better name.

125 Ah.. 92 should be "Sign their Cruzes... Sign their Wellses".

Is that right?

129 124 - I occasionally improperly use an ellipse to signify that I trailed off, rather than omitted something. However, a few posters recently have used them as the sole form of punctuation, which seems excessive.

Some people have trains of thought that

116 Makes some good points but then misspells "pronoun" so, nyah! The "their/they're" mistake always drives me batty, as a copy editor, as does people who say "that" when they mean "who" (referring to a person). I always helpfully suggest the Schoolhouse Rocks DVDs to those people just for fun.

How about pronunciation? How would one pronounce the possessive form of the plural of Cruz? (Example: "I'm going to the Cruzes' house this weekend.")

Is that Cruz-ez-iz? And if so, isn't that a mouthful?

128 "So what does Grady do about 3B?"

Platoon, baby, platoon.

I asked my girlfriend about the Taco Bell contest and now she wants me to enter. So at least one girl thinks this is a good idea. She isn't really representative of the female population as a whole though since she watches baseball every night.

131 I suppose so. As I suggested, I would prefer "...sign their Joses Cruz and their Davids Wells." I always treat last names like adjectives, so that they don't really have a plural form in English. Ancient Romans treated there names like adjectives "gens Cornelia" was the "clan of the Cornelii". The form "Cornelia" is feminine because the noun "gens" is feminine. The Athenians, like many others, used a patronymic, and later identified themselves (at least officially) by their "deme", so that they used an elaborate phrase for their name "Sokrates tou Sohproniskou", that is "Sokrates, son of Sophoniskos." Since we don't use a construction like that, I just function under the assumption that our last names are adjectives.

133 bene dictum! You win this battle, underdog.

Betemit is the better player ... right now ... despite that fact ... Grady will start LaRoche 60-65 percent of the time ... and that's the right call. Betemit's bench presence calls for it. LaRoche has inspired Betemit to play better ... that's a stat that can't be measured.

My biggest pet peeve is hearing people use "supposably" instead of "I'm a moron."

138 {cue diabolical laughter} And I meant to add a ;-) to 133 but figured it wasn't necessary.

Isn't it weird, btw, that "misspell" is one of the more frequently misspelled words? (According to some web study I saw.)

139 I think the commenters on this blog came up with a similar stat to measure the impact of Lofton's lighting of fires under JD Drew, so that I think we can come up with something. C'mon, D4P, a PhD in whatever mathematical field you're in has to be good for something.

134 - What's wrong with "Crooz-iz"?

136- It's possible she just wants you to propose, and thinks of the Taco Bell contest as an acceptable means to that end.

133- I'm with you. There's also this: "[A] consumer will be able to ... tailor a specific wedding proposal to their significant other."

A stat that can't be measured is mis-named.

136 - Yeah, that sounds like a trap. Run.

135 Well, I just did some perusing of the upcoming schedule, after this weekend with the mostly righthanded Angels, they face two righthanders (Suppan and Sheets) and then in their next 11 games, one with the Brewers, 3 game sets with the Cubs and Nationals and then a four game Friday-Monday series in Pittsburgh, the Dodgers are projected to see 5 lefties in those 11 games.

So it is certainly possible that there will be some split time at third base but perhaps we will see a call down to bring up a certain righthanded outfielder if the Dodgers decide they don't need 12 pitchers?

143 "Crooz-iz" would be the pronunciation of the plural (Cruzes) and the possessive (Cruz's). But add another syllable -- Cruzes' -- and don't you have to change the pronunciation?

C'mon, D4P, a PhD in whatever mathematical field you're in has to be good for something

I'm not in a mathematical field. I have, however, had to become proficient with "quantitative research methods", which includes a lot of stats.

139 - Whenever I see that many ellipses I read it in elongated pauses with a echo.

I-i-i... consider-er-er... myself-elf-elf... the luckiest-st-st... man-an-an... alive-ve-ve.

116 - As for punctuation out side of quotation marks, what is your defense? Personally, the only thing I feel compelled to put outside of my quotation marks is the colon. Remarks?

137 That's an interesting take on it, but treating surnames as adjectives seems to break a lot of common usage. Complete the following sentence by using your prefered form of the word described by the phrase in parentheses:

All (people named Smith) ____ are English.
All (people named Cruz) ____ are Spanish.

133 I think we have elaborated the use of the noun-phrase in english so much that it's impossible to get it right. I prefer "who" in those cases, because one cannot decline "that". Of course, deciding whether "that" like any neuter noun or pronoun has been a matter of context for all Indo-European speakers for all time, so I should just get off of everyone's case.

141 We should stop this. I think people are reading these comments and typing and editing and re-typing and checking their comments and eventually deciding not to post. But, yes, that is a strange one. Spelling is the one aspect of grammar that I don't often penalize my students for. I will mark off for the frequent misspelling of Roman names, but less often for Greek names.

140 - That's funny.

(wait, what about all those people here that use "supposably", are you aware that they don't agree with you? Is that politically motivated or what? Maybe you need to try and be a little more sensitive man!) (<-- me making fun of myself)

LaRoche is too young to be this year's Robin Ventura Memorial Fire-Lighter, though. Platoon for now, but I wonder if eventually they have other plans for one of them - Betemit spelling Kent is one use, of course.

149- There's a local City Manager who is (it's been rumored) being pushed out of his job for having an affair with a young City Hall employee, not his wife. Is there a class for that? Also, is there a class for picking which bribes to take?

152 I think you completed your own sentences admirably. "Named Cruz" is like "called yellow". It's an adjective as far as I can tell.

Only previous instance of supposably on DT:

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/288389.html

I think we're in the clear on that one.

157 I want one word, not three.

155 - I don't like the platoon because it's too protective of LaRoche. He needs to face right-handers to continue to grow as a hitter.

137 - gpellmjr, are you a Classicist? If so, "Salve" and "Xaire" to you, sir.

154 Ok, I'll add "not that there's anything wrong with that" to my original statement.

157 If I use my phrases, it is "people" that is the noun and subject of the sentence. In those cases the name is an adjective. What I'm looking for is a word that is the subject in and of itself.

155- And Furcal. He could spell Nomar, too, if Grittle remains as hesitant as he seems to let Saenz start.

There's a local City Manager who is (it's been rumored) being pushed out of his job for having an affair with a young City Hall employee, not his wife. Is there a class for that? Also, is there a class for picking which bribes to take?

If so, they'd be in a public administration or public policy kind of program, not so much city planning. But I suspect figuring out whom to have affairs with and accept bribes from comes naturally to the type of person who would have affairs and/or accept bribes.

149 So what field are you in?

151 I think of quotation marks as marking off a word or a series of words as a noun, when it wouldn't otherwise be thought of as such. For instance, I will say something like "'Blue' is a word with a color as a referent, unlike 'Jose', whose reference is a person." I will put the punctuation within the quotes, if I am quoting a sentence, which requires punctuation, but not, as is the case with 'blue' and 'Jose', if the quotation marks are being used to set off the word as a noun, or signifying my use of it as a noun.

166 See 165

144 No, she isn't shy about these things. If she didn't think this was funny she would have said so.

161 Immo vero! Resalve bene (ut dicam), quid agis? quo linguas Latinam Graecamque novisti?

163 Indeed, but I don't know that there is one.

166 - I like it.

168 - She isn't shy about saying you should propose? That is forward to an extreme, and you should probably decide either way ASAP (if she likes baseball then she sounds like a keeper, but I guess there might be one or two other considerations).

Are you guys doing this so I never post again? I have no fear of anything baseball related but grammar and I parted company when I was 10 and whenever she tries to get back into my good graces I pummell her senses with cries of agony until she saunters away into the shadows, lurking for her next opportunity to destroy my self esteem.

Condition Red -- Felipe Lopez has a single, double, and triple, in that order, but needs either a few baserunners in the bottom of the eighth or the braves to tie the game up so he sees the bottom of the ninth to get another AB.

174 - I think that is green, not red. From what I understand the colors get more dangerous the easier the remaining hit is.

174- That's only condition yellow. Alarm inflationist.

Yellow = missing the HR or the triple.
Orange = missing the double.
Red = missing the single.

177 - So there isn't a green? Or are we at green all the time unless we are at another color?

Isn't it bad luck to discuss a potential hitting for the cycle that is in progress?

Aaaah -- I thought it was number of pieces (2 left = yellow, 1 left = red).

But I was wrong I see.

And now he comes to the plate . . .

(only took one baserunner in the 8th so I was wrong on that too)

178- It's Bob's system, I only know the basic rules.

Guzman nearly cost Lopez his shot. That would have been interesting.

170 I can say, "Smith is English," just as I can say "A person is English." Both person and Smith are nouns, and both may be made plural:

"Look at all the Smiths."
"Look at all the people."

Why can that form of Smith (and whatever its Cruz analogue) not be used as a subject of a sentence?

Lopez walks. Cycle alert canceled. Stand down!

Is Cordero back? If not, who's the Nat's closer in his absence?

Gigantor. Not sure he's available though.

Cordero is back but hasn't closed yet and Acta said he would work him back in over a few games.

Sum bene. Lingua Graeca difficilis mihi est. Duobus annis Grammaticus linguae Latinae eram sed nunc pro jurisconsulti laboro. sic mea sollertia minuit (can I use minuere as an intransitive verb?).

186 - that was inresponse to 169

It is Rauch -- v A Jones.

182 That's a tough one. I would classify those as substantive adjectives. But when we use adjectives substantively, we are able to pluralize them. But I certainly never said that they can't be used as subjects of a sentence, did I?

189 - There is a sense in which one could use Smith in a synecdochic manner, right? One "Smith" could be used in reference to all named "Smith." We could avoid the issue all together!

186 Lingua Graeca est difficilis discere, sed non legere. 'Minuere' utari ut intransitivum verbum potest. bonum videre te amantem Romana.

191 - Ago gratias tibi. Lingua Graeca est etiam plus difficilis in machinam scriptoriam exarare.

That's Latin, darlin'. It appears Mr. Ringo is an educated man.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/quiz?event_id=2930

Kinda fun if you have a few min to kill.

Anyone get half?

194 - I failed miserably.

It's all in good fun until someone starts speaking French.

189 Those are nouns, not substantive adjectives. These are substantive adjectives:

Look for the brave [Scots].
Look for the wise [DePodestas].
Look for the scraptastic [Pierres].
Look for the strong [smiths, in an iron-working sense].
Look at the bored [Dodgerthinkers].
Look for the fresh [ideas].

Substantive adjectives are adjectives imbued with sustance of a noun. They replace it in the sentence. The bracketed words, are, in this case, the noun donors of this substance. If they were included in the sentence, the nouns would not cease to be nouns.

A nice string of substantive adjectives. In this case the replaced word is "people":

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11

196 - I got 9 right, which doesn't seem that bad.

197 - Most English names are Germanic, thus can and should be used as nouns. Schmidt and Backer have become Smith and Baker, for instance. Latino and Hispanic names are perhaps a different story as they have Romantic, thus Latin, roots. That said, for the sake of consistency, I think one can and should refer to "Al Gores" when referencing a particular Al Gore and "Als Gore" when discussing multiple Gores named Al.

198 - Yeah, but see you've used the King James Version. The members of this blog are not going to be satisfied until you've posted that in the original Hebrew and offer an annotated translation.

200 - What about a bunch of people named Cruz? Should we just rename him Cross, refer to a bunch of them as Crosses and move along? Are you asking me to know the etymology of a name before I pluralize it? That's madness! Madness, I say!! We have rules for nouns and if all these borrowed names are going to come into this language, then doggumit they need to follow the rules all the native names follow.

201 We're talking about English. C--i help me if I start arguing about Hebrew.

203 Or worse... In Hebrew.

I got 12 right, but it was a guessing game.

In a bit of related entertainment news, there has been a confirmed addition to the cast of "Dodger Thoughts: The Movie".

The role of gpellamjr will be played by Strunk and White.

I agree with gpellamjr when it comes to punctuation and its relationship to quotation marks. On everything else gpellamjr is on his or her own.

202 - Like I said, the Latino and Hispanic names are going to be a problem. Think about the bizarre rules we have for pluralization. Duck-ducks, deer-deer, datum-data, alumnus-alumni, sarcophagos-sarcaphagoi--I could go on and on. That is why English is such a silly language. It does, however, makes discussions like this a lot of fun.

I got 9 right. I felt very good about the first half, and felt like I was just guessing on the second half. All 9 of my correct answers came in the second half.

And yet no one rang the catcher's interference alarm!

207 Well, good, because that's the only one I care about, anyway!

204 - Much like Greek, Hebrew would be difficult to type. I do not even think I know how to go from right to left in this box, yet alone make the characters.

You know Yankee land is in a bit of turnmoil when their broadcasters are already tracking how many games in the loss column they are behind the Red Sox and they start talking about the Wild Card.

Its May 17th.

I got 12. I am most proud of getting "cat-like in the outfield" correct.

213 - I think it is a perfect time to offer them Lowe and Betemit for A-Rod, as long as they agree to pay A-Rod's salary.

Some how I got 14, but I got lucky I think and any that sounded nagative (character) I picked Bonds or Manny.
The pitchers were the easy part, only 2.

214 I was amused by that one. I wonder if the scout meant that he appeared to move around in the outfield well, or that he behaved like a cat in the outfield.

206 WHAT?? He's the one that wants me to say "people named Smith" instead of "Smiths". That's antithetical to Strunk and White.

I dont think the D's outfield would be described as "cat-like"

217 Notes from the scouts pad:
"... chased laser pointer in circles... Caught bird. Dismembered bird. Took said bird to manager between innings... Threw up hairball after 7th inning stch..."

220 - I was thinking of Will Ferrel's cat impression, where he bats the little ball around with his "paws".

218 It's just gimmick casting. :)

So anyone want to share an opinion on who should DH tomorrow?

Here's my lineup:

Furcal ss
Nomar 1b
Martin c
Kent 2b
LaRoche dh
Ethier rf
Betemit 3b
Gonzo lf
Pierre cf

220 "Caught bird. Dismembered bird."

Guess I should have answered Randy Johnson then.

208 Eh... that's tricky. I'm going to plow ahead pluralizing names as I go.

It's Joneses, Ibarras, Kuos, Guos, Littles, Surettes, McMurdos to me.

1 extra base hit in 36 carees PAs= 5th?

Ill take Olmedo or Gonzo there.

226 There's a RHP on the mound. It might be better to save Olmedo for a tight spot later against a LOOGY.

I got 12 right.

White Sox win, theeeeeeeeee White Sox win.

Okay, John Sterling did not really say it that way.

227 The Angels have only one lefty in their 'pen (Darren Oliver), and he has an ERA approaching 8. You know Scioscia will take him out if Saenz pinch-hits. If I were Grady I'd encourage Scioscia to leave him in as long as he wants.

230 Oh, yeah. Pitching changes. After watching the first five innings of last night's game I forgot you could do that.

6-4-2 has a blurb about Saenz as DH two nights, and Betemit as DH vs. Weaver.

I missed the game chat last night. Does anybody know why the infield started off back and charged when Nomar was batting in the 1st last night?

Does anybody know why the infield started off back and charged when Nomar was batting in the 1st last night?

Because it's Scrappy and gives the impression that the manager is actually doing something other than just sitting in the dugout.

233 Because LaRussa thought the Dodgers might revert to 1950 strategy and bunt with the #3 hitter. Was Taguchi creeping in from CF also?

137 (gpellamjr, no less)

Ancient Romans treated there names like adjectives

"there names"?

236 I typed too much today. Way too much. I shall now retire for the rest of the season.

From the thread referenced in 158, in th midst of a "who's the next GM going to be" discussion - talk about a delayed jinx:
150. Uncle Miltie 2005-11-14 16:55:57
According to rotoworld, the Cubs are close to acquiring Juan Pierre. Colletti wouldn't have wanted him anyways, he's under 35.

Are there any other primarily baseball blogs that metamorphoses into Grammar Chat on the off-days? I love it.

239 - Only if it is run by George Will and William Safire's love child.

Martin Games Played Alert

Our man Russell Martin has started in 37 of the first 41 games this year.

He leads all of baseball, Jason Kendall is second with 35 games (through yesterda), the next highest NL catchers are Brian Schneider and Benjie Molina with 33 games started.

Counting today, the Dodgers have 3 off days in the next 12 days but after that, they play 16 straight games, have off days surrounding a 3 game set at home against the Angels and then go play 20 games straight into the All-Star Break.

So starting on May 29th, the Dodgers play 39 games in 41 days, so you have to think that Russell is going to need some time off. I also think that it would be nice to see Kemp up to replace one of the pitchers to play some outfield.

What do we think tonight. Good Penny? I hope so for I am going to try to get a nap and stay up for it. It seems to be almost impossible to figure out Penny's strategy, but I've made a pledge to myself to watch more pitch by pitch when its close (which is almost always). Throwing really hard works well. But it works longer and even better when combined with a short range and long range plan.

238 - How on Earth did you find that? I wonder if anyone goes back and reads these comments? It is weird that they are permanently there, since I feel like they drift off into the ether as soon as a new thread opens.

224 But only because Dave Winfield wasn't an option.

242 the Dodgers are off tonight

242 the Dodgers are off tonight

I should say tomorrow then!

I just wanted to make sure you didn't waste a perfectly good nap.

238 Someday someone will discover Dodger Thoughts by stumbling into this thread when googling "synecdochic".

I'm cat-like in the blog field, easily distracted by items in the periphery. (It just caught my eye as I searched for the "supposablys". [We have a friend that says "supposively".])

And I see I blew the subject-verb agreement in 238; that's almost ironic.

I'm cat-like in the way I occasionally cough up a hairball and call it a blog entry, and like to nosh more than eat big meals, and occasionally lick myself. Which is rather upsetting to my coworkers.

Trying to stay up and watch from the east coast I need a day off almost as much as the team. The best thing about a day off for a team is that they can skip their #5 starter. Some teams won't get quite as much benefit as the D's for there are many teams who have no depth beyond their second or third starter. There is still room for argument over whether a pitcher is better pitching every fourth or fifth day. But I think it is fair to say many agree that more than four days rest is apt to make a pitcher less sharp. So I hope Grits has no wierd ideas.

248 Just so. Thank you. That would have been a horrible waste and an embarrassing awakening.

So, my phone went dead last night. As I'm waiting for the repairman to come today, my DVR decides it can't take it anymore and kills itself. I'm now waiting for the internet to blow up.

I got 11 -- including "cat-like in the outfield."

Re that ESPN test, I particularly liked the answer to this one: "Was temporarily thrown off ballclub for sulking. Has demonstrated a tremendous lack of desire. Is obviously only interested in how he's doing. Is no longer a prospect in my book. He'd be more trouble than he's worth."

I got 10 and that was with guessing a few completely.

UCLA Football All-Access is coming up on Sportscenter.

So there was no reason for the infielders sneaking in on Nomar in the 1st? I couldn't think of any good reason to do that.

Softball Report: My team is playing its 4th game tonight. We are 3-0. We have scored in those three games 36 to our opponents' 13. I have played a flawless 1B, and was rocked in my one game as a pitcher. I'm 9-15, with a triple and two doubles (the triple would have been a homerun if it had been hit by any other human being in Columbus). Last year I was 23-25, so I'm in a serious slump right now. Though I haven't struck out yet, I have swung and missed at a lot of first pitches. Last year I only swung and missed once. I wish CanuckDodgers were here to tell me what's going wrong. I think it might be a character issue.

Maybe they were trying to create inverse havoc on the base paths, bewildering Nomar with trickery.

Tony LaRussa is the guy at the 2/4 poker table wearing sunglasses and berating people for not folding when he was "representing kings".

Did you ever hear Ernesto Jerez from ESPN Deportes broadscating a home run?It´s so funny:"lololo... diga que no a esta pelota"

Sal Fasano needs our support to go to the All Star Game. There´s a link: www.vote4sal.com

260 That was perfect.

253 - Wow. Bashing the VCR karma.

260 oh man, I'm playing pokre tonight with a guy just like that. I cannot look at him the same any longer.

260 Can you please tell me what that means? If you don't want to bore the people who know, just email me: pellam.1@osu.edu. I really want to know why that's funny.

263 Yeah, I was making fun of you and ToyCannon just the other day about that. It's my just desserts. At least it's easy to replace. I just went to the office and traded it in.

260)

That was hilarious. I am amazed at how many people treat low-limit the same as no-limit. I have had little trouble making money at 2-4 and 3-6 because of people like that and for people who cold call with J4o

264)

Cash game or tourney?

265

2/4-Low limit poker, should basically consist of drunk people chucking money in the pot.

Wearing sunglasses - Shows that this person thinks this is the World Series of Poker.

"Representing Kings" - Losing despite playing mindgames that no one actually cares about. Generally this person complains that he's simply too smart for the table, and if these people were better, he wouldn't be broke.

Basically, it's a person that thinks they're way smarter than they really are.

I hereby order you now to watch Altman's California Split.

268 tourney. When he doesn't play, we're done at 11:30. When he plays, we don't get done until after 1 AM, because he spends half his time trying to "read" the rest of us, and he'll call us out if we don't do what we're "supposed" to do. Meanwhile, the rest of us are usually focused on who's in charge of making margaritas.

I think California Split is almost impossible to find on tape or disc.

271)

That would drive me insane.

272- Haven't had the opportunity to do this in a while, but:

http://tinyurl.com/33j94m

At the low, low price of $21.88! And it's eligible for $.97 shipping!

I stand corrected. I thought I had read that somewhere.

272 It's out of print now but did come out on DVD not that long ago. Can rent here:
http://www.greencine.com/webCatalog?id=107709

"California Split" remains the only motion picture I've ever walked out on.

No, wait -- I lie. I also walked out on "The Patriot" after more than 2 hours and I couldn't take it any more.

Amazon doesn't, itself, carry it, but is showing 19 new and used copies available through affiliated sellers.

http://tinyurl.com/35a8p9

Haven't had the opportunity to do this in a while

Much to my antichagrin

Really enjoyed a good game last night. A little concerned in the third when the Dodgers handed the Cards two extra runs on that WP and Error with the bases packed. Then was granted a reprieve in the 5th when sudden "Pinh-hitting dynamo Wilson Betemit crushes a 3 run blast over the center field wall. Then hung on for dear life in the 7th and 9th inning when the Cards creeped closer and Saito had to come through in the 9th again. My wife's green Dodger hat is now 3-0 this year. The power of the green hat!!:)
Off topic: I had two cancellations very recently for my fun little golf tournament in Sylmar this Saturday. Starts at El Cariso Golf course at 11 a.m. Two spots still open, cost is $41.50 but I can give a discount since you need to reimburse me. If interested, the first two that leave contact information and your names on my email will be invited to play. Please contact my email address at sportnut19882003@yahoo.com. Come join the fun. I hope I'm not violating any rules but I am walking on my own personal "Mendoza" line of 20 players per my contract with the course. I have paid for 22 players. I have 6 tee times available so I can accept actually 4 but any player over 22 players would have to pay the course, but i can help out there as well. Leave a phone number so I can talk to you today or tomorrow. Thank you!
Go Blue!!!

Wilson Betemit feature:
http://tinyurl.com/2843et

277 I've actually walked out on a few free screenings, the films were that bad.

California Split is not great Altman but it does have some good moments; I was just thinking of the opening scenes in particular, at the card house, when the fight breaks out between Gould and the shady guy he's playing with.

Back to baseball: some praise, for once, for Little pinch hitting for a pitcher early (again, for once)...
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=228&p=2&c=644649

DzzrtRatt wrote about Boo vs. Ra-uuuul, this morning:

http://tinyurl.com/2uot52

Cool little interview with Andy LaRoche in the LA Times' Dodger blog, although there's nothing super-revelatory in it, either:
http://tinyurl.com/2ahlqg

Tim Lincecum is hot today.

...and he's going up against his older counterpart in Roy Oswalt.

284 Ahh but this little reveal.

Hint:

You're the best!
Around!
Nothing's gonna ever keep you down
You're the Best!
Around!
Nothing's gonna ever keep you down
You're the Best!
Around!
Nothing's gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ow-own

And a shout out to my SFV neighbors who spent many a summer's night at the Castle Golf and Arcade.

Hah hah. That's awesome. I thought (and sort of hoped) I'd never hear that Karate Kid anthem again, but I like LaRoche's sense of humor already.

California Split is amazing. It's secretly one of Altman's best movies and I (idiosyncratically, I admit) prefer it to Nashville.

It's something like a buoyant counterweight to Cassavetes' "Husbands."

"Goddamnit, lady, you don't throw oranges on an escalator!"

282 McCabe and Mrs. Miller is my favorite Altman movie, but California Split is up there on my list.

Randy Winn breaks up Oswalt's no-no with an infield single to increase his hitting streak to 16.

What a jerk.

283 Again with the hula hoops...

289 I liked it even better the second time around, and always loved Gould and Segal together in that one. Some classic scenes, yeah.

So Oswalt's um, "interesting" game was just made less interesting on an infield single in the 6th. Quite a pitcher's duel.

s.c. beat me to it...

I'd be okay with just the Giants losing that one.

Sheesh! Now two infield hits in that inning. Stupid Giants.

287 The mini golf from Karate Kid was Golf N' Stuff in Norwalk

The hula hoops are my Watergate.

I don't think I'd be able to hit Lincecum's curveball.

298
Do you think you could hit any major league pitcher who was throwing with the intent of getting you out?

The Tigers have 8 extra base hits tonight.

And 2 runs.

They have no singles.

Re: walking out on movies. The worst is when you are a movie reviewer, even a small-time movie reviewer, and you have to stay. Worst movie I ever had to sit through was Carnosaur ... and they even made two sequels!

299 Not counting David Wells, you mean?

302
I know my limitations. Even David Wells or Jamie Moyer would throw hard enough that I would be bailing out on every swing.

301 Yep, Daniel, exactly, I've had that experience a few times. You have to stay to give it a fair review which means being tortured. Carnosaur, wow, how does one review that evenly?

I saw a film at Sundance I wanted to walk out on but I kept assuming it would get better. Instead, it fooled me by getting worse.

303 I dunno... don't sell yourself short.

305
If Jamie Moyer is getting really good hitters out most of the time, I don't see how I'm going to hit him.

My best hope to get on base against him would be getting hit by a pitch.

I can barely get around in the 80 mph cage and in the 90 mph cage, I just tip the ball.

301 Say what you will about Roger Corman...The man knows how to make money
(He was the EP).

304 I had no qualms about ripping a movie if it was truly that bad.

299 I was trying to make an ironic understatement there.

299 I think if you gave me long enough, I could eventually make contact off Tim Wakefield.

Outstanding Little League errors give the Giants the tying run.

No Capri Suns or pizza parties for the Astros!

307 How does someone like that survive that long? Look at the movies he has produced. I mean ... Attach of the Crab Monsters (1957) to Sorority House Massacre (1986) to A Bucket of Blood (1995). I guess I don't understand the world of B-movies.

Preston Mattingly playing second base tonight. He struck out four times.

312 Corman hits the right topic (ahem, if you call it that). Carnosaur came out right after Jurassic Park, when you couldn't walk five feet without running into a snotty seven-year-old with a stuffed dinosaur. Each sequel made less money, until he had bled the money out of the franchise.

His zombie movies were after Night of the Living Dead, his Poe movies were cheap with a built in fanbase. The guy is super smart and cheap as all get-out.

Former NHL prospect Jamie Hoffman up 25 RBI in Cal League, despite spending a lot of time in leadoff spot. He's shown a lot of improvement so far this year. He's 22 but hasn't played nearly as much advanced baseball as most minor leaguers.

I know the media have a Yankees/Red Sox fixation. But has it spread to Dodgers.com?

Clicking on the Dodgers.com video clip of
Betemit's homer last night just got me a highlight from a Yankee game.

Getting it three straight times definitely was not the charm.

Anyone else get same result, or is my system full of gremlins or trolls? Other Dodger video clips from last night played just fine...?

285-

Lincecum- 7ip 0r 2h 10ks 1bb

Hoffman has a BABIP of .372 despite his 11% LD rate. Looks unsustainable.

Fans of "The Cranberries" might be interested to know that lead singer Dolores O'Riordan just released her first "solo" album. It has always kind of annoyed me when lead singers break off and make albums under their own name (while just substituting another set of musicians behind them).

That being said, I'm listening to the album now and I like it.

A good yardwork today:

http://www.yard-work.org/?p=731

I am happy I started Lincecum in fantasy this week.

319
I always wondered what became of the Cranberries.

309
You needed to use the "ironic" understatement emoticon.

It's :-|%

322
They broke up a few years or so ago, after a few relatively unsuccessful albums.

319- Why should she get to keep the name if the band broke up?

Why should she get to keep the name if the band broke up?

I didn't mean to imply that. She released the album under her name, not the band name.

California Split was the last Fathers Day present I got my dad.

So consider yourself warned.

326- No, I got that. You said that it irritated you when lead singers released albums with new bands. I thought you meant that the lead singer should take the band name with them. You really meant that they shouldn't be allowed to work after the band split?

Orestes Destrade is trying to convince me that Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, and A-rod aren't home run hitters. Who thought this segment was a good idea?

Only at DT will I see someone mention the movie Carnosaur.

You really meant that they shouldn't be allowed to work after the band split?

That's not exactly the scenario I envision. I'm talking about when the purpose of the split in the first place is for the lead singer to go do their own thing.

Only at DT will I see someone mention the movie Carnosaur

And Cabin Boy.

Sorry if I missed this above, but two error play for Hanely Ramirez in the fourth v. Pitt tonight.

One of the Kurkgems (nice) was the Brewers hitting into a pop fly, a little out of the infield, double play, scoring two runs. Bases loaded, the runner on third tagged and scored. The throw home was cut off and got the runner on first in a run down, during which Tony Gwynn scored from second.

Because it was a DP, does that mean no RBI for the batter? Does he get to keep his SF?

333
Wow, Bob will be all over that play.

Found the box score. He got his SF, and he got the RBI for the first scoring runner, but not for the second.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200705120.shtml

333
DPs aren't all that uncommon on sac flies, provided there's no one out.

What is going on with Brad "Light's Out" Lidge? Is it all mental or is he just not good/effective anymore? Hang another loss for him. He used to be so dominant.

Pierre, Matthews stake out the middle ground

"For the first three weeks or so, he was trying to get six hits every game and steal five bases every game," Colletti said. "I told him, 'All you have to do is be Juan Pierre.'

http://tinyurl.com/38glyb

338
"For the first three weeks or so, he was trying to get six hits every game and steal five bases every game," Colletti said. "I told him, 'All you have to do is be Juan Pierre.'"

So, now he's not trying to get as many hits or steal as many bases?

"He has occasionally taken a poor route to a ball. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said Pierre's range has been statistically outstanding over the years..."

Somehow, I find it hard to believe that Ned has ever looked at range statistics.

I can barely get around in the 80 mph cage and in the 90 mph cage, I just tip the ball.

you just reminded me of a friend of mine who i took to the cages a while back, i told him to try the 90 MPH cage which he did but he looked like a robot trying to hit the ball I told him to relax just "see ball hit ball" from what i understand he's getting allot better.

That was a painful article to get through.

336- That stands to reason. I know I've seen them, but never wondered how to score it.

Figgins sees Matthews every day. He speaks with Pierre, his best friend in baseball, almost every day. He gives Matthews the edge in power, Pierre the edge in speed and thumbs up to the clubs that spent a combined $94 million to bring them to Southern California.

quote from The Times article. Figgins thinking it ain't my money.

Billingsley is finding his stride as a reliever

>>> The right-hander credited his turnaround from a slow start in part to a mechanical adjustment he made while working with bullpen coach Dan Warthen. Billingsley said he fixed a flaw in which his "arm angle was a little too far over the top compared to where it usually was at the three-quarters slot." <<<

http://tinyurl.com/23d7v4

I'm not sure what this means, if anything:

For Las Vegas Greg Miller was scheduled to start tonight but Pinango started instead. And Matt Kemp pinch hit on Tuesday, the 51s were off on Wednesday and Kemp didn't start tonight's game.

344

thats good, just carry that arm angle into the rotation now.

It has always kind of annoyed me when lead singers break off and make albums under their own name

D4P apparently isnt on the waiting list for Gwen Stefani tickets I'm guessing.

D4P apparently isnt on the waiting list for Gwen Stefani tickets I'm guessing

Absolutely not. But after all that we've been through, I know we're cool.

348

i'm gonna pee in my pants.

348 Was that you who dumped her for that astronaut girl?

336 Personally, Bob, I'm a bit flabbergasted at your response, because you're Mr-Catcher's-Interference and always excited about quirky plays. C'mon, this was quirky enough (SF-double-play but two runs score?) that you gotta get into it more. I think you're losing it.

From the same article
Yet, if you base the early returns on the standings, the investments are paying off. The Angels are in first place with Matthews, the Dodgers are in first place with Pierre, and isn't that the point?
I think (and hope) that the Dodgers were expecting more than .278/.304/.313 and sub par defense when they signed him to a $44 million contract.

He has occasionally taken a poor route to a ball. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said Pierre's range has been statistically outstanding over the years and suggested he might simply be struggling to adjust to the conditions of his new home field, with its five decks and palette of pastel seats.
Gotta love Colletti still trying to defend his poor investment.
"No," Pierre said. "If I play bad, it's because I play bad. It's not the field or any kind of condition."
And then Pierre refuting Colletti's claim

I don't that Pierre will finish the season with a .300 OBP, but up to this point, he has been absolutely atrocious as a hitter.

350

I remember Greg Brock had a thing for that astronaut girl, not sure about anyone else.

The astronaut is spoken for.

Thank you.

Las Vegas
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Pinango (W, 2-0) 6.0 3 1 1 4 3 1 0.82
Miller 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 5.96
Brazoban 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.64

Note: Matt Kemp did not play.

345 I think a strongly-worded letter might be the better course of action.

But, if you need a guy to light the match, I'm there.

Pinango-mania.

I've never even heard of Pinango (sounds like a type of Latin dance) but his numbers certainly look good so far. When will the team make the Brazoban for Seanez switch, I wonder. And I wonder how they'll make room for Kemp. Because they will. They have to. Or I'm gonna be mad. Soon.

358. Besides a trade, how would they make room for Kemp? Which players have options?
vr, Xei

Pinango used to be with the Mets. He's from Venezuela, and I believe he is recovering from TJ surgery. He's only 24.

Alert the presses ... the LA Times used the British spelling of favour in tonight's story on the Ducks game.

Our good friend (can we call him that?) Jeff Weaver has put up some pretty interesting numbers so far this year. In 22 innings, he has managed to give up 50 hits, 4 of them being homeruns. To top it all off he has only struck out 12 batters and walked 7. I would imagine those numbers give him a pretty bad BABIP against. It's too late in the evening for me to do the math. vr, Xei

350
I'd be more into the SF-DP-2 run scoring play if I hadn't been reading Tim Kurkjian's new book, which is not impressing me so far. But I'll be done with it by Saturday.

359 A trade works for me! Say, of a Tomko-type. We'll make room by gum.

358. I've never even heard of Pinango

Here is a picture of him. He started the season with the 66ers and just made his second start with the 51s. It says he is 23 but that is from last year. He was 24 on January 20th.

http://tinyurl.com/23o7ea

Cool. And here's more on Pinango, who was apparently a well-regarded prospect in the Mets system up through last year. Not sure how the Dodgers acquired him. Anyway:
http://padres.scout.com/2/644887.html
Cassel's counterpart, Las Vegas starting pitcher Miguel Pinango, was on the hill for only his second appearance in Triple-A ball. He had been with the Dodgers High-A club prior to being moved up to the 51s, even though he was not so impressive on paper. He was 1-3 with a 4.61 ERA, but had shown control by walking just six batters in his 27.1 innings of work. The organization must've seen potential in Pinango, and he proved them right in his first start with the 51s, when he picked up the win in five scoreless innings against New Orleans. He scattered four hits, struck out five and walked nobody in the debut.

Pinango continued that dominance Thursday against the Beavers, as he picked up his second win in as many starts, finishing the game allowing only three hits and one run in six innings. The one run came on one swing of the bat in the fifth; otherwise, Pinango was untouchable and showed impressive poise on the mound in every situation all night.

http://www.scarletknights.com/frazier/

i kinda want to draft this kid at 20. After the first video, theres a 7min highlight video of him from this year i think.

365 Not sure how the Dodgers acquired [Pinango].

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/news/263468.html

shows the Dodgers "Signed RHP Miguel Pinango" between "February 19-March 2" this year, and

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/news/262709.html

shows him declared a minor league free agent "following the 2006 season".

AA - Orenduff pitched his best game post surgery and Cory Dunlap hit a walk off home run. Earlier this week I saw that he had been suspended but I don't know what for and he's already back so it must have been minor.

HighA-Wade pitched a shutout. He was awful last year but is having success this year.
Lucas May took the collar and has really slowed down after his torrid start.

LowA - Wall was creamed and Mattingly played 2nd and k'd 4 times. The only good news was Van Slyke got 3 hits including 2 doubles.

Good news? Per BP Will Carrol

"Jason Schmidt not only threw from a mound this week, he came away the following day without any soreness or swelling beyond the 'normal.' If you need more good news, he showed off all his pitches during the 50-pitch set. While he didn't have his full velocity and ran out of steam quickly, it was definitely a major positive. While reports have Grady Little impressed with what he saw, Schmidt remains at least a couple weeks away, though his progress has been non-standard all along. There's almost certain to be at least one rehab start somewhere before his return to the Dodger rotation, though the timing and location is unknown at this point. As negative as reports out of Dodgertown were when Schmidt was initially injured, the progress he's made is extremely encouraging."

While he didn't have his full velocity and ran out of steam quickly, it was definitely a major positive

Does anyone know what Schmidt's "full velocity" is at this point in his career, and when he last pitched with it? What was he throwing at last season and in spring training?

Do you think it was mean of me to turn an office invitation for a pizza lunch of watching the Cubs-White Sox by saying I had too much to get done to waste my time watching two mediocre teams that I care nothing about with a bunch of people who inexplicably care about said mediocre teams?

Josh Wall is 20yrs old, and has played two years of rookie league ball, and now his 3rd year is in low A.

Is it after this season that he has to be placed on the 40 man roster or be exposed to Rule V.

That Suns roster has some older players on it.

Luke Allen and Wilkin Ruan seem to have been around forever. Is our OF depth so poor, that the AA team has to play those guys? I remember when Ruan was getting time in CF for the Dodgers, and Luke Allen was thought of as a legit prospect. Now they've come full circle back to AA.

370

I live in SF and probably watched 50 of his starts over the last 3 seasons. If he can be in the low 90s he is fine.
That is to say 91-93 on most fastballs and reach back for 94 once in a while.
That's where he was last season. He doesn't need to throw 95-96 and probably can't anymore.
This spring he was topping out at 90.

374

But in his last start VS the Pad's when he got bombed his fastball was about 85.

372 No, with the new rules Wall won't be exposed until after the 2009 season. High school players get five years, College players get four.

Does anyone know what happens to a DFAed player during the 5 days the club has to decide what to do with him? Can the player keep team privileges, go in the clubhouse, be in the dugout, etc?

I wouldn't think many players would want to even if they could, knowing their time with the club probably is over.

But then again for all players know, they may clear waivers, go to the minors, and maybe end up back with the same ML club and accordingly want to keep up a good relationship with the club..?

374 He also hit 81 a couple times on opening day. Could have been an error with the scoreboard folks, but Im not too sure. I hope he comes back around 90ish. I prefer a 90mph Schmidt fastball with movement to a straight 94mph Tomko fastball.

377
I don't recall ever seeing a player who was DFA'd hanging around his old team.

Essentially, you've been fired. Why are you hanging around your old employer?

370 Checking in while students are testing so let's not tell my boss, 'kay? :)

Schmidt last year was in the low to mid-90's. He was very much like Bartolo Colon is now. He could get to the mid-90's with a "rear back and throw" straight fastball but with little movement. His fastball with movement is in the low 90's. Both Colon and Schmidt were devastating when they were on their games because their fastballs would range from mid- to upper 90's (Schmidt in '04 was averaging well over a strikeout an inning and in '05 Colon won the Cy Young).

Shorter version of this post: low 90's last season. If he's not going to get back there, he's in trouble.

378

81 should be his change (I/we hope), which is why the diff between 85 and 91 is so important.
Along those lines I love watching guy swing way late through Wolf's 89mph fastball after seeing the 60-something curve. Must be very frustrating.

359 Kemp not only did not play yesterday, he only had a pinch hit appearnace the day before. Hopefully his shoulder is not bothering him

362 I think if Tomko were traded his spot would go to Brazabon and not Kemp in order to keep 12 pitchers on the team.

Kemp and Loney are not letting their bats create a spot on the Dodgers so far this year, at least not enough to displace someone starting.

Bigbie's bat is speaking quite loudly however.

Abreu will have to wait for LaRoche and Betemit to forfeit third base or for an injury to Furcal or Kent before he makes it up to the Dodgers.

Matt Kemp: .301/.359/.566/.925

That is pretty loud.

A late inning bullpen of Saito, Meloan, Brazabon, and Biemel is good enough to allow Broxton to become a starter should the Dodgers be worried about depth in regards to trading Tomko and if Schmidt's fastball never hits 89 again.

382

Id say Kemp is playing pretty well. 0.301 avg, 0.566 slg is pretty awesome. I don't mind seeing him stay down for another month or so, but those #s are significantly better than any current Dodger- so I think that they are good enough to force a spot soon.
Loney- is disappointing.

Loney and Mark Alexander have went from great 06 seasons, to really bad 07 seasons thus far.

The sad thing about Loney is that this 2007 season falls more in line with the kind of player he's been his entire career.

Hopefully Loney's 2006 isnt akin to Beltre's 2004.

|371| I wouldn't say it was rude as you have to do what you need to do, but personally, I would have found it difficult to pass up free pizza and a baseball game, even if it was between two teams I don't care much about.

383 OK, that's loud but I think a higher batting average and more homeruns would speak much louder.

I guess that is supposed to be 371

I wouldn't worry as much about Loney - I think he's having a bit of a slump partially from the psychological wound of not making the big team. It happens. He needs to get over it of course, but now he's probably pressing. I'm still high on him, the Dodgers are surely still high on him, and keep in mind that LaRoche was even less impressive so far this year in AAA and was called up. He's looked fine in the bigs so far. Loney will be fine.

I'm more worried about going up tonight against Santana, who is both due and pitching to keep himself on the big team, basically. Never like going up against someone in that situation who is better than his numbers so far. Hopefully he'll stink just one more time. (Penny's certainly due to come back to earth, too. But if he keeps pitching as he has, they'll be in this one for sure.)

371 I think you could have turned down the offer more graciously.

Loney has had several wrist injuries in his young career, an awesome AAA year, a great Fall league, and at least two awesome Spring trainings. He is a line drive hitter that so far this year until of late he has gotton away from his strength perhaps trying to hit with more power.

383 I think Kemp has shown he is ready. The question is are the Dodgers better off with:

A)Kemp getting a few AB's here and there in LA and Clark released vs

B)Hold on to Clark and let Kemp play everyday in Vegas.

I have no doubt the Ned has weighed the equation and chosen B.

I can't think of any other way to get Kemp into an LA Dodger uniform that has any liklihood of occuring other than an injury or a complete meltdown of Ethier.

Palate cleanser up top.

394 Or a trade. But Pierre won't be traded (alas). Ethier likely won't either. Gonzo certainly won't since he's only on a 1 yr contract anyway and has been productive at times. So it'd have to be another position player. You're right, basically, there's not room for him right now. I wish there was one more Wilson Valdez we could DFA. ;-) (Well there is Martinez... but they probably like having that extra infielder for safety.)

396 I think Marinez is our 3rd catcher as well. But even if you DFA an infielder to bring up Kemp then you have 5 OFers. He will rot on the bench and PH now and then.

379 As I said, I wouldn't think many DFAed players would want to hang around.

But in cases like Valdez, the Dodger brass has praised his contribution. So if he isn't traded or claimed, he might want to work all the angles possible to increase his chances of coming back to LA (however unlikely that may be).

That might include hanging around, cheerleading, showing he bleeds Dodger blue, whatever else is possible--if anything is.

I was curious what MLB guidelines or regulations apply in these cases as much as what might happen in an individual one.