It's funny, we've seen a lot of "The Dodgers are struggling without Furcal in the line up"... but really, does not having the lead off man go 3-4 matter if everyone else is going 3-32? Especially if those three hits are from the 7 and 8 hitter?
This I think, is one of the psychological effects of having a young team, they seem to feed off of each other's success or failure. Either everyone is hitting, or no one is. I would think you would see less of this with a more veteran line up (not that I want one of those for a few years). Or maybe it's just been the fact that we tend to see certain pitchers on their better days.
When I see blog posts written by fat dudes who don't know anything about baseball and live in their parents' basements, I feel like we as a society have taken a step backward.
But I am fully in support of laws requiring use of hands free devices when driving -- though I'd take it a step further and ban cell phones while driving altogether. But that's just crazy ol' me.
3 Good question. He wouldn't publicly pick one over the other, and is probably rooting for them both to make it in one way or the other. But I wonder if internally he has stated a preference, or at least wonder if he has one.
Also in one of the boxcars of the positivity train:
1) Shawn Green hit 4 HR in Milwaukee in 2002
2) The Dodgers capped their 12-2 start in 2005, in Milwaukee
3) Beer and Sausages and Cheese are all associated with Milwaukee. Hopefully the relatively unclogged arteries of the Dodgers will outlast the chest-clutching Brewers over the next 3 days.
5 - But does that explain DeWitt hitting .444, Loney hitting .389, and Ethier hitting .333 in the last week, while Kent's gone 0-for-14 and Pierre 2-for-18?
Furcal's out and Kent, Pierre, Martin, and Kemp have all hit the skids. Young and old, slumping and struggling together.
I think it's also a by-product of having a team offense so dependent on singles and batting average. A few well-timed slumps and the whole offense grinds to a halt.
0 When I see someone using an older hands-free ear bud and mic combo and holding the mic up to their mouth, I feel like I want to punch that person in the face.
356 previous thread
wouldn't that be very risky, if you did do that you'd have to have a chan-ho or Duiza type player in the bullpen that could make spot starts if such things as inclement weather arise..
When I see people at baseball games with beachballs/doing the wave/not paying attention to the game, I feel like we as a society have taken a step backward.
While driving for an 8th grade field trip recently there were 2 girls in the back seat texting each other. Man, did I feel old. I remember when people used to talk to each other.
Does LA regularly skip their 5th starter when off-days allow it? Or do they have their #5 guy take the ball on his regular turn?
It seems like you could effectively get a 4-man rotation going by routinely skipping the 5th guy, and only using them when consecutive days with a game demand it.
Just glancing at the schedule, Penny is about to make his 9th start tonight while Kuo/Loaiza have made 6, so maybe they do this already.
When I see people in the Dugout Box seats directly behind home plate, talking on their cell phones, and waving to the camera on every pitch, I feel like we as a society have taken a step backward.
The key to enjoying life is to laugh at, rather than mourn, public displays of stupidity that do you no harm.
I take no responsibility, nor do I participate in such things, so I don't see any reason why this affects us as a society. I will say that working in a customer service position, it's very strange when a customer is talking to someone on the phone while trying to work with you at the same time.
Gilberto Reyes just hit on my biggest baseball pet peeve. When they put me in charge of baseball, Rule #1 will be that people talking and waving on their cell phones behind home plate will be shot on sight. Not asked politely to stop. Not given a stern talking-to. Not ejected. Shot. On. Sight.
When I see an organization dish out $45 million for a slap-hitting LF with no arm and $36 million for a CF who has hit 1 HR and 5 RBI through 37 games, I think we as a society have taken a step backward.
When I see a blog about baseball, transcend baseball, and create conversation about life, the universe, and everything. I feel that we as a society have taken a step.
30
I think that is why 24 is so popular. The world needs Jack Bauer in these situations. And not the end of season 6 emasculated weepy Bauer, either. I want for a Jack Bauer type to come across a cell phone hand waving behind home plate seat having person, then exclaim to no one in particular, "I'm gonna need a hacksaw".
When people call the library to specifically ask for a phone number and then once you have it, the person does not have anything to write it down with, then society has collapsed and we should all start looking up recipes for Soylent Green.
30 Other stadium pet peeves besides the cell phone waive include the human wave, beachballs, 4th inning arrivals, seat confusion, standing in the rows & aisles, and cheering because the messageboard is telling you to.
36
There are few things worse than that, I agree. It's like the person on the other end didn't expect you to come up with the answer to their question so quickly. And sometimes the abruptness of "Hold on, let me get a pen" makes me want to break many laws and cause great bodily harm to said person.
I would like to add my two cents and say that people at large venue sporting events drive me nuts when they are on the cell phone with a friend who is also there saying, "I'm here see me waving" and then proceed to wave, jump and make a fool of themselves because that other person has no clue where to look and is doing the exact same thing. It just never works well for either party.
When I see a comment with the words Blake DeWitt, our 3rd baseman of the future, ops+ 1 something something, The Solution, his job to lose, etc., I think we as a society have taken a step backward.
I never used to arrive late or leave early. Since Spawn of Kavula came on the scene, she has made the rules. Now we arrive late and leave early.
WRT seat "confusion"... well, I'm not confused, but my seats are sometimes in the sun. We often sit a few rows back, in the shade. If someone comes claiming those seats, we vacate them quickly. Often, no one comes. Why not take advantage of the empty, shaded seats?
45 True story: young woman sits down behind me at an Auburn football game, promptly calls her friend sitting across the field, waves her arms mightily, and squeals "I'm wearing orange." Yeah, you and 87,450 other people.
0 What are the two hands doing to operated a hands-free cell phone? One hand "holding" the ear-piece, and the other holding the phone?
When holding a cell-phone while driving becomes illegal in California in less than two months, I predict a lot of policemen will get bored of pulling over drivers, ticketing them, explaining the law, dealing with the "I didn't know that!"... and then begin seeing the next several years as a repetition of the above procedure until they have pulled over every single driver in the state and personally told them about the "new" law.
I don't have anything against 4th inning arrivals or people who are confused about their seats. The former may work long hours and the latter may be visiting the stadium for the first time. I'd be more inclined to welcome them than complain about them. (Unless they start talking into their phone and waving at a camera.)
People standing in the aisles with no regard as to the people's whose view he is blocking. And then he just kinda continues to stand there, and you're like "what the heck are you waiting for, you're not talking to anyone, you're not looking at anyone, you're just kinda zoning out there Sparky, where's a rogue foulball when you need one?"
That bugs me, even when it's not my view they're blocking.
Does Dodger Stadium still allow you to walk down the aisle in the middle of an at bat?
Just a quick heads up before I collapse from exhaustions. Our baby was born Monday, May 12th at 3:42 am. Both Mom and Baby are healthy, and we are loving every minute.
I went to the game on Friday (if I get around to it later, I'll post about the Sweet Lou talk before the game). About 3 rows in front of us was a group of 20-somethings (maybe 6 of them) who could not manage to sit in their seats for more than one AB at a time. They were up constantly - sometimes going for food or beer, but mostly just standing there talking to each other, mugging for cell-phone camera shots, and generally being oblivious. Two of the girls, I'm pretty sure, did not look at the field even once the entire game. EVERYONE back to the row behind us was hollering at them (first nicely, then less and less so) to please sit down so that the rest of us could, you know, watch the game. It was as if they didn't hear us. Never an acknowledgment. Never did they sit down in response to their neighbors. It was really unbelievable. By the 5th inning or so, it wasn't even annoying any more - just fascinating to watch such unabashed selfishness. After the 7th, they just up and left. I have no idea why they chose Dodger Stadium as the venue for their evening.
Especially while Vinnie is working the mic - if you really want to WATCH a Dodger game, you're much better off at home in front of the TV.
I could see the scoreboard, and I guess it didn't matter that much that I couldn't see the game - that probably would have annoyed me even more.
87 That reminds me of the various times when people near me have talked their way through entire concerts. It happens a lot at the Hollywood Bowl, and its fairly understandable. Tickets are cheap. Its more of an outing than strictly a concert.
My level of irritation rises in relation to the ticket prices. I paid a pretty good amount of money to see (and hear) Willie Nelson at the Greek, and when I asked the people behind us to please be quiet so we could listen to the music, they acted all put out. They shut up for 5 minutes at the most, then kept on a'gabbin. These kids today.
96
I'm not sure how the NBA rules are, but aren't the rosters set for each round of the playoffs? So in other words, Ariza would have to be active already to be eligible against Utah. I'm not sure if he was activated or not.
On the cell phone thing - I remember reading a study from Japan about hands-free devices a few years ago. The conclusion was that they don't matter. Hands-free or hand-held, it's the conversation that distracts the driver, not the technology. On its face, it seems a little odd that there'd be no difference, but there it was.
On a cognitive level, I guess it's plausible. After all, how many of us have cut off a conversation with a passenger, or perhaps turned off the radio, upon hitting heavy traffic, or seeing a cop, or running into bad weather? On the phone, your interlocutor can't see what's happening and know to shut up. And for several reasons, the driver has to concentrate more on a phone conversation than they would on an in-person conversation.
14 - I'm not sure, wasn't looking at any stats, just sort of a visceral observation, if you will. I find it hard to believe that removing any hitter from any line up for 15 games will cause the entire team to lose it's stroke. That was more my point. What the number one hitter does (or doesn't do) should not really affect the 6-7-8 hitters (unless they happen to be on base when the lead off man is hitting into a double play, but that has more to do with runs scored than getting on base in the first place).
104 I think the issue with Furcal is that the replacement has such a big drop off plus his absence necessitates other moves like Pierre batting leadoff.
84 Way to use data to support an argument. That's just not fair! ;) Actually, that fits in with one of Jon's recurrent themes on this blog: perception vs. reality. The perception is that Jones is the more vilified, but in reality, we still hate us some Pierre.
When people go to baseball games and expect everyone there to behave as they would, then I feel that society has taken a step back.
A lot of comments here are people trying to be funny, but some of the whining about people's behavior and actions at a baseball outing is really in poor taste.
55 I picked up the lightharded tone, but I did enjoy the comedic riffs on your original post. You have to rememember that we are all suffering during this 4 game losing streak and need an outlet.
52 I am against booing of the home team players, but I can understand people's frustrations. Booing of ex-Dodgers like Piazza and Green never makes sense to me either.
105 - but what is the actual drop off in a single game? you go from a guy who goes 2-5 (a near .400 hitter has Furcal has been) to a guy who goes 1-4 (a .250 hitter, as one would expect from an average shortstop). So you lose one hit in a game?
Granted, there are other things that change. Maybe Furcal takes more pitches, thus allowing his team mates to see what the pitcher has that day. By getting on base one extra time, that means the pitcher has to work more from the stretch, thereby taking something off his stuff. The defense has to shift, thereby allowing something that would have been a ground ball out to become a base hit. But then what about the innings in which Furcal's spot isn't up?
All that said, I will agree that the biggest problem is that this means Pierre gets more playing time.
113
The white man's greed, in search of gold
Made the nation bleed
They lost their faith
And now they hade to learn
There was no place to return
Nowhere they could turn.
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of Paul Revere & The Raiders.
They took the whole Cherokee nation
And put us on this reservation
They took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
They took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan
That was one of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio as a kid. It came out when I was five.
115 - Sure, losing Furcal hurts both in his missing offensive contribution but also the "necessary" additions of Hu and Pierre. But, to my response to your post earlier, I think it's just a lot of guys slumping at the same time (veterans and young'ns alike). And since this team needs to hit a lot of singles to be an effective offense, you'll hit dry spells like this from time to time.
119 One of the only CD's my roommate and I can agree on when driving to places is Europe - The Final Countdown (album). So I've heard their "Cherokee" song far too many times. I will listen to this new song when I get the chance.
At one time Rob Neyer picked Tatis as his 3rd baseman for the first decade of the 21st century. He really did seem like a player who was going to have quite a career.
He and Ben Grieve can have a few beers and talk about what it was like to be a star at 22 and an after thought at 25.
110. Zak When people go to baseball games and expect everyone there to behave as they would, then I feel that society has taken a step back.
A lot of comments here are people trying to be funny, but some of the whining about people's behavior and actions at a baseball outing is really in poor taste.
See, when I was a kid, there was this thing called "The Golden Rule," which said that you should only do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Now, to wish that others would at least TRY to follow that rule too is apparently "in poor taste."
Of course I don't expect others to be as well-behaved (and socially aware) as I try to be (in the sense of predicting that they will be). But I don't see why I'm a bad guy for bemoaning selfish behavior in others, no matter now predictable.
132
Our usher in the cheap seats would have taken care of the situation. I'm surprised your usher did not handle it. They allow alot of things at DS but standing and blocking fans views is not one of them.
Not sure how or why I still trust Tony Jackson with anything following his terrifying Love Actually decree, but anyway, here's his latest on Nomar, to be filed under Don't Expect a Lot of Nomar This Season:
>>He ran a little bit in the outfield during the early workout today, but the left calf still isn't ready for live game action. ``I felt like I could push it more, so that was good,'' he said. ``I was able to run harder. But at the same time, I couldn't do as much as I wanted to do. There was some tightness and some soreness there, so I had to back off. I did push it to the ceiling, but I still need some time. There is no need to go backward.'' Nomar said he will try some baseball activity -- in layman's terms, that means taking ground balls and possibly batting practice -- tomorrow.<<
1 "When I see someone using a cell phone, I feel like we as a society have taken a step backward."
When I see someone complain about people using cell phones, I get an image of an old man yelling at a bunch of kids to keep their skateboards off the sidewalk.
132 I was never picking on anyone in particular. I am actually a big believer in Do Unto Others... however, I am not big on wishing that everyone should follow my rule and vice versa. Anyway, I did not direct my comment at you at all. Like I said, some of the stuff was just said to be funny, but my wife and kids go to games and sometimes vie to be on camera and are super excited when on camera, and I think it's poor taste that some people think they should be Shot on Sight (even in jest) for where they sit and how they act.
132. I wish. I didn't see an usher anywhere near our section the whole game, except at the top of the stairs before the game to direct people to their seats. We were in the Reserved Level, Sec. 20.
About the only people I forgive for blocking my view during an at bat are parents with babies who need to leave their seats for maintenance purposes. And even then, they need to move quickly, not stop and take pictures and indulge in unrelenting group hugs.
I will admit that when I attend games I act goofy to try and get on Dodger Vision at the stadium, that is fun. Especially for kids to see themselves that is a good time. However, my better half would be mortified if I did ever make it up on Dodger Vision because that would mean I did something very out there to get attention. And I have been known to do some pretty um. . .interesting things to get something at sporting events. I can be counted on to scream the loudest when something is on the line.
139 Would you call it one of your all-time favorite films, though? (I didn't mind the film at all, I just, you know, could survive without seeing it again...)
101 Yeah, that whole cell phone thing is going to really bother because I can drive just fine when I am talking on the phone. Why? Because I drive safely all the time. The people who can't drive safely with a phone in their hand are the people who can't drive safely.
138 That stuff is different. The mugging for the camera stuff takes place between innings. They don't show crowd shots on the jumbotron while the game is in progress. I have no problem with people goofing around between innings.
What irks me (more and more as I get older) is when people show absolutely no concern for how their behavior affects others. Sometimes, they're consciously telling those around them to "just deal with it," but most of the time, it's mere obliviousness.
These folks that I was "whining" about, however, could not have been unaware, since 20-30 people were trying to make them aware. Even if they didn't speak English (which they did, loudly), they'd have known that their neighbors were being hugely inconvenienced. I feel vindicated by the fact that the strangers around me, all younger than I am, including a group of college kids, were even more annoyed than I was.
People make mistakes. An "oops, I'm sorry" and quick sit-down would have been absolutely OK with everyone. What we got was 7 innings of, essentially, a middle finger in our faces.
As to the topic at hand, I try at all times to not be annoyed at other people's behavior. It doesn't always work, but I'm a big believer in choosing the right battles.
One of the necessary preconditions to my ever getting a dog now exists (thought it's probably too expensive, yet). The other one (not coincidentally, it's an automated approach to the other reason people walk dogs) remains outstanding.
150 I agree with most of what you said, and again my comment was not directed at you. I just think some comments here were in poor taste and, in my opinion, a little offensive. Anyway, this Tony Jackson love/hate discussion is definitely livelier, and like Bob, I am also deeply vested in Laura Linney finding true love. It would be double cool if she found it with Keira Knightly.
171 "I am also deeply vested in Laura Linney finding true love. It would be double cool if she found it with Keira Knightly."
Or me!
Er, wait, I have a g/f. Well, I'm sure she'd understand.
Btw, speaking of "chick-flicks", I watched Cranford on DVD this week (it's been airing on PBS, too) - comes out to DVD officially next week - and it was great. I usually enjoy Jane Austen films but little else set in that period, but this one is a good "date rental." (Except it's long. It'll be a long multi-part date, then.)
179
April 17 entry
"...stop on the way out to listen to some dude absolutely butcher one of the greatest songs of all time (Journey's Don't Stop Believin')..."
150 - I think by the third inning I would have gone to an usher and complained vehemently about that group's behavior and taken a couple other witnesses with me that were equally annoyed. There is no excuse for that especially at the prices we are paying for those seats. One thing Petco Park does have over us is that they don't allow people back into their seats until a break in the action occurs, i.e. middle of inning, pitching change, beach ball on field, ect... Unfortunately you can't do anything about people leaving in the middle of an at bat and the Dodger ushers do nothing about stopping people from coming back to their seats until a break occurs. It always seems someone right in front is getting back to their seat blocking my view right when there is a bases loaded 2-2 count coming up and the game on the line.
Okay, got an invite to go see "Iron Man" after work so I'll be catching the game in the archives late tonight. Enjoy and good luck to the blue crew over the brew crew!
I first date I asked my wife out on was a Springsteen concert at the Sports Arena, 1984. It was still a month away, so I actually took her on a different date before the concert.
At the risk of pulling another one of my Johnny-come-lately stunts, here is an ESPN piece on Yu Darvish, who Jim Caple has dubbed Dice-K 2.0:
Most observers feel he either is already as good as Matsuzaka or soon will be. "I think his numbers in Japan are going to be equally as phenomenal as he continues to move on, barring injury, as Dice-K's were in Japan," Hillman says. "He's got a different type of frame. Dice-K's got a more powerful frame, but Darvish has looser levers and a taller frame with more whip, and I think that gives him an opportunity to have more powerful and more electric secondary pitches as well as a fastball.
Some cool stuff on Hu from Wikipedia>>> Chin-Lung Hu (Traditional Chinese: 胡金龍) (born February 2, 1984 in Tainan City, Taiwan) is a Major League Baseball shortstop for Los Angeles Dodgers. Hu is the fifth MLB player and the first MLB infielder from Taiwan. He has the shortest last name for a player in Major League history.
Hu was signed by the Dodgers on January 31, 2003 and began his professional career with the rookie league Ogden Raptors in 2003. He split 2004 between the Columbus Catfish in A ball and the Vero Beach Dodgers in high-A ball. In 2005 he played the whole season at Vero Beach and hit .313 with 23 stolen bases.In 2006, he played for Taiwan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and then returned to play for the AA Jacksonville Suns. Hu played in the All-Star Futures Game during the All-Star break in both 2006 & 2007. He won the MVP award for his performance in the 2007 game. 1
He was promoted to AAA Las Vegas on July 12, 2007. Hu made his major league debut on September 1, 2007 against the San Diego Padres.In his second MLB at-bat, Hu hit a left-field solo home run on September 11, 2007 against the Padres, becoming the first position player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in MLB. (Hu's teammate, pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, had become the first Taiwanese-born player to hit a home run in MLB earlier in 2007.) On September 25, Hu hit a two-run homer and became the first Taiwanese-born player to hit two home runs.
One of my best friends is actually named Ricky Riccardo, no kidding.
In other news, while I'm forever loyal to the Dodgers efforts in tonight's game against the Brew Crew, I'm torn since I work for the their principal owner (under the aegis of his "day job") and it smacks of disloyalty to the man who signs my paychecks to root against his team...
wow, did Pierre really hit the ball all the way to the wall in centerfield? if so, how was that not at least a triple, did the Brewers not get the note about playing him shallow?
Nothing beats first row seats no matter how high the section. Nobody can bother you since your only looking at the game and you don't care what is happening behind you.
I once had the pleasure of seeing a few games in the 1st row of the lodge right above the 1st base dugout. Man those were sweet seats.
that a way to start it Jeff, so Villanueva is 0-2 against righties and 3-0 against lefties..looks like that stat brought up earlier may be quite relevant..
Even more remarkable, Ken Gurnick wrote a Q&A yesterday which mentioned Andy LaRoche without saying anything derogatory.
Colletti: "Tell Gurnick the LaRoche-bashing is off for now. I'm trying to trade him for a shortstop and I need some good stuff to come up when other GMs Google him. Damn, is Mike Lowell back from that injury already? I wanted to see if I could trick that kid Epstein into giving me back Lugo."
Has this been discussed? This is the 1st I've seen that Paul was put on the inactive list.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Recalled: RHP Yhency Brazoban
Placed on 7-day DL: 1B Jaime Ortiz
Placed on temporarily inactive list: OF Xavier Paul
220 I could have moved down to the first row of IR on Sunday, but it was in the sun, and I didn't want to jinx Kuroda's no-hitter by changing anything. ;)
206 Virginia had a longtime congressman named Dan Daniels. In high school I played football against George George. His son, George George III, just walked on at Tech.
I believe the inactive list is like the hockey scratch list or in the NBA when you name your 3 inactive players or whatever it takes to get down to 12 players.
Me: Why did I only get a 1/2 point on this question.
Teacher: You did not take all the steps necessary to show why Train A will get to the station before Train B.
Me: But I got the right answer.
Teacher: That's not the point.
Hu fouled one off his ankle. After grounding out, he ran, convincingly to first. But after the out was recorded, he seemed to limp a bit. He's still out there.
251 - I don't know about that, if he developed into more of a finesse pitcher, with the ability to occasionally bring down the hammer, would that be a bad thing?
254- If Penny lost his heat, the chances he'd become Greg Maddux are roughly equal to the chances I'd become a fighter pilot if I lost my fear of tightly enclosed places.
253 - but who is the arbiter of what is a good process and what is not? Might not a good process tonight be a bad process tomorrow, depending on other factors?
246 "But in the new approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer."
- Tom Lehrer, "New Math"
255 - I think you missed my point. I'm not saying he lost his heat, or even that he should. I simply mean to say that I think his overall game would improve if he were able to add some finesse pitching to his power stuff. Hardly anyone is Greg Maddux and hardly anyone is Nolan Ryan, either. But a little from column A and a little from column B could be a good thing.
261 I hope for the Yankees to get swept in every series they ever play. A Yankee loss to me is the second greatest thing that can happen on any given night of the baseball season.
272 - um, no, not exactly. My point (not argument) is that Penny can (and should) diversify his game. He can be a better pitcher by being a better power pitcher. I just think he could be an even better pitcher by being something of a fusion.
271
Everytime Tampa wins and the Padres/Mariners lose you probably feel good about your chances of winning and bad because you didn't bet more money.
That was how I felt about the Brewers last year. What looked like a given ended up coming down to the last day of the season and I won the bet when Gwynn Junior knocked the Padres out of the playoffs.
287
DVD Recorders have spoiled me. I only watch the good stuff now. It made the games when Tomko/Hendrickson pitch much easier to deal with but I know I'm cheating myself out of something. Probably pain.
290
Nothing really but I always thought it sounded good no matter what the persons name was.
Bob, quit being a Timmermann
Eric, quit being an Enders
Jon, quit being a Weisman
Phil, quit being a Gurnee
I had a friend who used to say that to me all the time when I did something that irritated her and made her laugh at the same time.
At least we didn't give Eric Gagne $10M this year.
This I think, is one of the psychological effects of having a young team, they seem to feed off of each other's success or failure. Either everyone is hitting, or no one is. I would think you would see less of this with a more veteran line up (not that I want one of those for a few years). Or maybe it's just been the fact that we tend to see certain pitchers on their better days.
How's that?
I have to use it or else I'll get a ticket though...
3 Good question. He wouldn't publicly pick one over the other, and is probably rooting for them both to make it in one way or the other. But I wonder if internally he has stated a preference, or at least wonder if he has one.
1) Shawn Green hit 4 HR in Milwaukee in 2002
2) The Dodgers capped their 12-2 start in 2005, in Milwaukee
3) Beer and Sausages and Cheese are all associated with Milwaukee. Hopefully the relatively unclogged arteries of the Dodgers will outlast the chest-clutching Brewers over the next 3 days.
Hmm...didn't work.
Furcal's out and Kent, Pierre, Martin, and Kemp have all hit the skids. Young and old, slumping and struggling together.
I think it's also a by-product of having a team offense so dependent on singles and batting average. A few well-timed slumps and the whole offense grinds to a halt.
wouldn't that be very risky, if you did do that you'd have to have a chan-ho or Duiza type player in the bullpen that could make spot starts if such things as inclement weather arise..
Don't sit next to me at the next Dodger Thoughts game, sometimes old habits die hard for those of us with overloaded nerve endings.
I'm always amazed at what bothers people that have nothing to do with them.
It seems like you could effectively get a 4-man rotation going by routinely skipping the 5th guy, and only using them when consecutive days with a game demand it.
Just glancing at the schedule, Penny is about to make his 9th start tonight while Kuo/Loaiza have made 6, so maybe they do this already.
You were probably better off not knowing what the 8th grade girls were texting.
http://tinyurl.com/2wr4b3
I take no responsibility, nor do I participate in such things, so I don't see any reason why this affects us as a society. I will say that working in a customer service position, it's very strange when a customer is talking to someone on the phone while trying to work with you at the same time.
I think that is why 24 is so popular. The world needs Jack Bauer in these situations. And not the end of season 6 emasculated weepy Bauer, either. I want for a Jack Bauer type to come across a cell phone hand waving behind home plate seat having person, then exclaim to no one in particular, "I'm gonna need a hacksaw".
Ethier, RF
Kemp, CF
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Penny, P
NO ANDRUW! VICTORY!
There are few things worse than that, I agree. It's like the person on the other end didn't expect you to come up with the answer to their question so quickly. And sometimes the abruptness of "Hold on, let me get a pen" makes me want to break many laws and cause great bodily harm to said person.
PIERRE! Hollow victory.
Now a real victory would be even sweeter.
Hope that good Penny shows up, not bad Penny.
A comment on these two.
I never used to arrive late or leave early. Since Spawn of Kavula came on the scene, she has made the rules. Now we arrive late and leave early.
WRT seat "confusion"... well, I'm not confused, but my seats are sometimes in the sun. We often sit a few rows back, in the shade. If someone comes claiming those seats, we vacate them quickly. Often, no one comes. Why not take advantage of the empty, shaded seats?
When holding a cell-phone while driving becomes illegal in California in less than two months, I predict a lot of policemen will get bored of pulling over drivers, ticketing them, explaining the law, dealing with the "I didn't know that!"... and then begin seeing the next several years as a repetition of the above procedure until they have pulled over every single driver in the state and personally told them about the "new" law.
That bugs me, even when it's not my view they're blocking.
Does Dodger Stadium still allow you to walk down the aisle in the middle of an at bat?
Kev
Myles Parker Lewis
8 pounds 2 ounces (my poor wife)
19 1/2 inches
The world welcomes another Dodger fan! Congrats.
Congratulations
That kid will never lose.
Congrats
50
So is this two steps backwards?
http://tinyurl.com/5aq2hc
We've come a long way, baby.
I like that TV show too, but don't you think that's going a bit too far?
Congrats though.
Congratulations! The lovefest is on!
Simulator: 47.13%
LV Hilton: 52.38%
AccuScore: 53.80%
vr, Xei
Is that a sign ...
Is it really possible Andruw Jones has passed Juan Pierre on the least-want-to-see-in-the-lineup list?
Not according to the recent DT gallup poll. 29 of 44 voters (66%) preferred Andruw in the OF, as opposed to 8 of 44 (18%) for Pierre.
Especially while Vinnie is working the mic - if you really want to WATCH a Dodger game, you're much better off at home in front of the TV.
I could see the scoreboard, and I guess it didn't matter that much that I couldn't see the game - that probably would have annoyed me even more.
Ok, given the choice of only one of these three players to play left field for the Dodgers over the next 14 games:
Young
Pierre
Jones
???
I don't know who to trust any more! I don't know who my friends are!
Jones (in CF, with Ethier in LF)
Just curious, why did you choose the 14 game period?
It is not Bynum but Trevor Ariza.
Probably not going to be used in this series but if the Lakers get pass Utah, he could be part of the rotation by the next series.
My level of irritation rises in relation to the ticket prices. I paid a pretty good amount of money to see (and hear) Willie Nelson at the Greek, and when I asked the people behind us to please be quiet so we could listen to the music, they acted all put out. They shut up for 5 minutes at the most, then kept on a'gabbin. These kids today.
I'm not sure how the NBA rules are, but aren't the rosters set for each round of the playoffs? So in other words, Ariza would have to be active already to be eligible against Utah. I'm not sure if he was activated or not.
On a cognitive level, I guess it's plausible. After all, how many of us have cut off a conversation with a passenger, or perhaps turned off the radio, upon hitting heavy traffic, or seeing a cop, or running into bad weather? On the phone, your interlocutor can't see what's happening and know to shut up. And for several reasons, the driver has to concentrate more on a phone conversation than they would on an in-person conversation.
14 - I'm not sure, wasn't looking at any stats, just sort of a visceral observation, if you will. I find it hard to believe that removing any hitter from any line up for 15 games will cause the entire team to lose it's stroke. That was more my point. What the number one hitter does (or doesn't do) should not really affect the 6-7-8 hitters (unless they happen to be on base when the lead off man is hitting into a double play, but that has more to do with runs scored than getting on base in the first place).
That should give Young 40-50 at bats to see what he can do without looking over his shoulder. He looks like a great hitter.
(yes yes I know he's never played the position)
A lot of comments here are people trying to be funny, but some of the whining about people's behavior and actions at a baseball outing is really in poor taste.
52 I am against booing of the home team players, but I can understand people's frustrations. Booing of ex-Dodgers like Piazza and Green never makes sense to me either.
whenever i see a LH 3b in my softball games, it just looks so funny and not right even if they're good at it.
Granted, there are other things that change. Maybe Furcal takes more pitches, thus allowing his team mates to see what the pitcher has that day. By getting on base one extra time, that means the pitcher has to work more from the stretch, thereby taking something off his stuff. The defense has to shift, thereby allowing something that would have been a ground ball out to become a base hit. But then what about the innings in which Furcal's spot isn't up?
All that said, I will agree that the biggest problem is that this means Pierre gets more playing time.
I mean, really. "Few-tie-ull?" What's wrong with "few-tle?" It's just the Borg's efforts to make themselves grander by adding an unnecessary syllable.
Don't help the Borg, people.
The white man's greed, in search of gold
Made the nation bleed
They lost their faith
And now they hade to learn
There was no place to return
Nowhere they could turn.
Cherokee - marching on the trail of tears.
Jones has been seeing 4.42 pitches per PA this year, by far the highest in his career (3.96 last year was previous high).
They took the whole Cherokee nation
And put us on this reservation
They took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
They took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan
That was one of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio as a kid. It came out when I was five.
If you use their projected numbers, it's .04 runs in Furcal's favor.
hmmm ..... should Wright be concerned?
I think Tony Jackson really hates traveling and pretty much everything.
He and Ben Grieve can have a few beers and talk about what it was like to be a star at 22 and an after thought at 25.
When people go to baseball games and expect everyone there to behave as they would, then I feel that society has taken a step back.
A lot of comments here are people trying to be funny, but some of the whining about people's behavior and actions at a baseball outing is really in poor taste.
See, when I was a kid, there was this thing called "The Golden Rule," which said that you should only do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Now, to wish that others would at least TRY to follow that rule too is apparently "in poor taste."
Of course I don't expect others to be as well-behaved (and socially aware) as I try to be (in the sense of predicting that they will be). But I don't see why I'm a bad guy for bemoaning selfish behavior in others, no matter now predictable.
Sioux, the English bastardization of Nadouessioux, the French bastardization of the Ojibwe, Nadowisiwug ["little snakes"]
Iroquois, the Ojibwe, Nadowebog ["big snakes"]
Our usher in the cheap seats would have taken care of the situation. I'm surprised your usher did not handle it. They allow alot of things at DS but standing and blocking fans views is not one of them.
>>He ran a little bit in the outfield during the early workout today, but the left calf still isn't ready for live game action. ``I felt like I could push it more, so that was good,'' he said. ``I was able to run harder. But at the same time, I couldn't do as much as I wanted to do. There was some tightness and some soreness there, so I had to back off. I did push it to the ceiling, but I still need some time. There is no need to go backward.'' Nomar said he will try some baseball activity -- in layman's terms, that means taking ground balls and possibly batting practice -- tomorrow.<<
When I see someone complain about people using cell phones, I get an image of an old man yelling at a bunch of kids to keep their skateboards off the sidewalk.
2B Rickie Weeks
CF Mike Cameron
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
RF Corey Hart
3B Bill Hall
SS JJ Hardy
P Carlos Villanueva
C Jason Kendall
Ryan Braun has a Choiish four solo homers in his last two games.
About the only people I forgive for blocking my view during an at bat are parents with babies who need to leave their seats for maintenance purposes. And even then, they need to move quickly, not stop and take pictures and indulge in unrelenting group hugs.
likes: movies
hates: elevators
What irks me (more and more as I get older) is when people show absolutely no concern for how their behavior affects others. Sometimes, they're consciously telling those around them to "just deal with it," but most of the time, it's mere obliviousness.
These folks that I was "whining" about, however, could not have been unaware, since 20-30 people were trying to make them aware. Even if they didn't speak English (which they did, loudly), they'd have known that their neighbors were being hugely inconvenienced. I feel vindicated by the fact that the strangers around me, all younger than I am, including a group of college kids, were even more annoyed than I was.
People make mistakes. An "oops, I'm sorry" and quick sit-down would have been absolutely OK with everyone. What we got was 7 innings of, essentially, a middle finger in our faces.
Dislikes-The new lights, elevators, Chad Billingsley, and Andre Ethier.
Likes-The Crow (kidding),Varsity Blues, Love, Actually, floral print Hawaiian style shirts.
That's all I've got so far.
"Love, Actually" is showing on one of the HBO channels at all times. One day Laura Linney's character will find true love.
Journey
Even more remarkable, Ken Gurnick wrote a Q&A yesterday which mentioned Andy LaRoche without saying anything derogatory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRi0m329iL4&
Hurray, chick flicks!
Or me!
Er, wait, I have a g/f. Well, I'm sure she'd understand.
Btw, speaking of "chick-flicks", I watched Cranford on DVD this week (it's been airing on PBS, too) - comes out to DVD officially next week - and it was great. I usually enjoy Jane Austen films but little else set in that period, but this one is a good "date rental." (Except it's long. It'll be a long multi-part date, then.)
Go Dodgers!
April 17 entry
"...stop on the way out to listen to some dude absolutely butcher one of the greatest songs of all time (Journey's Don't Stop Believin')..."
Yes, I'm that bored.
I feel your pain!!
How cool would it be to be named May May.
Pierre LF (bat him 8th or 9th even!!)
Ethier RF
Kemp (I'm cool with him batting 3rd actually)
Kent 2b
Loney 1b (is he in a slump or something??)
Martin C (I'd like him batting 2nd)
DeWitt 3b
Hu SS (Finally get to see what the "big deal" is with him)
Penny (bat him 8th & Pierre 9th, yep that's works...)
I first date I asked my wife out on was a Springsteen concert at the Sports Arena, 1984. It was still a month away, so I actually took her on a different date before the concert.
Personally, I'm relieved. He shouldn't come up until July, IMO.
Most observers feel he either is already as good as Matsuzaka or soon will be. "I think his numbers in Japan are going to be equally as phenomenal as he continues to move on, barring injury, as Dice-K's were in Japan," Hillman says. "He's got a different type of frame. Dice-K's got a more powerful frame, but Darvish has looser levers and a taller frame with more whip, and I think that gives him an opportunity to have more powerful and more electric secondary pitches as well as a fastball.
http://tinyurl.com/4zpa96
Hu was signed by the Dodgers on January 31, 2003 and began his professional career with the rookie league Ogden Raptors in 2003. He split 2004 between the Columbus Catfish in A ball and the Vero Beach Dodgers in high-A ball. In 2005 he played the whole season at Vero Beach and hit .313 with 23 stolen bases.In 2006, he played for Taiwan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and then returned to play for the AA Jacksonville Suns. Hu played in the All-Star Futures Game during the All-Star break in both 2006 & 2007. He won the MVP award for his performance in the 2007 game. 1
He was promoted to AAA Las Vegas on July 12, 2007. Hu made his major league debut on September 1, 2007 against the San Diego Padres.In his second MLB at-bat, Hu hit a left-field solo home run on September 11, 2007 against the Padres, becoming the first position player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in MLB. (Hu's teammate, pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, had become the first Taiwanese-born player to hit a home run in MLB earlier in 2007.) On September 25, Hu hit a two-run homer and became the first Taiwanese-born player to hit two home runs.
Vin can't be happy that his idol has been displaced.
I thought that was Dr. K.
In other news, while I'm forever loyal to the Dodgers efforts in tonight's game against the Brew Crew, I'm torn since I work for the their principal owner (under the aegis of his "day job") and it smacks of disloyalty to the man who signs my paychecks to root against his team...
I love that Kendall bats 9th.
Also, am I the only one that likes/prefers the new gameday?
I once had the pleasure of seeing a few games in the 1st row of the lodge right above the 1st base dugout. Man those were sweet seats.
Colletti: "Tell Gurnick the LaRoche-bashing is off for now. I'm trying to trade him for a shortstop and I need some good stuff to come up when other GMs Google him. Damn, is Mike Lowell back from that injury already? I wanted to see if I could trick that kid Epstein into giving me back Lugo."
Los Angeles Dodgers
Recalled: RHP Yhency Brazoban
Placed on 7-day DL: 1B Jaime Ortiz
Placed on temporarily inactive list: OF Xavier Paul
probably. I was just in aw though...
I believe the inactive list is like the hockey scratch list or in the NBA when you name your 3 inactive players or whatever it takes to get down to 12 players.
http://tinyurl.com/5gks6t
Me: Why did I only get a 1/2 point on this question.
Teacher: You did not take all the steps necessary to show why Train A will get to the station before Train B.
Me: But I got the right answer.
Teacher: That's not the point.
Think Greg Maddux with a Ryan fastball
Hardly anybody is Greg Maddux.
- Tom Lehrer, "New Math"
I once worked somewhere where this real name came across my desk frequently: Mrs. Olive Pitts.
A quick search of Yahoo revealed at least 34 Greg Maddux's across several states, so it is rare but not impossible.
Much to my amazement, there seem to be more Nolan Ryan's than there are Greg Maddux's. I would have thought it was harder to be Nolan Ryan.
Not the baseball God I pray to.
The quality of a World Series is not determined by TV ratings! It's determined by the actions on the field.
I like to rage in to the night about this topic.
Everytime Tampa wins and the Padres/Mariners lose you probably feel good about your chances of winning and bad because you didn't bet more money.
That was how I felt about the Brewers last year. What looked like a given ended up coming down to the last day of the season and I won the bet when Gwynn Junior knocked the Padres out of the playoffs.
Andrew, quit being a Shimmin.
Penny went a little Nolan Ryan there. Lucky Kendall's ducking abilities haven't dropped off too much.
And Jacob is still suffering from Post-traumatic Rich Aurilia Base on Balls Syndrome.
DVD Recorders have spoiled me. I only watch the good stuff now. It made the games when Tomko/Hendrickson pitch much easier to deal with but I know I'm cheating myself out of something. Probably pain.
If I had bet the under on Seattle and San Diego, they'd be going to the Series.
I wouldn't dare to make that up.
Nothing really but I always thought it sounded good no matter what the persons name was.
Bob, quit being a Timmermann
Eric, quit being an Enders
Jon, quit being a Weisman
Phil, quit being a Gurnee
I had a friend who used to say that to me all the time when I did something that irritated her and made her laugh at the same time.
You need to bet the over on the Dodgers, take one for the team if your that unlucky in the betting department.