Well, I hope this goes half as well as the last minor league contract the Dodgers gave to a player from Japan!

Nice pun! I thought it was gonna be something to do with Deadwood though.
Still I like the signing........can't hurt.

Speaking of Powers Boothe, a couple of months ago his mug was on the front page of Yahoo Sports with a link to a video talking about baseball or something. I thought it was a very odd pairing.

President Daniels started off so smarmy, but grew on me as a leader as the horrible season 6 progressed.

Maybe we've signed the next Moe Berg. Googling "Robert Boothe," the first link informs us: "Robert Boothe was an operative of the U.S. Army Secret Service who, in 1941, was killed during the test of an experimental spying device that used spiritual energies in the process. However, Boothe's spirit survived and was now able to possess people (much like Deadman did many years later). In his ghost form, Boothe prevented the assassination of President Roosevelt at the hand of German Nazis."

Anyway, I'm glad the Dodgers have decided to sign Boothe and thus make themselves merely mostly irrelevant wrt international signings, instead of completely irrelevant. I hope it doesn't mean anything that Logan White's praise for Boothe seems significantly less glowing than his quotes on other amateur pitchers like Kyle Blair.

If we have our Powers Boothe who is our Patrick Swayze? Jennifer Gray? Charlie Sheen?

FJM opens up to reader comments. This should be good...

Unfortunately, if I am thinking of the right actor, my memory of Powers Booth is filled with "Red Dawn."

4 Cranky after that fine win.

So hes in essence the same as a college draftee. Any SB numbers?

6 - The first 13 didn't offer a lot of promise.

3
He'll always be Cy Tolliver to me......or Curly Bill. :)

6 Is there any way that can go well?

He'll always be Jim Jones to me.

This belongs in the last thread but it came and went to quickly... Bowie Kuhn is in the Hall of Fame????? For what? He was a colossal disaster as a commissioner and from most accounts, not bright at all. Relationships between the owners and the players and the owners with each other reached all time lows. It was the worst of times and he was squarely in the middle of it doing nothing. Meanwhile, Marvin Miller did more to change the sport than any single person in history (I firmly believe that) and he's not in? I believe I am using the word correctly when I say he pwned Bowie Kuhn.

I wanted write something clever under the moniker "MadeFromConcetrate" there, but... meh. This is my one-stop shop for commenting.

Besides, I don't have anything clever to write. Ever.

This may not be a bad thing, but I can't view the comments at FJM. I click on "comments" and the post comes up without any comments below it.

14 Bowie Kuhn is in the Hall of Fame because the committee which elected him consisted of a lot of friends and former colleagues of Bowie Kuhn. That is the one and only reason.

It's the Hall's first Frankie Frisch-style selection in a while. And it makes me want to hurl. That is, if I cared about who gets elected to the Hall of Fame. Which I don't. Or at least, I try not to.

13 IIRC, Boothe crossed a SAG picket line to perform in the Jim Jones story. Has all been forgiven?

17 Maybe Travis Jackson/George Kell selection, Frisch at least was among the top 2B in the NL during his time.

17 I guess few people are old enough and interested enough in baseball business history to care or this would be a major story. This is like electing Britney Spears to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but leaving out Led Zeppelin.

18 - I thought he crossed the picket line to accept his Emmy, but I could be wrong.

My two favorite stories about Bowie Kuhn:

1) I believe it was Red Smith of the New York Times, in his old age, who first came up with this quip while Kuhn was commissioner. When something really disastrous, I forget what, happened on Kuhn's watch, Smith would say "this never could have happened if Bowie Kuhn were alive today." Soon it became a catchphrase of sorts.

2) When Kuhn was writing his autobiography, his ghostwriter asked him a question about his decision to move all the World Series games to late-night times on the east coast. As the conversation progressed and Kuhn explained the reasons, the ghostwriter asked him, "but what about all the kids who will never see a World Series game because they take place too late at night?"

Kuhn's reply: "#### 'Em."

(I'm not sure if this actually happened, but the story was told to me by an archivist who inventoried the audio tapes from Kuhn's autobiography, which were donated to the Hall of Fame and are supposed to remain sealed until 2035 or some such year.)

So DC got Elijah Dukes, too? I've never been a Bowden fan, but impressive nonetheless.

I would make this deal, Miggy Cabrera for Kendrick, Mathis and either Adenhart or Santana.

22 And from Baseballlibrary.com...
"Despite his frequent, albeit forced, accomodations of player demands, Kuhn was perceived as a tool of the owners and as overmatched by the head of the Players Association, Marvin Miller. Kuhn regularly chided the players for their demands, called them overpaid, and preached of the potential evils of free agency, all stances pleasing to his employers, the owners. But Kuhn's officious, pompous manner gained him enemies beyond the ranks of the players.... Writer Red Smith excoriated Kuhn in many columns, producing such bon mots during the 1981 strike as "this strike wouldn't have happened if Bowie Kuhn were alive today" and "an empty car pulled up and Bowie Kuhn got out." Kuhn also feuded with A's owner Charlie Finley, who referred to Kuhn as a "village idiot" and then apologized for the offense to village idiots."

I liked this from Deadspin:

For those of you who take your musical cues from the National Football League, you should be happy this year: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are playing the halftime show. Well, at least your dad will be happy. If he's stoned.

I ventured into the BTF thread on the HOF inductions and one person refused to listen to any reasons for why O'Malley was worthy of induction, but there was another guy who thought the repeal of the Rumford Act should not have been overturned by the California Supreme Court.

I have to remember that people are nicer here.

24 Are you putting yourself in the shoes of the Marlins or Angels?

28
Ahh, Professor Zappala, my archnemesis until December 22.

Be merciful to me that day.

Hey I am a dad now. And I will be happy.

29
I wonder if Norvell will change things a little bit if Karl decides to not coach in the game.

30
A father? How does that happen? Is there work involved? Any heavy lifting?

From the AP:

Borough president Marty Markowitz, whose job includes sticking up for Brooklyn every way possible, said he was "flabbergasted -- that's the word."

"For O'Malley, the bottom line was that it was his team to do what he wanted with, and he did it at the expense of breaking our hearts, at the expense of ripping out the hearts of the most enthusiastic fans in baseball," said Markowitz, who was 12 years old and lived three blocks from Ebbets Field a half-century ago.

Markowitz said that after he got wind of the impending O'Malley selection last month, he wrote a letter asking the committee to make a deal -- "if you're going to elect O'Malley, then give Brooklyn some respect by putting that great Dodger, Gil Hodges, in the Hall of Fame as well."

Hodges was a popular player in the heyday of the Dodgers and his repeated rejection by the Hall of fame since 1987 has become something of a cause celebre in Brooklyn.

"I'm at a loss to understand it," Markowitz said. The committee has not replied, he said.

4
Our last international signing, Pedro Baez got some big love on Friday. I expect him to get more tomorrow from BA. It is not quantity but quality that matters in the end.

This may not mean anything in the end but it was cool to see us win the round. A guy who follows the Japanese league from Baseball HQ gave me this scouting report on Boothe.
"Robert Booth: Pitcher. Japanese-American who plays for Asia University. Big (6' 3") with a mid-90's fastball. Born in Tokyo but has an American passport, meaning he won't need any immigration documents. He's only played one season of college ball but the Dodgers already have an eye on him. Comment: A real-long shot, but I liked the idea of sneaking in a pronounceable name for you.

"

It is a travesty that Kuhn is in and Miller is not but it is not surprising.

How does that happen? (i'd tell you but those pesky rule one violations..)

If you started either the first or second-team All Pac-10 football teams, you would get called for a lot of illegal participation penalties:

http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120307aal.html

34 What happened on Friday?

http://www.truebluela.com/story/2007/11/30/114848/97

29 I'm rooting for a 4-2 BYU victory, just for you.

28 Both actually though I think the minute the season starts the offers go down to 2-3 prospects from 3-4 prospects.

Wow, Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns and Willy Mo Pena. That is a crazy outfield, literally in some cases. Bowden is having a great offseason. Maybe Kearns will move to 1B and replace Dimitri Young.

41 I would do that from an Angels perspective -- you have to lose very good players (Kendrick, Adenhart) to get a star. The Marlins want both Adenhart and Santana, and the Angels are balking at that, from what I read. Santana is too good to be considered a throw-in -- he's struggled, but is still young, has great stuff, and has the ability to be a #2 or #3 when he's on.

40
I have to work on December 22 until 6, so I will only be able to see the exciting second half!

But I hear that Tina Kinzer-Murphy and her staff do a great job with the Las Vegas Bowl.

(Every quote from UCLA about the Las Vegas Bowl mentions that woman's name sometime.)

How is Boothe able to sign with a MLB organization and is not subject to having to play for a NPO team?

45
Mac Suzuki came straight from Japan to the U.S.

45
I think because he has an American passport, but I am basing this off absolutely nothing.

I have to work on December 22 until 6, so I will only be able to see the exciting second half!

Will you get to see:

1. UCLA's only safety
2. BYU's first and second safeties
3. BYU's second safety
4. 1 and 2
5. 1 and 3

47 One would think that if MLB viewed him as an American citizen, then he'd be subject to the draft.

48 I want Bob to see the excitement of all the safeties.

Mac Suzuki came straight from Japan to the U.S.

So can someone clarify the rules in regards to Japanese amateur players for me?

50
I hope that one of them is a holding call in the end zone.

50
Me too. He deserves it.

51
I believe that Japanese amateur players fall under the same rules as international players from the rest of the world.

First come, first served.

However, in Japan, most amateurs want to stay at home.

I want to see a lateral attempt that goes out of bounds in the end zone.

55
I like the way you think.

The Cougars have opened as 4 1/2 point favorites.

For entertainment purposes only though.

54 However, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Japanese League is the only independent foreign league with which MLB has an an agreement not to poach its players. This is why MLB teams have to abide by the posting system, etc. So isn't it possible that MLB and Japanese Baseball have agreed that Japanese amateurs are off-limits to MLB? Because I find it a little hard to believe that MLB teams, if allowed to sign Japanese amateurs, aren't doing so. And that 99.9% of Japanese players simply prefer to stay home.

We know that Boothe had a loophole; maybe Suzuki did too. His Wikipedia page implies that he was a U.S. resident when he signed a pro contract.

I hope the three kickoffs after the safeties employ each of the following respectively:

1. a punt
2. a drop kick
3. a place kick from a teammate's hold

58
Free Kick Thoughts is not a big discussion topic I guess.

42 Bowden is having a very interesting off-season.

The Nats now have four outfielders for three spots. Any ideas which of the four -- Dukes, Milledge, Kearns, Pena -- is the odd man out? And would the Twins or Marlins be interested in that player? And could the Dodgers set up a three-way trade where L.A. gets Santana or Cabrera for less than the crazymaking asking prices because they're getting, say, Lastings Milledge? Is there a trade there that makes sense for all three teams?

I realize this is idle chatter, but this could be the fun part of the hot stove.

59
Sheesh, apparently not. And here I thought I was opening the floodgates.

60 Kearns, the Nationals aren't going to be good while he's still under contract.

62 - Do you think they should try to trade Dmitri Young while someone thinks his .320 batting average is repeatable? Nick Johnson is somewhat injury prone, but I don't think they need two 1B. If they can find even a decent SS and C they will have an above average offense next year for sure.

Gotta love Tony Jackson:

"First, the rumored offer to Andruw Jones (two years, $32M) is false. It isn't clear whether any offer has been made, but there are strong indications that there hasn't been one. Second, another rumor you might have seen on the web today, that the Dodgers are talking trade with Texas for third baseman Hank Blalock, also is false...."

http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/archives/2007/12/couple_of_thing.html

You guys here this rumor [ http://tinyurl.com/236hur ] I haven't looked at his #"s but he seems to be a Beltre clone.

65 See 64 .

Mets closing in on Bedard?

http://www.metsblog.com/2007/12/03/buzz-mets-work-with-os-on-bedard/

The Miguel Cabrera improving his physique stories are starting to trickle out.

http://tinyurl.com/2w8g6l

67
If the Mets traded away their top prospects for Bedard, their system would be absolute garbage.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-dodgers&tid=85798

Seems pretty out there to be a lie... but its a nice story anyway.

64 I knew it! It was probably 3yrs/$42M.

70 If that's true, that's pretty cool. I'm ready to promote him. I guess the poster could quash any accusations of it being false by posting some pictures. I would love to see his girlfriend's ultrasound...

70

Logan White said Greg Miller is the"real deal" also??? he's but only sniffed some success & always falters, I don't know I hope Logan White is right about Miller. I'm sure the Kershaw part is real but GREG MILLER???

72

For all we know JyStakes it's probably JoeyP doing his thing...

Who is JoeyP?

70

That would be pretty awesome if true. I dont really understand the thing about Greg Miller either, as he cant throw anything for a strike, but traded EJax because he ddint have a second pitch (his slider is pretty top notch, but like Miller, cant find the zone).

73 76 I agree that it sounds fishy about Miller, but what incentive does someone have to sit there and make all that stuff up to that level of detail? Looking for attention? Gratification of tricking people by lying to them? Pure insanity?

77 All of the above.

77 Obviously you haven't been around the dodgers.com boards for very long ;)

Unless this guy is a well-known and respected poster, I would call bull on this story. As great of a guy as Logan seems, the whole thing seems pretty far-fetched.

New post up top.