MVP Rob Bowen DFA'd by the Cubs!

Or just use the through at Dodger Stadium, where we will be on Saturday.

1 - Unbelievable. We need to snap him up. Imagine having Rob Bowen score the division-clinching run on Sept. 30.

1 Not worthy of a Griddle entry?

Now all the Padres have to do is get him back and then they can complete the deal.

2 Our seats are in the trough!!!?? We won't get a good view of the game at all!

Is this part of your random, unrelated series of blog-stallations, Jon? Did you have a last straw in the men's room today? I'm sometimes astonished at the number of people who hold down jobs in my building and yet aren't toilet trained.

MVP Rob Bowen?

Are any of the Dodgers-Phils games scheduled for ESPN? At least one of the teams is from the East Coast!

5 - In the shade, though.

Previously on Dodger Thoughts:

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/10706.html

6 - I've been thinking of making this post for months - just finally putting it into action.

At first I thought the post about about Andre Ethier.

5 That's why we got the break in the price.

The Mets activated Jorge Sosa for tonight's game so while that could possibly lead to a Nomarless lineup on Saturday, it could also mean no Kemp with lefties pitching today, Thursday and Friday.

7 Speaking of shade, I had good seats to the Angels-Rangers game yesterday, and my row was the closest to the field row not subjected to the sun! The sun kept creeping over the stadium throughout the game, subjecting more and more rows to its rays, and when the game ended, those pour souls in row X were getting torched while I enjoyed Gagne's save in the relative shade of row Y!

I'm married with one daughter and another one on the way. I don't plan on having any more kids, so it'll be me and three gals in the house. If there are any irregularities regarding the toilet seat, its on me. If I happen to be home alone, like I was last week, I'm leaving the bad boy in the up position.

Thanks, Jon, now I have this song in my head:

Barbra
It's raining, it's pouring
My lovelife is boring me to tears, after all these years

Donna
No sunshine, no moonlight, no stardust, no sign of romance
We don't stand a chance

Barbra
I always dreamed I'd found the perfect lover
But he turned out to be like every other man
I've loved,
I've loved

Both
Raining (raining)
Pouring (pouring)
There's nothing left for us here
And we won't waste another tear

Donna
If you've had enough, don't put up with his stuff, don't you do it

Barbra
If you've had your fill, get the check pay the bill, you can do it

Donna
Tell him to just get out,

Barbra
Nothing left to talk about

Donna
Pack his raincoat show him out

Both
Just look him in the eye and simply shout:
Enough is enough
I can't go on, I can't go on no more no
Enough is enough
I want him out, I want him out that door now

Enough is enough
Enough is enough
That's enough

I'm just saying:

Wilson Betemit since May 1st (107 PA) .275/.383/.659
James Loney (101 PA) .385/.446/.593
Matt Kemp (100 PA) .380/.420/.554

8---

That reminds me, I saw an ad for Stanford Cardinal football home game tickets above the urinal this past Friday at AT&T park. They had a picture of Jim Harbaugh and everything.

The weirdest thing about this is that Stanford has EIGHT home games, apparently. Doesn't each team play 11, max 12 games? How do you wind up with so many home games? I thought only SEC teams ended up with that many.

1
How does Rob Bowen deserve the title MVP?

Is this a joke I am missing?

13 - That's a whole different issue. I'm just talkin' guy-to-guy today.

15 May they never come back to earth.

Unofficial forecast for the DT game:
96 degrees in the sha-a-aade
Real hot!

I will be unable to partake, alas. But unless my local Fox affiliate screws me over, I'll finally get to watch a Dodger game in HDTV this year. I'll keep an eye out for 40 geeks all wearing the same shirt.

Do you realize that only in English is the spelling of three words(Trough, Through, and Thought) so riciculus it lends itself to puns and jokes.

And yet I keep reading how much the Dodgers need a power bat.

Wilson Betemit has 10 HRs since May 1st in those 107 PA. I think by any standard, that is a power bat.

I like Nomar as much as the next guy, but Wilson needs more at bats. Forget April. April never happened...

21 You don't like it?

Tough.

20 My local Fox affiliate always screws me over. Too bad DT day is on a Saturday or I would watch for the matching shirts too.

Last year, Bowen had an uncanny of anecdotal history of coming in as a sub and scoring the winning run in games.

Rob Bowen scored a run in 21 different games for the Padres last year and the Padres were 17-4 and when he scored.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/rbBM

16 Not looking at Stanford's schedule but now teams can play 12 regular season games.

The Pac-10 is one of the few leagues where every team plays each other during the season. So some years you will have 4 conference home gams and in other years you will have 5 conference home games. So that is 9 games. If you play 3 non-conference games, you will usually play at least one on the road. So most teams will have a 7/5 split or at worse 6/6.

Now I am guessing, since again, I am not looking at the schedule that this is year where Stanford has 5 conference home games and they are playing all their non-conference games at home.

Jason Kendall to the Cubs for Bowen and a minor league lefty.

The Cubs are so stupid.

27 Okay, I looked, Stanford has 5 conference games at home and two non-conference games for the 7/5 split between home and road games.

UCLA - 6/6 (UCLA does have the road game across town this year)
USC - 6/6

28 Billy Beane has the worst player in baseball and owes him 13 million dollars.

Billy Beane manages to get a serviceable backup and a throw in player.

Billy Bean is a genius.

Is this the end of Kurt Suzuki?

It is the start of Kurt Suzuki.

The lefty doesn't look bad either. Just a AA reliever, but he has decent numbers so far.

31.

I beg to differ.

WEST W L PCT GB
LAA 55 36 .604 -
SEA 51 38 .573 3
Oak 44 48 .478 11.5
Tex 39 52 .429 16

33 But what of all that business about Piazza being the everyday catcher?

35 You do realize that like the entire team was injured this year, right?

23 Ain't that tuff enuff?

Sabermetric GM?
Has a losing season in a year when everybody gets hurt?

I say fire him so he can become an assistant in San Diego.

31 Well, I suppose so though, Kendall probably would have been no worse than a Type B free agent but he does get a servicable backup to go along with Suzuki/Piazza and a pitcher.

He did pay about 25 million to Kendall for the last 2 1/2 years so lets not call him a super genius.

I am guessing that Bowen isn't make much more minimum money so that's good.

But what of all that business about Piazza being the everyday catcher?

That's where the Chavez-Witasick for Martin-Betemit exchange comes into play.

36
Suzuki will get playing time no matter what. Piazza may be traded.

37.

And how many of those injured had no prior injury history?

If Kendall can be moved, maybe Nomar can be, too.

43 If only had planned his roster to be ten outfielders deep, he could have had a chance.

There's a huge difference between having a reasonable backup plan and just getting completely whipped out.

Plus there is that huge sustained success for the last seven years despite having no payroll.

Tonight's LA-PHL matchup features the top two out-makers in the majors. Anyone else getting pumped up?

45.

Outfielders, Snelling is out and Denorfia neither of which are impact players. I just glanced at Yahoo though, so I'm not sure how accurate that is.

I see more pitchers on the DL than anything, which they happen to have the exact same number out as the Dodgers.

I'm not sure, the injury excuse is just that, an excuse.

How bad is Olmedo's defense now days?

Can he play 3b vs lefties?

.231/.286/.385/.670 (WB)
.190/.277/.241/.518 (NG)
.194/.256/.389/.645 (TA)

45.

I agree with your point about the payroll... I can image that is a lot of overcome at times. Trust me, I play Baseball Mogul so I know these things! :)

For various times this year, the A's have lost:

Nick Swisher
Travis Buck
Milton Bradley
Chris Snelling
Bobby Kielty
Mark Kotsay

Chris Denofria was already known to be out for the year. This is just the outfielders.

23,38 Thats tough and enough for some reason!!!

As a point of comparison, if the Dodgers injury problems resembled the A's at their worst, the outfield would consist of something like Luis Gonzalez, Choo Freeman and Xavier Paul.

I've got to take a walk to try and stay awake till east coast game time. I haven't seen a game for eight days( thats another interesting spelling, but I better not get into it, or I won't get way .

52.

It could be argued our outfield would be improved with those players... maybe not right field though.

16 That means that Stanford could become one of the only teams in college football history -- perhaps the first ever -- to go 0-8 at home. Harbaugh has inherited a bad team, and the Cardinal open at home against UCLA on September 1.

52 Are you leapfrogging Paul over Delwyn, or counting the latter among the hypothetically injured?

55 They can't do that, they only play 7 games at home.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the Indians, along with the Brewers, have shown "significant interest" in acquiring Rangers outfielder Kenny Lofton. The Indians, who had a scout watching the Rangers over the weekend, could certainly use their one-time center field staple. With David Dellucci injured and Trot Nixon having a disappointing season, the Tribe is looking for a veteran outfield bat.

Lofton was hitting .309 with 20 stolen bases entering play Monday. He has appeared in 84 playoff games, so he would provide postseason experience. It would be a reunion with the Indians, where the 40-year-old Lofton spent nine seasons. Lofton is signed for $6 million, which means he has roughly $2.6 million left. He gets an extra $100,000 if he's traded.

Two places for Pierre to land.

Why did the Cub fans throw so much stuff?

50 And earlier this month, before Kiko Calero came off the DL, there was not a single player in the A's active bullpen who was on the team in 2006.

Hawai'i went 0-8 at home in 1998 under the leadership of the infamous Fred vonAppen.

They were 0-12 overall.

http://tinyurl.com/2ey7ao

I recall watching the game against Northwestern on TV, back when Fox Sports showed UH games. The 'Bows played one of the worst games I had ever seen. They still managed to score 21 points, but they made so many mistakes on both sides of the ball that I wondered if anyone on the team had the slightest idea of what they were doing.

UH lost its next game to Michigan.

And then vonAppen was fired.

I'm sure Linkmeister can fill us in on more gruesome details.

58.

IMHO the only way we dump Pierre is the same way we dumped Izzy. He gets injured and we plug in someone who is considerably better.

For those keeping score, Delwyn Young now leads the PCL in doubles, runs scored, and total bases, and ranks second in batting average, RBI, slugging percentage, OPS, and hits.

62 - we plug in someone who is considerably better

That was a $39 Million plug

uh-oh...stan johnson is giving dodger pitchers his special cream to "heal quicker"

I believe von Appen was once a Stanford assistant coach.

Are we getting ready for our annual Trivial Pursuit game?

Why don't all homes have urinals?

Stanford has had seasons with 8 home games before. Remember that they used to have a very big stadium and they were (and still are) an attractive opponent to play.

In 1930, Stanford played 9 of its 11 games at home. They went 9-1-1, losing to USC at home and tying Minnesota in its lone game out of California. Stanford beat Caltech that year.

68 Because then you can't invite Kevin Brown over.

68
Because builders don't want to put them in. Who wants to pay for a plumbing fixture that isn't universally used?

55 is my candidate to be kicked out of DT for a week, at least.

71 - People that sit before noticing?

68 Because they are always open. (But I like 70 better.)

68 Because generally women are far more influential in home buying decision than men.

My sister-in-law had my brother install one of those padded toilet seats that are incapable of staying up; the seat automatically drops down. I can no longer respect my brother. He's deader to me than Fredo.

I think I must have muscle fatigue in my left-hand ring-finger (dropping 's's in my posts). Strange, since it the one constantly weightlifting.

75 - But wouldn't they be the ones that would want them? The urinal could also be in its own special closet.

68. But they do have baths... ;)

76 - Nothing worse than having one close mid-stream.

78 I'd imagine they are a bit of a maintenance headache with all that deodorizer changing.

The ladies might like it if it were in an outbuilding.

According to Stanford's website, they have 8 home games
9/1 vs UCLA
9/15 vs San Jose State
9/22 vs Oregon
9/29 vs Arizona State
10/13 vs TCU
11/3 vs Washington
11/24 vs Notre Dame
12/1 vs Cal

The season ticket application says you can buy a 6-game mini-plan that doesn't include the Notre Dame and Cal games.

So, it certainly seems to me like Stanford has 8 home games.

82 - Why does this Stanford stuff fit in so well with talk of urinals?

Maybe if the urinal was one of these:
http://www.clarkmade.com/urinals.html

84 - Those could be put in the hallway.

Batter up! Its Time for Dodgers Baseball

Good 2nd half, Brad!

No out for Rollins! Roadrunner breathes sigh of relief.

Not the greatest of starts.

The throw beat him, but Furry couldn't handle the short hop.

Is it some kind of Dodger rule that if Martin's throw bounces that Kent or Furcal are just supposed to let it go into CF? There's no reason that ball (and several like it this year) can't be knocked down.

Kent should have been there to back that up.

92 That's a lot of range to ask for from a rosebush.

83 takes the cake [pun intended] as the worst comment ever in the history of DT.

Vin is going to love Moyer. Soft-tossing lefty, Catholic, old.

21 pitches for Penny, all outs in the air.

Jamie Moyer...? Good grief.

Jamie Moyer is married into the Antichrist's family.

bhsportsguy and Greg Brock know of whom I speak.

Moyer: 44 yrs old, ERA+ 100, 1.30 WHIP. Not bad for an old guy.

Will there be a first inning bunt?

Anything associated with ND is definitely below ground

Jamie Moyer is married into the Antichrist's family

Was she a gold digger...?

Swinging at the ball that bounced was not so injurious to his karma as one might expect.

Sometimes Raffy looks completely uninjured. Other times like he can barely walk. What the heck?

There's a road runner loose on the basepaths!

Antichrist's family... do you mean Diggermort?

I'm two years older than Moyer, who is a few months younger than Clemens.

Unless Julio Franco catches on somewhere, I am now older than every active player in MLB.

105
Yes, him....

Moyer's related to ... that guy.

105- The Phillies should put an anvil behind a painting of second base.

Run, Juan..run

Moyer just needs to employ the Acme brand basestealing prevention device, rather than throwing over there twenty times.

108 Heh. Or that. Same thought.

Why does it sound ominous when Vinnie says, "We'll see about Pierre"?

Ok.....Rabbit Batted In

Speaking of JFC from the other thread...

piazza gets on base. karros wipes out. karros wipes out piazza. in my father's word in cass' camera, karros homers to left and the dodgers make the playoffs.

Did Scully just make the door ajar joke?

Attempting to steal 3rd with one out is a much better decision than the two-out try the other day, which luckily worked out for the Dodgers anyway.

Waiting on Moyer may be a good patience test for the kids.

Sac fly. And that is why stolen bases win games.

Another.... Rabbit Batted In

Yes, that joke is open.
But this is an important time when we could start to ware Moyer out. I Doubt the Phillies staff is that deep.
Martin and Loney get rbi's!

Another..Rabbit Batted In!

Kent looked about dead as he crossed home.

Nice hustle though.

118 That ones a Roadrunner Batted In.

Can you say "productive out" boys and girls? I knew you could.

The Phillies defense looks fairly pitiful to me. Good 3 run inning!

Nomarrrrr.....

Thats all you have to do, Nomar.

Maybe Nomar really can hit at home.

That does it...Nomar starts at home and Wilson on the road.

NOMAR!

Nomar?

117 And that's why stolen bases sometimes just don't matter.

When a pitcher now has to face Ethier and Kemp, you begin to have a deep line-up, that breaks teams down.

123 So does Moyer. He isn't hitting the corners and his fastball tops out at 80.

Loney has a strange pre-AB routine. He seems to inspect the bat before a lot of switches, then takes no practice swings.

Web gem by Rowand.

123 OK, spoke too soon. That was a great play by Rowand

Andre got robbed..Good Play by Rowand

Rowand says: "Let's see Pujols do that."

119 they're starting some dude with a 13.50 era tomorrow

This is looking like second half Penny. sigh

Man, I love James Loney. We haven't had a first baseman that could start a double play since I have followed them. (1981) Loney is looking Keith Hernandez like.

penny's foot was on the wrong side of the bag on the back end of that double play. that could have been a really bad situation.

123 At least we we are getting to see a game back east.
Bless Loney.
But we must wait and hope Penny gets it together post All-Star game. I'mtrying to keep a low profile till then.

That play almost ended Penny's season. Ty Cobb would've made hamburger out of his calf.

138 - That ball should have been caught by Furcal he hesitated and thats why it tipped his glove into shallow center.

142 - I didn't realize just how badly he was positioned on the bag until the replay . . . you are right, that could have been a season ender.

"You don't mess with the J-Dog."

I was watching the latest episode of Flight of the Conchords and thought, just because it's such an obvious nickname, that J-Dog would be a good nickname for James Loney.

139 Maybe since Wes Parker.

Soon Bob Timmermann will counter with a defensive whiz I've forgotten about.

That was Nomar's first extra-base hit this month and second since June 17.

145 Well, you would think that underdog.

easy inning for moyer.

That was a quick and quiet half-inning. They worked Moyer for a whole eight pitches.

39 pitches for Moyer, 32 for Penny.

You would think that underdog... what?

Yeah, it's an obvious nickname. Never mind. Where's that animal nickname roll call again?

Vin : "moyer runs away from home plate as if it would bite".

heh.

146

If Wes Parker could just have added one hit a game at the bat for every hit he saved with his glove ...

152 You would think that underDOG.

very nice play by the decrepit jeff kent.

I've heard that Wes Parker drinks beer on ice.

154 Nice.

152. Only Bovine nicks are allowed on DT for reasons unbeknownst to me.

What's with all the triples lately?

160 - doubles are so first half.

160

The Phone Booth is the Land of Triples.

I guess once in awhile Kent can still make a great grab.

162 Well, yes, but Victorino's was hit here. Of course he is speedy. Was that just well-hit and deep?

155 I gotcha. I was just distracted momentarily as I chased my tail and barked at the closet for no apparent reason.

And then Vin called Utley "Top Dog".

Penny get Utley to leave the flyin' Hawaiian. 48 pitches for Penny.

I would feel alot better with Penny getting a few strikeouts now to believe Penny still has it

Dilemma-- I went bass fishing with a friend today and ended up with a hook with wierd bait holding spines up near the eye, that pricked my thumb with pond scum, fish guts, and worse, every time I took a bass off the hook. Its starting to throb. and I feel I should soak it in alchohal. But I don't have much, and this good be quite a waste.
What to do.

Back to reality. I'm not that happy how Penny is making outs relieing on his defense. I want to see the dominating guy of the first half.

The roadrunner's loose again!

159 Is Lucille II a cow/bull?

164 Very, very deep. Maybe an outfielder with a rifle arm could have kept him to a double but I doubt it. The Hawaiian was flyin'.

167 Penny's K/IP is only 0.7 before tonight. This is a season-long trend.

164
Victorino smashed the ball on two hops to the wall in right-center. Fast guy and Pierre's arm made that an easy triple.

Juanito should have been out there if Utley made a better grab for that one.

Pennies 48 pitches is not good
However Moyer has 46 pitches and untold throws to first. Of course his pitches never take much effort.

170 Thanks.

thank you, jeff.

thattaboy!

This Pierre fellow really causes some havoc on the basepaths, doesn't he?

And how about that run that Jeff Kent drove in with his glove last half inning....grr...

Moyers is spent!!!

The Moustache is red hot.

The old man still has something!

Kent with a money shot.

Jamie Moyer and the DT board will now have something in common: Juan Pierre-themed nightmares.

I didn't think that one was going to go out when it came off the bat.

And there's nothing intrinsically wrong with having a Jamie Moyer in one's rotation...it's Jamie Moyer as your #2 starter that means your team is in deep deep trouble.

leading the league in homers allowed....GRRRR....

yay!

Can we have the head of JP back?

Even Vin likes him tonight, "The feet of Juan Pierre".

185 Exactly. Moyer's a decent #4 or 5 guy at this point. Of course the Dodgers are currently tossing Tomko out there as their #5, but that's hopefully a temporary affliction.

Non sequitur: In the White Sox' 9-run 6th inning today against Cleveland, three players -- Pierzynski, Mackowiak and Dye -- each had a single and a double. I wonder when was the last time three players all did that in the same inning.

Moyer is effective with line drive outs.
We must not make the mistake of letting up on him now, which to me is our biggest problem.

They say that Pierre is much better in 2nd half, I hope that´s right!

187 - I don't mind his feet. it's his hands, his arm, and, quite frequently his head that bother me.

FJM was something of a tour de force tonight, even for him.

God I love three-run home runs. Me and Earl Weaver.

Memo to Brad: When handed a 6 - 1 lead, please don't walk the very next batter you face, even if he is Ryan Howard.

189
I thought the Reds big inning on August 3, 1989 against the Cardinals would be a candidate. The Reds had seven guys get two hits in the first inning, but only two of them had a single and a double. Mariano Duncan had a walk and a double in the inning.

I know which one of the three true outcomes I'm rooting for here.

Aww...c'mon Pat, that one would've been out back home at CBP!

Laroche homers, AAA OPS up to 885 right now..

martin seems to make more throws to first than he used to. does anyone know if this is because he and loney worked on this in the minors?

197 But that will work.

Penny is not comforting tonight. But my fear is that the D's will typically give Moyer a 5 pitch inning in the 4th, allowing him to get deep into the game. If the D's got him out of there they would own the game early.

202

you seem to fear every imaginable worst case scenario that could happen during a game.

I'm just following on the net. How is it 1-3 and not a DP, slow dribbler? kangaroo hop to Penny?

200
It was posited here by someone else that Martin is now "pulling that Yadier Molina (insert euphemism) too much now."

204 - high chopper.

202 Although it is early, 6-1 is well on the way to "owning" the game.

204
The ball was not hit sharply and the middle infielders were taking a while to get over to second.

i cant believe the phillies GM is not PH Moyer right here.

And that at-bat is why the Phils let you guys have Mike Lieberthal...now let's see if old man Moyer can help himself out...

by GM, i mean phillies M.

204 It was a slow hopper and it looked like the cover guys were not going to beat the runner so he went to first.

209 - maybe the phillies manager is more afraid of his bullpen than he is of not scoring a run here.

Nate, you haven't had to watch a full season of the Phils bullpen.

They've now had two chances to get back into this game and Penny has held, I think it's time to go keep catching up on the rest of the pre-10K DT I have yet to read...

It's 2-1 Pads over the Mets. The Mets RBI came on a single from Old Friend Catcher. It was followed by a DP from Old Friend Right Field.

214

yea, I guess I am not that informed in how bad the Phill's bullpen is.

Someone tell Vin about the existence of the 19th Century.

206 208 212 Thank you, thank you, thank you.

well, nate. you weren't far from accurate with your prediction. I hope that is where your predictive powers stop, though.

217

He was just a schoolboy back then.

216 - Alls you need to know is that the Phils have used 25 different pitchers already this season and Moyer, these days, is the second-best of them.

Yeah. Hopefully that helps explain a little bit why we are the way we are.

213 et. al., that bench doesn't look too great either.

73 pitches for Penny, 18.25 pitches/inning. Doesn't sound like more than six, unless he gets an easy one here.

219

what did i predict again?

Shocking stat of the night is that Shawn Green has the highest BA (396) at Petco park of any hitter in baseball with over 50 ab. Not that Shawn Green wasn't a good hitter in his day but Petco has only been around since his decline.

223 - oops. I'm stupid. it was Gen3Blue . . . predicted an easy inning for moyer.

Phils announcer Chris Wheeler: "Tonight's Citizens Bank Fun Phact: Phils first base coach Davey Lopes played in 4 World Series with the Dodgers from 1972 to 1981. Man, what an annoying player he was!"

Any time Green is in the same state as LAT's daughter, he rakes.

219 It was Gen3Blue here 202, but perhaps Penny is atoning himself this inning.

228 - yep. I corrected myself.

4 Ks now in 5 IP for Penny (86 pitches). Are you exhaling yet Gen3Blue ? ;)

SAJAK is there?!?!?!?!?

I'm shocked. I went outside to miss the end of the Phillies fourth. When I came in, it was the Phillies fifth. The D's did as I predicted. But the Penny was "Good". I hope my prescient feeling is totally wrong.
For 228 and 219 and whoever.

Since I'm one of those guys who insist on including the Dodgers American Association totals in their alltime totals, I count 9,846 wins.

When the Dodgers hit 10,000 in 2009, Eric Enders and I will have a party.

You know I think RR is getting faster as the season progresses.

Brian Giles must be slow, he was thrown out by Paul Loduca trying to steal second.

I think he might have been save. But notice Jamie Moyer is still in there. If he was gane we would have won.

196 The Dodgers scored 15 runs in the first inning against Cincinnati on May 21, 1952, en route to a 19-1 win, but I am thus far unable to find a play-by-play of that inning. . . . Did you know that during the McCarthy Era of the early 1950s, the Cincinnati club was called the "Redlegs" to erase the reference to "Reds"?

gane = gone.

233 The Cubs will join the Giants as the second franchise to 10,000 wins next season unless they continue to play .800 baseball.

237 I thought everyone knew that. At least everyone in my age group.

The offense had many chances to get rid of Moyers.

Pat Sajak and family were interviewed at a road game earlier this season, against DC if I remember correctly.

It was a non-Dodgers broadcast on Extra Innings. Pat and his family are big Dodgers fans and his son is an aspiring high school baseballer.

Isn't that cute?

I'm wondering what people here think of Chris Berman as a baseball announcer.

Sit down Kent, Moyer wins this round of "Who's More Grizzled??"

ugh. kent certainly disappeared in a hurry after being 3-0 against moyer . . .

Berman is horrible.

nice dig Loney.

243 He is the aBerman-able announcer.

now that loney has shown us what he can do at first, I don't know if I think it is more genius that dodger management made room for him, or more insanity that it took so long to do it.

249. As long as it sticks, it doesn't matter to me.

I'd rather listen to Chris Schenkel.

If they can only make Moyer's throw more than seven pitches.

240 In 1957, the Redlegs had 7 of the 8 starters voted onto All-Star team, only Stan Musial was able to hold off a Red. Ford Frick, who would become Mr. * in a few years, appointed Willie Mays and Henry Aaron to play along Frank Robinson in the outfield.

After discovering that half the ballots came from Cincinnati, Frick took the fan's vote away. The fans did not vote again until 1969.

NICE - 7 pitch inning for Penny. Thank you Phillies. That makes 93 and Penny should get into the 7th, yes? Pen needs rest.

241 Its possible and probable that Moyer was not going anywhere after he batted with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the 4th.

252 Dude, what's with the Eeyore imitation today? It is 6 - 1 in the bottom of the sixth.

Whoa, Nomar! And withOUT RISP.

I'm glad Nomar's leg stayed attached to his trunk on that slide.

Aaaaaaand now after three hits do they finally get the bullpen going. Awesome.

Just another Charlie Manuel special, leave the starter in one inning too long, the maneuver formerly known as the "Grady Little"...

nomar shielded howard from that play very nicely.

oh hell yea.

Bison, M.

another home run for kemp. and the route is on.

May 21, 1952, bottom of the 1st, Reds vs. Dodgers according to the NY Times
Cox grounded out to third.
Reese walked.
Snider homered, Reese scoring.
Robinson doubled.
Pafko walked.
Shuba singled, Robinson scored, Pafko to second.
Byerly replaced Blackwell.
Pafko was out stealing third. Shuba to second.
Hodges walked.
Walker singled, Shuba scored, Hodges to third.
Van Cuyk singled. Hodges scored. Walker to second.
Cox singled. Walker scored. Van Cuyk to second.
Reese singled. Van Cuyk scored. Cox to second.
Wehmeier replaced Byerly.
Snider walked. Cox to third. Reese to second.
Robinson was hit by a pitch. Cox scored. Reese to third. Snider to second.
Pafko singled. Reese and Snider scored. Robinson to second.
Smith replaced Wehmeier.
Shuba walked. Robinson to third. Pafko to second.
Hodges walked. Robinson scored. Pafko to third. Shuba to second.
Walker singled. Pafko and Shuba scored. Hodges to third.
Van Cuyk singled. Hodges scored. Walker to second.
Cox was hit by a pitch. Walker to third. Van Cuyk to second.
Morgan ran for Cox.
Reese walked. Walker scored. Van Cuyk to third. Morgan to second.
Snider struck out.
15 runs, 10 hits, three left.

heh this team is so fun to watch now.

Kemp was getting tired of being kidded about Hu hitting 3 homers in his first 4 games in Vegas.

good lord

10,001

Boy, these kids are good....

WOW! This Matt Kemp is a ballplayer!!

and the Phils' garbage-innings-eater Brian Sanches was sent back up to Ottawa today...I wonder if they'll just throw Tom Gordon in there, the innings can't get much more low-pressure than these are now...

good heavens, matt kemp is strong. he didn't look like he put that good a swing on that pitch, but it was clearly headed out from the moment it was hit.

You know things are going good when Kent is gleaming.

furcal follows kemp's home run with a 50 foot single.

240 Maybe from our generation, they did, but I'd be surprised if younger fans knew that.

Jame Over.

Loney and Kemp both had beautiful swings in this inning.

I think Vin was a Loney fan long ago.
I think all trades are off.
I think I was paranoid about worrying about keeping Moyer in the game.-
-

I LOVE three-run homers!!!

276 - kemp's swing did look better on the replay. he looked off balance in real time.

274 Do younger fans even know what the McCarthy era was?

277 - at least we know where your comfort zone starts . . . at a 9 run lead ;)

280
A 27-year old librarian on my staff didn't know who Joseph McCarthy was.

She's not very knowledgeable about history in general. But she makes some really sweet Excel spreadsheets for me.

280. Was that when MTV was at the peak of its popularity.

Barry seeking higher grounds to catch Aaron..or maybe just to hit a ball!

http://tinyurl.com/23zbqu

282 I bet she didn't know he was a manager too.

284

Wow. Took one look at that headline and clicked it away.

280. What's considered younger?

penny has gone on a strike out tear.

I learned about the McCarthy era in middle school and in high school. You learn all that stuff now. I actually learned about the "Redlegs" from watching jeopardy.

264 Thanks. . . . And no one singled and doubled in that inning.

285

I just expect everyone to love history, but I forget not everyone had Greg Brock to teach them history or me to teach them how to appreciate "Freaks and Geeks."

I want Paul LoDuca back!

281 I'm afraid thats about right.

283 That was two peaks of popularity.

I am dreaming of performing like this in a playoff game.

280, 282
I always assumed it was the era where Kevin McCarthy was manically stumbling through traffic on the Santa Mira highway screaming, "YOU'RE NEXT! YOU'RE NEXT!"

290
The Reds had some pitching issues that day.

You're welcome.

Yay Brad!

Hey McCarthy is one hot blonde!! Don't see no Red in her!

Three Ks on 11 pitches. Penny finishes with a flourish. If he's done.

Steve Henson, until recently the Dodgers beat writer for the L.A. Times, writing on the Yahoo site today:

"SAN FRANCISCO–This time, it seems for keeps. This time, rookies James Loney and Matt Kemp are getting more than a cursory look and are viewed as more than fill-ins until a high-priced veteran gets hot or comes off the disabled list. And the Los Angeles Dodgers are better for it.
This time Loney and Kemp might get the same latitude catcher Russell Martin did a year ago, long before he became the No. 3 hitter, an All-Star and clubhouse leader, the same latitude given to outfielder Andre Ethier, who batted .306 as a rookie, the same latitude given to reliever Jonathan Broxton, who might be the best setup man in the National League in his second year."

279 He was a little off balance. What struck me as beautiful was that it looked liked the sort of swing that would allow him to hit almost any pitch out. Sort of like Piazza. You're right that he showed his strength.

300 Brad Penny FTW!!!

282 Does she wear black glasses and sweaters everyday? Is she really cute but overlooked like my televison tells me young female librarians are?

They are down to the final table at the WSOP. No big names left.

282- I blame Hollywood. Why can't they make a movie about it once in a while?

Even though I think George Clooney plays George Clooney in his movies, "Good Night and Good Luck" it is a good movie about that time and how television was instrumental in telling people what McCarthy was all about.

295
The Dodgers have not scored 10 runs in a postseason game since Game 1 of the 1978 World Series. They beat the Yankees 11-5.

299 "Dirty Love" might have been a communist plot.

304
She is almost, but not quite entirely unlike that description.

I've noticed that Kent gets taken out for defense/rest whenever a route gets on. I'm wondering if that is a cover-up for trying to prevent his option from vesting...

304 your "television" or your DVD player?

305 Scotty "Baby" Nguyen, from what I gather, could have coasted in but wanted to go for the chip lead and lost 15 million chips in hour and busted out 2 spots from the final table.

I have seen him in action, he pretty much acts the same regardless of if he is on TV or playing a small tourney.

Here's the whole column by Henson on Loney, Kemp, et al.:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/mlb_experts/post/Five-and-Fly-Youth-served;_ylt=Aj.OOOSDSfYF2hOS.kTKgUMRvLYF?urn=mlb,39299

2-1 Pods down south and threating...the Snakes lost

And Jose Mesa (!) restores order.

311

Let's hope.

310 Ahh! Double negatives make my head hurt.

So THAT is the infamous "Lucille II" (now that my bro and sister have spent the last week watching old Arrested Development episodes), it all makes sense now...

312 Let's keep this civilized. ;)

Just for Icaros:

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B08210LAN1990.htm

310 Black glasses are in.

311. Assuming Tomko and Co. are on the team the rest of the year I don't foresee it becoming much of a factor.

314. Breaking the view for our iPhone users.

Matt making a case for a Web Gem

Presently, my department at work has four men and three women.

All of the men wear glasses and none of the women do.

Bison strikes!

Speaking of comfort zones, a nine run lead must be pretty powerful. My computer desk just failed dumping my keyboard on the floor where several keys broke off. In addition my mouse got away and my evening snack landed hot in my lap. I am holding a few keys in place as I type this, and with this lead I still feel serene and calm.

321

I think my mother is still upset about the fit I threw that night.

penny's final line; 1R on 4H in 7IP, 8 K and 1BB.

Um, and the Phils' broadcast team just named that Kent diving catch the "Ricoh Defensive Play of the Game"...and not the play by Kent earlier that kept Victorino's triple from driving in one run and scoring another. Hm.

The part of Dave Walsh tonight will be played by DJ Houlton.

327 - the lead is down to 8. feeling anxious?

325 What library do you work at?

330 - That was the Kemp diving catch, before Chutley's RBI double...and Ryan Howard just had a very un-MVP-like at-bat. sigh.

331

Who's going to take the John Kruk role?

333
I work at a secret, undisclosed library that reports only to the highest government officials on a "need to know" basis.

331 Ah, but there is no Jose Offerman equivalent on this roster.

Bob works at the Encyclopedia Brown Library of Champions.

336 And I crap on a golden toilet.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com is a terrible beat writer. His "mailbag" column is usually poor but today's takes the cake. Not only did he claim that Kershaw was promoted to Double-A (wrong), but also got in his usual jab at LaRoche ("he hasn't hit as expected") despite the fact that Andy is having an incredible July and is approaching .300 on the season.

Very bad stuff.

Now Gurnick says in his mailbag that Kershaw has been promoted to Jacksonville.

I need confirmation.

335 as Himself. He'll be activated shortly.

339 But do you relieve yourself into a flower-shaped urinal?

336 Let me rephrase the question. What liberry do you work at?

340

do we know that the kershaw promotion is incorrect?

By the time the 9th inning rolled around in the infamous 1990 game, the Phillies lineup was:
Sil Campusano CF
Tom Nieto C
Von Hayes LF
Dale Murphy RF
Roger McDowell P
Rod Booker 2B
Carmelo Martinez 1B
Dickie Thon SS
Dave Hollins 3B

341

isnt that two sources now with AA promotion for Kershaw?

347

Is a promotion of this nature unheard of?

347 I thought it was Gurnick twice.

344
It's a big one with a pyramid on top in a large West Coast city.

350 The Stupid, Dirty Girl Library. :)

Gurnick once, Henson once (but deleted before anybody but BHsportsguy saw it; interesting. . .).

349

BH said Brown on his yahoo blog but then it was deleted.

332 I haven't yet found time to get anxious, but I might yet.
At least until I here "secret" and "need to know".

Vin is a wicked fan of no trades. I'm impressed.

Stupid Wes Helms!

350 You work at the Louvre?

Brown, not Henson? Oops. They run together in my brain, though that's not a very nice thing to say about Henson.

348

i would be pretty shocked if the Dodgers did this. I did read an article recently (or maybe an interview) where Kershaw said he has been throwing his change up as much as 25times a start. Realizing that he could just blow low ball hitters away, maybe he allowed all those runs in his recent outing because he was throwing his change up more and trying to perfect it.

357

It was Henson, I got them mixed up.

350 I didn't know the Luxor in Vegas had a library??

Metromix says it all:
http://tinyurl.com/2h6ru8

Aww and on this date in 1994, Westlake High grad Mike Lieberthal hit his first MLB homer off of...Ramon Martinez.

Playing 3B for the Phils that day? Any guesses (looking at you Bob)?

Paris is not on the West Coast.

362
Dave Hollins?

354 -- What exactly did Scully say on the subject of trades?

356, 360. No love for Nashville?

363. Paris Hilton is indeed on the west coast.

If you zoom out really far on the map, Paris is on the west coast of Europe.

Kershaw is curently on the Great Lake Loons' roster.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&did=milb&cid=456

363 Someone confused left coast with left bank.

352 Yep, I saw it but didn't note it here because I wanted to find another source. Then this morning, it was gone.

Now Gurnick puts it in.

I asked Tony Jackson to check it out.

371

Tony Jackson: Dodger Thoughts Bloodhound.

371

Diamond is very much on the ball when it comes to the happenings of the dodgers farm system so if he had reported it, i would taken it as the truth.

gurnick on the other hand...

nice win.

364 - Nope! Think more along the lines of Current Friends...anyone else is welcome to guess also...

oh and there's the ballgame, see youse all same time tomorrow!

Bourn flies out - no conspiracy for a nine-run ninth inning tonight.

On what day did Bill Mueller become hitting coach?

I'm glad Kemp didn't fall for the Mueller question. No need to bash Murray. Just no need.

377 Fired during the off day between the Mets and Angels series. June 15th was the game that Mueller was the hitting coach.

the same day Murray was fired.

375- I'd forgotten he was a Phillie. I remembered his stays in Cincinnati and New York.

375 I'd forgotten that he played for the Phillies for awhile. Good one.

381 Grrrr. I did remember NY as well, especially the one season where he weirdly spiked offensively.

Anyone notice the Dodgers left one man on base during this game as opposed to the standard 10?

382
He played for everybody!

When did scuffling start meaning struggling? That's recent, right?

Martin said a key to Tomko's success was the use of a cut fastball, something Martin couldn't have predicted before pregame warmups.

"It's the first day I ever saw him throw one," Martin said. "But he told me that he wanted to use it and we used it a lot. Give Tomko credit. When something's not working, he made an adjustment."

from Gurnick.

Hasn't just about everyone in print, radio, television, and blogs talked about Tomko's laser-straight fastballs at least as long as he's been in LA? Finally. At least he did something.

365 Nothing directly, but he was praising Loney's fielding and hitting as saving the d's and he seemed to add in Kemp in several remarks.

384 Three-run HRs have a way of causing that to happen!

Who gave Before the Bigs an award?

LaRoche says Gurnick, HA! Two homers tonight, Hu has 3 hits, Vegas is becoming Homer Town.

Oops. Looks like Variety might have.

http://tinyurl.com/2bpypq

Laroche is coming on, hits his second homer of the game.

391

should have refreshed!

Little said he would try not to use Jonathan Broxton on Monday night. He pitched all three games in San Francisco, as did Beimel. -also Gurnick.

And Grady did a great job resting Broxton, and Beimel. ;)

377 Small sample size caveats apply, but here are the numbers pre- and post- hitting coach change:

under Murray: 66 games, .261/.329/.383, 4.36 runs/gm
under Mueller: 27 games, .308/.375/.441, 5.33 runs/gm

392 Variety reporting on local Emmys.

SPORTS SERIES (Programming)
"Before The Bigs" (FSN Prime Ticket)
FSN Prime Ticket Sports Team
"Bruin Rewind" (FSN Prime Ticket)
FSN Prime Ticket Sports Team
"Trojan Rewind" (FSN Prime Ticket)
FSN Prime Ticket Sports Team

I'm guessing a win for FSN Prime Ticket.

Penny has a Jeff Kent bobblehead in his locker.

384 - Great minds think alike. If I did this right, it's the first time the Dodgers have scored 10 runs or more while leaving one runner on base or less since 1998:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/gJYA

396 I went through this yesterday with Branch Rickey but coincidence or not, they are swinging the bats well right now.

Matt Kemp now has 75 hits in his first 250 career at-bats. You do the math.

397- How to tell your awards show has too many categories. . .

There was this game back in 1962 where the White Sox scored 10 and left none:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196204190.shtml

399
That was right.

Here's a non-outlaw link:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/NTAk

I should become a non-outlaw.

After the great statistics, the best thing about Matt Kemp's B-R page is the sponsorship box and the link within.

After the great statistics, the best thing about Matt Kemp's B-R page is the sponsorship box and the link within.

405 Aren't you already married?

400 If anything, I'm pro-Murray. Eddie Murray is my favorite baseball player of all time. I was just pointing out the stats to this point.

Almost all of the offensive improvement is due to an increase in batting average. I'm sure a lot has been luck, but perhaps they are seeing more pitches per PA (haven't seen the data) allowing them to get better pitches to hit.

Baseball Reference should give Bob a cut of their subscription money. I don't think he even knows he's doing it, but he talked me into buying one, too.

404 - I'm celebrating with a new post.