NPRH!

Jon, the final vote (44 entries):

Unanimous in bold

C - Martin
1B - Loney
2B - Kent (43 of 44 votes)
3B - LaRoche (28) / DeWitt (18)
SS - Furcal
OF - Kemp
OF - Ethier
OF - Jones (29) / Pierre (8) / Young (5) / Repko (1)

LaRoche got one vote in LeFt, and DeWitt got one vote at 2B.

Nomar got novote.

2 i'm not sure if it was tounge in cheek but i just don't get the negativity about kent

4
I'd say 43 of 44 wanting Kent in the lineup is not bad (I didn't count Xeifrank though, who had Hu at 2B, which would make 43 of 45). Or are you referring to 27indingo's dissenting opinion?

4 I don't think there was any negativity. One person voted DeWitt to play second in order to keep both him and LaRoche in the mix. Kent's starting at 2B was nearly unanimous.

2 - Third base doesn't add up.

7 I thought so too at first but the extra votes are explained by the vote for DeWitt at 2B and LaRoche in LF.

8 Similarly the missing vote from 2B and OF.

Speaking of Tide, I'd like to see the condiment stations be sponsored by Tide. They could use a slogan something like "nothing gets those ketchup stains out like Tide with Bleach!"

7 ,10
See the final sentence of my post.

No, Jon's right, all the other positions add up to 44 while 3B adds up to 46.

In 11 , I meant 9 , not 10 .

11 ,13 Yes I was amending my statement trying to explain that the last line explains both the extra votes at third and the missing votes in OF/2B. Anyway, I should have let you answer for yourself but I was so proud of myself having just figured out the math. :)

In other words, 3B should be 27-17 in favor of Andy.

OK, I get it.

Coach (pleased): "Well, then it's anonymous!"

--Cheers

Much less confusing way of putting it. :) Thanks Jon.

Should I be nervous that Clayton Kershaw leads off Will Carroll's "Under the Knife" column today? How long before Will begins treating Kershaw like Billingsley, insisting that his goofy-looking grin and cowlick make him injury prone?

Interesting that the ratio for LaRoche to DeWitt is almost the same as Jones to not Jones.

Two more absentee votes after the 15:53:48
for Young on the previous thread:)

Tonight's Win Probabilities (for the Dodgers):

Simulator: 53.50%
LV Hilton: 55.56%
AccuScore: 60.70%

My simulator uses Zips projections as input. Zips must be fond of the Mets offensive juggernaught. :) And it's assuming another Juan Pierre start.
vr, Xei

19
Maybe it can be a badge of honor for Kershaw. I'd be more nervous if Peter Vescey reported it though. :)

How unanimously would we be regarding batting order? Given the majority winners Martin, Loney, Kent, LaRoche, Furcal, Ethier, Jones Kemp.

24
Hey man, one tally per day! :)

Not everyone submitted lineups in batting order, so it would be difficult to go back and get that info.

Do we have a real lineup?

Matt Kemp was on Kennedy and Dibble's show on XM 175 today in the 2pm hour and I don't think anyone here has mentioned it. Kennedy mentioned people calling him the Bison and asked him about it, but Matt was responding to another question and didn't reply to it directly. Matt spent a lot of time crediting Easler (sp?) and of course Kennedy talked about hiring him back when he was a manager. Seemed to be ok with Torre's distribution of playing time, but of course he's not in Andre's spot now. Also mentioned how badly everyone feels about the booing of Andruw, but he was sure that Andruw would be fine. I was at last night's game and I have to say the booing is almost Bondsesque...

25 I know, and not everyone voted for all 8 players on the list.

That is to say, I'm asking for new submissions and I'm volunteering to do the tallying.

Furcal
Martin
Kemp
Loney
Kent
Ethier
LaRoche
Jones

26 - Neither Inside the Dodgers blog has one, which was part of the inspriation for 24 .

27 Wish I could have heard that one.

19/23 - Well, here's what Mr. Carroll has to say about Kershaw and the Dodgers:

>>Is there any logic to the "Kershaw Decree" the Dodgers are employing with their young lefty? It's a marketer's version of the "Joba Rules", a limit of 25 innings per month limit designed to have him ready for September in the big leagues. Apart from that long-term goal, I guess this would also hold true if he was needed before then, but I'm not sure how exactly this is intended to work. Minor league starters average about five starts per month, meaning Kershaw would only get five innings per start; on the other hand, if he was skipped once, the workload goes up to six innings per. Of course, Kershaw threw 26 innings in April, so maybe the decree is new. Wait, no, he threw 6 2/3 in his last outing, leaving him only 18 1/3 to spread over an expected four starts, something that would nearly necessitate a tandem arrangement with somebody else on the staff. In that last outing, he threw an estimated 96 pitches, so even being low on the estimate—and I'm sure someone has the actual count—wouldn't make that a terribly taxing arrangement. If the goal is to keep his seasonal totals around the 150 mark, I can at least grasp that, though I'm sure that following some sort of logical program would be better than seemingly arbitrary edicts.<<

At least he's not currently predicting Billingsley's arms will fall off any day now.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7477

It almost sounds like he wants desperately to criticize the Dodgers again, as usual, but can't quite figure out exactly what to rip them about so, thus, this.

Do minor league teams have a roster limit size of 25 like the big league club does?
vr, Xei

So Eric's gotta count those last two votes for Pee Wee, right? An absentee vote is still a vote. Also, you know all those old ladies in Palm Beach County who voted for Pierre really meant to vote for Young.

Anyway...
Furcal
Martin
Kemp
Kent
Loney
LaRoche
Ethier
Young/whoever

At least he's not currently predicting Billingsley's arms will fall off any day now.

And DeWitt-LaRoche keeps us from grumbling too much about Pierre (as does Pierre hitting .500 in the last few days). New topics for discussion.

ESPN was discussing whether Ozzie's latest rule 1 violation rant is distracting his players. That's an old topic of discussion.

35 For the purposes of my tallying, I was focused on the more trivial aspect of arranging the batting order given which players are on the field. I will count "whoever" as a pick for Jones.

35 - "Leading off and playing center field for the Dodgers - Pat Buchannan."

Amusing headline today at ESPNEWS for MLB...

Wife: Rodriguez fainted during first daughter's birth

Perhpaps A-Rod deserves some of it and is an easy target, but the media sure enjoys to go after this guy!

32 Too busy to search this but isn't some type of study of pitcher's work loads increasing by 10-20% a year especially those under 25.

Kershaw pitched 122 innings last year, increasing to 150 would be slightly more than 20%. It makes sense to me.

Count me down for this money-making idea. McCourt is too PR conscious to rename Dodger Stadium, so thankfully, we won't have to worry about that. When the renovations were first proposed, I was weary that thier price tag would inhibit the Dodgers ability to increase/keep their payroll, somewhat akin to what has happened to Arsenal in the EPL.

I think there is a misguided assumption that the Dodgers have a lot of money coming off the books this offseason, when in fact the money being saved from Nomar, Loiza and Kent coming off the books will have to go the Broxton, Saito, Martin, Ethier, Beimel arbitration funds (and I think that might be a net loss, maybe even a significant one for the Dodgers). In regards to keeping Furcal and giving him a raise, I think the decision would and should come down more to whether the Dodgers think Schmidt or McDonald can be an effective starting pitcher next year. A significant payroll increase will be needed to both resign Furcal and get a starting pitcher of worth.

Furcal
Loney
Kemp
Kent
Ethier
LaRoche
Martin
Jones

Has anyone got tonight's lineup yet?

Oh, and:

C- Martin
1B- Loney
2B- Kent
SS- Furcal
3B- LaRoche
LF- Ethier
CF- Jones
RF- Bison

Send both Hu and DeWitt back to the minors. DeWitt to learn how to play 2B, and Hu to get the at-bats. We need some kind of protection in case Furcal's contract demands are too high and/or Kent breaks down before the end of the year.

Not to ask something painfully obvious, but is it more important to limit the number of innings, the number of pitches, or the number of pitches in an inning for a young pitcher?

44 What do you mean IF Furcal's contract demands are too high? If he keeps his performance up, I can't see the Dodgers signing him to the multiple year high salary deal that his agent will demand.

So if Furcal is not re-signed, who will be batting leadoff for the 2009 Dodgers? There will be one experienced candidate still under contract....

43

Nope

41 - Won't that trio take about $26M or so off the books? I don't think that arbitration raises for Broxton, Saito, Martin, Ethier, and Beimel will get to that amount. They're all first-year arbitration players. Though Russ will have quite a case as the defending NL MVP. :)

49 How can Martin and Furcal both be MVP?

Oh, I get it -- they'll tie in the voting. Interesting prediction.

If he keeps his performance up, I can't see the Dodgers signing him to the multiple year high salary deal that his agent will demand.

I could. Colletti will already be handing 2nd and 3rd to a couple of kids, adding shortstop into the mix might be too much for him. On the other hand, Furcal might just bolt for someone offering him 5 years (I don't see Colletti offering anyone more than 3 years).

StolenMonkey, here is my preferred batting order:

SS Furcal
C Martin
1B Loney
RF Kemp
LF Ethier
2B Kent
3B LaRoche
CF Jones

Per Diamond:

Rafael Furcal has been scratched from the lineup due to back stiffness he has been experiencing over the past few days.

49 It's Beimel's third arbitration year coming up. They submitted these figures: $2.15M / $1.7M and settled before the hearing at $1.925M.

If Saito puts up a season like the last two, he'll have quite the case also.

Tonight's lineup:

Pierre, LF
Jones, CF
Kemp, RF
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Kuroda, P

"Furcal out with a stiff back."

No lineup yet, but you wanted bad news? I got bad news.

Diamond Leung reports that Furcal has been scratched from tonight's lineup due to a bad back. And that Jason Schmidt, Tony Abreu, and Scott Elbert all had setbacks in their injury rehab.

44/53. Good thing we didn't send Hu down to the minors. vr, Xei

57 - Why - we could have seen Martin at shortstop then.

Hu's at SS!

I wonder if Ethier was going to start against the right-hander until Furcal was scratched. Who else would Torre feel comfortable batting leadoff?

59 Hu else?

46- Well, he is going to regress (unless you think the team's collective good karma from the Troy from West Virginia and Bison acknowledgements will sustain his out of his mind play over 500 ABs, which is entirely possible, and is the reason Im expecting a title this year, :) ). But resigning Furcal is the easy choice to make which makes the probability of it happening pretty high.

49- You're right in that I forgot to take into account Lowe's contract ending (which by the way must be one of the best free agent deals a team has gotten over the length of a contract and almost, but not really, evens out the Pierre and Jones' signings) Still though, those guys together should get at least $ 20 million, so it should be a wash.

60 As with all questions, the answer is Martin!

Can't say I'm shocked about Schmidt.

If Pierre and Kemp remain in a state of hotness through October 2009, it looks like Ethier will have to hang around as Jones insurance. So maybe in 2010 Ethier gets a shot at starting.

54 - Huston Street just avoided his 1st year of arbitration by signing a $3.3M deal with Oakland this offseason. I'd expect Saito could swing something similar to that.

51 I agree with you that the 5 year deal will probably be where the Dodgers lose out on Furcal.

55 Pierre will have to step it up even more tonight to replace Furcal. Interesting position in the lineup for Jones!

65 - I kinda have been thinking Saito might retire after this season. Nothing to base that on, just a hunch.

56 - I didn't want bad news. I wanted good news. Actually, I wanted ten million dollars, a private jet, luxury boxes at Dodger Stadium, and world peace. But I would have settled for good news. Or at least no news. That is not what I wanted at all. And now I see that Andruw is batting 2nd. It doesn't end.

I'm going to cry in a corner now.

67 Great. Furcal's hurt. Pierre and Jones are at the top of the lineup. Ethier sits again. And Jon kinda sorta thinks that Saito is ready to hang it up.

67 - I've kind of thought that too.

Hey Dads..I am taking my 5 month old to his first game tommorrow.

Any non obvious advice? Does anyone know if I can bring in a stroller?

Will any of you be there, would love to meet you guys..I have a feeling I won't be in my seat all game! We are sitting inner reserve, section1, row A.

67 If that happened, Saito would probably go down in history as the most-beloved Dodger among guys who spent three or fewer years with the team. Him or Kirk Gibson.

71
That's very cool. My only advice is to make sure you hold on to the foul ball with the one hand that isn't holding the baby. You get booed ("buwed"?) if you drop either one.

71 - I'd just carry in your car seat.

Diaper changing tables, at least on the Loge Level, are rather scare and dimly lit. But it's all doable.

71 I think not, on the stroller front. If you've got a baby bjorn or something like that, that's a good way to go. Other than that, I can't think of anything outside of the normal routines for being away from home for a few hours.

Those are nice seats! I'll be there (no kids, though). Will try to stop by. Have fun.

The best advice would probably be "don't drop the boy." Who was it that said that again?

71 Make him pay his own way. You can't start too early.

71 Probably best to limit the youngster to no more than two Dodger Dogs. It's best to build tolerance slowly.

71 No problem on the stroller according to customer service.

Row A means lots and lots of sun with no possibility of shade. You may want to move as I would think the game will not be that heavily attended.

Matt Kemp leads the majors in LD% at 30.9%. Pierre is 4th at 29.2%- a career high.

Career WHIPs under 1.0, 150 minimum IP.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/udHs
Sammy Saito leads with 0.847. (fun with small sample sizes)

65 Outside of his age, if Saito puts up numbers that somewhat resemble the last two season, he will have a stronger case than Street. His career ERA+ is 254, which means something since he typically pitches whole innings, Streets WHIP/ERA+ is 1.031/160.

Diamond's injury news isn't too horrible. Abreu seems like a concern tho. What could possibly be wrong with that kid that would sideline him for 6-8 months or however long its been since it popped up last season.

thanks guys. yeah car seat is good idea for sure. I do have a baby bjorn thingy as well. Huge fans mom and sis will be going so i have help..yeah we should be good. i am as most know a stay at home dad..so pretty used to things just wondering about anything special..so thanks again...

LOL Marty.

My hunch is that Furcal takes tomorrow off too, will give him almost 4 days off until Friday night's game.

Abreu remains the second biggest mystery aside from Andrew Bynum's knee.

Joe rolls the dice again.

Pierre, LF
Jones, CF
Kemp, RF
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Kuroda, P

85, meet 55 .

And for the Pollyanna-ish prediction for your evening:
Andruw Jones will hit either a double or a home run tonight.

/Pollyanna-ishness, off.

82 I had no idea that a Philadelphia hernia surgery was nearly as bad as a Dominican appendectomy.

At least it wasn't a Colombian necktie

72
Jimmy Wynn

Taking a kid to a game is great. I have never been with a 5-month old (I don't have kids, but I'm an uncle 14 times over!), but one time I was with my nephew when he was 7 or so at Qualcomm Stadium. We went to use the restroom, and he was at a urinal for one of the few times (at that point) in his life. He looked at the guy to his right, kind of sizing him up, and then just calmly nodded his head -- he's only 7, mind you -- and said to the man, "Nice shoes."

I almost fell over laughing.

72
I'd like to nominate Eddie Murray for inclusion in said club.

This is a little random... I'm heading to Puerto Rico in June, and am wondering if anyone knows of any baseball related things to do or see there. I'd like to catch a game, but I don't know if there are any leagues other than the winter league.

Also, any other non-baseball related travel tips are welcome too! Thanks!

91
Never mind, I must have blocked out 1997 from my memory.

72 Have we forgotten the Magician so soon?

92 I wish I could help you (I've always wanted to go there) but maybe this instructional film about PR will help you. It's a little dated, mind you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkUGodtoUxo

(SFW, but also dangerously funny.)

95
I hope that features Menudo...

I posted tickets for Sundays game on the exchange thread.

I'm sure I'm asking for it but nothing on another day off for Ethier.

Apparently he should have been more "Pierre-like" in his response to his playing time in the LAT article.

Actually, with Furcal out, Pierre was a cinch to play.

98 I really think that last point is the key reason. I hope it is anyway. Heck, though, why can't Ethier bat lead off? Since Torre's thought outside the box in other ways so far this season, why not that? Or Kemp for that matter. But, well, whatever. Go Dodgers!

Gonna miss the first part of the game. Hope Hiro brings his A game tonight.

Thinking that Pierre needs to start if Furcal doesn't is aggravating, not mitigating.

They should make Pierre play short just to really make him earn it.

No, wait, on second thought, forget that.

101 Would Pierre even be able to make the throw to first?

100 Since JP has a .400 OBP this season, I can understand that in this situation tonight, leading off a hot JP makes some sense. Still, Ethier's LH bat against a RH starter is needed to offset Hu's potentially weak bat. It should be the excuse that Torre needs to give Jones the day off and bat Ethier 2nd, in RF, with Kemp in CF.

67 I think so too...it's Broxton's time to shine.

No Ethier again. Ouch Joe. Ouch.

The injury news isn't tragic, though hopefully Furcal just needs the day off. Schmidt will hopefully be back at it soon. Elbert I wasn't expecting much from but sounds like it's not a serious setback either.

As for Abreu, it's starting to sound like he just doesn't have the stomach* for baseball.

(*muscles)

102 Hey, he had an 8-3 assist in Colorado!

71 Three times this year I've seen dads holding a baby in one hand, and trying to catch a foul ball with the other.

Don't do that. If a foul ball comes near you, turn away and shield the baby with your body.

107
I thought you were supposed to use the baby as a type of glove? Can't you fashion a baby bonnet that has a webbing of sorts in it?

103- Do you think he's going to OBP .400 over the year? How about over .350?

If you win two consecutive games of black jack by hitting on 18, does that mean you should do it the next time?

109
How do you know that Joe Torre isn't a card counter?

wait so Raffy's back is stiff? Where was this even reported

111
There are links up top.

At least with DeWitt, I get where the wishful thinking is coming from. With Pierre, I don't. Did he really get better over the winter? Is Matt Kemp lighting a fire under him? I don't get the mechanism. I get thinking that Jones is done, and so Pierre should play in his place. But I don't get finding Pierre's current OBP indicative of anything but a statistical noise.

"A statistical noise" is what SABR-types make to the Ch-i, instead of a joyful noise.

109 Twenty-one is random, especially when the house shuffles up 2/3 of the way into a eight-deck shoe. Baseball is not random.

At least with DeWitt, I get where the wishful thinking is coming from. With Pierre, I don't

His P/PA thus far is 3.89, compared to his career average of 3.43 and previous career high of 3.69.

Perhaps (just perhaps) this is indicative of a different, more patient approach at the plate.

OMG!!! the V. Tech pitcher throws a NO-NO gainst the USA team, wow, just wow.

I think Kemp did light a fire under Pierre. Unfortunately it appears he used Ethier for the torch.

Maybin, Mitchell overpower Suns

>> The Dodgers have informed the Suns they want ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw to make several bullpen appearances in the current series, the first of which could come today. .... The 10-run difference makes this the Suns worst defeat of the season ... Suns RHP James McDonald (1-1, 5.27) will oppose Mudcats RHP Chris Volstad (3-0, 2.61) in tonight's second game (7:05 p.m.) of the five-game series. <<

http://tinyurl.com/4lmgb6

Out here in Bal'more I'm being treated to a Nationals/Astros game on TV. 2-1 Astros.

119 James McDonald matched Volstad, he pitched 7 innings, gave up 0 runs, 5 hits, no walks and 9 strikeouts. 0-0 after 7 1/2.

Kershaw has not pitched today.

Here is some info regarding the Virgina Tech. pitcher who just NO HIT the best hitting team in the WORLD >>>Angela Susan Tincher (born December 16, 1985 in Low Moor, Virginia) is a pitcher for the Virginia Tech softball team.

Tincher is a senior. She stands 5'7" and graduated from James River High School. From Eagle Rock, Virginia, Tincher is Virginia Tech's first All-American softball pitcher, and she was only one of two pitchers to strike out more than 500 batters in the 2007 college season.

After her 2006 season, she was an All-American, ACC Pitcher of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American.

Tincher ranks third behind Cat Osterman on the NCAA Division I Softball career strikeouts list, and she is the highest ranked active player on the list.

*On March 26, 2008, Tincher pitched a no-hitter against the United States Olympic softball team, ending the Olympic team's streak of 185 consecutive pre-Olympic exhibition victories. Tincher struck out 10 batters and walked one during the game, as Virginia Tech won by a score of 1-0.3 Tincher also has a goal of becoming an Olympic softball player.*

With Martin's recent OBP I'd have no problem with him leading off.

If nothing else had done it, seeing Pierre try to beat out a bunt by sliding into first the other day would be enough for me to bench him for an extended period.

119 Several appearances in one series sounds like they're prepping him for a Joba role with the big club as opposed to just minimizing his mileage.

Why doesn't ESPN2 put classic or re-peat on there ticker or something, curses.

fell free to delete it Jon, sorry about that.

123 I didn't see the play, but the chatter here was that there was as reasonable chance of a tag play being made and thus the slide was potentially justifiable as tag avoidance.

112 haha oops, no excuse for missing a blatant link lol, anyway I'm hoping its just a little soreness that will pass.

The guy has been swinging big though and making breath taking throws across his body, so I'm not surprised that he may be a bit sore

wait so Raffy's back is stiff?

this is the first I here of it as well, hopefully it's nothing serious.

121 Nice result right there for James.

107 What if you're also holding a beer, and you can't turn fast enough or it will spill? Should you headbutt the ball?

When did Tony Jackson's Daily News blog start linking to other blogs on the side? It links the following, in order:

Dodger Thoughts
Dodger Blues
6-4-2
True Blue LA
L.A. Times blog

131
I noticed it a couple of days ago. Tony admits he's not all that computer savvy, so he probably never knew how to do it or if he should.

The Olsen and Olson Twins sure threw some dandies this week. Olsen finally starting striking out guys, and Olson finally stopped walking guys.

Dodgers' DeWitt finds himself in new situation

>> Torre acknowledged the possibility that DeWitt could stick around as an oft-used backup, just as he did for eight days until Torre and general manager Ned Colletti decided to go back to a seven-man bullpen and called up Cory Wade on April 24.

"When Nomar comes back, I think in order to protect him, we can't think in terms of six or seven days a week," Torre said. "But the decision we have to make, obviously, is how it would work.

"Do we go back to 11 pitchers again? We'll just have to wait and see." <<

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9165744

130
With the way the bats are turning into spears I'd be reluctant to take an infant to a game if I was sitting 10 rows in between the bases unless I'm behind the screen.

One day the Marlins will bring back Josh Johnson and they will have the pitching pair of Olsen and Johnson.

Much hilarity will ensue.

I'd be reluctant to take an infant to a game because most parents (incapable of taking a joke) would press charges.

Assuming Schmidt is still hurt/sucks going into next year, how well do McDonald and Meloan need to pitch this year for us to feel comfortable making the 5th spot a Kuo/Meloan/McDonald combination? I think the bar is not that high considering the other option is Ned going to the free agent market.

Ummmfff. Looked at the DTV baseball games list and the Dodgers were so far down that for a minute I was afraid I was blacked out again. But there are two listings so I will probably have a choice of Vin again, which has been good for me and also for the D's winning chances. In range of the FAN here I have listened in off and on thoughout the day, and Mets fans are doubting their lin-up more than they are trying to lay anything on the Dodgers.

extra innings viewers on cable are stuck behind the cleveland @ NYY games. I am sure it will run long.

we should get Vin when we finally get there, though.

great! indemand just moved us to a free channel (777)!

The greatest Draft in baseball history

http://tinyurl.com/3febar

Down go the Padres. They presently hold the worst record in the majors, although the Rockies could join them with a loss.

Jon, re the vote, seems that some are as smitten with "the kids" as some others are with "the PVL". One can say whatever one wants about Dewitt, but hard to advocate benching a guy hitting .295 and OBP'ing at .382. And we don't call that "wishful thinking", we call that getting the job done. Oh, and before I forget, my long-range prediction re Mr. Hu...the Taiwanese Cesar Izturis.

Karl Ravich is making rule 9 violations.

144- If he's OPSing over seven hundred after three hundred PAs, I'll wear corduroy pants to the DT picnic.

140 ,141
Yeah, I have the Dodger game on "Game 7", which is 816 for me (my EI channels run 810-822). It was scheduled to be on "Game 9" but the Yanks/Indians game is running long.

Kudos to Extra Innings for seemingly rectifying a problem that crept up a lot last year.

I will do my nightly tango with mlb.tv and hope for the best.

Make that the tengo/no tengo.

145
Ozzie Guillen's profanity laced tirade tonight might be one of happiness.

147 it has crept up a couple of times this year, too. I was actually thinking they switched it to pacify the NY fans.

This is bizarre. On FSN I have the Angels-Royals game with the Angels broadcasters, and on FSNW (Prime Ticket) I have the Royals-Angels game with the Royals broadcasters.

Whiskey tango foxtrot, over?

Can you actually have a tirade that doesn't have profanity in it? Wouldn't you just end up sounding like the insane version of Ned Flanders?

140 SAM! I am so glad. I thought DTV had managed to monopolize EI like they were trying to do. Great if they aren't.

Nats go up 4-3 on an Aaron Boone pinch hit home run

150 Rule 9 being relevant making rule 1 relevant!

155 It left the park, literally. Huge blast!

Cleveland is making it a game in the Boston Palace.

146 That may be, but let the kid start to play his way out of the job before he gets canned. And you know as well as I do, that if he gets canned, and he will, he won't be in favor of LaRoche but Nomar [he of the .226 and .323 line].

okay, watching MLBTV via a wireless connection just doesn't cut it.

Unless you like...

watching the action...

very slow...

and...

stuttery...

Although looking at the score one would think it was halftime, not the end of the third.

So slow I missed that home run. Just as well.

C'mon Hiro!

Through 8 innings, rule 9 is still relevant in regards to Floyd!

I get MLB.tv through a wireless connection, and it usually works just fine. Not always, but usually.

Kemp: Good fielder.

And Vinny is praising him for showing more emotion.

122 Only 1 college offered her a scholorship (50% at that though they upped it to 100% after she made all ACC). Then she no-hit the national team and everyone wondered aloud why she wasn't on the team.

C'mon Dodger fans! No reason to boo on that try by Andruw. It's getting ridiculous!

153 - What about the end of the fillibuster scene from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?"

165 Emotion on catching a fly?

God, I hate the Eastern Conference. 53-52 at the start of the 4th quarter???

164 Hrm. It's weird, it's a strong connection too, quite nearby. Dunno why it's so choppy.

But it...

is...

choppy...

Did they boo him for picking up that single? Sheesh. They're turning into Mets fans out there.

Did Andruw show emotion when Beltran singled?

167 definitely has been a little much, that was a pretty unathletic play though in center field lol

169 Well, we know Vin is a lip-reader. Maybe Kemp muttered something to himself, something like, "I dedicate this one-handed catch to my mentor, Tommy Lasorda. God, I love the Dodgers."

174

Booing...that was for Andrew bobbling the catch...ball actually bounced in front of him on a now choppy Dish fed TV.

171 You could be getting interference from another wireless signal; that happens to me a lot. Try resetting your router.

173
That ball was a low line drive. He had a quick jump -- AS ALWAYS -- but he made the choice not to dive because he was going to come up short. It did look awkward, but it was anything but unathletic.

173 You thought so? I saw it that most CF's would have pulled up and let it bounce. Jones dove for it and came up short, but you'd have to be pretty good to make the attempt and come close.

One of the regulars here( was it UD) mentioned going to Metsblog last night and I investigated today, finding something I have seen before. Mets fans were saying it was so good to have someone like Vin after suffering through the "Homers" of Arizona.
Other team's fans have said this before and it confirms my impression of Vin.

um, what happened to Beltran? Vin just pointed out that he's not in centerfield

171 try plugging directly into your DSL or cable modem. it could be your actual broadband connection.

171 that would at least eliminate or prove your wireless router as the cause of the latency.

I appreciate andruws defense greatly, didn't mean to sound too harsh, I'll say this much..it looked unathletic while watching it, but for a man of his stature to get that close is athletic in itself.

and there we go, shows a little patience and gets on base.

wow, nice story about Figuroa and 9/11.

180 - gameday says he is

Excellent slide by Andruw at 2B.

That's what I normally do when at home but I'm at my g/f's and her set up is a little awkward to do that with.

But thanks!

And I've decided when Druw bats I'm better off following it on Gameday anyway - maybe it'll bring him luck. At the worst I won't have to hear any boos.

185 - well, didn't look like him in center on Pierre's fly ball. Maybe he's at first?

Boy that Kemp must be pretty fast. That was hit hard. And Jones helped too.

Gameday's moving about as quickly as Olmedo Saenz towards the salad bar. What happened?

186 yea that was good, whats the exact rule on the slide, I take it you can stand up like that and sort of knock a player off balance.

where do they draw the line though, no hands or intentional kicks?

Kemp having fun with the green light

Interestingly, Jones is on a pace for a career high in walks.

The Bison rumbles in for a steal. (Trying MLBTV again.)

ESPN is very interesting right now.

Well if nothing else, they're getting Figueroa's pitch count up already.

Gameday frozen. It is not stronger than a robot made of nails.

wow, Wright just saved a couple of runs, even if Loney still gets a hit. Geez, that guy is good.

Well, there goes my chance to say Morneauneau for Gavin Floyd!

Nice play by David Wright to save a run. Bases now loaded. I think. I only get about every fifth frame of this movie.

Just beyond a diving Swisher... Sorry Floyd.

Mauer with the ultimate Rule 9 violation.

195 - and just as I turn over to ESPN, not so interesting.

Apparently Beltran was a very late scratch. Pagan is in CF, and the lineup is a bit different. Alou got the single to CF last inning; not Beltran.

martin flies out. that play by wright saved at least a run.

Houston ties it up 4-4 on a balk during the "fake to third, fake to first" play.

Ahh, the reason Gameday was so slow was that they were trying to fix the Mets lineup since Beltran isn't playing.

There should be no further interruptions.

Well, Wright may have saved a game right there.
I was going to say that Andruw has tangible worth even in this slump by the number of walks he is getting. I doubt this would happen unless pitchers are still wary of his power.

179 Oh and yes, Gen, I and Jon and several others looked over there and noticed their praise for Vin. Was nice to see, even if it's nothing we didn't already know. Not quite the same level of awareness about Chad Billingsley, however. But baby steps, I guess...

And there it is...flu-like symptoms for Beltran.

I sure Bob was already ready with the last no-hitter where the pitcher yielded a run. Now we'll just have to wait, or look it up ourselves.

C'mon Kuroda! Time to wake up.

211
1993 by Darryl Kile.

Not the best fielding inning for Kuroda.

ruh, roh. loaded and no out.

bad throw by Kuroda there and DeWitt still almost got the tag down while in the air.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those nights...

213 Do the eight-inning, CG, no-hit losses still count as no-hitters these days?

"...up to his hips in alligators."

-Vin

217 - they should, being a complete game and all

Why did Gameday freeze this time? Did Beltran come in?

Hiroki looks positively dreadful tonight. No life on his fastball, can't control anything else. To be honest, his stuff hasnt looked good at all since his first outing. His splitter was terrific that night, and it hasnt been close since.

Easy as 1-2-3!

that home to first double play will take the steam out of a rally.

nothing like the 1-2-3 double play to work towards getting out of a jam, of course, not out of the woods yet

The Gameday guy must be doing it with a baby in one arm.

Boy he really looked out to me on that force at third. Did I miss something?

225

That's gross.

226

Blake never tagged him. He came really close, but didnt quite get his back.

221 Kuroda's command was good in his last start, I thought.

217
You have to throw a complete game of nine innings or more with no hits to get credit for a no-hitter.

Such was the edict. If you want to give David Palmer credit for a 5-inning perfect game, you can do so. And you can come to my meeting where we can discuss Jae Seo's save he recorded for the Dodgers.

Whew. That could have turned out a lot worse.

226
Kuroda's high throw pulled Blake of DeBag.

"off", not "of".

229

His command was good, but his stuff just wasnt as crisp. In SD, his fastball had a nice little hop to it at 92-93, and the split was sick. Hasnt really had that since that game.

Don't you hate it when spelling gets in the way of wit? It seems like everytime I have a copy+paste worthy zinger online, I make some silly typo.

Blake of DeBag is a good medieval name, though.

The Solution crosses the .300 threshold.

DeWitt is now a .300 (.304) hitter.

Whoever looked up all those round numbered appearances of Joe Torre at various MLB stadiums that Vinny just rattled through should have put their time to use on behalf of homeless children or something.

Baseball stats are one thing: They have predictive value and enhance the entertainment value of the game. But the miraculous record of Joe Torre managing at the x,000th game at all these different stadiums is a fact pattern I would have been content to leave unteased from the history books.

Wow, Lebron can get to the rim whenever he wants. But two missed layups in the final minute, and 2-17 from the field tonight.

239 yea that was pretty ridiculous, maybe they were scared of fouling, but he coasted to the rim twice in a row..

I smell a tie.

Celtics score 76 and win???

Pierre's game, such as it is, is making contact. Sometimes it works.

240
It looked like Lebron was fouled as he drove to the hoop (pre shot) on the 2nd missed layup, too.

241 I taste it in my Kool-Aid.

boom, Pierre helps us chip back at it, good to see there. Don't want them to sit on that lead, and for both teams to get lackadaisical.

Jones tboughts:

Don't pitch to me don't pitch to me. Don't pitch to me. Don't pitch don't pitch don't pitch.

Throw to first. Thank god. Oh God, he has to pitch to me again. Here we go...

base running blunder. smites forehead

thats a bloody shame

? Come on Juan.

Best infielder decoy since Chuck Knoblauch / Greg Gagne in the 1991 World Series.

230 So Ken Johnson is the last guy to throw a no-hitter and lose then. Might be awhile before we see that again, and it's already been 44 years.

Picked off...Hooray! Next inning!

A. Jones

Bill Plaschke sees that as a sign of JP's superior hustle.

248 249 back-to-back works.

Deked. Unbelievable.

256
Deked

I was going to use that word but I was unsure of its spelling.

how did 90 year old alou get to third on that play?

If DeWitt catches that throw, was Alou out?

Catch the ball, DeWitt. Twice.

259 the throw was there in time, it appeared.

88 pitches in 2 innings. A long night for the pen in store.

Man, with the defense and the baserunning tonight. Who are we, the Rockies?

The speed of that hit, plus the high bounce made me think it was an automatic double play, but Kent wasn't even close to it. He was far enough away to make me mute my snide remark about how a normal 2B would have made that play.

Angel Pagan is an interesting name. I wonder if he's conflicted?

Looks like Kuo will have to get the win tonight!

258 Alou hustled the whole way and Andruw looked like he assumed he stopped and he fielded the ball facing away from third. Had to grab it and turn to throw. But if DeWitt picks it, he's out.

265
I hear the Mets just singed a good prospect, Diety Q. Atheist.

oh, for heaven's sake.

what isn't going to happen tonight?

You've got to be kidding me.

This run brought to you by Little League. Joke.

Alou took 3rd on Andruw.

Alou stole home.

Both times he should have been out. Grrrrr.

I was really annoyed, then realized furcal wasn't there

I was about to point out how this base running distraction helped Andruw and messed up the opposing pitcher and did all this good stuff. But as usual with JP I wind up seeing how this base running stuff usually kills a team.

I believe most knowlegable fans know that realistically the Dodgers have a chance if they get the most at bats to Furcal,Kent,Loney, Kemp, Martin, Ethier and here is the problem---A healthy LaRoche, who DeWitt is doing a good stand in for. Some of Management may know this too, although I'm not sure they have the guts to admit it.

OK, how did THAT happen?

Moises Alou is one old loosed rabbit.

"M. Alou stole home, A. Pagan stole second"

What the heck happened?

So the Mets have 1 run and 2 runners on by 3 high chopper and a walk. this game isnt fair, sometimes.

That was a straight steal of home? Did Kuroda go into a windup?

269 Catcher's Balk?

276
The order of that is reversed. It was the old double steal. Pagan stole 2nd, drew a throw from Martin. Alou broke for home on the throw to 2nd, and Hu double clutched before throwing -- high -- to the plate. Alou scored rather easily.

I wonder who has stolen home and been older than Moises Alou. When he stole home a couple years ago he was "the oldest player to steal home since Paul Molitor (41 years 270 days) in 1998." But he is just a couple months shy of 42, or about 41 years 300 days.

Pagan stole 2nd, Alou broke on the throw. Hu double clutched and threw high to Martin.

That makes more sense. Gameday listed the steal home worst.

Tell those boys to be more careful out there!

This seems like one of those Lowe games where a lot of balls find holes, and everything kind of collapses on itself.

4-1 can be overcome, given how the offense has been performing lately. But Kuroda needs to get out of this pickle and quickly. He is not long for this game.

big at bat, we need to this keep this in reaching distance

Sounds like good recognition by the Mets manager, with the inexperienced Hu at SS.

285 Walking the pitcher, esp. with two out, doesn't help.

I guess that could have been worse. not that it wasn't extraordinarily painful, mind you . . .

I'd pinch hit for Kuroda when he bats -- and he will bat -- this inning.

290
Or I should say when his spot comes up.

How are you so confident about Kuroda coming up to bat this inning?

Ned's Turner Field overlay says that ball would have been out there.

is it Guo time?
vr, Xei

david wright is killing the dodgers so far tonight.

Doesn't smell like our night tonight. The Mets are getting the breaks tonight, we're not.

Wright is really amazing.

Kemp should have been going there....
Oh well, it doesn't look like our night.
Figuroa is great.

cmon lonely

Wow, did they have Loney played to pull or what?

martin could do something here . . .

Nelson Figueroa is no dummy. He wants no part of another Russell Martin magic moment.

Blake could make amends here

ok Blake, time to show you're no fluke

Another big spot for DeKid.

Solution!

delivers!

According to baseballlibrary.com, "St. Louis Browns coach Jimmie Austin‚ 46 years old‚ participates in the nitecap and contributes to the win by knocking in a run with a double and then stealing home. ... he is the oldest to steal home." Sept. 26, 1926

Come on Johnny On the Spot!

I could live with this kid at third for a while.

Andy LaWho?

scorcher past a diving Delgado

DeHitt!

Was that considered a line drive or is that going to go down in record books as a groundball?

Thank you Toreador Delgado for that effort!

The Solution delivers!

The Dodgers' productivity with the bases loaded has been astonishingly good of late.

well, the prediction that the pitcher's spot would come up this inning very nearly came to pass.

It's something else, I tell you.

292
ryu:
How are you so confident about Kuroda coming up to bat this inning?

My hubris has gotten the better of me.

So close. Hadouken!

302 Looks like he out DeWitted himself.