At least with so many guys, there's a good chance White doesn't get the job (if the Astros were looking for the best man, Ed Wade would have never been interviewed).

If it was a lateral move, that's one thing, but its not.

Stay and enjoy the success of a homegrown team.

If you must be employed by Houston, please trade Roy Oswalt to us for six tickets to the the AM/PM pavillion.

1. I would have been bunting with two on, nobody out, and down a run in the ninth. I am glad to be wrong today. In the same situation in the future, I would still be bunting. Seems getting the runner to third with one out is the play to me.

2. We won without a delayed steal attempt by an old, slow guy. Can somebody remind Grady of that? I don't want to see Shea or LuGo or Kent trying to steal. Even against the Cubs.

3. I loved the Gagne years. I wanted to match/beat the Texas offer and keep him here. Ned was right to give the job to Saito. He is a legit Cy Young candidate. Other than Russ Martin, he is our MVP. Leads the bigs in era now gents.

4. Grady hit Abreu 8th. In the not so distant future, Abreu with speed and some pop in his bat will earn his way to the top of the line-up. Grady will eventually have to realize with four more years of Pierre, that Slappy belongs in that 8th slot.

5. Matt Kemp can homer outside Dodger Stadium. Time for him to hit a few more this year in SF, AZ, and Colorado. Then in NY. Then perhaps ..... Cleveland?

6. I love three run homers in the ninth inning that give us the lead.

7. I love three run homers in the ninth inning that give us the lead.

8. I'm still waiting to pay for my postseason ticket strip until after the SD series. Payment is due Sept 14th. It took 2 months for a refund last year after only using one set of tickets. I want to pay for them, believe me.

I'm hoping that Tal Smith just convinces McLane to hire his old Public Relations Assistant, who also happens to be an 8 year veteran GM. You can't beat that kind of experience!

He threw smoke.

8 One would think that White is smart enough to know he should wait for a good opportunity, and that Houston is not a good opportunity. Going to work for a crazy owner rarely works out well unless your name is Cashman. And Houston, more than any other team, has gone to great lengths to destroy its farm system, which is something I suspect wouldn't help lure White over there.

Johnny Bench, on the other hand, couldn't have been more unfriendly and didn't sign autographs for anyone.

BABIP: .410
LD%: 16.8
Expected BABIP: (16.8 + 12.0)/100 = .288

Kemp seems to be getting a lot of groundball singles, which might be what's driving up his BABIP well above what would be expected.

In case you couldn't tell I absolutely despise that play.

I doubt the third of time statistic, I suspect that it works at least 75% of the time. A lot could go wrong though. I believe Ethier has good enough bat control (or Ramon Martinez) to get the ball down the third base line.

(Referencing #3 on your list) Ned didn't exactly "give" the job to Saito. If you'll recall, Saito didn't even break camp with the Dodgers. Saito was a gloriously lucky discovery, and I have no problem giving Colletti credit for bringing him into camp. But I don't think even Colletti himself would claim he did so with the plan or idea that "Sammytime" was about to begin.

Wow! (And the Sandlot 19 reference was funny too.)

On the baseball gods, I was at a game at RFK last year where Ramon Ortiz (!!) had a no hitter going through the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth, he hit a home run. The fans cheered and cheered and finally he came out for a curtain call.

Then he lost the no hitter to the next batter he faced.

Saito happened to be one of those who stuck. I doubt there was any grand insight on Ned's part. He got lucky, though he deserves credit for taking the right approach.

The wrong approach? Trading prospects for Danys Baezes and Lance Carters.

Sports Illustrated is an easy call, but I'm wondering if there are others out there I should consider. What's the thought on ESPN the magazine?

Last month when the Dodgers played the Cardinals, my wife, my parents and me were there. It was the Penny game that Loney hit the homer. Well anyways, we were sitting right on the field down the RF line, about as close to the RF'er as any fans could be.

I wanted to pull Ethier's chain a bit, so I tried to get my wife to yell at Andre to get his attention: She was going to say, "Andre, Andre! I'm pregnant". Then I'd get a picture of him blushing and all embarrassed. Unfortunately, we didnt end up doing it.

The only other memorable parts of that game was that Loney hit a bomb right over us that was foul earlier in the game, then struck out. But then came back in the 9th to hit the GW homer.

For all the talk about Ethier having a great arm, it doenst compare to Ankiel's. I think that was only Ankiel's 2nd major league game as an OF'er, but he threw some rockets from the warning track in warm ups. He's definitely athletic out there. Ethier looks fundamentally sound, but he's wasnt very fast and broke back on just about every ball initallly even if it was shallow.

Why?

Place/GS/W/ L/ CG/ SHO/ IP/ ERA/ H R/ER/HR/BB/IBB/SO/HBP
LAD/24/15/4/14/5/208/1.86/124/44/43/9/75/1/218 0

DodgerStadium /13/7/2/ 7/3/107/1.77/64/21/21/8/34/0/118/0

But he was no Larry Jaster
1966
LAD/5/5/0/5/5/45/0.00/ 24/ 0/ 0/ 0/ 8/ 0/ 31/ 1
5 games, 5 shutouts.

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=217745&hubname=mlb

For the Dodgers, LaRoche won't have proved himself until he hits .400 for a month

With no walks.

Watching the replay last night it really was just a high fly ball that caught some air. Vinny was talking in the 8th about how the wind was picking up from right to left. Then Ethier hit it up in the wind as on cue.

Paul Konerko with the Dodgers: 144 AB, .215/.272/.306

Actually, I think New school types have a greater demand for power hitters at third.

Old schoolers are content with high PVL at third (e.g. Nomar, Hillenbrand, Mueller, etc.).

I doubt if Ned ever talks to any media off the record about any of the players.

Tommy will talk to anyone who pays him attention as long as your somebody.

Averaging 1 homer per 9abs.

I dont think he can get in trouble since he took it before it was banned. But I'm sure the "feel good" story will now change. Its too bad, bc what he's doing is something unseen in baseball.

Last guy to dominate in pitching (of course Ankiel only had 1 good MLB season), and then also be a hitter was I guess Babe Ruth?

If the Cards put Ankiel's in CF, he might be the best CF'er in the game if he OPS's 900 or so.

Really the only question is health not ability. If they feel his back will hold him back from hitting his ceiling then I can understand them not being comfortable headed into 2008 with him as the 3b.

Jeff Francouer had the same kind of start but eventually his plate discipline caught up to him. The same should happen for Ankiel but it is a great ride at the moment.

ToyCannon's right though about noting the injury concerns, as well as Simer's source maybe being Tommy.

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/

I don't buy it.

This proves once and for all that the average Dodger fan is, how should I put it....?

http://www.kfwb.com/pages/7789.php?

His situation IMO is different from a guy thats been a hitter his entire career and has never walked.

With all of Ankiel's power, I doubt he'll get much to hit and it'll be interesting to see if he can not chase balls. He has 10 walks in 81 ABs so far. Not great, not terrible.

56
Lame attempt at comedy. You can do better than that I'm sure.

I assure you, that was no laughing matter.

The Lenox Ma. library, run by a private group, just spent millions restoring some domed cielings covered with artwork. At your cite, I found a cite about "Librarys We Love" , by the Berkshire Publishing group, based two towns away. It didn't mention the Lenox Library! Gives me something to snoop into.

It is interesting that they are interviewing so many and Kim is not even on the list. I think she has a better chance of outlasting Ned and getting our gig then she does of someone hiring her from the outside.

69. Make it 12.

(seriously, Dodger fans, your team has made the playoffs 4 times since the Pirates even had a winning season. Things could be a lot worse than having to watch Juan Pierre in CF for four more years, would you prefer it be Adam Hyzdu and Chris Duffy instead?)

I don't know...if we had Duffy, I could fantasize about signing one of the 2,000 free agent CFs on the market this winter who are better than Juan Pierre.

No, that ball has apparently gone into the gutter.

Just kidding. That's too bad. It seemed to get off to such a great start.

Did not see that one coming.

Yeah, keeps happening that way. I've stopped trying to understand.

More wishfully, I'd trade Furcal with Pierre. A-Rod at SS. Andy at 3B.

I don't want to hear that A-Rod can't play SS anymore. He can.

Like I said in previous thread, the autograph story also sounds like one that has some truth to it but which gets exaggerated and distorted to tilt to one side.

The Cubs games are more about being seen as social event than actually being interested in the team.

The way the ballpark is nestled into a regular neighborhood is nice though. Doesnt surprise me that Ethier got yelled at bc the Cubs do sell beer in the bleachers.

89 - I heard that if A-Rod goes somewhere else, he will want to play shortstop again. I'm not a big fan of trading Furcal, we do need a lead off hitter that has some ability to get on base. Can Hu play second? And of course, if we move Pierre (please) what do we do about center? Bring up Youn