I would have to go with the 4+1 game, since I was there.
Oh, with the baby on the way and a possible internship starting, does anyone no of any good part-time work?

Well, I wouldn't suggest proofreading. ;-)

Kevin, it depends on what are you live in, but I know of some part time work in the Pasadena Unified School District. If you don't mind working with kids.

But I hope Kevin likes working with kids since he's going for the intensive kid experience.

Wow! I always laugh when someone else does that. Now I am humbled. Apparently this weekend took more out of me than I realized.

Bob, next time just bold the word for me. I read through that a few times before I saw the mistake :)

I have no such excuse when I make them.

Thanks for the offer, but I will probably be looking at nights and weekends.

If I didn't need full time work(I too have a kid on the way) I would jump at that.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZNDWDE__cW0&feature=related

Btw, bad news, I had to cancel my tryout with the A's this week because I hurt my shoulder while unexpectedly having to play keeper for a half last night. Ah well, what can ya do?

UCLA - #2 seed (west)
Stanford - #2 (east)
WSU - #5 (south)
Arizona - #7 (midwest)
USC - #8 (east)
ASU - #10 (south)
Oregon - #12 (midwest)

Cal was among Lunardi's last 8 teams out of the tourney. Oregon was among the last 4 in.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

>> "I'm feeling good, healthy and strong," Billingsley said. "I started working out around Thanksgiving at home in Arizona. I wanted to be ready when we go there. <<

http://tinyurl.com/382ydw

If Spring Training is purportedly serious business where Andy LaRoche is supposed to prove that he merits the full-time 3B over the PVL Nomar Garciaparra, where Andre Ethier is required to significantly outplay Juan Pierre to gain more valuable playing time, and where a plethora of pitchers are competing for one or two remaining spots on the roster, is it appropriate to drag out an 80-year old man to manage ST games as (what I perceive as) a publicity stunt?

Or maybe I'm just getting crotchety in my middle-aged years.

I'm only 28, and I feel the same way. Maybe it's just cynicism?

>> But Vero Beach won't have the Dodgers anymore. The 60-year marriage between this city and a baseball team has ended, conjuring feelings of grief, betrayal, déjà vu, and, lately, resignation. Leave already, Vero Beach is saying to the Dodgers, who have heard it before. Ya bums. <<

http://tinyurl.com/2vz4v5

While I think you are correct on some level, the La Roche Nomar issue shouldn't be a problem since Nomar is going to China and will play and La Roche should be playing in Vero. The Juan Pierre Ethier situation is more challenging, but in a sad sense I think it is setteled already, Pierre will start in LF and Ethier will be rotated in-the greater amount of playing time for Andre will come based on the how things are going if JP sucks to start off he will lose some playing time, but will always be the first option....My greater concern is Kuo going to China. I think it would be more beneficial if he stayed in the US

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8291894

"Hey, Rockfish, I want you to come down to a nice little place in San Pedro."
"Gandy, there's no such thing as a nice little place in San Pedro."

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/dodgers/

Please, please, please ask to be traded!

Anybody catch this, from Diamond's blog as well:

Yo, Joe: Juan Pierre spoke to Torre this offseason, and was told, "Obviously I can't make any promises. The people who are going to be in the lineup are going to be the ones you have the best shot with."

Hmm...

Speaking of crying, Slappy McPopup sounds like he's on the verge. Boo hoo, I make 44 million dollars to play a game. Okay, seriously though, haven't we already determined there's no team left that could be a fit for him? I don't see how a trade could work but if Ned makes it happen he's forever in my good graces.

"I'm not going to walk around here salty."

Some people value my game. Some people don't. Some people in LA like it. Some people don't. I know my game is not pretty. I'm not the guy all over SportsCenter.

I'm not going to walk around here salty.

I know I have to get on base a lot more. I had a disappointing season, and I take full responsibility. I have to improve offensively and defensively.

If not (a starter), then I guess they might have to look at getting rid of me if they don't see me as an asset to the team. I don't know.

It is what it is. I'm just trying to put it behind me, get past it and help the team win. And I'm all for winning.<<

Or did Diamond miss a comma? "I'm not going to walk around here, Salty." Which I take to mean that Pierre doesn't take walks, which we all know is true.

It's decent, but it is more about the atmosphere.

That's what I'm wondering. The whole Pierre debate has always centered around the value of OBP. Old-schoolers like Ned don't pay attention to it. It seemed like Pierre didn't either.

Kyle Kendrick getting tricked into thinking he's been traded to Japan. Everyone from Charlie Manuel to the beat writers were in on the joke:

http://tinyurl.com/yukjky

Andruw Jones.

"I only can control what I do," said Pierre, who signed a five-year, $44 million contract with the Dodgers before last season. "I've got to get better offensively and defensively. If I'm healthy, I want to be out there for 162 (games)."

Pierre has played in 162 for five straight years. He enters this season having played in 434 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the big leagues. He actually has appeared in 821 straight dating back to 2002, but his appearance as a pinch runner on June 3, 2005 snapped his "games played" streak, according the major league rule book.

"It's not important," he said of the streak. "It's been a blessing I've stayed healthy this long. You sign a contract for 162. I like to think it's honoring the contract. I want to be out there every day."

Pierre acknowledged there was an element of hurt feelings when Jones signed.

"The Dodgers got finally got a center fielder," he said, assuming that was the attitude in some circles. "That kind of hurt a little bit."

"This is the dressing on top of the cake," Lasorda said Sunday.

Dressing? Is that akin to gravy?

"All right, everyone line up alphabetically according to your height."

Aw Juan, its nothing against you personally.

I feel bad for hating him on my team now.

ChiSox?- Only if they trade away Konerko
Baltimore?- They filled out their outfield
Minnesota- They wouldn't block Gomez for 4 more years
St. Louis- Don't they have a stud CF prospect?
Texas- Hamilton trade

These were the teams I thought may have been suitors

Who else? Who?

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080218/SPT04/802180372

Another great one departs us...

The whole time I watched the "prank" I kept thinking, "this is just wrong". I do wonder how they were able to tape the whole thing without him being suspicious. And it does look like he is trying not to laugh at the mock press conference. If he truly had no idea, than that is a pretty messed up prank. I can only imagine the planning he is doing in his head to move to Japan.

They were able to get away with it because they claimed they were doing a day in the life of a manager with Charlie Manuel.

Fair enough. I did think his face in the office was priceless. I wonder what was going through his mind. He did not look happy

Colletti on Pierre

He knows I like him.
I think he's a strong asset for the team.
The criticism from a year ago was wrong.
He's a championship-type player.

(Normally, I wouldn't copy-and-paste the whole thing, but what could I leave out?)

On that third sentence, I'd sure like to hear the explanation behind that stance and how that fits in with the action taken - signing Andruw Jones.

At last, the first sign of the baseball season about to begin for the Dodgers, a negative Juan Pierre story/comment.

Spring has sprung 

Gurnick also adds a little info on Pierre's limited no-trade clause:
Pierre has a partial no-trade clause he said allows him to list five off-limits clubs

...and he clarifies (I think) what Leung wrote about Ned's "The criticism from a year ago was wrong" statement:
"Even after acquiring Jones, Colletti has maintained his support of Pierre that criticism of the outfielder as the cause of the club's struggles last year was unfair."

Brent, I graduated in 98. Is your brother Avery?

I just looked at my swingline stapler and smiled

Yep, it's Karin. I think I played little league with your brother.

You think?

"Pierre, 30, has played in 434 consecutive games, the longest active streak in baseball. He said it wouldn't hurt his pride if the streak stopped, but if he lost his starting job entirely, that would be another story.

"I sign a contract for 162 games and I like to think I honor the contract," he said. "I know the team counts on me. There might be guys that want me to sit, but that's just the way I feel.""

You expect Juan who is know for his work ethic to just take the money and be happy to sit on the bench...hardly, and not to mention that Pierre is pretty much the same player he's always been as far as stats go.

Juan Pierre is a championship player. He has won a championship. Q.E.D.

I can remember eating dinner at the Toluca Lake location in the early-to-mid 70s, tureens full of soup and, of course, pie to finish.

though I did remember a little of it from the reading the back (front?) of the old menu.

Unless, there are some players that USC is recruiting that really, really, really like cornbread or pie.

I tried to take my dad out to lunch one day at a Marie Callendar's near his home. That did not end well. My dad was not one to get a free meal from his son even if it was his birthday.

Joni Mitchel said it best:

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot SPOT
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

OOPHA !

Did you order the corn bread? Tell me you ordered the corn bread, and a side of inspiration.

There was a cast iron skillet that was in the family for over 50 years that made some of the best cornbread. When I asked my dad for it, he said he threw it away.

Who throws away an iron skillet? And for what reason? It's not like it was going to break.

I was just listening to 660 WFAN--a big deal on the EC, which had a very smooth satirical ad for a golden Roger Clemons syringe set and a bonus inflatable Barry head suitable for ballooning. For some reason my thinking sudddenly crystallized.
As much as I would like to blame Barry and even Roger, these substances were not even illegal when they were using them and I suddenly feel that almost all the fault goes to the clowns who were representing the Owners and the players union. You can apportion it however you want, but these two outfits are completely at fault for this whole mess. IMO..

Mix in some eggs, some milk, some baking powder, and a little sugar and you're in business.

An iron skillet is an absolute requirement for making proper cornbread and proper biscuits and gravy.

And no, I don't put that gravy on cake; I'm not all salty like that.

That iron skillet had been used to fry bacon, eggs, and make cornbread for half a century. It made the greatest tasting food.

And then it was just "disappeared" for no good reason. And I'm still bitter.

I am sad you lost all the years of baked in grease on that skillet. That is salty sad.

How about that NBA All-Star game eh? How about that Memphis vs. Tennessee game coming up? Um, how about the Oscar race, huh, should be fun...

That doesn't appear to be the case. First, the ESPN game is the 29th but Lasorda doesn't take over the team until March 11th anyway.

>> A team official confirmed that Lasorda will manage eight exhibition games beginning with a March 11 game against Florida at Holman Stadium. <<

http://tinyurl.com/2f3bfd

Why aren't the Dodgers talking about contract extensions with any of their young stars (Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton)?
-- Nick C., Los Angeles

... For the club, long-term contracts with young players present more risk than reward. It's not impossible sooner, but long-term contracts are more likely to be offered when these players accumulate four or five years of service time, assuming their performance has not diminished by then.

Dodgers Mailbag: Extensions for young stars?

>> I didn't have to go because the Dodgers sold me, but that was just saying a lot to me, you know? I mean if the Dodgers are willing to part with me for a price, then how much of a chance did I have once again? <<

http://tinyurl.com/3yshaw

Torre said when he was considering his coaching staff, Koufax endorsed keeping Honeycutt as pitching coach.

I guess that is a good imprimatur to have.

Joe Torre said the first time he faced Koufax in 1961, he struck out three times and popped out. By then, Koufax was a six-year veteran and Torre was 20 years old.

Well, not according to baseball-reference.com / retrosheet:
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/KCmc

My grandmother did the bulk of the cooking in my house.
My brothers do not have the skillet. We all wanted the skillet.

Lasorda to manage Dodgers again

>> Lasorda's squad is expected to include regulars Jeff Kent, Rafael Furcal, Juan Pierre, Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, James Loney and all of the starting rotation. <<

http://tinyurl.com/2f3bfd

Perhaps Matt Kemp stole my family's cast iron skillet.

That's probably because I thought Houlton should have been pitching in Los Angeles last year instead of Roberto Hernandez and was quite interested in how the Japan thing came about. :-)

I finished a public roto league draft today and guess who's being used as a utility man in my opponent's team? You got it, James Loney.

Meanwhile, it was the 8th round, I was in a pinch and I needed a RF. Well, by now I knew who to go to. The Bison of course!

It also took an extremely long time before anyone in a 12 team league would take Juan Pierre.

Wait until you hear the kind of categories they'll use in this league...

And what happens if Jones gets hurt. Could they actually say to Pierre, move back to CF, that 37 mill defensive upgrade was no biggy, you'll do fine?

I've suffered enough:
https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/872470.html

(Exceptions made for eggs cooked in bacon grease, but that's just plain gross.)

Ironically, the propietor of The Griddle does not own a griddle.