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SI.com
NL West Preview
Evaluating Defense
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World Baseball Classic
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Slow Starts
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Groundball Pitchers
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Humbled Angels
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Eric Gagne II
Unreliable Relievers
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Dodger Turnaround
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Guest Actors
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2006 Emmys Nominees*
*Comedy Series
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ABC Fridays
Rookie Actors
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2007 Pilot Casting
Sublime Slime
Also ...
A Season in Savannah (Stanford Magazine)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2005) (Hardball Times)
Rick Monday (Baseball Analysts)
Baseball's Odd Couple (Baseball Prospectus)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) (Hardball Times)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2007) (Hardball Times)
Dodger home record: 50-35 (.588)
When Jon attended: 9-5 (.643)
When Jon didn't: 41-30 (.577)
Dodgers at home: 795-635 (.556)
Jon attended: 302-238 (.559)*
Jon didn't: 498-404 (.552)
* includes road games attended
Current Roster with Estimated 2009 Salaries
(updated November 14)
Most figures are estimates (some are wild estimates) but will be updated as information comes in. Corrections welcome.
More contract details here.
Starting Pitchers (5)
$10,000,000 Hiroki Kuroda
*$475,000 Chad Billingsley
*$415,000 Clayton Kershaw
*$405,000 Eric Stults
*$400,000 James McDonald
*Total: $11,695,000
Bullpen (7)
*$2,500,000 Takashi Saito
*$1,300,000 Scott Proctor
*$1,500,000 Jonathan Broxton
*$425,000 Hong-Chih Kuo
*$420,000 Cory Wade
*$410,000 Ramon Troncoso
*$400,000 Scott Elbert
Total: $6,955,000
Also on 40-man roster
Mario Alvarez
Yhency Brazoban
Greg Miller
Justin Orenduff
Starting Lineup (8)
$17,100,000 Andruw Jones
*$3,000,000 Russell Martin
*$2,500,000 Andre Ethier
*$600,000 Matt Kemp
*$600,000 James Loney
*$500,000 Angel Berroa
*$410,000 Blake DeWitt
*$400,000 Tony Abreu
Total: $25,110,000
Bench (5)
$10,000,000 Juan Pierre
*$600,000 Jason Repko
*$410,000 Delwyn Young
*$400,000 Danny Ardoin
*$400,000 Chin-Lung Hu
Total: $11,810,000
Note: Team can buy out Ozuna's 2009 option for $200,000
Also on 40-man roster
A.J. Ellis
Lucas May
Xavier Paul
Disabled List
$12,000,000 Jason Schmidt
Also Paying ...
$2,000,000 Brad Penny (buyout of $9,000,000 option)
$50,000 Gary Bennett (buyout of $900,000 option)
Note: Kansas City is responsible for $500,000 buyout of Angel Berroa's $5,500,000 option for 2009.
Working total: *$68,020,000
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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
Baseball Toaster runs on some experimental software called Fairpole. It's still under development.
For more information, please visit the Fairpole blog, or read the FAQ.
The start of tonight's game will be delayed - if it starts at all - according to Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise.
Update: Rainout City. The game will be made up in September - which is good news for the Dodgers if for no other reason than rosters will have expanded by then. In the meantime, everyone gets a day of rest. I call this one a victory.
Update: Worse news for Derek Lowe, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Lowe does not have a strained groin, but, according to a club official, he has "irritation in the left hip," and that's never good for a pitcher. In fact, that was the original diagnosis for pitchers Jason Isringhausen of the Cardinals last year and Justin Duchscherer of the Oakland A's this year, and both ultimately required arthroscopic hip surgery.
Lowe's symptoms -- sharp pain in the groin area when he lands on every pitch, but no pain otherwise -- are classic for that condition, as the pain is referred from the point of injury. He said he's had similar twinges in the past, but never repeatedly pitch after pitch as it was Wednesday night, and he was puzzled with the diagnosis of a hip problem.
He said the discomfort began when he warmed up for a Sunday emergency-relief appearance without stretching. Lowe said his MRI results were being sent for analysis to the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colo., where hip specialist Dr. Marc Philippon is a pioneer of the surgical procedure.
Lowe played catch gingerly on flat ground before rain fell on Friday and said he was hopeful of testing the hip off a mound on Saturday. He said the entire hip area was stiff and sore on Friday, the expected aftermath of the gadolinium injection in Thursday's MRI procedure.
"Any time you're dealing with the groin area, you have to throw off a mound to see how the leg reacts," said Lowe, who suffered a bad groin tear while he was a Minor Leaguer. "When I throw off a mound, I'll be able to tell right away how it feels." ...
Not all tears require surgery. Oakland first baseman Dan Johnson, diagnosed with a labral tear at the end of Spring Training, returned after a month of rehab.
I feel very strongly about this point, I hope Jon doesn't mind me re-posting it up here.
Russell Martin will be back in the lineup tomorrow after getting a day off. Also tomorrow, Olmedo Saenz will start at first base and Luis Gonzalez (sic)
Bottom 6th: - K. Matsui singled to second, W. Taveras to second
I don't remember this play though. I remember one ball that hit the mound and bounced past a diving Wilson into CF. I don't think he could have been expected to field it.
Good cover? Or is that the spirit of the moment taking me?
They hit a bullet to him & he triad back handing it but couldn't handle it.
Groovitational pull is hilarious x 10.
Although I hope they don't.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Dodgers will host a steroid awareness clinic on Aug. 2 before they play Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants.
No, it's not for the players.
About 100 kids from area Little League teams are expected for a two-hour steroid awareness clinic to be held on the field during the afternoon. Dodger outfielder Juan Pierre, hitting coach Bill Mueller and former Dodger Lou Johnson are to participate in the clinic. The kids will receive a Dodger goodie bag.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/07/27/bonds.dodgers.steroids.ap/index.html
- J. Valverde relieved B. Lyon
- T. Clark at first
- K. Johnson grounded out to second
- J. Franco grounded out to shortstop
- Y. Escobar hit for P. Moylan
- Y. Escobar walked
- Y. Escobar stole second
- W. Harris singled to center, Y. Escobar scored
tying the game at 7-7.
And wondering if Taylor Tankersley is going to go down in history...?
Krukie after Durham was picked off second base with Bonds up: "Yikes".
They blew a 7 run lead when the tying run in the ninth got into scoring position by stealing 2nd after walking when the runner at 1st took off for 2nd when Valverde bent over to play with his sock, by the time he looked up neither of us infielders bothered to cover 2nd and Esocbar stole the bag without a play. Harris then hit a bloop single to tie the game.
Barry, if you have an ouce of decency left, retire tonight. Please.
Vintage-2002 Bonds tonight - a homer in the first and then 4 walks.
1) The players association doesn't like teams playing games for more than 20 days in a row. I'm not sure if they need to approve such a move or not, but a makeup on July 30 would mean 31 straight game days for Colorado and 24 straight for LA.
2) It's easier to sell tickets 2 months in advance than with 2 days in advance.
Now you only appear when it's time to brag about your beloved D-backs.
THAT DOG HAS A PUFFY TAIL!!!!!
hehehehehe... here puff!
Braves-DBacks: watch Chip Caray on TBS or Mark Grace on EI? (I chose Caray; at least I got to hear the life drained from his soul on the Clark walkoff!)
Marlins-Giants: Krukow & Kuiper (who are great) on EI, or put up with Steve Phillips on ESPN, but in HD? (I chose HD, but at least got Dan Shulman and Orel too)
(and who else noticed that 44 year old starter who threw a complete game shutout tonight? Last pitcher to do that, anyone..?)
(a) Bowies in Space on FotC;
(b) Bowie himself singing "Little Fat Man" on Extras
It's neck and neck for me.
Same time tomorrow for 755 Thoughts, everybody?
Oh wait- Bowies in Space- the end! way hot.
I don't like to reveal my sources...but yes.
Glad to come home to see the game was rained out. Definitely a good break for the beleaguered Dodgers pitching staff. A doubleheader this weekend might have been kind of fun, but not at this time.
So the Padres signed Shea Hillenbrand to a minor league contract, in hopes he can come up and help the team soon. Milton Bradley, Michael Barrett, Shea Hillenbrand. That'll be a fun chemistry experiment.
Snell, Billz, Kershaw, and whatever would be a lot of nice.
It makes me think of a definite Rule 1 violation that involves circles.
Seriously, J-School must be easier than a Masters from the University of Phoenix. Many of these people write for actual newspapers and media outlets!
"Brad Penny reclined on a couch in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse and read a book as he waited for the storm to pass through."
Do you think Brad reads Harry Potter?
Little said Saenz is starting tomorrow because he needs the ABs. Maybe this spot start can refresh the old man's bat.
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium,
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium,
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium,
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium,
And gold and protactinium and indium and gallium,
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium.
There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium,
And boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium,
And strontium and silicon and silver and samarium,
And bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium.
There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium,
And phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium,
And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium,
Dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium.
And lead, praseodymium, and platinum, plutonium,
Palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium,
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium,
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium.
There's sulfur, californium, and fermium, berkelium,
And also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium,
And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc, and rhodium,
And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium.
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Ha'vard,
And there may be many others, but they haven't been discovered.
http://tinyurl.com/28mpve
Classic.
Johnny Nucleo
DT Resident Chemist
I think I'm finally getting used to things around here and hopefully by my next trip I'll have it down pat. I was glad to see that yesterday's game was rained out, it always pains me when I have to miss a game.
I can't help noticing that every year(at least 3) at about this time Andy LaRoche is in a mode where it seems like he hits a homer every other day. He surely isn't permanently damaged. He may be a second half guy who can experiment with his training etc. Of course there is nothing wrong with a guy who comes chugging on when a few other players are wearing down.
When you add to this his penchant for getting on base, and his arm, I think there should be a lot of tolerance for giving him time to get comfortable in the field, and a reluctance to trade him.
So this 4th outfielder plays at the expense of Kemp or Ethier? At best this creates another Betemit situation. The fact is we need an outfielder or first baseman at this point like we need a sixth toe.
.219/.287/.394 Willy Mo Pena?
Yeah, let's throw Broxton in to seal the deal.
For the year:
.308/.398/.587 with a 32:27 BB:K ratio
and his July has been off-the-charts good:
.405/.489/.946 with a 13:10 BB:K ratio
I don't care who you are or where you play, OPSing 1.435 for a month is incredible.
There are also the last two bullet pointed items:
"Tampa Bay is looking to move Elijah Dukes. Aaron Schatz is working the phones to see if the Cincinnati Bengals offer of Frostee Rucker and Chris Henry will get it done.
"The Red Sox are close to a deal. Don't ask me who they might be acquiring or what the terms of the deal might be. But my sources tell me something's imminent, and I would be remiss if I did not come on here and let you readers know that."
Today from Carroll:
The Dodgers have refocused their energy on getting a pitcher, but once again there's some internal strife regarding which prospects could be traded and which belong to the Dodgers' future. That's going to make getting a deal done a bit tougher, unless they set their sights a bit lower.
According to baseball sources, the Rangers wanted three players from the Angels for Teixeira, and the teams apparently agreed on the first two, first baseman Casey Kotchman and left-handed pitcher Joe Saunders.
The Rangers gave the Angels a list of four names to choose from Friday. On that list were infielder Brandon Wood, the organization's top position-playing prospect, double-A right-hander Nick Adenhart, the organization's top pitching prospect, starting second baseman Howie Kendrick, who is on the disabled list because of a broken finger, and recently demoted right-hander Ervin Santana.
The Angels' response: No way.
2b Abreu
1b Loney
cf Kemp
c Martin
lf Ethier
3b ?
rf ?
ss Hu
Bills, Kershaw, Miller, Elbert, ?
Meloan, Broxton
If they win a World Series before that team plays together fine, but I can wait.
FoxSports - The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Braves and Cubs all are interested in Royals right-hander Zack Greinke, but it is doubtful the Royals would trade him unless they were overwhelmed.
Greinke, 23, has excelled as a reliever this season, and some teams still like him as a starter. The Royals, though, control him through 2010.
"They can't trade Greinke right now, they can't do it," one rival executive says. "They'd be crazy if they did."
"Despite losing 19 of their past 30 games, the Diamondbacks are only 2 ½ games out of the wild-card lead and 3 ½ games out of first place -- with lots of room for potential improvement from their younger position players. Perhaps the growing pains were worse than Arizona hoped for, but unless the starting rotation collapses like Johnson's aging body, don't count Arizona out. "
TINSTATMP--There is no such thing as too much pitching. The 2007 Dodger version, increasingly accurate, as injuries pile up.
And why would Tomko, who has struggled mightily, mothball an apparently effective cutter? Why would it take so long for him to try it again?
TISATABLTNIH--Tomko's contribution: There is such a thing as better late than never, I hope.
So do the Dodgers.