Responding to Greg from the last thread:
406 "So it would be okay if somebody ridiculed you publicly and made you look stupid while you had no chance to respond?"

That is not what happened, though. Pierre absolutely was given a chance to respond, and responded kind of stupidly. Simers is a worthless hack. One doesn't need to distort the situation to expose his hackness. It's out there for all to see already.

Maybe Pierre should have taken a page out of Jeff Kent's book, who last year figured out the best way to deal with Simers: Charm him and therefore confuse him.

Hard to beat the 88 home run. Before then it might have been the 81 Monday home run which got us into the World Series.

Greatest series ever though is still the 80 Houston final 3 games.

Greatest walk: Mike Davis, 9th inning, Game One of the 1988 World Series

That's weird, I saw that balk on TV but had completely forgotten about it. That was sweet, my first year living in SF, too.

For some reason, it's hard to remember my favorite triple.

As someone noted below JD is now in the greatest slump of his career. I don't think Boston is the place to have a slump like that right after signing the big contract, not with Trot Nixon outperforming him for peanuts. It is quite curious how so many historical run producers are struggling like crazy even as we enter the middle of May.

Oh, now I get it.

The greatest single: Tim Leary, pinch hit single in the bottom of the 11th against the Giants, August 13, 1988.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN198808130.shtml

There have probably been greater singles, but that one came to my mind immediately. Just another magical moment in a magical year.

On a side note, I would like to see Vin Scully exclaim once this season, as Brett Tomko is walking off the mound, "In a year that has been so probable, the possible has happened!"

I think the hardest one to determine would be who has pitched the greatest game in LA Dodgers History.

7 Wow, I remember that hit. I was listening to it on the radio.

Weird how a lot if the "greatests" seem to be coming from '88 (smile).

8 That would have to be Koufax's perfect game, no?

3 And to go into real "we've only got one great moment in the entire history of the franchise" territory, the greatest steal might be Mike Davis, 9th inning, Game One of the 1988 World Series. My recollection (SI interview?) was that Gibby felt a lot of pressure early in the AB because he knew he was in there to hit a home run. When Davis stole second, he relaxed a bit because now a single would tie the game.

Greatest groundout: Also in 1988, Ernest Riles grounded to 2nd; Brett Butler was forced at 2nd, but Riles beat the play at first, allowing a run to score and snapping Hershiser's scoreless inning streak at 42 IP. However, Butler was said to be out of the baseline during his slide, and Riles was called out, ending the inning and preserving the streak.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN198809230.shtml

Double: Mariano Duncan's bunt double in St. Louis (sometime in the mid-1980s). I was in attendance. Balled rolled all of 60 feet. and Cardinals players stood and hoped it would roll foul while Duncan went to second.

12 is the "pitching/defense" groundout, in case it wasn't clear.

1 Do you really think Simers was interested in giving Pierre a fair shake and reporting things as they happened as opposed to just making funnies? I think the best response to him is to ignore him. Trying to charm him means playing his game and he'll be the sole judge of if you win or lose that game.

8 I wouldn't call it the greatest, but my favorite game by a Dodger pitcher is Game 2 of the 88 World Series, when Orel allowed 3 hits and collected 3 himself.

4

I suspect not, but is there a good Dodger's bar in SF? Or at least one where some goon with a rubber chicken won't feel compelled to scream NOOOOOMAAAAHHHHH!!!!! At anyone who wears an LA hat.

Greatest closer: Eric Gagne. I can't think of a defining moment.

Pitching:
Flyout: Kevin McReynolds' 12th inning flyout to Shelby to secure the save for Orel in Game 4 of 1988 NL Championship Series.

Single: Bill Russell's single to drive in Ron Cey to win the 1978 NL Pennant

Bunt: Honorable mention, Vic Davalillo, 1977 NL Playoffs, Game 3.

Double: Manny Mota, 1977 NL Playoff, Game 3

Greatest Triple:
2005 Antonio Perez to break up Pedro's no hitter in the 8th. Followed by a Jayson Werth homerun to give the Dodgers their best win of 05. Though the opening day comeback was fun too.

Yeah, I'm really focusing on moments today, not the greatest people or the greatest games.

There is a sac fly category and a flyout category? Hard to find the great flyout that wasn't a sac fly! That one will be tough. Bob?

Single seems like it should be a Mota pinch hit but my memory won't serve me well enough to remember one in particular.

Probably not the best ever, but Darren Dreifort's game winning pinch hit single is one of my favorite Dodger moments.

Greatest triple for no other reason except for the fact that it was part of the only cycle in LA Dodger History.

Wes Parker, May 7, 1970.

Greatest ________ Night at Dodger Stadium:

Gay and Lesbian night, June 6, 2000. This after two women were ejected from the stands for getting a little too personal.

Greatest Rally.

Goes without saying.

I don't know if Gagne has a defining moment, but I can clearly remember during his first season as a closer, 2002, in an interleague game vs. Boston. Gagne came in in the 8th, struck out all 4 batters to get the save.

The best part was that I was watching on Extra Innings, and the Red Sox announcers were commenting on how unknown this Gagne kid was and had a "let's wait and see what he does against a real lineup" attitude.

During one of the at-bats, one of the Red Sox stepped out of the box between pitches (I can't remember whom; probably Merloni or Varitek), and Gagne yelled (clear as day to the most novice of lip readers) "Get back in the [effing] box, mother [effer]!" I thought that was pretty cool.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200206210.shtml

hey guys, im visiting socal for the first time (from NC) and im wondering if anybody had two tickets available for the cubs series?

you can email me at jlbryant_01@hotmail.com . any help would be grateful.

28 There were a few times when Gagne struck out the side to get the save and I think he even did it on 9 pitches. When he was hot, batters had no shot against him.

By the way, as far as great strikeouts go, that battle between Broxton and Fielder the other night was really cool.

I agree with all the choices Jon already filled in, if only because there wasn't a runner on base when Mark Hendrickson fell off the mound. Maybe Mondesi throwing somebody out at first base on a single should merit a mention though.

Here goes:

Offense
At-bat: Alex Cora's 18-pitch home run
Single: Pinch hitter Tim Leary's game winner against the Giants on August 13, 1988
Double: Eric Karros gets his first major league hit -- a pinch hit, game-tying double in the 12th inning that pulls the Dodgers to within half a game of first place, 9/16/1991
Triple: Jose Valentin, 10th inning, 4/20/2005
Home run: Kirk in '88.
Walk: ?
Bunt: R.J.
Steal: Robinson steals home in the 1955 World Series
On base on error: Lou Johnson scores on an E2 for the only run of Sandy Koufax's perfect game, 9/9/1965
Groundout: ?
Sacrifice fly: Willie Davis drives in the eventual game-winner in the World Series clinching game 4 against the Yankees, 1963.
Catcher's interference: I'll let Bob handle that one.
Score on wild pitch: Kirk in '88, from second base. (I still remember Drysdale's play-by-play, word-for-word: "The ball gets by! Santovenia... HERE COMES GIBSON! HE'S GONNA KEEP ON COMIN'! THE THROW TO THE PLATE... HE SCORES! DODGERS WIN!")

Strikeout: Bob Welch, 1978.
Groundout: Johnny Podres gets Elston Howard to ground out to Pee Wee Reese, 10/4/1955
Flyout: Orel Hershiser gets Kevin McReynolds to fly out to John Shelby in the 12th inning, 10/9/1988
Catch: Tie: Sandy Amoros, 1955; Al Gionfriddo, 1947; Paul LoDuca, sliding into the Dodger dugout to catch a foul popup. (NOTE: Duke Snider for many years was reputed to have made the greatest catch in baseball history, a HR-robbing catch against the Phillies in a regular season game in 1955 or thereabouts.)

My favorite Gagne moment was the Yankee game when he struck out Bernie to end the game. Since he never got to pitch in a playoff game that meant anything this was as close to that atmosphere as I can remember.

I did mine before reading any of the other posts. I can't believe I forgot about Mike Davis.

Nice work Eric but he did say "Los Angeles Dodger History".

32 Good choice, although perhaps marred by the fact that the game-ending called strikeout was a really terrible call.

34 Bah. Instructions, inschmucktions.

31 Drysdale's call was great. His voice went up about 20 octaves (note: I have no idea of the relative scale or worth of octaves; I believe they're worth 50 Schrutebucks or 1,000 unicorns) to the point where only dogs could hear him.

Greatest non playoff home run moment for me was the Piazza blast that if I remember right bounced out of the stadium. For years all we ever heard about were the two Stargell blasts so it was great that one of our own finally did it.

Gagne's duel with Barry Bonds was his greatest moment even if he lost that duel. It established his stuff and his cajones as some of the greatest in the game. I think that at bat was one of the best I've ever seen.

38 My Mom wouldn't let me go to that game because I didn't finish my homework. Still upset about that 11 years later.

Lou Johnson didn't reach on an error. He scored on a throwing error by catcher Chris Krug on a stolen base attempt.

Johnson reached on a walk, went to second on a sacrifice by Fairly, stole third and scored when Krug's throw to Santo went into left field.

Greatest argument with an umpire: August 12, 1995, 10th inning, Dodgers vs. Pirates. Lasorda convinces the umpires that the Dodgers' runners on first and third should automatically advance two bases, scoring the winning run, because Pirates' catcher Angel Encarnacion fielded a pitched ball with his mask.

41 Yes, I know. The category was too narrowly defined.

Greatest SB: How about Mike Davis's stealing second in that fateful 9th.

42 Too bad Charley Steiner wasn't around to broadcast that game

Has anyone seen this yet?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2880887

Rates Pierre as the 4th most over-rated player today. Sure isn't helping our "june first prayers might get answered" cause when Stark points these things out nationally.

Greatest reaching on error would be Jim Gilliam reaching when Yankee first baseman dropped a throw from Tom Tresh in the bottom of the 7th of Game 4 of the 1963 World Series.

Gilliam stole second and then came around on two ground outs with the eventual winning run as the Dodgers capped off a sweep of the Yankees with a 2-1 win, despite getting just two hits off of Whitey Ford and Hal Reniff.

Greatest performance by a starter outside of pitching a no-hitter: 8/18/82 - Jerry Reuss's two wins in one day where he pitched the last 4 innings of a suspended game in Chicago which the Dodgers won in the top of 21st inning and then he started the regularly scheduled game and pitched the first 5 innings to get the win.

The Hee Seop walk in the bottom of the 9th v. the Giants before the Finley Slam was pretty awesome, but I suppose it can't top the Davis walk. But I was at the game for the Choi walk so I immediately remembered it.

I was at the game for the Bob Welch strikeout of Reggie. 10 years old, with my dad in awesome seats in the 4th row behind the Dodger dugout. Very fond memories.

I don't know if its the "greatest" but I was at the 18 pitch Cora game and it was pretty darn great. Te build up was amazing and that it didn't end with ball 4 or a weak groundout was so improbably. I'm guessing anyone who was at the 4HR game would put that up there as a greatest.

BTW, can we have ony one "greatest" or is it like the "Trial of the Century" moniker which comes around about every 7 or 8 years.

Josh Hancock's father has just sued everybody remotely associated with his death, including the tow truck driver who had the gall to be helping somebody in the emergency lane and be plowed into by a drunken maniac.

Greatest baserunning blunder: Kent/Drew '06 Playoffs. vr, Xei

Greatest pitched game at DS: Jerry Ruess giving up a leadoff double, then retiring the next 27 consecutive hitters in a row. vr, Xei

53 Or Koufax retiring 27 in a row without, you know, the double.

Greatest Player Meltdown: Milton Bradley throws a water bottle at a fan.
vr, Xei

54. Yeah, but I wasn't at that game. :)
vr, Xei

54 Really, you think the perfect game is the greatest game ever pitched at Dodger Stadium? You must have pretty low standards.

56 That's a different standard.

But I did see RJ's bunt, 4+1, Fernando's second start at home during his rookkie winning streak where he pitched a shutout against the Giants.

55 Milton Bradley throws a whole lot of baseballs onto the field. Far better personifies the idea that he is an angry man, disrupts the game further, and gets points for originality.

55 Milton Bradley never threw anything at a fan. For whatever reason, it has become convenient for his detractors to say that he did.

58. Much funner to do it by memory as opposed to opening up the history books imho.
vr, Xei

57 No, I have high standards. If I had lower ones I would have said Dennis Martinez.

Jayson Stark is on ESPNEWS right now calling Sandy Koufax the most overrated LHP in history. Yet calls Jeter underrated.

The funny thing about the two perfect games at Dodger Stadium is that the losing pitcher in each game pitched a complete game and gave up zero earned runs.

63 Oh, no, not Koufax and overrated again.

We've had that discussion at least three times before. I'm staying out of it this time.

Nolan Ryan 7 no hitters in 27 seasons Sandy Koufax 5 no hitters in a 5 year span.

Hmmmm.

65. Been traveling for a while so I am not up on things. Didn't know it was already discussed.

for fun, i decided to see how my trades are holding up when i participated in GM trade deadline mock last summer for Sickels' website. Some turned out pretty well, some didnt.

trade 1
Astros receive:
OF Kenny Lofton
RHP Danys Baez

Dodgers receive:
RHP Paul Estrada
RHP Matt Albers
RHP Juan Gutierrez

comment: Estrada, Albers and Gutierrez all had excellent years last year in AA but its been a mixed bag this year. Albers has struggled in AAA and in the majors; not enough strikeouts and too many homeruns. Estrada is sporting a sexy 2.66era in relief but the 13bb in 23.1IP is still too high. Guiterrez is sporting a era below 3 in AAA but the K rate is subpar. Compared to real life, i dont know if i would take this trade over Betemit considering the arms dont seem to be impact caliber and Betemt is one of the few sources of power on this team. Id probably rate this trade a B-.

trade 2
Red Sox receive:
SS Cesar Izturis
RHP Brian Akin (AA Jacksonville)

Dodgers receive:
RHP Clay Buchholz (A Greenville)
RHP Jermaine Van Buren (AAA Pawtucket)
LHP Craig Breslow (AAA Pawtucket)

comment: now this was a "F'ing A" trade. Buchholz has risen up charts and is now one of the top pitching prospects in the minors. Meanwhile, cesar is cesar and the rest of the players exchanged are probably not going to make much of an impact. if this happened in real life, this would have been a heist and I would have built a shrine for Colletti. Id rate this trade an A+.

trade 3
Pirates receive:
3B/OF Joel Guzman (AAA Las Vegas)
OF Justin Ruggiano (AA Jacksonville)

Dodgers receive:
LHP Tom Gorzelanny (AAA Indianapolis)

comment: Selling just in time on Guzman, and i recieved a return in a left handed pitcher who i have liked for quite a while now. What has gorzey done this year? He's only top 5 in NL in ERA, sporting an ERA+ of 169 in almost 60IP with good component ratios. If we had him, we would never have to see tomko or Hendrickson starting a game ever again. Id probably rate this trade an A due to the impact gorzey has already had in the majors and the continued struggles of Guzman in the minors.

trade 4

Mets receive:
RHP Odalis Perez
$2 million

Dodgers receive:
1B Brett Harper (AA Binghampton)

comment: Not much to say about this trade. I was just trying to get rid of odalis. Harper is most likely a AAAA slugger in the mold of mitch jones but we got odalis off the payroll. Grade C+. neither team really benefitted from this.

and thats it. those were my moves last trade deadline? Thoughts, questions, comments? I dont want to toot my own horn but, i think getting two impact young SPs in Gorzelanny and Buccholz was pretty awesome. If only Ned can do that.

42 (Lasorda vs. umpire re catcher mask)

Sounds good.

63 You could say a lot of things, say that he only did it for 5 years, that due to injuries, he went out at his peak and never had the decline that other players have as they get older.

But he won 5 consecutive NL ERA championships, 3 Cy Youngs, 1 MVP, pitched 4 no-hitters. When he won the Cy Young, it was given out to one pitcher in MLB.

Now Stark is probably having fun so I don't take it too seriously but this is not like calling out Freddy Linstrom or George Kell as the Worst HOF inductee.

In Bill James Historical Abstract, he addressed his all-time player rankings by using peak performance and career evaluation as two different sets of criteria. I recall that in terms of career evaluation, Koufax was not even in the picture but in peak performance perhaps only Lefty Grove and few others could be mentioned as the best ever (I would put Pedro in that category too).

If you had to pick one guy at his best to pitch a game to determine if you lived or died, I would pick Sandy Koufax against the field. I have no idea who Jayson Stark would pick but I would like my chances.

Greatest game pitched.

How about Game 7 of the 1965 World Series?

Koufax, back on two days rest, with the controversy before that Alston might have been picking Drysdale to start.

Three hit, three walk complete game, striking out 10, protecting a two run lead through the last several innings, with Scully observing that Koufax didn't have his curveball.

One very nice benefit of ESPN Classic: they show this game from time to time.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196510140MIN

While Koufax's perfecto is sentimentally amazing (for personal reasons as well), the context of Game 7 has to put it over the top.

I don't think the 65 Twins would argue with you.

Greatest reaching on an error was Izturis' ball through Cody Ransom's legs in the 2004 Steve Finley game.

Greatest steal - how about Maury Wills' 103rd in the 62 season.

Greatest play at the plate:
Jack Clark cleans the clock of Mike Scioscia, but Scioscia hangs on for the out.
www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN198507210.shtml
retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1985/B07210LAN1985.htm

68 What kind of crack smoker running the Red Sox wanted Izturis and would part with a pretty good pitching prospect, etc for him? I know the Sox's SS last year wasn't much to write home about, but neither is Cesar.

Greatest broken bat:
Shards from Mike Sharperson's shattered cudgel distract third baseman Matt Williams, allowing Stan Javier to score the tying run in a very important game.

www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199109290.shtml
retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1991/B09290LAN1991.htm
(In the latter box, note the description of Lasorda's ejection in the SF 9th.)

Greatest musical entrance is proably "Welcome to the Jungle" but I am partial to Sammy's "Bad to the Bone." Its so funny that that's his choice. I wonder if chose it or someone chose it for him.

76 Unfortunately for Steve "Boomer" Yeager, this might be a more appropriate entry.

http://tinyurl.com/2gtr2m

77

In a chat at MLB.com he asked for suggestions and the ITD blog came up with a bunch. Thats what he picked.

Pretty funny stuff. Love watching that guy.

Folks, I ask that you all to please pay attention to the guidelines where it says not to use profanity or any euphemisms for profanity. There have been at least three of the latter today. I don't want that door opened. Thanks.

72 Best line I've ever read about a World Series was from Roger Angell after the Twins won the first two games in 1965; he wrote that he had the feeling the Twins were about even with the teams traveling.

What he meant was that there was zero chance the Twins could beat Koufax and Drysdale twice in one Series.

77 I like Chan Ho Park coming out to some band named D.O. Funk.

Nomar was spotlighted today on espn.com's Uni Watch:
http://tinyurl.com/368ft5

spotlit? um, never mind.

80
Yesterday, I was shocked to hear Vin refer to an anecdote that he was trying to tell and kept getting interrupted as "that bloody story."

68
Nate the trades look nice but wasn't it a little pie in the sky with RedSox dealing Clay Buchholz for Izzy. Of course we did end up getting Maddox for him which was a heck of a deal that doesn't get much ink when Ned and his trades are discussed so maybe we could have fleeced the Sox. They did after all give up a SS who is going to be a franchise player.

Tampa Bay leads Seattle 12-4 and yet no one is feeling secure in Tampa. Put a couple of setup men on that team bring up the 3 kids in AAA(Neiman, Sonnanstine, Howry) and all the sudden you have a team that would be even more fun to watch then they are now.

87 It's 12-7 now.

86 Who was coming off a season where he hit .271/.335/.385. In retrospect, it was a horrible move, but no one projected what Hanley would do in 2006 and 2007. Entering that season, Ramirez was a lower rated prospect than Joel Guzman.

I agree with the perfect game as the best pitched game though 71 makes a great point about the Game 7 performance having much more at stake. They could be 1 and 1A. I only side with Jon in that How can you improve on perfection? In the spirit of 71 comment, I would like to nominate Ron Cey for the 8th inning of Game 3 of the 81 Series. His catch of the popped up bunt in foul ground and then doubling the runner off first saved Fernando's bacon and was the last Yankee threat in that game. I happened to be at that game with my Dad. My first World Series game I got to attend in person. While it wasn't the most difficult catch - it's impact was far greater than LoDuca's grab. It set the wheels of momentum in the Dodger's direction for the rest of the series.

Greatest on base on error has to be the grounder that Cesar Izturis hit to Cody Ransom (who had been inserted as a defensive replacement) who booted it with the bases loaded in October 2004 that kept the rally alive for Steve Finley to hit a grand slam two batters later to beat the Giants. That half inning was one of the most stresful, and ultimately greatest, moments of my years as a Dodger fan.

406 (from last thread) So it would be okay if somebody ridiculed you publicly and made you look stupid while you had no chance to respond?

Just wanted to defend my honor here, albeit belatedly. I never really said it was OK to do what TJ does, just tried to point out that his intentions may not be what they seem. I think his main goal is to be funny, not to stir up controversy. If you don't think he's funny, then I would agree with you. But apparently he gets enough laughs to keep his job.

FWIW. I know everyone else has moved on, and now I will too.

Good blog post by Diamond Leung:

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/baseball/dodgers/2007/05/hablo_espanolwell_kinda.html

I've long felt that the best thing a would-be baseball reporter could do is learn Spanish.

Greatest solo homerun: Rick Monday to win the '81 NLCS. Also, the last of Shawn Green's 4-HR outburst against the Brewers.

Greatest 2-run homerun: Gibson of course, with a special shout-out to Mike Scioscia's stunner in Game 4 of the '88 NLCS.

Greatest 3-run homerun: Mike Piazza, 10/3/93. His 2nd HR of the day and last HR of the season all but ends the Giants' 103-win season.

Greatest grand slam: Steve Finley, 10/2/04. I can't even think of another one.

89 I have mentioned this before but I think it was in early 2005 while watching the Red Sox play at a local establishment, this big Red Sox fan was telling me how Ramirez was overrated and he didn't think he would ever play in Sox uniform.

Don't know what he thinks now, though Beckett and Lowell probably ease the pain a bit.

62 I was at the Dennis Martinez game. I was like 9 years old and so bored out of my mind. My dad kept telling me how amazing this was but I just wanted to see the Dodgers score runs. Of course, now it seems pretty cool to have been there. I'm sure very few people remember Mike Morgan as a Dodger, but thanks to this game, I sure did.

Interestingly, former/future Dodgers Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, and
Tim Wallach were all in the starting lineup for the Expos. I did not remember that (probably because I was 9).

Category nomination: Greatest trade. Although I can only think of a worst trade, right D4P?

93 The blogs that Leung and Jackson are doing this year is the biggest improvements to local baseball coverage in many years. Baseball, with its day to day coverage, is the perfect sport to report on through on-line blogging, its immediate, you can write quick little notes and get it out to an audience that is really interested in reading it.

I don't think other sports are served as well through this type of reporting.

Buddy Carlyle to start for Atlanta!

http://tinyurl.com/24vf59

97 - Pedro Guerrero.

100 - That is, getting Pedro Guerrero from Cleveland.

97 As far as immediate fan disapproval, the Piazza trade would overshadow the Pedro deal. And probably the Loduca trade too.

In hindsight, the Martinez for DeSheilds deal might be the most uneven but I don't recall fans writing or calling sports talk shows voicing their displeasure when the deal was actually made.

Worst Free Agent signing is a tie between Dave Golts and Don Stanhouse.

Ramirez did seem a bit overrated, because he stopped producing as well late in his minor league career. I even thought last year was a bit of a fluke, but right now that does not seem to be the case.

93 I had a laugh the other day when the new post game interview guy was interviewing Olmedo. He begins with this ridiculously long question in Spanish, translates it back into English for the viewers at home and then Olmedo responds in almost perfect English. The next question was kind of in Spanish, but then the whole thing kinda got dropped.

... Single: Bill Russell drives in Ron Cey vs. Phillies, Game 4, 1978 NLCS.

Double: Mike Marshall drives in tying runs in the bottom of the ninth vs. Braves, Sept 11, 1983.

Greatest game pitched: Jerry Reuss's no-hitter; would have had a perfect game if not for an error vs. Giants in S.F., June 27, 1980.

Greatest home run pre-Gibson: Joe Ferguson vs. Astros, Oct 3, 1980. That three-game sweep made me a Dodger fan for life.

Worst shafting by an umpire: The non-call of clear interference by Reggie Jackson, Game 4, 1978 World Series.

You could also make a case for Kirk Gibson in 1988 having the best at-bat in L.A. history. IIRC, it was a 12-pitch at-bat.

Since he won the MVP, his home run was named the greatest moment in LA Sports History for the 20th Century and Jack Buck still (and forever) can't believe what he saw that night, Kirk Gibson is the best player ever acquired through free agency.

i think Nomo pitching a no-hitter at coors was one of the best pitching performances ever, and a favorite moment, simply because he just never seemed to have any dominating "stuff". average fastball, good breaking stuff, far from great control, yet he's made quite a significant contribution to the dodgers history......correct me if im wrong.

from last thread: the same igonorant, idiot fans by the foul pole i believe, make up alot of the revenue for the dodgers. including buying dodger caps in 6 different colors, buying 5 different styles of jerseys, buying shoes with the dodgers logos, unlike the more educated and intelligent fans, they actually spend 80% of their little paycheck to go to a game and feels compelled to make it worth more than just observing and enjoying "the game" itself. maybe we should be angry the dodgers themselves and other organizations for not setting a certain guideline(s) and or regulation to stop them from behaving like idiots and actually hire stadium staff that will enforce those rules.

Greatest casualty to the DL: Darren Drifort.
Honorable mention: Kevin Brown

Worst slide: Pedro Guerrero.

didn't he seperate a shoulder or something, due to him not knowing how to slide. I think he just kind of rolled into a base when there was a close play.
vr, Xei

107. While Nomo didn't appear dominating, keep in mind he threw a second no-no for the Sox.

107. They are adults, they should know the rules. Being angry at the Dodgers seems a bit odd. vr, Xei

103 Since he has done well with the Marlins, you now read things like Ramirez was bored, he knew he should be playing in the majors, that is why his stats are poor.

Kevin Goldstein said the same about both Loney and Kemp today in his piece in BP.

And most observers said that about Justin Upton's entire 2006 minor league season.

As Master Yoda once said about Luke that could be applied to these players:

All his life has he looked away to the future. Never his mind on where he was, on what he was doing.

Said it better and more simpler than I could.

Hi, kind of new here. Been lurking for awhile, but don't think I've ever posted. Great topic and great answers so far. Hard to add anything else, but I think I got one I can add.

Greatest tag to record an out: Cesar Izturis when he caught the throw in the air and tagging out the Padre (forgot who it was) between his legs in an attempt to steal.

It's good to see Pedro's name. Especially with all the other 1988 references. Sad that it's for his horrible sliding and not for his hitting.

109

... Pedro broke his leg on that slide.

111.
i take that back. no need to be angry at dodgers.

i dont think being adults can accurately depict a person's intelligence, maturity, etc. In most other venues maybe, but not at a ballgame. i know much more well behaved teenagers at high-school athletics than their "adult" parents.

Hanley was one of those who the scouts loved and the statheads looked at his minor leagues stats and asked why. I was on the stathead side and I'm as shocked as everyone that he looks to be locking horns with Jose Reyes over the next 10 years as the best SS in the NL.
I thought the Sox made a great trade but as good as Beckett has been, to see what Hanley is doing right now and how Anibal Sanchez performed in the 2nd half last year they must be sighing when thinking about a lineup of Hanley/Manny/Ortiz.

How 'bout greatest single inning?

Second to last game of 2004:
Dodgers score 7 (last 4 off Steve Finley grand slam) in bottom of ninth to win game 7-3, win division and pretty much all but eliminate Giants from post-season contention.

Yoda was very big on intangibles.

116 Images of grown men hitting beach balls out of ushers hands just popped into my head.

The Phillies just lost another closer. Myers hurt himself. Finally a place for Tomko to be happy and suckceed. If a trade can be made that benefits Tomko I am all for it.

Greatest radio call: Vin Scully's ninth inning broadcast of Koufax's perfect game.

everybody in this country knows the rules, but it doesn't seem to keep adults from breaking them on an everyday basis.

like chris rock says, "calling double-dribble on a handicapped kid in a basketball game for a good cause is wrong"(edited)
some things you just have to let slide. although i agree with everyone in saying these fans are annoying and are for the most part idiots. IQ test at the entrance is funny...

... And if only there were a place to put Mike Scioscia's 2-run homer off of Dwight Gooden in Game 4 of the '88 NLCS.

Greatest addition-by-subtraction trade: Kevin Brown and his contract to the Yankees for Yhency Brazoban, Dioner Navarro and Jeff Weaver.

12-10

117 Here was Baseball America's take on Ramirez when they wrote about that trade.

"Ramirez, 21, is one of the game's top shortstop prospects but also something of an enigma." Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2000, he never has has a breakout year to match his considerable tools.

Ramirez has the bat speed, raw power and pitch recognition to hit .300 with 20-plus homers per season, but he has yet to show the focus and preparation to get him there. He has above-average speed and shortstop range, as well as a plus-plus arm.

Greatest outfield catch: John Shelby's catch to end Game 4 of the '88 NLCS was the most significant, but probably the greatest catch in the outfield that I ever saw by a Dodger was Marquis Grissom robbing Rich Aurilia of a home run in the 9th inning on Sep 16, 2002.

Best home run call: No school in Borneo tomorrow!

Worst slide: Tommy Davis, 1963?

124
Best home run to win a playoff game by a power challenged catcher against a dominant pitcher?

131 Technically, Kirk Gibson's home run won that game.

130 I think that was in 1965

Dave Roberts made an amazing catch on Tal's Hill, or whatever they call it in Houston, to preserve Eric Gagne's save streak.

Jon, is that a rule 1 violation in your Lost post on Screen Jam? :)

133 Yeah, I was guessing on the year and was too lazy to look it up. Hence the question mark.

I guess if there are two things that define my life, they are question marks and laziness.

Best home run trot was Fergy clutching his helmet as he circled the bases after beating the Astro's in one of the games of the greatest series of all time.

137 I am expressing my disagreement with your post by limping around the room pumping my fist.

132
Oh yeah, that just extended it. Can you imagine DS if that had happened at home?

So was Orel's relief job in those playoffs the best by a starter pressed into a closer role or am I imagining the whole thing?

137
Best home run trot of the regular season?

134 By now it's probably Tal's Hill Presented By Reebok™ or some such.

Tampa Bay finishes off Seattle.
13-12

The thing about Orel's relief appearance was that almost every game in that series ended exactly the same way, with a little blooper to shallow CF that John Shelby either did or didn't catch. Hershiser lost game 1 because in that game Shelby didn't make the catch. In Game 4, he did make it and they won.

Greatest individual two-homer game + possible greatest opening day: http://tinyurl.com/2jelfr

Greatest spin kick in a bench-clearing brawl: http://tinyurl.com/3955eu

Best Double Play: Cey catches a bunt in the 1981 series and fires to first for a double play - Dodgers and rookie phenom Fernando win 5-4

144 Oh yeah, that game was awesome. Probably beats out Marlon Anderson for the greatest individual 2-homer game.

A few days after the Mondesi game, those 2 teams rematched in Arizona's home-opening series. They played the longest game I have ever seen in person, in which the Dodgers took the lead in the top of the 16th, only to lose in the bottom of the inning on a homer by Kelly F. Stinnett. The most memorable moment of that game was Mondesi going from first to third on a sacrifice bunt, which is something I had never seen before and have never seen since.

Best month: Pedro Guerrero's June 1985

Addendum to best month: Orel Hershiser's September 1988

Best AB after an IBB: Mike Marshall homers in San Francisco (was it in 1988?)

140 Russell is making himself too valuable to give a day off, I am afraid to think how many games he will play in that 39 games in 41 days stretch.

I have to think he will get a day off this weekend. It would be better to rest on Sunday, it would give him about 3 days off between games with the Saturday day game.

But he does so well against lefties, maybe he'll have Saturday off.

147 Ron Cey - April 1977.

Best series: 1980, last series of the year against the Astros.

Greatest outfield catch--Glenn Burke made a over-the-shoulder Willie Mays World Series type catch in a World Series that has to be one of the best catches.

Some say Glenn Burke created the high-five so maybe the best hive-five could be Glenn Burke's.

Duke Snider had some great catches climbing the wall in Ebbots Field that should count.

You know, I originally brought up the Cody Ransom Experience as the greatest reached-by-error.

I might reconsider though, upon recalling Davey Lopes' popup off of Reggie's chest in Game 4 of the 1981 World Series. Doesn't hurt that its still the only WS game I've been to (and generally known as the Johnstone Game). Its kind of the ugly stepchild of 81WS games. It was sloppy as heck, but action packed.

152 I would say that it was a 1988 series at Wrigley when we swept a 5-Game series (Jul 14-17) right after the All-Star Break - in reality the 1980 Houston series was more like winning 3 out of 4 since we lost the playoff

"It was sloppy as heck, but action packed."

The "Kill Bill" of World Series games?

Bob Welch in 1978 for sure. I signed up for life after watching him in that series.

So did Canuck, iirc.

Best trot--Duke Snider taking his position in right field in the Collesium.

Most cheered homerun in LA for a Giant--Duke Snider's homerun to beat the Dodgers. The only time I cheered for a Giant homerun that beat the Dodgers or any Giant homerun against the Dodgers for that matter. It was a standing ovation from Dodger fans.

When will the Dodgers ever have a Duke in CF again?

145 - I mentioned Cey's play in my post at 90! I have attended just two World Series games, both ended 5-4 in favor of the Dodgers! Game 3 vs. Yankees in 1981 and Game 1 of the 1988 Series with Gibby being the hero!
I also remember Steve Yeager holding onto the ball while being clobbered by Dave Parker under a full head of steam has one of the greatest plays at the plate I saw. That was on TV as they were at Pittsburg in either 77 or 78. Reggie Smith fired the perfect strike to Boomer. I still to this day I am amazed Yaeger held on to that ball.
Boomer also hit a grand slam in September 1974 against the Reds that helped the Blue stave off a late season charge by the Reds to win their first division crown since the league split into two divisions in 1969. I was in the left field bleachers for that one as well.

Best back to back HR was Game 5 of the 81 World Series. Guerrero then Yaeger went deep off Guidry to turn a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Dodgers swept the three home games and led 3-2 in the series going back to the Bronx!!

160 We could have more than one! Tampa Bay is probably looking to trade its problem child.

Best trade--LaRoche, Loney, Kuo, Houlton, Hendrickson, Brazabon for Zimmerman.

161 Sorry, but best back to back HR any of the following -

-Kent, Drew
-Drew, Martin
-Martin, Anderson.

Oh god, no! If we're going to do another trade with TB, it's gotta be for another position player. I'll take Carl Crawford... (or Evan Longoria. Yeah, right.)

For the best multiple home run game I'd give consideration to Kevin Elster's three homers against the Giants on April 11, 2000 in the first game ever played at PacBell Park.

162. Seems like TB is better than Oakland at attracting and keeping troubled guys. What is the general belief about Guzman and his troubles? I believe the Dodgers believed them to be real enough to factor heavily into his value.

162 Then shey should be talking to the A's

168- shey/they, Oprah/Uma

146 I was at that opening day when Raul hit those shots. It was a great, great experience as a Dodgers fan.

I also introduced Dodger Stadium to one of my friends for the first time. Needless to say, he's been a Dodgers fan ever since. In fact, we were out on the town hours after that game, and the entire time he kept shouting, "Raul's the man, baby. Yeah!"

The best trade I think was The Burt Hooten trade in 1975. I think we gave up Geoff Zahn and a minor league player that never had success.

171 - If it was such a good trade, then you might want to make sure you spell his name right - Burt Hooton

Greatest emergency start: Fernando Valenzuela, opening day, 1981, pitching a complete game, five-hit, two-walk shutout against the Astros in front of 50,000 people at Dodger Stadium.

He was filling in for the seasoned veteran Reuss, who got hurt. Of course, no one was quite sure how "seasoned" Valenzuela really was.

Scully's last line in that game was classic: "...and a little child shall lead them." FV went from being an exciting prospect to a cult hero that day.

What about greatest pinch hit?

There's Manny Mota's double off Luzinski's glove that turned around the '77 playoffs.

I guess the real answer is Gibson, '88 WS, but maybe he shouldn't be allowed to enter that category, since he's got so many others nailed.

174 Tim Leary and Eric Karros, mentioned above, also belong in that conversation.

154 & 156 - That Johnstone / Kill Bill WS Game 4 is also remembered for George Steinbrenner breaking his hand in a post-game "supposed" mugging in the DS Elevator - remember?

Tonight's Minor League Schedule

All games can be heard via minorleaguebaseball.com (registration required) (All times are PDT)

4:15 - Jacksonville @ Tennessee
5:00 - Great Lakes @ Burlington (Kershaw starting)
6:05 - Las Vegas @ Tacoma

The Dodgers Cal League team, Inland Empire 66ers lost again to Lancaster, 8-1 in a pre-noon start.

It came out later that he actually got in a fistfight with someone -- was it Winfield?

Best Windup: Tom Brennan "The Flamingo" in 1985 - he used to pause and seemed to emulate a Flamingo in the middle of his wind-up, much more deliberate than Nomo

176 I kinda though it was after game 5, but of course I remember that happening.

That game was also the ugly counterpoint to Welch's 78 Series heroics. He faced 4 batters to start the game, and didn't record an out. My memory is fuzzy about a lot of baseball that I've witnessed, but remarkably vivid regarding that game. I remember Willie Randolph tripling down the rightfield line on the first pitch of the game and the rout (or so it looked) was on.

Our friend who got us the tickets (a security guard at the time) came to visit our seats and said that, according to Tommy, the Dodgers would come back in the 6th, and that's pretty much how it happened. A called shot.

178 - Really? I was under the impression that he puched a wall or something in a moment of rage after the defeat...

Why is it that Tom Brennan pitched 31 innings for the Dodgers and I have no memory of him at all, while Bill Brennan pitched 9 innings for them and I remember him as clear as day?

181 I think you've got it right. He punched the wall of the elevator, and claimed later that he'd been in a dust-up with some Dodger fans. A rhubarb, to use Vin's term from last night.

At least that's how I remember it.

Best post game interview: Lasorda commenting on Kingman's performance.

Best non-hit batsman: Drysdale plunking Dick Dietz in 1968 and the ump ruling Dietz didn't try to get out of the way.

Walk has to be Mike Davis.

Catchers interference is an interesting one. There was a game in the late 90's that I believe was in the bottom of the 9th against the pittsburgh pirates.

The dodgers were up with a runner at third and the pitcher threw a hard curve in the dirt, the catcher blocked it and as it flipped off his chest protector in the air he caught it with his mask.

Eric Karros rushed out of the dugout and said that it violated some rule, and the runners were allowed to advance.

Game Over.

ACtually, I'm not sure it was called catcher's interference.

Best Strikeout Putout at 1B: Game 5 of the 1981 Division Series vs. Astros - Jerry Reuss strikes out PH Dave Roberts and Scioscia throws to Garvey at first for the final out of a 4-0 victory

175 Tim Leary and Eric Karros, mentioned above, also belong in that conversation.

So does Darren Driefort. I'm not letting people forget about that game.

For Best Groundout, I think Raul Mondesi takes it going away, for throwing out Mark Portugal at first base and getting the rare 9-3 groundout.

186 Yeah, as I'm sure Bob would be only too happy to explain if he were here, that's not technically catcher's interference but a three-base error on the catcher. (If it had been a batted ball, I think the batter is awarded a triple, however.)

"7.05
Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance --
...(b) Three bases, if a fielder deliberately touches a fair ball with his cap, mask or any part of his uniform detached from its proper place on his person. The ball is in play and the batter may advance to home base at his peril."

I remember that Dreifort pinch-hit. I remember what a good hitting pitcher he was in general. I remember what filthy stuff he had - singled out once by Peter Gammons as the nastiest stuff he'd seen - and of course remember the ridiculous contract and his injuries. But when he was healthy, rare, he was fun to watch. This post on Dodger Math sums it up better than I can.

http://dodgermath.com/?p=281

And the best passing of a kidney stone in the Dodger Stadium elavator goes to...?

160 When will the Dodgers ever have a Duke in CF again?

Hmmm, anyone like the sound of "Duke" Kemp?

Yikes. Elevator.

I was just assuming the elavator was some sort of Seinfeldian room that would take you to another floor while you sit on the john.

Dang. I should'a waited for Eric's save...

flyout, defense: I have a soft spot for the can of corn Bob Watson hit to defensive replacement Ken Landreaux in center field to end the 1981 World Series.

I have a feeling I know who will win "Worst Appendectomy"

198 That subject is still sort of an open wound around here.

190
Actually at the time, it was a two-base error because the rule was different for a pitch rather than a batted ball.

This year, the rule was changed and the runners get just one base.

I miss reading & posting here but since my sister & her husband moved back to Detriot I decided to rent out my down stairs pad & move back up stairs so i'm having "cable issues" with time warner (they can't get somebody to my house until Wed. of next week) why am i posting this your thinking? i don't know, my brain is weird that way. Until then i'm hoping for some more Dodger victories!

Wow, I didn't know it was changed. Unsurprisingly, the official rules on MLB.com still say three bases.

161 That block of the plate was astounding. That was the one where Yeager rolled over from the impact of Parker, held the ball up to show he held on, then fell back on his face, right?

202 Is the key word in 190 "deliberately?"

How many bases is the batter given if a pitched ball is undeliberately caught and lodged in the catcher's equipment?

204 Are you asking a trick question?

No difference. First base if it's ball four, the bench if it's strike three, still hitting in all other cases.

Yhency Brazoban looked pretty good yesterday & he also seems to have a pretty healthy tummy. :o)

205 Ah, I was thinking about this...

7.05 Each runner including the batter runner may, without liability to be put out, advance... (i) One base, if the batter becomes a runner on Ball Four or Strike Three, when the pitch passes the catcher and lodges in the umpire's mask or paraphernalia. If the batter becomes a runner on a wild pitch which entitles the runners to advance one base, the batter runner shall be entitled to first base only.

As The Straight Dope explained... that wild pitch deal only applies after the batter becomes the batter-runner on ball four or strike three.

Best/worst forfeit game ever: August 10, 1995, Dodgers lose to Cardinals, 2-1*

*Can also double as the worst giveaway ever

I was there that night, and when Tom Henke came out for the ninth inning, he was nearly nailed with a full water bottle (in addition to the thousands of baseballs). Absolute mayhem.

208 Can also double as the worst umpire misconduct ever. Jim Quick should have lost his job over that.

149 My choice for Best AB after an IBB: Dusty Baker's Grand Slam after Garvey was intentionally walked (after a Cey sacrifice bunt!) in the 1977 NLCS, breaking a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth at DS. My dad was at the game (a buddy had a ticket) and I watched on TV; I could have sworn my head hit the ceiling when I leapt off the sofa as the crowd went wild.

207 Tomorrow is Douglas Adams Towel Day. I hope you're bringing a towel to work.

209 Lasorda nearly lost Chris Gywnn after he fired one of the loose baseballs into the Dodgers dugout, coming this close to nailing his pinch hitter.

211 I predict good nights for the players that wear number 42. Oh, wait....

211 Jerry Tarkanian was ahead of his time.

211 I will try, but don't panic.

some interesting things I read :
Jason Stark claims that Andruw Jones is the most overrated player in history and Juan Pierre is listed as the 4th most overrated player in the majors today (not a big surprise...he's on pace to walk 31 times in 748 PA....)

wow 31 walks...that's like once a week...someone should keep statistics on what the dodger record is in the games he does walk

lol a player stole home off of kershaw.

217 4-5

both runs should be unearned for kershaw. the first run happened when a runner on second, batter hits a gb to 1b, kershaw drops the throw at 1b and gets away from him and runner scores from second.

second run, runner steals second, advances on a throwing error by the catcher and then he steals home. kershaw walks the batter and gets the next one on a ground out to end the inning.

220 Correct. But the official scorer has erred and the first run, at least, is listed as earned.

31- Don't claim Robinson's steal, Howard's groundout to Reese or either the flyout to Amoros or Snider. They belong to the Brooklyn Dodgers. I thought this thread was supposed to be LA Dodger history.

My choice for second best homer after Gibson '88 was Dick Nen's pinch hit homer in late September '63 vs. the Cards. That one ended a late season charge by St. Louis, and paved the way for the Dodgers great pennant win and World Series sweep.

Best Hitting Display: Carlos Perez vs. a Water Cooler

http://www.dodgerblues.com/content/features_moments.html

June 17, 1999

Frustrated over his miserable season, Carlos Perez displayed his anger during a bizarre eruption in the dugout moments after being removed from a Dodger/Pirate game. Perez struck out Jose Guillen to open the fourth inning, but then his problems began. Perez walked Abraham Nunez, batting eighth in the Pirate order, then walked pitcher Francisco Cordova and leadoff batter Mike Benjamin. Davey Johnson then removed Perez, receiving a mock ovation from the crowd of 25,384 that expressed contempt for Perez from the outset. Moments after entering the dugout, Perez grabbed a bat and began hitting the water cooler and empty buckets. He struck the objects 14 times before disappearing into the tunnel leading into the clubhouse. A beautiful sight!

221

yea its listed as earned right now, which i dont understand why.

anyways, from listening to kershaw, it seems when his mechanics get out of whack, he cant throws strikes. and it seems like his mechanics can get out of whack depending on the inning. When it does, he leaves everything high because he drops his arm angle lower then his shoulder to compensation from rushing his delivery.

"his mechanics can get out of whack depending on the inning. When it does, he leaves everything high"

That will hurt him a lot more when he gets to the majors than it does right now.

225

definately. Hes getting by on pure stuff at this point. He hasnt exhibited the control of his fastball I thought he would this year.

Kershaws done for the day, Loons go to the bullpen!

224 Depends on more than what you posted, of course, how many outs there were, what the subsequent batters did, etc. But you guys know your stuff, I'm sure there were one or two outs and the next batter made out.

That's the second time this year Kershaw has been charged with an erned run when it was actually unearned. There will be little incentive to change it however. The Loons are on the road so the official scorer works for Burlington.

"Erned" run. Cute.

I scanned the posts but I can't say thoroughly. {All though I spelled it pretty close). So if I am redundant I apologize. I would fill the blank with "Duo" and say Koufax and Drysdale, who were a joy for a boy to follow!

So far, the Braves/Mets game is really enjoyable. Smoltz vs Glavine typical good pitching and the Braves are up.

230 Somewhere in the thread Jon clarifies that he is looking for greatest moments.

Dick Nen's homer in 1963 was not a game-winner. It just tied a game in St. Louis in the 9th. The Dodgers would win the game in the 13th, but not after Ron Perranoski worked out of a jam started when Dick Groat tripled to lead off the 10th. It helped that Cards manager Johnny Keane had taken out Stan Musial (in his final season) for a pinch runner, so Perranoski struck out his replacement, rookie Gary Kolb.

Then Perranoski intentionally walked Ken Boyer and Bill White and Walt Alston took out rookie third baseman Ken McMullen and put Dick Tracewski in the game at second with Jim Gilliam moving to third.

Curt Flood hit into a force play at the plate and Mike Shannon grounded out.

Willie Davis scored the go-ahead run in the 13th on a Maury Wills ground out.

Not a greatest moment, but maybe a most embarassing one--Penny pitching an inning with his fly open recently.

Did Penny start a trend?

"Lilly brought a 59-58 record to Chicago, but showed he could compete in the American League East, with a tenacity that figured to endear him to Cubs manager Lou Piniella. The two enjoyed a novel bonding moment recently when Lilly informed Piniella that his fly was unzipped during a conference at the mound. We kid you not."

http://tinyurl.com/2dljml

Are we entering an era of an entirely different meaning for the infield fly rule? :)

222 As I remember, Nen got a World Series share for that homerun. That is how important the players thought it was.

Does anyone know the diagnosis on Elbert or when he might pitch again?

234
Outfielders are exempt from the infield fly rule and are more comfortable for it.

Best pinch hit if it hasn't been mentioned might belong to Jay Johnstone. Lasorda found out Jay bought and ate a hotdog in the stands and ordered him to pinch hit. Jay barely had time to grab a bat and get to the plate only to hit a homerun. Or something like that.

Best dodge from picking up a restaurant tab has to belong to Lasorda who has a looong career of not paying for a meal.

144, 170: I was at that game, which almost singlehandedly made my wife a baseball fan. And a Rauuuuuul fan.

Most surprising All-Star: Jeff Shaw appearing as a Dodger All-Star game in 1998 before he'd thrown a single pitch as a Dodger.

240 I was at that All Star Game. It was weird watching the newest Dodger line up for introductions. I felt confused giving my full Dodger cheer. I sat behind George Brett.

On a side note, the best "hit" I ever saw was during batting practice before that game. Bonds hit one that bounced off the front of the upper deck (and off the Giants logo) and was still going up when it did (based on the fact that it hit the logo and ricocheted at an upward angle). Juice or no juice, it was the hardest hit ball I have ever seen, and I don't expect it ever to be topped

Greatest Spring Training Prank: eyeblack in Kirk Gibson's cap.

202
The three base thing is for touching a batted ball. The case in the Pirates-Dodgers game was touching a pitch with the catcher's equipment.

Chin-Lung Hu went 3/4 tonight, raising his average for the season to .353. I note the fact because under an hour ago I read Andrew Grant insist that Hu is "still" a "no-hit shortstop." It is nonsense like this that tempts me to go from at least hearing out sabermetricians to just dimissing them outright as kooks who aren't living in the same universe as rational beings.

244--You have to look at how a player is getting the hits. LD percentage being rather important.

Batting average is so volatile, its not a good gauge as to whether a player can adjust to the big leagues. Thats why OBP-BA split is so important. Hu doesnt have it. Abreu doesnt have it either.

Loney's hit like .380 last year, but didnt walk much.

Now he's hitting .260, and not walking much.

Very few free minor league swingers, are going to succeed at the major league level.

LaRoche's command of the K zone, even though he only hit .235 at Vegas this season, is a big part of his having success at the major league level.

.235 BA, but a .367 OBP is going to get most player noticed, especially players as young as LaRoche.

Or a .309 OBP, which is still a wide gap.
I was caught looking at his SLG--of .367--which wasnt good at all.

Now he's hitting .260, and not walking much.

Loney has like 22bbs in like 172ABs. thats an above average walk rate.

loneys ISOd is like around 80, which is above average.

245 -- Minor league free swingers? This is the sort of error that comes from obsessing over walks, and not looking at strikeouts. Free swingers strikeout -- a lot. They strikeout a lot because they swing at bad pitches. Hu strikes out at about ONE HALF the rate that a decent minor league hitting prospect would be expected to. Loney's strikeout rate was even better than that last year, and Abreu too rarely strikes out. Without looking at the totals, I think Loney's walk rate might have IMPROVED this year in Triple A, or at least it is about the same. But what is different? Loney is striking out at historic high levels for him. This year Triple A pitchers are having a far easier time striking Loney out than MLB pitchers ever did. It is exactly as I predicted, here at DT, when Loney was sent back to Vegas at the end of spring training. I said then that Loney was going to doing badly this year in Triple A, not because his talent would be gone, but because in his frustration he would change his hitting style to try to force more power, with the result that he would not only fail to hit for more power, but what he does do well would go in the toilet, and that is make contact and hit for average.

Dont most minor leaguers need to be in the 'great' category to feel confident about them making a successful transition to the major leagues?

Cuz, like usually its only the best of the best minor leaguers that ever make the big leagues. Just being above average doesnt distinguish one in the minors IMO.

Add Loney's BBs:
2006 AAA - 32 BB, 366 AB
2005 AA - 59, 504
2004 AA - 42, 395
2003 A+ - 43, 468

Somewhere in the vicinity of 10% of his PAs, very roughly.

251

thats not the point. the point is, loney is walking where you said he is not walking much. And the 2006 season of Loney, Laroche and Kemp were all pretty great in their own respective way.

I'm really happy Josh Bell is coming around, I have high hopes for him eventually.

250--I see your point, but I'd also argue that having a low K rate in the minors isnt that big of deal, bc at that level the stuff of the pitchers isnt that great and its much easier to just 'make contact'. Fastballs are straighter, guys dont have as much action on their off speed stuff, etc.
So in essence, its really not that hard to go out of the strike zone and make contact.

And I can see how it would be tempting for players that young, to go out of the K zone to chase pitches bc they know they can make contact on them. However, they end up failing as they go up the chain bc the opposing pitching gets better, and the guys can no longer make good contact on those balls out of the zone.

Discipline has to be taught at the lowest levels, where its that much tougher to get guys to not swing at stuff out of the zone that they probably know they can hit. I pegged Russ Martin as one of my favorite Dodger prospects way way back bc even at the lowest levels he walked a lot and had a good command of the zone. It didnt matter where he was drafted or how many 'tools' he had or didnt have. He had the one thing that most guys that young have a tough time developing, the thing that would never leave him.

255 He had the one thing that most guys that young have a tough time developing, the thing that would never leave him.

Sounds like part of a movie trailer/advertisement!

Free swingers strikeout -- a lot.

You can be a free swinger and in fact not strike out very much. Cesar Izturis and Juan Pierre, to name my least favorite Dodgers of the last 10 years come to mind.

251 -- No, they don't. When you start looking up the minor league records of present major league players, both pitchers and hitters, you see that "great" minor league records are not the norm at all, and are very much in the minority. There is a better correlation of great minor league records and MLB stars, of course. I am not arguing that Hu can be a star at the plate in the majors, or that he could ever hit .353 as a major leaguer, but what Hu is doing now, in a pitcher's league, while not being too old for his league, does make me optimistic that Hu will hit well enough in the majors that his star defensive play at SS will not come at the expense of having an offensive liability at SS.

257 -- There is a big middle ground between being a patient hitter and a free swinger. Izturis and Pierre are neither patient nor free swingers. Same story with Paul Lo Duca.

Looks like the Cubs figured out the CLA and the Cubs are up 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth in SD. Is the rest of the league going to figure out Mr. Meredith eventually or is he legit? My only comparison is Steve Schmoll and we all know how he turned out.

It sounded like a Cubs home game in the 9th inning at Petco. Lots of Cubs fans there.

The Cubs really scratched together those two runs in the 9th. 2 soft singles, a bunt, and 2 Fielders Choice grounders got them their runs.

The Dodgers are facing the best 3 Cubs pitchers tho this weekend: Lilly, Zambrano, Hill. With 2 lefties, Olmedo better get some time.

Greatest Crowd Electrification by an Opposing Pitcher's Run from the Bully:
John Rocker's first appearance in a major market after blasting all the minorities that rode the New York 'L' train. I was electrified by the Azul Faithful standing up against bigotry and prejudice. It was truly awesome.

An evening in the Right Field Pavilion: :-)

Chew on it: All you can eat at Dodger Stadium

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18853110

this is one of the reasons why Nomar will play unless he is hurt.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-dodrep25may25,1,6048022.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-dodger

darnit, i ruined the screen. my bad guys, i thought it would fit!

Yeah, they were even talking about the all you can eat deal on sports talk radio up here in the bay area, grudingly admitting the Dodgers had come up with a good idea.

Now I hope all that gorging will distract and sedate those folks away from interfering with the game. ;-)

You broke the internet! Heh.

Stats 101: What is the Pythagorean Formula?

>>> This time around in Stats 101, we're going to take a look at a mysterious beast called the Pythagorean Formula.

The Pythagorean Formula, as it applies to baseball, was concocted by the great Bill James. By using a team's runs scored and runs allowed the Pythagorean Formula tells you what that team's record should be. <<<

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6843482

hey i got a little insite people, keep on the down low though. The dodger could possibly be getting A ROD for wilson betemit and a couple minor league pitchers...
just hear this from a person on the inside

I love Dodgers49. He is all meat and potatoes.

269
I wish I could believe that.

269 By "person on the inside," which prison are they in? That makes a difference. well, thanks for the insite.

269 Keep it on the down low? Why, I'm sure Ben Mallard is already running with it in the six minutes since you posted!

This trade makes no sense for the Yankees. They don't need minor league pitchers. They need major league pitchers. And their hitting has sagged, so they're hardly in a position to give up their prime offensive force.

If A-Rod were on the White Sox and this was 1995, I might believe this. But I don't see Cashman making a move that dumb, much as I'd love for it to happen.

273 I wouldn't give that rumor the time of day, ratt. ;-)

Ooh, I just noticed that the Dodgers-Cubs game Saturday is on Fox national. Cool. I actually get to watch a D's game on TV instead of on my computer.

Houlton pitched another good game (shutout for his part) for Vegas tonight, though it was wasted when the bullpen (and defense) imploded late. Kemp had two hits.

I like that Tacoma has a 3B named Prettyman.

The Yankees would never trade A-Rod.
Name the last time they traded a star for another team's prospects...

264--As long as Nomar doesnt show up in a mlb equilvalent of an "NBA Cares" commercial, then what he's doing is cool.

We could already guess this was the case, but now it is confirmed, Logan White loves southpaws: "I believe in trying to draft and sign as many lefthanders as possible."

278

Jack McGeary...Josh Smoker... come on down!

278

where did that quote come from canuck?

278 Its from a premium content article on BaseballAmerica.com talking about why teams love to draft lefthanders.

What was the greatest ____________ in Los Angeles Dodger history?

When Koufax pitched his perfect game in September 1965 I was listening to Vin Scully call that game on the radio. However, I was fortunate to actually be at the ballpark two years earlier when Koufax pitched the second of his four no hitters (in four straight years).

In 1963 I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB. Each weekend when the Dodgers were in town I would get a bunk at the YMCA and spend Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. So I was there that Saturday night when Koufax pitched his no hitter against the hated Giants.

The funny thing is I'd had a vivid memory of that game over the years as follows:

Koufax was perfect through seven innings. He then walked McCovey in the 8th for the only baserunner he allowed. But a few months ago while browsing Baseball Almanac I ran across the follow:

>>> Sandy Koufax nearly had two perfect games as the first twenty-two batters he faced during this game were retired. Ed Bailey was the spoiler when he was issued a base on balls during the eighth inning.

Ninth inning play-by-play: Sandy Koufax started quick when he got Joey Amalfitano to pop-up for the first out. Jose Pagan stepped to the plate next and drove a pitch deep enough to bring the fans to their feet. Willie Davis was on his horse from the moment it left the bat and hauled it in near the wall. The 1963 home run leader, Willie McCovey, strode to the plate as a pinch hitter and Koufax issued him a base on balls. Harvey Kuenn was the Giants last opportunity and he took the first pitch for a strike. The next pitch was also a strike and Kuenn swung hard only to have it bounce back to Koufax who easily fielded and tossed it over to Ron Fairly for the final out. <<<

So, McCovey didn't even start that game. Could Baseball Almanac have gotten this wrong? :-) I think what happened over the years is I knew that seven perfect innings meant the Giants cleanup hitter was due up in the 8th and that Willie McCovey was usually the Giants cleanup hitter. And I remembered Sandy walking him. Apparently, over the years Ed Bailey gave me no reason to remember him. :-)

Great story.

I have a couple of secondcounsinsinlaw (or something like that) who were at Edwards and Vandenberg and then working for big aerospace contractors in the sixties and the early seventies. What a fascinating subculture. Those folks definitely felt (and if their stories are true) acted like they were the kings of California.

A bad day for Old Friend Danys Baez:

"BALTIMORE, May 24 -- The two sounds Danys Baez heard Thursday night surely will ring in his sleep, worse than most nightmares. One was the deafening crack of his flat sinker off the bat of Alex Rios. The other was the boos that cascaded from every corner of Oriole Park at Camden Yards before, during and after Baez took the mound in the 10th inning.

The boos grew fiercest after Rios launched a Baez's would-be sinker into the left field seats, the decisive blow in the Baltimore Orioles' 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Manager Sam Perlozzo kept the embattled Baez in the bullpen as long as he could, bypassing him in the eighth for a trio of pitchers that couldn't preserve a one-run lead. Out of options in the 10th, Baez came in, the ball flew out and the game was lost."

http://tinyurl.com/32jxgq

Canuck,

I called Hu a no hit shortstop both because he's not hitting line drives while getting tons of hits, and because people are saying he still looks like the same exact guy as last year, but he's just hitting .350 instead of .250.

I'm sure you've seen Hu play more than I have and you disagree with the scouting report, but when both his stats and his approach suggest that he's getting lucky hits, I have to agree with them.

284

Baez made his name as a closer with his devastating sinker, but, "my sinker is not working right now," he said, which renders it a straight fastball up in the strike zone and over the middle of the plate.

Hey Danys, guess what? Your sinker didn't work last year either!

Next, watch for Baez to suggest that the O's are treating him like trash, and then be traded to the Royals.

282- Looks like the Almanac has it right.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196305110.shtml

He was on pace, until the second walk, to face only 27 batters, since Davenport GIDP after the first walk.

286 I believe Odalis was being treated "Like a trash."

I love that quote.

262, was that a game in LA you mean? Because I was at his first game back in Shea and it was almost unbelieveably awesome there too...

Can I nominate for "Greatest Gas-Can Performance By a Dodger Rookie of the Year" this start by Mr. Nomo?

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1995/B08250PHI1995.htm

*with a special bonus for the esteemed Mr. Timmermann!

Has anybody seen today's lineup? I am guessing Abreu will be at third unless Kent gets another day rest and Abreu would then play second.

Few people here think Nomar will ever play left field but if the Dodgers are willing to play Loney in right and LaRoche in left, move Russel and Lopes from the outfield to the middle infield ojt in mlb, is it that far of a stretch for Nomar to play left?

Nomar is apparantly never going to play third so either Loney takes Ethier's place in right or Nomar takes Gonzo's place in left if Lone's bat is going to get into the lineup. Loney played rf and Kemp was in CF again in Vegas last night.

Kemp and Loney switched places in the batting order as well, Kemp hit third and Loney hit second.

269 This guy is my new favorite DT poster (move over Greg Brock, if that is your real name). We finally have a guy on the inside! But keep it on the down low, only post it on popular Dodger blogs with a huge readership.

That said, please, Gods, make this trade happen!

276. The Big Unit, although most of his "big star" days are behind him.

Now I'm being treated like a trash.

Et tu, gpellamjr?

276, 292 - Who'd they get in return for Sheffield? That was the first trade I thought of.

So, the answer to 276 appears to be: last offseason. Perhaps twice.

So, who will be attending Nomar Garciaparra's Carne Asada Night at the yard?

294
The Dodgers got Brian Jordan in exchange for Gary Sheffield.

293 Well, since you used Latin in your post, you get one more chance. But, if Caesar said that, and he probably didn't (I don't think I could speak Latin after being stabbed a bunch of times, let alone Greek!), it was "kai su, teknon", which is Greek and means "and you, my son?" The rumor (so Plutarch tells us) is that Caesar had had an affair with Brutus' mother, Servilia, and that Brutus was very likely Caesar's son.

297 If it ain't Livy, I ain't rememberin'

Maybe a little Tacitus here and there. That's it.

Sorry, Bob. I was unclear.

I meant, who did the Yankees get (last winter) when they traded Sheffield?

299 Humberto Sanchez and other.

The Yankees got Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan, and Anthony Claggett for Sheffield.

298 It's a very sad thing that we don't have Livy for the end of the Republic. I'm sure whatever he wrote about it was very interesting. Augustus accused him (in a friendly way) of being a "Pompeian", so it is very possible that his writings were not entirely sympathetic to Caesar. I'm trying to think of times when Livy used Greek, and I can't think of any. Suetonius used Greek all the time. It could be that Livy would have had Caesar say "Et tu, fili" or something like that, or it's possible he doesn't do anything like it.

Tacitus for me is like reading Hemingway. It's beautiful in its concision, but I don't feel like I'm really getting anything out of it.

302 - Tacitus for me is like reading Hemingway. It's beautiful in its concision, but I don't feel like I'm really getting anything out of it -- There's always the New Testament.

296 - we also got Odalis Perez, and Andrew Brown. Brown of course was one of the players traded for Bradley, and then Ethier. So if you really stretch it, we have Ethier to show for Sheff, and ultimately Piazza.

The Greatest Ever

Single: Bill Russell, Game 4, '78 NLCS.

Double: Manny Mota, Game 3, '77 NLCS. The key hit in an incredible series-turning 9th-inning comeback.

HR: Gibson's homer in the '88 WS is a no-brainer. But Rick Monday's dinger in the 9th inning of Game 5 of the '81 NLCS has to rank up there as well.

Bunt: Vic Davalillo, Game 3, '77 NLCS. It set the plate for the 9th-inning comeback.

Strike Out: Fernando Valenzuela, Game 3, '81 WS. K'd Piniella to finish off a gutsy complete-game performance in a crucial game.

Pitching Performance: Hideo Nomo, Sept. 17, '96. To pitch a no-hitter in pre-humidor Coors Field was remarkable.

Catch: Dave Roberts, 2003. At Houston, his run up the hill in centerfield to rob Berkman of a HR preserved Gagne's save streak.

275 - I went to the Vegas/Tacoma game last night. Kemp started in center and had a couple hits and a walk, but a baserunning error by him cost them some runs.

Loney played right field, which I thought was encouraging. He didn't look real comfortable at the plate, with a strike out and a pop-up before singling in his 3rd at bat.

Bigbie and Mitch Jones continued to pound the ball; Jones connecting for a bigtime homerun in his first at-bat, and Bigbie spraying line drives all over the place.

Delwyn Young is extremely entertaining to watch hit. He really takes a rip at the ball.

Houlton looked good, only giving up a couple of long flyballs that Loney and Kemp caught with their backs to the wall. Tacoma's team looks pretty weak with the exception of Adam Jones, who's pretty raw, and Wladimir Balentien who has really come on as a prospect this year. Houlton, however, is going to force himself into the "rotation conversation" if he keeps pitching this way.

Thanks for the report blue!

Do you think Loney gets more distracted at the plate when he's playing out of position? Jones and Bigbie - two guys we're probably gonna lose to another team or to waivers at some point soon. I see Delwyn Young as someone who can be like Fred Lewis has been for the Giants (so far), except maybe even better - I hope he gets a look as a solid 4th outfielder next year (once Kemp is starting). And I do expect Houlton to get a shot this year, maybe as a long reliever at the worst, if Bills is moved to start at some point (and Tomko's traded). Thanks again.

307 - Who knows what's going on with Loney? He's obviously playing under his abilities, but what is his true level? Somewhere between last year and this year, most likely. I told him to hang in there, and we'd see him in LA this year. Of course, Bigbie was standing right next to him, so I felt compelled to offer some encouragement about him getting to LA too. He kind of laughed it off. Seems like a nice guy. He signed a lot of autographs.

Loney looks bigger in person than I was expecting. Matt Kemp is awesome.

Late to the party but glad to see somebody got the Davalillo '77 LCS bunt. At the very least, it's the best two-strike bunt in Dodger history.

How about Greatest Consecutive Homer Binge? I think we know the answer to that one.

I think we can also give Dick Nen credit for Greatest Lone Hit in a Dodger career.

For Greatest Steal, I think you have to go with either Davey Lopes' record 38th consecutive SB in 1975 or one of Maury Wills' in 1962 (no idea which one).

Greatest Relief Performance: Roger Craig's 11-inning, three-hit shutout vs. Milwaukee in 1959: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MLN/MLN195907090.shtml

308 Wow, I didn't realize you were sitting so close to them. ;-) Prety cool.

305 What, no Lee Lacy pinch hit makes your list?

310 - That's the beauty of the minor leagues. Future Hall-of-Famer talent in a Little League environment.

New woman for Greg Brock:

http://tinyurl.com/2jb7rx

306 I will repeat my futile call for Jones to play CF for the Dodgers this year.

313 I still don't get why you'd prefer Jones over Kemp.

313 - He's hitting for a lot of power, but his average is down in the .260's with 47 K's in about 160 at-bats. I don't know how competent he is with the glove though.

He actually played firstbase last night. I would assume it's a concerted effort to get Loney some time in the OF, since he was in right, which shifted Kemp to center and Jones to 1st. Bigbie DH'd.

315 I believe he was referring to Jones the Adam rather than Jones the Mitch.

315 - Delwyn was in leftfield, btw.

316 - That can happen, assuming Ned is willing to part with a pitcher above Kuo's ability. Adam Jones is the M's top prospect.

314, 316 No no, I was referring to Mitch Jones. He's a local kid, so I'd love to see him play in the major leagues. He couldn't be worse than Pierre, that's the main point of this silly fantasy.

Certainly, I'd prefer Kemp, if the team decides he can play CF (or Ethier in CF, and Kemp in RF).

319 Ah, well then apologies.

319 It would certainly be great on one level to see Mitch Jones in center: "Hey, Juan, take a seat and count to forty-four million. We're gonna give this AAAA guy a shot"...

319 Can you still call someone "kid" when he's 29?

322 He's already called it a "silly fantasy." Fair enough in my book. Why not let him choose the terminology?

269 I thought I told you to keep that one under wraps, Dodgerkid25. And please, oh please don't make the same mistake with the Albert Pujols for Smush Parker deal I told you about, everything is still very tenuous.

For best RBI, for some reason a single game has also stuck with me from 1998. Dodgers were playing the Braves, I think, and Tim Leary (who was a great hitting pitcher) came up and stroked a 2 run single up the middle to give the Dodgers the lead (and later the game). Vin got really excited about it and kept saying over and over that this was a sign that the Dodgers were going to be a contender. I think it was an otherwise meaningless game in June, but it has always stuck with me. Does anyone else remember that game?

325 - 1998 or 1988?

The best Catcher's Interference? Try Saturday, August 12, 1995, (I was at this game) Angelo Encarnacion (a defensive replacement) of the Pirates - In the bottom of the eleventh inning, with runners (Roberto Kelley and Tim Wallach) at second and third, a pitch rolled a foot from the plate and Encarnacion picked it up with his mask. Tommy immediately ran out and argued that this was an automatic advance, scored an error per rule 7.05(j).

Although technically, I don't know if this is catcher's interference, an illegal catch made by a player, or just an error it was a game winner.

310
Funny that you'd ask. Because one of my earliest memories as a young Dodger fan was watching a Dodger-Pirate game on the NBC Game of the Week in about 1978. LA was down 2 in the 9th, when Lee Lacy came up and jacked a pinch-hit homer. Because the Dodgers ended up losing the game (stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd), I couldn't really label it a "greatest ever" moment. But that at-bat by Lacy elevated him to being my favorite Dodger. Amazing how impressionable we are as kids ....

A little late to the thread, but I was at the balk game capping the doubleheader sweep at Candlestick in 88. There were a couple hundred left at the end, it seemed.

Can I nominate a new category - best wild pitch? I was at this game; ah, 1988 - you seem so long ago...

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1988/B08200LAN1988.htm

Bottom of the 9th (LA down 1 run):

DODGERS 9TH: DAVE MARTINEZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); HESKETH
REPLACED BROOKS (PITCHING); Sax grounded out (pitcher to first);
HATCHER BATTED FOR SCIOSCIA; Hatcher doubled to left; ANDERSON
RAN FOR HATCHER; Gibson singled to shortstop [Anderson scored];
Marshall popped to first in foul territory; Gibson stole second;
Hesketh threw a wild pitch {Gibson scored (from 2nd)};
Expos 3, Dodgers 4.

322 The basic rule is that if you are a decade older than someone, you may call them a kid.

This one combines best triple and best balk ...
Circa 1980--With the Dodgers down a run with two outs in the 9th, Derrel Thomas (the Human Toothpick who caught everything with a basket catch) tripled home the tying run and then scored the winning run on a balk by Mario Soto.

Mike Scioscia is one of only two players in NLCS history to reach on catcher's interference (Richie Hebner is the other.)

Scioscia did it during the fateful Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS. After Bill Madlock tied the game at 2-2 with a homer off of Bob Forsch in the fourth, Mike "General Soreness" Marshall walked and then Scioscia reached first when Redbird receiver Darrell Porter hit his bat.

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog called on Ken Dayley to relieve. Tommy Lasorda countered with pinch hitter Enos Cabell so lefty Greg Brock wouldn't have to face Dayley.

The result was 5-4-3 DP.

No one scored until one out in the bottom of the ninth when Tom Niedenfuer, in relief of Fernando Valenzuela, faced Ozzie Smith ...

Several players in that game would eventually play for BOTH the Dodgers and Cardinals:
Niedenfuer, Pedro Guerrero, Todd Worrell, and Tito Landrum.

I think Dayley may have been a spring training invite to the Dodgers one year, but didn't make the team.

321 It would certainly be great on one level to see Mitch Jones in center: "Hey, Juan, take a seat and count to forty-four million. We're gonna give this AAAA guy a shot"

Humma Kavula has achieved the ultimate enlightenment of my Mitch Jones crusade. You may now proceed to nirvana.

331 - That's how I felt last night. I'm 31, and I'm fawning all over Loney and Kemp like I was a 13-year old.

I was graduating college when these guys were still playing Little League.

335 - After further review, I think I was experiencing the opposite of 331. Either way.

According Josh R. on ITD (no lineup posted there yet guys - 8 hours before gametime), LA Times Dodger beat writer Steve Henson is moving on to Yahoo Sports, joining former LA Times National Baseball writer Tim Brown among others.

Yahoo Sports is fast becoming its own launching pad for content as opposed to just partnering with Sporting News and other sports media companies. Locally, they have continued to cover the Reggie Bush extra benefit story, often to the ridicule of some since they were often the only ones out there with that story.

That said, I fear that the LA Times is going to be home of columnettes (a Tony Kornheiser term for his short musings in the Post) and perhaps we may see the day where they will devalue the necessity of day to day coverage of our local teams.

306 Blue, are you from Tacoma? I was at Cheney Stadium last night as well. Houlton threw lots of curveballs. He was getting them over enough for the Tacoma hitters to chase some that were out of the strikezone. His fastball did not look all that fast.

Kemp does not look like that good a fielder to me. Unless he gets better, I suspect he will be a corner outfielder. D. Young and Kemp have awfully long swings. Mitch Jones looked good to me; short stroke with some power.

Now for some of my contributions to the list:

Best groundout: Maury Wills to end game 4 of the 63 W.S.

Best sac fly: Going by memory on this, but I think Carl Furillo hit a sac fly to tie game 2 of the 1959 playoff against the Braves in the 9th inning. The Dodgers won it in extras.

Best popup: Me

Stan from Tacoma

Toy Cannon,

Don't know if you are on line today, but I sent you an email.

329 - I, too, was at that July 26, 1988 doubleheader sweep at Candlestick. I still carry the ticket stub in my wallet.

The Giant fans were violently hostile to me and other Dodger fans that night (even more than usual). A crowd of them climbed on top of the bullpen dugout and jumped up and down attempting to cause it to collapse on the Dodger pitchers.

Others climbed up on the outfield fence and threw batteries at the outfielders. Fights were breaking out all over as fog was rolling in over the top of the stadium. It was dangerous and surreal - it felt like Mordor.

The Chronicle headline the next morning called it "Black Tuesday" because of the fan behavior. Several extra security measures were taken after that, including an extra row of barrier fencing between the bleachers and the outfield fence.

Sweeping the Giants after all that was beautiful.

340 - I was there in the left-field bleachers for the whole two games. It was the last day of the chainlink fence at Candlestick.

338 - I live in Bellevue. I was the loud guy sitting behind the Vegas dugout, wearing my 51s hat and Robin Ventura road grey jersey last night.

From my vantage point, I couldn't really discern if Houlton's stuff was that good, or if Tacoma was that bad. I didn't see the end of the game when Hull and White blew it for DJ.

342 - It appears it's directly tied to his short career, not his ability or results.

He's just trying to sell some books.

342 - Yeah, it's been discussed a couple times already.

I was at that Candlestick doubleheader in '88 as well. I was in 8th grade, and my parents wanted to leave after the ninth of game two.

It was so cold, and the fog was so dense we could barely see the game anymore, so I didn't mind too much.

I still remember people climbing the fence in left and throwing stuff at Kirk Gibson. That was a brutal place to be a Dodgers fan back then.

330 - No way, best WP has to be from this game, September 29, 2006:

http://tinyurl.com/2lr3qj

Mike Stanton throws the ball away and Martin scores the go-ahead run.

I hope to compile all the nominations - thanks.

Old post up top.

Greatest Double

I see Mota got another nomination and I remembered this as a triple.

On September 14, 1971 against the Giants Mota hit come-from-behind bases loaded double in the 9th to beat the Giants 6-5. I can't remember, but I think the Dodgers caught the Giants that night.
Then the Dodgers lost the next two games to, guess who?
The Padres of course! And finished the season one game out. People probably remember the final game of the year pitched by Don Sutton.

LA N 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 - 6
SF N 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 - 5

DODGERS 9TH: Sims singled to center; GRABARKEWITZ RAN FOR SIMS;
SUDAKIS BATTED FOR MOELLER; Sudakis singled to right
[Grabarkewitz to second]; RUSSELL RAN FOR SUDAKIS; On a bunt
Wills singled to third [Russell to second, Grabarkewitz to
third]; CUMBERLAND REPLACED DIETZ (PITCHING); GIBSON REPLACED J.
JOHNSON (PLAYING C ); MOTA BATTED FOR BUCKNER; Mota doubled
[Wills scored, Russell scored, Grabarkewitz scored]; Davis
singled to second [Mota to third]; MCMAHON REPLACED CUMBERLAND
(PITCHING); Allen struck out; Crawford lined into a double play
(third unassisted) [Mota out at third]; 3 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Dodgers 6, Giants 5.

Blue, I did see you at the game; I noticed the Ventura Dodger jersey.

I think Mike Morse is the best prospect at Tacoma. I like the first baseman too, Bryan LaHair. I wish there was a way for Ned to get Morse; I think he could play third for LA right now.

Stan from Tacoma

Concerning comment 349: The bases clearing triple was terrific. It was 105 degrees in the San Fernando Valley that day and the day before, and also quite warm in San Francisco. One week earlier, on Labor Day, the Dodgers were 8 games behind SF. The Dodgers swept 3 games in L.A., and came to Candlestick the following Monday, down by 3 games. The Dodgers beat Marichal on Monday, which led to Mota's heroics. The lead was down to one game, but the Dodgers never caught up, ulimately losing on the final night of the season by one game.

Greatest Stolen Base: After O'Malley dumped Maury Wills in 1966, Wills returned to the Dodgers in June, 1969. In his first at bat, Wills singled. Every fan in the Dodger Stadium, and every fan listening to Vin on the radio expected Wills to steal. Scully was rarely as excited as when Wills took off; Scully said,"And there he goes." The steal attempt was successful, the crowd went crazy, and Scully welcomed Maury home.