370 The monster tacos are really good in my opinion. Apparently they have a chicken monster taco, could this glorious news be true?

I enjoyed the Blue Heaven blog entry a week or so ago where they documented the game between the Chinese Natl team against the semi-pro team from Long Beach.
vr, Xei

346

from last thread.

I don't necessarily think that is an insult to Pierre to say he could be comparable to an athletic woman.

3 I was saying it was insult to Mia, to compare her to Juan Pierre. Mia is a stud athlete, the face of her sport, and a leader for her country.

5 - Hamm '08!

6
She's finally old enough to serve as president.

Actually, she qualified last year.

Wow that picture of wrigley field in Los Angeles is incredible, I had no idea that existed. It also lead me to find out there was a Gilmore stadium in the Hollywood area. I never knew so many old stadia existed in Los Angeles

8 - Bob is now weeping.

the Pictures were very very nice (Wrigley in L.A. & the big A)

Looking at the standings I'm amazed we're still in this thing...

I'm sorry, the tears had shorted out my computer for a while.

Kershaw and Schmidt going to take turns in the 5th spot? Is that how it'll work?

Todays line up:

Pierre, LF

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

DeWitt, 3B

Maza, SS

Penny, P

https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/922790.html

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics33/00051072.jpg

Every day I look forward to seeing the lineup, as if it might contain something different.

13
Assuming Schmidt is healthy, I would imagine a lot will depend on Kershaw's performance tomorrow and June 4, at least.

16 You mean, someone "Young"?

14
I think that this is the best lineup that the Dodgers can muster. Especially with the guy batting 9th. Wouldn't it be ironic if Penny gets the Dodgers first extra base hit in what seems like an eternity?

Anybody know what's the pitch count for Kershaw? I don't wanna seem paranoid but we should really monitor this as a DT whole, I also feel that building up the arm streagh for this very very young pitcher should be paramount to the Dodger brain trust.

He's 20 years old for crying out loud!

15 that 60,000 plan for wrigley is one of the coolest things i've ever seen

Ya Blue Heaven is one of my favorites too. He always has cool links to old Brooklyn Dodger things, funny old dancing Dodger clips and auctions and what not. I've never bought anything, but it's fun to look at. Thanks for putting his site back on the side, by the way.

20 - I think it's 100. I'd be surprised if you saw him break 110 at any point this season. And you might see him skipped at some point.

But if he's the second coming, everyone needs to be on their guard.

19
Wouldn't it be ironic if Penny gets the Dodgers first extra base hit in what seems like an eternity?

It actually hasn't been that long, only two games (not three). The club had three doubles on Monday.

From previous thread the GEICO ad is Mrs Butterworth, not Aunt Jemima. Keep your slavery era, sterotypical, breakfast related women straight.

I keep hoping DREAMING one of our young studs is gonna have a BIG GAME, you know the kind I'm talking about...

Last night Big Z threw 130 pitches against us, the most by any pitcher in the majors this year. (Tied with Lester's no-hitter.)

I'm in a bit of a pickle this evening. I'm going to a dinner party then watching Lost at the same house. I will probably leave around 6:15, and dinner is roughly at 7pm.

I am recording the Laker game, with plans to watch it starting at 11:30 tonight, which means I basically have to turn off my cell phone for a few hours. It won't be a problem avoiding the Laker game at the party.

I could listen to the game on my drive to said dinner party, but I really want to see the game. Also, I will probably use the driving time to listen to the end of tonight's 8-3 Dodger win (alas no t-shirt guarantee).

RIP Harvey Korman.

26

#7 is a streaky hitter, now is a great time for him to go on a hot streak. If Loney and Kemp both get it going, we won't be hearing much about lack of offense for awhile. :)

24

It just seems like such a longgggggggg time.

I'm in the mood for some long ball tonight, that will pick me up from my funk.

29
"My mother? What about my mother?"

"Relationship?"

I love that guy.

Today's Dodger win probabilities:

AccuScore: 50.00%
My Simulator: 49.67%
Pinnacle: 45.45%
LV Hilton: 44.44%

vr, Xei

29 - Great, just great guy to watch.

Nice enough start for us, Pierre singles right up the middle

29 That's HEDLEY Lamarr.

May he RIP.

Oh, and way to headbutt that ball out of the glove, Pierre. Nice.

29 Loved the Carol Burnett work but Blazing Saddles, c'mon.

Hedley Lamarr: Repeat after me: I...
Men: I...
Hedley Lamarr: ...your name...
Men: ...your name...
Hedley Lamarr: [to himself] Shmucks.

[continues aloud]

Hedley Lamarr: ... do pledge allegiance...
Men: ...do pledge allegiance...
Hedley Lamarr: ...to Hedley Lamarr...
Men: ...to Hedy Lamarr...
Hedley Lamarr: That's Hedley!
Men: That's Hedley.

Honestly, if we need to rest our starters for horrible offensive players, it should be when Penny starts. At least Penny has a chance of helping us on offense.

Right on cue, Pierre leads off an inning and proceeds to steal second.

39 Leads off with a single, I mean.

Guys I think are capable of HUGE GAMES:

Loney
Matt Kemp

More so Kemp.

"Martin flied into a double play." I had never heard that line before. =(

On a line drive with the outfielder running in, I know the Dodgers have to manufacture runs right now but that didn't seem like a smart send at all.

too bad, Pierre thrown out at home, dp.
vr, Xei

43 They are having problems scoring, it takes a pretty good throw.

After the last three nights, yeah, I send him too.

I remember a friend of mine recorded a game were Pedro Guerrero hit 3 long balls, that was a fun game to watch, I keep thinking Kemp has it in him to break thru like that, veremos.

I'm only listening, but Rick Monday -- who would never, ever deceive me -- said it would take a perfect throw to get Pierre, and that's just what Endy Chavez supplied.

43

I thought it was a good call but I can understand your sentiment as well.

Tee hee. So much for Reyes breaking a Mets record for consecutive games leading off with extra base hit.

You will be only risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

48

the dude has a bit of a noodle arm watching the replay.

I guess... it takes a good throw but it's about as easy a throw to make running in on a line drive. But yeah, I see that point. I also think it was a good block at home by Schneider, and a really evasive runner may have tried to step or slide around the tag. But all that is easy to say from my desk. :-)

47
Guerrero never hit 3 HR in an MLB game. He did hit 2 HR ten times though.

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

Maybe Penny will start his season tonight. Maybe.

I was at that last Penny start against the Mets. Ugh.

I see a couple of NY Dodger fans in the background representing, right on.

DzzzRatt - the syrup icon in the Geico commercial is Mrs. Butterworth.

55
Penny's FIP ERA is only 4.02 so far this season. He'll be fine.

53 It takes some serious guts to block JP off the plate, but nobody should get a free pass to home.

Wait. I was thinking of Kemp.

for those of us following at work on Gamecast, how was Maza's throw on the infield basehit?

54

I was one home run off, oops.

37 This one takes the cake...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Km7WD8wkb1c

60 It wasn't a Furcal rocket, but it was thrown quite hard - harder than what we saw his first couple of games. Wasn't an easy play, ball up the middle, ranging up to grab it.

Penny doesn't ever seem to have an easy first inning this season (I'm sure he must have at some point, but..)

60

it was a good throw actually but the BOUNCEs from the hit ball were to high so the Met runner made it safely.

60 FWIW, Mets crew really got on him for how he moved to the ball--straight across rather than toward second to cut it off.

thats was an ugly swing by delgado

63 and 65 thanks

66 - That's actually a good point (I was watching with sound off). Yeah, I think Raffy would've had the play.

Anyway, Penny really made Delgado look bad and really wasn't bad that inning at all. Nice.

It's funny how our minds work I could have sworn it was a 3 home run night for Pedro Guerrero but baseball-Reference respectfully disagrees with me.

Could Hu have made that play?

I had to run an errand and left when Pierre was on third with Martin up. (one out).
20 seconds later (literally) I got the car radio on and the inning was over. I couldn't concieve how Martin and Pierre could make 2 outs that fast. But that is the way things are falling right now. I won't be humble when they fall the other way.

22 pitches from Penny in the first inning there, but more importantly no runs allowed.
vr, Xei

In all seriousness, there was a time when 33-34 was it for baseball players. I wonder if we are back to that point again?

71 I remember a game where 2 Dodgers made out on a single base hit.

A really great passage from Tangotiger over at the The Book blog:

"It's funny how the one group of people who believes in luck as much as some of us are the players themselves. The won't use 'luck'. They'll take about the breaks, the bad bounces, the crossbar, game of inches, the anything can happen, etc, etc. All in deference to things that are either outside their control, or subject to such fortuitous timing as to be basically be outside their control.

The group that hates the talk of luck are the fans. They simply see W/L as something real, and they live and die on the W/L. They don't want to spend the time to analyze things, so they simply quote the W/L record. "

http://tinyurl.com/4ngsdg

(It sounds a little harsher than it is meant out of context - check out the post and the thread for more.)

Is Guo lined up to tag team with Penny today, or Kershaw tomorrow? Or just never pitch??
vr, Xei

74. and martin was batting too..

54 All 10 games on the road? That seems odd.

74 Yeah. In New York, no less...

76 - Odds are one of those, probably the latter unless Penny really bombs out early today.

Vargas threw Kent 8 straight fastballs, ranging in speed from 87 to 89 MPH.

Way to mix it up.

Jay Bruce goes from a guy who had never had a MLB plate appearance on Sunday to batting third in the Reds lineup on Thursday.

78 Dodger Stadium was a much harder place to hit a HR back then.

Penny had a good inning but lets not forget his wheels came of by the 3rd inning the other day, I'd still be suspicious until he gets thru the 5th or 6th.

I'm sure it was already discussed, but I liked Torre's quote in the paper this morning along the lines of "I'm sure if Kent couldn't hit anymore, he'd tell us."

I just discovered that I can watch in-game replays on the new Gameday.

Neat.

I'm sure if Kent couldn't hit anymore, he'd tell us

It's more Kent's style to show us, which he's apparently doing.

Hernandez and Darling started off talking about Bonds vs. Kent, and ended up going on how Pedro shouldn't have a special parking place. If he shows up late, let him park far away and walk. It was better in the old days.

I think it's true, though. Whatever one can say about Kent, I really feel like he's a guy - since he doesn't even appear to enjoy playing all that much - who would say, "I'm done" when he is. I still feel like he can contribute this season but we'll see.

88 - Another reason I have the sound off.

82 Didn't Matt Kemp and JtD both end up batting clean-up within a couple of games?

this ump is stingy with the outside corners! darn it.

92 - I was just gonna say that.

91
Guzman batted cleanup in his 1st start, and 2nd game.

Kemp batted cleanup in his 11th game.

Tatis is fouling of a lot of pitches but to be hones to me his swing doesn't look like a major leaguers swing (very late & very robotic, no feel for the pitches) has he always been like that?

That was a better play by Maza, no?

And a helluvan at bat. Glad that guy was finally disposed of.

If Eric Enders is not here, I will resume hating Jose Guillen.

95

reading that back I think I just described our very own Andruw Jones, ironic?

Penny already over 40 pitches.

Okay, guys, I get it! New drinking game: every time Maza double clutches at shortstop, take a drink.

97
If I condone your Jose Guillen hatred, does that cancel out Enders' condemnation (the classic Erics Cancellation Theorem)?

100 I just became drunk retroactively.

I believe Vargas has gotten called strikes on the first two pitches to three of the past four Dodger batters.

This ump sucks. There, I've said it!

101
Eric Enders opinion of me counts for more. You're already in the bag.

74 BH, was that the infamous 1+1 game the foil of the 4+1 game? Ahh yes.

But I have to look at the situation where I feel like Penny is our most unpredictable starter, and think, if this keeps up for a while, we have to do all-right eventually.
I mean it is so painful to me watching the Dodgers go through this process of no luck combined with chocking, but it has to be done. Anyone who thinks you can make moves to avoid it, especially in panic mode, is deluding themselves.

Did a Dodgers fan just propose to a Mets fan at the game on TV? Aww, that's cute.

Can we get back to the game now??

Ugh. Horrible call. He was safe by a half step.

108
Someone ask underdog what he thinks of the umpires' (the King's men, if you will) performance!

for those of you unable to watch the game on the tube, Penny just riffled one to straight away center but it was caught.

hardest hit ball by our team so far, sigh.

108 Who?

111.
maza

109 Hah!

I wouldn't want to rule 1 violate, Lasorda style, so I shall refrain, and don't want to rule 8 violate either for that matter.

110 - I did like seeing Penny hit that ball far, even if it was caught. Hit it like that, boys!

Seems like Penny doesn't have his curve ball today.

Come on, it's only the third inning and already we're one ball away from a Grabowski Principle moment.

Loney bails out DeWitt on that bad throw.

Nice stretch on that play by James "Plastic Man" Loney.

Hmm, I kind of like that actually. If Loney is Plastic Man, who on the Dodgers is "Bad Luck Hula" though, I wonder...

Luis Castillo is in the Ichiro mold of ball players.

Uh-Oh look out. Penny just lost the plate. This is what happens sometimes for more than 4 pitches.

Rama-lama-ding-dong. Belt-high fastball middle in.

Bleh.

That pitch was fatter than Penny's worthless behind.

Sigh. Bradley...

D. Wright kills us anyway (gawd, what a bad pitch by Penny) 2-0 now, hopefully the Dodger bats respond.

Two out rallies suck if you're on the wrong end.

It's kind of sad when you feel like a game's over because the other team now has 2 runs. I'll try to snap out of that mentality. But it's rather difficult.

Let's get Kuo in there.

I smell a coaching visit to the mound coming up here.

The thing that is frustrating is that Penny should know that D. Wright kills Penny (he's hitting something like .500+) don't throw strikes & pray he swings at one of them, with 2 outs that's what I would have done.

121 Look at it this way; Tatis hasn't hit two slams this inning.

stuff like that happens though, it's o.k. 2-0 Mets lets chip away...

Off topic here myself, but just found out some good news: Spaced, the UK TV series with Simon (Shaun of the Dead) Pegg, is finally coming to DVD here this summer. It's hilarious.

Now back to baseball.

Okay, this ump is totally inconsistent. (I'm sorry to bring this up again.) Same exact location he called a ball to Penny at least three times, I swear.

Vargas appears to throw slow fastballs. That's just about it.

Two bad breaks in a row.

Jeez. The Dodgers just can't buy a break... That was a great play by Delgado.

138 139 What was the other one?

I am tired of hearing about Pierre's "very solid season." It's like every announcer in baseball takes payola from his agent.

Vargas's 4th inning:

13 pitches, all fastballs ranging from 87 to 90 MPH.

Sigh.

140 I'm assuming what should've been ball 4 to Pierre. But whatever. It would also help if everyone was ripping Vargas, which they should be doing given his stuff.

140- The umpire robbed Pierre of ball four, then Delgado came up with Ethier's screamer.

Steiner and Psycho don't like Shea stadium. I wonder if Slate ever ran a piece calling Shea the best park in baseball.

I'll be happy if Penny just gives up those 2 runs, we gotta start hitting though.

Penny at 76 pitches with none out in the 4th.

Double play. Yay.

Somebody send up the Bob sign!

Bob that's your Q, (catchers interference)

Bob Timmermann must be getting all excited. Catcher's interference!

CI!!!!!!!!!!

149 - what does that look like?

blah blah CI blah blab BT.

I would imagine Castillo is a very hard guy to double up.

Perfect outcome.

Okay, this game is now officially o-vur.

I would imagine Castillo is a very hard guy to double up

He's never been doubled up* before.

*When there are already 2 outs in the inning.

A very solid season.

What happened?

Okay, Penny, you can stop pitching to David Wright now.

153- I don't know what it is, but it's got a red checkered pattern to it.

Terrible in so many ways you almost have to laugh. The Shea curse, or something. In an inning by all intents and purposes that should've ended with Vargas. I'm gonna take this cue to skedaddle on home now. Maybe when I check back in the curse will have lifted.

160. maybe its best if you didnt kno..

I wouldn't mind never having to watch Penny pitch again. Hopefully they don't pick up his option.

If the season ended today, would you want the Dodgers to bring Penny back next season?

I'm sorry I asked.

Penny, I mean TWICE? Pitch around him! Sheesh. Such a smart pitcher.

Feh.

Bye.

Penny should consider throwing at the next few batters. Torre isn't going to pull him for two more innings, he's going to have to get the umpire to take him out.

Okay, there must be something else I should be doing right now. Like sleeping. Or taking a shower.

wow, little things mean a lot. Little things CONTRIBUTE to a lot of things, BUT we ALL know Penny isn't a good pitcher against the Metropolitans, I for sure ain't gonna get all worked up about it.

How happy must the Mets be to see this team come to town....

160 - another 2-out rally sparked by a catcher's interference call against the pitcher, Claudio Vargas. Two-run jack by David Wright.

170 The last suggestion you have there is actually what Penny should be doing right about now.

Please don't bring Guo in to clean up this mess. 4% WE for the Dodgers.
vr, Xei

I'd be lying if I didn't say it isn't frustrating though.

Wright was horrendous against us in LA. I guess he's making up for it.

the ghost of '06 sept penny has been revisited

Might as well just leave him in the game.

170

That was a good one! oh man... LOL!!

Finally two curveballs over the plate (back to back even!)

Are the Mets going to move that goofy top hat and apple thing to the new stadium?

Can Jason Schmidt replace Penny when the former returns and the latter goes on the DL for stinkitis?

Good to know there won't be any distractions to the Laker game tonight.

O.K. Penny your job is to just eat up innings for us.

Lowered expectations. I just want the Dodgers to score more than 2 runs tonight. Just to see if they remember how.

Especially against this feh pitcher.

175 Who is left.

Starters: Penny, Kershaw, Chad, Kuroda, Lowe
Relievers: Park (used last night), Wade, Kuo, Beimel, Proctor, Broxton, Saito.

PVL!!!!

Jeff Kent hits a big fly. Only six more to go to win!

Kent just hit one very very far (almost out of the stadium)

Jeffrey is not done.

182 I heard the apple is going with em.

175/187 - But it is a killer, to see Park used in a 1-1 game that you knew was happening so that Kuo could be saved for a game that you knew might be like this.

Kuo should start for us in this series he's a Met eater!

When I was so rudely interrupted by Mr. Martin's transgression, I was reading about Shea Stadium's first game.

Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh thought it was one of the greatest stadiums he had ever seen.

A lot was made of the fact that the stadium had escalators. There were 21 in the stadium when it opened.

Commissioner Ford C. Frick came to the game and, according to the New York Times story, left in the top of the ninth of a 3-3 at 4:27 pm.

A bad poem ostensibly about Shea is as close as I can find.

http://www.slate.com/id/2163334/

Do you let Penny bat and then pinch-run for him if he gets on?

there's our one run for today.

can't wait til Kershaw starts again =\

wooooo!!!!!!!!

Three runs needd to tie, four to win.

cut it in HALF!!! 3-6 YES!

DeWitt.

How did Martin interfere?

185 change of plans

197

I'd do it why not.

Mets fans have seen this before.

Go, Blake, go!

Our current and future 2Bs with HRs.

Wow. Offensive explosion.

202 - bat hit Martin's glove.

Wow, I have no idea why I decided to stick around a bit longer before leaving work but am glad I did!

Maybe it was because I knew however bad Penny was, Vargas was also cruising for a bruising, too.

And yes, I pinch hit for Penny, if it was me. Bring in Kuo, you're back in this game, why give it up again?

Although he is a pretty good hitter, too.

There goes my Penny... Sweeney comes into the game.

This was the NY Times head when Shea opened.

"Shea Stadium Opens With Big Traffic Jam; 50,312 See Debut -- Motorists and Mets Are the Losers 50,312 Attend Opener at Shea Stadium Marred by Massive Traffic Jams LACK OF PARKING CAUSES BACKUPS Wagner Heads List of City Officials at Game -- New Ball Park Acclaimed"

It got into smaller type as it went along.

I was wrong. Torre may not have it in for Penny after all.

What is the W.E. now?

197 Yeah, I would have.

How much better of a hitter is Mark Sweeney over Brad Penny?

i have a feeling joe is giving sweeney a few more games to try and save his job. he'll be gonzo by monday.

if anything at least the Mets are scared of us now.

Raise your hands: How many here think Penny would've been a better hitter up there than Sweeney? {Raises hand}

I usually never have to ask these kinds of questions, but does the error awarded on a catcher's interference play not figure into the calculating of earned runs? Because the CI came with two out, I would have thought all the runs of Penny in the fourth would be unearned.

this season:

Brad Penny OPS+: 4 (20 AB)
Mark Sweeney OPS+: -12 (41 AB)

Andy LaRoche is a better hitter than Mark Sweeney every day of the week. What's going to change by Monday?

222 penny has given up 2 earned runs

Just when we thought Sweeney's average couldn't get any lower, what's it called when you are below .100? Mendosita line?

222
All of the runs Penny gave up in the fourth should be unearned.

225 my mistake i guess i'm wrong.

the home plate ump looks like Plaschke.

12% WE and they bring in Guo? and he couldn't pitch last night when it mattered?
sheesh.
vr, Xei

Hey, its Hong Chih Kuo!

What the heck is an "automatic ball"? (on Gameday, re: the second pitch)

did Kou take too long to throw the second pitch? because game day says "automatic ball"

227 - the Yahoo box disagrees: only one of Penny's runs are listed as unearned:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=280529121

Raises hand.

Mario Mendoza : .200
Mark Sweeney : .100

Therefore, the Sweeney Line.

I'm scratching my head over that call also, what's going on?

230 This spot was tailor-made for the a Park/Tatis showdown.

Actually, I was wrong and the official scorer is right.

From the Official Rules:

With two out, Abel reaches first on a catcher's interference. Baker hits a home run. Charlie
strikes out. Two runs have scored, but one (Baker's) is earned, because the official scorer
cannot assume that Abel would have made an out to end the inning, absent the catcher's
interference.

maybe he went to his mouth (Kuo did) when he threw the first pitch?? I honestly don't know.

237 That would have been worth the price of admission.

Gary Thorne on the Met telecast said Penny has given up 5 earned runs. Only the Vargas run was unearned.

Catcher's interference is one of the few errors that is actually completely ignored when it comes to determining earned runs.

Kuo went to his mouth while still on the mound.

Kuo is a lefty, he's 26, this is exactly when wild lefties make the big leap, no? and yet you'd think he was the last guy on the staff sometimes....

I was really hoping Kuo would sneak in a START for this series.

huh, Kuo seems quite capable of throwing strikes that are not also hits. This is an interesting strategy for a pitcher, perhaps we should try this with Kuo from the beginning of a game.

Seriously, at least when the Dodgers are facing the Mets, you'd think they'd skip a Penny start and start Kuo instead. I mean, how many times do we have to go through this?

247 - however many times it takes for Penny to get it right.

You have to look at this way, now that I've reread the rules, Vargas should not have been on first. But you can't assume that, absent the catcher's interference he wouldn't have reached safely some other way. So the inning isn't extended.

Vargas existed in a strange shadow world between earned and unearned.

The Dodgers need a tougher cat on their bench then Sweeney. Someone like this:
http://tinyurl.com/yt6lcw

(SFW)

248 - Is this what purgatory is like?

Did Kuo get out of the inning? Gameday has decided to take the rest of the game off

When I did the podcast with the Kamenetskys, I used Penny and Odalis in the same sentence. I'm regret to say I'm now doing it a second time. Which doesn't mean I've concluded anything, but I think we could see at least a temporary replacement for Penny in the rotation in the coming weeks.

252 Yah (I started watching MLBTV again). He grounded a smash down the line to Loney who grabbed it and tossed to Kuo.

Nice of the Mets to give us a Teixeira update.

253 - Lowe, Kuroda, Bills, Kershaw and Schmidt would be a pretty decent rotation wouldn't it?

Nice!

That behind-the-chain-link-fence shot that Sky NY TV uses sure is useful. What's next, a camera placed behind a wooden fence, peeping through a hole?

Internet warning. Lost is about to start on the East coast. Stay off other sites. I'll set up a separate chat thread for Lost chat here.

Go Dre! Nice.

C'mon Le Golden God.

Remind me: Is Lost a 2 hour finale, or 1 hr?

2 hours.

oh yes Sir Martin not trying to be a hero taking what the Pitcher gives you, that's why thy love thee.

the home plate umpire has two kinds of strike zones it seems, when Penny was in there it seemed like he wasn't giving the corners to Penny.

Hmm. Going to have to see the replay on that.

I've had to switch to the espn game cast, though I really should be leaving the office

wow, how did Martin get back with out getting tagged, good job.

Nope. He really was safe. Nice scamper.

Whew. That bad karma god almost whammied the Dodgers again on that near DP. Kent smashed that one, too.

264 - Don't get me started on that again. ;-)

266 - I've been saying that for an hour myself.

As far as BABIP goes, it seems like this team gets good variance on seeing eye grounders and 'unlucky' variance on line drives and flyballs. Can anyone confirm?

Finally, yes Loney!

That's... that's a week's worth of runs in one game!

nice job James

Sorry Willie but I can't feel bad for you when our team is struggling too, we must when tonight!!

Hah hah. And to think we were hoping for 2 runs as a moral victory. We've got 4! It's manna from heaven.

I kind of thought Loney was gonna K there...

Apparently, luxury is also a car that can find you a thick steak AND a hot girl.

all of a sudden we are only 2 runs back & 3 runs from the lead!

wait for it Matty, wait for it.

Too much to hope for. Oh, well.

high heat = K

Darnit Bison.

I really trust Kuo to hold the Mets down.

Matt doesn't hit well with two strikes.

No reason Kobe should be fouling Duncan on a shot attempt.

Joe is in there some where trust me.

285 - who does?

Arrghhh. The Lakers game is on, too. I totally forgot. Man, I need to get home. That, then Lost. Whew.

The Lakers don't have a good "rhythm" right now.

Martin or who ever is calling those pitches LOVES calling off-speed junk when the batter OBVIOUSLY can't catch up to the heat, sigh.

4-6-3 and back to the plate go the Dodgers.

o.k. boys it's only the 7th 6-4 Mets. lets get some timely hits.

Lakers need to stop playing into the Spurs hands, they defend the 3 and the paint and make your take a high volume of midrange jumpers.

Odom takes a layup and Vlad smokes a 3 (man I hope he gets hot for just one game) so thats better.

Lakers not looking good thus far. Taking a lot of bad shots and not making many of them.

I was shocked to see the Dodgers pushing field box seats at 60% off. We bought some for the Saturday Cubs game coming up.

the Tiffster bating.

Tiffee alert! Tiffee alert!

298 - meh.

Oh well, he gave it a ride, but right at the outfielder.

I think everyone is probably switching channels back and forth for the next hour or so...

That was a really nice play by DeWitt.

301

He threw a lazer too.

300 - not all of us care about the Lakers.

Odom gets no calls.

Hey look: Gameday is now caught up...!

303 - "Everyone" meaning "a lot of people" basically.

305 - this is what picture-in-picture is for.

Proctor gets lifted for Beimel.

Beimel with another great year.

so far.

Aw, bummer. Tomko's being pulled from the KC rotation, according to MLB.com.

Scareduck must account for 80% of the references to picture-in-picture at DT. I'm not even sure if my tv does PiP.

1-6-3 DP was not to be.

Hey, looky-there. It does. But the PiP is OTA only, it looks like.

what can you do man, seriously what can you do.

Hate those darned cheapie runs.

Jose Reyes needs to sit down. Thank you, come again.

First quarter shooting percentages:

SA: 63
LA: 29

Weren't the Lakers up 3-1 before losing to Phoenix a few years ago?

316 Yah. And they were also down 20 points in a game they won 2 games ago. So there, Negative Nelly!

316 Yes, but let's not think too much about that just yet...

game of inches man. If Beimel catches that squibble by Chaves the inning is over.

Alright. NOW I'm really going home. Hopefully the Lakers will wake up. And if the Dodgers come back from another bad deficit here, great, if not, I didn't miss anything. Cheers.

Turiaf has a hairstyle that no man should ever have.

Did everybody drink on that Maza double-clutch?

314

that thing was perfectly placed, very lucky hit by Chavez but I feel Beimel had a chance to catch it but maybe it's just by frustration, really nice inning by Beimel if you consider the unfoldings.

322 I would have if I were at home.

322

I'm drinking some soda, but that's about it.

309 - cable box, man, cable box.

321

I just googled him & I tend to agree...

One of the Eric's predicted a 8-3 Dodger victory it's the other way around plus 1.

321 maybe if he was a sumo.

326- My cable box is hit and miss on displaying ONE stream at a time.

I was taking a nap and missed whatever Maza did.

Ive been watching the Lakers why did we take out Kuo on 27 pitches? for freakin Proctor?

I love it how when the camera comes on everybody is happy in Laker land.

It's like camera SMILE. (Celebs)

If Ben Howland coached the Lakers, they would have ran out of timeouts in the middle of first quarter.

ran out of timeouts in the middle of first quarter

That's called "Mike Martz"

It's tough for the Lakers to make a comeback when they allow the Spurs to score on every possession.

Mike Martz would have wasted the timeouts challenging the spot of a ball and he would have had a situation where it was 3rd and 9 instead of 3rd and 8.

Wade is the answer to our D. Wright problems!

I thought being "Mike Martz" was when you ran your offense like you play in the Arena League.

I can't wait to watch him run that system with Alex Smith or Shaun Hill.

you know I really hope Matt Kemp just says the hell with it & swings as hard as he can!

332 to be pinch hit for and probably in case they want to use over the weekend.

So after tonight's game, what will be the P.R.E. (Penny Re-signing Expectancy)?

Tayshareuh would have HRed there.

I still think we re-sign Penny. A slightly cheaper alternative to the other big name free agent pitchers.

339 an offense designed around a good QB and lots of good receivers but no tight end or running back going to a team with a good tight and and running back and little else? What could go wrong?

And let's not forget that the Martz system routinely gets the QB concussed back to the stone age, and SF's OL stinks. It should be an amazing (ahem) train wreck to watch.

And the Lakers go into halftime only down by 6.

Martz's system is particularly ineffective when the opposing team spies on it.

Sub-.500 again. Ugh.

346 They closed out well once they decided to attack the rim. San Antonio goes on droughts so its not that bad.

Again, first 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter.

Hell of a tie the guy interviewing that Spur had on. Clip on? Or was it hand made to be the right length for the announcer?

I really hope D4P saw the South Park episode based on Stand and Deliver.

347 Haha.

351
I haven't watched South Park since the 2nd season.

Orange alert for Ryan Spilborghs.

Orange alert.

353
Well, you missed out on a running Bill Belichick joke.

Molly if you get a chance & are gonna interview him [Kershaw] tomorrow can you ask him how he developed that leg stride when he pitches? I really feel it OPTIMIZES his fastball really well & works perfectly for his body type.

Correction the Orange Alert is for Ian Stewart.

Ian Stewart.

346

that's good to hear, I don't wanna go to work tomorrow with a bunch of frownies, about how the lakers should have done this or that. Hopefully then win tonight.

357
Should we stand down and then stand back up...?

When was the last time we beat a good team...a team with a winning record? how about winning a series vs a team with a winning record?
This is getting old fast. When was the last time Kemp got a hit with RISP?
Hey we scored 4 runs tonight, but Penny, who is supposed to be our ace, gets knocked around again. This team rolls over when traveling to Shea.
We need a healthy Furcal, and if Ned doesn't re-sign him, this team will struggle to score runs next year. Pierre, since his nice series vs. Colorado is hitting around .240. courtesy of Rob Neyer....I think.
Bring up Laroche, put him in LF, 1b, 3b....just get his bat up here.
Loney had a nice 2 hit game, but was sluming prior to tonight's game. He needs a rest, but Torre can't start Sweeney. What ever happened to Ethier playing 1b? I guess his glove/arm is too valuable in the OF with Jones on the DL.
ok.....enough ranting....let's go Kershaw.

I just looked at the archives & I can't remember anybody with Kershaw's leg stride, it's definitely a little different from the norm.

The Dodgers beat the Cardinals on Sunday. Do they count as a good team? They are currently in a playoff spot.

The Lakers have made a game of it at Staples, going to be another fun fourth quarter.

Phil was lost on that interview.

Wow, refs are really trying to help the Spurs now.

Farmar looks to be a good ball-handler.

I didn't know Farmar was a Laker. Has he figured out how to pass without throwing the ball into the stands?

Phil said he wasn't paying attention. I wonder who mistakenly told him that Thomas got two free throws? That looked bad.

367 - having teammates who can actually catch the ball seems to have helped.

369- His 113 turnovers (I looked it up--I'm a little surprised it wasn't more like 600, but it was still well more than anybody else on the team) were everybody else's fault?

Or are turnovers a bad stat in basketball? I don't really know how they're determined. Are they like errors in baseball?

Ugh. Don't leave Barry wide open behind the arc.

370
You'll get a turnover on an offensive foul, steal, bad pass, stepping out of bounds, travelling, and a few other things.

Most of the time, a turnover is the fault of the player credited with it.

I suppose that they are divided into forced and unforced turnovers.

Penny has now given up 29 ER in his last 27 2/3 innings. Has he completely lost his abilities or is he hurt?

Kobe Bryant, murderer.

Kobe's good.

Duncan jumps into defender
Duncan doesn't get call
Duncan throws hissy fit

Rinse. Repeat.

Duncan jumps into defender

Exactly. He created a bunch of contact in a blatant effort to draw a foul, punctuated by some nice arm-flailing.

Duncan's been terrible this series.
He cant finish near the bucket, and his defense on the pick & rolls have been Shaq-esque.

Lakers vs Pistons/Celtics will be a great series.

So I guess I was the only person watching the Bruins take on the unnamed school in the WCWS?

John Kruk is doing commentary. I don't think he knows much about softball.

The #5 starter (Kershaw?) will be needed on 5/30 and 6/4, then not again until 6/14.

Since the #5 would not be needed again until 6/14 where does Kershaw go between 6/4 and 6/14 to the pen? replace Penny? or go back to AA?

After 6/14 the #5 will not be needed again until 6/28, 7/3, 7/8 & 7/13.

I would NOT send Kershaw to AAA since his curve would very probably not work well in LV and he would get banged around for no appreciable gain.

Great job, guys. Now let's beat the Pistics.

Vujacic adds insult to injury

Sasha is such a clown. Maybe he tried to shoot after the buzzer, but he mistimed it.

Wait: did Parker make a layup after Vujacic's 3-pointer...?

379
I flipped to it during commercials.

This is so surreal right now.

The Lakers making the NBA Finals are surreal? They've done it a lot.

Or is it UCLA playing in the WCWS? That happens a lot too.

How much would I have won had I bet $100 on the Lakers winning the Western Conference back when Kobe was threatening divorce?

387 Its hard to win money on the Lakers since they get bet on anyway.

My hunch 450 but I don't know.

386 John Kruk announcing softball is surreal.

386
Well seen as how I was preparing myself to get used to seeing Kobe in another uniform before the season started, it is pretty surreal to me.

Holly Rowe just said you don't have to be smart to go to Stanford.

I'll let the Cardinal folks comment on that.

391
It wasn't Holly Rowe who said that. It was Jennifer Mendoza, who is a Stanford grad and plays on the US National team.

I forgot to cancel the cycle alert for Ian Stewart.

I hope people stood down.

391
Brook Lopez agrees.

393 I've been standing this whole time.

I think I'll stick it out to the end of the softball game because it will give me time to watch "Lost" without commercials.

Despite missing a bunch of shots, Gasol racks up 19 rebounds and 4 blocks.

370 - 1.3 turnovers per game is a number I can live with. I think turnovers are kind of like errors, but not really; Bob summed it up pretty good.

I kind of question Penny's current fitness level. He looked fantastic, in the best shape I've seen him, the first half of last season and had the results to prove it. In the second half, he looked like he put on some weight since the first half and didn't look as fit and his results slipped. This season, he hasn't looked in particularly good shape from the beginning and hasn't put up the results. I think he cculd stand to ramp up his fitness routine.

The Giants get out the broom. They beat Arizona 4-3.

So AZ starts to stumble and we can't buy a win. This has been most disappointing. The real problem is Penny. What do we do with him? When he was our "ace" he was getting by largely on smoke and mirrors. I'm just glad Ned hasn't extended him.

I just realized that I am going to be watching Lost instead of checking to see my name on the credits of Last Comic Standing.

379 - I switched to the WCWS after the Giants/Snakes game finished.

Lady Bruins 1, Arizona 0, final.

New open chat thread up top.