I had to look up coquetry in the dictionary.

Wow, in my own head, I have privately thought of Andy as "LaRochefoucauld" since we signed him five years ago. I didn't say that here because I thought there was a good chance nobody would know who LaRochefoucauld was, so I over-estimated his obscurity.

LaRoche should be capable of elite-level defense at 1B. Only wish he was taller.

Between grief and nothing... I'll take grief.

Only wish he was taller

I wish he was little bit taller,
I wish he was a baller
I wish he had a girl who looked good
He would call her
I wish he had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
and a '64 Impala

4 "I did not achieve this position in life by having some snot-nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind."

Ferris Bueller was released on this date in 1986. I saw it an inordinate number of times in the theater that summer.

0
Thanks for that

5 I wish he was like six feet nine something something even though she was really fine.

I don't quite remember the words to that song.

Welcome back, Andy. We missed you. Come join the fun.

6 I never saw it in the theater, but I've seen it baker's dozens of times on VHS, DVD and cable. In fact, Ferris Bueller and Major League are probably in a too-close-to-call race for the movie I've watched the most in my lifetime.

I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't get the Francois de La Rochefoucauld reference, but I did get Cee Lo.

I beg your pardon. Skee-Lo. Now I'm even more embarrassed.

Soriano just took a ball off his left hand as well as possibly his face and has been taken out of the game.

10 If I weren't headed to the 66ers game, I'd pop the DVD in right now. :) Maybe after I get home.

San Diego counters with:

Gerut, CF
E. Gonzalez, 2B
Giles, RF
A. Gonzalez, 1B
Kouzmanoff, 3B
McAnulty, LF
Greene, SS
Barrett, C
Wolf, P

Billingsley lifetime @ Petco:

2-0 1.80 ERA 30 K 8 BB 1.20 WHIP 25 innings

Speaking of Penny, I noticed during his last start (or maybe it was the previous one) he and Torre had a rather animated discussion on the bench. Neither seemed very happy with the other at that point.

To update Daniel, my base station works fine.

However, my BlackBerry's battery seems to have died and won't accept a recharge and local stores around here don't stock them.

Which seems downright weird.

Nothing feels more humiliating than being turned down by Radio Shack.

What about being turned on by Radio Shack...?

I don't think anyone has bought anything from my local Radio Shack, but it stays open.

I believe I've coaxed another charge or two out of this battery and I just ordered a replacement on Amazon.

The prices varied from $6 to $22 for the exact same product.

D'Backs have runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. Wagner pitching and Chad Tracy at the plate. 3-0 Mets top 9.

Tracy K's two down. Mark Reynolds at the plate.

From Diamond Leung's blog, on sitting a left hander against Wolf and starting DY:

" "It's either (Ethier) or Juan, and Juan is too important for us at this time without Furcal at the top," Torre said."

In case there were any doubts about what Torre is thinking.

Well, that was no fun.

Reynolds hits an absolute BOMB to tie the game at 3. Wagner blows the game. Randolph took Pelfrey out of the game who was going for the CG SO after a lead off single. 3-3 tie top 9.

And by no fun, I mean Reynolds hit a 3-run homer on a 2-out, 2-strike pitch from Wagner.

26 Pelfrey threw 2 pitches in the ninth, 112 total, which ties his career high, set in his last start.

smh at the Mets

... and the first time he'd gone eight innings.

According to Diamond Leung's blog, Gary Bennett felt "discomfort" and didn't play last night. Danny Ardoin is scheduled to catch Kuroda tomorrow.

28 - That's fine. Except Randolph had the choice to hit for him in the eighth and didn't. He had the choice to have Wagner start the inning and didn't take it.

Walkoff slam for Uggla gives the Fish a 6-2 win over the Phillies.

26 I was gonna say the NYC press is going to slay Willie Randolph if the Mets ends up losing, then I figured theyre probably going to go after him irregardless of the outcome.

0 That was great. I was previously unaware of this writer.

24 Somehow, that Torre quote is nsurprising and yet extremely disappointing at the same time.

I guess we'd been reading tea leaves, and coming to the correct conclusion that Torre is no different from any bozo old school manager when it comes to understanding run production. Nonetheless, to have him say "hey, I'm unenlightened"! out loud is still a punch in the gut.

Ah well, I can still hold out hope that he IS somehow better than average at the psychological counseling side of player management. Can't I?

Mets have runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs for Schneider.

32 I agree with you. Not much point in pulling him after TWO pitches because of a measly single with a three-run lead.

It's like everything I know about baseball is just out the window with these dodgers. Where would we be without this important leadoff man who is scoring a half a run per game in that spot and is getting on base at a .310 clip, maybe a team with some offense, thats where.

irregardless?

The catchers in this game are Schneider and Snyder.

Free baseball in Flushing still 3-3

36 Sure, how about: Torre says that to make JP believe it, not because he believes it.

Meanwhile, since Furcal went down, Pierre: .262 .319 .292

41 It's really too bad Don Sutton isn't working it as he calls the former National's catcher Brian Snyder.

So is Top Chef live out there or must I hold my tongue?

43. That's gotta be among the worst in all of baseball, no?

I don't get it. It's one thing to overvalue a guy with speed who actually gets on base and gets to use it. But I don't see how even the oldest of olde-timey old-schoolers see Pierre as anything but a black hole.

I think he's a witch.

Its a shame that Pee Wee's development into the next Junior Gilliam is hampered by the fact that the guy in front of him never gets on.

46 A hot start can mask poor performance for a while.

Micah Owings unsuccessful PH in the Mets/DBacks game.

I don't hear Vin. This is kind of cool.

Yes, JP. Please make a fool out of me!

51 And DY too. :(

48. I get that, but that assumes that the stats are paid more attention than the interocular plausibility test. I thought "old school" was all about watching players play. Who watches Juan Pierre every night and thinks he's good?

He runs fast, and always has a dirty shirt at the end of the game. But he never makes solid contact, takes horrible routes to fly balls, does not LOOK like a ballplayer. Which would fine if he produced a lot while looking bad, but we all know that's not the case.

I'm just amazed that any kind of fan or coach can watch this guy every day and like what they see. You don't have to merely overvalue stolen bases to like this guy - you pretty much have to think that SBs are the single most important aspect of the game. That and dirty uniforms.

There someone there yelling Go Pee Wee!

I'm willing to believe that an old school baseball guy would see that Pierre is really good at the little things like sac bunting and taking the extra base, and way over value that.

Makes you wonder who would bat leadoff if we pried JP from Torre's cold dead hands.

At the Mets/DBacks game right now. Two things: 1. For the Stanford people, I spent ten minutes discussing the deviled eggs at the Dutch Goose with Eric Byrnes before the game. 2. For everyone else: Aaron Heilman is still getting booed for getting shelled by the Dodgers.

55 For a two or eight hitter maybe, but a leadoff guy?

56 Furcal when he gets back. I like to think that JP is living on borrowed time.

53 -- Torre "watches" Pierre run fast and that is all that matters to him.

Alright I want Vin back now.

Stupid wind.

55. But he doesn't bunt well.

Edgar Gonzalez off Bills. Wow.

Bill hang it and Edgar banged.

You know it's late at Shea when the planes stop flying over.

63 He sacrifices very well. He's terrible at bunting for hits.

Matt with the Bison grab!

63 He's lousy at bunting for hits, his intentional sacrifices look well-executed to me.

I've been unwell (possibly tomato poisoning) and I wake up to find we have LaRoche in the line-up at the expense of no Loney! That is not what I pictured. And I hope we don't have to rely on much fielding at first, not that I am down on Andy---but how many games has he played at first in the last five years?

Pretty nice catch for not knowing how to play CF the right way.

57 - Loved the Goose, but I'm not a deviled egg man.

Vin's back!

What are they trying to do, make sure Loney doesn't get a hit streak going?

72 More of a butter and egg man?

72- I had forgotten Byrnes was from Half Moon Bay. And 32 years old.

71 He did put himself in that situation though, it was a terrible route.

74 If Loney doesn't play, his current hit streak remains intact.

LaRoche WALKS

good first at bat

JAWFL.

The return of JAWFAL.

I just don't believe Furcal will ever be wearing our uniform again. I am cynical I know, but I think I have a right to be based on all the mis-information and PR shenanningans coming from the dodgers.

LaRoche walks!

81- Bad juju bringing that out of retirement.

Okay what is JAWFAL?

Andy's plate discipline is sick. That was a great AB. Too bad Kemp still cant hit a fastball.

Fielding has been pretty bad for the Pads

Just Another Walk For Andy Laroche.

I knew I was going to be too late with the JAWFL.

ah okay thanks.

well that was good contact for a dodger short stop not named furcal

I still feel that Berroa is slumping and in dire need of a day off.

Damn too bad the pitcher is up.

and there we go, a single...wow does that feel good

Dodgers lead the league in singles? Where can I find the stats for that?

Blake DeWitt takes third like a Wiley Veteran™.

86 Sounds like something the Street Sharks would say.

Nice single for Grandpa Snipes.

Good AB for Billingsley. I like it when pitchers take pitches.

Dodgers lead the league in singles? Where can I find the stats for that?

Just calculate (H-2B-3B-HR).

90 I came back to my room immediately after the AB so I could bust it out. Its been awhile.

OK. Edgar Gonzalez is now pitching for the Diamondbacks in Queens. I have no idea how he homered for the Padres in San Diego 20 minutes ago.

High tension and not a few suprises at the Top Chef dinner table as the final meal unfolds!

76 - I interned at the Half Moon Bay Review (& Pescadero Pebble). You haven't known controversy until you've dealt with the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.

Coming into today's games, the Dodgers were 3rd in the MLB in singles per game.

Heeeees baaaaaack

A pox on you Khalil "Worst Hair in MLB" Greene.

randy wolf is throwing gas and khalil greene is hitting bombs...what world is this

Khalil Greene has opposite field PETCO power?

Andy should have pulled his foot. ;-)

You know, I'm not so happy Wolf is doing so well for the Padres. And Vin is irritating tonight. I've got stomach problems so I will just shut up.

I bet Matt Kemp would have been beat that throw.

Welp. Six outs away from a guaranteed 14th inning stretch here at the Sheadium.

Why is Christian Welp so popular again?

114 Are the fans thanking Billy Wagner for it?

http://tinyurl.com/5az3jt

Gurnick:

LaRoche played his last week of Triple-A at second base and he might get the start there in Thursday's day game vs. the Padres in place of Jeff Kent.

"I may take the chance," said manager Joe Torre, reversing his position one day earlier that LaRoche was not likely to start at second base.

114 BTW Molly, thanks so much for the Sigur Ros album download!

I may take the chance

Because there's so much to lose.

Wolf 17.333 pitches/inning, Bills 13.5. And yet....

If you're concerned about the former Dodger pitcher shutting down the Dodgers, last year the Dodgers lost three times to former pitchers of theirs. Twice to Greg Maddux and a loss in 14 innings to Matt Herges.

The Dodgers would later beat Maddux.

Anyone else hear Vasgersian call Blake "the Solution"?

Check out the replay on Gameday.

Berroa!!!

...

Berroa???

Nice play (despite the juggle), Angel.

Wow, Angel still made the play!

wow even with a little bobble, great play from Snipes

Too bad the 2 runs were un-fieldable!

What's up with Chad tonight? I just started watching. Two home runs?

128
2 seamers hanging over the inner third of the plate, then outer third of the plate to the righties, then a curve hanging on the outer third of the plate for the lefty.

122 I thought the same thing when I heard it.

Hooray wind!

Larochefoucauld!

ANDY! all over my face!

And there was great rejoicing in the land.

!

bang, heeees also baaaaack

LAROCHE!!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

Andy Man!

Power bat.

"Andy LaRoche comes back to the big leagues" - Vin.

To establish oneself in the world, one has to do all one can to appear established!

"A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice."

JAHRFAL?

I will say though, Andy's haircut makes me believe he had to go back through rookie hazing again..

Terry Tiffee could have done that too, right Ned?

LaRoche making Dodger Mgmt look even more foolish for leaving him in the minors so long.

ahh! i missed it! well congrats andy.

Does LaRoche have a nickname yet? Does Larochefoucauld count?

LaRoches 2008 OPS+: ∞

Nice to hear the collective 'woah' elicited from the crowd once Andy made contact.

Andy hit a home run?? Wooooohoooooooo!! Maybe he'll just rotate spelling Loney, Kent, and DeWitt and end up playing close to every day. Maybe!

I came down just in time to see that. I don't care if the Dodgers lose anymore. :-)

149 Nice.

Bob, the Dodgers wore checks once?

How many sets of brothers are there in MLB? The Uptons, the Drews, the Gonzalez's, the LaRoches..Any more? Or is it an NL West phenomenon?

I bet Joe Morgan knew the answer to the Aflac question.

148 - A nickname that long will never catch on.

I am pushing for Stargate for Devaris Strange-Gordon, though.

157 - Or SG1.

Walkoff HR for Beltran.

155 The Molinas are still around...

148

How about "Andy the Hammer"?

argh, without jello arm that a double up

great news on beltran though

Andy LaRoche is just Andy.

shwing, we're still in this, good recovery

I'm still partial to "The Hole"... a little throwback to last year.

{164]
Hey everybody, Andy's up!
I like it!

No trades. In two to three years, these guys will be so good, they'll just show up and win.

fanerman is right. Just Andy is perfect.

161
Andy Martel

Just "Andy," that is.

170 Woohoo!

what year did Dodger stadium host the all star game?

What happened to making Wolf work? Dude is cruising.

Anyone think Kyle Russel can have a Mark Reynolds type impact for us?

He's nothing special. Arrives with no fanfare. He's no mythic legend. No God. No great expectations. He just hits home runs and draws walks. He's Just Andy.

Edgar and Adrian really look alike...

Wolf 14.4 pitch/inning, Bills 15.5.

Chad is settle down, so is the offense

Now Bills is exactly 14 pitches / inning. He's thrown 70 to Wolf's 72.

Nice hit by Pee Wee.

I hope the Dodgers sign Cole St. Clair. He is a real sleeper if he gets back to his old ways. Could be a dominant late inning reliever.

Easy compliment but nice job Kent.

Advancing the base runner, I like it.

Keep doing that Pee Wee. Maybe someone old school will see you can actually hit for some power and get on base.

Professional at bat by Kent.

172 - 1980.

SF 0, at COL 0 - ninth inning.

Every hit DY has as a starter is a double.

(this season)

189 - Please see Rule 1 at the bottom of the sidebar.

(sigh)

184 - Its a mystery to me how an "old school" guy like Torre could look at Pee Wee's approach to the plate and not see that the guy can hit. What the heck does he see when he looks at JP up there?

There is more to it Bob, there has to be, right?

193 The speed he himself never had.

How is that last year Nomar was too fragile to allow Loney to play 1b (until of course his bat forced the issue) and now he will play SS?

Again, I don't care, Berroa, Nomar, whatever..I just am so tired of the dodgers lying to me.

I take solace that Trevor Hoffman is coming in to close should we not score any more runs in the next two innings.

196 - If it's any consolation, they lie to themselves too :)

Sorry, random question - so I'm on Gameday for the first time in years, it seems like, and I can't figure out what "PFX" is. Can somebody explain it to me? What's the difference between that and "BRK," which I'm assuming is the break on the ball. Much appreciated in advance!

Come on Torre! Let Kuo pitch instead of Proctor.

Andy LaRoche's OPS is finite =(.

Sigh, the Dodgers are making another pitcher look like a Cy Young candidate. 9 K's?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8233548/To-win-now,-Dodgers-could-deal-Kemp-

have we talked about this yet?

Well, right now I am guessing that its the "traditional" view as regards what a leadoff guy looks like and when he looks down the bench, JP kinda fits that discription. I hate Pee Wee getting time at the expense of Andre, who is having to deal with Torre's view that he can't hit lefthanders. Torre seems to hang onto views or hopes long after its obivious to most that it just ain't happening. Druw, for example. And Andre/Pee Wee, not being veterens don't get the benefit of the doubt in these sorts of situations. I hate this whole PVL/kids thing. It really makes little sense to view your team in these terms, lumping people together like that. It just seems to allow you to make silly statements.

Oh, my. That was the weakest-hit double I've seen all year.

Look for LaRoche to start at third tomorrow.

201 It was anyway. No term was actually going to ∞

That was practically an infield double. I think that was not a good play by DeWitt.

Walk and hope for DP.

206 ... as Andrew pointed out on TBLA.

201 If it makes you feel any better, you can't have an infinite OPS+. Shimmin is a lier.

203 - I haven't been around to talk much about it. But it dovetails nicely with yesterday's Helene Elliott piece.

The way the Dodger offense is doing, couldn't we just consider this mop up duty and bring in Kuo?

203 Yes. Conclusion: Rosenthal is a rumormonger, nothing more.

Isn't Bills still in? That's what yahoo has.

Well I'm done for tonight.

214 Yeah but Proctor and Beimel are throwing in the pen.

Helen says it's a sin to throw a strike 0-2. This was a perfect example of why.

I think the Padres should be asking for some cream with that cookie.

216 Ah, thanks.

Rockies win, 1-0. If I had more energy, I'd research the number of 1-0 victories in Coors.

Ah, the GIDP one batter too late. Missed it by that much.

Despite the unfortunate Gerut AB, I'm glad Torre stuck with Bills to finish the inning and that he did. Clearly though that was to be his last batter; no way Beimel doesn't come in to face Giles.

I believe my base station and I have come to a parting of the ways.

And the Kuo wish has been granted!

The Janitor is in.

awfully close for Kuo....

222 - Major Tom?

219 - there have been three, all in 2006:

4/16 Phillies 1, Rockies 0
7/25 Cardinals 1, Rockies 0
8/1 Milwaukee 1, Rockies 0

222 When you did the upgrade, did you upgrade the software on your computer, or the firmware on the base station?

4 shutouts in Coors Field history before tonight

July 9, 2005 vs. Padres W 1-0
April 16, 2006 vs. Phillies L 0-1
July 25, 2006 vs. Cardinals L 0-1
August 1, 2006 vs. Brewers L 0-1
June 11, 2008 vs. Giants W 1-0

227 - I screwed up my query slightly. There was also a game in which the Rockies won, on 7/9/05 agsinst the Padres.

At least what Kuo is facing is the best the Padres order has to offer. He can show Torre something (more). K of A. Gonzalez is nice.

This Fox Sports/Make a Wish Foundation commercial is creeping me out.

Way, way, way out.

Didn't Nomo throw a no-hitter there?

Why again does Kuo get used so little?

233 - Yes, the Dodgers won 9-0.

Nomo threw a no-hitter at Coors in 1996

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/09171996.shtml

233 - The question was about 1-0 games at Coors.

At least, my question was.

Doesnt get much easier tomorrow afternoon against Peavy.

Martin, "never say die."

229 - and of course Retrosheet data doesn't include the current season. Good call.

Yeah, Torre pinch hit for LaRoche. When we need three runs.

Yes, pull the guy responsible for the only run in the game.

Bob with the old school WWF reference! Yes!

To me Andy LaRoche and Blake DeWitt= modern day Power and Glory.

232 - I'm sure that it has something to do with the Angels and Cubs jerseys evident therein.

Why on earth is Torre pinch hitting Loney for LaRoche?

Time of game: 2:07

WHAT???? Loney needs to be saved for BERROA's spot, if they got that far.

246 I would assume it has to do with Loney's .500 avg against Hoffman. 1 for 2! Sadly now its 1 for 3 and his hitting streak is snapped.

Chevy Player of the Game: The Hole at Third Base

I realize Torre thinks he has Sweeney for Berroa's spot, but I'd rather take my chances with LaRoche now, Loney later. Besides, Andy might have worked a walk, which would be enough.

251 - The only thing I was thinking was LaRoche's plate discipline in that situation. He could get on and DeWitt would at least have a chance to tie it up. Then you can PH Loney for Berroa and Sweeney in the ninth spot. Regardless of the outcome it wasn't a smart move. Now all we have to do is beat Jake Peavy. That's all.

That is the 16th time this season we have been held to one run; we've been shut out four times. I never thought that this team would have so much difficulty so often scoring runs. I also didn't expect Jones to be such a bust or that we would hit so few homers.

LaRoche, home run in first game this season (and a walk), playing at first base btw.

ANDY!

245- It had to do with the touching. And the silent, smiley kids. Being touched. By Jeanne Zelasko. And Eric Karros and Kevin Kennedy. K&K looked especially uneasy about it, "Sure, we're two guys with our hands on some kid, but look how far away we're standing from him, and each other. It's totally cool. No need to call CPS."

In the first place, how sad is it that some kid's final wish was that he be in a t.v. commercial with Jeanne Zelasko?

My thoughts for today:

1. Laroche needs to play basically every day. Great discipline, great power (duh). He didnt even get all of the ball he hit out tonight.

2. Edgar Gonzalez looks more like Chan Ho than his brother. Those 3 could pass for triplets.

3. Torre's use of Kuo continues to be criminal, and its perfect that he used him tonight in a worthless inning after what Andrew wrote today.

4. Kemp's approach at the plate is absolutely crap right now. Still trying just to make contact the other way. Absolutely no back leg foundation, no aggressive swings, just trying to punch the ball the other way. He looks terrible again.

5. Delwyn also needs to play a ton more, especially for Pierre. There was an insert in this weeks SI by Baseball Prospectus that singles out Pierre as one of our huge problems.

6. When this team plays like this, its so frustrating to watch. Especially when you look around baseball and see so many guys with mediocre track records killing the ball (Ludwick, Doumit, etc). I've realized that when your team hits for power, its a lot more fun to watch.

Thats all i got right now, as obviously a pretty frustrating night.

252 Ethier was already in the 9th spot. Kuo was in the 2 hole; Young had come out.

255 You make it sound so, well, creepy.

Any chance anyone knows the odds of scoring at least 1 run with the basesloaded and no outs? or where I could find stats of that nature? Thanks in advance!

/Two Rockies fans trying to settle a bet

I hate to be negative, but I have to point out that LaRoche's tendency to walk may be seen as a negative by our present brain trust.
That was the shortest game I've fallen asleep during. Oh well, all they have left is Peavey.

260 Power + patience = bad?

Meh game, but flashes of greatness to come. I hope Andy crushes the snot out of the ball and extra-base-hits his way into the lineup.

I couldn't wait for the Top Chef finale and looked up the results. I suck.

We made Randy Wolf look like Mark Buehrle in his prime.

Wow, that's two decent priced 5's Ned let go two years in a row.

259 According to:
http://www.tangotiger.net/RE9902score.html
From 1999-2002, in bases-loaded, no out situations, no runs were scored 12.8% of the time, so the odds of scoring at least one run are in the vicinity of 87.3% Your mileage may vary, and I might be completely misunderstanding the table.

261 But did you squee when he hit the homer?

263
Will Penny make it three years in a row?

260 Torre has preached patience quite a bit this year, walks are a by-product of patience. It might be lost on Simers and Plaschke though.

263 Hey man we had Loiaza waiting in the wings to step into that 5 spot.

=(

268 Just my own voice echoing off the walls.

263 - Each of whom has been capably replaced.

268 - edited

268. sporky
265 You heard, huh?

From 2005 to 2007, Wolf pitched an average of 80 innings a year with a sub 100 ERA+. I thought it would be a decent gamble to sign Wolf, but considering the fact that they already had Lowe, Penny, Kuroda, and Billingsley with Meloan, McDonald, Kershaw etc. in the pipeline, I'm not terribly upset that they didn't sign Wolf.

264 looks good to me, thanks so much!

I know there have been studies to quantify the monetary value of homeruns (or so I recall), but is there an equivalent for IP and ERA+?

I'm starting to think we are not a very good hitting team. Also, Kemp really looks bad out there. He doesn't resemble the hitter he was last year. What happened to his ability to pull the ball deep?

272 LOL - that does change the meaning of my 270 ; I did NOT hear myself squeeing!

Does Torre know what he is doing? Pinch hitting for LaRoche suggest that he does not know what he has. That's a very lazy way to manage. He seems to be going with his traditional gut and I am not sure that his "instincts" are all that good. And don't let me get started, imagine, letting Pew Wee wallow on the bench all this time behind M. Sweeney, and this zombie like way of keeping JP leading off and in the line up. I guess you can manage that way when you have big bucks and a halfway decent front office and all your doing is filling in the card for the Bronx Bombers. And, again, great use of Kuo. Ok. I'm done.

277 According to Jon, you most definitely squee!ed :)

It is my understanding the Yankees are looking for a righty hitting first baseman. Kent would qualify and so would LaRoche. Hopefully it would be the former involved in a trade. Cubs might want Penny as well. Would Theriot be a good fit for the Dodgers long term?

277- I heard you squee. I was in your basement, holding a child hostage, for charity.

I have an idea that will save us all a lot of time. Rather than wasting three hours watching/playing a Dodger game let's just agree we'll follow the fortunes of AZ. If they win we are declared the winner of our game. If they lose we lose. The only games we will actually play are the head-to-head games. After all, it appears the Dodgers are doing this anyway so why bother with the actual game.

275 MORP is decent, it uses WARP as a baseline so it's not perfect, but it gives you a decent idea of how valuable a player is.

Wolf's MORP last year was about 6.6 million. Note that this system only works for free agent signings.

281 Send money now and rescue these children from Kevin Kennedy and Andrew Shimmin!?

If McCourt were to fire Colletti after this season, which I believe he will, who could we hope for as a replacement? Does Logan White have a chance to be a good GM? Or with Torre signed up for two more seasons, maybe they would hire Brian Cashman. Would he be a good GM for us?

I know Hu got sent down so technically this is impossible right now but haven't we given the veterans enough opportunities why not make headlines by having the veteran of your starting line up born in the 80's.

Martin C 25
Young RF 25
Eithier LF 26
LaRoche 2B 24
Loney 1B 24
DeWitt 3B 22
Kemp CF 23
Hu SS 24
Billingsley RHP 23

avg age=24

or Kershaw LHP 20

avg age=23.7

283 Wolf signed for $4.75M base plus these incentives:
$0.175M each for starts 11-30
$0.25M for 190 IP, $0.5M for 200 IP

He gets to at least $6.6M on start 21.

This is MORP calling Orson, come in Orson.

--

So the A's-Yankees game was not particularly thrilling, unless you're an A's fan. It looked like it might be a good pitcher's duel -- for 2 innings. Then Rasner fell apart and by the time LaTroy Hawkins came in, whom my poor dad dubbed "The Sacrificial Lamb" it was all over. My dad left after 6 and I left an inning later. BUT we still had a good time kibbutzing about baseball. And since my dad whipped out his iphone to check his email, I thought it would be okay to check the Dodgers box and lo! Right then Andy "The Rock" LaRoche hit his home run.

Ah well, we got an Andy homer and a Kuo sighting, and still no win. But I think good things are a-foot.

Btw I asked my dad about Penny in a trade and he said, "Nah." Of course, Robinson Cano ain't looking too good these days, either, but I don't see them giving him up.

278 I know what yer saying, but regarding Pee Wee and Sweeney, I really don't see the former languishing on the bench lately; and the latter barely plays at all. Of course, he should be DFA'd, but I don't see Torre favoring Sweeney over Young at this point.

--

I'm glad the Dodgers are playing a day game tomorrow. Then at least we won't have to have another Dodgers and Lakers conflict.

Randy Wolf was completely injury prone and barely made an impact on the Dodgers last season. When he's healthy, I had a feeling he'd be solid, but I can't see getting down on the Dodgers for not re-signing him given his history and given how many young pitchers they have in the wings.

That game moved along at a feverish pace. I took considerably more heat than last night at Petco this evening, mostly due to the presence of a drunk shouting fan in my section.

Still, with an attendance of 29,000 or so, the percentage of Dodger fans in house was pretty good.

It would be pretty cool to have LaRoche start at 2B tomorrow.

288 Ha ha ha...

San Francisco has a pro lacrosse team? I either didn't know that or had forgotten. And they're on local TV here. The SF Dragons vs the Chicago Machine! Lacrosse fever, catch it!

The Dodgers performance with me in attendance has an interesting pattern thus far in 2008:

WLWLWL

I should apparently only go to one more game this season.

Is "Papa" LaRoche too Bermany to be a good nickname for Andy?

295 - can you go to tomorrow's game and then call it a year? Thanks.

296 - Maybe we should just have a poll here with all the LaRoche nicknames that have been suggested laid out for people to vote on.

Amazing that Guo was finally used tonight and brought in with a win expectancy of around 3%. Just amazing! :(
vr, Xei

296 Yes. Yes, it is.

The Rock.

"You know the one thing about the young players is just the inconsistency. They have a tendency if something goes wrong, they may lack the patience of staying with something. You just have to be there for them all the time. I've had this experience. I haven't had probably as many [young players] as we have here at one time."

Joe Torre, quoted in a story on MLB.com filed after tonight's game. It's worth reading: http://tinyurl.com/5dram7

Seems to me that it might actually be easier to manage a team full of young guys. If, as Torre suggests, they're all making the same types of mental mistakes, why doesn't he convene a sort of seminar few hours before each game to break down each of young players' at-bats, talk about the tendencies that get in the way of their success, and let the players learn from each other. Kent could be a guest speaker to impart his particular brand of wisdom. Mattingly could fly in once every couple of weeks to lead the discussion.

If the problems are mental, according to all the Dodger brain trust, then why aren't they approaching it, er, mentally?

The Rock is still my favorite, too. Partially because I came up with it. Because I'm clever that way, in how I can translate his last name from French. Thank you, thank you, don't forget to tip your wait staff.

I believe later call we should call him Dwayne Johnson, though.

If he's going to be a utilityman, how does he avoid being labeled "Handy Andy"?

296-yea I think so, and so would "LaRoche Coach"

Kent could be a guest speaker

Or maybe he could be the caterer, instead.

301
He is the People's Champion!

I was out with my wife, son and parents, celebrating my mother's 80th birthday, so I missed LaRoche's blast. Sounds like the pearl in a not very pleasant oyster.

In the same two-week period, my mother turns 80, my only child graduates from high school (tomorrow) and turns 18. Oh, and my wife's birthday was last week. Oh, and my son's late mother's birthday is Sunday, so we'll be putting flowers at gravesite, on our way to Father's Day.

June is like Christmas for me, except slower and more intense.

300 -- The author of that article also quotes the manager of an unknown NL team who says the Dodgers "...have the most talent of any roster in the National League."

We don't even know if LaRoche will start at 2B tomorrow yet, but I found this fact interesting:

The last Dodger to start at least one game at 1B, 2B, and 3B in a season was Cory Snyder, in 1994. Snyder started games at every infield position in 1994, and started 29 more in the OF.

Of course, then the strike happened and there was no World Series. Thanks a lot, Cory "Tribe on the Warpath" Snyder!

Other LA Dodgers to start at all parts of a 5-4-3 in one season:

Pedro Guerrero, 1980
Jim Lefebvre, 1967-1969

Jackie Robinson also turned the trick in 1956, and probably did so in 2 or 3 other seasons (in the pre-Retrosheet era) as well.

DeWitt number 5 on sports center top 10 tonight

You went to the A's game tonight? Me too!!!

Lol, sorry. Post 310 was directed at 288. Stupid me.

300 That was a good article. Thanks for pointing it out. I have a hard time understanding myself that Loney dosen't know that. I know that and I played Soccer. So maybe it is more towards stubborn? As a golfer now even if I hit all 14 fairways would I swing my iron the same each time? No..at least I don't and I am a pretty decent golfer (80's to 90's)

Speaking of Jum Lefebvre, his son Ryan is a Royals announcer, and nearly had a run in with old friend Milton Bradley tonight:

http://tinyurl.com/5k7lxv

>>Milton Bradley stormed out of the Texas Rangers clubhouse after an 11-5 victory Wednesday night over Kansas City and bounded up four flights of stairs looking for Royals television announcer Ryan Lefebvre...

Bradley never reached Lefebvre, although he was within about 20 feet of him in the TV booth before being led back down to the clubhouse<<

313
Jim, not "Jum"

Being Milton Bradley must be exhausting.

313 Wowee. More from that story:

Upon returning to the clubhouse, Bradley screamed at teammates and broke down in tears.

"I'm tired of people bringing me down," Bradley said. "It wears on you. I love you guys, all you guys. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong. All I want to do is play baseball and make a better life for my kid than I had."

Several of Bradley's teammates consoled him after he calmed down.

What Levebvre did to outrage Bradley was to speak in praise of how Josh Hamilton had turned his life around, then adding, "It doesn't seem like Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life."

I gather Milt took the comment as implying he had a history of drug use.

It was a gratuitous comment--comparisons are odious!--but I doubt Lefevbre was referring to anything beyond Bradley's on-field blowups.

Drugs would probably do wonders for Milton Bradley.

317 -- Best. DT comment. Ever.:)

If I ever pick a dumb fight with somebody way above my weight class, and the AP decides to write a story about it, I hope they let me have the last two paragraphs to repeat the thing I claim I never said.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/06/11/whats-the-deal-with-sabathia/

Take a gander at the comments. I wonder if we sound like this to non-Dodger fans when we talk about our younger players.

317
What's he need? What's he need?

Even though my prediction is still staying to form so far, I think my record prediction was a year early.

But, if we get hot it can happen this year. And then I will like a genius. I will be like a mini Timmermann.

http://tinyurl.com/6pv4wz

Juan's the one

Outfielder Juan Pierre, benched at the start of the season, has led off in every game since Furcal was injured. That's 33 and counting, and Torre says he sees no rest coming.

The Dodgers have averaged two fewer runs a game without Furcal. They rank last in the National League in home runs, and Pierre leads the league in stolen bases.

"He's a legitimate leadoff hitter," Torre said. "We don't score a lot of runs, and he can generate some offense just by being on base."

Methinks Joe might need to revisit the cause and effect relationships of all those observations. If you bat a league-average OBP guy leadoff, then you don't score a lot of runs, and you can't generate some offense because he's not being on base.

320 I skimmed them and spotted this one comment that I liked:

For some reason your comments about being a bad GM made me think of my aunt who raises beef cattle. She would make an EXCELLENT GM: She names them, raises them, bonds with them, then sends them to the slaughter house. She will show us pictures of them when they were alive and say "oh, she made me a lot of money."

300 It is really odd to me as well, that the coaches use the media to blame the players for having a poor approach. I can't imagine what is more the coaches responsibility than 'the players' approach.' Do they not talk to the players directly?

323
Pierre batting leadoff in 2008:

.254/.310/.284/.594

I can only assume that "He's a legitimate leadoff hitter" means that (1) his manager chooses to bat him in the leadoff spot, and (2) he was not born out of wedlock.

Torre on Bennett: ...that doesn't necessarily mean Bennett won't have a job when he is healthy enough to play. "Bennett gives you (more) experience," Torre said. "Offensively, he is probably more of a force than Danny is. But we haven't been exposed (without Bennett)."

More experience. Can't throw, sure, but definitely older.

This whole thing is so predictable.

Not only is Torre costing the Dodgers runs by (1) playing Pierre everyday and (2) batting him leadoff, and not only is (3) Kemp getting blamed for it, but (4) Torre is receiving the implicit, unspoken approval from the front office, the MSM, Baseball People, etc. for playing the slappy/speedy guy everyday in the leadoff spot and "rightfully" assigning blame to the inconsistency of young players for the team's struggles.

And yet, we're supposed to believe that he's so different from Grittle, and so worth $4 million a year.

When you reach the point in a season where you're comparing the offensive abilities of Gary Bennett and Danny Ardoin, you've already lost.

The Angels have a 5 game lead on the As, despite the facts that:

1. The As have scored 8 more runs;
2. The As have given up 33 fewer runs.

I guess the Angels just know how to win.

"He's a legitimate leadoff hitter," Torre said. "We don't score a lot of runs, and he can generate some offense just by being on base."

If Joe Torre actually believes the words coming out of his mouth, this team is sunk.

No reason to believe Torre doesn't believe what he's saying. His actions verify that he believes every word.

It's pretty ironic, though, that Torre emphasizes getting on base when talking about Pierre's leadoffness.

That's whut I'm talkin' 'bout. If he really believes Pierre is actually generating offense (by actually getting on base), it shows he's not paying attention to anything except Larry Bowa's angry jabberwocky.

To be clear, I didn't say we should have resigned Wolf. I hated Wolf. He was passable if he got out of the first inning, which never seemed to happen. He sure made quick work of us, though.

How good could the Dodgers be with better management? Imagine if we had a real GM not just a PR guy and a manager who realized the value of actually having a lead off hitter that can get on base. Couple that with one that would realize that DY and LaRoche are better than Kent and Slappy, and we might have a real good team. That's not even mentioning the unfortunate use of Kuo. Okay, I just mentioned it. :-)

It's also very frustrating to watch our manager take out the one guy that provided any offense at all last night and pinch hit for him. I wonder what he was thinking, or if he was thinking. The Dodgers are not only fighting their opponent , but there own management as well.

great post from yesterday man (woah!) self explenatary (sp?) really. I'm reading stuff like Jons post so it basically re-affirms some stuff I gotta work on

Tony Jackson's blog notes after the game bother me, specifically this:

"Young players, particularly those with the ability to hit for power, have a tendency to swing for the fences at times, usually to their detriment. Along those lines, I ran across this doozy of a stat after Matt Kemp struck out three times tonight, the second time in three games he has done that. Kemp's past two HRs came on June 2 against Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa and Saturday against the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano. Immediately after the first one, Kemp went 1 for 15 with an infield single and six strikeouts. Immediately after the second one, he is 1 for 13 with an infield single and six strikeouts and counting."

It's fair to note that Kemp is struggling, but one player doing poorly after hitting a home run "prove" something? It took me five minutes to discover that Kent went 1-15 after homering on Marh 31, then went 4-20 after his homer on June 5.
Andruw Jones went 6-46 after his homer on April 19 in Atlanta, then 0-12 after his homer at Milwaukee on May 15.

338
It's amazing how often one can easily debunk the inevitable "young players do wrong thing X while veteran players don't" claims that pop up all the time. It literally takes a few minutes to look up some stats to see whether the claim is legitimate or not, and it's usually not.

it was nice seeing La Roche's bomb yesterday, 2nd deck job!

After Kemp hit a home run on April 26th, he went he had a 1.076 OPS in his next 39 plate appearances.

The beauty of the Dodgers having so few HR is that it will be easy to check the HR afterglow stats.

I also came across this doozy: After his HR, LaRoche is hitting .000 (0 for 1).

Oh, and Juan Pierre, after his HR is hitting.... never mind.

i wonder if dewitt's position is set in stone? it wouldn't surprise me if torre ignores dewitt's bad offensive track in the minors and chalks up bad performances to just slumping, and doesn't realize what he is showing now is probably what he is.

tiger doubles hole 1.

Maybe Kemp should adopt the non-swinging for the fences approach of Juan Pierre. After Pierre's last HR -- 231 games ago -- Pierre has hit .293/.333/.347.

It's getting hard to even make snide remarks about management anymore...we need bh to make some sense of the idocity. Or I guess as Jon pointed out they are lying to themselves as well.

The thought of Bennett coming back and catching is hard to even fathom. Especially since Ardoin seems to have handled himself well and has basically become Kuroda's favorite catcher. I am gonna believe those comments were made to assuage Bennett's hurty feelings to give him some hope so he doesn't do anything drastic.

As for Pierre batting leadoff every day, none of us like it, it's tiresome. But the idea that most other managers would not do the same thing seems a little hard to believe, too. Why do people think other managers wouldn't make the same mistake?

I'm not trying to defend Torre on that one because I find it tiresome the belief that Pierre should play every day in Furcal's absence (curse you Raffy!) but I just don't see many other managers who would bench him for good right now, either. Yes, I guess we could find a cheaper manager who would make the same mistake, I guess if we want to keep arguing about salary.

Yes, I guess we could find a cheaper manager who would make the same mistake, I guess if we want to keep arguing about salary

That's really my primary issue. I never expected Torre to be any different from Grittle or other managers, but I don't understand why we pay Torre so much more money to do the same things that other managers do.

It's not that I care about the money per se, since it's not my money. I think the insulting part is that Management thinks we're stupid enough to believe that paying big bucks for a big name manager is gonna make any difference.

Morning all,

Lakers vs Celtics tonight. Anyone who thinks the rivalry died, read this article:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2008/06/11/stars_come_out_la_style/

More fuel to our fire. The comments by Menuous are rich. "Self entitled LA fans?" I suppose Red Sox fans are meek and humble.

348 - I hear you. Of course, I think most baseball players are overpaid, too. (Except for first and 2nd year players.) He's older, he's "won," so he's overpaid, but the salary goes with the territory. Also in a market like LA, bringing in a young manager who'd never managed before, who would be cheap, and could be exciting, with a team that is also young, just seems unlikely, even if we may dream about it.

349 - I freakin' hate Celtic fans right now. I've heard so much stereotypical LA bashing, Laker fan bashing, and other nonsense that goes beyond even the usual rivalry taunting and all that, it would make me turn a Hulk shade of green if green weren't verboten in this household right now.

Can you comment on one of those Boston sites in response?

I thought the Lakers-Celtics series would bring back some great memories of the 80s rivalry. Instead, it's brought back memories of playing the Pistons, with all their defensive 'tricks' that are really illegal moving screens, shirt grabbing, etc. Basketball doesn't have to be an ugly game.

Kemp is apparently getting a rest to day. Does this mean Pierre will be in CF?

Kemp does need a mental day off, that and a new hitting coach.

313 - It also could be alluding to the fact that Hamilton is a born-again Christian. Perhaps Lefebvre is implying that Bradley could help his anger issues if he took the same direction as Hamilton did in dealing with his demons.

Of course I know nothing about either Lefebvre or Milton's personal religious views, so I could be quite wrong.

A wonderful sports day today.

The U.S. Open is taking place 3½ miles from my office.

Kuroda vs. Penny at Petco at 12:30.

Lakers vs. Celtics at 6.

I wish Juan Pierre would wear a Celtics jersey so I can consolidate my angst.

all their defensive 'tricks' that are really illegal moving screens, shirt grabbing, etc. Basketball doesn't have to be an ugly game.

I had the impression that the 80s C's did a lot of the same thing. Who could forget the clothesline they threw on Kurt Rambis?

351
If Tom Thibodeau and his style brings back a Riley-Knicks-esque ugly basketball run, we may have to find a Christopher Walken to go "Dead Zone" on Thibodeau's Martin Sheen.

354 - I wish it was Kuroda vs. Penny! ;-)

I seem to know very little about the Furcal situation. Has there been recent news? What is troubling is that missing 35 or so games begins to put this past the realm of physical therapy and could mean serious structural damage.

Lineup PREDICTION:

Pierre CF
Young LF
Ethier RF
Loney 1B
LaRoche 2B
DeWitt 3B
Berroa SS
Ardoin C
Kuroda P

Peavy is on a 90-pitch limit today. Let's make him work.

I think the key to beating SD today is to get to their middle relief. So above all else, the Dodgers should take a LOT of pitches. That will go a long way. I remember our first or second game at Petco played to the plan perfectly!

351 - Garnett got called only once I think, but it was at the very worst time (under 30 seconds to go in a close game). I'd like to see the refs clean it up a bit, but at least they got him on a crucial possession.

How many home runs is LaRoche projected to hit in a 162-game season?

362 He set two screens before that one that were even worse. Not only does he move, but he shoves with his arms, knocking players around and sometimes down on the floor. This is something the refs can clean up very easily if they want to. I think things have just gotten out of hand.

357
I must have had Desmond on the brain.

I play SS on my softball team. We just started up our summer league. It's a fairly competitive league in the sense that there are a few teams we have a rivalry with. In our game this week, we were ahead something like 16-8, so it's still a fairly close game by adult softball standards. The other team had a runner on first base with no outs. The batter hit a high pop up to me near second base. I took a quick glance at the batter. He was sulking near the batters box at his popup, the runner on first was standing on the bag, so I just let the ball land on the ground. I picked it up on the 2nd bounce, stepped on 2nd base and threw to first for the easy double play. Boy, did I get an earfull from the other team. Probably something similar to the earful that Jeff Kent might give a young player about playing the game the right way. They also tried arguing with the umpire that it was an infield fly rule, which of course it wasn't. It was kind of ironic that they would complain about such a play, because earlier in the game one of their players had tried a drag bunt. yeah, that's right... a drag bunt in slow pitch softball. Of course it was an illegal play and the batter was called out. We ended up winning something like 28-9. So if we play softball at the picnic, you guys had better run out all of your infield popups!! :) vr, Xei

Isn't that exactly why they have the infield fly rule?

367. It is, but there needs to also be a runner on 2nd base because then the double play is pretty automatic. With a runner only on first, as long as the hitter runs out the play you can only get one out by dropping the ball, no better or worse than if you caught it. vr, Xei

363. Molly, here are LaRoche's 2008 projections at FanGraphs.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6444&position=1B

vr, Xei

367 With a runner on first only, the batter is supposed to run out the pop up so that on the drop it can be only an easy force play. At least in slow-pitch, first-base only is not an IF fly rule situation.

Wow.

Angel Berroa is bad, but when acquiring a SS from the Royals, we could have done a lot worse. Tony Pena Jr has a 370 OPS in 161 at bats. He is currently having the seasonal equivalent of what batters did against Eric Gagne in 2003.

I had no idea he was so terrible.

363 162 HRs, of course. ;)

369
I thought Molly was going for the 162 HR projection.

366
Kent tried that play on Bonds a couple years ago in San Francisco. Mr. Bonds was not appreciative.

I am far too slow to compete with Xeifrank, but I got ahead of Eric Stephen for once!

Peavy hadn't been pitching all that well before he went on the DL. I'm not sure how much of that was injury related, as he did start off the season rather well. Vegas and AccuScore are favoring the Padres rather heavily on today's game. Vegas has the Padres win probability at 56.5%, AccuScore has it at a whopping 61%. My simulator though, has it less than 52%.
vr, Xei

367

Need runners on 1st and 2nd for the IFR.

371 - He's pretty much Chin Lung Hu, who has a 430 OPS and .121 EQA this season, but provided superior defense.

Pena, in 55 games, has a -2 WARP3 (not to mention a .066 eqa!). Hu, in 49 games, has a -1 WARP3.

The difference is that Hu has offensive upside. Pena has none at all.

Since it's bound to come up, the Kemp trade rumors are on ESPN's Indsider Rumor Central. Just regurgitating Rosenthal's report:

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal the Los Angeles Dodgers could include Matt Kemp in a package of players to land just about any player on the trade market.

Though the Dodgers have been fairly conservative when it comes to dealing their young players, they have admitted privately that they would be willing to break up their young core if it lead to a significant improvement of the team.

Pittsburgh's Jason Bay, Detroit's Magglio Ordonez and Colorado's Matt Holliday could be potential trade targets for the Dodgers.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

374. I think Bonds would be the ideal person to try it against. I also remember one time as a teenager I was playing second base. The runner on first had broke for second on a stolen base attempt (hit n run). It was a perfectly executed hit n run, the hitter hit the ball on a line drive right where I had been playing, before I went to cover second base. The runner made the mistake of not picking up his third base coach. When the ball was hit into right field, I threw up my arms and yelled "I got it, I got it!". Instead for running to third base, the runner sprinted back to first base thinking I was going to catch a popup and double him up at first. Meanwhile, the right fielder was fumbling around with the ball and finally threw it into second base for the force out. Their team and coach didn't quite know what to think of it. I had seen the decoy play by watching MLB games as a kid, but had never seen it work before. So remember kids, always run out your infield popups, and pay close attention to your base coaches. :)
vr, Xei

354 :o) that Pierre comment was genius Eric! Hehehe

374
Just when you want to hate Jeff Kent, he becomes cuddly again.

Tiger back to even par through 8, after making double on 1. Tiger was once 2 behind Phil, and is now 2 ahead.

383. Tigers are tied in the 8th and only 2 games behind the Phillies? Does not compute. :)
vr, Xei

283. Ooh, don't spoil it for me, I'm recording it and am going to watch it tonight or this weekend. You know just to be safe, how about you don't mention anything that is going on in that tournament until this weekend when I'm sure to have gotten a chance to watch it.

Meant 383. not 283.

Curious comment by Tony Jackson in his blog, in the post giving last night's lineup. The guy he is responding does sound over-the-top, but I still find Tony's words a bit odd:

You're expending WAY too much emotional energy into this team. They have broken your heart for 20 years. Is there really any reason to think they aren't going to do it again. Only way to avoid it is to not put your heart out there.

If we as fans don't put at least some of our heart out there, is there any reason left to be a fan?

385
Maybe I'll provide updates on the soccer games instead...

If we as fans don't put at least some of our heart out there, is there any reason left to be a fan?

Yes, to wit: the pretty, pretty numbers.

388
It's a Bob Timmermann internal squabble at Euro 2008 as Croatia takes on Germany!

Kemp's suspension was reduced to 2 games and he is beginning it today.

Breaking news from Diamond Leung:

Kemp's suspension has been reduced to TWO games and he'll begin serving today.

Also, Tiffee accepted his outright assignment to Vegas.

388. That's alright, I'm already following along on other sites that are keeping me better informed and filled with people who I know care about the matches, rather than boring people who don't care for the event on this site.

391

Good, he needs a couple games off.

393
Meow...

Right now I'm feeling more in touch with the maternal side of my family than the paternal side.

395. Oh, you know I kid because I love. But seriously, I hate golf.

There is a fascinating interview with a professional gambler on ESPN's TrueHoop, that includes this passage:

>>There are a lot of coaches who do a poor job with what I call the mathematics of the game, but to be fair, maybe they are better at other aspects of their job like motivation or player development.

However, I have a hard time believing that Doc Rivers could ever make up for his in-game strategy with his ability to motivate or develop players. I would like to have seen how the Celtics would have fared this year if they didn't hire Tom Thibodeau to install a great defensive system. If Popovich is the guy you lean to if you are unsure of what to do, Rivers is certainly the guy you look to if you want to know what NOT to do<<

I forget the commish's name that said baseball was designed to break your hart...

399
It was Bart Giamatti, who then tragically died of a heart attack while in office. Truer words have never been spoken.

I believe it was Giamatti.

Noooooo! No soccer spoilers!

No, that's fine, I won't have time to watch tape of the game tonight anyway, what with the basketball game and all.

How's Lichtenstein faring so far?

That's good about Kemp, actually - 2 games seems fair. For once justice is sort of served. And he was going to probably sit at least one of the next two games anyway.

402. From what I've been reading about the game, it is still definitely worth watching tonight. A lot of good action back and forth.

387 - And if we didn't care that much, beat writers wouldn't be needed.

Come to think of it, maybe he's on to something...

Podolski is a very unemotional goal-scorer.

Agree with 403 . Also from Pearson, "The Dodgers will move Juan Pierre back to CF and start Andre Etheir and Delwyn Young the corner OF spots in Kemp's absence." I am please not to see a certain name in the sentence.

A beat writer can't put all of his or heart into a team because it would affect objectivity. So, often they wonder why people can't take their view.

They're living in a very strange world for over six months.

407
I am please not to see a certain name in the sentence

Who else would play OF on the club? LaRoche? Sweeney?

407 - Voldemort?

Good to see that Matt's suspension was reduced. No way did he deserve only 3 fewer games than Coco Crisp. Also, Tony Jackson's theory about Kemp is pretty laughable. If anything, he is trying NOT to swing for the fences. He's just a mess right now, and Easler needs to start making his money now because I don't like the effect he has had on our young hitters so far.

408
From the outside, a beat writer job sounds cool. Ooh, look, I get to travel with the team, be in the locker room with players, get paid to watch and write about baseball.

But the grind of the job seems to take all the luster away and make those doing it not want to anymore.

366

Nice play. I imagine they were taking their frustration with the bad base running out on you. If I was managing the other team, I would tell them to shut it and talk with the runner about running out the pop out.

By the way, I went 3-4 last night with two doubles and a triple.

But, we are still 0-4

407 - Loney?

411

you mean watching strike 1 go right down the shoot every time and not hitting for much power?

408 On the other hand, it really won't kill me if the Lakers don't win it all this year, or if the Dodgers finish at .500. I derive plenty of pleasure seeing the Lakers have unexpected success to get this far, and seeing the Dodger minor leaguers I heard about for so many years finally get their chance to play. On top of that, I have plenty of other things that bring be much greater happiness. My happiness in life does not depend on my favorite teams winning a championship.

411
Easler needs to start making his money now because I don't like the effect he has had on our young hitters so far

This may all fall into the "do hitting coaches really matter?" debate, but didn't the Dodgers really do well when Mattingly joined them for a few games? It seemed he was able to come in, saw some obvious flaws and fixed them with a few tweaks. Maybe it was a sample size thing, but I would like to see what Mattingly can bring to the table.

412
The baseball beat is not something that most sportswriters dream about. It was the most travel and if you have a family you can go several weeks without seeing them.

NBA and NHL beats have bad travel, but there are more off days.

The life of the NFL or college football beat writer is sweet.

I would be a Dodger beat writer if I was retired, got to travel on the Dodger plane, got to take my wife with me, and got to have some free time before the game to do some sight seeing.

418
I would also add that baseball players have historically been known as the least media-friendly athletes in the four major sports. Hockey players tend to be the friendliest, probably because their Canadian.

Basketball and football players are required by contract to be available for interviews.

I was thinking Sweeney (he's a PVL with significant OF experience after all), but Loney is a good point.

We saw Ethier in CF in the spring and he looked adequate. Why not stick with JP in LF so everyone can "stay in their roles" and have their "consistency"?

421
I like the Ethier in CF idea.

My maternal grandmother is telling my paternal grandmother somewhere in the ether "In your face, Kraut!"

we're not discussing golf or footy in here correct? To avoid spoiler alerts...

If so, then I'd like to stay on topic with baseball and ask, with all these recent little dodger trade rumors, hypothetically, nothing can be done until the all star break right?

424 What makes you say that? A trade could happen at any time before the trade deadline.

If the Cubs win this year, do we get to claim the Most Desperate Fan Base trophy?

426 The Giants and the Indians have a much bigger claim on that.

425 I didn't know, I thought there was restrictions on what could be done before a certain time...I know theres a trade deadline on the opposite spectrum, but I didn't know if there was some sort of time frame trades could be made that hadn't started yet

425

Or after the deadline if we are acquiring a player who no one else will claim on waivers, which can't be ruled out ;)

417 Me too. (Re Mattingly.)

Funny, last night while watching his Yankees look feeble vs. the A's, my dad turned to me and randomly asked, "What's Don Mattingly doing these days?" I wasn't sure if he meant, even now he'd hit better in the clutch than these fools! Or that he'd like to see him as a hitting coach (it was the latter as it turned out.) So I gave him the update on Mattingly's tumultuous life this year, and how he was supposed to be OUR hitting coach.

426 ,427
At the very least, the Dodgers should get their own "Major League" style movie.

427
The Pirates are trying to avoid tying the mark for consecutive losing seasons.

428 Ned just made the blockbuster Angel Berroa trade, didn't he? There's no restriction on the early side, the late restrictions are really with regard to waiver and playoff roster rules.

426 427 My roommate, a Giants fan, despises the Cubs and Indians because if they win the WS, the Giants move up in that ranking.

432 But God didn't drop an Earthquake on the Pirates when they made the World Series.

435
Easy Hulk! :)

Tomko Designated (CBS Sportsline)

The Royals' Brett Tomko experiment has ended after 60.6 lousy innings. He was designated for assignment to make room for Carlos Rosa.

The Royals spent $3MM on Tomko, and he posted a 6.97 ERA in ten starts and six relief appearances.

437

Requests moment of silence.

Thank you.

437 Filed under Least Shocking Sports Story of the Year.

433 true, maybe I got this idea because all the BIG trades happen at the deadline.

I love how ESPN is letting me watch tiger, lefty, and scott on a live streaming vid from my comp. Technology rules

Btw, terrific comment/response on Tony Jackson's blog, Dave. Well done. Don't know if he'll respond to it, but glad it's out there.

437 But, but, but, I thought his stuff was better than it's ever been?

441 You're welcome.

443 Maybe Tomko needed contacts too.

444
Daniel, the base station was healed last night after much work. Many upgrades were needed.

An there was an incantation too.

417

I'm one that thinks hitting/pitching coaches are more important than managers. Especially for young players, those coaches are really their only instruction, where they find out what the organization wants from them, etc. If you compare tape from last year of Kemp and this year, the differences are pretty obvious. His approach has totally changed and taken away his biggest strengths. I'm guessing it was the organizations idea and Easler is just the guy that implements their wants. Hopefully Kep will watch some footage of his ABs last year and realize that si what works best

Look at today's lineup. Berroa, Maza, Kuroda, Pierre. A complete black hole of suckitude, and now we have Pierre in CF to add insult.

Meet the new boss...

Look at today's lineup. Berroa, Maza, Kuroda, Pierre. A complete black hole of suckitude, and now we have Pierre in CF to add insult.

Meet the new boss...

Blech.

From Gameday:

Pierre, CF
Young, LF
Ethier, RF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Berroa, SS
Maza, 2B
Kuroda, P

442 Thanks.

446 With incense, I presume.

450 So much for that idea.

Al Gore : Internet :: Daniel : Technology

Why isn't LaRoche in the lineup? He looked all right yesterday.

Sorry to ask such a dumb question.

Hard to understand preferring Maza over LaRoche.

That lineup is crappy. Just plain crappy.

I like the idea of giving PW playing time while Kemp sits out his suspension.

454 - Especially with Peavy on a pitch count. Put your guys in there that can take a pitch and work the count.

maybe maybe laroche pinch hits later if we need some offense?

I think Joe Torre has Jake Peavy on his fantasy team.

459
LaRoche gets pinch hit for, not the other way around.

459 Against Peavy you have to assume you need some offense from the get-go!

454 Only a major league manager could understand the complexities of the VERY good reason that LaRoche is not starting. Our feeble minds would not be able to comprehend such intellectual deduction.

Peavy doesn't have good arm angles for LaRoche.

toycannon, do you play in our flag football league??

http://72.34.234.226/game_statistics/game_summary.php?idTeam=2814&idGame=13102

I thought the whole point of having Andy up was to have him play when Loney, Kent, and DeWitt sit. This also continues Torre's streak of games of sitting the young guy who hit a HR in the game before. (See: Ethier)

461 462 yea agreed, I mean I'd much rather have the rock in the lineup...I'm just hoping that maybe they'll use him if we need a spark and he'll replace maza...If Hiro is on again then maybe it'll benefit having good defense in

semi playing devil's advocate here/trying to convince myself while this weak lineup could still get it done

459 - if we need some offense? I think that lineup pretty much garuantees it.

When was the last time this team had management that played the deserving players? It seems like we go through this during each administration.

450

It's only fair to ease Peavy back.

I think LaRoche has played something like five games of second ever takes it from boneheaded to just vexing.

AFP headline:

Austrians look to poleaxe rivals

Those Austrians are a mean bunch.

Maza tov, everyone! We'll need it.

The Rock will get plenty of playing time in Detroit, I guarantee that much.

466 Did you know that Ned's biggest strength is that he keeps the organization aligned from top to bottom and on the same page? At least that's what I remember Frank McCourt telling us.

469 I got the feeling it was part of life as a Dodger fan.

Re: the lineup: apparently Torre also wants Colletti fired.

471 - He only ended up playing about 5 games at 2nd? I thought he got a couple weeks there. I guess maybe they were giving him more starts at 1st?

And Martin is not resting. So Torre's response to Kemp out is to not rest Martin, rather than play LaRoche over Maza.

472 Is poleaxe some Austrilian slang term?

477 That was a guess. It was actually eight games.

What happened to the manager that gleefully played newly acquire Wilson Betemit at SS in his 2nd game after his previous organization pigeon-holed him as "just a third baseman"?

The box outside of which our current manager refuses to think is constraining the club.

478 Gah. Well, even Martin taking every other Kuroda start off would probably be more rest than he was gonna get before...

NPUT

SNPUT

(the S is for "secret")

446 There was rejoicing in all of South Pasadena! And parts of Utah!

445 Hendrickson's magic contacts only worked for a little while, his ERA is up to a Tomdricksonian 5.76

426.
I think it's safe to say that Philadelphia as a whole has the trophy cemented and buried somewhere in the city...for eternity.

The real problem is that Torre is not stuck in a box, for example Martin not only filled in at 3rd in an emergency situation, he STARTED 3rd. For that reason alone you can't say Torre thinks inside a box. the problem is Torre's decisions are irrational (I don't need to repeat the many examples that have been cited).

How many times well this be for the Dodgers to score one run or less? over 20?

Procter can be useful. Is there some reason we seem detemined to wear him out?

Delwyn, my man!!

I guess we have already worn Procter out.

Ooooh--nother nice smash out to DeWitt.

I haven't heard any kicking by the normally contentious Kent about not facing Peavy, even though he plays about 3 times a week--He had Monday off and didn't he have a day of midweek last week?

Vin--your breaking the rules, and eve3n if you are trying to cause disruption it is not pretty.