Should I feel dumb for not understanding the title "6 6 6 7"?

tonights lineup has furcal back at leadoff and laroche back at 3b...grittle is really starting to puzzle me...saying one thing and doing another

supposedly pierre had worse numbers at this time last year so that's a small microscopic glimmer of hope

It will come as no surprise to many here that a member of my family has not one, but two, Shawn Green signed ticket stubs from that record breaking day in Wisconsin.

Did they schedule Milwaukee as part of the Shawn Green tribute night?

1 Yes :)

That was Green's box score line from his big day

Histroy will not repeat itself. Green just grounded out with the bases loaded.

2- It's true. He was worse, at this point, last year: .240/.276/.301. From 5/23 out, he was .310/.349/.419. So. He's got that going for him.

Laroche, Betemit, AND Abreu?

I smell a trade a comin'

Most steals by a catcher since 1900
Courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/stolen.htm

1 - 36 - John Wathan 1982 KC-A
2 - 34 - Roger Bresnahan 1903 NY-N
3 - 30 - Ray Schalk 1916 CHI-A
4 - 28 - John Wathan 1983 KC-A
5 - 26 - Jason Kendall 1998 PIT-N
6 - 25 - John Stearns 1978 NY-N
7 - 25 - Ivan Rodriguez 1999 TEX-A
8 - 24 - Johnny Kling 1902 CHI-N
8 - 24 - Ray Schalk 1914 CHI-A
9 - 23 - Johnny Kling 1903 CHI-N
10- 22 - Jason Kendall 1999 PIT-N
10- 22 - Jason Kendall 2000 PIT-N

Martin currently is on pace for 30, which would be tied for third all-time.

I wish the Brewers had the quality of pitching now that they had then. Rusch and Cabrera were particularly impressive.

What's the big puzzle? Betemit's been better off the bench, and that's mostly where he's staying it seems. LaRoche and Abreu will platoon. (Abreu could also get spot starts at another position.) One of them will probably go back to AAA when Kuo comes back. There ya go.

7 I welcome the new and improved Juan Pierre.

Now with more buntin' action!

Just kidding about that last line. I saw your LAT'd post in the last thread, and I stand corrected on the point.

Dave Hansen was a Dodger in 2003? My mind's playing tricks on me, homie.

Re: 7 If Pierre OPSes anywhere in the neighborhood of 760 the rest of the way, I'd throw a parade.

9 John Wathan, the pride of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In fact, with Kendall all over that list, that's a lot of South Bay steals.

7 - Pierre actually has been a better second half player every full season he's played. He has a career OPS of .801 in the months of July and September.

Wow, all the way back to his rookie year JP gets better as each year goes on, every second half has been better than the first etc...
We might just have a tiger by the tail come July.
Say what you will- that is a pretty amazing trend.

15 So, I have to admit it's getting better? It's getting better all the time?

Can't get no worse!

13 Check that, re Wathan. I was thinking of Don Slaught (under the category of middling AL catchers of the 1980s).

Come the middle of the season, pitchers can no longer concentrate on Juan Pierre.

16,

...maybe me head is in the sand, but there are some angry young men when The Player is at hand...

Angry old men too

I will miss the game (and the Lost finale too) tonight. I'm going to se North by Northwest at the old Orpheum Theater on Broadway, downtown. Should be fun.

15 like Adrian Beltre

19- You're asking a lot, Doctor, for a man to change his beer. You're asking a lot. [/Da Mayor]

Um, I mean, you're asking a lot to ask us to be happy that, best case scenario, Pierre will only continue to be awful for another month. Until next spring.

ToyCannon favorite Shane Victorino gets a bobblehead with a new twist:

http://tinyurl.com/24lr39

Also, it may be an Odalis Perez situation. Pierre wasn't that much better in the second half of '05, or '03, than in the first half of either year. And this is an odd numbered year.

How about this lineup:

Furcal -- SS
Pierre -- CF
Martin -- C
Kent -- 1B
Ethier -- RF
LaRoche -- LF
Betemit -- 3B
Abreu -- 2B

Just to say we can get all three 3B in the lineup at the same time.

Us mere mortals remember the line as 6 6 6 7, but I bet Bob remembers the actual 6 6 6 7 0 0 3 0.

24 Sheesh. What's next, a bobblehead with Juan Pierre eating watermelon?

13 The OPS would be 837.8 [at least if one buys into the theory that the better/greater correlation is 1.2xOBP+SLG].

Off to the game!

With Milton Bradley on the disabled list (again), I'd like to wast space by venting that I am glad we don't have him anymore. I know most people here would take him over Pierre (and I myself could teeter either way given our present state), but at least our current CF is a positive influence (albeit an influence for 4 years too long. And most of you have already ripped a hole in the Space-Time continuum through your frustrations).

Despite his talent, MB had too much baggage and put himself in the middle of controversy. Just play baseball dammit. I realize that I will never know how difficult being a professional athlete is, but even so, don't most of these athletes know that any of us would love to play the game into our mid 20s or 30s and be paid for it? The rhetorical question is re-inforced in the wake of the Elijiah Dukes situation. What also bothered me about him is every one of his swings looked to have the intent to send the ball over the fence. My view of this is exacerbated when LA was down by a run or two in the later innings. I am glad we have Ethier rather than Bradley. Ethier has to do better. I don't see him finishing up the 1st half with an average under .300, but part of me smells a trade brewing involving him.

Fin

And finally, a public televised game that doesn't involve Tomko starting. Sorry if I made your ears or eyes bleed.

I was checking to see if there were other catchers with perfect seasons in steals.

CS records are somewhat spotty. Johnny Bench was 11 for 11 in 1975, but he played some games at positions other than catcher. He stole one base in a game where he was playing LF.

Red Wilson, a catcher for the 1958 Tigers, was 10 for 10 on the season.

Both Bradley and Dukes had very bad father situations growing up and they still have not gotten over it. It is why they are the way they are.

What also bothered me about him is every one of his swings looked to have the intent to send the ball over the fence

Why would that bother you?

31 - With Bradley, what got me more was how injury prone the guy was.

33
I don't believe Milton Bradley ever met his father. I don't know how you rate the difference between an absent father and a present, yet jerkish, father.

What also bothered me about him is every one of his swings looked to have the intent to send the ball over the fence

You must be a big fan of The Player.

29- It's fine to make that adjustment, but shouldn't you call it something different? It wouldn't make sense to compare that number to anybody else's unadjusted OPS.

Speaking of hotheads, it was fun to just watch Julio Lugo flip out against the umpire on a called third strike from Rivera - which, to me, looked clearly down the middle. I don't know what he was freaking about except maybe how the ump had called things earlier in the game (I just tuned in). Good ol' Lugo.

Ryan Church isn't in Shawn Green territory, but he has two HRs and a double tonight in Cincy, and 6 RsBI.

34 Because it rarely worked in his or the team's favor. Get on base, catalyze a rally.

37 Honestly, i am not up to speed with nick names, so I don't know to whom you are referring.

Milton's father was a drug addict.

Bradley has risen from a youth in Long Beach, Calif., that helps explain, well, what his problem is. For all the board-game jokes about his name, the way he got it isn't one. Charlina Rector dated a man named Milton Bradley in the late 1970s but says she broke off their engagement because she claims he was hooked on cocaine. When she gave birth to their son in April 1978, she was still unconscious when Bradley filled out the birth certificate without her permission. He wanted a Junior, and made damn sure he got one.

Rector, who was already raising four kids from a previous marriage, says she protected Milton Jr. as best she could from what she describes as his drug-addicted, abusive father.

Rector says Milton Sr. was a Vietnam veteran with a purple heart, who slept wherever he could and spent several years homeless. When he got off drugs, Rector says, she allowed him to spend some time with Milton Jr. Rector had already taught the boy to bat right-handed. When she was out working, Milton Sr. forced him to swing left-handed, just like him. Hence the switch-hitting.

When Milton Jr. played Little League, his father would occasionally show up to watch, causing him to become distracted and withdrawn. Rector ultimately told his father, "Stand where he can't see you." Milton Sr. would hide behind a tree, but the kid knew better.

Milton Jr. still occasionally speaks with his dad, who he says is unemployed and "not doing much of anything." The son never calls the father. He talks with him only out of respect for the blood he had no choice but to inherit. "All I got from him was the same name," says Bradley, who never changed his name because the memories only drive him harder. It was always him and his headstrong mom, a cashier at local Von's and Safeway supermarkets, against the world

i probably just jinxed him but i cant believe Penny hasnt given up a homerun yet.

42
Rector...? Nearly killed her...

I work on the Hill now, and had occasion to spend most of the day during a long hearing sitting a few feet from a certain SF Valley area Congressman.

He was carefully reading a stack of press clips for the first long stretch of the hearing.

Then I realized they were a group of articles about yesterday's Dodger game that someone had copied off for him.

He was impressed I knew who Russ Martin is.

45
Was it California's nerdiest Congressman?

Well, I' m sure there's no good answer to that question.

47
Was it California's recently married, very nerdy, AND Jewish Congressman?

He's been on Colbert (if I'm thinking of the right guy). That's got to be worth some hip cat bona fides.

I find it bizarre that he's (whoever he is) got his staffers Xeroxing things, instead of just bringing a laptop. Are congressmen not allowed to have computers on the floor?

Furcal seems to get a hit every time off lefties lately

50
Maybe he hates Moneyball.

48 - you're still losing me here, mostly because I don't follow CA politics.

My congressman is the only Jewish Republican congressman.

He does look a little nerdy.

http://tinyurl.com/2vctdb

Ummm, fielder's choice?

55 - what was his choice? Did he throw home like Aybar did that one time?

Official scorer ruled "Fielder's Brainfart."

Nomar just took 4 straight pitches. Is his bat broken or something?

Not the one.

Nobody looks nerdier than Henry Waxman.

Nobody.

56 He chose to just kinda stand there with the ball in his hand. Seems strange to give a guy a hit when the fielder fields the ball cleanly, has time to get the runner, and doesn't.

Damn, Nomar gave that a ride. Why couldn't Furcal have tagged up on that one? I guess if it wasn't caught...

gah, and the wind's blowing out to CF too

Loaded up for RMart!

I assumed Bob was referring to the freshman congressman from the east bay/central valley district who is a mathematician and advocate for the causes of math.

Let's go Russell!

Boom goes the Canadian! (well, not quite boom, but close enough)

Howard Berman? He's an old guy, so the xeroxing would make more sense.

Russ Martin lights up my life.

thank goodness that martin is hitting 5th today...that would have been a double play grounder if luGo was hitting there

i would die for Russ.

Marlins put up four in the bottom of the ninth to tie their game with Philly -- inning continues.

Ghame Over.

Now THAT's what I like to see on my birthday! woo ha!! go Martin!!

That's a good thing too, Krukow.

ps: I love how Shawn Greens 4 HR day will always be associated with my birthday, May 23. Too cool! I think I turned 20 back then.

i really LOVE hearing vinny say "INNN comes furcal! INNN comes pierre!" it's so satisfying the way he says it.

Russell Martin is a golden god.

And the group Russell Martin mancrush continues unabated.

We must vote early and often for All Star
Russell Martin

wow gonzo got away with that one...that was a strike

67 Without associating myself with any of your editorializing, ding ding ding.

Drinks for everybody if LaRoche gets a homer here...

72 - Happy birthday.

You share this birthday with Buck Showalter, Pop-Boy Smith, and Spider Wilhelm

Dang, Andy put a charge into that one

No homer, by the way, I'm new here, what are the "rules" everyone keeps talking about..? I heard a rule #8 and a rule #11.

82
Scroll down on the sidebar.

I hope the coaches give Andy some props for a well-hit ball, even if it didn't get him anything officially.

Our offense will be just fine, provided we can get Russell three or four spots in the linuep.

Anybody have a pair of those novelty glasses? Maybe a wig?

80

I never would have guessed... Buck "Let's Switch to Cotton" Showalter!

Wow, Ethier looked overmatched once he saw a few pitches.

85 - Where's Bobby Valentine when you need him?

Ethier now slugging below .400.

38 Sorry for my belated reply and sorry to interrupt the game. So feel free to wait post-game to read the post [not that you otherwise truly need my permission].

One of the metrics sites, there's probably more, but one does call the 1.2xOBP+SLG the "true" OPS and then says that it's easier to "simplify" OPS down to a straight OBP and SLG. My purpose, well, no doubt based on some of my prior posts here, some have me in the "anti-stat" camp. I'm not.

I simply want all to be aware of the limitations and uncertainty, and, well, here, if we attempt to compare the OPS of a guy who is more OBP and less SLG, with a guy is who less OBP and more SLG, then to make a truly better comparison, we ought to make sure whether we know whether the straight OPS provides the better/greater correlation or whether the OPS = 1.2xOBP+SLG does.

It doesn't matter much for your Caesar Izturis types, but for a Todd Helton who has lost some his homer power, well, with a current OBP of .474 that means an extra 94.8 points in the calculation of his OPS [that sounds "huge", yes?]. And it isn't that his SLG is bad [his is .538], but he looks a lot more dominant with the bat with that very nearly extra .100 points in his OPS.

I choose to believe in the OPS as I stated the same not because I have done a complete math/stat analysis but simply on an intuitive basis. Let me put it this way. SLG means that a single is single, a double a double and so on. But on that single, a guy on base can go two and not one bases and in the case Mr. Valdez [sorry guys], one can go from 1st to home on that Clark 2 base hit down the line. And you don't even need OBP or SLG to score. You hit a grounder to third, the third baseman bobbles it, rushes the throw, the ball goes to down the right field line, the righfielder does his own bobbling and so he too rushes his throw, and next thing you know, you've just scored on a four base error[s].

Lastly, this not mere dig at Juan, but here is where the 1.2 also becomes critical, since his value as leadoff man is even less here since he doesn't walk much and so his OBP is not so much higher than his AVG. In contrast, a whole bunch of other guys do take the walk and so distance themselves just that much further from Juan in relation to OPS is we use the 1.2xOBP. Juan is really, really, really bad in relation to some others who can't hit for power when we use the 1.2xOBP and not the "straight" OBP. But, please, only adopt the 1.2 if you believe the same to be valid, as opposed to simply adopting the same as a convenient and ready means of providing just one more reason to slam one Juan Pierre.

Sorry, one more. I never thought that Capuano would hold course. Thanks Chris for proving me right. Well, thanks Rafi, Juan, Kent, Martin, and LuGo.

even though it's LaRoche's song, I felt the need to play "You're the Best Around" in honor of Russ.

Thanks, Bob. Man, no wonder I didn't see it, it was way down the sidebar. off topic: The Question is, Who Will Win American Idol tonight? The question is, who cares?

Ethier's swing looks really off. Its like hes just using his hands to slap at the ball.

If Kemp does come back up soon, he'll most likely play RF.

Ethier is in trouble.

Since I know where Sam works, I know which Congressman it was. Berman was my Rep for a few years back when I lived in the SFV. I believe that in my life I have been represented by:
James Corman
Bobbi Fiedler
Howard Berman
Ron Dellums (since I lived in Berkeley in 1988, I switched my registration to vote in the primary there.)
Howard Berman, again
Carlos Moorhead
James Rogan
Adam Schiff

Wow, nobody else had a problem with 28?

Brett Myers with an arm injury and Rod Barajas needs to lose his semi-starting job down in Miami...

and did anybody else think Oliver Perez would win 6 games this year?

96 I saw the Meyers injury. Looks really, really bad. Tommy John is the order of the day.

and did anybody else think Oliver Perez would win 6 games this year?

Steve Traschell won 15 last year. Pitchers on teams that score runs can get wins if they're at least mediocre, and Perez gets a lot of K's.

I want to know if Kip Wells can lose 20.

The Brewers really need some help catching foul pop-ups

I also saw the Myers injury.

The ball looked to be foul, but I guess the Dodgers will get the call.

Fool me once . . .

The boxscore for the Phillies-Marlins game says that Myers left with a shoulder injury.

Eh, can't blame Donnelly for sending him on that one

Donnelly'd at the plate!

good play by jenkins wow.

hahaha vin..."i love to watch big league outfielders that can throw."

and windmill donnelly makes another out at the plate.

[104] yes you can.

That's odd.

After 2
Capuano: 42 pitches
Penny: 30 pitches

vinny's talking about catcher's interference :)

Wow RED ALERT for Dan Uggla!

aaaaaand he flies out to Rowand in center, stand down folks :(

113
Semper paratus!

108 You can, but I wouldn't :)

watching the game, watching lost and cooking dinner is going to be hard.

116 - what's cookin doc?

I just got done viewing Lost.
It was a good finale, and the ending really lets us know how the writers have essentially scripted the entire thing I think.

Grab some pine, meat.

We seem to have a sort of blend of Good Penny/Bad Penny tonight. But as least he's consistant with full counts and many pitches!

116

grilled chicken and creamy 4 cheese rice-o-roni!

121 - good stuff. the trick is to turn up the TV when you're in the kitchen

Vin talks of Jimmy Foxx not being at 5'11", yet one of his nicknames was "The Beast."

That should be Jimmie Foxx.

119, redux. Very nice curveball.

2 sons of major leaguers, 2 strikeouts

From Gurnick:
Little said that starting pitcher Brett Tomko will not make his scheduled start on Sunday and has been sent to the bullpen.

way to increase that slg% gonzo.

Bill Hall needs a better cheat sheet on where to position himself in center.

laroche with warning track power!

Yep, Andy, that would've been a home run in Vegas, you're right.

Looks like LaRoche is getting closer and closer.

Meanwhile, for Las Vegas Kuo goes four scoreless innings:

Kuo 4.0 4 0 0 1 4 0 2.35
Stults 3.0 1 0 0 0 4 0 7.05

133 I'll get the full scoop from Guomania later.

I recently moved one more time zone away from the official time zone of DT, which has made it infinitely more difficult to post. I don't know how the East Coast guys do it, by the time the game comes on it is already bed time if you have to work in the morning.

By the way, if you watch "Lost" then you are in for quite an experience. Nice start to this game, but I will have to find out what happened tomorrow.

Okay, no Lost spoilers now you East Coasters.

Jenkins flew out right to the letters on Gonzalez.

Penny is terrifying right now. Every out is a long fly ball. I will go out on a limb before I go to bed and say that Penny gives up his first home run of the year tonight in the 6th inning.

135
And it's a good thing, I don't watch "American Idol" because the New York Times had the winner's name on its homepage.

MLB live box score says the wind is blowing out to CF at 12 MPH.

Hmm, no Loney in the lineup in that Vegas game. Probably just getting the day off. Kemp has a double.

133. Great news. The folks over at GuoMania will be very happy to hear that! vr, Xei

Bill Richardson won American Idol?

143
The people have spoken!

He is the most qualified.

Pierre's actually had some decent at bats tonight. (wait, did I just say that?)

You know, it'd be nice if the Astros didn't completely roll over and die in that series against the Giants.

144. Some don't care. :)
vr, Xei

145
Tonight on "American Idol" each contest will be asked to negotiate an international agreement with Kim Jong-Il.

Simon - "This international agreement is simply, simply awful. I don't know how you can yourself a diplomat. It's just terrible. Did you look at Clause 12? It's nonbinding!"

Paula - "C'mon, it's great!"

Randy - "Yo, dog, keep up the good work on the bilaterals!"

I'd heard tell of Mr. Richardson's barroom exploits, but I didn't realize they were karaoke bars.

"I'm so won-wey... so vewy wonwey..."

I'd certainly watch if it was more about international foreign policy. No wait, I wouldn't. Never mind.

149
Andrew would watch "American Idol" if Brian Lamb were one of the judges.

"So when you perform songs, do you always hold the mike in your left hand or right hand?"

"This song is in the key of C. Explain that to me."

"What is beatboxing? Does it involve fighting?"

The Cubs had the bases loaded and one out vs. Wells in the 7th, and old friend Izzy... hit into a double play. Hip hip! Still 1-0 Cubs.

Cubs lead the Padres 1-0 after 6 1/2.

In the fifth, Izturis batted with two on and no outs and lined into a DP to right.

In the seventh, Izturis batted with the bases loaded and hit into a DP.

152
What he said, but I added color!

That wasn't fan interference. It bounced into the stands, then deflected off the fan, back onto the field.

I sacrificed flavor for speed.

No, it wasn't fan interference, it was just an E-10.

155
Which reminds me that Derek Smart of Cubs Town has procured me two seats in the Steve Bartman section for June 2 at Wrigley. I will be taking my nephew.

I have orders to keep my hands away from the fielders.

Brad Penny's Persian rug smuggling contraption needs work. Even if he were wearing a big coat, I think the customs people would be onto him.

Did JKent just show bunt there or am I hallucinating?

I just had to try to explain to a guy on a fantasy baseball message board why Saito is not in the same class of closer as Todd Jones. I feel dirty even putting their names in the same sentence.

Kent tries to pull a Reyes on Billingsley steal of third without a pitch. It didn't work out.

why jeff?

The hell?

159
The whole time Kent was on the bases was an hallucination.

I think Kent is just really bored and trying new things. A bunt attempt, then a randome steal of third.

Kent stole an RBI from Martin. He'd better watch his back in the shower.

What are you doing, Jeff?

Jeff Kent is on probation.

Russell Martin is several golden gods.

How can they reverse that???

That ball was foul by a significant margin.

It would be a travesty if Martin was not the starter in the all star game. Fair or foul.

That ball was foul.

What do you think, fair or foul? That was very close. I can't even tell from the replays.

How'd he miss that call?
That was easily a foul ball.

That last replay showed that it actually was foul, but I still don't see how the 3rd base ump can get overruled.

On the replay, the ball never disappears from view, so it had to have gone IN FRONT of the pole.

Yep... Foul ball.

Foul ball. Watching the super slow motion replay, I think the call is right. But I could just be biased since I hate Martin so much.

im going to kill that pitcher.

wow russell staring a hole through that kid

feisty catcher y'all got!

Yay, bench-clearing staring match!

"On field delay."

I love it when Mariano Duncan stirs the pot.

Mariano loves to stir up trouble. I like him more as a coach than I did as a player.

Mariano Duncan is an idiot.
He did this same garbage with Jake Peavy last year.

Yeah, definitely foul now that I've seen the side view. Oh well.

182
Sort of like the USC-UCLA football game during a timeout in the fourth quarter.

I love Mariano Duncan, he's always stirring things up

feisty catcher y'all got!

hes a golden god...or backstop bacon, which ever nickname you prefer.

185 meet 186

Gosh, Duncan's falling back into his hot head role. Craziness.

It would make a lot of sense to get this relief pitcher out of here right now. Just common sense.

I want Martin to steal second and go in with spikes head high.

I just saw a commercial for a celebrity nascar show.

We have a no winner in stupidest reality shows.

Meanwhile in San Diego, a 2-run homer by Kevin Kouzmanoff puts the Friars up 2-1.

Carlos Villenueva. Congrats, you just got a file.

And it's getting a red label.

186- Yeah; it's a real shame if our first base coach gets inside the head of the other team's best player. Despoils the integrity of the game, is what it does.

Duncan's trying to be the Dodgers version of Don Zimmer.

The Dodgers dont need a Don Zimmer.

really, it looked like someone on the brewer bench yelled something, and duncan was just responding. i don't have a problem with it either way though.

199
Technically, the Dodgers already had Don Zimmer, but he couldn't hit, so they brought up Maury Wills.

I wish the Dodgers had a Don Rickles.

The Dodgers used to have the actual Don Zimmer.

cmon who is carlos villenueva anyway..whatta joke...wonder what was said to duncan

back to the game...what exactly was kent doing?

Oh, who am I kidding trying to beat Griddle Man?

When Pedro just threw Zimmer down....the guy that does that to Duncan will immediately become my favorite player.

There's no need to run your mouth in any sport imo.

dammit gonzo

a very promosing inning ends with a zero spot

worse signing : Gonzo or Pierre?

Don Zimmer's OPS+ during his time with the Dodgers:
34, 89, 79, 52, 86 and then 107 in 27 games in a brief return in 1963.

Hey everybody, free outs! We're just giving 'em away!

It's tough watching this on MLB extra innings, with the Brewers announcers. Help me. They were roasting Mariano Duncan, especially the color commentator whoever he is.

Well, that was about the most unexciting excitement I've seen for a while.

... I like Mariano as a coach about 10000000 times more than I did as a player.

Martin showing unselfishness right there. He gives Laroche a clean AB after going down 0-2 in the count.

what CANT Russ do!?!? WOW!!

Two outs on the basepaths? Eh...

Let's hope 1¢ uncorks one on a Prince.

The Brewers analyst is Bill Schroeder.

That was truly one of the strangest innings I've seen in awhile. And nothing to show for it.

Duncan looked like he was responding to obnoxiousness from the Brewers coach there, who may have been responding to something else from Duncan before that. But it's clearly both a) not one-sided and b) pointless.

210 Pierre. Now can we move on?

Guess we find out who has Tivo or not right now.

205 - Just being a "wily veteran".

last years brad penny would have thrown at somebody...

223 - Yeah, but in Penny's defense, he probably couldn't hit Kenny Lofton from there. That'd be a long throw.

wow, that should have been a much closer play at 2nd ethier got to that ball quick

Most face time Duncan's got in a long time, I'd wager.
I saw Johan Santana last night in person. Very impressive... Very.

What's up with Penny? This start isn't really like his hot start last year. He seems more efficient this year, more relaxed on the mound. I wonder if he's turned a corner.

No sooner than I type that that two guys get on base, but you get the picture.

228 - and "start" I mean start to the season, not tonight.

Would Loney have caught that?

Thanks to the GIDP, it doesn't matter, but still, I wonder.

The Brewers play-by-play guy is Brian Anderson. Not the former pitcher or the bad outfielder for the White Sox.

What's up with Penny?

0 home runs allowed all year.
He had a very small home run ratio last year during the 1st half as well.

I thought that, too - "Loney would have gotten that" - but then decided it wasn't worth thinking too hard about. Some day, Loney will be there to grab those kind of hits.

I might feel bad for Darren Sutton who worked w/ the now decent Brew Crew last year, but he's doing games for the D'backs now... pretty even trade there.

Man we have some exciting games tonight... I love EI.

Andre Ethier!

Both the Astros and Cubs continue to be lame and unhelpful.

Furry pulling one down like that: Amazing.
Doing it to Counsell: Priceless.

Andy almost had that.

Loney would have had that! Had he been up, and playing third base, and a thirdbaseman and all.

Excellent job by Penny, getting to the 8th. Think we'll see Yhency at all tonight, or more likely this weekend?

The woman on the right behind home plate looks like Jane Seymour.

Man on third vs. Hoffman with two outs in San Diego, and yep, Izturis is the man on the spot. I'm not feeling confident.

Ah, they pinch hit Jones for Izzy but he did nothing, game over.

This game's even bigger now.

OK, Tivo-heads.... What was that Balk for? Did the pitcher not come set?

239- He was up in the pen, last inning. If Martin takes care of business here (really, even if he doesn't), I don't see why they wouldn't bring him in tonight. Assuming Penny can't go all nine.

Somebody's getting thrown out of the stadium tonight.

245 - why?

It looked to me that Wise never came to a full stop when he brought his hands down.

Another idiotic fan over there in the corner. That was lame. Martin ripped it, too. I don't blame Jenkins for being p.o'd.

It's Moron Night at the stadium.

Heh... I think it was the same guy that had the ball bounce off of him for automatic double.

246- Reached over the wall to try and wrestle the ball away from Jenkins, after he caught the flyball.

245 Re the OPS, see, Juan walked, now multiply by 1.2 and he scored, the run producer. So, walk, Juan, walk!

whats Laroche's current BABIP?

People who interfere with the game should be shot at the Stadium. On DiamondVision.

Get a brain, morans.

I hope he was tossed. Seriously, they need extra ushers over in those outfield sections because the fans are being extra stupid lately.

A bit early, but right now it doesn't seem like the LaRoche experiment will last much longer...

I'd like to see LaRoche get a few more starts in a row but he may not, especially after the o-fer tonight.

253 - coming into tonight, .269

Hey Greg, they just showed some old clips. I forgot about the Brewers blue uniforms.

Pretty nice.

252- I understand the reason for adjusting OPS that way; it does correlate better to runs scored, so I'm not arguing against doing it. I'm only saying it has to be called something different, since it is different. Just like OBP is better than batting average, but you can't compare somebody's OBP to somebody else's BA.

When did Nomar change his first name to Offthegloveof?

259 Yeah, they have to get a pass on the road gray Brock rule, along with the Royals.

Those Brewers blue unis rock the house.

I could have sworn it was 1.8 times on base+slug was the "correct" OPS.

257 I would hope not, because hit two balls right on the button tonight.

254
Death's too good for people like that. Sentencing them to perpetually attend Raiders games might be more appropriate.

253- .241, now, I think.

Condemning LaRoche after 35 plate appearances would be...unsurprising.

Can we just leave the kids alone and let them play?

Let them play!
Let them play!
Let them play!

/Astrodome

LaRoche came into the game with a PrOPS of .941, so he finds a few holes and he'll be fine

just hope they give him time to find holes

262- Showoff.

I hope they do, was my main point. He did hit the ball well a couple of times.

Whew, these double plays are tres helpful tonight.

260 That reminds me when I lived in Connecticut and was subjected to the YES network. I thought the Yankee shortstop was named Past-a-diving Jeter.

Tomko to the Pen!
Kuo to start!
So sayeth Vin!

Praise be to C--i?

Busily looking for something partially interesting, I believe tonight's game marks the first time since July 14, 1998 when the Dodgers had two runners caught stealing in the same inning.

In the bottom of the 4th against the Giants, Raul Mondesi led off with a single and then was caught stealing. Gary Sheffield then walked. Eric Karros flied out to center. Then Sheffield was caught stealing again. The pitcher was Mark Gardner and the catcher was Brian Johnson.

The Dodgers won 2-1 in the ninth thanks to a 2-out error by Rey Sanchez to keep the inning alive and then Robb Nen threw a wild pitch to score the winning run.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199807140.shtml

The Dodgers had THREE runners caught stealing in a game against the Braves on August 6, 1982, but one of the runners was safe when the second baseman dropped the throw.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN198208060.shtml

will Kuo start in DC? I'd love to see that.

Oh, man. There will be much rejoicing on a certain player-centric blog.

274 I hope so. I have tickets to one of the games and am planning to get cheap seats for the other two.

Who is warming up in the LA bullpen?
Could this be Brazoban's rheturn to the bhigs?

I'd love to find out how many times Furcal is forced out at second by the end of the year.

I'm going with eleventy billion.

Yhency looks like he hasn't missed many meals since he's been gone.

whelcome bhack, yhency

Wanna feel old?
Out here in Tempe, Kevin Romine's son just hit a sac fly off the son of Mark Schlereth.
ASU leads Arizona 8-4 in the 7th.

279 - funny, Gurnick reported he lost weight

Will it be Ghame Over?

278 - And you wagered . . . $Texas

Hey, Yhency is displaying a pitch other than fastball down the middle. This could work out.

284 - Let's hope Brazoban sets them down one, two, threeve.

yhay!

... Brazoban's lost about 4-5 MPH off his fastball.

Eleventy billion! And you call yourself a teacher.

Eleventy gazillion at least.
--

Nhice start for Yhency!

285 - He always was a brain-dead heaver. (Motto: "When in doubt, throw harder.")
Lord knows he's had a while to think about the art of pitching.

>>> Lineup shuffle:

Little said Juan Pierre, who hit in the second spot in the order Wednesday, and Furcal will alternate with Furcal hitting leadoff against lefties and Pierre against righties.

"It's going to be day-to-day," Little said. "It'll have a lot to do with the matchups. I think right now I'm leaning toward, against a left-handed pitcher, Furcal will lead off." <<<

http://tinyurl.com/22ssjj

288 The DS radar gun rarely shows anyone throwing that hard.

>>> Lineup shuffle:

Little said Juan Pierre, who hit in the second spot in the order Wednesday, and Furcal will alternate with Furcal hitting leadoff against lefties and Pierre against righties.

"It's going to be day-to-day," Little said. "It'll have a lot to do with the matchups. I think right now I'm leaning toward, against a left-handed pitcher, Furcal will lead off." <<<

http://tinyurl.com/22ssjj

293. How about that? Either it didn't show up the first time of Little said it twice. :-)

291
I think it has more to do with arm angles. Who would lead off if Kirk Rueter were still active?

292 ... Is it not the same gun they had last year or the year before? Brazoban was hitting 97-98 on that gun before his surgery; it's 92-93 now.

That was roughly 6-8 inches outside.

Excessive "h's" make me happy. Nice to have Brazoban back.

Gho ghet 'em, Mheat!

294 Little probably needed to say it twice so that the Plaschke and Simers could understand the words coming out of his mouth.

... Ghame Over.

Braz had good off-speed stuff tonight, even if his velocity wasnt great.

Out here in Tempe, Kevin Romine's son just hit a sac fly off the son of Mark Schlereth.

I played with Andrew Romine back in Pony ball!

Yhency's fb was 92-93 but it really had some nice tailing action to it.

Ghame Over!!

I watch the game tonight with no computer access, then I come in here and I see only 300 comments? Weak!

I played with Andrew Romine back in Pony ball!
He's done quite well for himself since then.

gameday said he got up to 95, and with a 5" break and 12" pFX!

We win!

296 Was he getting those readings on the DS gun? I've seen him throw at that speed, but in places like SF where Gange was being registered at 102.

In short, I don't put much stock into the FSN radar readings or ballpark radar. Without standardization (calibration, aiming), they aren't worth a darn to me.

305

he was always a no hit, great glove guy. I also played with Clark Hardman (CSF), Chris Jones (CSF), Matt Cusick (USC) and alot of others. Cusick was always insane with his batting eye.

306 ... Hasn't Gameday clocked trees going at 25 MPH? Don't know if I'd trust their gun.

304 Pues, if you'd been here to critique our grammar, perhaps we could have been more prolific.

Entering tonight's game, Romine the Younger was hitting 309/405/382. Also, he was named to the conference's honorable mention team.

310 It has.

But those trees were being blown over by a Cat-IV hurricane.

>>> "I have lost some weight and generally I'm feeling better," Brazoban said. "I'm throwing 94- 95 miles per hour and I feel good." <<<

http://tinyurl.com/22ssjj

312

andrew has a younger brother who is a higher rated prospect then he is. hes a catcher and should go in the top 4-5 rounds.

304 I'm guessing a lot of regulars have been watching the Lost finale. Which is where I'm going now (thanks to the magic of TiVo). Byeeee.

Hearing Beatles songs on advertisements is unnerving.

A crime against humanity, it is.

317 - I lost my job fighting against the first Beatle song use in a commercial - the Nike "Revolution" ad.

Others in the office were happy the Beatles master was used (not just a cover of the song), and that there was no voiceover - only Beatle music. I countered with a slippery slope argument.

Time has proven me right, and I feel your pain Mr. Brock.

272 Did they really announce that Kuo is taking Tomko's spot in the rotation on the air? I missed the last couple innings. That would be awesome to be able to make his first start against the Nationals (sorry Sam). In fact, our next four series are against fairly weak-hitting teams (Washington, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Toronto), so he could get a nice little run together to solidify his spot for when Schmidt comes back.

319- That's not the way I heard it; I didn't hear Vin announce anything new, just that Tomko was out, and that Kuo was being stretched back out in AAA. It follows that Kuo could take Tomko's spot (and Abreu's spot on the roster), but I'm not sure that that's been decided, yet.

318 I remember that add.

And then there was the TV ad with "It's Getting Better All the Time." Covered by some terrible singers.

And now Hello Goodbye in a Coca-Cola ad covered by some random females. Terrible.

How about "Good Day Sun Chips"?

Tomko goes back to the bullpen

>>>Hong-Chih Kuo will slide into the rotation if his next start at triple-A Las Vegas goes well. Kuo pitched four scoreless innings Wednesday against Tacoma. He is scheduled to pitch again Monday for Las Vegas, then make his first Dodgers start June 2 at Pittsburgh.

Tomko's displeasure could stem from his anticipated role. He will be a long man, pitching mainly when the starter gets knocked out early. Last year he was a setup reliever and believed that in time he might become a closer. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/2e7s3c

>>> Tsao, a pleasant surprise after signing as a free agent, felt tightness in the back of his shoulder when he threw sliders while warming up during Tuesday's game. Trainer Stan Conte said the injury is unrelated to Tsao's shoulder surgery in 2005 to repair a torn labrum. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/2e7s3c

323--Good news, yet strange as well. Why does the club like Kuo as a starter ahead of Billingsley right now?

Kuo did throw some good games last september, but still.

Interesting to say the least.

Failing upward: The Hong Chi Kuo Story.

Heck, still better than Tomko.

325 Probably because Kuo doesn't seem to be able to pitch out of the pen.

Guo is older than Billingsley and thus has seniority. That's the way things work on this team. :) vr, Xei

I don't think Grady wants to lose Billingsley as a reliever just yet, and Kuo is useless in the bullpen. For now, I'll be thankful for EITHER Kuo or Billingsley to get back in the rotation, and having BOTH of them in there can be the next battle to worry about.

329. Yep! Baby steps first. Guo had great success in the starting rotation last year. All of his starts were in high leverage games (September pennant race). He pitched nearly 30 innings as a starter last year and had a K/9 of 10.79, HR/9 of 0.31, K/BB of 5.0, so just like Loney he showed he can perform when the pressure is on. Guo's biggest obstacles are #1-Health, #2-Pitch counts, #3-Getting an opportunity.
vr, Xei

329- If Hendrickson turns in another disaster start this weekend, it may not be much of a battle.

I wonder what makes Brett Tomko think he's good enough to throw a fit when he's demoted.

Dude, you are Brett Tomko. BRETT TOMKO. Shut up.

331. haha, maybe Billingsley will get sent down to AAA as well. vr, Xei

If Schmidt takes Hendrickson's spot, Billingsley will likely be in the bullpen all year until someone gets hurt.

Billingsley and Kuo aint happening.

334 -- Yes, Schmidt returning would complicate matters, but his return isn't exactly imminent, and I'll have to see him fully healthy before I believe it.

Schmidt's another three weeks away, if they do the minor league rehab thing, according to Carroll. Tomko turned in, by my count, five bad starts. Hendrickson has three so far. Maybe he gets run out there no matter what, till Schmidt comes back, but I'm not so sure of that.

I would say Hendrickson doesn't exactly have an iron grip on a rotation spot, and every bad start just gets him one step closer to the pen. We'll just have to see how long of a rope his early success has given him.

With Brazoban back, and if Tsao injury is minor and his misses close to the minimum and Schmidt comes back, we could have quite the embarrassment of riches when it comes to pitching. The only problem is the guys we'd like to deal are either 5th starters or have injury histories that limit their value.

Steve Henson is back at the Times - two articles in today's paper now online. Evidently he didn't take up the Tribune offer to leave, as presumed by some. Or at least not (effective) yet. Good news. It looks like he was just off for a few days.

Also, anti-T. J. Simers readers who are also anti-Juan Pierre partisans (quite a number here, I think, are both) are going to be conflicted by a very funny article. Pierre is quite the dork, on top of his other failings.

Josh Bell has been a beast in May...

59AB 288/373/542 3hr 8bb 16k

332 You got that right. From the Times this morning:

Tomko lost his starting berth because he gave up 13 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings over his last two starts. He is 1-5 with a 6.28 earned-run average and opponents are batting .306 against him.

With numbers like that, he should be glad he wasn't DFA'd. What's wierd is that he took his demotion so well last year, but he's pouting about it this year.

By the way, Brett Tomko has been demoted from the rotation to the bullpen two years in a row. Is someone over there gonna learn their lesson one of these days?

340 Well last year it was different. He had dreams of being a closer, now all he has to look forward to is garbage time if Seanez is busy practicing kung fu or whatever and can't pitch.

338. No conflict here. Simers really is one of those people who makes the world a worse place to live in by his mere presence. He's a 3rd grade bully who makes fun of people because he has a platform to do so. He has the first last and only word in these matches and he uses it to belittle people not just on their performance but personally. Pierre stinks as a player and to point that out is fair. But he is a notoriously hard worker and by all reports a very decent guy and to attack him personally and make fun of him publicly is so far beyond the scope of what a paper like the TImes should be involved with, I hope they shut down and lose the jobs they no longer deserve.

You can now see T.J. Simers celebrated on the Times' new newsrack cards around town.

I totally agree with 342 - had the same reaction reading it and couldn't even get through it (as usual for a Simers column). He tries to bring "us" all in to his snickering snarkiness by ganging up on people in the sports world but it always comes off as unfunny and mean-spirited. I get so tired of Simers' schtick.

There's a guy who writes about pop music for the SF Chronicle, who reminds me of a younger, music version of Simers, named Aidan Vaziri, who does these incredibly obnoxious Q&As, sometimes admittedly with washed up musicians and so on. But they're so mean-spirited and have this sort of snickering pushiness to them that it actually enrages me that the Chron would continually loose him on the world.

Anyway, I'll criticize Pierre and wish he was a bench player, but I was definitely on his side there.

Brett Tomko has forfeited the right to be insulted. Here's a guy who still has some of the best raw stuff in the league, but has historically been unable to concentrate on the important stuff. Tomko is one of those guys who consider the inconveniences of being a MLB pitcher [you know, bleeders, bloops, the occasional boot by an infielder] to be personal. He's regularly seen murmuring when such things happen. "Unbelievable," he was caught saying recently with a shake of the head coming off the mound after Pierre [butcher that he is] booted one in center.

The ex-Giant thing continues to be a mystery. When is Johnnie Disaster LeMaster gonna end up on the roster?

It is to the Times complete embarassment that Page 2, which once featured the brilliant Allan Malamud, now features a petty hack like Simers.

It is even more aggravating that the Times seems to consider all the bile directed towards Simers as something to be proud of.

I actually figured the JP piece would be celebrated here by many.
Sometimes it's not all that different what is said in these threads.
Unfortunately.

I think for the most part about 98% of the posters here seperate baseball skills and personality. We belittle JP's baseball skills not his work ethic. Don't paint us all with the same brush, it is quite irritating.

Our criticisms of Juan Pierre are witty, informed, erudite and incisive.

T.J. Simers, however, is just a putz with a keyboard.

What ToyCannon said.

347 - I kind of agree here. It seems that Simers is saying the exact thing many say here, only he's doing it to Pierre's face. Maybe a "journalist" like Simers should be held to higher standards, but he certainly doesn't pull any punches for the sake of sucking up to an athlete.

Not trying to irritate or paint anyone. Im just saying similar things are posted here at times. Some times more than others. Sorry if you don't agree, that is my opinion.

349 We can tell a "Juan Pierre's head is small" joke that really makes you think.

348. I agree with you. I don't think most people here attack players personally (much). But even if they did, Simers should be held to a much higher standard. First, he is granted access to the clubhouse by the Dodgers and MLB for the express purpose of reporting on the team. To use that access to witness players outside of the scope of their job and report publicly on it is a violation. Second, he is a professional reporter with a gigantic readership under the supposedly respectable heading of the Times. He has more of a duty to do so and limit the scope than we do. For the most part, I think of this place like hanging out in a bar or with friends and I think it's okay to be a little looser. That said, the more popular this place becomes, the more I worry that we're being watched and listened to by many and we're all going to be saddled with that responsibility.

Against my better judgment, I just went and read the Simers article. Forget that he pointed out some of Pierre's failings - that article was just plain amateurish. I even wonder if the whole "confrontation" was a figment of his imagination. The Times should fire him, and MLB pull his press pass for using his access (and column inches) to show how much of a jerk he could be.

Really, what does he think we were supposed to learn from that? That Pierre is frustrated? If anything, that makes Pierre look human. A simple, straightforward accounting of Pierre's disappointing performance would have been MUCH more effective. With this idiotic, narcissistic attempt at, what, humor?, the facts about Pierre are buried under the trumped-up personal attack.

It's as if some paparazzo were to write an article entitled "How I stalked a celebrity and made him upset enough to walk away."

Egad.

"With great power comes great responsibility"

355- And instead of being fired, he is at the center of their marketing campaign. The sad fact is that this crud sells papers. Says more about society than it does about the Times.

I cancelled my Times subscription 1 1/2 ago after being a Times reader since 69 over TJ Simers. I resent the fact I can't read the times anymore but I enjoy telling the telemarketers that if they fire TJ then I'll come back into the fold. I'm just following in the Timmerman's footsteps which are much to big for me but I stumble along helplessly pulled by his charisma.

352. But there's a key different, Doctor. Here, some of us harp on Pierre's failings on the field. I've not read a word about Pierre off the field - in fact, all I've heard has praised his work ethic and love of the game.

But Simers isn't even doing a expose about bad behavior off the field - he's writing up a "Punk'd" episode about how he was cool enough to confront Pierre in person about his bad play.

This article isn't about Pierre at all - it's about Simers. His first line gives it away. It's "Look at me! I can insult a guy when he's down, and he can't do anything about it!"

359. Er, uh, "difference." I'm too irked to type.

I'd say that someone should e-mail him and call his attention to this thread (in lieu of a bunch of e-mail) but I'm fairly sure he would just equate the anger with dollar signs.

yeah, also from the times

Hong-Chih Kuo will slide into the rotation if his next start at triple-A Las Vegas goes well. Kuo pitched four scoreless innings Wednesday against Tacoma. He is scheduled to pitch again Monday for Las Vegas, then make his first Dodgers start June 2 at Pittsburgh.

359

I believe it was Tuesday (or the day before?) JP was referred to as a "Charlatan". (That isnt a coment about his arm). Someone else applauded the clothes lining at first base. And nothing was said about that that I noticed. I just try to ignore it all and not bring it up. Clearly everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Definitely don't want to start a tussle over it. Debate over players value is great. I don't know. I think it goes too far at times.

"I gave him a few minutes and then checked to see what he was working on. He was sitting on the bench. Nice to see, that the guy the Dodgers signed for five years and $44 million, was working on his future position with the team."

I think this line was clever.
The rest of the article was a hack job.

simers is scummy human being and juan pierre is a bad baseball player. but we already knew both of those things.

i hate the useless cliches that baseball players and managers throw out there. there's a good example from simers' piece...

grady little: "juan's got himself in a good position to get hot"

what does that mean??? nothing.

365. It means that Grady's doing the job of answering the same ridiculous questions that are posed to him every day and he's doing it in a way that will appease the writers without embarrassing his player.

349

Oh, I don't know about that. (Yes, I know you were being sarcastic.) I thought that Simer's jibe, after Pierre said he had to go "work" and then was found "sitting on the bench. Nice to see, that the guy the Dodgers signed for five years and $44 million, was working on his future position with the team" quite witty. Wittier than some comments here.

As I said, people here would be conflicted because they don't like Simer any more than they like Pierre. Less so, it would appear.

This is a blog's comments field. TJ Simers is a journalist presumably (regretfully) read by hundreds of thousands. While people here have a responsibility to behave themselves they don't have the same literal and direct responsibility that a newspaper has to not cross the line. That's on top of the fact that I think I, like many here, may be depressed by the fact that Juan Pierre is signed to be our CF for 4 more years but do not hate him and do not want the team to lose because of him. (And yes, there are likely people here who both enjoyed the Simers article and enjoy bashing Pierre. Just not as many as you think.) Speaking of myself, I have tried to not be mean-spirited when critiquing Pierre (and have even defended him here a few times) and tend to feel more sorry for him than anything else. I'd rather see him do well than just be out there sucking for the next 4 years. I'd rather see Matt Kemp out there but what can you do.

All this is different than a journalist's responsibility. That's all I'm sayin'.

And yeah, y'all should read some of Aidan Vaziri's hit pieces in the SF Chron (sfgate.com) to see what I'm talking about. The same thing happens, they get a litany of emails and letters complaining about him, and the Chron seems to wear it as a badge of honor or assume people love to hate him and it sells papers and yadda yadda. Sad.

{crickets}

363
I see your point. I tend to stay away from DT during the actual playing of the game because I'm usually at the game or because I'm watching the game on TV but I really enjoy the before and after game commentary and that is why I hang around here. I no longer peruse the hundreds of in game commentary unless something cool happened and I want to see what the reaction was here.

I won't argue that I privately was hoping Luis Gonzalez might have hurt himself just enough to be taken out of the lineup when he slid into the tarp on Monday night. It is not because of a personal dislike to Luis who seems to be a wonderful human being, strictly a baseball thing because I'd rather see Matt Kemp playing LF and since I pay to see them I'd like to see the players I want to see play. Nothing personal, but certainly not nice and I understand that but I also understand that my little thoughts have zero impact on what happens in life so if Luis was to get injured, guilty pangs would not cause me to lose any sleep.

While we're at it, what can we do to get Dodger fans to behave themselves better in the bleachers and corner OF seats? I've seen so much bad behavior there lately, and heard of even worse. And the stupid "{fill in the blanks} sucks" chants don't help either. But the fans interfering and fighting and yelling and all that is bad. I know that other teams have some bad fan behavior on display, too, but the Dodgers are my team and I'm embarrassed by some of that. Short of taking beer away out there, what else can be done? More ushers? An IQ test at the gate?

I don't like Simers style. But I must agree that his criticisms of The Player were correct and exactly what many, including me, on this Board have been writing. The comparison to Lofton is quite telling. We all expected management to upgrade centerfield in the offseason, and The Player is an obvious downgrade.

By the way, besides the fact that Simers is a Hack, I didn't see any criticism of The Player as a person by Simers. Simers used his questionable talent to pick fun at the Players obvious poor playing skills.

This article may prove to be a good thing. We need all the help we can get to wake Ned up. If Simers wakes Ned up, then fine. True, The Player may get his feelings hurt, but he will still have his 44 million and mediocre ball skills.

So have there been any comments on the latest from Bill Plaschke.

Stadium parking becomes a breeze
After problems at the start of the season, McCourt has instituted changes to the system that make entering and leaving the park better than ever.

And the column goes on about how well the system is working, now they had a string of around 36,000 crowds so its hard to figure how much that plays into how fast people are moving in and out.

And I think as the season goes on, fans who go to a lot of games will figure out their best ways to get in and out and work the system.

I know I'm really asking for it by defending TJ here, but could it be that we're taking him a bit too seriously? I think his column is meant as a parody of the rabid NY-type sportswriter, with a little Don Rickles thrown in. He never has anything nice to say about anyone, but it's all delivered with a wink.

I think some of the people he writes about get it, and some don't. Same with the readers.

I don't find myself drawn to his column, but I'm not disgusted by it either. Now Plaschke, that's a different story.

363- It was the same person who said both things. And, somebody did say something about it: you did. You count. I'll admit that I laughed when JP got clotheslined. I'm glad he's alright, but it was funny. It's funny when people fall down, I don't know why, or who's to blame. Was there any slapstick in Beowulf?

And Jon, just letting you know that after a week-long business trip I was greeted by a very snappy DT shirt. Even my wife says it's "cute," so your fan base just increased. :)

Thanks again for getting those done.

Hey, and what about Henson's return to the Times? No comments there.

Off topic but vitally important. For some reason my Tivo neglected to record "LOST" last night and I'm left swinging in the wind. Will the episode be shown again in the near future? This has happened before and the Networks, if they had any brains, would do something about it. They should run all their prime time shows and soap operas a couple of days later in the wee small hours of the morning instead of the pure unadulterated crap they usually run then. Just my opinion.

378 I f you have an Itunes account, you can buy it for about $2. It's probably already available there.

377 I don't think we know when these buy-outs will take place, I e-mailed JA Adande to wish him well and he replied saying that he was sure I would be reading his writing somewhere else. And then he wrote a column this week so until the dust clears, I'll wait and see who is covering the Dodgers.

378 Goofus, I've watched Lost on ABC's web site the day after the show airs, the past couple of weeks (last night's I did Tivo it), so you should be able to watch it online starting today.

377 I'm happy to see him back, personally.

374 Yes, I think people are probably taking it too seriously, myself included. I think for me it's also just years of frustration at the fact that Simers continues to be published so prominently and continues to think he's funny. While it probably wasn't the worst column ever, it solidifies my opinion of him as, if not a jerk, then at least a dork. :-)

380 Most of them will be effective 6/1. There are some that will be delayed, but I have no details.

371
Until last night I thought the Dodger fan behavior has been much better then in previous seasons. I still haven't witnessed one brawl and that was a nightly event for the last few years. I think the fans went overboard last night but that all happened after the pitch sailed over Martin's head right after the home run was correctly ruled foul.
From my vantage point it was obvious it was a foul ball and we were all shocked when the umpire blew the call in the beginning. I could see why the rest of the stadium would get upset because to them it looked like a home run.
I hate the "... sucks" chants but that is the society we live in now and is not just a Dodger fan problem it is a people problem or maybe a Los Angeles problem.

377 - Henson never left the Times, or not yet, anyway. He just had some days off, per usual.

373 - If there's legit improvement in the parking to write about, I don't think a midweek game against the Brewers with a half-full stadium is the day to judge. I mean, I went Monday and had no problems, but the park was barely half-full, if that. It's not like I had problems at those kinds of games before.

381 I've been hearing more and more such stories, sadly. :(

Of course, this could reflect a societal breakdown as a whole, and so on, and I've def. seen some bad behavior at other stadiums full of otherwise decent fans (A's games for example), but it sorta breaks my heart, too.

374. I agree with every word in your post. I would only add that I have some respect for TJ because he does not shy from the tough questions or fear pissing people off. Having said that, I have always thought that he is too rough on young players who struggle when they get here. He was brutal to FP Santangilo. But if he wants to get after Kent, JP, Lowe or some other big time vet, I say wind him up and let him loose.

371 Toy, I was referring specifically to the idiotic fan who took a swipe at the Brewers leftfielder after the player had possession of that ball hit into the corner. A different play. That and the fan the night before who interfered with the ball in play. It's like a bleacher full of Steve Bartmann's out there.

381, edited -

381. kevinarno
371 --

I had an awful experience last night in my regular season seats: Aisle 150, front row.

At the risk of sounding like an elitist, I've been lucky in that most of the trash is usually relegated toward the foul pole, higher up. Unfortunately, through some sort of clerical error in the ticket office, I had 4 miserable nitwits behind me who, in addition to spilling beer on my guest, found themselves inordinately amused doing the following:

Peeking down below, finding a fan in, say, an Arizona cap, then proceeding to yell from atop, "Arizona sucks!!!!!" for a good inning and a half. They then moved onto a San Diego fan. Meanwhile, the non-regular couple next to me laaaaughed and laughed. When I turned to the milquetoast girl of below-average intelligence, and said, "That's right, encourage the idiocy," she replied, "bit it's funny!" I said, "It's good that you're so easily amused. Your life must be far easier than mine." I realized instantly that the comment was lost on her.

There are few places in the world where the triumph of idiocy is more apparent than Dodger Stadium. And that breaks my heart.

381
I really don't like being called trash and neither do the season ticket holders around me. You easily could have moved last night as empty seats abound everywhere during midweek games.

390 Hey, someone earlier wished me to lose my job :)

386
Yeah I know, I was just saying that I'd been heartened by the fan behavior this year until last night. The worse part was that when they removed the fan who throw the whatever at Jenkins he was getting high fived all the way up the stairs. No question we have lots of idiots. I don't even go to Giant games anymore.

If Boston didn't have a 9.5 games lead in the AL East, would their two big free agent acquisitions be under fire.

JD Drew - .237/.346/.333
Julio Lugo - .236/.296/.354

392 Ack.

That is kinda sad.

Maybe everyone's just stressed out about the world in general and taking it out on the players and the "enemy" fans. Who knows? I just don't recall the Brewers inspiring such vitriol in the past...

384. Cannon were you at the game last night in your usual seats. I was in mine and I thought it was an HR. But of course I was talking to someone on my right and wasn't watching that closely.

In additon to the "Everyone Suck Chants" and the trash in the field from the LF Pavillion, I couldn't believe the guy that tried to grab Geoff Jenkins on the fly ball near the wall. He really reached out for him and Jenkins was seriously pissed. I think the guy got thrown out but in some areas of the Stadium there is no respect for anyone or anything, including the game they purportedly came to see.

(New post up top... just kidding.)

Martin's ball - I thought it a homer at first too but when I saw the side view replay you could see the ball cross on the foul side of the pole (i.e., it never disappeared). They made the right call though at the time I could see why the Dodgers would be upset.

My regular seats are up in the reserve behind home plate, for the most part, there are families there and I don't hear much garbage.

I will be making first (and only trip probably to Yankee Stadium in a few weeks) and I will doff my Dodger cap and DT shirt, maybe I can find some of the Bronx Banter crowd and we can have some sort of nod of head acknowledging Baseball Toaster.

387 I have no problem with "asking the tough questions," but that article was nothing but TJ patting himself on the back for asking them. Ostensibly, a reporter's job is to get answers, and if that means altering your questions, so be it. His version of asking questions seems little different than heckling from the cheap seats.

You guys have said it all concerning Simers, but the thing that gets me most about him is that his shtick - and that's exactly the right word - is just so EASY. Cheap and easy. And mean.

I once wrote him saying that he would never be compared to the great Jim Murray or even Scott Ostler. He wrote back saying "Why would I want to be? I want to be my own writer."

But he's just a NY wannabe. Better to aspire to greatness, but when greatness is beyond you, you take an easier path, apparently.

Once upon a time, the LA Times ran the classiest sports section the country. Now they feature a cheap and mean imitation of cheap and mean New York sportswriters in order to generate "controversy." How bold.

And it's not the only reason to stop reading the Times - but I won't break Guideline #5

385 Agree, I think to get an accurate read of the situation, Plaschke should eave the Times office on Beach Towel night (June 8th) at 7:00 for the 7:40 game and then comment about where he parks, how long it takes him to get to the stadium, etc.

I am not saying that the situation hasn't improved but generally, I try to get to the stadium pretty early so I don't face the issues of getting in. The one time I did was more my doing since I didn't even get off the freeway for a 48,000+ game on a Friday night until 7:45 anyway, it took about a half hour to get in the stadium but I don't really blame anybody for that.

I seriously think the "Everything Sucks" chant will keep the D's from getting nationally televised games in the future, if it doesn't already. Its really embarrassing and has to stop. Especially when you see a redsox game and every single seat is 100% fixated on every pitch with the intensity of a world series, yet they keep it fairly clean.
I didn't mind it so much when it was "Giants Suck", however ;). I guess the line has been crossed in my mind.

Jason Stark just released his Top 10 Overrated Players list. Only one Dodger on the list. Can you guess which one? Here's a link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2880887

401 That's because "Giants suck" is simply stating a fact.

Travis Denker is doing his best to renter prospectdom. He's hitting .355/.418/.533 from the 66ers right now. It is a little bit BABIP fueled, but not enough to degrade what he's doing. If Blake Dewitt continues to not hit, Denker could take his place in the organization.

My ticket plan seats are up in the nosebleeds and the section is really growing on me. I sit with a bunch of other mini plan holders and have gotten to know a couple of my neighbors names. Unfortunately the only time there's been unruly folk near us its generally me and the people I'm with, but I'd like to think we behave 85% of the time. Its also nice to sit amongst alot of fans paying attention to the game and even keeping score. Don't see alot of that when I'm lucky enough to get field level seats.

402 Any list that says J.D. Drew is overrated has a very odd definition of overrated. Same with Bobby Abreu. Actually, this quote pretty much cancels out the article:

"As great as Bobby Abreu can be, he lacks that all-important Derek Jeter gene."

374. So it would be okay if somebody ridiculed you publicly and made you look stupid while you had no chance to respond? Would you be lacking a sense of humor if you didn't find that funny? I hate the idea that because they are ballplayers, every attack on them, no matter how petty or personal, is fair game. For one, I never found Don Rickles to be very funny either.

405 Stark reasons that Drew is overrated because he has a career OBP over .390 and SLG over .500 but has never made an All-Star team.

Um, OK.

402 That list includes another controversial (to some) recent Dodger and another player that many would love to see playing CF.

Of course, I am not sure a player can be overrated if for many, his rating wasn't that high to begin with.

401 They have ways to cut down crowd noise. Frankly during the year Kobe was doing is weekly visits to Colorado, every Laker road game featured booing everytime he touched the ball and that didn't affect their broadcasts.

While crowd behavior and chants are annoying to the fans (like us) who go to the games, i think it has no bearing on whether or not the games get televised nationally or not.

402 I don't understand his reasoning. Overrated by whom? Opposing players? Fans? Writers? Because I don't know that anyone rates Giles particularly high any more, and the Drew logic would seem to argue that he's underrated (stats not equaling All Star apearances).

405 One of the funniest things I saw over the weekend on a Bronx Banter thread was one of poster's nickname for Bobby Abreu, - "Tony Womack"

New post up top.

410 Gotta love how reasonable Yankee fans are.

Darn, I knew that I as much of a possible lock bet that I could have in a baseball game, a day/road game start by Ervin Santana. Santana now has an ERA over 9 in his road starts this year.

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.

401 I have heard much more vulgar things said at Fenway. Sox fans can get pretty disgusting. The reasons why Sox games get televised more often are:

1. Their fans are more rabid than ours
2. The Sox have been more successful than the Dodgers in recent years, and
3. ESPN is located nearby

Even still, I would not trade being a Dodger fan for being a Sox fan. Not for anything in the world. For all the complaints about the citizenry at Dodger Stadium, it's still the most enjoyable place for me to watch a baseball game.

414 - Interestingly, Milton Bradley also figured that out.

On Tuesday, Dodger Stadium was taken over by a large gang wielding long pointed sticks.

http://tinyurl.com/yumgaj

No casualties were reported.

414- You really think Simers was intersted in giving Pierre a fair shake and reporting things as they happen as opposed to just making funnies?

417 According to that article "The Stitch N' Pitch LA Dodgers game was just this past tuesday where 800 needle arts baseball fans filled the stadium."

800 fans filled Dodger Stadium (capacity 50,000+)? Hmmm.