Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
It's one of those things I never seem to get to, so I'm gonna get to it now in brief. As some of you know, Sports Illustrated has placed its archives online in searchable form at a place called SI Vault.
I could spend hours upon hours there, reading about ... Pedro Guerrero, for instance.
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I think this will work: I've set up a Dodger Thoughts photo group at Flickr for people to share their images from, say, Saturday's Coliseum game. Give it a look if you're interested.
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Ramon Troncoso pitched two shutout innings Friday against Boston. Troncoso could still sneak onto the roster, especially if Chan Ho Park is sent to AAA to build up his innings as a backup starting pitcher, as pitching coach Rick Honeycutt suggested to Dylan Hernandez of the Times.
Troncoso, 25, split time between A and AA ball last season, finishing with 39 strikeouts against 52 hits and 18 walks in 52 innings for Jacksonville. That's not exactly dominant, but last week, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com wrote that Troncoso was "sneaking into the picture as a middle reliever with a hard sinker and the early makings of a cutter."
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In this piece, Dennis Cozzalio gets to the roots of the name of his website, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.
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Check out Tangotiger's Great Clutch Project:
So, you think you know who is the clutch hitter on your team? You think you know who you want at bat with the game on the line? Well, let's find out.
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All Dodger games are on XM Satellite Radio. And, as a special pre-Opening Day treat ...
For 48 hours leading up to Opening Day, XM Radio (Channel 120) will broadcast 412 songs about the sport, 27 songs about players, seven dramatic readings of baseball stories and various classic calls of historic plays – truly an audio euphoria for every baseball fan.
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After my third child was born, Dodger Thoughts reader Andy Zicklin sent this clip of his son in, saying that I had this to look forward to. We'll see!
Call me biased, but I just wanted Chan Ho to win that spot. Hopefully, he'll stay with the big club. I don't want to see Chan Ho in AAA. I really disagree with Honeycutt's argument of building starting pitching strength. Just keep him as the long man... and his performance in the WBC shows that Chan Ho can pitch effectively in short-inning situations...
It wasn't as if Loaiza had a bad spring: 3.00 ERA. In any case, you should go with the best pitcher, regardless of Spring Training stats, and Park was unbelievably awful last year.
The Loaiza-Park debate will hopefully be irrelevant sooner than later.
It also seems pretty obvious that he pitches better as a starter than he does as a reliever.
I wonder if Tommy is going to stay in the dugout all season and be Torre's side kick ala Don Zimmer?
Billingsley showed tonight what Jon has been predicting. He owned the Red Sox hitters for the first four innings.
You are right about the number of innings.
Here are some splits for him.
OPS SLUG OPS tOPS+
Starter .324 .377 .701 88
Reliever .389 .414 .803 116
Didn't the team also theorize that starting was better on his arm?
Actually, now I think they theorize that relieving is better on his arm. Whatever's convenient or hip ...
Orel Hershiser IV
Bill (The Dean) Russell
http://tinyurl.com/255kgf
By my Retrosheet-aided recollection, the first ballgame I ever saw was July 8, 1960 at the Coliseum. (For years I remembered the game as a 4-2 Dodger win over the Cubs. A 5-3 win is the closest fit I can find to that memory.) And if July 8, 1960 is correct, that would mean the the first Dodger hit I saw was Frank Howard, first homerun Wally Moon, and first victory Ed Roebuck, all of which feel appropriate.
I thought about coming to LA for the game today, but decided to watch the game with friends in Northern California. I'm still shocked that Major League baseball returning to the Coliseum didn't get national television.
Have a great time. Go Dodgers!
I did take it as some consolation that last night he felt JP should be the #8 batter.
2 Come on, now. Let's not invoke Scott Erickson.
At this point, I hope Park beats out Troncoso for the last spot in the bullpen.
Facile as it sounds I wouldn't put too much stock in Torre's "it's just the way DeWitt carries himself" line. That's just his way of letting Nomar and Andy know, injured or not, they'd better get their act together, because, to quote O'toole in Lawrence of Arabia, "NOTHING is written".
It's very cool of Sports Illustrated to offer all the past issues online for FREE. Every online magazine that I know of makes you pay. But it does kind of take the fun out of buying old SI's on Ebay.
Well, still, there's nothing like holding the original magazine in your hands.
I like looking at the old advertisements. I'd forgotten how...what's the word...gentle, ads were on the reader. They didn't try and out-hip, out-cool, out rock & roll, offend, or disgust the reader. A less cynical time.
Basically, he's taking over for Meloan (who I guess is now starter worthy).
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/friday-fastball-speeds/
I think by summer, Pierre will be used less frequently, maybe 2 starts a week. And they'll be bringing him in off the bench in late innings as a pinch runner.
Much relief.
I agree. Park has been horrific the past few years. But Park, at his best, was a significantly better pitcher than Loiza. Given that the Loiza v. Park debate is a question of revival - which guy can recoup something of what he used to have - I'd argue that Park has higher upside. But, essentially, I too hope we're talking about something else very soon. Any thoughts on why Kuo isn't getting more traction?
I think that question is pertinent. And yes, you can tailgate at the Coliseum just like the 90,000 or so USC fans who do so six times a year.
Park's best career season wasn't as good as Loaiza's. Park's career ERA+ is lower than Loaiza's (by a smidgen), and Park has pitched fewer innings. The idea that Park has higher upside hinges solely on the fact that Park is only 34, whereas Loaiza is a grizzly 36.
Look, I get people are rooting for Park - as far as sentiment, I'm rooting for Park. But you can't sell me that a revival for Park would be anything but near-miraculous.
Regardless, those are moot points now because they're both past their primes and this isnt 2000 or 2003
Not only do I think Loaiza as the 5th starter was the obvious choice based on contracts, I think it was the correct one. Kuo was almost handed the 5th spot to start the season last year, and he failed. His arm has never held up as a starter, and Park last year was too awful last year to be taken seriously this year after only a few spring starts.
Loaiza last year was awful as well, but to be fair he was recovering from injury. Being healthy this year and pitching for a contract, I expect a halfway decent performance for the #5 spot
I disagree. Unlike Grady and Tracy, Torre can tell Ned to stick it. (That's probably Torre's biggest strength.) Anyway, while Torre at times has demonstrated inexplicable, fetish-like love for certain oldsters, those oldsters (Bernie W. is who I'm thinking of here) were a lot more lovable than Juan P. I'm also optimistic that the extended "look" at Juan P. so far this spring has been a (sadly, failed) attempt to get his hot and trade him. So I think, from opening day on, the lineup is gonna be very Ethier-friendly, particularly with injuries sapping any power out of 3B.
Or not. In which case I'm gonna let my dog chew on my Torre bobblehead.
Regardless, those are moot points now because they're both past their primes and this isnt 2000 or 2003
Not only do I think Loaiza as the 5th starter was the obvious choice based on contracts, I think it was the correct one. Kuo was almost handed the 5th spot to start the season last year, and he failed. His arm has never held up as a starter, and Park last year was too awful last year to be taken seriously this year after only a few spring starts.
Loaiza last year was awful as well, but to be fair he was recovering from injury. Being healthy this year and pitching for a contract, I expect a halfway decent performance for the #5 spot
And thanks for the info Bob Timmerman!
Go blue
1. I looked it up. You guys are right. Loiza's peak was probably better than Park's. My judgement was... Tommy-esque. And, yeah, the dice rolling on Park has gone on a bit longer than it should've. Let's all burn some incense for Kuo or a prudent but swift promotion for Kershaw.
2. I don't have a dog. I lied.
3. I don't have a Torre bobblehead either. But if I did, and if Torre starts Pierre ahead of Ethier, I'd let my dog chew on it.
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore Lab restored the world's oldest known sound recording. It's from 1860.
http://tinyurl.com/2r9nhh
The short song was captured on April 9, 1860 by a phonautograph, a device created by a Parisian inventor, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville.
The device etched representations of sound waves into paper covered in soot from a burning oil lamp.
Lines were scratched into the soot by a needle moved by a diaphragm that responded to sound. The recordings were never intended to be played.
Here is a study of "contract year" performance.
http://tinyurl.com/ysqadh
It's a PowerPoint.
Thanks for that. I heard it on the radio yesterday, but caught the story late and didn't know what they were talking about. Fairly amazing moment.
When I was in library school in Berkeley, some of us took a trip to Stanford's archive of recorded materials. We got to see some wax cylinders made by Tom Edison, although they didn't play them for us. But it was amazing at what was there.
Not that I ever went into that type of work.
But I don't see online the lead article in the print edition, by Patt Morrison. Perhaps it's there somewhere: has anyone found it? It's a beautiful article, a piece of classic baseball writing. If it's not online, it's worth buying the paper today to read it.
vr, Xei
"West is best (if you like pitching)"
http://tinyurl.com/2z5lpo
PS: I'm assuming here Peavy means "shew!" as a compliment to the Dodgers?
>>"Unlike the other divisions – and I don't want to name names – we don't get a night off," said Peavy. "You go into Arizona, you know the chances are three out of five that you get Brandon Webb, Dan Haren or Randy Johnson. Or you get Doug Davis (diagnosed this week with thyroid cancer), who won 15 games, and Micah Owings can both pitch and rake. San Francisco's got four starters – (Barry) Zito, (Matt) Cain, (Tim) Lincecum and (now-injured Noah) Lowry – so the Giants are always in the game with them on the mound. L.A.? Shew! Colorado's got those great young arms.<<
Ha.
42.
thanks. that's what i figured. no significant difference. a better study might be "playing to maintain an overpaid lifestyle"... which, i know, is everybody. but, in truth, it's particularly applicable to our potential no. 5s... i can't see either park or mr. l (i surrender) getting another serious crack if this year doesn't work out for them... anyway, a study like that might resolve the fear vs. greed question...
I'm assuming that Peavy used that interjection because he knew the Dodgers were good, but he didn't quite know how to phrase it.
"shew" is alabaman for "a buncha guys who throw pretty hard and often for strikes, but maybe not hard enough, or accurately enough, to win the division." and, for the record, i'm pissed that he said that.
I expect lots of confusion outside the Coliseum.
Furcal
Ethier
Martin
Jones
Loney
Kemp
Hu
DeWitt
Lowe?
http://tinyurl.com/2ufsso
I will take the under.
Penny is starting on Opening Day.
I can't believe the kid I liked best turned down UCLA to go to Duke....
58 - Actually, I'll put the over-under on in the park home runs at 2, given all that space in right center.
The air won't be as thin here and it should get cool tonight.
Also, unlike Mexico City, the air here won't be quite as "tangible."
This is fun -- Capitol Punishment's season preview in 6-word-novel format: http://tinyurl.com/3dv6oz
Various rules prohibit what a lot of us could say about that fact.
There will be a chat thread on the Griddle. I'd prefer you uphold Rule 1, but I don't care about Rule 5 there.
I couldn't find my regular transistor radio to bring to the Coliseum, so I'm bringing the one from my earthquake kit. It involves having to pull on a card to crank it up. That should be fun.
Can't mlb do something about that. Or maybe NORAD?
>> "The guy is scary," says Chicago left-fielder Gary Matthews. "He lays off borderline pitches, and he hits everything else hard."
"No one's perfect," says Guerrero, "but I feel that no matter what the pitcher throws, I'm going to hit it. If he doesn't want to pitch to me, I'll take the walk. I feel there's no way to get me out." <<
I'd love to paste this in Matt Kemp's locker.
Also, any of the songs on "Through the Eyes of a Winner - The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers Video Yearbook" can be heard many times. Believe they were Glenn Frey songs? Soul Searching, Living Right. Those were great!
* - note, this could also be the Nostalgia typing
I haven't seen anything official yet but since both Loaiza and Park are scheduled to pitch tonight I would expect to see Kershaw on Sunday. I was hoping he's get a start but I expect it will be Kuroda since that sits him up nicely for his start next Friday.
It's a beautiful day for a ballgame
For a ballgame today. :-)
The production values are pretty poor on that recording. There's not enough clarity to even say it sounds "ghostly". It sounds like a kitchen table being pushed across the floor.
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/back_to_the_coliseum.php
You can hear the whole thing and several similar recordings here:
http://www.firstsounds.org/sounds/
Hearing the full recording helps, I think.
See you tonight!
Thank you. I think I'll go sunday if there is a chance that clayton pitches
Here's a dumb question... so I joined the group, but I can't find a way to add my pictures to it. I wanted to share a few more from Vero Beach this past month... any ideas? I think you can see them if you click on "adamclyde" in the members, but I'm not sure how else to add them to the general list of photos...
I wish I were at the coliseum today. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's photos!
The Giants are so terrible it is hard to watch.
So I guess the question is whether he has to be on the Opening Day 25 to appear in an exhibition game? We know he won't be in that 25. But I don't know for sure if that excludes him from the last exhibition game.
Myself, I'm always interested in hardware stores.
But, please, no speedos.
A little, but not like last year when we had to face Kansas. Always going to be a little nervous when Final Four is on the line.
You? How are you going to keep track of the game?
2007 OPS+ of their supposed starting lineup
Roberts: 80
Durham: 65
Winn: 105
Molina: 86
Rowand: 123
Aurilia: 73
Castillo: 57
Bocock: N/A (but minor league OPS was .656)
Oh, Aaron, what were you thinking...
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Ethier, LF
Kent, 2B
Jones, CF
Loney, 1B
Kemp, RF
Pierre, DH
DeWitt, 3B
I LOVE it! Pierre thought he was going to be in LF...HA HA HA!!!
I am pretty sure there has to be a worst DH in history than Pierre. Has to be.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/mtmg
That is such a pathetic group of DHs.
There are things of which I may not speak;
There are dreams that cannot die;
There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,
And bring a pallor to the cheek,
And mist before the eye.
WHAT did Bill Raftery say after tipoff? "Send the GOOSH? bffufrff?!"
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