" If only, [Buzzie] Bavasi suggests, Bostock would have spent the night of Sept. 23, 1978, in the Water Tower Hyatt, with the rest of his Angel teammates.

"Bostock didn't stay at the hotel when he was in Chicago," Bavasi said. "He stayed at his relatives' home. That's normally a violation of club rules, but he received permission from the manager and the traveling secretary to stay with his cousins.

"If he hadn't, he would've stayed in the hotel and none of this would've happened."

And 10 years later?

"He'd have still been playing for the Angels today."

Bostock ended up hitting .290-something, so he definitely earned his entire season's salary. And, as Bavasi pointed out, it's not like the team would have doubled his salary if he'd hit .500 the following month.

Also, LaRoche went 2-6 in extended ST, he will play 3B today and possibly start his rehab tomorrow.

Game story tells how a picture of a gnome gave the hitters luck.

I can remember as a kid reading the Times sports section reporting Bostock's death and not wholly understanding that he wouldn't be back.

Bostock's presence on the Angels was enough to make this Dodgers fan into an Angels fan, too. I can remember swinging the bat and wanting to be Lyman Bostock. After his death I never did become much of an Angels fan.

The Dodgers are last in the majors in OPS with runners on, at .224/.290/.310/.600.

I guess that Furcal probably has a lot to do with this...

11 - The fact that I really disagree with you on your answer makes me feel that that's probably not a good question for this site.

I usually let bad news roll off me like rain on a parka since the world is full of it but sometimes the news sticks to you and you can't shake it for a few days even though you have zero personal connection. This one bothered me for a long time.

For a very brief time he was my favorite ballplayer.

I remember I was at my brother's house in Corona watching the Dodger game, and Vin said something to the effect that this was the worst news he'd ever have to give. Next thing I knew Drysdale's picture, almost like a ghost, was on the screen, superimposed over the field. It was chilling for sure.

They waited to announce it until Ann Meyers could be reached. You could really feel the pain in Vin's voice that day. It was just so sad.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/john_donovan/04/21/donovan.windup3/index.html?eref=T1

And no, it's not the baseball boogie video from the 80's. Sorry, I don't know how to do tiny url's, so if anybody wants to throw out a helper it would be appreciated.

"" Never have I been asked to make an announcement that hurts me as much as this one. And I say it to you as best I can with a broken heart."

Thing is everyone knows the name Clemente. Sure Bostock maybe wasn't quite on that level, but would seem a hero to many.

I had two Bostock cards: a 1977 Hostess card (one that I'd cut out of the bottom panel of a Twinkies box) and a 1978 Topps card. I used to be quite fastidious about how I'd organize my card collection. I'd divide them into teams, study the cards at length, and then order them according to which players I liked the best. I remember being impressed by how good Bostock's stats were. Plus, his Hostess card looked really cool. So Bostock's '77 Hostess card was given pride of place on top of my Twins stack, while his '78 Topps card enjoyed similar status at the front of my set of Angels.

Upon learning of Bostock's death, I remember feeling it was so unfair that such a good player could be cut down in such a senseless, brutal manner. After reading the story in this morning's Times, that feeling came to the fore once again.

1) 30 Rock and Scrubs are switching time slots, or as Variety calls them, timeslots.

2) Milo Ventimiglia and Alyssa Milano play an engaged couple in "Pathology," which Variety says "goes well beyond the level of gore most auds can take."

3) Danica McKellar will be at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Sunday.

http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/2008stage_schedule_sun.html

I hope bad things happened to that guy during the time he was in jail.

30 Rock and Scrubs are switching time slots, or as Variety calls them, timeslots.

Really? Man what a bummer; now I have to wait until 10pm to finish watching the Office + Rock block.

8:30 - Do the dishes, take out garbage, etc.
9 - Office
9:30 - 30 Rock

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197805060.shtml

As a kid, whenever I'd wear a Dodger hat or shirt (which was often), I'd frequently have people say to me, "I bet your favorite player is Steve Garvey, right?" A semi-befuddled look would come across their faces when I'd respond, "No. It's Lee Lacy."

By the way, I don't have any memory of ever seeing the Toy Cannon play for the Dodgers. Thanks goodness for his '74 TRADED and '75 All-Star cards. For me, those are what associates Jimmy Wynn with the Dodgers.

http://tinyurl.com/39s5sz

I've printed one out in color and pinned it onto the tackboard at my desk. Now let the mojo do its thing, baby...

http://tinyurl.com/5bvkzb

The cases of Leonard Smith, Dan White, and John Hinckley made insanity pleas politically unpopular and the standards were changed.

"I'm not looking into setting timetables or setting myself up for failure," Schmidt said.

It's a good strategy that both teams are taking to heart. For the Lakers, even without Bynum they have a decent shot to get to the finals. However, as I've said all year, my favorite to win it is the Spurs.

Did you mildly stress about choosing a name for your kid? It is three weeks away, and now I am over analyzing everything.

"If Tejada cooperates with federal prosecutors and offers them something they don't already have, he might be able to settle with them and continue a great baseball career. It would be a difficult thing to do and would violate baseball's code of clubhouse omerta."

Thanks, Jon. That is helpful for me to relax. This might be one of those, "wait and see" moments for naming him. Our OB told us he has puffy cheeks right now. He gets that from his Aunt

http://tinyurl.com/3nekx4

I remember both Wynn and Tommie Agee had TRADED cards that year.

funny that you mentioned the daughter name. If it was a girl, I have a name I would use with no hesitation. I wonder if this is a guy thing

He later calls me that by the time he got to the hospital, they had filled out the birth certificate and it was too late.

Wow

1 Jacob
2 Michael
3 Joshua
4 Ethan
5 Matthew
6 Daniel
7 Christopher
8 Andrew
9 Anthony
10 William

Nomar Garciaparra homers to help Dodgers beat Reds 9-3

His HR accounted for the last two runs LA scored.

The lede:

All the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers needed was a familiar face in a familiar place.

Nomar Garciaparra celebrated his return to the third spot in the batting order with his first home run since Sept. 14 and three runs batted in, helping Brad Penny stayed (sic) perfect at Great American Ball Park in the Dodgers' 9-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Torre quote:
"Hitting in front of (Jeff) Kent, you knew he was going to get some pitches to hit and know what to do with them," Torre said. "It takes experience. A lot of guys don't think of that when they're younger."
Hmmm, what about the year from mid-06 to mid-07? BTW, Ethier, Loney and Kemp have all the other starts at #3.

A lot of guys don't think of what when they're younger...?

Officially, my father's first name was Henry, but NOBODY outside of the Social Security Administration called him that. He went by Vernon, his middle name, or Tim (obvious nickname).

We have exactly one daughter and no sons.

72 Did anyone ever call you Bobby?

Rule 8 violation! I've asked that question before. The answer was a resounding "No".

Yeah, so they just swing at the, um, good fastballs...?

I'm confused!

Naming our Daughter was easy. She was named months before she was born. If we are to ever have a boy, the process will be a little more difficult, as I am set on naming him after Simon Bolivar's most trusted General, and no one else seems to be with me.

After giving birth to four sons, my parents gave up on the idea of having a child named Mary. My mom did win a huge stuffed animal at some event and she put it in the garage to be given to her first granddaughter.

I believe one of my niece's did get the toy, but my mom was not around to see it.

And she wouldn't have been my wife.

I was trying to think of everyone's hobbies last night. Like Marty with barbecue, etc. Let's make a list - what's your favorite non-sports-related activity?

I'm not sure snark is a hobby, by the way.

In one of the biggest success stories for NBC's diversity writing program, "My Name Is Earl" writer-producer Danielle Sanchez-Witzel has inked a two-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios. The seven-figure pact marks the first overall deal to come out of the 8-year-old program.

In the first year of the deal, UMS will loan out Sanchez-Witzel to 20th Century Fox TV to continue working on NBC's comedy "Earl," where she will be upped to co-executive producer beginning in the fall. She will be developing new projects for UMS during both years.

Once an aspiring sports broadcaster who covered the Stanford baseball team for the university's radio station while a student there, Sanchez-Witzel shifted her attention to feature producing when she enrolled in the masters program at the UCLA School of Film & Television. "

BBQ- I cook this way about 3 times a week on the Big Green Egg. In fact, I have some pineapple in the fridge that is calling to be skewered tonight.

Reading, walking, playing guitar, cooking, and I am beginning to enjoy fixing things around the house.

It was a fine article, Ross, but do you really think we got hosed on that one? Even now?

As far as hobbies:

~ Cooking (not just BBQ)
~ Antique pottery and tile collecting, strictly Southern Califoria.
~ Fishing
~ Golf. Not so much anymore with my bad back