Complaing about the lineup starts in 1.. 2... 3...

A sad day in the LAT household.

A rude wakeup call for someone else?

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_8387647

"Somewhere, the late Wally Moon, who became famous for dunking opposite-field home runs over the screen, is taking aim."

1 If this is the opening day lineup I'll complain.

Latest on the Daily News:

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/02/worst_day_everheartbreaki.php

4. Are you saying that you don't want Jason Johnson to be our opening day starter?

6 Some people are just never happy.

4 i have a feeling you don't like notion of our worst hitter getting the most PA's

Good Luck Shawn. I always thought he was a class act...

1
This is utter folly. How can Loney be hitting so high in the lineup, he's still wet behind the ears.

I wonder which hill they had to raze for Shawn to build his dream home in Irvine?

Nice gig if you can get it. Retired at 35, multi - millions should be in the bank, great family but why Irvine. Of all the places in Southern California why pick Irvine to build you dream home? Fear of fires?

11 - I think his wife's family is near there.

Irvine just went through a big fire. But I agree, Irvine is not where I would build a dream home.

5 It's really bad at the Daily News, but I'm thinking there is a bigger story there. They have 6 other papers in that group that I'm guessing got hit hard yesterday too.

Matt Kemp batting eighth? Really? Here we go again...

45 minutes, not bad.

anyone know where i can get live updates of todays game on my computer?

11 Especially with my home town of Laguna being just 15 minutes away to the south. Then again, if I were him I may prefer to send my kids to school in Irvine than in Laguna or Newport.

3
I hear the reports of Wally's demise are greatly overexaggerated.

Simon Cowell in the cleanup spot is what gets me.

21 Cowell hitting fourth, Sanjiya leading off, and Peter Noone in the seven hole ahead of that Springsteen kid.

18 Hey! What about Mission Viejo?

I remember one of the old Laguna Beach episodes where one of the girls, I think Cavalerri, says " Uh see how she wears her lipstick? That's so Mission Viejo!"

South Orange County snobbery at it's finest.

(I have family in Mission Viejo)

Man! Jason Johnson should be in the 8 spot! What kind of lineup is this? {grumble mumble grumble}

17 Probably live box scores on MLB.com, I'd think. You also should be able to listen online:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp#20080228
(Not sure if you have to pay for that yet...)

21 Something tells me we're into something bad.

Irvine is the fourth safest city in the country with at least 75,000 citizens.

http://tinyurl.com/3d9rf3

Congratulations to Brick, NJ for being the winner!

My condolences go out to St. Louis.

22
I had a friend who smacked into a lamp post with his car one night in Mission Viejo and one of the big bells that adorn most of the street lights in the city, fell on his hood. His car was trashed by the initial accident anyway but that was just insult to injury!

So I'm looking at the KABC 790 scheduled programming for the day and the game is not on there. Does anyone know for sure if it's being broadcast somewhere?

yankees spring training opener line-up last year...

damon, cf
jeter, ss
giambi, dh
a-rod, 3b
matsui, lf
posada, c
Cano, 2b
melky, rf
doug m, 1b

Slated pitchers today: Johnson, Myers, Sturtze, Martin.... Can we fast forward to opening day?

I'm sorry to see Shawn Green go. He was one of my favorite Dodgers for a long time, and was the first Dodger player that my kid sister could recognize by name.

Such a shame about that labrum injury. I was hoping he'd become the iconic Dodger slugger of the '00s. I guess he is, sort of, but only due to a lack of competition for the title.

Irvine is nice. My guess is he is building the house in the hills west of the 405 near the Strawberry Fields golf course area. I miss saturday morning soccer games in Irvine and all the great Chinese restaraunts.
vr, Xei

I wish Shawn Green the best, too. I was sorry when he left, even though I knew he was on the decline, and was sad to hear some Dodger fans boo him when he came back as a visitor. I'd still take him over Juan Pierre...

I'd never move to Orange County for a dream home either, but each to their own.

26 http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/sections/local/local/article_358606.php

Sorry for the long link, but a friend knew Justin.

24 I'm Matt Kemp batting eighth, I am
Matt Kemp batting eighth, I am, I am
When I get a pitch the ball goes wham,
But the guy hitting seventh married Mia Hamm
Now he's batting ahead of me
It's just like Grady's still around
I'm the number eight batter, Matt I am,
Matt Kemp batting eighth, I am

Irvine is a nice area with great roads and he grew up in Tustin which is about 5 minutes away. Maybe he just wants to be near his whole family and old high school.

33 I don't know if Simon Cowell approves of that.

25
Irvine may be safe, but there's a criminal who has fleed the jurisdiction:

http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/913989.html

34 In Irvine, I really missed being able to drive north and being able to assume that I'd eventually run into a street that goes east-west.

34 In Irvine, I really missed being able to drive north and being able to assume that I'd eventually run into a street that goes east-west.

33 Matthew the 8th!

34 In Irvine, I really missed being able to drive north and being able to assume that I'd eventually run into a street that goes east-west.

When I used to drive to San Diego I remembered all these beautiful hills on the drive down. They are all gone now and I asked someone what happened and they told me Irvine happened. I'm sure they exaggerated, right?

33
Hard to believe anyone here can actually lampoon a Herman Hermits song. As an 8 year old I was always on the lookout for Mrs Browns lovely daughter. I am both embarrassed and proud to say that my brothers had the English versions of those albums. Funny things were purchased when you were 10-13.

I too checked out the schedule on 790 am, but I don't see the game. Can you listen live to 790 on the internet, or will I need to live vicariously through Diamond's blog?

Culver City is another place where it seems that few streets ever intersect at 90 degree angles. I hate Culver City as I always get lost there.

I'm thinking of boycotting the city for the rest of my life.

Culver City could join Fontana on my list.

I'm not ready for baseball to begin yet. Only 26 days left? That's a bit ridiculous. Especially with the internet and blogs and XM radio...baseball just doesn't go away like it used to. Like a guest that stays too long.

"Pitchers and catchers report in _____ days" PLEASE can people stop saying this. It used to be charming, now it's just dreadful. Like sitting in detention with the kid next to you whispering "only 2 hours to go...

1 hour and 15 minutes...

only 45 minutes left (!)

It seems like the World Series just ended a few weeks ago. We haven't had to wait long enough to absolutely THIRST for it like a good fiend should. It's like having Christmas every 3 months. It's upon us too easily, too quickly. In all seriousness, it would be best if the season were shortened by a month and begin May 1st.

Maybe it's because I live in California now instead of the east coast, where the season is unmistakably broken up by winter. Here, because of the weather, it feels like the SEASON of baseball never ends.

37 38 40 I always liked how the streets are wide with many lanes and long distances between traffic lights.

43 - Culver City is Narnia.

41 Actually, Santa Margarita, Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo happened. Irvine is more below the hills and to the west headed towards Costa Mesa.

32 - That's awful.

43 Its a good thing you don't work where I work. We're just not allowed to hate cities like that, even though one of cities being discussed this morning is currently suing us.

Let's go... batter up... we're ta-king the afternoon off! It's a beautiful day for a ball game...

43 - There's a ton of street construction going on here currently. Give it some time and things will get better. There are too many good places to eat here! Plus, past homes of mine (Santa Barbara, Boston/Cambridge, Florence Italy) all had much, much more confusing streets.

I kind of like downtown Culver City these days and what it has to offer, even though the streets are all kattywampus.

46
So if I go to Culver City, I'm going to be chased around by an even paler version of Tilda Swinton?

51
I've been getting lost in Culver City since Hector was a pup.

48 Yeah, pretty sad.

Shawn went to Tustin High School so he will be near his family as well. If I had to make an educated guess building his dream home in Irvine actually means Shady Canyon. That is where Mark McGwire built his house. Shady Canyon is its own little luxury world.

51 Criminy, you've lived in the most confusing street patterns in the world! Whenever I'm asked how to get somewhere in Boston, I describe what the place looks like, and tell the person, just drive around until you see it.

41 The ex-wife of a friend of mine used to boast that she saw Herman's Hermits in concert. The opening act was "that band that sang 'My Generation.'" As I said, ex-wife.

By the way, your last True Blue essay was incredibly touching, and caught a mood I've felt for awhile now. Well done.

56 Shawn Green is an avid golfer, so I'm guessing Shady Canyon as well. I'm sure he doesn't drive the ball like he did back in 2002, though I don't have the stats to back it up.

57
Since that list of cities with confusing street patterns did not include Tokyo, I believe the list is deficient.

When you take a cab in Tokyo, you're supposed to give the drive directions on where you want to go unless it's to a major hotel.

The buildings are numbered in the order in which they were built (for the most part). So 1-2-3 won't necessarily be sequential or even on opposite sides of the street.

And some of the subways have up to 50 different exits to the street and if you don't go out the right one, you may end up walking in circles in the rain for 45 minutes trying to find your hotel while dragging your suitcase behind you.

Explain this to me, you have had months and month to work on Gameday Audio and today when I try to log on for the game, the site is down for maintenance to "Make my online experience more enjoyable."

MLBAM - don't make go Andrew S. on you!

59 Nudge, nudge wink, wink. say no more,

So ... can we listen to the Dodgers on KABC or are we stuck in the No Spin Zone?

61 Gameday was MIA at the beginning of last season too.

58
Thanks

When I was Eight I would have argued to the death that HH was better then the Who. By 10 I had realized how stupid I was at 8. Every two years I feel the same way. By the time I'm 70 I'm going to be very wise but not as wise as I will be when I'm 72.

58 Sacrilege.

I found Vancouver the hardest city to navigate a car in. Once you stopped trying to drive and just walked and took the mass transit it became pleasant.

Driving down to San Diego the other day we turned West at Del Mar and found some round - a - bouts or whatever they are called. I love those things. They were my favorite part of driving in France. Anything to get rid of lights is a good thing.

61 What's worse is that it was working yesterday. I was listening to the Mets-Tigers game. Today, when there's a game I'm really interested in, nada. Feh!

58 I know someone who saw that lineup in the same order in Chicago.

Jason Johnson makes it through the first inning (regular radio picks up a scratchy KABC in the office) unscored upon.

I only heard the last play where Nomar threw out the last batter on a grounder to third.

58 My sister saw The Monkees at Forest Hills stadium. (My father, in one of his noblest acts, took her and a friend.) The opening act was booed off the stage. His name was Jimi Hendrix.

70 Alright, it looks like bh is going to be giving us play-by-play.

Pierre against Hudson - 4 pitches - grounds out to first
Furcal hits a standup triple to right
Martin strikes out swinging
Kent flys out to right

72 As long as I am not arrested by the MLBAM police.

67 My first experience in Europe, let alone driving on the right side was Dublin. Who knew the pubs closed at 11 in the City Centre? When I returned to the car park, which was in this super sketchy alley, I started wondering why it was so dark. Little did I know they close down the car parks around the same time. Finding an atm and a cab semi-drunk at 11 in Dublin on a tuesday night was pretty fun.

I think I might have seen Herman's Hermits open for the Monkees in the mid 80s. How lame is that? A

s far as openers getting booed off, I saw Sonic Youth get booed off the stage twice opening for Neil Young. The second time was the massive Bridge School Benefit. I tried to respond in kind by booing Don Henley off the stage, but I couldn't find many takers.

71 Dan Patrick was asked the question the other day, first concert and most embarassing concert experience.

First concert - Earth Wind & Fire at the Fabulous Forum.

Embarassing Concert - I don't know, Jacksons Victory Tour at Dodger Stadium.

What kind of a crowd boo's a band who is playing a benefit? Did the Dodger fans migrate to the Bay?

77 Most embarrassing by far was the aforementioned Monkees reunion/nostalgia fest in the 80s. I was apparently nostalgic for the reruns I'd watched in the 70s.

Fist concert was Rush with Tommy Shaw (of Styx fame) opening.

Oh, and I've seen Barry Manilow live, but for some reason I don't consider that embarrassing.

2nd inning, 1-2-3. Kemp catches all three pop flies to right.

If I told you who was playing for the Braves, you would say who are those guys.

Not exactly the A-team for the Braves today.

I watched Prince get booed off the stage opening for the Rolling Stones. Too bad because I was way more interested in seeing Prince.

The Clash was booed off the stage while preceding the 1982 Who concert I went to at the Coliseum. I of course didn't boo, but they really were bad that day.

Went to see 3 Dog Night which was kind of lame until I imbided in someone else's stash and then the night took on a unique experience for a 14 year old.

82
Was that at the Coliseum?

Jason Johnson is mowing them down.

85 Yep. Something like 1980 or 81

First show was The Joshua Tree Tour. Sports Arena 1987 as I was just about to turn 4.

87 The Tattoo You Tour, sounds like. I was too young (9 or 10) but remember it being a huge deal at the time. Now I think of that as the last time that the Stones were a current act.

I think my 1st concert was "Chicago". Loudest was "Deep Purple".
Best was "Bob Hope Asia Tour".

88 4? My daughter will be able to say that she saw Brian Wilson play Smile at the Hollywood Bowl when she was about 3 months, and Ozomatli at California Plaza at about 4 months, but she was extraordinarily culturally attuned for a baby.

MLB audio is back up.

84 Dare I say a psychadelic experience at a 3 Dog Night show?

First: Who at the Forum early '70's.

Embarassing: Cyndi Lauper in Germany mid-80's. My girlfriend just wanted to have fun.

Nevermind, I don't know what that is.

Andruw's first plate appearance - walk
Loney fists one into CF for a single, first and second.
Nomar flies out to right.
Kemp lines a single to right, Jones is held at 3B, bases loaded. (trend to watch, Dodgers currently 1-4 RISP)
Mark Sweeney pinch hits for Johnson, groundball single to left field, Jones scores. Loney was held at third and Matt Kemp is thrown out at 3B, appparently (who knows why) not seeing Loney already at 3B.
Pierre grounds (again) to first.

1 run, 3 hits, walk, no errors, 2 left.

First: Ben Harper at the Santa Barbara Bowl 2005
Last: Ben Harper at the Santa Barbara Bowl 2005

I haven't been to many concerts.

Tanyon Sturz, another NRI, replaces Jason Johnson.

96 - It's almost like it was scripted.

96 Ahhh. I guess it's spring training.

Unrelated to anything Green, concert, or other...

Where's the open thread for the first Spring training game?

Martin got hit on the hand in his first appearance at the plate? Any sort of season ju-ju attach to this event?

KABC, XM 176 for your listening pleasure.

Sturze in the 3rd
Ground out to short
Fly out to CF
Fly out to Kemp

96 it starts already, simon must be pissed. why is he going 1st to 3rd on a single to LF???

87
Trip out! My co-worker and I were discussing that very concert yesterday! Apparently she was at that show and had the same feeling you did, she wanted to see Prince.

The whole reason we were even talking about it is because our IT guy, who we subcontract, was just telling us how he finished wiring Prince's LA house last weekend and that he and his partner were invited to Prince's Oscar after party. He didn't have time to get into details about the party but he did say that Prince is TINY and that he looks GREAT for being as old as he is. I believe his exact words were, "he looks just like he did in 1984."

Sorry to bore, but just found that amazingly coincidental about the initial concert.

82 Must be something about opening for the Stones. I saw Joan Jett get booed & paper
cupped off the stage.

101 - "Where's the open thread for the first Spring training game?" This is it. Don't you see the lineups up top?

First: Traffic at San Diego Sports Arena in 1974 (coupled with Dodger game and Dodger party at their hotel)

Best: X at the Roxy 1983. Blasters at Hong Kong Cafe 1980ish. Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs numerous times at Cathay de Grande.

Sturtze!

Tanyon Sturtze!

He's in the white pages!

Man, he must be focused on running. I don't know how you don't see your own player standing on the base. Oh well, he will grow and learn.

104 Good story. Yes, Prince is very small.

Whoopsie...thought it was more a Shawn Green tribute fest. My mistake.

Part of me wants Tanyon Sturtze to make the team so we can make fun of his name all year.

105 I saw Joan Jett open for Robert Plant (might have to put that in the embarrassing file) in around 1988/9. I think most people there would concede that she was way better than the headliner. Actually, if I can submit a combined entry for most embarrassing - I saw both the Robert Plant and Jimmy Page solo tours that year.

91 I was trained at an early age to go grab a record, say Frank Zappa's Hot Rats, and throw it on the record player, among running around retrieving various other things I'm not sure your daughter has. ; )

1st concert...Primus at the Hollywood Palladium...11 years old...

Last...Cold War Kids at The Wiltern....first time I ever fainted in my life, and it wasn't because of the show (boring)...hadn't eaten all day, and for some reason just went black...

Hudson out, some other Braves guy in (hey you want names, go to some Braves blog)

Furcal strikes out swinging
Martin gets an infield single off the pitcher
Kent with Martin running, flies out to short right field, Martin can't get back in time (he was on second when Francouer caught the ball) is doubled off.

From Leung:

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/2008/02/about_running_through_stop_sig.html

"Wow. On a day in which they honor Maury Wills, this happens. Bases loaded with Matt Kemp on first, James Loney on second. Mark Sweeney singles to left field, scoring Jones. Third base coach Larry Bowa holds up the stop sign, and Loney stops at third. Kemp rounds second with a head of steam and probably with his head down. He slides into headfirst third, where Loney is, so Kemp is called out. After the following inning, Bowa caught up with Kemp coming off the field from his right field position and the two spoke."

113 various other things I'm not sure your daughter has. ; )

Elaborate . . .

111 - It's multi-faceted!

108- I just hope Stults makes a career somewhere else...for your sake...

2 baserunning blunders and counting . . .

114 To tie a few thoughts together, I saw Prince at the Hollywood Bowl after not eating all day. It was Yom Kippur.

Mike Myers is now pitching (no other replacements yet)
Ground out to first
Ground out to third
Fly out to right

116 Braves announcers said that in Kemp's defense, Loney had rounded the bad pretty far before Bowa threw on the brakes.

121 Did I miss something, or are our NRIs threatening a Rule 9?

112 I'm not the least embarassed by seeing Plant or Page in my younger days. If the Zeppelin reunion does happen count me in.
BTW I'm 48 years young.

116 If that is accurate, that is something Mr. Kemp will have to correct and now is the time to do it.

123 Nah, the Braves got a hit in the first inning.

I think this got LAT'd a few back.
First "real" concert I can remember was Eric Clapton's Slowhand Tour and what was so impressive about it was Muddy Waters opened (I'd never heard of him then) and totally blew everyone away. Really he was transcendent. I've always thought Clapton was a major dude for following that. And believe me, he knew that he was the student in the situation.

117 I'm gonna have to plead the fifth. 1 2 3 4 Fiff!!!

(for the Dave Chappelle fans.)

128 No problem. I'm just trying to do a little parenting self-evaluation. Like as long as I'm not letting her play with a hunting knife, I'm o.k. That sort of thing.

124 I'm sure its more embarrassing in my case since it was just nostalgia for something I wasn't around to experience in the first place.

This is a lame question but I can never remember what "LAT" means. When someone says they got LAT'D from a comment or thread, what is that an acronym for?
Please don't consider me too obtuse for asking.... :)

1st Concert: Billy Joel River of Dreams

Last Concert: Weezer/Foo Fighters

Lamest Concert: Can't think of any, maybe going to see a Swing Band open for Manhattan Steamroller. I can't remember the name of the band, but they were awesome. The lame part is that I saw them a month earlier in a small venue for $5, than I paid $25 to see them open at Universal Amphitheater...not conducive for dancing. Man, what was their name...

Okay, after 5 minutes of looking "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"

Now I can be sane again

107
I always wondered if Traffic toured, they seemed like such a studio band.

Hard to believe but my best show was in Irvine.
Jane's Addiction
Social Distortion
X

I was not quite 30, went by myself, had to be sometime around 88, Exene was pregnant and sang on a stool. I think it was the combination of all 3 bands and being lucky enough to have seats next to some crazy kids and then having a hot punked out babe hit on me after the show.

132

That last part would easily make the concert awesome

Jones flies out to center
Loney flies out to right
Nomar singles to left, LaRoche enters the game as a pinch runner for Nomar.
Kemp hits a slicing ground rule double to right (a fan probably touched it), second and third. Wills mentions (he's on the radio) that he has not covered watching the runner ahead of you yet with Kemp, he will do so tomorrow.
Delwyn Young pinch hits for Myers, strikes out.

First concert: The Guess Who, Roanoke VA
Best (tie): Warren Zevon, Louisville, KY, and Jackson Browne. Long Island, NY. Dire Straits wandered on stage and joined Browne.
Most dangerous: Neil Young in Louisville. When he got sick, a riot broke out.

First concert: They Might Be Giants.

Most recent concert: The New Pornographers.

Best concert: Not sure, but maybe Rufus Wainwright's Judy Garland show at the Hollywood Bowl.

Most embarrassing concert: freshman year of college: Spin Doctors.

Brian Falkenborg enters the game, if he can hold onto to the lead, he can get a win.

130 LAT'd isn't an acronym, it's named for poster LAT who often found himself posting after Jon had created a new thread.

LAT can also mean LA Times. It's all about context.

My first concert was Foo Fighters/Jawbreaker/Ween at the Santa Barbara Bowl in 1995 or so. Last concert was Neko Case at the Disney Music Hall around November. Best concert I've ever been to I'll give to the Basement Jaxx at the Hollywood Bowl a year or two ago until I can think of something better.

This is why it's good to have Larry Bowa, + Maury Wills. The two of them will give Kemp a tutorial, Kent will shut his trap because he trusts the coaching staff, Kemp will improve there and meanwhile continue to show his new coaching staff what an incredible hitter he already is.

Why does Falkenborg always sound like a Danish rule 1 violation...? Come to think of it, so does "Sturtze."

All I'm getting on the KABC web feed is some right wing nut......

136 Most embarrassing concert: freshman year of college: Spin Doctors.

That's embarrassing, and it reminds me, I saw the Dead 30 times. I'm honestly not sure whether I should be embarrassed about that or not. I'm downright ashamed about the times that I saw other touring jam bands. Phish - thankfully only once. Blues Traveler several times. Widespread Panic once or twice, though I actually kind of liked them.

Foul out to 3B
another Brave made an out (stepped out for a moment)
Ground out to short.

Its an official game. 1-0 Dodgers

Best concert ever was This Ain't No Picnic in 2000. I saw Built to Spill, Grandaddy, At the Drive In, Blonde Red Head, No Knife and Beck plus a million others all on the same small park stage. This was the precursor to Coachella but on a way smaller version. Only a fe thousand people there at most and plenty of shade and beer to be had. The next year or so they moved the show, made it way huger and called it coachella which I can't handle.

1st Concert: Poison and Slaughter, 89 Martin TN

Best (Tie): King's X & Pearl Jam , '94 Memphis TN and Guided By Voices, Nashville '04?

Last: Yo La Tengo, Nashville '08 - I recorded and mixed the audio for a local arts TV station

Spin Doctors--that is hilarious

Delwyn is at 2b!

139
Jawbreaker! That's what I'm talking about. There is a band that never found their following but RULED...I thought anyway.

142 Yeah, only the Atlanta web feed seems to have the game.

142 Games are only available online through MLB.com, XM satellite radio also broadcasts home team radio broadcasts and finally your local regular radio.

148
Should have mentioned I saw them numerous times in the early to mid 90's.

143 Believe it or not, Phish was the headliner at that concert. There were a bunch of smaller bands, then Spin Doctors, then Phish.

On the other hand, tickets were cheap.

Oh, I just remembered a cool concert. I was in Seattle at the Bumper Shoot (sp?) and Beck was playing. Of course, that completely filled in, so I walked to a side stage to see Cake. I was very happy with that second choice. I saw Beck later on at Universal, and I found it to be a really dull show. Too mellow for a live performance (imho)

I believe "Sturtze" is German.

148 Heh I love Jawbreaker. They were really great live too. They were touring for their last album which I wasn't too crazy about. Really love 24 hour revenge therapy and their live disc. I've been of the mind that if they got back together they could get alot of people to attend their shows. Anything is better than new Jets to Bra(zzz)il.

Lamest for me was seeing the Plasmatics at the old Perkins Palace (Raymond Theater) in Pasadena.

lol Jacob, I am with you..but i never saw a pocket full of kryptonite...just the others, too many times.

154 Right. Same to you!

I still like "Two Princes."

First concert: Rob Zombie / KoRn at the arrowhead pond (1999)

Last concert: Billy Joel at MGM Las Vegas (2007)

Best concert: Incubus at Hard Rock Las Vegas (2007)

Best all day concert: Metallica, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, among others at the LA Coliseum (2003)

Worst dragged to by (ex)girl friend concert: Stevie Nicks at Ceasers Las Vegas (2007)

Pierre bunts out
Furcal grounds out
Martin strikes out.

Sounds like a bunch of guys are about to call it day.

last concert: Ariel Pink and Lily's at Spaceland. Lily's "A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns" is amazing.

First Concert: Foghat Orlando 1975
Last Concert: Pearl Jam Cincinnati 2006
Best Concert: One of the half dozen Eric Clapton shows over the last 25 years.

First concert: blink-182, Homegrown and the Aquabats in 97 or 98.

Last concert: Coachella (Rage Against the Machine's night) last April.

Best concert: Inland Invasion '05. The show featured Beck, 311, Weezer and Oasis.

Most underrated concert: Randy Newman at Royce Hall.

I guess some people don't like Randy Newman, but he really delivered for me.

I even like his Disney songs. In "Toy Story 2," when they play his song, and the little girl leaves the doll in the Goodwill bin, I cry every single time.

155
Agree with everything you said. I would go in a heartbeat if they ever reunited. Bivouac is one of my favorite albums.

One of my most memorable concerts (if you don't like punk music I wouldn't read on) was probably in 1994 or 95 at Cal State Dominguez Hills and it was a two day affair. Everybody that was anybody in punk at that time played over the course of two days, some of the really good bands played both days. This was a precursor to the whole warp tour thing that goes on now. A quick rundown of some of the bands that played: Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise, Guttermouth, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Face to Face, Lagwagon, Assorted Jellybeans, Bad Religion, Sublime, No Doubt (they were kinda cool once upon a time) Dance Hall Crashers.....Being a punk teenager at the time, it was awesome.

I like how this went from first/most embarrassing to first/last/best. Come on guys, bring out the dirty laundry! I told you about Blues Traveler!

Jeff Kent is 0-2. Bench him!

I'm proud to say I don't really have an embarrassing concert experience, though if I'd been old enough to see Electric Light Orchestra, I would've, and that would be one.

First: Willie Nelson. I was 5.
Last: Neil Young, Tom Waits, etc., at the most recent Bridge School Benefit.
Best: One of the many Springsteens. Probably Hartford on 5/8/2000, where I lucked into front row seats.

I got taken to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at Staples last year. That place has the worst acoustics. I had no idea what they were singing.

It was a very long night.

159 Oh, Jon . . .

Hah I've seen Dance Hall Crashes in concert like 3 times in the span of a week. A friend of mine was their unofficial web master so it was free so please dont judge me.

167 In addition to being my first concert, seeing the Aquabats live should qualify as my most embarrassing.

170 Maybe it wasn't the acoustics.

148 Jawbreaker rules! I love Jets To Brazil after that too.

Wow, the Braves' bats really didn't show up today did they?

172 Ha! I've seen them more than once too, but I never paid to just see them so that kind of makes it ok.

173 Ha! That is funny.

168 I also would have gone to see ELO, but I doubt I'd be embarrassed, which tells you everything you need to know about me.

"Mr. Blue Sky" is the best Beatles song that the Beatles didn't write.

174
Yes, but if I could at least understand the songs, I could criticize them.

Instead it sounded like the concert was performed Mr. and Mrs. Boomhower.

One of the worst, but still kind of one of the best was seeing the Replacements at the Hollywood Palace. They were so drunk they could only do a couple Stones covers than cursed at us and left.

"I like how this went from first/most embarrassing to first/last/best. Come on guys, bring out the dirty laundry!"

Okay, I guess I'm willing to admit I've seen Reba McEntire.

I saw Weezer play in a basement of a pizza shop in Bakersfield. Craziest show I have ever seen in my life. People were freaking out because they could not believe that it was really Weezer in a basement of a pizza shop.

181 But it was a long time ago, when I was a kid. One of those "youthful mistakes" that really should be expunged from the record.

Do you Jawbreaker fans like Blake's next project called Jet's To Brazil. If you like Jawbreaker, you would probably like them if you haven't already heard of them. Mellower than Jawbreaker on the lines of Dear You.

I thought all you parents would be using the Wiggles as your most embarrassing. Just found out a friend of mine who I gave a Dodger/Boston ticket to, has to take his 4 year to see the Wiggles instead. I have no idea what the Wiggles are but whenever the name comes up, anyone who is a parent turns white and gets unsteady on their feet.

Martin seems to be pressing based on his performance today. Time to give the the veteran Bennet more playing time.

first; van halen 84 at the forum
last; wilco in san diego
best; pink floyd, oakland 1995

Best surprise concert ever was Huwey Lewis and the News at the Cheyenne County Frontier Days Rodeo. I thought it was going to be so lame, but I learned an appreciation of what a great songwriter and performer Huwey and the News are.

167. I just assume everyone's first concert is their most embarassing, like my first concert which was Bel Biv Devoe, Keith Sweat, and Johnny Gill.

I don't get out much. The only rock concert I've ever been to was a Radiohead concert at the Greek Theater in 2006. That was really cool. I've been to more jazz and classical concerts actually. Odd.

I wanted to go to a Bjork concert last May, but it happened to be the same day as my graduation, and I had family related things to do. I also wanted to see Stereolab in 2006 I think. Unfortunately none of my friends had ever heard of Stereolab.

I don't really listen to the same music that my friends do.

178 Don't bring me down, Humma. ;-)

I must be one of the few people to have both Electric Light and Cinematic Orchestras in his iPod.

179 , 174 must not be country fans, tim is right up there with the best of them. not a huge faith fan (as an artist).

last concert- garth brooks at staples, awesome

next concert- rascal flatts next sat in vegas.

I'm saving my best concert for when Pavement reunites. My Bloody Valentine could slot in there as well.

Concerts:
First: 1984, The Cure, Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara
Best: 1998 Qi Qin, Pasadena
Runner Up: 2000 Red Hot Chille Peppers, Irvine CA.
Worst: 1986, Flock Of Seagulls, 6 Flags Magic Mountain (it was free though, and wow the hair!)

Go Dodgers!

vr, Xei

Best Concert (this probably does not qualify): Hydrovibe's Mat Dauzat at my parent's house. Friend of mine and the best guitarist I have ever heard in person.

Has since showed up on tour at OzzFest and on the soundtrack to Saw IV. If you like hard stuff, check them out on YouTube or iTunes.

Worst concert: Not really a bad one, but I did see Gallagher live in college. Does that count?

188
The first concert I attended was to see Bruce Springsteen at the Sports Arena when he was on "The River" tour.

It's been downhill since.

I also went to a concert last year when the LA Phil performed all of "Tristan und Isolde." It wasn't staged, but there were singers.

That rocked.

192 I am with you on that.

185. I actually enjoyed the Wiggles concert I took my daughter to when she was 4, they put on a pretty good show. Frankly, I don't really understand these parents that hate music for toddlers. Of course, I also don't really like music anyway.

oh and just so assumptions don't get made, i've been to an r. kelly concert also. put his personal life aside he is a great musician.

184
I do like them but not even close to the level of love I have for Jawbreaker. It's almost like people who were lucky enough to see Operation Ivy that like Rancid but they don't quite feel the same way about Rancid that they do about Op Ivy. That's my poor analogy of my feelings for Jets to Brazil vs, Jawbreaker.

JABSFTM

194
I lied, my worst was seeing Devo perform at the end of the Run Hit Wonder 10K at the Coliseum in 2004. Reeeeeally awful.

Worst: 1986, Flock Of Seagulls, 6 Flags Magic Mountain (it was free though, and wow the hair!)

First, I feel for you, Xei. Second, I always thought the Magic Mountain Concert series was just a joke from "This is Spinal Tap". I did not know it actually existed.

I will never be able to top my first concert.

My big brother worked at a record store with a Ticketmaster location, meaning he had first dibs when tix went on sale. He got us front-row center seats. He also won a record-label promotion, getting us a limo to/from said concert.

Who was in concert you ask? None other than Michael Jackson. Embarrassing? No way. Not in 1988.

188

BBD? That is awesome. I really don't think I have too many embarrassing concerts. Well, maybe REM (just wasn't great live) but Luscious Jackson and Purple Dinosaurs (that might be made up) opened for them.

198
Did you wear a rain coat to that concert?

Dodger clubhouse, 2008:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/02/28/dodgers.torre/index.html

I actually thought this was a pretty good column. Didn't love all of it, but it's got a little perspective.

Embarassing: Journey but I sure didn't think so at the time. When I hear that stuff now I almost gag.

My daughter loves the Wiggles, and I wouldn't mind going to see them but their tickets are hard to get and are pricey. Kind of like the Dodgers Colliseum game. Minus a hundred thousand people and the short porch in left. They won't be the same with the Yellow Wiggle retiring and all.
vr, Xei

185 When your a new parent, you start to hear about the Wiggles, and they're typically described as "kid music that's fun for parents, too!" Don't believe it. The Wiggles are awful, awful, awful. Raffi is far more tolerable.

Fortunately, you can do much better for kid music. My entry for "most recent concert" is Dan Zanes and friends, which I'd imagine is familiar to some of the other parents.

199 I am more on the Jets side compared to Jawbreaker. Some of that early Jawbreaker stuff, he sounds like he ate rocks. I like it all though.

204
Yeah I've seen them. Much better studio musicians than in person. Stipe seemed completely disinterested.

201 And by awful, you mean awesome right?

They were at least better than De La Soul who played the next year.

207 It's really cool to like Journey ironically now, so it's okay.

205 i don't get it.

Andy LaRoche got a single, as far as I can tell from the box score. And Loney's 2-3.

213 Somebody needs to make the list of bands it's cool to like ironically.

For example: Madonna. Is it cool to like her, uncool to like her, or ironically cool to like her? I'm so confused!

196 Although If they chose not to play "Starlings of the Slipstream" I would have to consider other options.

206 "Colletti and Torre didn't know each other when they found each other. But Colletti flew to New York to get to know Torre, and in Colletti's estimation, 'They hit it off immediately.'"

Uh-oh. Ned has begun to talk about himself in the third person.

216 Lets try ELO as a test case.

212 Reg, what is the big hit De La Soul record called? You know?

From Josh Rawitch's ItD blog:

As I had hoped when this whole thing started more than two years ago, you'll begin to get more contributors to the blog, including Team Travel Manager Scott Akasaki and General Manager Ned Colletti.
...
It won't be live, but if you have a question for Ned, please direct it to him in the comments. I'll compile all the questions and he'll pick about 10 to answer every other week or so.

210
he sounds like he ate rocks

That is funny but also true! That's always been one of the appealing aspects of Jawbreaker to me. Blake's voice. I feel the same about The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dickie Barrett.
Don't know if you like the Bosstones or are even in California but they are reuniting and playing on Saturday with the Pie Tasters and the old lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys new band. It's gonna be sweet. I haven't seen the Bosstones since 96, I would say.

I saw Pavement at both Bottom of the Hill and the Warfield here in SF and both were excellent.

I also saw Purple Dinosaur Jr. and my ears still hurt 15 years later.

I think I saw some sort of embarrassing disco concert when I was little, as my dad was into that sort of thing for a little while, but have repressed memory of it.

Tom Martin, your retirement is calling. Paging Tom Martin, your retirement is calling.

Dan Zanes is great. We saw him at Royce Hall.

We have Wiggles in the house but I'm not enthusiastic about them.

Our latest is the They Might Be Giants "Here Come the 1-2-3s" DVD and CD. That's getting worn out in house and car, respectively.

Another good one is Trout Fishing in America

http://www.troutmusic.com/

I just missed seeing ELO in Louisville in 1974 but I have never been cool. Never been hot either, but that's another story.

209. I actually prefer the early Wiggles stuff to Dan Zanes & Friends. Again, I just don't understand how a parent can really have that strong of an opinion about toddler music.

219 - It's funny, I've never liked ELO more than I like them now.

212
It was pretty bad. I was not there the following year, but I did see Tone Loc rapping on the route to passers by. One of the most unintentionally funny scenes of my entire life as it was towards the end of the race on a hot day and there were no spectators around him. Like watching Stallone act out a Rambo scene on a street corner. Bizarre.

I wonder if Martin, Hu, and Repko are going to get crap over their baserunning outs on anything like the level Kemp will.

Well, no. I don't really wonder.

222

Now doesn't one of the guys from MMBT announce "Jimmy Kimmel Live?" I thought that was very cool too.

227 - Because some sounds cool and interesting and some sounds sappy and lame. I mean, what's the mystery? It's not as if it's all the same.

216 Almost forgot a Hall & Oates show in Jacksonville - 1984. Strange how a significant other influenced my choice of music.

214
You said this is 198
i've been to an r. kelly concert also. put his personal life aside he is a great musician.

I made the raincoat comment in reference to your "personal life aside" comment. You know how he got busted for that sex tape where he peed on somebody? I was making a joke (a bad at that) about how he might pee on his audience too...
Sorry for the confusion and the joke :(

231

PS: MMBT, also from Boston.

232

I like ELO period. It's not lame or ironic at all. Note that I am in my 20s.

222 That is what is great about his voice. It's like you are listening to an old friend talk to you. I saw that the Bosstone's are reuniting. Where are they playing?

223 Man, I really wish I could have seen those Pavement guys. Maybe one day they will reunite.

220 Stakes is High is my favorite, but you're probably thinking of 3 Feet High and Rising.

223 I'm so jealous of you underdog.

232. But it's so easy to tune out, and if your kids like it, why should you really care? Maybe, it's just because I find it so boring to listen to parents complain about The Wiggles, Barney, the Backyardigans, or anything else and want to force their kids to listen to stuff that they think is cool.

The only televised game of the day (my Diamondbacks vs. a Rockies split squad) is starting. Anybody who popped for premium MLB.tv last year--are any of the games streamed in widescreen format? I assume that only the real games will be available in the higher bitrates (this one's 400K), but are they all 4:3?

So, is it possible to just not play the "kids music" for your kids? Or, do they demand it no matter what? Won't they just listen to whatever I play in the car, or have I underestimated the power of a temper tantrum?

240 When I was a kid, I didn't care too much. My brother always insisted on playing Ace of Base and such, much to my dad's chagrin. Those were the good old days.

My uncle told me a couple years back about how he's been resigned to whatever his kids choose. He said he was happy when they chose Avril Lavigne instead of Britney Spears.

If I have kids, I have a feeling they'll like ELO just as I did as a kid. And heck, we can probably still be able to go see them at Konocti Harbor then!

238 - Listening to anyone complain about anything is boring.

I'm certainly not losing sleep over the fact that my kids like things I don't like. Believe me, my kids have gotten plenty of exposure to entertainment that isn't USDA choice. That doesn't mean I can't have an opinion.

235 "Evil Woman" and "Telephone Line" are pretty hard to deny.

239 Last year, games were occasionally streamed in widescreen, yes. Which was a bummer for me with my normal-shaped computer screen; it just makes an already-too-small picture even smaller.

This year, nothing is being streamed at all, as the site is experiencing "technical difficulties" which prevented me from listening to today's game.

240 - It's not really about a tantrum. I think you'll find that there are a lot of hours to fill in a childhood, and that you can't get your kid through them all by limiting him or her to adult music.

Plus, there's no reason to avoid kids music. There's kids music out there that is plenty good to listen to.

237 Thanks MC. I was thinking of those.

231 I didn't know that about the announcer. That is cool.

236 Bosstones are playing at the Avalon in Hollywood this Sat. at 8pm. Tickets are around 25 bones still available I think.

i think i win for the first and lamest concert experience:

when i was 4 my sister was 8 she had a huge thing for "new kids on the block" so guess who got drug along? luckily i remember no details about that night, unluckily my sister likes to remind me of it way too often.

Best: Rage in Chicago this last year
Latest: Foo Fighters

245- Did you try refreshing like one of those monkeys in heroin experiments? I think it's just overloaded, so you have to beat out the competition for a spot. Once I got in, I was able to switch games without losing it.

234 oh no urinating on the crowd took place.

Best Concert - Hard to say a concert in the L.A. Coliseum could be good considering all the people but the Boss's Born in the USA Tour and U2's Joshua Tree tour were both really good.

Although the most enjoyable "concert" might have been Robin Williams at the Universal Ampthitheater, non-stop laughter.

Some could say Madonna's Like a Virgin Tour would be embarassing but it was good.

I hung around once after some game and saw the "Beach Boys" and John Stamos sat in with them, now that might be embarassing.

I saw De La Soul. It's funny, I have kept alot of my ticket stubs. I was friends with folks in music/promo in Knoxville, so I have all sorts of weird handmade posters and the De La Soul is one of my favorites. I found the ticket for that show. Along with one for Styx! :-) I'm not embarassed.

The worst I remember was, sorry Molly, Tori Amos. I seriously think she was on muscle relaxants or her blood sugar was like zero. I was really aggrivated because I took a date and we both hated it because we had high expectations.

Richard Thompson at Ella Guru's was probably my best. That was Ashley Capps' place in Knoxville. (Bonaroo producer). I have tickets for like a show every week for months. There'd be people like Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Melissa Etheridge, Doc Watson, John Lee Hooker, The Cheiftans, all in a row.

I heard Michael Bivens from Bell Biv Devoe on the radio yesterday, you know for what it was "Poison" is a prety jamming tune.

Best: Easily the two Rage Against the Machine concerts I went to. Hands down for me

246 I used to love my Muppett's cds.

253 If you thought Molly was melancholy yesterday.

So is the game still going on or what? The mlb.com box score is stuck. I think Tom Martin broke it.

219 I never realized how good Jeff Lynne was until I listened to the George Harrison tribute concert. Long Live The Traveling Wilburys!

Andy is up now, 3-2 count, 1st and 2nd, one out, runners go, and he walks.

Gurnick will probably criticize for his lack of aggressiveness.

And now, Ethier scores on a bases loaded walk to Tifee, to tie the score but then Delwyn Young in his second at bat with RISP, hits into an inning ending double play.

252 > 88 One of bhsportsguys faves was my first!

255
The day "Evil Empire" came out, Tower Records stores in soCal had a promotion that the first 100 people that bought the album got a free ticket to see Rage at Cal State Dominguez Hills. My friend and I stood in line all night and were numbers 25 and 26. We went to the concert a week later and it was INSANE. There were only 2000 or so people there TOTAL. Rage played on one end of the gigantic bicycle track and a huge pit comprised of just about everyone there took up less than a quarter of the entire inner circumference of the track. I had never seen them live before and was blown away at how awesome they were. Easily one of my top 3 concerts ever.

Hopefully this won't be Delwyn's only chance. ;-)

{tying two threads together:} Wasn't there a De La Soul character called "Delwyn"?

No wait, that was Derwin. Frequently referred to in some of their songs.

262 Mine was at the Coliseum, I don't remember them playing in the LA Sports Arena.

260
Did you get tired or busy at work? Your inning recaps are the only thread to the game for those of us who can no longer stream internet radio at work.

264 I doubt it, he's playing 2B now so he's being groomed for an all-purpose guy off the bench now.

Separated at birth:
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/images/2008/02/27/VTEcZGWe.jpg

Frank McCourt

and Python's Eric Idle.

266 Busy, sorry, missed a few innings there.

I played ELO a lot but it was always the same album. I'm sure I'd still like them, were not talking Herman Hermits here.

Diamond live blogs an intra-squad game but not a pre-season game. He could triple his audience.

Top of the 9th.
Now in to pitch, Brian Shackelford is the latest NRI, Eric Hull did pitch the 8th with no harm done.

1st batter got on board on an error by NRI John Lindsay, who is now playing first.
2nd batter popped up to LaRoche
Tyler Flowers hits a 2 run homer to LF (Ethier is playing there)
Fly out to Repko (CF)
Foul out to Lindsay.

2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, none left, 4-2 Braves

rusty shackelford is pitching!!!

i'd be surprised if anyone gets it.

Will Andruw Jones be the heaviest regular centerfielder in history?

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3269068&type=blogEntry