How long can the Dodgers go without using the bullpen?

Felicitations, Fun Guy! Or, Fungi!

Wow!! Way to go Eric. What a great pitching performance tonight.

Now's the time on DT when we dance!

116 pitches - 81 strikes, 35 balls

Huzzah! Beautiful game, Stultsie.

Now can we keep him, huh, can we mom, can we??

Eric tough it out! really happy for the guy.

Just a terrific performance. No more AAA for Mr. Stults.

Wow. Wow. Eric Stults! The easiest game in the world to manage. Very impressive. Only 3 back.

Seriously, do you think the Dodgers might actually be able to trade Penny at this rate? (After he comes back and assuming he's healthy and effective, first.) Either way, don't rush on back, Brad.

We must, as Gregor say, do the dance of joy!

We needed this. We needed this berry, berry much.

9 We're three back? I love the NL West!

it's pretty significant also, he's the first since Ishii, Perez & Wilson Alvarez from what Vinnie was saying.

Bob's sweet B-R.Com touch is needed for a more detailed look though.

Stults for President

Congrats Eric.

Eric Stephen.
Eric Enders.
Eric Stults.

Gods among men.

Stults's shutout is the sixth by a Dodger left-hander this decade, and just the 10th since Fernando left the team.

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

Complete games are such a rearety I remember when Fernando Valenzuela use to break those of like nothing.

And to think I had tickets. Great performance!

That was fun! #50 Eric Stultz, Two starts, Two wins! Gotta love this guy! What a stud!

Very nice game all around for Blake DeWitt as well.

Just because Stults pitched a shutout doesn't mean that Penny's trade value increased. And if he comes back healthy and effective, do you really still want to trade him?

The Dodgers triumph.

And I am in freakin' Cleveland.

QED

Stultssssss!

15 Let's make it two in a row for that tomorrow! :-)

Okay, I'll just take a win.

ESPN just showed the highlights of the game.

Guess how many highlights Eric Stults was involved in? I'll give you a hint: think less than one.

(sigh)

Oh well. They did show highlight how the White Sox starter had a penchant for giving up stolen bases. The key to the game, apparently.

Uh... eliminate "show" form the last post.

ESPN just ran highlights of the game without once showing or mentioning Stults.

Okay, about the word "form" in... never mind, I'm sure I'm breaking some kind of rule here.

obviously a healthy penny is nothing a team like the dodgers are in position to trade, but there does appear to be a plethora of pitching, something always in demand at the trade deadline. wouldnt it be prudent to make a (good) trade for at least some prospects if the market is right?

20 It's a bit of a conundrum, or Catch-22, yes, because they can't really trade him for anything of value if he's hurt and wounded, and if he then comes back healthy and effective they may not want to. But still, if the latter, and they could get something really good in return, I'd say yes. Otherwise, yeah, there's no real point. Never mind, as Emily Litella would say. I'm probably just being a little sausage. Er, unrealistic.

24 They had time to criticize the Dodgers for talking a big game but not giving up their prospects. I wonder if by prospects, they mean, unwilling to trade Matt Kemp?

Congratulations Mr. Stults!

In other news... the Cardinal bullpen woes continue unabated.

The "Trade Penny" thing is kind of lost on me. He's not doing well, and the only thing we really need is a power bat.

What is it that we're going to trade Penny for? Or do we just want to get rid of Penny.

Wonderful performance...I feel like everyone was in a negative and bitter mood today as we mulled over management and front office problems..this helps...3 back!

Five games under .500, three games out of first! I love the NL West. Mediocrity has never been so highly regarded since April 1970. That was when Sen. Roman Hruska (R-Neb) defended President Nixon's Supreme Court nominee, G. Harrold Carswell, who was never confirmed. Hruska said in the Senate chamber: "It has been held against this nominee that he is mediocre. Even if he is mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they? And a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there."
And we can't all be the '27 Yankees.

I hate to be the spoilsport, but Stults pitching a shutout makes it more beneficial for us to trade Eric Stults, not Brad Penny.

33 Trade Penny for a power bat! There, problem solved.

Okay, probably not very likely.

Anyway, it'll probably be awhile til he comes back and who knows about Kuroda, and Kershaw could struggle some, too, so it's great to have another solid option in Stults.

This is the best feel-good story of the Dodgers season so far.

I just might write Eric Stults a letter. And I never write fan letters.

37 Penny and Ethier for Dunn!

I've had that as a macro for two and a half years.

First shutout by Stults as a professional. He never pitched one in the minors.

Trade Jason Schmidt for Josh Hamilton!

Okay, never mind, I need to go to bed.

oh and while espn gave us no stults highlights...they made sure to show every pitch of like a 9 pitch joba at bat in which he drew a walk..

Is Buster Olney talking out of his bum, or is he serious? On Baseball Tonight, when talking over the final score on the game, said that the Dodgers are looking for pitching, but have been hesitant in the past to trade youngsters.

Karl Ravech responded with some stupid nonsense about how maybe with Torre the front office will be inspired to make a trade this year, but the important part of this is, why the heck would we be looking for pitching?

Have any other writers mentioned this?

Colonel: Right, stop that, this has gotten silly. Come on, come on, get out, all of you. This started out as a nice little chat about Eric Stults and now it's just full of silly trade proposals and it's gotten silly. Right, director, on my word...

39 - Penny and Pierre for Dunn!

There, fixed.

Why you guys watch ESPN baffles me to no end.

15 Remarkable stats. A lefty named Koufax pitched 11 shutouts in 1963, 40 in his career. Another lefty named Osteen also pitched 40 shutouts in his career, including 34 with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers went two and a half years without a pitcher throwing a shutout, and now they have two in one month.

42 , 43 - yeah, that whole thing killed more of my brain cells than many college weekends (combined)

48 - part of it is having a manager that doesn't think:

It's the seventh inning and we lead, need to go to the pen. It's the eighth inning and we lead, need to go to the set up man.
It's the ninth inning and we lead, need to go to the closer.

Mediocrity will get the Dodgers into a 5-1 playoff loss to the Cubs.

Also, I didn't know (until now) that Kemp ran through a stop sign from Bowa. Players used to be fined for that stuff, back in the day. Maybe Bowa went medieval on Kemp's ass in the clubhouse.

I meant 4-1.

51 - so, you're saying that the Dodgers would get to the NLCS?

46 - It wasn't a conscious choice, but I can't remember the last time I watched an episode of Baseball Tonight or SportsCenter.

53

I can dream, can't I?

Players mostly used to be fined for that stuff when they did it and it hurt the team. It's hard to fine 'em when it turns out to be the right play. How are you going to fine somebody for being smarter than the third-base coach?

Moreover, given our third-base coach, what are you going to do with all the fine money? Start your own country?

Woohoo! Stults has joined Wade and Troncoso in my group of favorite under-loved Dodgers.

The turdlets on BBTN are severely misinformed. In other news, Pierre can't throw, Kent can't run and I need some sleep.

Few people actually know what's going on with this team. This blog is hands down the best place to go if you want the TRUTH about the Dodgers. It really is like Tivo.

Our own local media can't cover the Dodgers properly. Why in the world would ESPN get it right? They have no clue what's going on here at all. Fox, ESPN, etc. Though, we haven't really given them a reason to pay attention.

I watched Baseball Tonight last night for the first time in many moons -- not by choice, but because I was sitting on the couch and somebody put it on and I didn't object. Within about 10 minutes, I was reminded of all the reasons why I don't watch Baseball Tonight.

I mean, Eric Young? Come on. It's actually depressing watching someone fight a losing battle with the English language like that.

And some C-list country music singer doing her version of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Which served only to prop up the two commercial breaks on either side.

56

I think that they were sometimes fined even if it didn't hurt the team.

Point taken about Mr. Helmet-Head.

That Fresno State CWS win is so amazing. One of the great upsets in recent memory. Detwiler had quite a day. Wow.

Probably the most amazing thing about the CWS game was that one guy went 4-for-4 with 2 homers and 6 RBI, another guy pitched a near-shutout, and neither of them was named the MVP.

Also, not only that Fresno won, but won with their best player missing the entire CWS due to injury.

There isn't anything about baseball that I can't get from here, Bob, Primer, FJM, or Deadspin.

ESPN isn't just bad. It's useless. If Keith Law writes something interesting, my friends email it to me.

59

Who??!!!! Was it Carrie Underwood?!

Gosh, what a shame about Baseball Tonight, but in ESPN's defense, you have to realize, that the guys cutting the film are just a bunch of kids straight out of college. They're just going to find the stuff they're looking for, and if there isn't anyone from back on the West Coast, you'll get no footage of Eric Stults.

It's simply logical. That's why ESPN needs a west coast HQ for WC highlights and analysis... In fact, that's exactly what they'll do by next year!

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4567685-1.html

How on earth does John Bowker have 8 home runs for the Giants? Who is letting this happen? And the Giants have the highest batting average in baseball in the month of June. Who can I protest to? This is an outrage!

I've thought for a long time that someone would do well to create an ESPN-type station called "SportsWest" or something, which people could watch if they want sports news other than from New York or Boston. There's a niche there waiting to be filled.

GREAT PERFORMANCE BY STULTS!

IP 9, H 4, R 0, ER 0, BB 1, SO 3, HR 0, ERA 0.60

Complete Game Four Hit Shutout!

Offensive Leaders Tonight:

AB 3, R 1, H 1, RBI 2, BB 1, .269 DeWitt
AB 4, R 1, H 1, RBI 1, .277 Ethier
AB 4, H 1, RBI 1, .313 Martin
AB 2, RBI 1, .200 Stults
AB 3, R 1, H 1, BB 1, .290 Kemp
AB 4, R 1, H 1, .310 Loney
AB 4, R 1, H 1, .279 Pierre

A very satisfying win for the Dodgers!

Check out this insightful analysis of Eric Stults on a White Sox blog, before the game started:

http://www.southsidesox.com/

(2nd post from top)

66 - Fox Sports Net did just that - they had a national sports show - but it didn't take.

66

The most striking, thing, Eric is that the West Coast isn't the only region that's slighted by "the Worldwide Leader." I could even understand if it was just us in the boonies. It turns out that there are people on Deadspin and elsewhere complaining about the lack of coverage the Cubs and Cardinals get. Can you imagine?! The two premier franchises of the NL not getting their fair shake.

69

I thought the same thing, but I think Eric wants a network that specifically focuses on sports West of the Mississippi. That would be very refreshing. If I ran a network like that, I'd have Jon Weisman on every week to break down the NL West.

Not to inject politics into this but Baseball Tonight is GW Bush's favorite show. He said so himself.

71 Isn't the opening of ESPN's west coast headquarters in LA supposed to help with that? You know, like our own SportsCenter feed and all that.

Fox Sports has wasted every opportunity to position itself as the West Coast ESPN.

They never even tried a real nightly baseball show. Their roundtable of dunderheads was terrible (The Best Damn Show).

71 - I'm waiting by the phone. But do I have to cover the whole division???

After Kruker went from Fox to BBTN, I've long thought the Peter Principle should be renamed the Kruk Principle.

Still better than Fernando Vina:

"That guy can hit"

Thanks, Fernando!

someone named gene who called into dodger talk made a good point about torre needing to run the hit and run more with loney...it seems some people outside of DT are not totally mesmerized by Joe.

75 Hold out for just the LA/SD/SF teams, Jon. Otherwise the travel would wreck your relationship with the new kid. ;)

77 - I heard that call as well. Playing hit and run with Loney is an excellent idea. I'd like to see it a lot. Several times I've wondered why Torre hasn't called for it.

Fernando Vina makes Eric Young look like Roger Angell.

Sure glad I decided to make the effort and hit this game. Heard Stults on the post game show and I think he realizes that he just pitched the best game of his past, present, and future career.

71 Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind. Preferably with Peter Krause as the anchor.

I watch Baseball Tonight just about every night and while all the hosts are full of hooey, watching baseball highlights never gets old for me. I already know what the Dodgers did, I'm more interested in what everyone else has done.

83 I do miss the highlights.

I just feel like if enough people don't watch, and the ratings dip, they'll change things up.

Maybe less EY, less Kruk, a little more Gammons and Keith Law. Bring in the Prospectus guys like Sheehan, that only get on the Hot List once in a while.

Baseball highlights on SportsCenter used to tell the story of the game. Now they don't. They're selected for how well they fit in with the catchphrases. A homer when you're ahead 10-0 is far more likely to make the highlights than a bases-loaded double in a tie game.

I just heard that Shawn Chacon almost beat up Ed Wade.

85 It's almost like SC and BT are scripted and the highlights forced to fit. That's why a Fresno State win (and that kid's HUGE game) is so refreshing. It's also why the only useful thing I get out of BT (which I normally get at 4:00pm or so, right before I start cooking) is the Breaking News Updates from mostly West Coast games.

85
True, but it is what it is. It used to be a must watch show for me every night but as everyone has mentioned, the format sucks these days.
They could learn a thing by watching this show.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Night

I see Travis Denker got called up by San Fran, and has done pretty well thus far.

No big loss. Hell, who wouldn't prefer Mark Sweeney over him?

I heart Russ.

From TJ:

>>Torre intended to take him out after eight innings, going so far as to shake his hand and tell him he was done, but Russell Martin pled Stults' case to Torre, and Torre agreed to let him start the ninth and take it batter by batter.<<

Not to go back to the ESPN harping, but I saw the Joba comment earlier. It seems that all ESPN does is talk about Joba Chamberlain. Is he really that good?

NOTE TO NATIONAL MEDIA: The Dodgers are not selling their young players.

90 Russell Martin is the man.

It probably needs to be said every thread.

What a night, what a show, the big opening, the crowd cheering after every hit, it was great. And the final out, man, you can't beat that.

What a night to see a musical.

Did something happen at Dodger Stadium?

93 James Loney swiped a bag.

89 Hey, I wish they had someone else as their number one pinch hitter too but again Travis Denker was not projected in any way to be playing at Dodger Stadium, he was not among the top 40 prospects and he was probably among a group of 4-5 players that the Giants had a choice of picking as a player to be named later.

Its great for Travis Denker that he got a chance but he just wasn't that highly thought of as far as I could tell in the Dodger system.

If you never advanced farther than High A ball in 5 years and you have not been injured or had a position change, you just don't figure much in their plans.

To be fair, SportsCenter after BBTN did show better highlights of the Dodger game, or at least mentioned Stults' CG shutout and showed him get the final out. Sounds like one of the announcers is a Dodgers fan, from the way the other was kibbutzing with him.

From the Times writeup:

>>Entering his seventh year of pro ball, Stults said he went into the spring understanding that time wasn't on his side.

"When you're 28, you don't think you're old, but when you're in an organization with a ton of young talent, you have to take every outing seriously," he said.<<

:( I really want to see this guy do well.

91 Even the national media is complaining that the Dodgers aren't selling their young players! See 43 .

97 We saw him do well tonight. This will be a season of opportunities for him. I will be excited for every one of his starts.

Wow, the new Gameday 3D feature is pretty cool! Anyone else seen it? I don't think it was available during the game, but you can move the screen around and zoom in&out.

The more I think about it, the more I'm just unbelievably thrilled for Eric Stults.

The guy threw a shutout in the show. I've got friends who are waiting tables, two years out of the minor leagues, who would give anything to do that.

Good for you, man.

I know I'm late (or early) but...Hooray for Stults!!!

I am tremendously excited for Stults. While we all love our high-ceiling young players, I also find myself pulling for guys like Stults, who are more of an afterthought than anything. This is why I would also like to see Lindsey get the call. Sure, Sweeney is not THE reason that we are mediocre, but I am confident that Lindsey would do just as well and probably much better, but even more than that he is someone that I can truly root for. I would love to see Lindsey get his shot, even if it is fleeting.

Dodgers are only 2 behind in the loss column and have a magic number of only 88.
vr, Xei

Stults threw a "here hit it" game last night and it worked.

17 fly ball outs
7 ground ball outs
3 Ks
1 bb.

White Sox were 4-28 on balls in play.
Thats a .142 average.

Not as good of game as Kuroda's by any stretch, but he threw strikes and thats a big key in success.

Hopefully Kershaw can get some Ks, bc the White Sox luck probalby wont be bad two days in a row.

Has BBTN or Sportscenter ever hired someone from the West Coast to be a host? Someone who grew up watching West Coast teams might put some pressure on the producers to have a more balanced show.

I actually like BT. If a Dodgers game isn't on TV where I live and I don't feel like turning on the computer to follow the game, I can read a book and wait for the update music, then I get updates of the Dodgers game right before I go to bed. It works pretty good for me.

I'm in a wedding this week, and last night was the rehearsal so I missed the Dodger game. I just found out the results; bravo to Eric Stults and the gang!

14
And once again bryanf has spoken the truth. :)

The idea of Baseball Tonight is awesome. Just a show of baseball highlights; you can't beat that.

However, the show has devolved over the years almost to an MTV level. Highlights get shown about as often as a music video is played on MTV.

The analysts are bad enough (I like Olney, Stark, Gammons, and Hershiser, but that's about it), but Karl Ravetch just isn't good as a host. Here's a piece of advice, Karl: not every HR is hit off a bad pitch, so you can stop saying "hang 'em and bang 'em" for each HR you show.

Also, Steve Phillips debating Steve Phillips last year was the nadir of the show.

BBTN and Sportscenter serve their purposes for me but without a DVR I couldn't do it. I watch almost all games on a little delay since our nights our are filled with our kids' games and practices. Then I set the other channel on ESPN. Once the Dodger game is over, I'll rewind ESPN as far as the DVR will allow, then fast forward through all inane analysis, fluff pieces, Jeter immortalizing, etc. and watch only the highlights I want. Overnight I leave it on ESPN because my son likes to rewind and find the top ten plays when he gets up. I don;t know how we ever lived witout DVR.

I would have thought someone would grab Ricciardi by the neck and throw him to the ground before it happened to Ed Wade. Shawn Chacon is a nutjob!!!

http://tinyurl.com/6nww5q

Chacon:
But when you do those things and you're yelling at somebody and you're cussing you better know what type of person you're dealing with. If there's any regret, I just wish they had just let me alone. I wish they had left me alone,"

If JP Riccardi tried that with Adam Dunn, he'd go after the neck but whiff entirely.

Now's a great time for Ned to trade Stults for Vizquel or Moises Alou. Seriously, Stults should stay in the rotation until he proves he doesn't belong. Kershaw is highly touted and will probably be great, but nobody knows, Stults might become a very valuable pitcher who makes very little money.

The Houston clubhouse sounds like a nice place. Probably could use a few trashcans.

.. can't a man just eat alone?

I agree - hooray for Eric!

More on the game from Tot Holmes:
http://dodgers.scout.com/a.z?s=228&p=2&c=765060
>>

"When I was walking into the dugout after the eighth, Joe shook my hand and said, 'Good job,' and I went and sat down. And Russell was like, `You want to keep going?' I said yeah. So he went up to Joe, asked him if I could keep going. Joe looked at me and I was nodding my head yeah, so he said, `We'll take it one hitter at a time.' "

"I was getting tired, and I did feel like I started losing command of my pitches. When you're in that situation, you try to do everything you can to get outs. So I went at them with fastballs and I was fortunate to get three fly ball outs.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen blamed his team's hitting woes on the fact that one on the roster had ever faced him before.

But White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski pointed out he deserved more credit than that. "That guy pitched pretty good," he said. "He used all his pitches and kept the ball down. We really only had one chance, and that was in the first inning. Other than that, he really didn't make too many mistakes."<<

I almost want to change my name to Eric.

That article does goof when it mentions Stults is 28 and then later calls him a 30-year old. Ah well.

Anyone think Alex Rios is going to start hitting for power anytime soon?

I didn't realize he had some speed as well, wonder what it would cost to get him?

I'm really happy for Stults and he's a great story, but really, it was just one game. This doesn't mean it's time to ditch Penny, or even make any kind of commitment to Stults period. Stults came into this game as a depth starter, and that's what he still is.

I'm going to try and go see Gagne with my kid tonight.

Just a reminder. Noon game today. :)
vr, Xei

Greg Brock: Why you guys watch ESPN baffles me to no end.

I could see you in a jail cafeteria saying "Why you guys eat this mush baffles me to no end."

It is a problem for sports fans. You have to watch what's provided to you.

I watch Jim Rome's "Rome is Burning" because I like to watch something sports related while I munch my corn flakes. It's not my fault the guy is a psycho jerk who thinks dissing tennis is something to boast about.

At least he's not Michael Wilbon. Rome actually bothers to put together a coherent argument, (well, when he's not playing vice cop or trying to be funny.)

I'd watch PTI again if they'd get rid of Wilbon and replace him with the regular fill-in Dan Le Batard, or basically anyone.

PTI could actually be a good show, it's a shame. The format and pacing make it pretty fun. Kornheiser at least has a functioning brain and a grasp of elementary logic, unlike the typical "Around the Horn" type columnist.

Wilbon is truly the very bottom of the barrel. He doesn't do his homework. Many times he won't even have an opinion formed, as the viewer has to sit and wait for him to try and jump start one. He offers next to nill analysis, or even signs of successive thought. It's just directionless gut-feel blather that any slob could spout off. Kornheiser doesn't even pretend to get mad at him anymore, he just sort of shakes his head and answers calmly as if addressing a child.

You're right, I hate ESPN and I'm a moron for watching it.

111 If Ned makes any dumb trades at the deadline, I propose that Logan White and Kim Ng go behind his back and trade Juan Pierre for Shawn Chacon. Would Chacon need to be officially placed on the roster if we're just bringing him in to take care of some, um, "organizational" business?

Of course, then DeWitt may need to agree to let Chacon have "The Solution" nickname. Maybe Chacon can buy him a watch.

Of course, Stults is on a roll. He's wearing a charmed number.
http://insidethedodgers.mlblogs.com/2.jpg

I have the perfect solution if you're tired of watching ESPN and need something to do while munching your corn flakes: read a book.

I have a very silly question for those of you who've been to/live in New York.

I'm 2 weeks away from a trip to NY. If I go to New York City with my LA Dodgers cap on, will I be harassed and beat up? I'll be going to a Yankees game and then a Mets game.

If I watch ESPN, it's for the highlights, and usually with the TV muted (or music playing instead of the TV).

127 - What kind of books good well with corn flakes?

Zappala: I have the perfect solution if you're tired of watching ESPN and need something to do while munching your corn flakes: read a book.

Don't know if you've noticed but it's kinda hard to read and eat at the same time. You lose your place in the text between bites, and it's hard to keep a book open without using your hands. Plus what if I choose a dumb book?

For all your intelligence there's so many things you haven't thought about.

Have you ever read a book while eating cereal?

It ain't easy.

128

There are still some old school Dodger fans in NY, its probably the 4th most popular team there after the Yanks, Mets, and oddly the RedSox (although there is some significant animosity with those fans, there are just many many Boston people there). On the whole the Dodgers are not that controversial.

BA has an members only article on the Best Drafts of All-Time.

Can someone find out where Logan's 2002 & 2003 placed? Thanks!

I only buy cereal that prints entire books on the back of its box. The family is really sick of Cheerios, but I'm only two-thirds of the way through War and Peace.

130 Children of the Corn?

135 :)

I just trolled over to DRays Bay to inquire about Carlos Pena who is on my fantasy team. A poster wanted to pass his thanks for Dioner Navarro.

(sigh)

We are a sad, sad bunch at times, last night's wonderful moment notwithstanding.

137

.642 OPS in his only full season there, they are welcome!

Speaking of Navarro, isn't Toby Hall due to start for the White Sox today? He's actually been a pretty good backup for them, even if he was worthless for us (partially due to injury). That was a stupid trade. But Hall would be a better backup then anyone the Dodgers have tossed out there the past year. Navarro's a starter all the way. I wish we'd gotten something better for him. I bet the Yankees miss him, too.

131 , 132 You're kidding, right? I read a book while eating cereal about 90% of the time each morning. The other 10% of the time I'm reading a book while eating a bagel, scrambled eggs, waffles, french toast or pancakes.

There are myriad ways to solve these problems. First, you get books that lie flat. If you can't do that, you hold the book with one hand and eat with the other. If you don't have that kind of dexterity, then you put something heavy on top of the book to hold it flat.

You can't be a serious reader if you give up that easy. What would breakfast be without something to read? You might as well ask me to give up living right now.

140 I eat breakfast while chatting on DT. I don't eat breakfast 'til I get to work.

I always love watching a young pitcher develop before our eyes, I LOVE that sub-plot...

A book I recommend while eating corn flakes or any other type of cereal: The Book Thief. Of course, you have to be prepared to cry into your cereal, but that's a separate problem.

138 Navarro last 365 days: .298/.348/.451. Yep, glad we gave that guy up for Mark Hendrickson. Remember that he's younger than Russ is.

144

You're forgetting "Hendrickson pitched" ;)

Yea, maybe so, but 1100 PAs into his career he is still .262./328/.378 nothing amazing.

By the way, if the option is watching bad sports programming or doing without, the latter ain't that bad of a deal. I've been ESPN-less for at least five years now, and I don't miss it a bit.

140 What would breakfast be without something to read?

Point taken, and I've tried those methods of eat-reading. But it's just kinda awkward...not very pleasing. Simply put, Rice Chex goes better with Stuart Scott than Melville. And like the other poster said, the DVR fast forward button changes EVERYTHING. Also I live alone, so I like the sound of voices in the morning. If I just read a book with my breakfast, the silence would start to freak me out.

146 Seriously? I watch it all the time. Where do you get your highlights from?

145 And the first 900 PA's were his age 20-23 seasons.

145 He's 24, his previous performance isn't nearly as relvant as a 29 year olds.

141 Exactly - when I eat breakfast alone, I read blogs while chewing my shredded wheat. Holding a book in one hand hurts my thumb, but I personally am able to focus on a book much better toward the end of the day, not the beginning. In the morning, blog-sized reading portions works better.

140 My man, I read a lot. I will always read a lot. But I don't have the dexterity to eat and read at the same time!

I don't like talking about it...

148 - Sunrises. The funny things my kids say. Good coffee. Dodger Thoughts comments.

(But that wasn't what you meant. Sports highlights you can get pretty much everywhere, especially online. But I've found I don't care to see 14 dunks and 37 homers; I read first, and if a play is compelling enough, I'll seek out a highlight clip online.)

Enjoyed being at the game last night-Stultz was marvelous. The old axiom-throw strikes, stay ahead of the hitters, keep them off balance by changing speeds and locations worked for him. I know for now he's considered a depth starter/stop gap, whatever, but ride the hot hand while you have him and there is no need to rush Penny or Kuroda back if both him and Kershaw pitch well. Dodger hitters just need to support Kershaw the way they support Stultz so Kershaw can get his first win.
As for me- when it's just my wife and I or me and a friend going - I am 6-0 this year. When my wife and I went to a game with friends of ours 0-1. This Saturday-we are the hosts for our Church night at the game, Oh-oh-going to the game with people we know-does that mean a loss?
My wins this year have come against the Padres, Pirates, Cardinals(Kershaw's debut game), Mets, Cubs and White Sox. Our loss the night before Kershaw's debut against the Cardinals(60's luncheon day).

145 You're forgetting "Hendrickson pitched"

I think we need to give Colleti a break on the Hendrickson comment. With all the teams in the league now, you're going to have a fair share of average to below average players on your team, epecially your pitching staff.

134 Sorry, they are not even in the running (mostly because this article deals with looking back and seeing how their careers panned out.)

However the class known as the best class ever in LA Dodger history is on it and is the number one all time.

1. DODGERS 1968
The best, and it's not really close. The Dodgers assembled an amazing collection of stars as well as solid big leaguers, with a total of 15 players who at least made appearances in the majors. Davey Lopes (second round) from the January secondary phase, Bill Buckner (second) from the June regular phase, and Steve Garvey (first) and Ron Cey (third) from the June secondary phase were the stars, but longtime big leaguers like Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson, Doyle Alexander, Geoff Zahn and Bobby Valentine were also part of the haul.

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

Via Diamond, finally we see LaRoche at 2b for Jeff Kent..maybe they are listening!

NPUT

146

I haven't seen Sportscenter in full in a very very long time, not sure exactly how long.

Generally, the only thing I watch on ESPN is actual sporting events, but there happen to be a lot of them.

I don't really need SC. Reports, I can go to rotoworld, yahoo sports, etc. Highlights, there's MLB.com, NBA.com, team websites, youtube, etc. Analysis, that's what we do here at Dodger Thoughts.

Navarro will likely be an AL All-Star this year.

He's 2nd in the AL in OPS at catcher (.835)----> Mauer is at .837

His overall line: .326/.379/.456

Too bad Ned sold him A.) for Hendrickson, and B) when his value was lowest.

BHSportsguy said its a reach to criticize Ned for trading Navarro..If we cant criticize trading a good young catcher for 1.5 season of Mark Hendrickson---> then what should Ned be criticized for? Thats about as bad as it gets.

124 I watch ESPN News!

I'm really just talking about BBTN, SportsCenter, and the screaming shows.

I don't think anybody's an idiot :-)

160 I stand by my statement but great job by Navarro.

So my meeting runs late yesterday and I had to relinquish my ticket to my eager baseball-crazed 18 yr old cousin.

5-0 CG shutout. Needless to say I'm watching from home the rest of the year.

Breakfast is for chump suckers.