The prohibition against sliders was mentioned a lot.

And Tommy Lasorda hates Fred Claire. That vendetta is never going to end.

Scully and the national broadcasters, especially Tony Kubek, talked about the lack of sliders a lot.

On one hand, there are many reasons the Dodgers have not been successful in recent times. But there are many ways to win, and with winning the whining will subside.

On the other hand, I would like to see some continuity in the organization. Changing managers and GMs every few years tends to eat into that.

Does this mean:

1. There are many approaches to the game that can result in winning, with some yielding a greater chance of winning than others

2. There are many approaches to the game that can result in winning, with each yielding the same chance of winning.

It does have an old school philosophy of lineup construction, but it was written in the 1950s.

It's not a book about player acquisition or development. But it does have ways on how to properly organize your spring training camp if you have 500 guys show up.

From last Friday:

http://tinyurl.com/delmonico

"Martin is also optimistic that Tony Delmonico, selected in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers, would return for his senior season. He would move from shortstop to catcher if that happens."

The offense comes from hoping our guys break out, but if they don't, then we still have pitching and defense to support us.

Look, I'm getting older, I'm not a big research guy but baseball memories are long-lasting for me. I remember the Dodger defenses in Tommy Lasorda's years as manager. They were not good.

The Dodgers had some years where they were average defensively and some years where you could tell they just decided to live with the bad defense and make the best of it. My point is, they were never known for a philosophy of defense first. Or second, or third for that matter.

A big reason for the Dodger's success in the 70's and 80's was pitching. Lots and lots of great pitching.

I double checked, and the numbers back what I am saying. Lopes made 11, 24, 15, 18, 14, 20, 14 and 15 errors in his eight full seasons as the Dodger 2B, while Russell made 34, 31, 39, 11, 28, 29, 31, 30, 19, 14, 29 and 22 errors in his seasons as the Dodgers regular SS. I would have no problem saying Lopes and Russell were a terrible defensive middle infield.

Fill in the blank: when Jon read this, he ___________________________.

People thought Wills was great, but I've never been able to get a handle on his defense. Second and third base were revolving doors with Gilliam, Lefebvre, Tracewski, and Kennedy taking turns there.

Alston tried to make Tommy Davis a third baseman. He was horrible. Later the Dodgers tried to make Bill Sudakis a third baseman. He was horrible.

At least Willie Davis could cover a lot of ground in center. Except for that time in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series ....

But who needs defense when you have Sandy Koufax striking out 350 guys a year?

I think being able to stay awake was probably the major talent of those infielders.

Rickey's philosophy was taken on by Bavasi and, in turn, Campanis.

The ground he covered, the ball, not.

15 of his 77 games in NY with an error, 18 errors total.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198006110.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198006110.shtml

On a personal note not to beat up on Ned, but living in SF I have asked a number of Giant fans over the past few days what did they like about Ned, and none of them could identify one special thing they liked or thought he excelled at.

Then the Dodgers traded for Andy Messersmith.

You can't apply the O'Malley-Bavasi-Campanis Dodgers system to today's game because it wouldn't work. You can't count on a team having a group of players together that long anymore.

My dad and I would attend one or two games each year at Shea. As I am certain you remember, back then, Dodgers/Mets played 12 times (2 series in each other's park). Is there a special memory about the June '78 series? We probably went to one of those three games. Please refresh my memory.

Thanks - got it.

Checking out the boxscore from June 11, 1980, I see that Alex Trevino, who was the light-hitting, backup catcher for the Mets at the time, got an RBI.
Trivia question (sort of): do any of you, as I do, have an unfortunate memory of Trevino tied tp Fernando Valenzuela?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN197806050.shtml

Dodgers blow 8-2 lead and lose 9-8 on a throwing error by Bill Russell.

June 25: retired final 2 batters he faced
June 30: 6 perfect innings (win)
July 5: Reitred first 20 batters, then allowed a HR, then finished the 7th with an out
July 10: 7 perfect innings (ND)

He has retired 62 of the last 63 batters he faced!

http://tinyurl.com/584ykc

I wasn't born until 10 years later, so I wouldn't remember these games.

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Greensboro, Greenville, Houston, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tulsa, Washington

Colorado Rockies at New York Mets- Kenny Albert, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 3:55pm, 23%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Boston, Buffalo, Denver, Fort Myers, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Orlando, Providence, Salt Lake City, Tampa

Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers- Dick Stockton & Eric Karros (FOX, 3:55pm, 21%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Boston, Buffalo, Denver, Fort Myers, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Orlando, Providence, Salt Lake City, Tampa

Colorado-New York going to:
Boston, Buffalo, Denver, Fort Myers, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Orlando, Providence, Salt Lake City, Tampa

Everybody else gets Arizona-Philadelphia.

That has improved my mood.

I have a copy of "The Dodger Way" book. It's autographed by Campanis, Jackie Robinson, and a handful of other Dodgers who were on the team in '57.

A sharp ground ball should've been the third out, but Theriot's throw went over the head of the other -ot, Fontenot, and the tying runs come in to score!

Sheesh. Pinella sucks.

Now its tied in the 9th.

102 - I've kind of thought of Adkins as a reliever all along. Maybe the experiment is over now but they'll probably give it more time. Lefty starters obviously have more value...

Very interesting.

http://tinyurl.com/6lso3w

http://tinyurl.com/6gnmb4

http://tinyurl.com/6yr6rf

"I know people don't like to hear it sometimes, but a kid might get there in three years, but it might be six or seven years before he's really a big-time contributor on the roster."

>> Clayton Kershaw realized his lifelong dream of playing major-league baseball when he spent six weeks with the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA in eight starts. But on July 5, the young left-hander was sent back to the Suns, for whom he'll start tonight against the Mississippi Braves at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The Times-Union recently caught up with Kershaw, who shared his thoughts about pitching in the majors, how he dealt with returning to Jacksonville and much more: <<

http://tinyurl.com/57sm5f

>> "When you have a guy that can come off the bench and get you a base hit against your setup guy or your closer, there aren't a lot of those guys floating around," 51s manager Lorenzo Bundy said. "He's been a proven commodity in the game for a long time, and he's a guy (the Dodgers) are going to need down the stretch to come off the bench and produce." <<

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/24623839.html

Worthless commodities:
Whale Oil
Mark Sweeney

What does he really say, that it takes time for some to develop. Is that at the major league level, the guys he drafted in 2002 have been in the system for 6 years, the 2003 group for 5.

Again, it is a whole different animal to be the scouting and development person than being the GM of the major league club. At the minor league level, no one is expecting Ethan Martin to help the LA club right away, but as GM, that move you make as to impact the club immediately.

At the very least, Logan White has a good scouting background.

Guys like DePo or Epstein, or Friedman---> they have the analytical background.

What background does Ned have?
He's a PR guy making talent acquisition decisions.

I'm really not sure why the McCourts even considered interviewing him. You'd think, in order to be a successful MLB GM---> that one must be eithr really good at identifying talent through either A.) Scouting, or B) Statistical Analysis.

Ned was neither.

Logan is at least the first.

So would you prefer your GM to be someone who can evaluate talent and make ery good decisions when drafting and trading or do you prefer an MBA type that can master the contracts and needs to rely on the talent evaluators before making the final decisions? In the latter case the MBA is saddled with the final decison and really just making an educated guess. In the former the highly skilled talent evaluator knows from the imperical evidence and from his instinct what the best decision is. The talent evaluator can always hire a Kim Ng type to perfect the details. I prefer the intelligent talent evaluator as the final decison maker.

Garry Templeton (StL) 110
Dave Concepcion (Cin) 84
Chris Speier (Mon) 81
Bill Almon (SD) 80
Bill Russell (LA) 78
Ivan DeJesus (Chi) 76
Larry Bowa(Phi) 72
Frank Taveras (Pit) 70
Pat Rockett (Atl) 64
Tim Foli (SF) 53
Roger Metzger (Hou) 51
Bud Harrelson (NY) 34

The other thing to remember is that half the parks in the NL were turf, which probably knocks down the error totals for the six guys who played on it, most of the time. Russell was in the middle of the pack.

1977

Garvey - 33 HR's
Cey - 30 HR's
Baker - 30 HR's
Smith - 32 HR's

This team needs power bats in the worst way.

>>The age of decline has seemingly been reset into the age range of 33-34, rather than at 37-38.

...

And some officials believe that what they are seeing in the last couple of years -- a seemingly natural physical regression in players in their mid- and late-30s, in keeping with what presumably took place before the Steroid Era -- will be reflected in contract negotiations.

"Five years ago, you could give a guy who was 33 or 34 years old a three-year or four-year deal and believe he could still be a pretty good player at the end of the deal," an AL GM said. "I'm not so sure anymore.<<

The Braves stunk back then and we liked that way!

Lineup is fine. Again, I just wish Torre works Andy in there occasionally.

His bank account says thanks.

Putting free-swingers like Nomar, Pierre, Kemp in the lead off spot just doesnt make a great deal of sense.

It's kind of nostalgic thinking back to the days when Darin Erstad could actually play baseball. It seems like such a long time ago.

And that is yet another reason why the Rosnethals/Plaschke types who insist the best role for Matt Kemp is trade bait to get someone who knows how to win are so misinformed. The premium on young players is higher than ever. You would only trade a Matt Kemp for the equivalent value in players around his age. The idea that you would trade a guy like Kemp before he has had a chance to prove himself one way or the other, "while his stock is high" as the cliche goes, is a poor strategy.

Sure, Kemp could turn out to be a bust, but you've risked almost nothing on the way to finding that out. You haven't cost yourself other players, and you've cost yourself very little money. The only conceivable cost is that by focusing on Kemp you've deprived another prospect of the same opportunity. Compare all that with the downside of Andruw Jones and it becomes clearer than ever that the "trade Kemp now" camp is following a philosophy that belongs on the ash heap of history.

Sometimes the keeping-Kemp advocates are depicted as sentimentalists, yearning for a return to the days when the Dodgers developed from within. To me, this is a coldly rational position that only happens to be emotionally satisfying at the same time if it works out.

If Kemp is who we think he is, he's got 10 years. We can have at least six of them at a reasonable cost, including his likely peak year.

This will be Nomar's first start in the leadoff spot since May 8th, 1998. A game that he left early because of an injury in which he suffered a separated shoulder.

Bill Plaschke might go down in sports journalism history as nothing more than Jon Weisman's foil. His idiocy has inspired some of Jon's best work.

Could KUO possibly get the spot???

For whatever reason Andy LaRoche is out of the loop and I can't shake the feeling that Adrian Beltre is going to be a Dodger again because if they won't give Andy a shot, they have to go outside the company. They can't live with Dewitt's offensive woes much longer.

If you only give him 3-4 PAs, he might not get the one-bagger. But if you give him 5 PAs a game, it's almost a sure thing.

5 shutout innings, 1 hit

It's sad when someone prefers Jeffrey Loria as one's boss than whomever it is who owns the Dodgers at the moment.

Is Frank McCourt the new University of Arizona?

Anyway, while I agree about Kuo and the nuns, he did make Baseball Prospectus's NL All-Star Team.

I wonder what the Phillies would want for Brett Myers? The skinny is that they are looking for pitching even as they keep one of their best pitchers in the minors. I know he has struggled this year but the difference between his stuff and Kendricks's is a chasm as wide as the difference between Bill Plasche and Jon Weisman and yet Kendrick gets to step up every 5th day.

He is also 0-for-1 with a sac fly against pitchers named "Nomar."

Apathy, weight gain, injury, contract, new clubhouse, expectations.... and most of all, a swing that even a little leaguer would be ashamed of.

You figure out which one of these is the chicken and which is the egg.

I think they're all partial explanations.

Charles Barkley's golf swing
Andruw Jones' bat swing

At least Chuck can tell a joke. Jones is just becoming one.

The photo has such a wide variety of emotions in it. Guerrero looks supremely ticked off. A few fans are standing and cheering. Some are standing and looking backwards as Clark's homer traveled several rows up.

And in the front row of the LF pavilion there is one woman facing forward or at least staring at third base. Perhaps she is watching Clark circle the bases. Perhaps she has no idea what to think.

It's really an amazing shot.

Good point. I should have chosen my words more carefully.

From Google:

"Androstenedione supplementation may lead to elevated plasma estrogen concentration, which can lead to breast development in men, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer.."

Not saying anyone should think from this "aha...andro use by Jones." But if there's other evidence along with his apparent major production falloff, kinda makes you wonder.

7IP, 0ER, 2H, 5K and 1BB

The question is:

A.) Will the Dodgers trade him for a Derrick Lee.

B.) Or trade him for a Paul Loduca.

C.) Release him

I saw a tape of Drysdale doing it in 1964. He wasn't quite polished then.

""There's really no random events," Rodriguez said."

Look what defense has done for the Rays. Heck look at almost any team that's surprisingly good, you'll find that the common aspect is great defense. I'd love to have a power bat but without seriously changing the team, it's not going to happen. Pitching and defense gives us something to contend with while we wait for our guys to break out.

Laroche, Kemp, Wade, McDonald for David Wright

Laroche replaces Wright, Kemp gives them a high ceiling outfielder, Wade gives them another reliable bullpen arm and McDonald gives them some pitching replenishment in an already depleted minor league system. We get Wright, who's going to be expensive shortly.

We'd be giving up essentially, Kemp and Wade for him because Laroche rots on the bench and we have pitching depth in the minors already.

I don't think the Mets are terribly concerned with their payroll. Marlins they are not.

Putting aside the uneven talent levels, Wright is signed through 2013 while Kemp is under team control until (I believe) 2012.

(Presuming that any team can control Kemp, which Plaschke seems to think they can't.)

I went to several Fantasy Camps, and I found Dodgertown a truly remarkable, nostalgic and rich venue. There were streets named after players and Scully, and Campy's Corner, where Campanella would hold court for so many years after he was so badly injured. There were also giant photo collages in the bar/lounge of each of the World Series that we won. There were enormous photos down a hallway of players from the 1940s and on, including a remarkable one of Jackie Robinson in a rundown -- he evaded the tag -- and one of Gil Hodges stretching so far at first you wonder how he avoided ripping his hamstring. There was a posed shot of the players, some holding umbrellas on a Jeep-like vehicle, and a set-up shot of Pee Wee Reese and Stan Rojek (?) diving through the air next to one another in the infield, their arms outstretched in front of them. You could warm up and throw into the strings that helped pitchers find their control. There was a giant color photo of Dodger Stadium. There were four full practice fields and Holman Stadium, I could go on and on. This was where the Dodgers Way to Play Baseball was born and nurtured. Suffice to say, that this was a special place, and I will miss it.

He doesn't have a no-trade clause, so at least there's that.

Runs allowed (374)--3rd out of 30 MLB teams
Hits allowed (385)--6th out of 30 MLB teams
HRs allowed (73)---2nd out of 30 MLB teams
Ks (680)----8th out of 30 MLB teams
Bbs (298)---12th out of 30 MLB teams

Instead of trying to find an infielder that would prevent a few more hits from falling in (and have an anemic bat), I may try to find a few more pitchers that dont bb as many guys, while still trying to maintain or improve the offense.

I dont think run prevention is a problem, not to the extent that you'd try to improve it while downgrading the offense.

I bet that gets it done.

If I were the Mets, I wouldn't do the first proposed trade for Wright. But if when you include BOTH Bills and Kershaw, you have to take that deal.

30 5/24/77 Penny - DL
30 8/14/77 Pierre - DL
30 10/24/77 Furcal - DL
31 1/2/77 Proctor - DL
31 4/19/77 Beimel - Meeting expectations
31 4/23/77 Jones - Flopping
33 2/10/75 Kuroda - Meeting expectations
35 1/19/73 Schmidt - DL
35 6/1/73 Lowe - Meeting expectations
35 6/30/73 Park - Exceeding expectations
(36 12/31/71 Loaiza) - DFA
38 2/14/70 Saito - Meeting expectations
38 10/26/69 Sweeney - Flopping
40 3/7368 Kent - Below expectaions - but hey he's 40

Pierre: .256/.294/.290/.583

Kemp: .255/.340/.404/.744