One thing that was cool was since it was Sunday, and since Pepperdine is a Christian college, we had a worship service in the cafeteria. During the service you could see helicopters landing at a nearby lake and then taking off again to drop the water on the flames.

Next day I get a call from my parents in San Diego who had to evacuate our home. They spent most of the day at a high school down there and then got the all clear to come back. And my brother is at UCSD, so he's been affected too. It's been a crazy weekend for our family, but luckily everyone is ok.

1 I have a friend who works at Pepperdine, I didn't realize that the fire had made it to the campus. I'll have to call her.

I coach cross country, will monitor holding practice today and tomorrow, have a meet on Thursday. Last Tue and Wed had to cancel just due to dust and gusts up to 50 mph. Now with smoke an issue, we'll have to watch for reports of air quality issues as mentioned before. Like Ned, I see what I see and don't necessarily need statistics to make decisions.

Hope everyone else is doing as well as can be expected. I have relatives in Santa Clarita and in San Diego. Also in Camarillo, not too far from Fillmore. I haven't heard from anyone yet, hope they are okay. This is some scary stuff.

The only time it gets windy in my neck of the woods is if the wind kicks in off of the ocean and blows northward. That happens maybe one or two days a year. It's quite a switch from where I grew up: Granada Hills.

S. Pasadena is beautiful (Pasadena is beautiful period) do you live near old town Bob? or are you relatively far.

Old Pasadena has lots of places to shop and dine. South Pasadena has cute antique stores and an ice cream fountain.

And a deserted movie theater.

"Maybe (the Cubs) is a business, " he said. "But it's not a business I understand. So I think I'll pass it on to someone who understands it as a business or to someone who gets enough psychic income that they don't give a ...."

Thank you so much Jon for your concern for all of us here. My thoughts are with everyone and their families out here in California having to deal with the smoke, ash, and fire.

As for me, I am fine and here in Santa Barbara, we are getting a fair share of ash but it's very mild, and I can even see blue in the sky.

My family is in Oxnard and I understand they are ok. My pop works in Simi Valley so I'm sure conditions are similar to Moorpark.

My concern right now is for family that lives in Palmdale. They must be getting quite the brunt of the ash, plus they must be locked in due to the Santa Clarita fires that block their passage along the 14 and 5.

Is that true, for those who live in the Antelope Valley?

Was everybody's car covered in soot yesterday/today?

now we just have 70 mile an hour winds, thick soot on everything, trees broken, but so far the fires are passing us by...unlike last December when they came right up to our property line...

and now they are forecasting rain over the weekend....

it just looks like a big white cloud XeiFrank! What does your machine think about the BoSox versus the Colorado Rockies?

36. Game #1 odds are posted.

vr, Xei

per Rotoworld

With LaRussa coming back, Rolen can't be too happy. Pierre's money, and Rolen's match somewhat, plus they could use a CF.

Glad everything is ok... How would you get into LA if the Santa Clarita fire creeped into the 14 and 5?

I can remember when I was in Santa Barbara and there was ash everywhere. I was definitely not used to seeing anything like that.

I hope I-5 Isn't affected - I'm supposed to drive down to LA on Sunday AM. (Hey, did I tell you guys I'm taking the train from LA to Texas and Nawlins for a research project I'm doing? That should be interesting.)

Shortstop Chin-lung Hu left after one inning in an Arizona Fall League game today due to right hamstring soreness, according to Baseball America.

Meanwhile, no one asked my opinion, and I'm rooting for the Rockies, but my prediction is RedSox in 6 games.

I would love to see that.

54

What remark?

Thanks for your concerns, and mine goes out to all affected too.

1300 homes in San Diego

...so far

>> The decision by United States Coach Greg Ryan to start Briana Scurry in goal against Brazil in last month's Women's World Cup left him on a high wire with no safety net. <<

http://tinyurl.com/2rfuta

Actually I understand Orange County has some fires of its own. Air quality must not be at its best any place along the OC.

Myth 6: El Niño means disastrous flooding for California. Occasionally, but it is just as likely that California will have significant flooding in a non-El Niño year. Of the 10 costliest flood years in California since 1950, only four happened during a time when there was an El Niño. Two others occurred during seasons with La Niña, and the final four were when the temperature of the tropical Pacific was near normal.

I wish I had seen that. I mean if you are going to complain about that, than the catcher should be allowed to tackle Manny any time he treats a first inning homer like a walk off.

It seems like a the home plate umps in the last few games have been giving quite a wide strike zone...of course, that is assuming we can trust the strike zone guide on tv, which I am skeptical about.

67 Only a few months too late. I wonder what this means for Hope Solo...

vr, Xei

May she please stay.

http://weblogs.variety.com/season_pass/2007/10/wanted-readers-.html

>> Neither side accepts the other's premise. Boras does not seem to believe that the Yankees will remove themselves from negotiations if Rodriguez opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent. The Yankees are highly dubious that Boras can find a more lucrative contract than the one they plan to offer. <<

http://tinyurl.com/2v895q

How about "The Caine Mutiny?"

"Cane" is one of those shows you just know will be bad. I've just never picked up a box and sugar and been curious about the dirty deals behind it. "Corn" maybe, but not sugar.

But your mentioning it reminds me of a famous story from the PR world. Burson-Marsteller tried to class up its name by hiring former JFK press secretary and ABC News correspondent Pierre Salinger as a kind of well-known face for its public affairs practice. The idea was Salinger would bring in clients by virtue of all his contacts and his reputation.

At the time, Bacardi Rum was a well-paying Burson client going back decades, a mainstay of the firm's revenues all over the world.

Salinger is gives a speech about foreign affairs and at the end of it, he's asked by a member of the audience if he thinks the U.S. will ever recognize Castro's Cuba and drop the embargo. Salinger says yes, he thinks that will happen.

Turns out, this is the worst thing you can say to anybody in the Bacardi family. They hate Castro. Officers in the firm worked with the CIA to have him killed. They are major funders of the Cuban exile community, and have a major lobbying presence in Washington to make sure the embargo is only expanded, not lifted.

Salinger's remarks were casual musings, not some strong stand he wanted to be associated with. But before the day was over, Bacardi fired Burson.

Tell me that "Cane" covers that kind of stuff and I might be interested.

My grandmother and grandfather left Rancho Bernardo yesterday for downtown SD. We think the Witch fire just missed them by one exit or so.

Actually, I haven't watched since the pilot.

87 - Enders now lives in Texas, but Bluebleeder is thinking of Eric Stephen.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/22/214440/52

We have a copy of "The Year of Magical Thinking," but I haven't read it yet.

Here's the thing: Unless you watched J.D. Drew for the entire 2007 season, you can't possibly comprehend how astounding this was. I write about sports for a living. When I'm watching a game, I have trained myself to look for every possible angle and every conceivable scenario. I am thinking about potential jokes, observations, column angles and everything else. I am prepared for everything. I am a trained professional at watching sports and eventually translating my feelings into words.

So believe me when I tell you this ... from the time Drew walked up to home plate to the time that ball landed in the center-field stands, I never even considered the possibility of a grand slam.

http://tinyurl.com/2pjsta

"The Year of Magical Thinking" is brilliant, actually. Probably her best book in a good long while. I'm probably biased, since I've been through this experience, but she captures it with her usual obsessive precision.

Like William Styron's book on depression, "Darkness Visible," Didion's book will be something people will give other people after their spouse dies. It will help a lot of people to know that, yes, they're going crazy, but they won't be crazy forever.

Now go on to much more important concerns.

When I did get to downtown SD, it was like a normal day though. I even saw one of the doubledecker tour buses with tourists taking pictures.

Not that I disagree with the speculation, but I'm just curious about the sourcing since I haven't heard the broadcast.

Perhaps Simmons could have seen it coming, too, if his "every possible angle" extended beyond Drew's admittedly crummy year in Boston.

18 Bob can rest assured that it is still very windy in the north San Fernando Valley where I live.

We are thankfully generally unaffected by the fires this time. Like so many, though, we do know people in some of the evacuated areas. Our thoughts go out to all who are affected.

There were two problems according to Martinez, management let the kids do whatever they wanted because that was the direction they were heading and that the older players felt like what the heck am I doing here if we are not going to try and win now.

I'll close with this thought, everyone in the Dodger clubhouse could learn something from what I gathered from what Tulo said a few weeks ago. Just respect each other, doesn't mean you have to be a pal or hang out after games, all you have to do is just respect each other and I think it will be a step in the right direction.

Yeah. If we were trying to win now, Nomar would have been starting at first, Olmedo at third, LuGo in left, Sweeney in right, and Liebs behind the plate.

When it comes free agent time, I don't know many veterans who show "loyalty" to their teams. As a result, I don't see why the vets expect loyalty from their teams.

I'm recking your right underdog, but IF there young pitchers perform well/& or are not intimidated by the big stage I'm thinking they will surprised a lot of us. The first game will be very telling in my opinion.

And often unstoppable.

I'm sorry to hear about that.

Ouch. (Not a strong enough word, but it will have to do.) That is a tough blow - glad they are physically okay.

We humans can be pretty puny in face of the full force of nature.

Sorry to hear that ScareDuck.

I didn't think much of A before, and now it's even less.

There have been a few articles this week about Kevin Love, incoming freshman center/forward at UCLA and how he has a new friend since he came down to Los Angeles. This is an excerpt of one of them that is on ESPN.com

[Kevin] Love said he fell in love with UCLA as soon as he sat down with Wooden.

"That was one of the main reasons I came here," said Love, who played at Lake Oswego High in Oregon. "I know coach Howland knows how to win, but ... I got to sit down with coach Wooden for an hour and ... I call him every now and then and get to visit with him. The history here is a big deal to me."

How many 18- or 19-year-olds search out the elderly for advice? But Love didn't just stop with his initial recruiting talk with Wooden. He continued to call him, about once a month initially, and it has picked up ever since Love arrived in L.A. over the summer.

Love wants to hear every story. He wants to know about the work ethic of Walton and Alcindor. He has asked Wooden about his famed Pyramid of Success, too.

Steve Mason's point was that some of the veterans were having a crummy season so they lost their credibility to the younger guys who were doing better, A Martinez's point is that they should have at least recognized that these guys have been successful for a long time and that they might have something relevant to say.

Now Kevin Love (whose first game might now be the most anticipated event in Westwood for me since "Return of the Jedi" opened up at the Avco back in 1983) is saying the right things and may truly be the exception but it is refreshing to hear someone think that someone who did something before they got there might actually have something to say and that they want to listen to it.

And yes, sorry to all of you who have family or friends hit by the fires. It's awful. I really hope things die down soon.

BTW, UCLA is going to hang banner number 12 this year,.

Questions I've had for a while that Jon's post brought up:

Do the Dodgers have a stats guy on board like the Angels apparently have, and like many other teams have?

Did Depo do his own statistical analysis, or did he bring someone in to handle that part of the job when he was GM?

If anyone knows the answer to these questions, I would be very interested. Thanks

I wish the best of luck to all DTers, and their friends and family.

It's actually raining a little bit right now, and may rain off and on for the next few days.

Except play ahead of veterans....

Let's break down the OPS numbers for players during this postseason, position by position.

C

Varitek: .845
Torrealba: .761

Advantage Red Sox

1B

Youkilis: 1.504
Helton: .508

Advantage Red Sox

2B

Pedroia: .958
Matsui: .513

Advantage Red Sox

3B

Lowell: .894
Atkins: .393
Carroll: .500

Advantage Red Sox

SS

Lugo: .511
Tulowitzki: .423

Advantage Red Sox

OF

Ramirez: 1.290
Holiday: 1.145
Spilborghs: 1.000
Drew: .905
Kielty: .900
Hawpe: .863
Elsbury: .583
Crisp: .333

Advantage Rockies

I don't think it will take much research to concede that the Red Sox have a superior starting rotation. Beckett alone gives the Red Sox the edge.

If the Rockies are going to win, their relief corps will have to be on their A-game and then some. The outfielders seem to be their bright spot on offense, so they will have to play out of their minds. If the Rockies are smart enough to take a lot of pitches, it could be more competitive.

-- but on paper, this looks like a Red Sox Sweep.

Though it is fairly amazing that the Rockies keep winning with only Holliday and Hawpe hitting. Just goes to show you what amazing performances from bad pitchers can do.

The "amazing performances by bad pitchers" also affirms that we have a "White Sox 2005" team on our hands. Hence, no need to worry about the Rockies dominating the West next year.

A ten game OPS that is not very good that is better than a seven game OPS?

In that case, I declare Brian Doyle to be the greatest second baseman of 1978!

I don't really think Lugo is better than Tulo, but the stats simply reflect that Tulowitzki hasn't hit as well in the postseason. It's really so close you can't realistically pick one over the other, so my mistake is duly noted.

Who's Brian Doyle?

He was a 1970s version of the immortal George Rohe of the 1906 White Sox:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rohege01.shtml

(See, I didn't just say it; I declared it.)

that was just priceless! The whole episode (The Office) was just awesome.

Were they on the west or east side of town? My aunt and uncle's lot backs up to MCBCP on the south side and I've yet to hear anything from them. They've also got a rock yard in Rainbow, but I think they're slightly less concerned about the stock there.

I actually think this will be a good series and could be close. Despite the feel-good that the Sox engendered by their last three wins, the Indians took them to seven games with a team that to my eyes was no better than, and probably weaker than, the Sox.

The Sox pitching is superb. That's their main edge. But after Beckett, the starters are all capable of having lousy games.

I'm going to defy all the conventional Plaschkeite wisdom and call this series for the Rockies in five.

Maybe the Rockies pull a 2000-1 Lakers and lose the first game after a long layoff (their only loss of the playoffs), then win the next four.

Cue Danny Thomas spit take!

2007 Warp1

catcher
Tek - 5.5
Tor - 3.3

first base
Youk - 6.2
THelt - 8.6

second base
Ped - 5.7
Kaz - 4.3

third base
Lowell - 7.1
Atkins - 3.6

shortstop
Lugo - 0.1
Tulo - 8.3

left field
Manny - 4.8
Matt - 10.1

center field
coco - 5.7
willy - 3.7

right field
drew - 2.8
hawpe - 5.4

Scareduck, sorry to hear that your relatives lost their homes. I work in Sylmar and a good many employee's here have homes in Santa Clarita. Many of them were evacuated but so far none have lost a home.

The Red Sox showed that they are by far the best team in baseball this year and it's really short sighted to just assume anyone who picks the Sox is comparable to Plaschke.

1B
ortiz
helton

DH
spillborghs
ortiz

CF
ellsbury (coco banged up his knee)
willy t.

This is why Brian Doyle doesn't play in the majors anymore.

I've been wondering about this, but was hesitant to ask. Are the homes being burnt/threatened generally in areas known to be fire-prone...?

Nonetheless, NPUT.

Their house actually burned to the ground and then some: it was built into the hillside, so not only did the structure burn down, but it burned into the basement, too.

Risk is. You can either accept that fact and CYA or ignore it and pray nothing bad happens. Hopefully, most who have lost had accepted that they lived in a fire-prone area by paying higher insurance premiums than would be paid on comperable property in a less burnable area. So long as they can't find a way to weasel out of it (send the state's T-800 in if they try), the insurers will pay out and these communities will rise from the ashes.

That said, there's no insurance against sadness except hope.