Saw this note in that PE story, which is nice news:

" The Dodgers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Josh Lindblom, and he will report to low-Class A Midland."

(At first I thought that was a typo... "Midland?" Then realized that's where the Great Lakes Loons play.)

My lord it's hot here in the bay area. It's like everything's on fire. I can only imagine what it's like down there in LA. I can't imagine either pitcher lasts a long time. On paper, the matchup doesn't look good for the Dodgers, but you never know.

Morning all I got LAT'ed (I think that's the term) in the last thread, so sorry for the re-post.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good baseball book, I am looking for a graduation present for my cousin, who just got drafted by Tampa Bay. He is not a Dodger fan, so I was hoping for something non team specific, all suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

BTW when to the game last night, and that out Andy made in the 9th was a screamer, man that would have been sweet.

And ga oranje (for the football fans)

If he's just starting out in pro ball, I would suggest reading "Dollar Sign on the Muscle" which is about scouting. He'll get a good idea of the business of how prospects are picked.

Oranje! Oranje! Oranje!

I guess with the exception of Nomar, the injury news is encouraging.

There's a separate chat thread for Euro 2008 over on the Griddle. Complete with grainy video!

3 I gave that book to my brother for his birthday and he really liked it. Recommend.

Thanks for the suggestion, sorry about Croatia yesterday I know that you are a fan. Being that it is a Saturday I won't have much need for gainy video, but it will be nice to have for the semi's

Go Bulldogs!

:)

3 I know why you recommended that...

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bison Books (February 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080327789X

8
Which Bulldogs? Half the teams left in the CWS are Bulldogs.

Go Banana!

Sorry if this is a repeat topic. Isn't it time to give the closer role to Broxton? He is ready and Saito is declining. Let Saito be the 7-8th inning guy.

12 personally, I still have a lot of faith in Saito

209. bhsportsguy
202 dzzz were you at the game too, sounds like you were sitting right where Eric and I were sitting. Reserved behind home plate.

No, I wish. Well, actually, I took my wife to dinner last night. First time out for the two of us in some time, because of all the birthday/graduation stuff. Where we ate, Good Stuff in Redondo Beach, the TV was tuned to the College World Series not the Dodgers, and I didn't want to disrupt our date by playing Rick and Charlie on the radio as we drove around the Esplanade. So I caught up with the game in the bottom of the eighth. Maybe my relatively positive outlook was due to missing the Dodgers' offensive futility in innings 1-7.

Baseball book: I'm enjoying "Crazy '08," about what the author says was the greatest season in the history of baseball, 1908. She's good at evoking the times and the culture of and around baseball back then, coming into its own as a national pastime from its somewhat disreputable period in the 1890s.

10

Go Fresno State Bulldogs!

:)

11

Spot on!

12 - The one thing Dodger fans have been spoiled by is that shut down great closer. Gagne from 2002-04 and Saito in 06 and 07. Saito has been very good at times this season and at times has flashes of brilliance. But it is possible that we don't have that GREAT closer anymore. He's 38 and human.

Pierre, LF
Kemp, CF
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Young, RF
Loney, 1B
LaRoche, 3B
Berroa, SS
Park, P

Rank your closers in order of preference:
Saito 2008
Shaw 1999
Worrell 1996

Cubs 4th inning today: Contreras pitching

- J. Edmonds homered to deep left
- M. Fontenot homered to deep left
- G. Soto grounded out to shortstop
- R. Theriot walked
- J. Marquis singled to right, R. Theriot to second
- K. Fukudome singled to right, R. Theriot scored, J. Marquis to third
- E. Patterson singled to right, J. Marquis scored, K. Fukudome to third
- D. Lee singled to center, K. Fukudome scored, E. Patterson to third
- A. Ramirez homered to deep left, D. Lee and E. Patterson scored
- B. Logan relieved J. Contreras
- J. Edmonds homered to deep left center
- Fontenot pops out to center
- Soto strikes out looking

But Soto is on my fantasy team! Waaaaahhhhhhh!

Oh why is this everybody's fault by my own?

UGA up 1-0 over Stanford.

The Bulldogs do have Erin Andrews in their dugout.

Don't forget Steve Howe, 1981-3.

I think Dodger fans are spoiled by our closer luck in part because our closest competition has also had a plethora of money closers. There's Trevor Hoffman. The Giants have had some great ones, like Robb Nen. Over in Anaheim, the Angels went from Troy Percival to Frankie Rodriguez. It seems as normal as having a third-base coach that a team should have a dominant closer from our perspective. But for a lot of teams, it's as elusive to them as finding a power-hitter has been for us.

I wonder how the Padres feel about Jim Edmonds these days?

24 - Edmonds going to Chicago was exactly what he needed. Both of his home runs today would be fly ball outs in Petco. Needless to say the wind is blowing out today in Wrigley.

To recap today's lineups:
Indians:
Sizemore. CF
Carroll. 2B
Francisco. RF
Garko. 1B
Peralta. SS
Blake. 3B
Dellucci. LF
Fasano. C
Sabathia. LHP

Dodgers
Pierre. LF
Kemp. CF
Kent. 2B
Martin. C
Young. RF
Loney. 1B
LaRoche. 3B
Berroa. SS
Park. RHP

I don't know if it's already been said but you guys need to check out the "Kempa Loompahs" over in Catfish Stew if you haven't.

25 Oh, true, true. I'm just thinking they're irritated to see him succeed after he contributed nothing to them. But yes, hitting at Wrigley vs Petco obviously makes a big difference for him.

Btw, does anyone know if MLBTV makes Fox TV games available in the archives? Especially if they didn't show said game in your area during the day? (I'm going to miss most of it live.)

28
ALL of last Saturday's games are listed as being available in the MLB.tv arhcive.

Off to the game with my new #27 "Kempa Loompah" jersey. That post is a classic! Go Dodgers!

1
Thankfully my family is out of town so I can blast AC all day.

28 - Yes. It should be available an hour after the game ends. They also have condensed games where you can watch the full game in about 10 minutes. But those take longer to upload for MLB.TV.

Yep, there it is. Thanks. I look forward to watching this one later on. Assuming it works at all; last time I watched a game in the archives and tried to skip ahead a bit it kept getting stuck, and then revealed the final score to me, which is just one of the many wonderful things about the MLB player.

That is really clever work by Ken, but it gives me nightmares to think of our CF moving North.

And my login name still doesn't appear. I type in the first letter and I get the little popup with previous names, select it, and my password autofills, but still.

I need the Dodgers press guy for advice when I am in trouble with the wifey. Sorry Hunny I had no idea I was taking these Vicodin... all those thumbs ups I was giving you was me just practicing my Mike Myers routine from Waynes World. Schwing.

which of course hunny is why I "looked very comfortable"

Ratt, I really enjoyed Crazy 08. I just gave it to a friend.

Anyone who goes to today's game should be careful. People are going to spontaneously combust today.

Pee Wee batting 5th.
Nice.

Yeah I like this line up today overall. (Save for our usual gripe about the leadoff hitter, which I've given up on.)

Now we just need Park to pitch acceptably...

Excuse me for this commercial announcement, but is anyone interested in buying my Hollywood Bowl box for the Gilberto Gil concert on June 29, a Sunday evening.

You would get four tickets for the price of three at $252. They're pretty good seats and for the KCRW World Music Festival concerts people tend to get up and move around anyway.

Stanford is in trouble. They're down 6-1 in the 4th and they already have their closer in.

Bill Dwyre renewed his dinosaur card today.

Jon as written quite a bit about players playing through pain and the pros and cons of doing so. He also has written about the problems the Dodgers have had with certain players hiding injuries.

The issue that Kuroda does bring up and in my mind represents an on going problems with the Dodgers, is their inability it seems to stay on top of these problems, not catching them earlier and then managing the expectations on when the player returns.

Don't know if the Dodgers do this better or worse than other teams, but it does seem in the past few years that diagnosing injuries and deciding when players are ready to come back has been a problem for both trainers.

Wonder if Conte could ever comment on the subject? Also surprised that Torre didn't delegate the medical reports to someone, if he was too busy? Has baseball gotten to a point that like basketball they need more coaches?

Yuck, Matt Vasgersian. Most annoying announcer ever.

I'm hoping for a Sabathia-Broxton confrontation today, just for the sake of a little largest-man-in-the-world drama...

I'd rather Sabathia not still be pitching when Broxton comes in; maybe if CC comes out early and then is so irritated he runs out of the dugout in the 8th inning, then it'd be amusing.

I wonder if the heat's made everyone in LA spontaneously combust before the first inning. Or people may be like me, watching the EuroCup game more than the baseball game.

The Indians sure do strike out a lot, at least so far in this series. Dodgers had quite a few punchouts yesterday, too.

Siddown Sal! Where's Nate? Fasano, man, Fasano!

Drat, I have to leave soon. It's been fun talking to myself here, too.

Park is bringing EXTRA HEAT today.

That lack of communication for Joe Torre sure seems like something Paul DePodesta would do (rolls eyes). Rookie mistake.

{tumbleweed rolls across underdog's monitor}

{Echo}{echo} {echo}

The Euro game is really something. Wow.

Wow, where is everybody today?

I'm spoiled. A game without the game chat just isn't as much fun.

I told you, they all spontaneously combusted from the heat. And/or watching the Euros. And/or at the game. And/or they're posting on the parallel universe version of DT.

Reporting in from the surface of the sun. The first 5 rows of loge are empty like it's a rain delay. I'm hunkered down in row T.

I missed the beginning of the game. Did they happen to mention the temperature on the field today?

58.

120

Weren't we hitting left handed pitchers well for the first 2 months of the season? Now they seem to be shutting us out all through June.

WOW.

C.C. has LIGHT TOWER POWER.

SHEEZ.

On that note, I'm outta here.

Charlie Steiner had a practical o-gasm with how far that ball was hit. That's ridiculous.

Where did it land?

How many feet?

Trade for CC and put him in left field when he's not pitching.

64.
Behind the bullpen.

No! Out of the stadium?

440 feet

440 feet

Any DT's thinking about going to one of the Dodger Giant games over the 4th. I know underdog is out of town based on an earlier post. But if anyone is interested, please let me know, louis99@wans.net

That was Ryan Howard power, seriously.

There are home runs and then there are Home Runs. THAT was a Home Run. He'd make an excellent NL pitcher.

Park is a sort of three true outcomes pitcher today

Tony Delmonico is considering returning to FSU for his senior year...

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/FSU06/80620015

my reaction....okay fine, give the money to Zach Cox.

Wow. Berroa is 3 for 38 lifetime vs. Sabathia.

wow! gotta watch Sports Center, I guess.....maybe Broxton will brush back CC later, leading to Clash of the World's Largest Men?

How is Park striking out so many batters?

And how dare he K the great Fasano.

Park has 8 strikeouts through 4 and has pitched pretty well. If he can make it through 5 and then we bring in Kuo we should be alright, assuming of course we can get some runs.

Reds going for the sweep of Yanks tomorrow, on the back of their good youg pitching? We must have missed it.

The LaRoche opportunity not panning out too well so far.

Wouldn't it be nice to have John Lindsey here instead of Mark Sweeney?

Oh boy, Mark Sweeney!

83.

Well, that was ball four.

I reiterate . . . John Lindsey.

I'm increasingly curious to see if Sweeney can get to under .100.

Tim McCarver does not know Stanford's name.

I'm behind you on Gameday, but I presume Sweeney did something weak. Lindsey aside, didn't we has Ethier and DeWitt in the flesh on the bench?

Sweeney struck out per the norm and yes Ethier and DeWitt are fresh on the bench.

I think we all realized Sweeney was done for in Spring training.
Why are the Dodgers always the last to know? Whether it be about injuries or whatever. Always the last to know....or sadly...always the last to care.

81 Reds have our number; they've whupped us two series in a row (the 1st being the1976 World Series)

Just leave your resume at the door, Vasgersian.

We get it.

87 He already got to under 1.00 once. Then he got two hits to raise his BA a bit, and has been sinking back down again ever since.

Bison Power!!!!

Sure. A solo home run. Typical.

wooo!! BISON POWER!

Thats a great approach right there. Attack the fastball.

kempa loompah!

KEMP!

What the heck is Karros talking about? We'll stick with the guy who is leading the team in RBI, playing a good center field, and is only 23 years old. Ya, that makes sense.

BISON!!!

Also, JD Drew just hit a ball that still hasn't landed.

And he pulled that HR for those who care

I really dislike Karros.

101 I'll regret this, but what did he say?

101 care to elaborate? i have the sox/cards here in nashville

I've synced KABC with the Fox feed on my DVR what did Karros say?

J.D. Drew is having a monster season.

96 Solo HR partly the result of batting Kemp second.

Bison Speed!

Our friend J.D. with his 10th June HR.
And Park with 9K's. Imagine our offense advanced a year or two, if no major mistakes have been made. If it has been slightly improved in those years--Oh boy.

I don't use or understand much about the future pluperfect. The only time I got that interested was when my cousin used to tell me he went to Boston to get scrod.

105

Basically that the Dodgers are being patient with Kemp even though he isnt a baseball player yet. They could have been hasty and pulled him out of the lineup, but credit to them for sticking with him.

Great play by Kemp.

I can only imagine the stinkeye Karros is giving while complimenting Kemp.

At least he can see why "Others are enamored" with Kemp.

ParKuo 12 K's through 7.

Perhaps when Karros looks at Kemp, he sees the young Paul Konerko.

105 107 What Karros actually said was that Kemp is the best athlete of the young players but not yet the best baseball player.

I think they've gotten LaRoche's name wrong more often than right.

Ugh, two ugly swings by DY

I'll bet Sabathia has lost seven pounds today.

What's the record for striking out while being HBP in one game?

It is impossible to look that bad TWICE in the same game, not to mention on the same pitch.

Was that Loney's first strikeout in like 50 PAs?

Also, Sabathia is filthy wicked today and that didn't help D.Y or Loney.

Very good AB from LaRoche.

Wish he'd start hitting, though.

Is it me or does Berroa come to bat every other player?

Wow, Karros worked awfully hard for that.

Ethier, against the lefty...

RIP, the Firewire port on my MacBook.

However, it's under warranty so the Apple people will have to fix it.

I didn't think Earl Weaver was still alive.

At the risk of running afoul of rule five, shouldn't booing Andre Ethier be a felony? Stupid state legislature.

Tommy's back!

Woo hoo! This is like watching the Beatles perform "Let It Be" on the rooftop of whatever building they performed it on.

Thanks for the warm welcome Bob. Enjoyed the Variety article!

Let it be indeed!

That would be Apple's studios in London, Bob.

Wow. 3-hitter for Dodgers pitchers, five-hitter for Cleveland pitchers.

Is it too hot (97 degrees, Gameday sez) to swing the bat?

Someone once told me that they also planned on playing on top of the Capitol Records building--or maybe they did and we just didn't know it?!?!?

135,
I played golf today....Make that I attempted to play golf today.

It's too hot to swing a bat!

To use a UCLA football fan phrase, today can be described as "Michigan hot."

Bob, I hope your library has more parking available than mine. About 20 spots. I had to wait ten minutes to get one. I'd have left but I had four books due and three on hold.

Yes, but when Michigan comes out here to play in the Rose Bowl, it usually means that they are "Michigan cold."

I've been going to Michigan for a month or two every year since I was born.
And I got to say IMHO Michigan has nothing on this heat. At least where I am in Ojai, Ca. 106 yesterday, 104 earlier today. And 30% humudity to make everyone a little extra slimy. Not fun.

"Michigan hot" actually refers to a game Michigan played out at the Rose Bowl against UCLA on 9/16/2000.

It was so....
so....
so....
so....
so....

hot.

UCLA won 23-20 thanks to Michigan kicker Hayden Epstein screwing up a lot.

I'm going to a game at the Big House at the end of August. Part of my campaign to be "the cool uncle."

Steiner mentioned that the Dodgers, when tied in the 8th inning this year, are 7-0.

I became a Great Uncle overnight.

Sounds like a "Hot" time.

An off-topic note: Just got off the phone with a friend, another death in the drag racing world. This time Scott Kallita, whose father Connie is a drag racing legend.

When on the way to LAX, you can usually see their business--large 747 cargo planes which fly most of the shipments to Irag and Afghanastan.

I've had to mute those two whiners again.

Alright Bob, that should be fun!
I'm a big Michigan football fan. My Dad went to MSU but somewhere along the line he returned to his fav childhood team and started rooting for the blue and maize.
I got to experience the Big House back in November '06 when they played the Badgers. Awesome game! Wonderful experience!
Apparently it was a record setting day for attendence, at that time anyways.

Hot day, to be sure. But a pretty hot game also, to be sure. No complaints here.

Hope we pull it out, but it's really been a good game.

I've been told that Michigan football tickets shouldn't be that hard to come by this year.

Oops.

Jhonny Peralta has mastered hitting the double that is misplayed by the Dodgers outfield.

Yeah, it's probably a good thing Rodriguez couldn't get us Pryor.
I'm hoping for a decent first year in the spread offense. I'm thinking 8 and 4, with a crappy bowl game thrown in.

So you're going to the Utah game? That should be a W.

154
I predict someone will win.

As a UCLA fan, I believe that Utah has the most impressive offense in the entire NCAA.

Walkoff double by Berroa in the 9th.

Book it.

Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't be assuming a victory every time in the Big House anymore. Not after last seasons debacles.
UCLA fan, so I imagine you'll be rooting for Michigan, right?

157
Bob Timmermann is nominally nonpartisan.

I will root for whomever my nephew chooses to root for, which I assume will be Michigan.

Nice DP from Snipes Sr. and Snipes At.

I would have to agree with Karros. Why was Choo swinging 3-0?

Hit a bomb, James.

Steiner suggested that Wedge ordered it after looking at Broxton's numbers, though I am unsure what numbers.

Nobody ever follows my orders.

Andy has been called Adam every time today.

Broxton's worst splits are on the first pitch.

And as I said, Berroa double PLAY, book it.

164 "My name ain't Adam, it's Andy ... Mr. LaRoche if you're nasty."

You're a seer, Bob.

What is the point of using steelworkers in those Nextel ads?

I can see into the future, but it's often cloudy.

I wonder how Berroa feels. He must have thought he deserved a chance to play in the majors this year. he gets his chance, and totally blows it.

168 It makes no sense to me either.

170 Angel Berroa should feel extremely fortunate.

156 Walkoff double by Berroa in the 9th.

A walkoff double play. I guess that's close. :-)

Gamechannel has Wade playing third, which may explain why he's missing the plate.

I'm looking into the future. I'm getting a D vibe. Has anybody here done anything that starts with a D?

You, the shortstop, you've hit a double?

What, oh wait, you hit into a double play!

From "Crossing Over with Bob Vernon"

174
The arm angles are tough for the batter to pick up when the pitcher stands at third. Especially, if you're righthanded.

Wade just rocks.

I love me some Wade. He's been phenomenal.

Maybe Kemp will hit a walkoff HR. And maybe the front office and sportswriters will all realize that, hey, this guy hit two home runs to provide our only runs in a 2-1 extra-inning win. And maybe the silly/scary trade rumors will stop.

But maybe not.

176 You just never know what Torre will do at third base.

Another nice DP for Grandpa Snipes and Snipes at Kemp.

Shame that Karros can't find a shirt that fits.

Okay, Vasgersian gets a point for mild Karros taunting right there.

The last player to hit two solo home runs and have his team win 2-1 was Cody Ross on July 25, 2006.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL200607250.shtml

Justin Ruggiano just went deep. The Rays have 4 former Dodgers in their lineup today. Navarro, Aybar, Ruggiano, and Edwin.

Quick, somebody call time out and tell Matt Kemp that he has approval to swing hard. Straight from Eric Karros.

Go for it, Matty! We have approval!

I blame Karros.

Navarro isn't playing for Tampa Bay today. And Ruggiano was never on the big league club.

But I understand the enthusiasm.

You had to try and be the hero, Kemp.

179 Not.

Execution.

Thrilling conversation.

UCLA baseball players never get hits at the right time for me.

187

Oops, correct as usual BT. Forgot Riggans was in. but you all get the picture :)

In this heat, the drone of my AC drowns out the screams of DT commenters throughout the Southland.

Bringing in Proctor is probably a bad move here.

Oh dear, here comes Proctor.

Please surprise us, Scott.

Bad execution by Torre right here.

Somehow we need to get Proctor and Sweeney to sign up for "The Amazing Race." I'd feel better if they were in the Sahara right now.

Peralta needs to hit a flyball that Pierre misplays so he can complete his set.

and on cue

At least Pierre didn't misplay the ball.

Proctor does it again.

Stupid Proctor. I hate you.

He's not the best manager in baseball for nothing, folks.

Proctor gives up a run, everytime he comes in and we bring him in with RISP. This should surprise no one.

Well that sequence wasn't predictable at all

And again. With help from Pierre. Torrecdoes not live and learn. Always bringing in Proctor and Sweeney at critical moments. Why won't he learn?

I thought we traded Lance Carter.

This lead is now Borowski-proof.

Ugly. Uuuuuuuugggggg-ly.

What a shame.

Enjoyed the pitcher's duel. A good game.

I miss Wilson Betemit.

Who else is left guys, I mean you start Park and use Kuo, Saito is obviously not pitching, Troncoso threw over 20 pitches last night.

Broxton was fortunate to get out of his inning, if he lost it, would you be saying he should leave.

Can we have Hendrickson back? Particularly this year's version?

I know, you go with the relief pitching you have, not the relief pitching you'd like to have, but still.

I think most people thought Wade should have just tried to work his way out of the inning.

I wonder what Proctor will burn after today.

Houston, we have a Grabowski Principle there.

215
I think there's a red flag warning, so Proctor should lay off the fires.

13-8 balls to strikes. That's Stanhouse territory.

214 He threw 2 innings yesterday.

They were asking him to throw 2 again, that's a lot.

Scott Proctor. Can't add much to that. Scott Proctor.

212. I think the more salient point is how long do we have to suffer with Proctor on the team? Is there ever going to be a point where Torreletti decides that maybe we should try someone else? The same point applies to Sweeney. Sometimes it feels that loyalty to these PVL's trumps the desire to win--or even worse, that those in charge think that using these guys over and over again is the way to win.

215 http://tinyurl.com/5rxs6a

With Troncoso in, all they have left is Saito.

I say blame Angel Berroa, if he doesn't get that hit in the 7th, Kuo throws another inning.

Three more runs would tie the AL record for most runs scored in an 11th inning.

So. That happened.

Man, if you listened to Vinny yesterday, it was Cleveland's bullpen that was suspect.

The record for combined runs in the 11th is 11.

Scott Elarton is still in the majors?

221 Fine, the Dodgers lost today because of one pinch hitter and a pitcher who pitched in the 11th inning, the other 10 innings and batters had nothing to do with scoring only 1 run.

I think there are times the trees (Sweeney and Proctor) get in the way of the forrest which is the inconsistent offense of these team.

This kind of game doesn't seem to go our way at the moment. Although one could probably select a few culprits, most likely it is random, and it will reverse, next half or next year. No one knows.

forrest

Don't bring up James Forrest. It will just get Eric Stephen mad.

229- And Gary Bennett! Why do people always forget about Gary Bennett?

I wish Arizona would've just runaway with the division already. Knowing they're only 4-5 games ahead makes me worry that Ned will still be inclined to be a buyer at the trading deadline, when he really ought to be a seller (of PVLs).

I can't believe I'm actively wanting the Dodgers to lose.

229 . I just wish the Dodgers would try and plant some different trees from time to time. Everything team is going to have weaknesses, especially on the bench and in the back of the bullpen, but trotting out the same guys over and over again, watching them fail over and over again, and yet still expecting them to succeed the next time, is insanity.

233 We have to destroy the village in order to save it.

And now it's time for the Hollywood Stars softball game! I wonder how many people stuck around through this whole game just for that.

I wonder how many of the Hollywood stars did.

236 I'm guessing all of the softball team members did.

Damn you Shimmin

At least I don't have to drive into East Hollywood right now. It's probably pretty comfortable out there.

Oh, wait.

Bye :-(

234 Scott Proctor is 5th, 6th guy in the bullpen, Mike Sweeney is a pinch hitter.

It just seems like there have opportunities in the last two games for the kids like Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young to get a big hit, they didn't.

I don't blame them, its part of the learning process but they certainly had more impact than one at bat by Mike Sweeney.

Anyway, I'm off and back to the stadium tomorrow.

If the Dodgers didn't sell in 2005 with Paul DePodesta in charge, why would they sell now?

The loss doesn't have to be Sweeney or Proctor's fault to want one or both off the team.

bh I know you toe the line but come on everyone knows what Proctor was about to do. everyone knows how ineffective Pierre is. everyone know that Sweeney won't get a hit.we don't know what those two will do. plus out of the two players who couldn't get a hit today one will worry about it costing him playing time for another week and the other will shrug it off and say i'll get em tommorrow no big deal....

Kent is OPS'ing .590 with runners on which believe it or not is worse than what JP is OPsing in leadoff with his .303 OBP (602 ops)

I for one am sick to my stomach at this point at the idea that anyone can defend our management and how you can point fingers (yet understandingly, whatever that means) at two guys who have a combined 75abs or so for this team

In any case BH I'm already sorry for posting that. I'm frustrated like others and will go back enjoying what others are saying.

I had a solution. I took a nap.

Earlier in this thread, I posted that Cody Ross was the last player to hit two solo home runs in a game his team won 2-1.

The Angels lead the Phillies now 2-1 on two solo home runs by Vladimir Guerrero.

But the Phillies tied the game, so Cody Ross still is king.

In the bottom of the 9th in St. Pete, the Astros lead the Rays 3-2. Doug Brocail comes into close and gives up two hits and hits pinch Dioner Navarro to load the bases and Gabe Gross singles in the winning runs.

249 But, in a rematch of last year's World Series adversaries (and the one in 1967!) the Cardinals (with the World's Greatest Fans!) beat the Red Sox.

The Rays had never beaten the Astros!

The Red Sox and Cardinals also played in the 1946 World Series.

Someday Sweeney will do what Gross has done routinely this year, but it won't be for us. I think that is his 3rd walk off hit this year.

If you check out the Ray's offense you will notice no one having an outstanding year. As the Dodgers continue to display an ineptitude for winning, I will hope to garner some joy from this season by hoping the Ray's can finish 2nd in the East.

Heck of a game by Park/Kuo and what a bomb by CC.

The Dodgers hung in against Sabathia and had a chance to win. If the Dodgers continue to hang in against teams, the last two innings is where they will win or lose and therefore pinch hitting and closing will play a bigger role that it would for a team that wins or loses in the first 6 innings. Sweeny does need to be more productive.

So does the sample size mantra not apply to pinch hitters who have proven over time they are one of the best in the game?

LaRoche had an interesting game. After making two outs he had terrible swings on the first two pitches in his 3rd at bat. Then he worked a walk and followed that up with a solid single to center field. That should get him some bench time for the rest of the week.

This team is being badly mismanaged. Until there is a change losing will continue. How does anyone keep a pinch hitter who's hitting .105 in June? How does anyone keep a relief pitcher with an ERA over 6 in June? How does one keep a pinch runner in left field? These are questions that have to be addressed before any success can take place. Also it's just my opinion but if you have a starter go on the DL, maybe you should bring up another starter. Chan Ho was great. but he's needed in the pen. If you bring up another starter and leave Chan Ho in the pen you don't have to suffer another Proctor outing.

The way baseball works leads me to believe that if Sweeney were let go, some other team would sign him quickly.

Sweeney fills a niche. Teams believe they have to have a "experienced pinch hitter", especially one who is a lefty.

The fact that Sweeney isn't very good now wouldn't make a difference.

I could see the Cardinals picking up Sweeney.

Chan Ho pitched 5 effective innings. Just because a AAA/AA may be ready to pitch more then 5 innings doesn't mean they will be effective. I think the odds are high that Park did better today then Johnson, Orenduff, McDonald, or Meloan would have done.

Blaming the decision to start Park for this loss is like blaming the sun for your sunburn today.

so what do we do with all the money coming off the books this year?

I figure we gotta let penny and nomar definitely walk. Lowe, Kent and Furcal may need to be kept...

whatever we do, we need to figure out a way to win some ballgames.

Sweeney has a H% right now of 15%. Historically it is around 30%. If LaRoche was hitting .154 and had a H% of 15%, everyone would be pointing out that he's having bad luck. Oh wait, isn't Andy hitting about a buck fifty? Oh wait again, isn't that based on a just a few at bats?

Four years from now Sweeney will still be in this league and this will probably be his worse stretch of bad luck. This team isn't scoring runs because the first pinch hitter off the bench can't hit right now, it is losing because the eight guys who start the game have no clue what a home run or a rally is. You have to have one or the other. Solo home runs and two out singles are our forte, and that doesn't get the job done.

Man, the NL West is awful.

242 - This team has looked mostly terrible except for a brief stretch earlier this season and whenever we play the Reds. The difference between this team and the 2005 team is that we have clearer vision of what the following season will look like. In 2005 if we sold we really only had the Grabowskis and Edwards of the world to turn to. If we sold at the deadline this year, we fully turn this team over to the youth and better prepare for next season. Specifically, I am talking about getting DY more ABs and turning 2B over to DeWitt and 3B over to LaRoche.

If you adjust Sweeney's numbers to line up with his expected BABIP, he'd be hitting: .272/.349/.309. Unless my math is wrong. Which is always the better bet.

259 - I'm not one to overstate the importance of Sweeney being on or off the roster. But surely it doesn't need to be said that if LaRoche were hitting .154 - which he's not, by the way ... he has a BA of .214 and an OPS of .782 in his much more limited use - that should in fact be taken in context of him being a younger player with everything ahead of him who can also contribute in the field, rather than an older player with his best years behind him who has no other function except to hit.

Putting aside the other fact that the team has had two nice rallies this week, and that I don't expect Sweeney to be doing much at age 42, I agree with the rest of your comment.

Just caught up to the results of the game, watched the last few innings.
The good: Chan Ho. Kemp's blast. Kuo again. Hanging in there.
Bad: The 11th inning. 'nuf said.

Didn't read all the comments but I expect there's a few DFA Sweeney and DFA Proctor comments in there, eh?

Sweeney just looks awfully lost. (Tho to be fair he should've had a walk on pitch before strike 3. But no experienced hitter should take the # of called third strikes he seems to. Though Kemp did that earlier in the game, too.)

It's a bummer Young didn't produce today since he doesn't start all that often. But clearly Sweeney is more replaceable at this point than Pee Wee.

Proctor looked good last night. Don't know why he's so erratic this year. But the biggest problem, or reason they lost, is again, inability to score runs with consistency. 1 run in 9-10 innings isn't gonna get you many wins.

Hope they grab tomorrow's game. Hope nobody got sunburned too badly if you were at the game.

Cooler whether in the Bay tomorrow; hope it cools down there, too.

Happy Saturday Night (minus the fever).

264 etc. "Proctor looked good last night. Don't know why he's so erratic this year."

He knows it too. See Kevin Pearson at the P-E blog.

Russell is 2-2 2b hr today so far.

Best news?... he hasn't struck out in his last 5 ABs!

Here's a problem that doesn't involve young players not recognizing how to win. This problem repeats over and over again every game lately. This problem does involve the batters and the batting order.

Berroa
Pitcher's spot
Pierre

"I don't want to say it's a platoon [at third base], because there may be a game where I think Loney has trouble with this particular left-hander, I'll put LaRoche over there and DeWitt'll play," Torre said. "I'm not afraid to have DeWitt hit against left-handers, but his numbers lately against left-handers haven't been as good as the overall number."

.235 /.294 /.274 /.568 JP vs Right handed pitching.
.248 /.286/.406 /.692 Kent Vs righties.
.298/.394/.474 /.868 DeWitt vs Lefties.

Now I realize he at least said "lately" but this is just nonsense.

Russell is 3-3 and a triple short of the cycle!

Duh. Took me a second to figure out that you weren't talking about Golden God.

Kyle Russell! Very cool. I wonder how fast he'll move up.

--

I Love the 80's 3-D is on. Is there actually anything left of interest from the 80s, enough to mine a whole 'nother series out of? Apparently they thought so. I'm not convinced.

267 It's a problem all right, but since there's nothing to do about the pitcher's spot, and frankly I don't see many other options at short (except, yeah, moving Martin there, but then is Ardoin much better than Berroa at the plate?) Hu, if he gets his confidence back soon, could again be an option. I don't think De Jesus is ready. I don't think Maza would be better. And I don't think LaRoche or DeWitt can play SS. So I agree it's a debit there, but not sure what the options are other than us praying hard that Furcal can come back sooner rather than later.

265 Btw, thanks for that and props to Proctor for at least owning up to his struggles this year. I know relievers sometimes just implode or lose it, but I don't think he's tired or overused this year (maybe overuse in previous seasons has caught up to him, though). It may be a confidence thing or concentration. He still seems to have good velocity and a mix of pitches. But I agree with him, it's been expletive pathetic. And frustrating.

When did Mitch Jones return to the Las Vegas outfield?

261 . I like the way you think. Full speed ahead with the Youth Convoy!

The Dodgers need to wait to see what Jones and Furcal will be able to give them in offensive production. Furcal for Berroa, no problem as long as the bulging disc behaves.
When Jones returns, then what? Jones in center, Ethier in right, in left? Kemp's in left for me. If Jones and Furcal can produce at the plate when they return, then the Diamond Backs will need to be looking over their shoulders.
The Dodgers have had so many injuries. All of this talk about poor approach at the plate and laying blame at the feet of the young players is to me, just a big smokescreen. Get to coaching, get to teaching and make them better if that's the case.
Pete Carrol always takes the blame when things don't work out for his team and gives all of the praise to his players when things go well.
This constant mantra from Torre regarding his players not being able to perform is unseemly.

boo Russell struck out.

276 What's the word on Russel's bat speed?

Devaris Strange-Gordon has a double in that game, too, for anyone scoring at home.

277

His bat speed really isn't the problem, its that he is 6'5 which means he his strike zone is very large.

279 Any current players you would compare him to?

Off the top of my head? Left handed Richie Sexson; someone of that ilk. The Dodgers will definitely need to help him out this offseason with the strikeouts though. I don't see Adam Dunn in him that much; Russell is a better athlete and doesn't have Dunn's batting eye at the plate.

Its one thing to K a lot in the majors, its another to do it in the lower levels.

Tony Clark could be another example for his upper medium comp.

I've not read the whole thread, but in case it needs to be pointed out, the Dodgers' lousy hitting the past two games came against last year's Cy Young winner and a candidate for this year's. I don't care that they didn't look good against them. I'm proud that we were able to come close to winning, thanks to Park today and some opportunistic hitting last night.

If the Dodgers aren't overanxious, they should be able to overcome Paul Byrd with a hot Chadsworth on the mound. Although Byrd's "crafty" qualities might be used to good effect against the "inexperienced" Dodger lineup. (Just writing Sunday night's LA Times game story. Send the check to the usual place, Dylan.)

Chadsworth? I thought he was the Royal Thighness.

But thanks for the perspective check, good points.

RHP Jesus Castillo had a really impressive outing yesterday for Jax. Sounds like he deserves a 40-man spot this offseason.

273 - Ken Gurnick has a note today about the Dodgers signing him to a minor league contract.

Byrd's been awful this year.

19hrs allowed in only 77 innings.

Of course, the Dodgers dont hit many home runs.

Mitch Jones and Japan were not a good fit. He had a poor year in 2007 and spent much of this year in the minors for Nippon Ham until they released him on June 16th.

Torre hinted there could be a move tomorrow for a new bullpen arm. The only thing that makes sense is replacing Troncoso with Greg Miller. We'll see.

287
Hot Wheels Home Run Power for tomorrow.

Kemp cf
Martin c
Loney 1b
Kent 2b
Ethier rf
LaRoche 3b
Young lf
Berroa ss
The Ace of the Staff p

Just a thought ...

People still have these dreams where Juan Pierre doesn't start and bat leadoff. I think we need to work on this issue. I recommend therapy sessions.

I suggest that we use primal scream.

It was too hot at home, so I ran errands this afternoon with a Dodgers cap on. I got heckled (again!) by a 5 year old boy in an Anaheim t-shirt.

I had no comeback to his clever "DODGERS SUCK!" chant.

"Not all the time"...?

Just returned from a great afternoon of bikeing and tennis in the Bay Area, followed the game while it was tied through 6 and Park and Kuo come through again and give the Dodgers an excellent chance to win, but they couldn't get through against CC, which is not a great surprise.

However what is so frustrating that many have you have stated before, runs and power are at a premium with the current make up of this squad. While a pinch hitter as John mentioned earlier isn't a complete difference maker, a key hit can make a big difference.

I don't understand why the Dodgers are so frightened to try Lindsey in that role. Based on the remaining games left if the Dodgers continue to have Sweeney in that role he probably has about 65 AB's at most left for the season. He has 56 already. His old counterpart last year for the Mets, former Dodger Olmedo Saenz had 110 AB'S. His power numbers were 4HR's and 5 2B's. Right now Sweeney has 2 2b's, but no HR's, he had 2 all of last year. Given Lindsey's stats and the fact he is seen as a "career minor leaguer", I don't understand what the risk is for another 50-60 AB's to give a guy who has more HR potential a shot, if he hits 4 that would be more than Sweeney is likely to hit, and if he fails, it is not the end of the world. If Sweeney is so valuable and Bob is correct that he does fill a niche for certain teams get a good prospect for him. Right now a case could be made that the Dodgers have too many Left handed hitters, so swapping Lindsey for Sweeney would make sense, and if we got a good prospect out of it so much the better!

291
The primal scream is a good suggestion, it's worth a try. The late inning shock therapy that the Dodgers are giving me these last two games isn't helping me.

I don't understand what the risk is for another 50-60 AB's to give a guy who has more HR potential a shot, if he hits 4 that would be more than Sweeney is likely to hit, and if he fails, it is not the end of the world.

Actually, I don't think Torre is wrong to keep running Sweeney out there, much as he frustrates me. He's probably not "done" but in a slump, and his record suggests he can pull out of it. The odds are better for him than it would be for a player the likes of John Lindsay.

If you look around the majors this year, a lot of quality players got off to horrible starts and then turned it around. When said player is over 30, there's a tendency to declare the player's career is over.

It's fine to suspect, it's fine to think about Plan B, but to jump into action prematurely would be a mistake.

If the D's fall out of the race, then sure, trade him for something. But it would be shortsighted to DFA him.

I'm not opposed to promoting Lindsey for a little while to see what he's got, but it makes no sense to remove Sweeney from the roster in order to do that.

Two new posts up top.

Are these the two highest Game Scores of all-time?

Sandy Koufax, 9/9/65 vs. Cubs (Perfect Game); Game Score: 101

Randy Johnson, 5/18/04 vs. Braves (Perfect Game); Game Score: 100

Addendum: Now that LaRoche is on the 25-man roster and Torre clearly plans to use him, I think we can all be calmer about the roster, don't you think?

I like Ardoin better than Bennett, so I hope they don't bring Bennett back. That's about it. I assume when Rafael comes back, it's Maza who goes down, not LaRoche. If we get both Garciaparra and Furcal back, I expect we'd demote Berroa and keep him warm down in Vegas, and that Andy would stay. Have to admit, Berroa has played well enough to forestall a bigger, dumber move, so he's been a net plus.

LaRoche's trump card is the potential for power. They certainly don't expect him to start hitting dingers and turn around the team's fortunes immediately, but they know if they don't get power from him, there's nowhere else to go (except Jones), so they're going to have to find a spot for him.