482 from previous thread: Isn't it the same thing?

This is starting to remind me a little of the scary year of 2005. That year, injuries forced us to play a bunch of guys who didn't belong in the majors, because our stud prospects weren't ready.

This year, Jones was terrible, but was replaced by Pierre. Furcal goes down, we get Hu. Kent goes down, we get Maza. God help us if Martin gets hurt.

If Penny picks it up a bit, the starting rotation should be solid all the way through, so there's that.

We get to see Kershaw & Billingsley back to back for the foreseeable future, and we have a chance to drive a nail in the coffin of the Mets' managerial career of Willie Randolph this weekend.

2 - If Martin gets hurt, we're basically toast. But wouldn't that be true of any team that lost four players or more from its starting lineup?

God help us if Martin gets hurt.

Laroche can catch! They considered moving him to catcher about 6 years ago.

Following in Eric's footsteps, I'm willing to wager a customized T-shirt of choice on the whole Andy-will-be-up-by-this-Saturday thing.

When the 1961 Dodgers went four straight games without an XBH, the streak was still alive in the fifth game until the top of the 9th inning when Ron Fairly doubled off of Stu Miller.

Since 1956, the longest stretch of games any team has had without an XBH was six games by the 1967 Yankees.

The 1967 Yankees were, in a word, bad.

I would think that in the Deadball Era some team might have had a longer streak, however, it was easier in that era to get a really cheap double because fans were on the field quite often.

2
You forgot the glass half full stuff:

1) Nomar/LaRoche went down, we got DeWitt!
2) Schmidt stayed down, we got Kershaw!
3) Kent goes down, we eventually get LaRoche!
4) Kuo doesn't go down, we get Kuo!
5) Billingsley becomes the Ace!

6-17 vs teams above .500

Dodgers will be fine once they play the bad teams again.

Arizona is down 0-10 in the 6th. At least we'll be only 3.5 games back.

Frank Finch's lead in the LA Times on August 17, 1961 after the Reds swept the Dodgers with a pair of shutouts at the Coliseum to retake first place.

"The Dodgers, whose firepower suddenly become less than that of the Tibetan navy ..."

Despite that slump, the 1961 Dodgers weren't bad. They finished just four games out of first. And Sandy Koufax struck out 269.

I hope no one bought a Kershaw jersey yet.

From Diamond:

On Friday, Clayton Kershaw will pitch wearing the No. 22, and he'll turn in the No. 54 jersey. If you're wondering what becomes of Mark Sweeney, he's taking No. 21.

I watched that game on tape delay, as it were, and just catching up now. No need to say this really, but that may have been the single most depressing loss I've watched this season. Not that I was feeling confident they'd win, with only that one run up there, but when your starter pitches so lights out as Lowe did, well... anyway, sigh... no need to rehash all that again. Maddening, but I guess not shocking.

Jon says it well above, the bright spot is that the pitching has come around 180 degrees from where it was not that long ago, and with Kershaw in the mix to boot. It's frustrating that they have nothing to show for it this week, but you know the offensive drought won't carry on like this.

And the thing about 2 is that the guys coming up in 2005 were not ever going to be major league ready. The Dodgers have now gotten looks at some really good young players in the batter's box and on the mound (and yes, a few fringe players like Maza, but he hasn't been as terrible as I feared). It's really not quite the same thing. But when you start losing a number of players it's always a concern.

A depressing loss, but every season has its share of nadirs, and I feel like this series may be one of them.

I don't know what are in the plans for Schmidt, but we'll know by the Dodgers' next off day, June 10, right before a series in San Diego. Kershaw is in line (if he doesn't get skipped, which he shouldn't since they still have 6 straight days of games after the off day) to start June 11 or 12 in San Diego, two games that I will be attending.

Getting Kershaw/Billingsley back to back (in line with no switches between now and then) would be awesome.

All that said, in 13 , is it okay if I cry? I think a good cry can always make you feel better. Maybe I'll just whimper and then move on.

Go Lakers!

12 - The second clause of the second sentence is not the one that most around here were hoping for.

Can you have multiple nadirs?

17 - You can have multiple Raders.

If anyone can, the Dodgers can!

Valleys, how's that? Lots of valleys...

Which is better than multiple abysses.

12
The last non-Sweeney to wear #21: Marlon Anderson. If they can DFA the greatest hitter in LA Dodger history, surely they can do the same to the 4th worst!

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/rKan

4 Not necessarily, if the team has decent depth. In 2006, when Navarro went down, we got Martin. When Repko went down, we got Ethier. When Seo was ineffective, we got Billingsley. Carter and Baez were replaced by Broxton and Saito, etc.

I was so bummed out about this loss I forgot to eat dinner! Crumbs. I better do that or I'll get crabby.

Wait, I already am crabby.

Even Tony Jackson answering my question earlier didn't make up for the rest of this crummy day.

Doug Davis beating tonight might get Scherzer back in the dbax rotation.

12 Clayton must have issues with getting the number 22. When I saw him with Jacksonville, the program listed him as number 22, but when he signed an autograph for me, he signed number 36. I asked him about that and all he said was that there was a problem with 22 and he had to wear 36.

Doesn't your 21 sort of counter your 2 ?

DY isn't even on the depth chart at 2B. Is his defense that craptastic?

14 Are you saying it's lined up for Kershaw on the 11th and Billz on the 12th? If so, then if they don't skip anyone on the off day, that will line them up for 17-18 June in Cincinnati! Two games that I will be attending.

25 No. 2006 is the counterpoint to 2005. In '06, we had lots of ML-ready depth to step in for injured/ineffective players. That wasn't true in 2005.

theres so many sox fans in seattle tonight its scary lol..

26 If we aren't going to give him a shot to make at least a couple starts right now with Jones and Kemp out, then why even hold on to him at all? Are we afraid another outfielder and 2B will go down and then we might need him?

27
I messed the days up. Off day is June 9. Kershaw is slated for June 10 (and presumably June 15); Billingsley for June 11 (and presumably June 17).

This is presuming a 5-man rotation of course, meaning you would probably get Kuroda on June 18.

I think that the main problem with the team is that management is trying to have it both ways. On one hand, we have a slew of young players who are still getting their feet wet in the major leagues, and instead of letting them develop--or not develop--naturally, undue pressure is put on them, and potentially foolish decisions are made, because of a win now mentality. The fact that Torre even suggested that Loney might sit against certain tough lefties is in itself a cause for concern--are they really going to tell him, at age 24, that he can't hit lefties? This way of thinking was best represented in the Great Outfield Debate, where the team couldn't decide whether to let the young players play, or go with the proven veteran.

At the same time that the young players are trying to find their way, management acts like we are one player away from being a championship contender. The signing of Jones is the kind of move a team on the verge of a championship makes, not a team filled with young players. Similarly, with Kershaw joining the rotation, we now have a starting staff of two very young pitchers not yet in their prime, and three older pitchers who are moving past theirs. (You can even throw Schmidt into this argument, since he was originally to be part of the rotation from 2007-2009.) What do they do if Kershaw struggles, which he will at some point? Send him down because we cannot afford his on the job training? Or let him pitch through his struggles. And top all this off, we have a manager who was hired so the team could win now, and likely won't be here in 2-3 seasons.

If you add all this up--young players not quite ready, old players past their prime, and a management that cannot commit to one philosophy, you get what we have been for the past year, a .500 team.

31 You had me excited for a minute. I looked at it on Sunday and was pretty sure I would miss Kershaw.

And there's another 1-0 game in the majors tonight!

33 Although I'm seriously considering driving to Detroit if he pitches on the 15th. I've never been to their new stadium and this would give me a great excuse to go back. Anyone else on here in the Detroit area going to that one?

I have a feeling pretty soon Sweeney's number will be 86.

35
A 5 hour drive? That's Icaros-level dedication.

36
I have a feeling pretty soon Sweeney's number will be 86

Most ABs, Sweeney missed it by that much.

36 Will he ever get to don his new #21 jersey?

38 Hopefully his shoe phone will soon be ringing with the bad news.

Looking for some solace, turning my attention away from what the Dodgers have been doing, and trying to find some group of players owned by the Dodgers who can score, I examined the play-by-play of last night's 23-2 win by the Las Vegas 51s at Tucson. I came across something both remarkable and meaningless.

Francisco Lizarraga, the Vegas shortstop, batted in the eighth spot.
--In the first inning, with LV ahead 3-0, he came up with two outs and two on and hit into a force play -- to end the inning.
--In the second, with LV ahead 7-0, he came up with two outs and a runner on third and flied out -- to end the inning.
--In the third, with LV ahead 11-0, he came up with two outs and runners on first and third and hit into a force play -- to end the inning.
--In the fourth, with LV now up 16-0, he came up with two out and a man on second and he . . . singled.
--In the fifth, returning to form, he came up with two outs and the bases empty and struck out swinging. LV led 21-0 at the time.
He made the last out in the first three innings and four of the first five. Sounds like we should call him up.
Vegas lost 12-1 tonight to Tucson.

41
That's pretty cool; Starkian even.

Hopefully LaRoche is playing 2B at least in warmups. He played 3B in the game tonight (and went 0-4).

40
It would be pretty cool if Sweeney were shown the door, then he proceeded to go through a series of 15 or so doors on his way out.

2003 I'm seeing 2003 when I watch this team lately. Superb pitching (and fielding), banjo hitting.

But Beltre started coming out of his funk in the second half, doing well enough to help the team stay in the race, sort of, til the last week. So, if KempLoneyEthierMartinDeWittLaRoche can follow in Beltre's footsteps, it could still be a fun season.

That's all I want, a fun season. I'm not expecting this team to be the best in the NL at this point. Perhaps I'm a heretic, but I do think experience matters, and our young guys will hit better the more they get it.

44 refers to 2 , not 2003 . However, if we get up to that many comments on this thread, I'll look like a prophet.

[2,457,118]

This is fun.

Kent to the DL? If so, then this might be a line-up that would be fun to watch.

7 Pierre
9 Ethier
2 Martin
3 Loney
8 Kemp
5 LaRoche
4 DeWitt
6 Hu
1 Kershaw

Torre's talking about seeing what's ahead for next year. Let these guys play till the All-star break and see what happens.

Is Bluebleeder editing Gurnick's copy?

Torre said Kent was particularly frustrated with this recent injury having appeared to snap out of a prolonged offensive slump with three hits Monday.

"It's frustrating him, in the fact that he knows certainly he's a better hitter," said Torre. "He's getting older, but he's pretty honest. If he doesn't think he can still hit, he certainly would hone up to that fact. I don't see it."

I do appreciate the small dose of sweet reason in that story.

Any Nor Cal DT readers familiar with a place called Duarte's in Pescadero?

48
I'm not but I have been to Pescadero's in Duarte.

48 Yessir! Best darned berry pie I've ever had! And great fish. Pescadero's south of Half Moon Bay, north of Sta Cruz. Really fun old place.

---

Hey, Jon, did you, or anyone else here, watch "Recount" on HBO on Sunday? I just finished it and thought it was very well done (great cast), if certainly, er, nerve wracking.

Ugh, speaking of Vegas, Tucson turned the tables on them tonight, but worse than that... well, don't look at the box score, unless you want to see LaRoche take the collar, and Meloan, Brazoban and Troncoso all shelled. A great day all around for LA and their AAA squad.

50 - Saw it a couple of weeks ago - thought it was quite good.

48 My wife took me there before she was my wife. I think it helped her to become my wife. What fantastic food, although like many good restaurants, the best stuff is before and after the main course. They have incredible soups and desserts. It looks and acts like a diner, but the cuisine is well beyond diner.

I interviewed Danny Strong last summer:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967377.html

Sydney Pollock was supposed to direct Recount but had to pull out because of his illness.

It was clear, bright, sunny, warm, and breezy here in SoCal today.

Kemp had 2 doubles yesterday. What's the deal with no extra basehits the past three games.

56
It was Monday, but good call. Total of 3 doubles Monday (Ethier had the other).

Where did the extra-base streak story originate from? ESPN, WGN, or FSN/KCAL?

So I guess a lie is a dream that didn't come true?

George Brett Jr. is down to .294, I see.

54 Nice. Thanks for linking that. He did an exceptional job distilling all that into something coherent and dramatic. Had no idea Pollack was original director; how sad, but his replacement did a good job.

I better see that hitting gnome back out tomorrow..

59 - and still out hitting James Loney.

Maybe molesting a gnome is the reason we started having all these problems in the first place.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a four game sweep of the Mets by the Dodgers.

I have no fancy analysis to base that prediction on, just a hunch and a dream.

62 Therefore...

If the Dodgers were to ever get back to the world series while Vinny was still broadcasting, for the sale of baseball...would there any way he would broadcast any games, or would it be reserved for fox commentators?

Just thought of this when I saw an old clip form 88 and it looked like vin was commentating for NBC.

65 So tempting. Blah today sucks.

66 sorry..meant for the sake of baseball, also being that I was born in september of that year, I still haven't decided if I'm lucky or a total jinx

66 This is Major League Baseball we're talking about here. If they cared about stuff like that, they never would have awarded the WS contract to Fox in the first place. Vin's chances of calling a Series game on TV are about the same as your or my chances of doing so.

Sad to say, but you're more likely to hear Dane Cook doing the games than Vin Scully.

and sorry maybe I was blacked out or something yesterday, but did anyone note that the LV 51s scored 23 runs yesterday and Andy had 5 RBI's..maybe I totally missed that memo

By Arizona losing tonight, they lost their first series to NL West division foe. They were 20-5 against the NL West and had an 8-0-1 series record prior to this set against the Giants.

66 Vin would do the Dodger radio broadcasts similar to what he did in 2006.

By the way, Kershaw is changing his number to 22 for Friday's game.

In less than a week, the idea of DeWitt and LaRoche playing different positions has gone beyond DT and is now being considered by Torre. Funny how things happen.

70 Everybody noticed that except, presumably, for Ned Colletti, who was seen in his office with his fingers in his ears saying "La la la la... I can't hear you."

72 Or he might point to today's 0 for 4 with no walks.

72 hahaha, well if you are then comparing me to ned colletti, I take offense, and expect the mandatory DT apalogy (I know thats some rule# violation) : )

I still can't get the sick feeling out from this loss, especially since I got a late text from a cub fan saying only "sweep"

gonna sleep and hope for better success in New York and Laker Victory

I was surprised at how watchable Recount was. I expected to shut it off after ten minutes, but I sat through the whole thing. I think Katharine Harris brings out the worst in writers--they think they don't have to do anything to make it funny; I disagree.

I thought Recount was very entertaining. There's a clear bias, and usually that puts me off, but the script was performed so energetically, it didn't matter. Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Tom Wilkinson, Ed Begley Jr., Dennis Leary, and a bunch of character actors playing eee-vil Republicans and West-Wingish Democrats were all great. I particularly liked the creepy guy who advised Kathleen Harris. What a Snidely Whiplash!

It's now been 62 innings since the Dodgers scored more than 1 run in an inning.

Thanks Jon, I assumed I'd find something here this morning to help deal with recent frustrations in Chicago, and this did.

If only Dodger starters could pitch in cold, windy conditions every game.

Course, opposing pitchers would get to pitch in the same conditions, and we just saw how well that works out...

LaRoche at AAA in 2008:

Home: .387/.620/.581/1.201
Away: .196/.348/.333/.681

The Rockies, one year ago today: 25-27
The Yankees, one year ago today: 21-29

80 How many at-bats each?

Or in D4P style:

How many at-bats each...?

31 Home ABs
51 Away ABs

50 The pie looked really good, but I didn't partake.

53 Pretty cool.

I was camping in the Portola Redwoods over the weekend and heard about it through the Park Ranger. It was quite the adventure. There was a D-Backs fan (in Pescadero? I thought that was Giants Country!) sitting at the bar mumbling about my DT T shirt. I also got to meet Jennifer from this season's Top Chef! To top all of that off, they had Anchor Steam on tap. Really cool place.

I also got to see German Krautrock pioneers Cluster play with Ariel Pink at the historic Brookdale Lodge. Overall, probably the best camping trip I've ever been on. The Santa Cruz Mountains rule.

Yikes -- Odalis Perez had a secret root canal yesterday before he pitched.

http://tinyurl.com/6asun3

If Penny struggles early on again I hope they let Kuo take over the game. He seems to have the Mets number.

Rudy Seanez lives ...

http://tinyurl.com/4ox98n

In 5 of the last 6 games we have scored less than 2 runs and lost all 5 of them. Very depressing.

84 50 Thanks for the info. I'll have to make a point to visit Duarte's Tavern next time we are in the area.

And if anyone here is ever in the Pismo Beach area be sure to check out Splash Cafe for the best clam chowder you will ever have.

87
Who would win in a fight between Jim Gott and Rudy Seanez?

My money's on Ditka.

i'm sure someone's brought it up, but why not go with kuo in the 10th? he's the best pitcher you have left in the pen and he's pitched 1 inning since may 18th.

91 If we can't score any more than 1 run per game we might as will let them beat us in the 10th rather than drag it out and lose in the 15th. In case you can't tell I am really bummed by last nights game.

Pierre is slugging .309

91 maybe he's being saved for the Mets

35 Indiana jon, I am going to the Saturday game in Detroit. I went to all 3 games in both Detroit and Cleveland back in 2003 (?) when the Dodgers won all 6. I really liked Comerica even though there were only 8000 fans there.

95
You were present for the infamous Milton Bradley batting glove flap! Paul LoDuca, playing first base and miked up for Fox, told Bradley that if he kept doing that, someone like (Kevin) "Brownie" would put one in his ear.

Luckily you missed Thom Brennaman's holier than thou reaction.

Speaking of Milton Bradley - Texas is treating him well.

.327/.435/.561/.996

And he's played in 48 of 55 games.

It'll be nice when the team can replace the following two players:

Mark Sweeney:
41 Abs
.098/.208/.122

Chin Hu:
88 Abs
.170/.240/.205

Hu's sample size is starting to worry me. 88Abs is getting up into the range of "maybe he cant hit at this level" type of judgement.

98 Or maybe he's not ready.

I for one really enjoyed watching the pitching in this series. As frustrating as our offense has been, the pitching was a joy to watch.

I don't fault Torre for bringing in Saito last night, but after Broxton fanned his 3rd hitter, I couldn't help but think he needed to come out for the 9th. With the kind of lineup Chicago has and the way Lowe dominated with the sinker/slider, Broxton's crazy velocity seemed like the best counter. I know baseball tradition says to bring in your closer, but can't tradition be flexible enough to adjust to context?

I think Kuo probably is being saved for the Mets, yah. I bet they use him twice! One thing I wasn't clear on is why they didn't bring in Beimel or Proctor though? (Sorry if that was addressed in previous thread...) Park's been fine but I still felt like bringing him in there was the end of things even before they were.

Any news on Furcal?

With the 8-9-1 hitters due up for the Cubs in the 10th, maybe Torre was hoping he could squeeze an inning out of a scrub before using the better pitchers later.

I had no problem with Saito being used last night. He just had a bad game, of which he has not had many.

The only real Torre/pitching problem -- and it's a minor one -- I had in the series was when Chad was pulled having thrown only 83 pitches on Monday. I think Chad had the opportunity to at least pitch into the 8th, but I can understand wanting to pinch hit for him. Like I said, only a minor issue.

I guess that was probably it. At any rate, it wouldn't have mattered if Saito had saved things, and/or if the team had scored more than a single run.

Ah well. The Dodgers need a little more of this to get things going again:
http://tinyurl.com/4x8cby

Although I am very dissapointed in being swept in Chicago, my feelings for the team are a lot different this year. I grasp at the silver lining offered up by Jon as regards the starters and realize that the pen has been mostly up to snuff, apart from the recent blown saves. As regards the front eight, I have't agreed with the handling of the LaRoche situation, but glad that they at least seem on the verge of doing something that they should have done a long time ago in bringing him back up. As I said, I feel a lot closer to the team this year and the increased playing time of the kids. As proof, I have not gone to Dodger Blues even once this year.

98 We at least waited for 144 AB to make that judgement on Konerko.

Heck, LaRoche exceeded that threshold too.

98 Hu will go down when Furcal gets "back." But when LaRoche comes up--it seems to be happening--will it be for Sweeney or Tiffee?

As usual, this site is helping me keep an even keel to some extent. Baseball is inherently streaky, and I had a hunch some of our young guys would have a tough time this first half. I admit to being a little shocked at how little we have gotten out of Jones and Kent, and how injury prone Furcal can seem at times. I thought these guys would have taken some of the pressure off a bunch of guys playing their first or second full years, but it was not to be. The unfortunate opportunity to directly compare Furcal and Pierre as lead off candidates should be instructive to some in the organization.

Tonight will (hopefully) be Doug Collins' final game at TNT. He just got hired to coach the Bulls.

Anyone owning stock in usage of the word "frenetic" is frantically trying to sell this morning.

I'm starting to think this is not a good-hitting team. I propose we trade Hu for Chase Utley, and we could throw in Sweeny.

104

I definitely had no problem with Saito coming in for the 9th. I'm just wondering if Torre would even hesitate based on how Broxton had done in the 8th. And with the crazy unlucky stuff for the Dodgers, if Saito hits the bag with his toe, they win. Of course, I blame our offense, since we had ample opportunities to blow that game wide open.

I wasn't reading the thread last night, but did anyone else thing the ump was squeezing Zambrano?

112 With that kind of nuanced observational skill, have you considered getting a job on Baseball Tonight?

113 - The ump didn't seem to be overly generous, as one (Zambrano in this case) might have expected with a bigtime hurler.

Need help. I'm feeling a strange urge to go over to McCovey Chronicles and expressing my love for their team.

100 . Broxton looked great last night. He did, however, throw 13 pitches in the 8th after throwing 24 pitches in 2/3 of an inning the day before and 24 pitches on May 25. Bringing him out for the 9th wouldn't have been wise.
98 Sweeney needs to be DFA. Yesterday. He's well respected and all, but D. Young should be getting Sweeney's high-leverage late-inning AB's. Hu is obviously not hitting but I think it's a bit early to say he can't hit at the MLB level. He doesn't need to hit like Furcal to be valuable to a team, but he does need to be significantly better than he currently is.

115

It seemed to me that Lowe got a couple of calls on balls coming back across the plate that Carlos was missing. I was just surprised some of our guys did not get rung up a few times on ball 2 or 3.

117

Good point. This is what I get for canceling my satellite tv and going with over the air. Thankfully MLB.TV sent me a free 2 day trial for premium content for yesterday and today. However, this is the week where almost all the games are on KCAL or Fox, so that was useless to me.

119
Make sure that when MLB.com comes for your soul in return, that your affairs are in order.

NL West teams W-L record when playing out of the division:

AZ 10-16
LA 15-17
SF 10-22
CO 13-13
SD 11-20

Overall the NL West is 59-88 outside the division which is a .401 winning percentage.

I think every team in the division has to be disappointed at this point in their teams performance.

The good news is that despite our record we are just 3 1/2 back.

Delwyn Young needs to start at 2nd base if Kent's going to be out.

Playing Maza/Hu/Pierre all in the same lineup is tough.

120 How soon does mlb.tv come for your soul, in your experience?

112

These guys are hitting ok. From MLB.

317 Martin
312 Kemp
307 Ethier
294 DeWitt
276 Pierre
272 Loney

(366 Furcal)
(360 Maza)
(286 Young)

If the ball bounces the Dodgers way rather than the Cubs way, the Dodgers win two of the last three. The Dodgers hitters just need to start having some fun with runners on. They need to quit acting like it's the seventh game of the World Series.

I subscribed to mlb.tv for the last month of the season last year. It worked well and I was really happy with it. I just can't stay up late enough for the whole season to watch enough games for it to be worth it.

122- Or in LF in place of JP.

125 I have mlb.tv this season and I've had 0 complaints so far. It's a sanity-saver for someone living out of the LA area.

123
Let me just put it this way:

Be careful when you open your front door.

124 Maybe on the bounces thing. But mediocre teams require bounces to win games against good teams. Good teams do things like get extra-base hits, including hitting the ball out of the park occassionally, to lessen the reliance on finding holes for ground balls and line drives.

Somehow I picture someone coming into the Dodgers clubhouse and looking at all the injured players and AAAA callups and asking Joe Torre, "Is that all you got?"

"It's WHAT I GOT!"

The DBacks are a good team, and they just lost 2 out of 3 at home to the crummy Giants. That not only gives the Dodgers hope in the standings, it shows that even good teams are both flawed and not slump-proof. The Dodgers will bounce back.

As soon as Furcal's back does and he's back.

{yikes}

123 125 127 I split the subscription with my college kid, and we both watch. Works well. As I said the other day, though, it is dangerously addictive.

130 Good thing my roommate is almost always the one to open our door. I'm sure one soul is enough for mlb.tv, and they don't care whose it is, right? Right?

132

What are the best features?

124 Loney and Pierre are not hitting well right now, they're playing the two most offense oriented positions and OPSing .752 and .654.

Heck, we really don't have anyone exceeding the expected numbers for their position except Martin and DeWitt, and DeWitt is one bad game away from not counting.

Hey, is that GreenCine promo still good for us?

Kemp is also above average, I forgot he was the centerfielder right now.

124
They need to quit acting like it's the seventh game of the World Series

I looked up all games seven in WS history (including a deciding game 8 in 1912), and in the 35 such games, the combined BA with RISP is .226 (123 for 544). No idea what the slash stats are though.

133
When Old Scratch comes knocking for you, he doesn't take the wrong soul.

i can't see how this offense will improve either unless they young guys get better, 1B seems pretty locked up with Loney, it appears a laroche dewitt 2B 3B combo is our future, and we have our 3 OF spots filled, and obviously Martin is our catcher, so the only open spot is SS and Furcal will be the best FA SS this off season.

we really don't have anyone exceeding the expected numbers for their position

So much for the Winning Ways of our $4 million/year manager.

134 I live in Alabama so I don't see the Dodgers on regular TV much. So really, just seeing the game at all is the top feature. No complaints though about picture or sound quality. I watch on my PC by my son has the computer hooked up to his TV so he watches in full size.

65 - there's no "therefore..." You took a cheap shot at a guy who has been playing well, so I just thought I'd add some perspective.

136 Yessir! Act fast!

promo code: dodgerthoughts

tell 'em underdog sent ya! Er, wait, there's no place to tell 'em. Well, they'll know. Enjoy.

---

I've only had 5 complaints with MLBTV this season so far, which is under last year's pace. Good times! Most of them involve silverlight.

Baseball Prospectus ranks the top-hitting pitchers. Brad Penny is 10th.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7588

I will be in the Dodger locker room in a couple of hours working on a story on Blake DeWitt. If anyone has any intelligent, baseball-related questions they would like me to ask any intelligent, baseball-related people, let me know. I'll probably also file something for ESPN the Mag's website and maybe for the K Brothers on LAT.com

The batting avg's of all the young players is something to feel good about, but where is the slugger in this crew? We are still the same anemic team of the past years? Who is going to be our menacing RBI guy? Kemp seemed to show potential, and maybe he'll be a 40/120+ guy some day, but his power hasn't really been there so far? Looks like a trip to the free agent market again this winter for a slugger.

146 Can he make the move to 2nd base next season if not this, to make room for Andy LaRoche? Do they see him tailing off this season?

111

Free at last! Free at last!!

I think Doug Collins is a very good analyst, but he talks way, way too much. I'm glad he gets another shot to coach his old team.

146
Will be interested if you have any Minotaur sightings.

1. Are pitchers beginning to change their pitch selection and location during your at bats and how are you adjusting to that?

2. What is the most difficult aspect of playing second base (if he was to move there)?

149 I like Doug Collins, Hubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy as analysts. IMO its nice to hear a coaches' perspective.

146 Yeah. Something involving Blake DeWitt and 2nd base. Or Delwyn.

151
I kind of wish Doc Rivers would get fired because I loved him as an analyst. But I'd also like to see Phil Jackson match wits with Doc starting next week.

146 Ask Saito or Kuroda how the fans here are different/the same vs Japan.

Tell Saito nobody expects perfection.

151 I like Jeff Van Gundy the best. I feel like Doug Collins and Hubie Brown can over-analyze/talk too much. Jeff has a good sense of humor as a commentator.

146 If you could ask Matt Kemp/Mike Easler about what Matt is working on so far this season?

155 Van Gundy has the best sense of humor.

I always thought Riley did a good job, Phil Jackson would be pretty good too.

153 Hopefully Doc Rivers is not Sicillian.

146 The 2B/3B question of course, but also, how has Torre made a difference this year, if at all? Has the emphasis on working the count been an easy or difficult transition?

156

Seems like patience, just based on observation.

Kemp only has one less walk than he had all of last year, in around double the ABS.

146 If there are any management types, do they think the Jones contract is a loss at this point, or do they think that once his series of ailments is over he'll bounce back?

I would like to note that it was very polite of the Dodgers to play a game on the East Coast on the night of the "Lost" season finale.

146 Can someone leave me tickets for tonight's game? :)

146 If Clayton is available, could you ask him what he thinks of "The Minotaur" as a nickname (with the origin story of course)?

Thanks by the way.

It was the bottom of the 10th inning when I turned the game on last night (great timing, eh). Looking over the play log from the game, the only thing I would question about Torre's management was 1) letting Lowe bat in the 7th inning with a runner on 3rd base, and 2) Using CHP in the 10th inning instead of Guo or Beimel. I think you have to manage to win the game at hand. Guo has been one of the Dodgers top couple of pitchers so far this year (Chad, Guo, ?) and saving him for possible mop up duty isn't exactly the most efficient usage out of one of your best pitchers.

The Dodgers were 1 for 14, with a walk, hbp and ROE in their above average leverage index plate appearances. Maza's leadoff single in the 10th was the only hit. The Cubs were 6 for 22 in the same situation and were 2 for 4, with two walks and a sac-fly when the leverage index was above 3 (very high leverage situations). Lowe pitched well, too bad Saito, Park and the offense let the Dodgers down last night.

The abyss was 1 for 16 with a walk. The rest of the team was 6 for 19. This team needs Furcal and possibly DeWitt/LaRoche both in the infield at the same time.

vr, Xei

Oh thank Ch-i. A camera lens of mine is getting repaired under warranty. It ought to be, but I was a little afraid it wouldn't be covered for one reason another.

Phew. Okay back to work...

164 The Lowe at bat was in the 6th inning.

166. then never mind. :)
vr, Xei

166. FanGraphs has it listed in the 7th inning.

http://www.fangraphs.com/plays.aspx?date=2008-05-28&team=Cubs&dh=0

vr, Xei

Random question, but do any of you have smartphones (or any phone with Internet connectivity)? What do you have, and do you recommend it?

169 I just have an LG ENV2, it has a keyboard with Verizon Wireless connection.

I have seen the I-phone and Blackberries and I believe for browser capabilities, you would want those, mind is find for checking e-mail, looking up stories but not browsing the net.

169
I have a Treo 700w, and I like it but the internet browsing is spotty. It takes a while for long DT threads to load, for instance. I've seen the iPhone (Branch Rickey at last year's DT game) and it has a much better browsing capability.

I have a BlackBerry. It's what I use in place of human contact.

172 I'll verify that, I have sat next to Bob at Dodger games and its a tie between the number of conversations we have vs. the ones he has on his blackberry. :)

171 I can't even load DT threads, so there. But then, I don't have a smart phone.

My phone doesn't even have a camera on it

I don't like people. They keep asking you to do stuff.

Like talk to them.

Carlos Santana gets love from Kevin Goldstein in his premium NL West Minors rundown on Baseball Prospectus.

My phone used to be able to access the internet. For some reason I can't get into the network anymore. I don't know why. I think I should be allowed. Perhaps this is the first phase of mlb.tv's soul-stealing.

Is it possible Beimel is hurt? Wasn't there a situation Tuesday night that people thought he would come in but didn't?

170 When the 3G-capable iPhone comes out, I don't know if I'll be able to resist. Too bad I'm on a Verizon family plan (I just re-upped my parents for 2 years last Christmas).

172 Which Blackberry do you have?

146
Molly, I would like to know the following, if possible:

What is the realistic timetable for Schmidt's return to the big club? And what does Schmidt need to show (velocity, throwing on the side without pain, recovering from a start, etc) in order to be called up?

176 Phone rings at the Los Angeles Public Library.

Caller: Hello, is this library?
Bob: No, but I work at one.
Caller: Do you carry back issues of Life Magazine?
Bob: We have them of (microfiche, microfilm, etc.)
Caller: You don't have the actual magazines?
Bob: No, we just have them on film.
Caller: Okay, thanks.

180
I call my BlackBerry "Mom."

No, seriously, it's an 8830. I actually got a "World Edition" because I was going to head to Europe and I was able to convert it so I could read Dodger Thoughts while in Vienna.

That's not nearly as interesting as it sounds though.

181 One thing to note, he can only stay on the rehab assignment until June 10th, he can stay on the DL past then but he will not be able to pitch in the minors anymore.

182
We have Life magazine in paper though.

142
I live in Alabama

I thought you lived in Virginia...

185 When you talk to people, you can point out how they're wrong and you're right. Isn't that fun?

187
No, that doesn't sound much fun at all.

186 Grew up in Virginia, in Alabama since 2000.

169 Here's another vote for the Blackberry 8830. Love it. And you can get MLB Gameday on it. :)

184
Where do you get the June 10 date from? Does he get 30 days maximum for his rehab (as opposed to 20 for a position player)? Did he start his rehab assignment on May 12?

Just wondering.

The Mets still have that extreme split they've had the last few years -- .784 OPS against righties, .703 against lefties -- so maybe Kuo and Beimel are both being saved for heavy use vs. NY.

179 I was wondering/worried about that, too. But it seems like generally we've found out if someone's ailing in some way that keeps them from coming in, so I'd be surprised. Maybe he was under the weather? Hopefully he's fine. We'll need him in NY.

Oh, and re PhoneThoughts, I have a Sony Ericsson phone, which is just fine overall but not super well equipped for web browsing. I do have a special contract (pay $10 more a month) to use 'net unlimited, but I only do it briefly. The browser is okay but not great. If you really think you'll be web browsing on your phone a lot, then an iPhone would be way to go, imho. But to check sports scores, bus arrival ETA, email, my phone's fine.

Bob (or anyone else), have you read Peter Schilling's The End of Baseball (a novel) yet? Came out recently. Heard great things. It's on my shopping list but haven't decided if it's worth buying yet. Waiting for my local library to get it.

189
Oh yeah.

188 You earn the respect you command.

I just got the Sprint Mogul which they claim is on the fastest 3G network available in the U.S. (EVDO-rev A). I'm getting 815 kbps. It can load full html pages but I still prefer the mobile/wap versions. There are other browser options that can mimic the iPhone navigation.

191 The transactions list shows May 11th start date.

Nate and Canuck

Another reason the Dodgers might pick Melville if available, according to an article on the BA Premium site, his family is letting it known that he expects to be paid in 10-15 draft pick range. The Dodgers pick 15th so he should fit nicely there.

Keith Law said in today's chat on ESPN that Hicks is backing off his stance on not being drafted solely as a pitcher.

194
People write fiction?

197 I've heard Sprint is on the verge of collapsing. True? False?

193 Sony Ericsson's on the verge of releasing the X1 Xperia, which looks nice, but also looks like it might cost $800 or so. Ouch.

200 2001 Two consecutive comments using "verge of." Hmm.

200 Hmm they didn't mention that at the Sprint store. I read the Nextel acquisition was a fiasco. Maybe they'll get acquired.

I will say the signal strength is top notch- even in those hard to reach spots. And the unlimited data plan is a cheap $15/mo.

200

That would be awesome for me. iPhone here I come.

Although my Sprint experience has been fantastic.

You can't kill Sprint. It's like a zombie, except that instead of eating brains, it eats souls AND brains.

205 Does Sprint work with mlb.tv?

199 Sigh.

206- Shhh! They're listening. . .

208 You trailed off there. Are you okay? Have they gotten to you? Hold on I hear someone knocking at the door. I'll be right back...

169 I bought an Iphone back in December and it is the best cell phone I have ever used. It works great for browsing web and more and more sites are developing sites strictly for the Iphone. I would highly recommend if you have AT&T, although I would wait until next month when the 3G version comes out.

Can somebody put Juan Pierre's current Isolated power of 33 into historical perspective? I believe it would be on the verge of historically awful.

203 There was a rumor that T-Mobile would acquire Sprint. That might not be the smartest idea, though.

Sprint/Nextel stock was $24 / share a year ago, went down to about $5 and is up around $9 now.

I dropped my Sprint service and switched to Verizon because I had no service with Sprint in too many places. Verizon has been much better.

211 Juan Pierre used to hit the occasional home run. And not the inside-the-park variety. The real ones. Does anybody think he'll ever hit one during his tenure with the Dodgers?

214
I believe JP's career Dodger HR total will be 0.

210 I had friends with the blackberry and iphone...after seeing alot of both I went with the blackberry and couldn't be happier with it..the bbm is a great feature, but I'm a college kid so maybe it wouldnt be as important to others..

anyway tonight will suck, my internship requires me to work at this dirty harry dvd release party thing from about 4-10 or so

so bye bye Dodgers, Lakers, Bruins, boy would I kill for a portable radio.

215
Although maybe if he does hit one, and only one, we can all look upon it fondly much like Duane Kuiper's lone wallscraper off Steve Stone.

214 tenure with the Dodgers sounds way too much like ten years with the Dodgers.

214--Has anyone seen Pierre hit a home run in batting practice?

214

I just don't see him making enough solid contact. Most of his swings are of the slapping/pushing variety where it looks like he is trying put a hard ground ball through the hole or a line drive over the shortstop's head. Just my observation

216 What is the bbm feature? I had a Blackberry Pearl before the Iphone, and kept having problems with the trackball, that's pretty much why I bought the Iphone in the 1st place. I have seen pictures of the new touchscreen Blackberry that looks pretty cool.

216 Hah. That's funny. WB just sent me that Dirty Harry set last Friday to review. I've only watched "The Enforcer" so far, which has not aged well, at all. But I've seen the first two DH films fairly recently so I know those ones still rock. But man, I don't know how much Harry Callahan I can take.

219 He really does just practice going the other way the one time I saw him.

So this elderly teacher (really nice lady) rear ended my car a few weeks back & her insurance company is calling me to see what kind of rental call I would like while the car is in the shop, I could have gone for the Acura TLS or something similar but I opted for the Hybrid Prius I don't know but I wanna see how much gas those cars really save & if it turns out they really are what the're cracked up to be I might just buy one.

221 its basically like the ability to I.M. anyone else that has a blackberry at anytime..you start a conversation and it pops up instantly like as if you were "I.Ming" someone. You can hold multiple conversations at once and go through conversations with your contacts like its a buddy list on your computer screen.

222 "I know what you're thinking. "Did he make six Dirty Harry movies or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as you watched the one with Tyne Daley, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

221

I've heard some really cool things about the newest version of the iphone coming in june, so basically I'm on wait & see mode.

Sprint uses a different network than T-mobile (CDMA vs. GSM). Verizon is the other big CDMA player.

The only customer service agent I've ever yelled at over the phone was a Sprint PCS one, nine years ago. And he ended up crediting my account! Really freaked out my parents--it was a good fifty minutes of shouting and holding (probably five to one holding).

222 I just saw both of those DVDs in a box we are taking down to the event, I also get to hand out choclate guns, and handcuff key chains...much better than watching sports all day..

iPhone line forms at Apple's flagship for absolutely no reason

http://tinyurl.com/493s48

228 True. That might change a bit, since Verizon started it's little LTE experiment.

The only customer service agent I've ever yelled at over the phone was a Sprint PCS one, nine years ago. And he ended up crediting my account! Really freaked out my parents

Surprised they could hear you down there...

that apple cube store in Manhattan is incredibly cool.

Does anyone think Tony Abreu will ever be able to come back and live up to his potential, hes like 24 right?

And I thought the Dodgers had a bad night.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280528107

211
IsoP on this year's team, even
Hu 35
D Young 35
Pierre 33
Sweeney 24

Pierre has average power for a 2008 LA Dodger.

Pierre has average power for a 2008 LA Dodger

Team SLG: .383
Pierre SLG: .309

Team IsoP: 115
Pierre IsoP: 33

234 I think Abreu is living up to his potential right now. Zero is kind of the best you can hope for, with a significant chance of negative value.
Also having their best possible year this year are Jason Schmidt and Nomar Garciaparra.

236 I don't know much about IsoP but Pierre has 5 doubles, no triples and no home runs. How can that be average power?

The "May Madness" bracket is up at Baseball America, where you can enter your picks for the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/postseason/bracket-challenge/2008/

I've got Miami, USC (no, not that one), Fullerton, Okie St., North Carolina, Irvine, Texas, and San Diego heading to Omaha.

236 the IsoP # at 33 is based on what...100 at bats? I thought it was a calculation of extra bases per some certain # of plate appearances.

Dodgers are last in the NL in hitting home runs: 33

The Phillies lead the NL (and MLB) with 79 Hrs.

Dodgers rank 28th (out of 30) teams in baseball in home runs.

I think having a 26-26 record should be seen as an accomplishment for a team that has as little amount of HR power as the Dodgers have.

235 Somehow K.C. managed to blow a five-run lead in the ninth without their closer ever entering the game.

isnt IsoP extra bases per plate appearances. Does Pierre average 33 extra bases per 100 at bats? I dont really get isop either

this maybe a dumb question, but if dodger stadium was petco would the dodgers probably have a better record this year (at the end of the year i mean)

242
It helps to have the 7th highest OBP in the MLB.

Isolated Power is an extremely easy calculation. It's just slugging percentage minus batting average. (In other words, all it does is remove the singles from slugging percentage.)

My comments in this thread are obviously not to be taken literally, but just an expression of today's overwhelming negativity.

243
Soria was out for the game after throwing a lot of pitches the day before.

I will no longer comment on Jose Guillen. I have been told it is not ethically right.

so whats an average team IsoP/ individual IsoP

IsoP of 33 is really 0.033. In other words 3.3% or 3.3 extra bases per 100 at-bats. That is indeed what it means.
5 extra bases for Pierre in 152 AB.

I never said picking on Jose Guillen was out of bounds. It's just that people who cross Mike Scioscia seem to inevitably wend their way into your bad graces. Frank Robinson, Jose Guillen...

251 ah then yes, that is quite terrible

250
2008

AL IsoP: 138
NL IsoP: 150

CodyS, please see Guideline No. 6 at the bottom of the sidebar.

249 Has anyone mentioned the Guillen in Detroit? Jim Leyland is unintentionally hilarious.

252
But I don't get as mad as you do nearly as often and when I do, you tell me it's off base.

The league isoP rates this year are .137 in the AL and .150 in the NL.

To steal a line from the late, great Billy Martin (although he was describing the Angels when he said it)- "The Dodgers could take batting practice in their hotel lobby and not break anything".

245 - not a dumb question. It's possible. I think the elimination of all the foul territory a few years ago was a bad thing for the Dodgers long term (helps the bottom line, hurts the product on the field).

I think if Dodger Stadium still had all the foul territory it use to, it would play a lot like Petco (which would be a good thing). Elevation is basically the same (sea level), and humidity issues are fairly close (San Diego might be a bit higher, but I don't think by much).

Pierre is a hard guy to pick on as "the problem" right now though. He's doing his job. .345 OBP & 19 steals through 1/3 of a season. You can in someway consider single + steal = to a double. Except in it's effect in driving in runs obviously. But Pierre has actually driven in 17 runs already (with clutch hitting!)
With runners on base, Pierre has a .900 OPS, and with RISP, it's .975.

257 Again, I never said anything of the sort... just noted the curiosity.

And I think it goes without saying that when I get mad, it's off base. That, or it's about players who are off base too much.

But I don't get as mad as you do nearly as often and when I do, you tell me it's off base

Your Blackberry is always there for you...

"You can in someway consider single + steal = to a double. Except in it's effect in driving in runs obviously."

That's a very, very, very large exception. The main value of a double is in driving in runs. A single and a steal is in no way comparable to a double, unless you're Juan Pierre's or Scott Podsednik's agent.

263
Sometimes the battery runs out.

Then I'm sad.

Or I lash out at Jose Guillen.

12
Yes!!! My Edwin Jackson jersey with no name on the back becomes relevant again.

261 Pierre is a corner outfielder with a .650 OPS, he's a huge part of the problem.

CBS is brilliant. They are having Gus Johnson commentate for MMA matches.

267 but Steiner said he's having a great year?..

268 thats maybe the best thing ive ever heard, I may need to actually watch some of that garbage

I've come to a sudden realization. This team is not really flawed. It just needs time to develop. I think a lot of us around here had expectations set way too high for a team as young as this (whether we want to admit it or not, a lot of us figured if we got the PVL out of the way, this team would be a championship contender for the foreseeable future). And I think the addition of Torre (and probably Jones) fueled the fire in the general public that this team was ready to join the elite group of teams that are always playing in October.

They will get there, and I am confident that they will get there multiple times. But it isn't going to happen over night.

We knew Kent was liable to fall of the cliff, the bright side is that he is done (at least as a Dodger) in approximately 110 games. We also know what we have in Pierre, and I'm not going to rehash that. Otherwise, everyone is doing what a player at their age/experience should be doing.

The average OPS this year for a left fielder is .790. Even when Pierre was at his absolute hottest this year, he never got above .780. He's been a gigantic problem all year, even when he was on fire. "On fire" for Juan Pierre is still below average for a normal major league player.

264 - not if you're leading off an inning (which Pierre does at least once a game at the moment).

268 - I know some guys working with Elite XC, they seem to know what they're doing more than UFC.

Sometimes the battery runs out

And the abandonment issues flare up...

242 "Power" isn't necessarily the HR. The relevant portions of the scoring line from my Lion'sHeadMeatballs versus Bulgogi Part Deux head-to-head matchup last week in Yahoo's Chinese Foods league:

CAT-LHM/BPD:

R-52/42
H-92/91
HR-2/14
RBI-32/55
BB-49/19
K-47/48
AVG-.315/.293
OPS-.852/.809
XBH-30/29

As you can see, you can OPS at .852 and win that battle despite getting out-homered 14-2. All you need do is hit for AVG, and 2B and BB a truckload.

To give the kudos to those who did the feat, the LHM:

C-Navarro
1B-Helton
2B-Escobar
3B-Jones
SS-Rollins
CI-Pena
MI-Guzman
IF-Iwamura
LF-Crawford
CF-Rios
RF-Bradley
OF-McClouth
Util-Cust
Bench-Kemp

154 - "Tell Saito nobody expects perfection". I don't think that would go over too well, as he is likely to expect perfection in himself. Perhaps better to tell him to wear bigger shoes.

271 Like Dodger management and Jeff Kent, I think I've been unwilling to consider the magic word: rebuilding. It doesn't exactly fit. But with the old guard steadily making its way to the DL or DFA-land, the Jones experiment so far big belly up, and the kids finally getting a chance to play in increasing numbers, "rebuilding" actually works pretty well. At least it helped me sleep last night.

277 - I think rebuilding implies recent success. I'd call what the Dodgers are doing "building". As they say, Rome was not build in a day.

273 "not if you're leading off an inning (which Pierre does at least once a game at the moment)."

Ugh. More mythmaking. Do you know how many times this year Juan Pierre has singled to lead off an inning and then stolen second? Once. He did it against the Braves on April 20, and that's it. Once.

Pierre has led off an inning 51 times (which is less than once a game, by the way) and has batted .136 in those situations.

267 It would be nice if we had Lance Berkman instead of Juan Pierre. Of course we would have won an extra couple games if that were the case. That not being the case, and that not being possible to make the case, I focus on: given this roster, why are we a .500 team instead of a .550 team as expected?

The answer I am really hoping is true is that we are a .550 team that has happened to play .500 ball through 52 games. There is mathematically a 28% chance that a "true" .550 team plays .500 through 52 games.

The other nice idea I have in my head is that our 'true' probability of winning of course goes up and down depending largely on the active roster. With Kershaw here, Jones out, and Furcal hopefully about to come back strong, we really ought to start picking it up. Further, when Jones does come back, he almost has to be better than he has thusfar shown.

Alternately, we had unrealistic expectations for this year.

278 Fair enough--either way, it's the proper course.

Hey, I predicted 74 wins! I figured I had a 25% chance of being within 5 wins.

271 I think a lot of us around here had expectations set way too high for a team as young as this

Are you trying to tell me that my prediction of 97 wins was off base and is no longer within reach?

Mark Texeira went 2 for 4 with a HR and 4 RBI today in Milwaukee.

We're in for a long night of Loney-bashing.

I stand by my prediction of 87ish wins. I can't remember the exact number, but I stand by it (or the general vicinity of it) nonetheless.

People will start hitting home runs. Andy LaRoche and Clayton Kershaw will give us a boost.

284 Loney is so bad he doesn't even have a nickname.

280 I'm not sure what Lance Berkman has to do with anything, other than obscuring the issue.

But the fact is that the Dodgers, all season, have had a left fielder on the roster who hits much better than Juan Pierre. And who has started all of one game. So yeah, left field is a position you need to look at when trying to understand why the Dodgers can't score runs. In fact, it's the position you need to look at.

I know to some this will seem like re-opening old wounds, but the idea that Juan Pierre is a good baseball player who has played well this year seems to inexplicably be gaining ground again. It's as false as the Hitler Diaries.

279 - my point was only that a double with no one on is basically the same as a single followed by a stolen base (there is a difference in that it requires the next batter to take a pitch).

I was talking about the relative value of a double in certain situations. I should have been more clear.

How many times Pierre has singled and stolen second to lead off an inning (or for that matter with no one on base) is, quite simply, irrelevant to the point.

288 OK, fair enough.

Dodgers NEED the equivalent of a Pau Gasol trade.

283 - I'm not saying that 97 wins is outside the realm of possibilities, but it's probably on the edge of the realm of probability at this point.

Then again, anything can happen, that's why the play the game, as they say.

the biggest problem with expectations, and the frustration with losing this year, is that our pitching is so equipped to win, but the hitting is just off...I still have hope for when raffy comes back full strength, if/when laroche gets called up, and maybe some miracle where juan pierre no longer plays..

I say we give Pierre and Jones (plus a number of dollar bills equal to the remaining value of their contracts) to a team.

Is anyone else watching the Nats/Pads game?(probably not)

Does anyone know if that is Paul Lo Duca broadcasting for the Nats?!(on mlb.tv)

290 That's trading Jones and/or Pierre for Lance Berkman.

280 We're playing like this because our backups for our backups are getting injured, leaving us with guys who have no buisness being in the majors on the roster.

293 - can we get Nate McLouth in return? That's the closest I can figure to being the equivalent of a Pau Gasol trade.

Why are people talking like the season is over? It is not even June yet.

293 Why not just designate them for assignment then?

And I'll grant you that JP is the worst leftfielder in the game but Loney, Dewitt and to some degree Kemp have been slumping recently too.

can we get Nate McLouth in return?

Getting something in return? Interesting...I hadn't considered that...

298 - I think another point is that we tend to look at the Dodgers in a vaccum. Arizona has come back to earth. Several contending teams are having problems. Dodgers still need to improve their play, but to be within 3 1/2 games of the division lead while getting nothing from second base and center field, with reinforcements on the way in Kershaw and LaRoche, with room for improvement at several positions ... I don't think this is a time to sell on JDS Uniphase.

Why are people talking like the season is over?

I think we have a very good chance of winning the division. The wild card seems unlikely, but there's no reason we can't surpass the DBacks.

301 Don't forget a black hole at SS which basically ensured Pierre playing everday with struggling shortstop offense.

When LaRoche gets called up, we will have pretty much all the young guys we wanted getting playing time.

Kershaw's already up and DeWitt is still producing. This is the team we wanted for the last couple years.

303 - Since we got over-the-top play from Furcal while he was healthy, I was calling that a draw. That's also going to be one of the hardest positions to improve, unless Hu gets his act together in Vegas. Conte says Furcal won't be 100 percent until the end of the season, though of course he'll play before then.

But what you say is true.

The season is nowhere near over. Remember, last year's NL champion was in fourth place on September 18.

I wonder what it must feel like to be Mark Sweeney. He doesn't seem like a dummy, so he must realize that he won't be on the team a week from now. It's gotta be difficult to focus on going out there and helping the team win when he knows he won't be part of whatever the team achieves in the end.

264 - As you say, that is a big exception and not wanting to enter into the value of an SB debate here, but being a Wills' era Dodger fan, in terms of producing runs or, rather run scoring opportunities, we always considered a single and a stolen base as being comparable to a double.

What can "JDS" stand for in this scenario? Join Dodger Stadium? Juan Doesn't Slug? Jones Devours Gravy?

305 Furcal's OPS at the time of his injury - 1.045

Pierre and Hu's combined OPS in May 2008 - 1.047

309
Ignore that last one. SGravy, maybe?

Kershaw = #22

Sounds like he wants to Be (Almost) Like Mike.

219 In April in Cincinnati, I saw Pierre hit on in BP that hit the top of the wall. I was convinced it would go over, and my Reds-fan friend got a big kick out of my reaction.

SGravy is not my Padre.

Kershaw actually wore #23 in high school.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/06-06/0622kershaw.jpg

We should sign Va Tech's softball pitcher. I saw her over the weekend and she's good.

She had 26 strike outs in a game!

She had 26 strike outs in a game!

If she can make people miss that big ball, just think of how effective she'd be with a smaller one...!

307 He could call up Olmedo to commiserate, and rehash ol' times over a brewski.

317 - can a riser work when pitching from the mound?

Actually, I remember years ago, Mark and Brian (when I use to listen to them) had Piazza and Karros on with a girls fast pitch softball team (I forget what age they were) and Karros and Piazza couldn't catch up with the pitches.

I love days when I come here and I'm one of the more positive people! That doesn't happen to me in my life very often. From my perspective the season is going fine. We have a lot of young guys on the roster and most of them are getting consistent playing time for the first full year of their major league career. They will only get better. We need to make a couple minor adjustments (Laroche for Dewitt) and need to get some guys healthy (Kent, Jones, Furcal), but we are going to be just fine. I'm actually real excited about Jones getting the surgery. There's nothing to explain why he all the sudden got bad last year except for injury. I expect him to come back and be an above average CF again. Kent will hit too. I know he's old, but he can still outhit anyone else we have to play 2nd, including Dewitt. I see Furcal's injury as a long term blessing too. Without it, we would have resigned him for a ridiculous amount of money. Hopefully now we will just let him go and use that money to lock up some of these young guys like we should. It's all going well. We are only 3.5 out of first and we've been horrible at times. What's not to like?

They are throwing the equivelant of over 100, so it doesn't surprise me.

317 Are there any positions on a major league baseball team that a gifted female athlete could play competitively at the major league level?

What's the upper limit for a woman throwing a fastball? Do we know, as a matter of kinesiology, that it's less than a man's? How about batting? Maybe a female equivalent of Adam Dunn is unlikely, but how about a Rod Carew type?

Will we ever see women in professional baseball?

320 - Here, here!

311 I'm still trying to figure out what MMA is.

322 - second base, short stop, maybe? Definitely middle relief.

#1 Florida lost its first game in the Women's CWS, 3-2, to Louisiana Lafayette.

MMA = Mixed Martial Arts

Will we ever see women in professional baseball?

Not as long as there's no crying in baseball...

322 We already have seen women in professional baseball. Several of them. Google "Ila Borders" and "Toni Stone."

I tend to think that if a woman were to make the major leagues, she would be either (a) a pitcher, or (b) a light-hitting, speedy middle infielder. As it happens, Ila Borders was (a), and Toni Stone was (b). A pitcher need not have any otherworldly physical attributes, particularly if they throw a knuckleball.

Look at Juan Pierre. Sorry if it seems like this is Eric-picks-on-Juan day, but hey, you asked, and Pierre's exisitence is the best evidence we have that a woman could play major league baseball. He doesn't have any physical characteristics that a female player couldn't have. He doesn't have a powerful throwing arm, he's not crazy-strong, he doesn't hit for power. He's fast, but no faster than lots of world-class female athletes. If Juan Pierre can carve a career for himself in a high-offense era, there's no reason an outstanding female player couldn't do the same.

328 - "Pierre's exisitence is the best evidence we have that a woman could play major league baseball."

This made me laugh, despite myself. You actually make a fun point.

322 My father-in-law is determined to make my soon-to-be-born daughter the first female knuckleballer in the bigs. Tried with my wife, she wasn't interested.

Pierre's exisitence is the best evidence we have that a woman could play major league baseball.

I can't help but LOL at that.

331 too slow.

Perhaps Pierre actually IS a woman. That would spice up the season.

I'm one of the more cynical Dodger fans alive, and I'm still hopeful about the guys on the field. We can definitely pull it together. We were two Loney foul balls away from winning the first two games in Chicago.

My concern is that management doesn't see the team as well, or as wisely, as the people on this site.

328 He doesn't have any physical characteristics that a female player couldn't have.

Ummm...

334 Yeah that one's a bit of a low blow.

328 For a real life comparison what about Mia Hamm? Did you see her in the World Cup? I would put her physical abilities equal to Pierre and if she practiced hitting a baseball growing up as much as she practiced kicking a soccerball I think she could be just as good. Plus she and Nomar probably file joint taxes so maybe we could use some of the salary that is going to him and get someone on the field for it.

Whatever happened to the Silver bullets?

Tonight's lineup:

Pierre, LF
Ethier, RF
Martin, C
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Kemp, CF
DeWitt, 3B
Maza, SS
Penny, P

337 They didn't make enough money and went out of business.

336-- You could make that argument for any female professional athlete.

When will Pee Wee get a start at 2B?

I'm actually surprised we haven't seen a female umpire at the major league level yet.

340 I totally agree, Mia is just the only one who is indirectly being paid by the Dodgers at the moment, to my knowledge. Although Ethier's wife is a gymnast right? Anyone see him play catch with her before?

Pierre's exisitence is the best evidence we have that a woman could play major league baseball.

I get what you're saying, but hey! That's not nice!

336 We have now reached new lows on the Pierre insults!

With Kershaw now switching to 22, who is your favorite all-time number 22 on the Dodgers? I have to go with left fielder, Bill Buckner.

345--I was going to say something similar, along the lines of Big Momma's House, but that would have been racist. Glad you beat me to it!

If there is a woman out there who is fast, competent with the glove, and has an excellent eye with a tiny strike zone, we would see a new prototype.

346 Perhaps I should have qualified that statement by saying that both Pierre's and Mia's physical abilities far outway my own and it was more an exploration of using the salary that goes to Nomar than it was a knock on Pierre

347 How many 22. Caliber references will we now be subjected to?

345 Yikes...

338 Sad when one is excited to see Kent back in the line-up, but there we go.

316 As a Hokie as well as a Dodger fan, I humbly endorse Angela Tincher as the Jackie Robinson of her era. This year, so far, she has 651 K's--an average of 14 per game--and a 0.62 ERA. At least she should marry Kershaw and create a race of uber-hurlers.

Tony Jackson's latest post should not be read while eating lunch.

I'm actually getting a good feeling about this lineup, having Hu out and maza batting 8th makes me feel more comfortable, especially with Penny batting behind him.

As for pitching, we need some vintage penny tonight.

And besides Slappy, we don't have a good nickname for juan pierre, why not Mia Hamm??

354 Read the first sentence. Then clicked "close tab."

356 as I wrote that I realized that was a bit disrespectful toward Mia and I apologize

Since Mia Hamm was brought up, I thought I'd mention that the US women's national team would scrimmage against a men's team.

But they couldn't keep up with any team older than the U-17 team. All the other teams were too fast for them.

Trashcan karma alert!

So, it sounds like we agree, there are MLB positions, women could take.

So, when's this going to happen? We've gone all over the world to find top players. Is it time to go into the women's locker room?

(Consciously imitating Carrie Bradshaw in honor of the opening of Sex and the City, which my wife and her sister are attending tomorrow.)

And echoing Tony Jackson's post, my shower drain is being snaked as we speak! This means a shower for me is imminent!

362 - Are they putting in a garbage disposal?

321

And their bats are about 19oz

363 I still use plug in the wall cable : (

I've felt that if you have to phrase something in a way so that it won't offend somebody, you're better off not saying it at all.

Jose Guillen agrees.

[ducks]

So is the person who made the 1,000,000 comment on BaseballToaster.com getting a coupon for tacos at Jack N the Box?

369 - What'd they do to deserve such punishment?

369.
I beleive it was a Yankeee fan in San Francisco.

double whammy!

I love how 371 unintentionally answered 370.

370
Are you suggesting that Jack N the Box tacos are not authentic and of the highest quality?

NPUT

373 - :-/

375
>>Toilet Pump Loaded Aboard Shuttle
MSNBC News

From Russia, A toilet pump was loaded into the space shuttle Discovery on Thursday just in time for this weekend's liftoff to the international space station, where the lone commode is acting up.<<

Perhaps this expains the recent discourse here, I've only been visiting since last October, but haven't seen anything so weak on this site before.