Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
It shouldn't be forgotten that Jeff Kent made a huge fielding play Monday night, reaching the absolute limit of his 39-year-old range to flag a bases-loaded, two-out grounder with the game tied, 1-1, before throwing Atlanta's Jarrod Saltalamacchia out at first. Matt Kemp's two-run homer followed in the bottom of the inning.
The Dodgers then risked Joe Beimel for a second inning of work in the seventh, and thanks in part to an error, the Braves loaded the bases again. But Atlanta was stymied again (see, it's not just the Dodgers) when Beimel induced a 1-6-3 double play. The Dodger public relations department has taken to calling Beimel "The King of the Comebacker," noting that "since last season, Beimel is averaging 3.18 assists per nine innings, more than an assist per game than his nearest challengers." Who knew?
* * *
Dodgers of the '70s Manny Mota and Lee Lacy got a nice review at The Hardball Times today from Steve Treder. Check it out.
* * *
James Loney is batting third tonight, while Mike Lieberthal gets his second start since June 17 and Wilson Betemit his second since June 20.
Tonight's game:
I like tonight's line-up and as much as I hate seeing Martin out I think it's good to have Lieberthal in there for at least one of these Braves games. Loney at #3, good call. Let's go Wolfie.
1 In case you missed it, from the last thread:
309 Danny Szetela, from 10 yards, on a header. Service came from the right side, Szetela in the middle. He was facing the sideline and flicked his head to the left, knocking the ball into the very top left corner. Unstoppable. As a former center back who scored exclusively in the air on set pieces, I couldn't make that shot in my dreams. I'd be dreaming, and I'd go up, and my dream self would look at me and say, "what are you, kidding?"
And just now- Adu bent it like Beckham. Another ridiculous goal. This is a great game. Very up and down the pitch. 2-1 US
Trading third baseman Troy Glaus is one possibility. Another could be dealing All-Star right fielder Alex Rios.
The Jays aren't down on Rios — far from it — but what if they could trade him for say, Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley and outfielder Andre Ethier?
The Dodgers said no to a similar proposal involving right-hander Brad Penny last off-season, and at the moment they need pitching more than offense.
6 Yeah, I think his end line there is the most important, that the Dodgers are looking for pitching more than hitting right now.
3-1 US at the half.
I haven't put enough thought into this to make a decision one way or the other, but I don't think trading Bills for a very good with a great glove hitter just entering arbitration is automatically a bad thing.
And as I typed that, Altidore almost scored again. The US is shredding the Poland back line.
Beimel did come up big last night.
The first way looks...uncomfortable.
Hell the last U-20 team killed, with Dempsey, Johnson, and the like. They sure haven't done much for the senior team.
28 umm... (looking around nervously, hearing the crickets, walking away).
The Under-20 (years old) World Cup is right now. This is where we learn everything about the next generation of American strikers that will dash our hopes and make us all very sad pandas.
Congrats. You are now a soccer expert.
Gotta go home and walk the beagle. Hopefully, we won't bump into PDH, whose ray of sunshine in the last thread I found to be...unfortunate. But if we do, he'll see how ridiculously friendly she is.
Hat trick for Adu on a breakaway. 6-1 US is your final. Don't get used to it.
Oh man. You don't care about children?! And, what, you step on puppies and rip up flower gardens? I'll remember not to invite you over to my house, Andrew.
And the nomenclature thing is important as well. Pitch, kit, footie, touch...They're not just great material for sexual innuendo. They are real soccer terms. Andrew needs to learn them.
It was 1907. They were bunting a lot. Also Walsh threw a mean spitter.
Of course you won't, minion.
Haha.
Joey beat Kobe's record by some 6 or 7 hotdogs recently, and Kobe (allegedly) has a jaw injury. I think Joey's gonna take the title.
http://tinyurl.com/yolgcw
gives up a 3run bomb to wilkerson and his road woes continue.
Is this an example of that intangible clubhouse chemistry people talk about?
And when does Vin first tell this story? Setting the lineup? Lieberthal's first at-bat? While he catches the top of the first?
I believe that's Joe's "F1" key
Little known fact, but all the teams in the 1950 World Cup played in black and white uniforms.
Penarol1916 is still gloating over the 1950 World Cup.
The other one is about to turn two. This one has personality and a sense of humor. Really bright kid. I like this one. But he's really not that interesting.
I like 'em when you can engage in conversations with 'em. Teach 'em how bad the world is. Hone their cynicism.
Yup...I'm a bad person. Noted.
Now I've made it until the Dodger game's about to start, but I'm getting sleepy since it's almost 4 am here.
...Don't look for sympathy here!
no i didn't. what did he say?
Yeah, what a couple'a jerks, huh? Just stick with me, DZ. You don't need those guys.
A specious and malicious claim on your part! Good day, Sir!
I said Good Day!
I correctly used the f-word after spilling a glass of Coke at age two.
Welp, I'm going to watch only a bit of the game, because then there's dinner, and then my girlfriend is making me watch the last few episodes of season 1 of Rome, because we have those on DVD. But go ahead, talk about the Dodgers and soccer and beagles without me, I'll catch up.
Jim Watson has a much higher voice than Mr. De Mornay.
its pretty hard to convince me to sell on a 21yr old with bailey's pedigree.
anyways, GCL Dodgers lost their first game of the season in the first of the double header they were playing today. They took a lead into the 7th where Eduardo Perez blew the save.
Baez 1-3 2b bb k (7 out of 16 hits have been XBHs)
Lambo 1-2 2b bb (8bb in 28AB)
Yossandy Garcia 1-2 hr(5) bb (all 6 of his hits have been for extra bases with 5 going the distance)
You're
5.71428571 × 10-9
Pretend the "-9" are superscript.
that's funny in a Jon Weisman kind of way, i got a healthy chuckle reading that.
In other news, he's not very good, and the Dodgers should win tonight.
I'm glad to see Martin get a rest. On the other hand I miss him. That guy seems to live to make the D's win!
do you think that they finally realize the value of the kids?
The kids are at least as valuable as Mark Buehrle.
don't trade so much as a molecule of these kids.
Just makes up for his first-AB lineout last night.
Don't worry, he's mostly there to thank the fans for giving them 175 million. Of course some of those 175 million are long dead, but those of us who are still alive appreciate the gesture.
He promised Vin he'd be out of there quickly.
Not really. I don't like them at all.
Or else Icaros got that vial of sarin I sent him in the mail. I told him it was really just rubbing alcohol.
And Wolf must have confused the 2nd inning with the 1st.
A little of both.
AT THE SAME TIME!
Except when McCourt visits the booth.
Ah well. Inning over.
us too!
I can see why he drives Ned crazy....
Doesn't Bison and Boom Boom sound like a bad 70's cop show? Which is why I like it. This rocks.
Also, this Davies guy, not so rockin'.
sheepish look
sorry
Let him swing!
it can't be the player!
But the Atlanta player says his last name is pronounced "DIE-az", not "DEE-az"
Infield fly! Thats unusual.
Just a hunch.
...
...
Sigh.
I have a whole theory on that but my grammar doesn't permit me to discuss it with great detail.
Diaz says that an ancestor had his name pronounced incorrectly when receiving his pay at some job and decided to not correct the paymaster.
Because he wanted to get paid.
Do you think I was lying in 166?
oh cool, that's good to know I always thought it was something different.
When I lived in Poland, for some reason we had Italian T.V....the best part was this hip-hop show histed by an American speaking a weird hybrid of Ebonics and Italian.....a lot of Black Eyed Peas Video's....Good for them...I remember them doing a free show in Watts for a Free Mumia rally....
I digress I know...
183 Seems to be a wide variety of women, but I haven't watched for more than a few minutes at a time. Seems the ad only airs late at night. Not sure if it's a pay station or not, but I must say that having something like that around in my younger years would have been key.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/luck-leaders/
i hope the DJ plays some soothing music when he comes in. Bad joke i know but i couldn't resist.
this is a fun game so far.
The person making the U-turn on Flower, going into the Standard Hotel, was also speaking on a cell phone the whole time.
That person committed three crimes against humanity simultaneously.
290/429/563 2hr 8bb 2k
small sample size, GCL blah blah blah, i dont care, those are impressive Isos
Cell phones...Grrr....
Hope it stays totally awesome!
Imagine how they'd look if he wasn't the first guy to arrive and the last guy to leave.
The game got so weird in San Diego, it got a Griddle post.
But thanks to you, Bob, that person can only be charged with one crime on the play.
That was close!
So no biggie.
Escobar!? We need Jack and quick.
I'm still wondering how Bob handles those situations, does he:
A)Curse the driver & drives off.
B)Rationalizes the situation & moves on.
C)Gets off the car punches the other motorist & speeds away.
D)None of the above.
In tonight's situation:
E) check to see if need to change my underwear
It's a little known fact that Andrew has a big poster of Herod the Great up in his home.
Not sure if that's the lawyers, or just another funny aspect of a truly great commercial.
How many times has long relief decided anything?
Tonight is has!!
laundry chores today Bob.
And Enders, your swipe at the Vet in the last thread has not gone unnoticed...
Actually, I was doing fine until I just spilled some Diet Pepsi on me.
As they show Pierre arguing the call (Admittedly calmly)
.462/.533/.769 with 2 SB's...in 15 plate appearances :)
vr, Xei
I guess this explains the Pierre hate.
watching him earlier on the tube he seemed a bit restless. Are we tide up for 1st place or up by half a game?
vr, Xei
http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?gameid=270703119
If so, that's terrible.
I'm just glad he caught the ball when he did.
...but that's moot. An out is an out is an out. There's no there there.
That said, this character on FSN asks the most inane questions I've ever heard.
For a sideline reporter.
Think about that.
Who gets to host Hot Dog Eating Contest Thoughts tomorrow?
Definitely not me.
I didn't even know those levels of awesome could occupy the same space at the same time. And called by Gary Owens? We are reaching critical levels of wonderfulness.
1. Before the game the players in the dugout threw out autographed balls out to the fans. A ball took a bounce off the scoreboard and was caught in front of me and someone got to take home a ball signed by Grady.
2. Nice power display by Betemit and Kemp.
3. DJ Houlton saving our bacon.
4. STREAMERS.
5. Broxton getting three outs on 10 pitches - 8 balls, 2 strikes.
Also took friends of mine, both of whom had never been to the stadium and one of which who had never been to a major league game before. Good night to go out to the ballpark.
Even though it was somewhat expected, I was pleased to see that Jrue Holiday committed to UCLA. I think this cements UCLA's position as having the best recruiting class in 2008. I think it's fair to say that if UCLA does not win a title in the next three years, the team will be considered a disappointment.
My favorite sporting event will be on tomorrow morning on ESPN; the hot dog eating contest. I just read that Kobayashi will be competing for his 7th straight title despite his recent jaw injury. What a grinder.
Houlton may get his shot at the rotation. This may accelerate Ned's pursuit of Mark Buehrle.
If Randy Wolf's shoulder problems mean Andre Ethier gets traded, well, c'est la vie, I guess.
I feel very satisfied watching the kids play, and I didn't think they had a chance of reaching my expectations in total. They have and then some.
Also, if you're thinking of buying a new car, Transformers will let you know that you should buy a GM. Or a Mountain Dew machine. The new Camaro's are pretty nice, though.
Fun game at the ballpark tonight. First time I've parked inside the lot this year and had no problem leaving. With all the flack the parking got in the beginning, some kudo's should be sent McCourts way now that they've had time to tweak the system.
I see Pierre getting more flack but he caught two balls tonight I don't think he catches in April but I didn't have the benefit of replay.
I love my Boom Boom.
Everyone have a safe 4th and if you see someone trying to blow up an animal be sure to stick the firecracker up the idiots whatnots.
I stumbled across the story the other day.
It was fascinating.
There was a person, and this person had a very interesting story. A story about overcoming adversity, and living life to the fullest, and doing things that other people didn't think I could do.
But I did them.
And Bill Plaschke wrote about them.
Doesn't make him a good writer.
Well placed paragraph breaks do NOT a writer make.
I can do this all day long.
Tony Jackson: "Houlton has to be replaced in the bullpen, and there isn't an obvious candidate at Triple-A Las Vegas to do that, which is the reason general manager Ned Colletti, manager Grady Little, assistant GM Kim Ng and player development director DeJon Watson met behind Little's closed office door immediately after Little finished his postgame media session. "
-----------------------
I'll never forget the first time I argued with Eric Enders about quality writing.
There he was, this Eric Enders person. He didn't ask to be treated differently. He didn't ask to be looked up to.
He just had an opinion.
This person named Eric Enders.
I can't say that I blame him. The Boss is popular, and has a very solid body of work. He is the Dylan of a new generation, and is beloved.
Bruce Springsteen has a message.
And people are listening.
Paragraph break hyperbole paragraph break sob story.
In short. Don't squash me, Eric.
It's really too late for me to get into it right now. I'll just post a few urls for your perusal.
http://www.greasylake.org/song_result.php?s_songtitle=The+River
http://www.greasylake.org/song_result.php?s_songtitle=The+Hitter
http://www.greasylake.org/song_result.php?id=1&s_songtitle=Jungleland
http://www.greasylake.org/song_result.php?id=18&s_songtitle=Youngstown
http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/lyrics/s/stolencar2.php
I know the songs. I'm unimpressed. Always have been, always will be. Great performer, average songs.
It's odd, I have traditionally been at the forefront of people worrying about our top prospects getting dealt, but now, with people shaking with fear at the prospect of Kemp, Loney and Billingsley and others of their ilk getting sent away, I wonder what all the fuss is about. Those guys simply aren't going anywhere. Young players playing extremely well on their teams' 25-man rosters just don't get dealt in trade deadline deals. And neither do "A" prospects still in the minors. Colletti traded away about a dozen prospects last year, and not one of them was somebody who wasn't in some sense a "broken toy."
So who, in addition to Delwyn, are somewhat-shiny-but-broken toys in our organization now? Frankly, I could see LaRoche being one, but it all depends on what the Dodgers think are LaRoche's chances of fully recovering from the labrum injuries to both shoulders. It is not just pitching prospects whose careers can be derailed by injuries, so the Dodgers might think they have to move LaRoche before his value declines more. Kuo could be another broken toy. Xavier Paul might be one, as he still strikes out an awful lot and might not be able to stay in center field long term, and he hits too little to be a corner guy. I also wonder if the Dodgers might see James McDonald as a guy whose stats are way better than his stuff, and therefore is likely to be over-valued by another team.
And, it's to be hoped, I'll get a helper monkey.
Thank you, Eric, for pointing out an article I otherwise would have missed. I commend Bill Plaschke for an incredibly moving and well-written piece.
Happy Birthday, America.
vr, Ben
I agree that we shouldn't worry about our high level prospects getting traded, especially Kemp. The higher-ups in the org. love Kemp; Grady positively gushed about him two spring trainings ago, and Ned at least consented to the extraordinary measure of calling Kemp up from AA. He's also been mentioned in previous trade rumors, all of which have led to nothing. When we thought Kemp wouldn't make the team out of ST, we were pleasantly surprised to see him on the squad, although not in a starting position. He got hurt, but now he's back, and there's even talk of him making starting RF (most recent LAT Dodgers report).
If there's a trade, I actually wonder if Betemit might be the useful piece to move, now that he's gotten hot, and Nomar, whether we like it or not, is at 3B. White I think had a good relationship with LaRoche, so I'm guessing the organization isn't willing to give up on him yet.
WWSH
WWSH
Wasn't the "Bart's People" episode relatively recent...?
But not me. I give credit for the victory to Rudy Seanez, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning. If he had given up some runs, there's a good chance the Dodgers might have lost the game. But since he pitched a scoreless seventh inning, he pretty much won the game all by himself.
Cheers, Rudy.
Unfortunately, I just woke up so my sightseeing for today is pretty much shot. I think I'm gonna take a mulligan on Bologna this time around and hope to have better luck with Florence tomorrow.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0779665/
Young, Pierre, Kuo, LaRoche, and Hendrickson are players that I would consider moving in a trade if it appears the 4 & 5 starters are not good enough to get into the playoffs.
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