143 I dont know what Colletti was thinking with Berroa, should've just called up trusty Ramon Martinez. Thats a name I haven't heard, probably becacuse I missed someone's post or because theres an impending rebuttal of which the details I am aware of, but the point is it was another frantic move from our frantic GM.

Ramon Martinez is one of Ned's favorite players. However, he had the misfortune to be on the Las Vegas DL when Ned signed Berroa. Ramon has been back in the Las Vegas lineup for more than a week now so that should make it easier for Ned to part with Berroa.

5-0 Milwaukee.

His Royal Thighness.

I mean, yes. 5-0 Brewers.

Garciaparra went 5-for-8 with an RBI and Jones was 4-for-8 with a homer and three RBIs this week with Las Vegas.

No guarantees of performance from that report, but a lot better than hearing they had 0-3 and left the game after 5 innings.

But as empty experiences go, it's one of the best.

The Rick is fine. The Pignose amp is dead, but after 30 years that's not surprising.

Not sure what color that alert would be. Fuchsia, maybe?

1) The Dodgers' front office seems to have trouble discerning good players from bad.
2) This has translated into lost opportunities for the team.
3) Frank McCourt does not seem to understand the connection between his actions and the way the team is failing.

So yes, I haven't been very enthusiastic about the Dodgers of late. But that said, even the littlest spark of life is cause for some hope.

At least I own His Royal Thighness :)

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1025456.html#59

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1025456.html#77

March 31-April 4: 3-1 (Pierre benched)
April 5- June 29: 35-42
June 30- July 3: 3-1 (Pierre DL)

Torre: "About half the month of April and right through the month of June he's been really great, and I can't ignore what a difference he's made."

-Withrow is at Inland Empire working with Charlie Hough. He hasn't pitched professionally yet because he has a tender elbow.

-Dodgers signed Melvin Ray.

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/2008/07/dodgers-kent-doing-just-fine.html

what does this mean in non PVL talk?

A wild bird?

31 sporky can take all the credit. I'll just keep calling him Chadwick because Chad has got to be short for something.

Er, never mind.

When I was six or seven, I was picked out of the audience to be one of three kids to try and hit a badminton birdie into a barrel to win a really cool bike.

Bozo: "Where you from, little Jimmy"?

Me blinking, uh, uh, looking in panic at my Mom, who mouths `Westchester'! "Westchester", I say.

I then take studied aim, brow furrowed, and then let fly.

And damned if that birdie didn't bounce off the rim of that barrel before bouncing out.

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/976444.html#16
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/976444.html#25

Wild Bird is pretty sweet by the way, we'd now have the bison, (blue ox/bull), a rabbit(while on base) other wise known as slappy, and wild bird

I wonder what they are going to do with Matt Gamel. He's listed as a 3b but I don't think there is any way he can play 3b in the pros- he is kind of like Braun in that aspect.

WAR-Leaders
1. Billingsley 3.57
2. Lowe 3.16
3. Guo 2.88
4. Saito 2.85
5. Stults 1.56
6. Kuroda 1.52
7. Beimel 1.49
8. Wade 0.91
9. Penny 0.72
10. Kershaw 0.66
-----------------
FIP-ERA Leaders
1. Saito 1.77
2. Guo 2.11
3. Broxton 2.63
4. Troncoso 2.84
5. Beimel 2.97
6. Billingsley 3.36
7. Stults 3.50
8. Wade 3.56
9. Lowe 3.68
10. Kuroda 4.31

vr, Xei

I'm not even sure that there's a short stop out there that I'd want as a warm body through September. Let it ride with the team you've got.

One of my favorite things I wrote in Dodger Thoughts' early days was that you'll know your team has turned things around when you stop wondering if something could be the sign of a turnaround.

They really need to get Justin Upton going again. He's been one of the worst players in the majors since the beginning of May.

93 Perfect.

The big win can have an impact on the team's psyche, same thing for the tough loss. The game's not all physical, the psychology of it matters... a big win, particularly like the snakes had today is the sort of thing that can lead to guys seeing beach balls coming from the pitcher rather than bbs.

Maybe the ear blister had psychosomatic roots.

As Casey use to say "I want to get 20 games over 500 and then go on a long winning streak"

And I have to admit, I vaguelly remember the Bozo Era.

Toy, I get the feeling you think I'm raining on parades lately. I didn't tell anyone in 93 that they had to surrender their beliefs on my account. I was just expressing my opinion, same as everyone else. And I don't know why you suggest that I don't think the mental aspect plays no role in baseball.

Sure, today's game will remind the Dbacks that anything is possible. But I'm not sure how much their next opponent will care, and an Arizona win streak could come for any number of reasons. I don't think that makes me a robot killjoy.

I've just never been comfortable with anyone telling me what to do even if I agree with them. I think I have what people call a combative posture.

My apologies as I know what you meant but still felt the need to respond.

Do bottle rockets count?

I used to have a Rick blonde 360-12 and a sunburst 360, but I sold them. It's a PRS or a Strat for me now.

117 I agree, have you ever read S. Kings IT?

On 8/21/1990, the Dodgers gave up 9 in the 9th to the Phillies and lost 12-11. The next day, the Dodgers won 3-2.

But such was the power of Jim Neidlinger.

>> In Wednesday's doubleheader split with the Carolina Mudcats, the Suns received another solid outing from left-hander Scott Elbert, who allowed one run on two hits in three innings in the second game. <<

http://tinyurl.com/5enkpb

>> Despite putting up some impressive numbers in the minor leagues -- including 129 homers and 405 RBIs in parts of the last five seasons -- the 30-year-old Jones, a four-time minor league All-Star, is still waiting for his first call to the majors. <<

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/22854564.html

We drafted righthander Chris Withrow #1 last year. As far as I can tell, he has seen no minor league action this year. That means that he is in extended spring training? If so, why? When will he be pitching and where?

"Chris Withrow is expected to head to rookie-level Ogden when his elbow gets better."

And he links to this Gurnick mailbag:
http://tinyurl.com/5oz5ug
where Withrow is the topic of the first question.

"According to Dodgers assistant general manager DeJon Watson, Withrow is in good health and will likely open the season at Rookie-level Ogden. He currently is working out with the Class A Inland Empire team before the start of the Pioneer League later this month."

"Part was the reason that Paul DePodesta was fired from his job as the previous Dodgers general manager was because, during his final aborted managerial search, he did not even inquire about the availability of Scioscia."

I'm sorry - where the heck did this come from? And on what planet did was Scioscia actually going to be available? And why would this be DePo's problem, when his predecessors were the ones who chased Scioscia out?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke4-2008jul04,0,5885700,full.column

"Part was the reason that Paul DePodesta was fired from his job as the previous Dodgers general manager was because, during his final aborted managerial search, he did not even inquire about the availability of Scioscia.

If the same fate befalls Colletti this winter, it will be because he could not create the sort of culture embraced by the likes of Scioscia.

Colletti will be fired for not imitating the Angels way.

Because, doggone it, it used to be the Dodgers way.

He also got the details of the Caseres signing slightly wrong. MLB approval is not required for any draft pick signing. If the bonus is over a certain amount, MLB will simply call the team and tell them why they shouldn't do it and the team has to tell them why it thinks MLB is wrong.

Basically you have to allow MLB to enter an official protest, although they can't stop a team from doing what it wants to do.

"The barrier is broken when you find the right candidate regardless of gender," said Jean Afterman, Ng's successor as assistant general manager of the Yankees.

Others, including Afterman, believe the changing GM model – fewer ex-players, more bright Ivy League types – will gradually swing far enough to accept a woman as well. In fact, as one of the early proponents of the computer as baseball's friend, Ng arguably helped clear a path for the young men being hired ahead of her, many of whom had limited if any playing experience, along with those who would be considered her competition for the next opening.

As one team official said, half-joking, "Those eggheads aren't one of the guys either."

To that end, Afterman said, "I think it's more difficult for an outsider to be accepted than it is a gender issue. And Kim is an insider. "

That said, she added, "The knives will be out, there's no question about that."

They've won one playoff series since 2002.

Because the Angels are the New Dodgers.

Makes all the sense in the world.

that is encouraging news.

I repeat: Trouble at 20,000 Feet now on Sci-Fi

This is not a drill.

I think I'll continue to turn here for commentary.

I have a vague memory of Delino scoring on a squeeze play in one of Bill Russell's first games as manager and hailing the arrival of "Billy Ball". Does anybody else remember that?

DeShields batted 1st or 2nd during 1996, so it's unlikely that Russell was asking Piazza, Karros, or Mondesi to squeeze him home.

Maybe you're conflating DeShields and Fonville?

July 2, 1996.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B07020SDN1996.htm

Tom Prince squeezed home Greg Gagne.

No one can argue with that self-evaluation, not after Tuesday night, when the Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in front of 28,294 at Jack Murphy Stadium. The victory put the Dodgers (44-40) back in sole possession of first place in the National League West and one of its central plays was a successful suicide squeeze bunt Russell ordered in the second inning.

With the Dodgers leading 2-0 because of Greg Gagne's one-out, two-run triple to center and pitcher Pedro Astacio on deck, Russell entrusted backup catcher Tom Prince to pull off the risky play. Although Gagne broke from third base early, Prince got a pitch he could handle from Fernando Valenzuela and much to the chagrin of the Padres (43-41) laid down a perfect bunt.

"He's a catcher, he's supposed to know everything," Russell said about Prince, who was giving Mike Piazza a night of rest. "He looked for it, he got it. Everything worked out. It could have been a disaster. It started out that way, when Gagne took off early, but it worked out."

Russell acknowledged that the move was his favorite in the eight games since he took over for Lasorda, who is recovering from a heart attack. It seemed extremely popular with the players as well. Gagne and Prince were greeted with whoops and high-fives and the Dodgers added solo runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth to win for the third time in four games.

"I took a chance," Russell said. "When you do the squeeze play, everything's got to work out perfectly."

The offense of the third inning alone was almost all Astacio (4-6) would need. He limited the Padres to two runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Russell was not as fastidious regarding his bullpen Tuesday as he was the day before, but Astacio's effort was extremely welcome.

"It's a big lift for us," Russell said. "The pitching is coming back."

Las Vegas
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Schmidt 2.1 6 4 3 1 0 1 7.20

186 To me Ron Cey is the guy from that one law firm's commercials, Davey Lopes is a 1st base coach, Steve Garvey is nothing, and Don Sutton is a Braves announcer.

They're supposed to feature red, white, and blue. The Cubs and Giants wore different ones last night, but the flag logo was only incorporated into the letters on the cap.

June 13, 1997: [Fernando Valenzuela] Traded by the San Diego Padres with Scott Livingstone and Phil Plantier to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rich Batchelor, Danny Jackson, and Mark Sweeney.

Strange trade that helped no one. All except Sweeney were released, retired or became free agents by season's end. Only Livingstone and Sweeney were still in the majors the following season, and the former didn't make it past '98.

I didn't realize this about Mark Sweeney:
June 4, 1990: Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 39th round of the 1990 amateur draft, but did not sign.

Drysdale pitched in 1969. His last game, in August 1969, was the game in which Wilver Stargell became the first player to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium. I think. But I can't prove it. :-)

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1969/B08050LAN1969.htm

Someday I'll remember Brett Tomko only as "Jackie Robinson sketch artist".

He said Russell Martin was really nice, as was Furcal and all the Latin American players.

To be honest, my earliest baseball memories are from books, so Babe Ruth is an orphan who took pride in sewing collars onto his shirts into his career and Pete Reiser is one of my all time favorite Dodgers.

It's a subtle, yet important difference.

But what about the song:

Oh give me a home
Where the buffalo roam

Could Gene Autry be wrong? :-)

And then I completely forgot about baseball until about 1998, when the Sosa/McGwire home run race hit, something that really got me back into the game. I didn't go to my first game at Dodger Stadium until '98 or '99, near the end of the Eric Karros era, the middle of the News Corp. era. It was not a good time to be a Dodger fan.

84. Eric Enders 2006-05-30 15:31:22
So much for looking forward to watching The Bison tonight.

I will see you all in copyright court.

Snippets:

>>I think with each passing year we want to spend less on free agency. I can't tell you how much we're going to depend on it and how much we're not going to depend on it, but the plan is to depend less and less on it. Sometimes you have to fill a hole that way. But in '06 we had many holes to fill, in '07 we had somewhat as many holes to fill, and in '08 we went into it thinking we had fewer holes to fill. Hopefully next year, we'll feel the same way. It's a precarious route to go.

But coupled with that -- and this is important -- is if you're of a mind to build from within, to give young players the opportunity to play, to mature, to make mistakes, to learn from their mistakes and to get better ... if that's the path that you hitch your wagon to, which we have, the only other way you're going to be able to fill that hole is to disband some of that group. And that's where we always think twice and say, "You know what? Let's be patient."

Let's be patient with the younger players and grow through it and make sure our manager is keen into coaching and heeding into the instructions because it's going to take time. It's going to take a player forgetting how many outs there are, a player not having sunglasses on on a sunny day, a player not being able to hang on to the slider, a player not being able to hit the ball to the right side if it calls for that. That takes some time to develop. <<

Brett Butler was a Dodger centerfielder, Tim Wallach was a Dodger third baseman, Darryl Strawberry was supposedly a Dodger rightfielder, Eric Davis was a fourth outfielder, Orel Hershiser was a 5th starter, Kevin Gross was our #2, Pedro Martinez was a set-up man, and the best "Pedro" was Astacio.

Boy, my childhood was fun, wasn't it?

The 90's suck.

Everyone always bashes Ned. I don't think he's Kevin Malone bad though. And I'd much rather have him then DePodesta.

375. Bob Timmermann 2008-03-25 21:48:00
May 29, 2006 game chat:

Comment 116:
D4P
I'm guessing Bob would prefer "bison" over "buffalo."

Later:
'129. Disabled List
"Bison" would be a killer nickname for Kemp.

The sports world has been without without a Bison since Dele met a weird end in the South Pacific or something. Bison Kemp works for me. I second that motion.

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/387331.html

I'm back from Disneyland, it was somewhat less crowded than you might think.

As I told Eric Stephen via text earlier today, just because you have an unbelievable comeback in the 9th inning, that does mean that it will carry over to the next game, after the 4+1 game, the Dodgers proceeded to lose 2 straight to the Pirates.

I get the times everyday. Why ?

Maybe "Buy this car. Now." Followed by a menacing glare.

Does Ned have a hack screenwriter from the '50s writing his dialogue? That's almost poetic. "And let me tell you something else, Diamond..."

What I find disturbing is that Eddie Murray must have made at least $40M in salary as a player, yet he's not just hobbying through retirement.

I don't see much reason for hope in the Colletti interview. It's basically one long plea to keep his job. He's almost begging. It's pathetic and smacks of desperation. At least four times during the interview, he goes out of his way to blame his missteps on his colleagues. (Which may be legit, for all I know, but it's also pretty crass.)

Diamond begins the interview with an anecdote that purports to illustrate why the much-criticized Pierre signing was a good move after all.

Colletti still demonstrates a fundamental inability to understand the way baseball works. To wit:
"We've certainly got to have better approaches at the plate. We've got some nice batting averages, but it doesn't translate all the time into runs. While the averages are nice -- .280, .290, .300, .310 .315, whatever it is, it doesn't translate."

He also emphasizes over and over again that it's not his fault the players he acquired are doing poorly. He can't control the way the players play, he says.

Hooey, I say. Of course you can control that. You control it by putting good players on the field. We can write off Jones, Furcal, Mueller, and Schmidt to bad luck -- but then you still need to account for the indefensible acquisitions/re-signings of Pierre, Nomar, Tomko, Hillenbrand, Loaiza, Sweeney, Bennett, Lugo, Baez, and on and on and on.

If you acquire a player who can only be expected to be awful, and he turns out to be awful -- then yes, Ned, that's your fault. Not the player's. (And not The Player's.)

"It's going to take a player forgetting how many outs there are (Mark Sweeney), a player not having sunglasses on on a sunny day (Juan Pierre), a player not being able to hang on to the slider (uh, lots... let's start with Sweeney and Nomar), a player not being able to hit the ball to the right side if it calls for that (Jones). That takes some time to develop."

Now what do all those players have in common?

[Colletti's] boss, owner Frank McCourt, sidestepped questions regarding his job status in an interview with The Press-Enterprise, only saying "Injuries cloud everything. It's a waste of time to be pointing fingers."

Later comes, as Eric puts it in 244 , "At least four times during the interview, he goes out of his way to blame his missteps on his colleagues." Such as in the Loaiza story.

I had at least one of our scouts tell me that Esteban Loaiza was healthy and would help. I had somebody else tell me that they had a pretty good feel that he was going to get claimed by somebody ahead of us in the standings in the league and after us in the process. Knowing that you never have enough pitching, we did it. That is an example of me being impatient. I should have been more patient and just let it play itself out and see where we were going be.

Meanwhile, with all the patience preaching, they are rushing Nomar and Jones to end their rehab early - or at least not discouraging them from rushing - and get back to the big club, while the team is winning five of the last seven.

I wonder if Ned gave the interviewing feeling like he had to get something out there to counter the recent Simers column.

I understand "editing for length," which is why I kept it short in the first place, but they still eviscerated it. Which is too bad. The full letter was pretty good and I wish I had saved a copy of it.

It's a moot point anyway. There is no way to improve this Dodger team with a blockbuster trade. Absolutely none.

The guys who other teams want are, for the most part, already playing well in the majors. Nobody's going to take our DeJesuses and our Meloans and our McDonalds in return for C.C. Sabathia or Adam Dunn. Acquiring an impact player would mean trading multiple young players who are already playing key roles on the major league roster. Billingsley, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, Broxton, LaRoche, DeWitt. Kershaw. There's no way to acquire an impact hitter without creating more holes than you fill.

If any of the core players (Ethier, Kemp, DeWitt, LaRoche, Martin, Loney, Kershaw, Broxton, or Billingsly) are traded, I'm defecting to the Angels... and I truly hate the DH.

I'm tired of being strung along with the whole we're-going-to-let-the-kids-play-but-only-a-couple-days-a-week-and-instead-go-sign-some-guy-who-is-either-not-that-good-or-on-the-17th-hole-of-his-career routine.

I've said more than once around here that Ned must look at the high BAs in our lineup and shake his head in confusion over why we don't score more runs. The man cares nothing about OBP and SLG. (NOTHING, I said).

I had at least one of our scouts tell me that Esteban Loaiza was healthy and would help

Funny. The more Ned blames player acquisition on other people, the less important his job becomes. Ned - If other people are making the decisions, what do we need you for?

Actually, the scout was right: Loaiza was healthy. He just sucks, which is something a major league GM with a multi-million dollar contract should have no problem figuring out.

I've just read Plaschke's column and I realize that what we need, desperately, are ballplayers. And it's high time, too. I mean, just look at us. Can't we all be like Blake DeWitt? Kemp, Ethier, Loney... those guys are good, yes, and they've hit more (a lot more) than DeWitt in their careers but really now, are they ballplayers?

I wish this were funny. It's not.

It looks like a box.

A box full of rings.

Juan Pierre has a ring in a box.

Blake DeWitt has a ring in a box that Torre gave him.

Kemp and Colletti have no boxes or rings.

1. Colletti, to me, seems more likeable in the interview. It's a high pressure job, he's doing the best that he knows how to do. That doesn't mean I want him as my GM.

2. This is the kind of coverage that should be in the Times. Maybe it's the high cost of newsprint.

This Year

Loney, Penny, Stults, Pierre+cash for Berkman.

Next Year

Sign Texiera...play Hu,and De Jesus

C Martin
2B DeJesus
LF Berkman
1B Texiera
RF Kemp
3B DeWitt/LaRoache
CF Jones
SS Hu

or Martin at 2B with Santana/ May at catcher
Ethier is again 3.5 in 09, full time in 2010

Bills, Kuroda, Kguo, McDonald/ Meloan, Kershaw

The Dodgers have to be amongst the slowest teams at announcing moves.

I think that's Neds Poker face routine

Maybe, you never know. I don't think his numbers are spectacular outside of Mintue Maid park.

And no not Kershaw...3.5,DeWitt,La roache, Hu, someone.

The one thing he said I wholeheartedly agree with: We need to spend less and less on free agents. I agree with this for as long as Colletti remains associated with the Dodgers.

A laughingstock. Splendid.

Matt Kemp should learn how to not be black. That would make him more "coachable."

I had thought sportswriters had gotten away from that notion after the Bird/Magic years of the Celtics/Lakers rivalry.

Sigh.

Nevermind, his numbers are impressive. He does seem to have trouble at Chase field. But he does well at DS, and Petco.

But Nomar--->it could be a Berroa/Sweeney DFS.

I would think that another extreme hitter's park like Minute Maid would probably cause people to evaluate Berkman on his road stats. And he could be a very good hitter even if he put on pinstripes or an Old English D.

And with no melanin!

{Sweet land of liberty...}

Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, Ichiro Suzuki, Raul Ibanez, and Justin Morneau are the others.

Francoeur's .662 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) also provides reason for concern. The only three National League outfielder with a worse mark are Houston's Michael Bourn, Colorado's Willy Taveras and Los Angeles' Juan Pierre, who are all speed specialists with very little power.

I guess only Vlad can have his hitting approach and succeed.