Did I miss something? Is Jones officially going on the DL?

188 etc. in the prior thread - I agree with you, JT Dutch. I DON'T think this is over-interpreting what Torre is saying, i.e. there is a kink in Torre's mind about DeWitt's worth, and that Nomar is still ahead of DeWitt in Torre's mental depth chart. I got LAT'd in one of the previous posts, but it took 70-something games before Loney dislodged Nomar at first. It'll likely take a similar number of games before DeWitt dislodges Nomar.

Another Dodger examination revealed nothing at the time.

1 - No, you missed nothing.

Here's hoping that no Dodger has a day as bad as Jeter's day today.

2 et al - Look, I don't think I need to make it more clear that I think Garciaparra does not deserve to start. But these things should be judged by degrees. They are not black and white. Yes, the kids should get more of the benefit of the doubt. But things could be worse. And DeWitt is just one of the worst examples around to make the case for the kids getting mistreated.

Hendy just got a hit! (texas leaguer but still) Florida leads the D-Backs 2-1 5th inning.

5 - in which way is his day especially bad? Making errors is what Jeter does, and hitting into double plays is part of the game, etc.

what does et al mean?

2

"but it took 70-something games before Loney dislodged Nomar at first."

... Exactly.

2 Assuming DeWitt hasn't already dislodged Nomar some 20-30 games ago.

Shouldn't this post's subject header be Druw Jones Industrial Average? Naw, never mind.

re: Jones...this sounds like the typical Dodger trainer doublespeak...

what? we gave him a physical...did you see anything? I didn't see anything? was there anything there?

we should just peruse the previous year's 60 day DL listings and sign them to free agent contracts each year...that way we never have to worry about it...

6 - understood, Jon, but Torre's comment is just bizarre.

8 Yeah, but that's also a scary looking hand injury.

better yet, next time we are even considering a big money free agent signing, agree on a price, then instead put that money to the Mattel Hospital or Childrens Hospital...

at least that way some good use would come out of it...

2/6 - And frankly, there should be a kink in Torre's mind about DeWitt's worth. It's still under 150 plate appearances into DeWitt's career. We still don't know what his true value his. Yes, it's better than Nomar, but I think the jury's out on whether he's gonna OPS .900 for the next 10 years.

Torre's assessment of DeWitt was positive, especially when taken into context with the consistent praise he has offered. This doesn't mean that I think Nomar should start, and it doesn't mean Torre thinks Nomar should start. Torre goes with the hot hand. Blake was not a hot hand in April - he was winning plaudits by merely being competent.

If you're not acknowledging the different circumstances surrounding DeWitt between April and now, you're simply not being fair.

just finished reading the Wikipedia page on Piazza & it has some cool fun facts, man, I would have been shaking in my little boots if the greatest hitter who ever lived were giving me hitting instructions.

9
I think all Latin questions should be handled by gpellamjr since he can write it better than the Pope.

But "et al." is short for "et alii" which means "and others."

If all the others are feminine, it would be "et aliae."

And if all the others are neuter, then it's "et alia."

From T. Jackson (same lineup as yesterday, I believe):

LF Pierre
RF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
CF Kemp
3B DeWitt
SS Hu
RH Billingsley

About Jones, it's one thing where he snapped a ligament or sustained an injury or something. But if you're saying the cartilage tear has been coming for a long time now because of wear and tear, doesn't that somewhat fall on the medical examiners?

Also, how many MLers fail medical exams before signing a big contract? Too few to be true, if you ask me. Does that seem normal? Not trying to start a whole conspiracy thread here or anything, but is it not weird how often the physicals come back just fine?

13 - If you said to me "Jon, I don't think you're the greatest writer in the world, but I plan on reading you for a long time to come," I take that as a compliment. I don't know how you wouldn't, unless your expectations were too high.

I would think every pro athlete would have joints that show some wear and tear. I think it's a fine art trying to decide what is acceptable.

21 now that is funny...I hope you meant it to be...oops...

Jon, you're the greatest writer in the world, but I refuse to read anything more you write.

How is it that Kent still gets to bat clean up? Right now, this is a bigger pet peeve of mine than Pierre leading off. Shouldn't anyone else in the 3-7 spots be batting clean up?

Or am I just old fashioned that way?

20 - It's not like you get MRIs every day. A wear-and-tear injury is what it implies - something that develops over time, in between checkups.

Teams have no incentive to pay injured players. I don't think it's as easy as you think it is to discover career-threatening problems.

18 Optime amice optime! Superior omnibus me es. Usually, though, when they're all neuter, people say "etc".

18
So "inter alia" means among neuters?

given our history, I like my charity idea more and more...

28
No, it doesn't.

24 For a moment, I thought bluebleeder had said that. I was going to praise him to the heavens.

hi underdog....yeah, terrible day for Jeter; no update yet but getting hit in the hand is an easy way to miss six weeks...

re. the Torre thing: I'm of the opinion that we all overthink what managers say: managers use words the way squid use ink....

Not sure which color alert for Edgar Renteria.

Maybe Bob could clarify.

3-1 Florida on an absolute MAMMOTH shot by Uggla.

but managers are so smart, just ask Tony LaRussa...

22 , 26 Totally agreed. Still, how many times do you hear about anyone failing a physical? I'm not being facetious.. I really can't remember the last one. I agree teams have no incentive to pay or sign an injured player, but that is not true about ML trainers. I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut, but an example would be Schmidt and Stan Conte. Is it not conceivable that they could be very good friends with old ties? Again, I'm just picking on Conte a bit irresponsibly, but it's amazing how these physicals are absolutely useless. Nomar passed one, Jones, Schmidt, Loaiza all passed them. Doesn't this at least bring Conte's reputation into question, or is it all bad luck?

It's an orange alert for Edgar Renteria in Detroit.

Orange alert.

Chad Ford has the Clippers taking Westbrook over Gordon.

20 - part of the problem with some injuries (especially with ligaments, tendons, and cartilage) is that they aren't readily noticeable in the early stages. And unless the physical exam includes MRIs, x-rays, and a host of other pictures, you're likely not going to notice it until it becomes bad.

I messed up my shoulders pretty bad when I was younger. At first, I thought it was just tightness/soreness from going seven days a week at the time. I tried to power through it, as a young dumb kid, and likely developed tendinitis in both my shoulders. For a swimmer/water polo player, that's the equivalent of knee problems for any other sport. It took me sitting out a year to get my shoulders good, and even then I was only good for a single season. Today, I still occasionally get treatment when my shoulders tighten up.

And believe me, you become pretty good at faking the non-injury if it's a chronic thing. Long post short: Bob's right, it's like buying a used car; take a mechanic with you.

Players will flunk physicals from time to time. It's usually just a matter of how much risk a team wishes to take.

The Yankees wouldn't take Greg Vaughn in a trade once because they didn't like something about him (I think it was a shoulder injury). He ended up playing for several more years.

J.D. failed one before signing with Boston.

21 23 But what if your wife/girlfriend said "you aren't the best in the world" (use your imagination)? I would not take that as a compliment. Hopefully DeWitt is mature ennough to know that Torre has had better (in A-Rod).

42 In marriage, don't you choose your partner because he/she is the best for you? In baseball there are 30 teams and 30 starting 3rd basemen. You don't normally get to choose to have the team with the best one.

Ah, context.

"This kid, he's just been very tough. He may not be the greatest player in the world, but he is going to have a long career in this game as one of those special players that it's tough to win without."

As well:

"This kid has the calm of a veteran player," Torre said. "He's done some special things here in a short period of time.

32 Sorry about the game, man. There's always tomorrow! Or next week, or month...

And that's a great analogy, I dig it.

38 I wouldn't, but you never know what the Clips will be up to.

From someone who had serious meniscus surgery last year, I can tell you it is a wear and tear injury and MRI's don't often tell the story. I am a tennis player and it does have a great impact on movement.

However, just about any doctor will tell you, you don't know the full extent until you clean it up. However, since they are just saying cartalidge clean-up, I don't think you can blame all of that on his terrible hitting this year and decrease last year. However, cleaning it up will help his legs and may eventually provide him with more confidence.

I tend to agree with Bob the Dodgers knew that he might have some physical issues but felt the risk was more than worth it.

Renteria singles. Which means that he goes 4-for-4, but in order to make The Griddle, he will need help, either from a whole bunch of Tiger hits, or a nine-run Mariner rally.

42 - You're leaving the second part of the quote, which I would always be happy to hear, given the alternative, as should anyone who isn't Sam Malone.

I don't want everyone to agree with me. It will go to my head.

If someone told me I "wasn't the best X in the world", I'd work my butt off even harder to prove them wrong. I think it's a motivational trick to keep Blake from getting complacent.

This is a great quote from Eric Karros:

"The most impressive thing is that it wasn't because of God-given talent. It was hard work," said former teammate, roommate and friend Eric Karros. "He took it upon himself to go to the Dominican Republic and learn how to catch. That speaks volumes of his desire and sacrifice to make himself the best player he could be."

Cycle alert canceled in Detroit.

Stand down.

More from Diamond: Tommy Lasorda...suggested to General Manager Ned Colletti during the offseason to sign Piazza the free agent as a backup catcher. "(Colletti) said, 'I just signed one two hours ago,'" Lasorda said. Sigh.

43 49 Most rational people are willing to accept they aren't the best in the world at everything. Most are even willing to admit that they aren't the best at ANYTHING. At work, most people would be thrilled if they were told by the head of their company that they are the best "job x" at their company or even at their branch. We were all thrilled when our football coach said "those are the best leg lifts I've ever seen." Not the whole world, just in a small group. We are content at being the best in a very small pond, simply because the world is too big to really be the best at anything. With a wife, or girlfriend, though, we truly expect to be the "best" at lots of things in her mind. We don't want to be the third funniest boyfriend she ever had, and we don't want to be the 2nd best lover she ever had. I don't know what this has to do with the dodgers. I use "we" loosely and probably mean "I" most of the time.

Hey Bob, have you ever appeared or considered appearing on Jeopardy?

Kevin Gregg strikes out Upton and Byrnes with the bases loaded in the 8th to keep the Marlins ahead 3-2.

56
I refuse to use my powers for petty financial gain.

That, and I'd likely lose.

from cnnsi. "In addition to damaged cartilage, Jones said he has a golf-ball sized wart behind his knee that might have to be surgically removed. Because of the wart's location, he said, it can't be drained."
Golf ball sized wart next to his injured knee? Maybe Andruw is a witch.

58 I think you'd kick some serious butt on Jeopardy. Especially if there's a baseball or sports related category.

59 I believe the wart (cyst?) got some play a few posts back. It gave me the willies, so I glossed over most comments hinting towards it.

58

... Don't worry about the "financial gain" bit -- you can always donate your winnings to me. But I agree with ryu in that you'd do pretty well for yourself on that show.

"Drain?" Since when do warts have fluid in them? It has to be something else.

I could also encounter a category about literature. Or alcoholic beverages. Or ways to cook peaches.

I might know stuff, but there is no guarantee I would be able to buzz in fast enough.

One of my brothers was on Jeopardy and he said that the signaling system was very difficult to time and he also didn't think that my personality would pass muster with the producers.

I come from a very supportive family.

59

[tries not to imagine the golf sized wart, but then fails & imagines it anyways...]

59 Well, we did do the nose.

Coincidentally, Andre Either is missing a golf ball.

Well he hits like he's made of wood. Does that make him a witch?

50 - I'll agree with you, whatever it is. I just want the entertainment value of watching your head explode.

this whole A. Jones wart thing kind of reminds me of when Gagne had that ear thing, remember that guys?

That wart sounds more like one of those cysts elderly dogs get. Andruw would be about 217 years old in dog years, I think.

63 - it sounds like a translation error. Does Jones speak English well enough to actually talk to the press? I don't think I've ever seen him interviewed.

64 What kind of difficulty did your brother have with the signaling system? Do some buzzers work better than others?

73 Usually the complaint is that they turn "on" at a seemingly random time. It's supposed to be the second alex stops reading the clue, I believe, but will often turn "on" considerably before that.

Also, there is (or was) a "lock out" for buzzing in early--if you attempted to try and buzz in early, you'd have to hope for either a stump or for the first buzzee to be incorrect.

Doesn't it sound like Torre was trying to do an Eckstein thing with DeWitt? Where not being that good is actually better than being good--a sign of strong character? It was not an artfully turned phrase, but I think it very unlikely that he was trying to insult the guy.

It has to be a cyst. Lots of people have them behind their knees and don't even know it.

72
Andruw Jones is supposedly fluent in four languages: Dutch, Spanish, English, and the native language of Curacao which starts with a P.

From my travels to the Netherlands, most of the Dutch I encountered spoke English better than I did.

the Snakes just lost.

Yep, thank you Marlins! Well done.

Now let's see if the Dodgers can make that a gain tonight.

Only in bizarro-world does Cory Patterson make a good leadoff man.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, that's Dusty Baker's address.

You have to appreciate a guy with an .800 BA

77 Papiamento, for the knowledge-craving.

Dang, now it's .667.

Vin sounds mad at us for not talking about Brandon Phillips more consistently.

good start for bills

76 -- How could people have cysts behind their knees and not know it? Bumps aren't supposed to be there.

84

You could've said something.

There was a moment shown on FSN before the game, with Matt Kemp talking with Ken Griffey Jr. in the OF. Something about that shot just looked soooo right.

I have cysts on my fingers and parts of my feet. They are growing on tendons or ligaments I believe.

The doctor looked at them and said, "Yeah, that happens."

I meant to. I've been busy!

Sorry, Vin.

That Brandon Phillips made quite a play. I liked the little hop.

In other news, blue jays have built a nest in the hedges near my door. (And I don't mean Vernon Wells and co. I mean, the bird.) One of them has been standing watch on the railing near my front window for weeks now, and if my cats are near the window it will screech or peck at the window protectively. I didn't realize they were so protective. They don't realize my cats don't go outside.

It was cute at first but now it's irritating. Anyone know how to build a ScareJay? Or is there a place I can order an owl?

wow bills looking sharp boys and girls lets hope he keeps this up

Billingsley dunn good there. Dunn real good.

It's in the bite!

89

A-cysted living?

86 I've got one behind each knee. an MRI showed it. But I can't see them or feel them.

One quick question between innings:

Yesterday I mentioned I might stop by Carney's before the Indy Movie Premiere. Is there any difference between the Studio City location and the one on Sunset, taste wise?

Nice work Bison!

97 -- Why did you have an MRI done on your knees if you couldn't feel anything wrong?

The first hit was Ken*t* not Kemp. I wasn't watching but listening to the game just now.

haha woohoo, sometimes lonestar just gets the best bounces and rolls on his singles lol..

yes, ok here we go..if Hu cant get anything done here I'll basically lose my patience with him im sorry to say

Did Kent wince on that slide?

Baseball is fun when you're playing the Keystone Kops!

That was kind of a generous hit awarded DeWitt there, but he/we will take it, I guess.

Either Vin's researcher needs to be fired, or we need to find out who keeps telling Vin that Hu is a SS.

Been some funny stuff these past few NPUTs.

I had kids later (mid 30s); I recommend having them earlier. Sleep deprivation is easier when young. Degenerative discs usually don't appear till later-- now I pay with pain for carrying my 32 lbs 16 month old around at a fair. And two people working leaves little time. Daycare and parochial school put a dent in the gas money. yada yada

Still… Times uniform was washed to get clean: 3
Hours of work missed a week to get to practice: 1
Weekly hand washing of compression short for 6 year old: 1
Gas spent on getting to practice and games and make up games in one week: 1 tank.

Kid gets gameball = priceless.
He wanted to play catch till it got dark.

Wasn't around to read or post for awhile. My 11 year old step-nephew hung himself. Accidentally or intentionally it was sort of hard to tell. That funeral was really tough. Not because I knew him that well, but because it didn't take much of an emotional stretch to put myself in his dad's shoes. A while back Jon posted what we would wish for as something we most wanted. I didn't really have much. Win the lottery, my friend's ill daughter to make a miraculous recovery. Then my wife and I were watching a movie and there was a split second scene where the Dad ignores the 10 year old. Right then I thought, if I could get any wish granted, it'd be that young ones wouldn't feel ignored or invisible. I started to post it and sort of thought the moment had passed. Then this death. A bright little guy with the world before him. Puts a little perspective on worrying about who's playing where.

Thanks again for the site and the comments.

that was odd, to say the least.

hmm...ok well bills and juan!

And is Furcal imitating Bennett?

103
Not only that but Kent looked like he was limping noticeably rounding second.

Chad!