Tomorrow's LAT headline:

"Manny Happy Returns"

He may just decide to go woodsman style, and use the new trees in the bullpen to relieve himself.

Dodger Stadium's restrooms are far nicer than Fenway's.

I missed the press conference and I'm at work until 7:30! Where can I see Manny's press conference online?

I can't help but think having such a large Latino population will make Manny feel comfortable here.

Roster move?!?

2 Maybe he's been in touch with Rick Bosetti.

5
You mean the vast Dominican community that L.A. has?

Why would anybody pitch to Ramirez with the sacks empty and Kent behind him?

I predict walks. Lots and lots of walks.

Somebody really ought to write a joint biography of Manny and Rube Waddell.

That's a good thing, right.

I meant 9 , not 10 , although that may be a good thing too.

I repeat: Andruw Jones gets untracked/on-track tonight. Book it!

11 I love walks. Lots of pitches seen and lots of walks. It's why Ethier's at-bats are my favorite.

Walks are my triples.

http://deadspin.com/5029107/thats-just-manny-being-fanny

13 That sounds suspiciously like a Tommy Lasorda impression.

8
I bet he answered more questions in Spanish in that one press conference than he did his entire time in Boston.

Tonight's game is kinda crucial. The next two pitching matchups really aren't in our favor, and we at least have to split this series, right? Right? Actually, is tonight's pitching matchup in our favor?

15
{Shakes head}

The Boston area has a much larger Latino community than one might think. And probably more Dominicans than L.A. has, I would guess. If not more in raw numbers, certainly a much higher percentage.

15 Eh, we've had Tommy Lasorda here for 50 years. I'm sure maintenance workers have seen a flooded bathroom once or twice.

Was Manny Ramirez named after Manny Mota? They are both from Santo Domingo.

5

Riiiight, especially the most enlightened patrons in the left field pavilion.

This probably has already been pointed out, but Andruw just posted his worst month in a historically (also histerically) bad season:

69 PA: .159/.243/.190/.433 0HR/6BB/26K

9 maybe, but I get the impression that most pitchers still see Kent as a potential threat. I mean, Joe Torre knows how to win and he bats him fourth...

18. Vegas line has moved from this game being a toss-up (or very slight edge for AZ) to the Dodgers now being slightly favored at 52.83% to win. AccuScore still has the DBacks with a slight edge at 51%. My Simulator is more Dodger friendly tonight, giving the boys in blue a 55.93% chance of winning Manny's debut game. Vegas has a low Over/Under of 7.5, while AccuScore and my Simulator are around 8.6 on the O/U.
vr, Xei

It is so difficult to slug .190 in 69 ABs. That is seriously historical.

124
Yuck...That's a bad month for Mark Hendrickson let alone Jones.

Is there any precedent for a player dropping off of the map this quickly without some devastating injury? This is becoming historic in a train wreck sort of sense.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, the Boston metro area has the fourth-largest Dominican population in the US, at 39,000. Lawrence, MA, has the sixth-largest population, and Providence/Pawtucket the seventh. All of these have more than 20,000 Dominicans.

For comparison, the Dominican population of the entire state of California is 12,000.

I've from disbelief, to anger, to rage to now feeling generally sorry for Andruw Jones. I can't think of any other time in professional sports that someone has gone through such a horrific collapse.

Jason Bay walked and scored on a sac fly in his first appearance as a Red Thingee.

30
Practically happens to every RB in the NFL.

31- Manny is so on the clock!

Juan Pierre outslugged Andruw by .146 in July.

Ethier outslugged Andruw by .300 in July.

I kind of hate Joe Torre a little bit right now.

Imagine how Ethier feels.

34 Even more remarkably, Pierre outslugged Andruw by .146 in July despite not getting a single extra-base hit.

I get it. New Post Up Top. NPUT. Took me a while ...

37

Oops, I was looking at Pierre's June numbers. He actually outslugged Andruw by .158 in July.

37
Not kidding...that made laugh out loud.

Wow.

36 He's not allowed to feel.

I can't believe he took #99.
That is awesome.

Kind of funny how hypocrisy has reigned this year in
Dodgerland. Torre justifies inane personnel decisions with spin, Ned talks about building a club with character guys who know how to play the game the right way. Now the season is going to be saved by Manny, the guy who doesn't listen to anyone and sure doesn't play the game "the right way." I like the trade for the short-term, but let's be honest. The McCourt/Ned/Torre trio has been all about PR, pacifying the press, and trying to put butts in the seats. Not about building and sustaining the best baseball team.

42 free spirit = ManRam

Wish this game would start right now! so excited!

42
At the press conference he said he wanted 34, but that is Fernando's number, so they just gave him 99.

43 Not to mention jerking around the only player who, talent not withstanding, seemingly does everything on the baseball field exactly how it should be done.

This young player is rewarded by sitting behind a fat load and a nobody.

The more I think about it the more I think Manny and Waddell are kindred spirits. Manny has a ways to go before he matches Waddell's 1903 season, however. Lee Allen, quoted on Wikipedia:

"He began that year (1903) sleeping in a firehouse in Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in Wheeling, West Virginia. In between those events he won 22 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, played left end for the Business Men's Rugby Football Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan, toured the nation in a melodrama called The Stain of Guilt, courted, married and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of Lynn, Massachusetts, saved a woman from drowning, accidentally shot a friend through the hand, and was bitten by a lion."

Manny said he wanted jersey #34, but it's Fernando's number. So he said they gave him #99.

Sidney Ponson is no longer interesting.

47 But the Times loved the fat load and nobody signings at the time. Talked about how McCourt and Ned were willing to spend to improve the club. Is it just me, or does Vin sometimes almost choke when having to spout the party line?

Suns lose sixth game in a row

>> Before the game, right-handed pitcher Kieran Mattison was sent to the Suns. The Los Angeles Dodgers bought his contract from Grand Prairie of the Independent American Association.

Suns pitcher Luis Ferraras was re-assigned to the Great Lakes Loons of the Low-A Midwest League. <<

http://tinyurl.com/5q9qf9

There is a bar here in Spokane named "Waddell's" after Rube. Not sure of the significance of Spokane in his life if any. But the have great beers on tab.

51
What makes you think Vin Scully has to adhere to a "party line?" It's not like he has to worry about losing his job.

Vin started complaining about Juan Pierre's fielding on Opening Day last year. Vin said that he didn't see Andruw Jones get around on a fastball back in spring training.

I'm ready to see the goldurn lineup already!

Question for Stat Heads

How many NL Pitchers have a better batting average than Andruw Jones?

I did a quick count, 5 or so.

Pathetic

Ned...as Weird Al said..."Eat it, just eat it". Unconditionally release Andruw Jones.

55
Goodness, gracious, sakes alive!

Kemp, RF
Blake, 3B
Martin, C
Ramirez, LF
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Jones, CF
Berroa, SS
Kershaw, LHP

429. Jon Weisman
Tonight's lineup:

Kemp, RF
Blake, 3B
Martin, C
Ramirez, LF
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Jones, CF
Berroa, SS
Kershaw, LHP

It's there twice for others, no excuses!

Nomar officially to DL.

Lineup posted in last thread.

Any news on the roster spot? For someone who has listened to Vin over many years, he in my mind has been quite objective and not been fearful of criticizing Dodger players and complementing other teams players.

[54} Maybe it's just that he tries to be positive about every Dodger. Raves about Jones' defense even though I think it's apparent he is not the CF he used to be. Talks constantly about how early Pierre gets to the ballpark. Gushed about DeWitt even though he didn't hit a lick for two months. I don't think he's told what to say, just tries to put a good spin on everything.

No Eithier, but we are facing a lefty so no complaints.

Maybe Jones' turnaround starts tonight /snicker

Before tonight's game starts, can the court stipulate that Andruw Jones isn't very good?

This way, the same facts don't have to be produced as evidence throughout the game.

Seven-eight-nine is brutal.

Like having three pitchers hit.

From Tony Jackson:

Nomar to DL.

Although Juan Pierre is on the bench tonight against Randy Johnson, Torre said JP will likely become the primary CF now, with Matt Kemp moving to RF. That means Andre Ethier effectively joins Andruw Jones as backup OFs, although Torre was quick to qualify that by saying everyone is going to get enough playing time to stay sharp.

I wonder how well Vin would do as a manager...You have to figure he has seen about 80-90k innings of baseball as an announcer, seeing every possible situation hundreds of times. And, the guy can recall certain games from back in Brooklyn like they were yesterday. Makes me wonder.

84 Pitchers have a higher AVG than Jones. But most of those only have a handful of ABs.

(one of many) Question(s) of the night:

When will Manny's first IBB be?

56 There are 25 pitchers with better batting averages than Jones. (minimum 20 PA).

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

60
With Nomar now on the DL and DY, Penny, and Proctor all due back within about two weeks the Dodger moves will be very interesting. If JP or Jones are claimed, could we finally have the right starting outfield.

It's 25 pitchers, if you set a minimum of 20 PAs.

OUCH.

Diamond: "Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier are out of the lineup today, but it appears from what Joe Torre is saying that all things equal, it will be Andruw Jones and Ethier who will be the odd men out. Jones is starting today against left-hander Randy Johnson, but Juan Pierre is expected to return to center field tomorrow, with Ramirez playing left and Matt Kemp playing right."

D'oh.

66 I thought it had been decided already that Pierre couldn't play CF. Wow, that's going to be a pitcher's nightmare with the Manny/Pierre combo out there.

I think Jones is going to be playing against lefties.

66 Why refuse to move him, indeed keep Ethier for LaRoche, and then bench him for Slappy? Madness reigns supreme. Torre's resolve usually lasts as long as his commercials, but still this is just nuts.

62
I would think Scully would be pretty ticked off if people thought he was just saying what he was told to say.

He could logically and legitimately believe what he is saying. Sometimes it may not agree with our own perceptions.

If you want to hear someone relentlessly positive about every player, go watch a Diamondbacks game with Daron Sutton. Or a Tigers game with Mario Impemba.

I'm back from Chicago and Manny is still a Dodger. Some things never change.

76 Because the tears them up.

So now we get to watch Juan Pierre play CF everyday and leadoff? So that's the rub...

66

JP getting more playing time is a smart move, if Ned is trying to showcase him for a move ether before 1 September or in the off season.

JP has some value, Jones is not worth a dime right now hitting .167.

Get some cash free, Manny settles in, got the money to entice Manny to a two or three year deal so there is power for next year, and even more money freed up for next year for more bats.

Kent gone x $
Nomar gone Y $
JP gone Z $

x+y+z - Manny $ leaves some money to buy another bat for the middle of the order.

Now I know how Torre is going to screw this up.

Didn't take long to find out.

Juan and Manny in the outfield should be entertaining. This is going to be hilarious.

78 Sutton is bad. Not attacking Vin, just think he's very PR savvy. Part of why he's great and definitely a big reason the Dodgers have drawn so well.

Torre's word doesn't mean much, but let me just say GAAAAAAAARGH.

Are they going to call Hu up?

Well keep things in perspective. The ONLY place Pierre can start now is centerfield. Manny and Kemp are firmly in their spots with the occasional day off. Ethier/Jones/Pierre will rotate. I don't really take anything Torre says about the lineup seriously.

I'm not sure I've ever disliked a person I didn't know more than I dislike Joe Torre.

Possibly Kevin McHale, but it's close.

82 Showcasing a lesser player then who could be playing in a pennant race is not smart. I thought we got Manny to go balls out and win this thing.

Torre has made these Olympian pronouncements since he was hired, only to forget about them a few days later. So this may not last long. Still, it gripes me beyond imagining.

From Diamond:

This exchange occurred before batting practice...

Takashi Saito: Call me Sammy.

Manny Ramirez: Sammy. Puts hands together and bows

Ramirez: You guys got some rice bowls here? I love it.

Saito: Turns to Japanese reporter with look of confusion

88

My perspective is Manny/Kemp/Ethier every day.

Pierre = pinch hitter/pinch runner
Jones = defensive replacement

92
Ah, insensitive racial stereotypes...

Cue Marty's favorite line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

90

There's also the business of baseball, and getting ether Jones or JP contracts gone and the salary freed up for next year is critical.

Nobody is going to take Jones with his terrible hitting, not after the Dodgers tried to fix what could not be fixed in Hotlanta.

Ether at 400k is chump change and from a business standpoint, he can sit not a problem.

Parking Lot Frank will be happy with making round two this year of the playoffs with this crew.

92

Someone tell Manny about Beef Bowl, cheap good eats if he likes rice.

How much will the poor OF defense offset the offensive gains of Manny? We saw Pierre's act in CF last year and it cost a lot of extra bases. Manny is a terrible OF (in Fenway) and Pierre is Pierre.

Joe Torre thinks Pierre is better than Ethier. Maybe he thinks it only conditionally--that Pierre is better than Ethier so long as Furcal is out. But it looks pretty clear to me that he thinks playing Pierre is more likely to result in winning baseball games.

Oh well.

#97, hope you're joking about the beef bowl!!

Well, that's that then. We dumped LaRoche and Morris for no gain.

92 groan. Reminds me of Shaq 'imitating' Chinese back when Yao was a rookie. That rubs me the wrong way.

Gotta say, if Pierre is in center for most of the rest of the year, my enthusiasm for this trade is dampened some. Why not trade Ethier if you're not going to start him? Then again, Torre also said Ethier would be a starter coming into the season, so who knows what the heck he has in mind.

92

I laughed at 92. I forgot Saito was still even here.

So did everybody wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? And then once doing that stub their toe? And then hit their head against the wall? And then slip in the shower?

People haven't been this angry since the Detroit series.

95 You mean this one?

Pierre is as fast as the wind, and I've never seen anyone hit the ball harder than Manny. But you're still nothing but two bit outfielders. And you're gonna die bloody. Now tie me up Manny

#101: no gain? We were going to be playing Pierre too much anyway, but now we've swapped Manny for Jones. No gain?

Vin was raving last year about Druw's defense while he was a Brave. Vin commented about the double standard for veterans and kids when the Dodger org has openly criticized the kids repeatedly. Pretty sure Vin isn't pushing Dodger propaganda. I could see Vin taking great offense to that.

101- If Manny's taking Ethier's spot. If Manny's taking Jones's spot, then there's a big expected gain.

Ethier to the bench? I need a drink.

105 Morons. I've got morons on my team.

Am I a bad person if I now hope that Pierre joins Nomar?

110 I know, but I felt I needed to go for another joke.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of managers and their Pierre infatuation.

104- I'm angry that the Twins called up Liriano. It looked like the path was clear for the Tigers to steal the AL Central!

This, this I don't much like, but I also can't bring myself to care about, too much.

I am just going to make a bold (or bold) prediction and say whatever Torre says now, today about who will play more and blah blah will very likely be thrown out the window within a week. Especially after like two games of Manny's D and Pierre's Noodle. I wouldn't worry about it that much. Yet.

Also, I think whatever the Dodgers do the next two months, they wanted Ethier for the future, and Manny won't be here next year. (And very possibly Jones or Pierre will be gone at some point, too.)

I wish Andruw could be a pinch-fielder and have someone else bat for him each time.

Mmmm... between the Beef Bowl reference and Pierre's Noodle, I'm hungry now. See y'all in a while.

106 No, we swapped Manny for Either - certainly gain there, offensively and a big drop defensively.

But, since Jones and Pierre had no place starting, yes it amounts to no gain.

Manny+Kemp+Pierre, Blake at 3B is essentially equal to Kemp+Either+Blake, with LaRoche at 3B - offensively and much much worse defensively.

104 I'm an aspiring pirate.

114
Because this helps your D-Backs.

I thought Torre moved Johnny Damon to LF because he couldn't throw.

Is firejoetorre.com already taken?

117

I wish I had dreadlocks (wig) to wear tonight in honor of Manny, pre-haircut.

If Kent shows up in the pregame wearing a dreadlocks wig the game is up.

120- Yes. But the owner may be willing to move it. It's been dormant for more than a year.

We gave up 5 yrs of LaRoche for this upgrade:

Manny road 07-08: .292/.380/.522
Ethier career:        .289/.351/.457

2007 Fielding Bible +/-
Ramirez: -38
Ethier: +16

I'll focus on the positive and I look very much forward to seeing Russell Martin benefit from batting in front of Manny.

Or I should say Designated Fielder. That's what I meant, in the rules of that imaginary game of baseball I have in my head.

Or is that blernsball?

124 yeah, well except for the fact that it is pretty well established that "protection" has no measurable effect.

maybe manny will use juan as a hand towel and clog up the toilet with him. maybe someone could dip pierre in ranch dressing and andruw will eat him. as much as jones is struggling i'd still rather see him out there than pierre. pierre starting over ethier is an outrage. it's as if joe torre doesn't understand anything about baseball accept that juan pierre can steal bases. can we send joe to a class about probability? this madness is maddening.

116 Not that I disagree entirely, but you're kidding yourself if you think Blake/LaRoche/Kemp/ethier was going to be an everyday thing at any point without Manny.

I agree that if we go with Pierre/Kemp/Manny the whole way as the regular situation that it's not much better than the ideal non-move shuffling, it was never going to happen.

And I, like others, don't take much on what Torre says, and will pass judgment only as lineups come up over the next few weeks.

121 Kent in a dreadlocked wig for real, would make my year. Seriously. I would have that as wallpaper on my computer. (Well, briefly, before I realized how frightening it was.)

123 6 years, but yes, we did.

I will say, though, that an everyday outfield right now that was always Manny/Pierre/Jones would turn me into this:

http://tinyurl.com/2zqsyz

How can a guy be a Hall of Fame manager, win 4 World Championships, and think Pierre is a better player than Either? Boggles the mind. Or are all of us just stupid, not realizing the great leadoff abilities of JP?

92 LOL You can say that it's hypocritical to be happy about Milton Bradley being gone and then to be excited about Manny being here. But Milton was never this funny.

And I'm Asian.

Plus, though I seem to be the only one who thinks this, but if we really wanted a 2 month rental of a poor defensive LF (but not as poor as Manny) with a big bat (bigger than Manny's) we could have just signed Bonds.

133 "But Milton was never this funny."

I don't know, this was pretty funny.
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/167963.html

128 Maybe, but I don't see that as a rational argument against it. You are essentially saying that Manny is a good move because our management is too stupid to do what is clearly best.

Though even if I were to accept that argument, I still see very little upgrade swapping Manny with Either when you factor in defense.

132

40 Million ways, especially when those ways are coming from Parking Lot Frank.

132 Because HOF means nothing when it comes to non-players and because failing to win consistently with the teams he had would have been the real shock, not the other way.

we could have just signed Bonds

But Bonds was a PED user, and the Dodgers don't support that...

136 I'm not saying that the Manny is a good move beause of it, per se (this is where I agree with you), just that our team will perform better over the next two months than if we had not done it. Its sad that it would take a trade instead of a simple depth chart re-alignment to do so, but its the sad case.

Plus, I'm holding out hope that one bad week of Juan brings ethier back to at the very least an even split.

Anybody got some cat pictures, or something?

139
Unless you are an easily replaceable back-up catcher.

Consider it Manny replacing Pierre tonight and Jones tomorrow. You'll feel better. I know it makes me feel much better.

Then as a seperate comparison take Jones playing over Ethier like tonight and Pierre playing over Ethier tomorrow. Hurts, but that's nothing new.

Manny/Kemp/Ethier makes for a better team. Manny/JP/Kemp means the trade was a PR move from a GM trying to impress the press as well as future employers, and an owner who is slowly importing the Red Sox team he once loved. I agree with underdog, this won't last any more than Torre's other big decisions, but it does reveal the true foundation of the trade.

When does Torre rest Manny to get Pierre in there.

144 I agree, although I think the announcement about the lineup is more indicative of poor player evaluation than the nature of the trade.

144 You nailed it.

145

Four runs up in the bottom of the 8th.

(sees lineup)

Oh, man, I thought the point of acquiring Manny was to improve the team.

(goes off to sulk)

Ned doesn't make the lineup so I don't think the trade was a PR move. I know it's being harped on but I just don't understand the reasoning behind playing Pierre over Ethier against righties. Surely something else is at work here.

I'd submit that Torre knows Ethier is better, he's just afraid of upsetting vets and not kids. Kids will just have to deal with it.

He's not stupid. He's just a coward.

150 And playing Pierre in CF, ever!

150 Well, Ethier was reported as not feeling well yesterday, and he did just pinch-hit, so maybe that explains this lineup. I hope.

Hopefully Pierre gets hurt again.

138

He managed the most dominant 5-year run in MLB since the '49-'53 Yankees. He deserves a little bit of credit for that.

it does reveal the true foundation of the trade

I don't believe this for a second. Torre has benched Ethier before against left-handed pitching, and it's also true that Ethier genuinely has had some problems vs lefties this year. I agree that it's totally bone-headed to believe that Ethier is not the team's 3rd best outfielder, but that doesn't mean the trade is a sham.

Anyone notice that Dodger stadium is playing as the most extreme pitcher's park in MLB, by far, this year?

It seems like for a long time, we've been pushing the idea that Dodger stadium is no longer a pitcher's haven, and that has been true for a while, but this year seems to be different.

Sample size?

154 I kept searching for the diplomatic way to say that.

Thanks for not being a wimp like me.

Regardless, tonight's atmosphere should be electric and I can't wait to hear Dodger Stadium chant, "Manny, Manny, Manny"

Just enjoy the game because it's a big moment for all of us. Don't let a lineup decision ruin tonight. Deal with it tomorrow.

158

Thanks for your support. It sucks that it has to come to this, but apparently it's the only way.

#154 the correct way to express it is to hope that Pierre gets traded to the Giants.

157

I think it's probably because the Dodgers have had great pitching and terrible hitting this season.

The last time I cheered an injury LaRoche got hurt a few minutes later. He's now in Pittsburgh. It's not a good way to go.

157 Where are you getting that from? According to Baseball-Reference, Dodger Stadium this year has park factors of 105/104, making it more of a hitter's park than any other year in its history.

161

I opted for something halfway realistic.

I see DeWitt is playing first base tonight for Lasvegas. Didn't he play second last night? Looks like they're grooming him for a utility role.

Oh, for the record - has to be Manny-Kemp- Ethier. I'm thinking Torre's mind will change in a week or so; it's the thing he's been most consistent at this year.

I have no qualms about rooting for a Pierre injury. Maybe that's bad karma. Maybe it makes me a bad person. I don't really care. It's what's best for the team, and I'm a team player. I have nothing against Juan but I like it when the Dodgers win.

163

No cheering from me. Just want the good players to play and the worthless, terrible, boring players to sit. However that happens is fine with me.

There's nothing wrong with rooting for an injury. It's rooting for a terrible, career-threatening injury that's bad.

Is Berroa the SS until Nomar comes back?

With Brock and Enders by my side, I can do anything!

Unleash the Repko!

I want the best team on the field as much as the rest of you. But, if Kemp pulls up lame tonight you all will answer for it.

i'm rooting for a pierre self-realization in which he benches himself.

173

Okay. Want my address?

164

I was getting it from ESPN.

173 Because the baseball gods have shined a light of brilliance on the Dodgers for nigh on twenty years.

Bring it, baseball gods. Joke's on you. I'll just switch allegiances.

175 - I'll send a message in a bullet proof vest.

178

Why? I'm not a gun owner.

179 it was a movie reference.

179 - Hmm. I don't know where to go from here.

What movie?

179 Luca Brazi, man!

182 "It's a message. Luca Brazi sleeps with the fishes."

http://foreignerinformosa.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/08/luca_brasi.jpg

164 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

I missed a Godfather reference? Wow. Someone take my DT Veterans Card.

Was the fish wrapped in a bullet-proof vest? I never noticed that.

I love the way Bruno Tataglia's lip and cigarette quivers when Luca Brazi is getting garroted.

187

When were those issued out!??!!

190

Pre-Toaster days.

188 - Yes, it was. He was shown putting it on in his room before heading off to the meeting. So, of course they stab his hand and choke him to death. Brilliance.

190 You have to be at least 30 years old, sorry. It's like playing for the Dodgers.

curious, just off the top of my head, i cannot think of a single MLB starting left or center fielder that pierre would be an upgrade over. can any of you think of any?

194 - Michael Bourn. I win!

If Pierre gets hurt, than Torre starts Jones. I suspected Ethier would be the odd man out with this trade.

any truth to the rumor that we're buying out Jones? A friend mentioned he had heard it today but I haven't seen anything...

At first I was going to slam Icaros for rooting for an injury, but missing that Godfather reference? A bigger crime!

185 - That man behind Luca, it's nice to see someone really enjoy their work.

You guys need to have a gun battle like there is in the third from last episode of "Spaced" season 2. And then help yourself to some special chicken stew with lots of oregano afterwards.

--

I do think bringing up Repko could accomplish what Icaros is wishing for.

194 Joey Gathright.

197 Buy him out now? Or in the offseason?

I guess it's silly to ask questions about an unsubstantiated rumor... but still. How great would that be?

I'm on the I hope Pierre gets injured team too.

Pretty much felt that way since the day we signed him.

192

Right. I actually haven't watched it since the first major DT Godfather chat about three years ago, so I must be rusty.

I'm going to have to buy a lot of fish. Though, bullet proof vests have to be hard to come by.

200
Yeah, totally. Or paintball. I think Duane is my favorite character.

194 Pierre has some value as a high plus defensive OF in left, so there will certainly be teams that can do worse. Ideally, he would bat eighth (or ninth) on a team that had a strong offensive option at SS. Some places where his offensive liabilities would be minimized and his speed-based plus defense in left taken most advantage of would include SD and CO

I love Manny.

"I don't know how to play football. If I was going to Green Bay, it was going to be as a backup."

"I took like 5,000 pounds off my back coming here."

That's a big monkey!

I don't think rooting for an injury is any more tempting of the baseball gods as saying Manny=we win.

Okay, some folks are starting to label this as "what Icaros wants." There are a handful of longtime, respected participants who are in agreement. We're in this together.

Would Houston trade for Pierre? They are "going for it" and Ed Wade is a big dummy. Showcase!!!

Also, Michael Born, Corey Patterson, and arguably Carlos Gomez.

Ken Griffey Jr just got his 2nd RBI tonight, driving in both white sox runs

206 Duane. Duane Benzie.
Tim, hi, I didn't expect to find you here.

211 If they put in a waiver claim, they could just have him. I doubt anybody will put a waiver claim on Pierre though.

210 - Sorry. I see there's a running list now. I should update it. It's getting large. There's a second list next to it for Those Wishing Pierre Gets an Ingrown Toenail and It Gets Infected and He'll Be Fine in 15 Months But Has To Rehabilitate For Quite Some Time. I've started that one off.

Manny and Kemp in the lineup everyday is an upgrade over the jones/ethier/pierre/kemp whirlwind outfield that has been going on all year.

The sole fact that Jones will probably get the least amount of playing time in the group is a huge improvement. even if Ethier plays less.

Bay needs a HR in his final PA to complete the TTO cycle.

213 And Mike Downey weeps quietly for joy in front of his typewriter.

I hate 7 40 start times. It's especially bad now that I'm on the east coast, and spend all day waiting for the game to start.

216- Ingrown toe nails hurt a lot. And an infection would hurt even more. Mono is the way to go, I think.

216

Ingrown toenail would be fine. I want Pierre to be perfectly healthy for his new team next year.

I think Andrew just offered to make out with Juan Pierre for the good of the Dodgers title hopes.

Griffey had a single in his first PA as a Sock, too. Manny just keeps getting more on the clock.

My brain hurts.

223- Enders thinks he's a team player. He has no idea.

On an unrelated note, does anyone have Jeff Gillooly's cell number...?

Is that last Google ad directed at Andruw Jones, or what?

juan pierre is disrupting the wrong team's concentration & psyche.

From August 1st on, last year, Pierre hit: .325/.369/.399. He was .277/.312/.330, before that. He's .283/.328/.320, right now.

Manny's at-bat song, for whoever is interested, will be "Heaven Sent" by Keyshia Cole.

I'm stuck with this ad that shows Red Sox gear.

230 So we should hold out hope for "Still sucky, but not horrifying."

230

So when he's hitting way above his head, he's almost as good as Ethier.

Gnawing feeling: The Pirates were never angling for Ethier. Colletti invented a story about how he didn't want to give up either young outfielder so it would sound as if he negotiated and haggled over the young players involved, when in reality it was always LaRoche.

If they valued Ethier as highly as Colletti claims, no way would they jerk him around they way they have all season, and no way would they be benching him now. Especially not for Pierre or McManboobs.

Jason Bay has a chance to win the game for the Sox.

232 On my screen the last ad is for FatLoss4Idiots.com.

I'm not getting any of these ads. Don't you people use Firefox with Adblock...?

I don't think anybody should feel better about this. It's garbage. But, stupider things have turned out okay.

237
I bet you go there and in big bold letters it says:

DON'T EAT SO MUCH, STUPID!

237

Mine is an ad that asks "Want to Quit Your Job?" Works for Jones, also.

JAWFJB

Now I got, "Ten Rules For a Flat Stomach."

Mike Lowell came up lame in Boston.

238 Every once in a while I click on one in the hopes that it'll make Jon a few pennies.

245
You should be careful, if you're using IE.

Who is Jones suddenly trying to impress? He never comes out of the dugout to stretch when he's in the starting lineup and suddenly he's running sprints next to Manny? What a joke. I was at the game last night and there was no sign of him as usual before the starting lineup was announced. I'm happy about Manny, but not happy Ethier gets the shaft once again since he's a superior player to both Jones and Pierre. I was hoping they would dump Jones and trade Pierre.

Yankees have lost to Angels again. The Angels are getting into the Yankees heads i think. Least thats the way Michael Kay sounded today.

Manny had his pick of pretty much anywhere?

Jim what'shisname is interviewing Manny on the pre-game show, I should say.

Dodgers FSN Live showed an interview they had today with Brandon Webb. After the interview, they commented on the fact that Webb is well on his way to another Cy Young. That's a bit of a stretch, especially when you see the fact that our own Billingsley is having as good a year as Webb but I don't remember anytime they have mentioned the Cy Young award and Chad in the same sentence.

He repeated the thing about not hitting home runs any more. Is that a thing? Was he getting criticized for hitting too many home runs?

Billingsley wasn't even an All Star. I definitely think he deserves to be in the CY conversation, but I don't think the voters will agree.

First curtain call for Manny. 7:25 pm.

Kennedy disagrees with Manny, thinks he'll be going deep, tonight. Unless it's in the first at bat, it's irrelevant.

Not sure if anyone posted the contect of the article on the outfield on dodgers.com, but Torre says,
"To me, Juan certainly deserves the right to play," Torre said. "At this point in time, his experience, his consistency, the way he goes about his business. When [Rafael] Furcal went down, he's meant so much to the club. He brings another dimension, his basestealing ability. He gives a professional at-bat on a regular basis. He's done it [leading off] longer than Matt. He's willing to take pitches."

Torre also said he hadnt talked to Ethier about his decision, but he told Pierre he would play. So not only is he a complete fool that cannot tell the obvious dfifference between two players, but he can't even tell Ethier to his face that hes going to sit? I never thought highly of torre as a manger (and his decisions this year validate that), but right now, its hard to have a high opinion of him as a professional.

Regardless of how we feel about wins for pitchers, the Cy Young voters treat it as the most important stat. Chad has zero chance.

What if the catcher interferes with Manny in his first at bat...?

Actually, I have a high opinion of Torre as a manger.

Video intro to the game Manny holds up flash cards, "Hi I'm Manny Ramirez, I'm the newest Dodger. Let's have some fun."

Yeah.

I'm on board with the Icaros Plan™, despite the swift karmic retribution we will surely all receive.

I'm rooting for diphtheria.

But tonight is not about that. It's about the glorious beginning to the Manny Era©. This is gonna be a fun ride.

I'll say this about MannyGate. No one has mentioned Kershaw in this thread.

256 That's just cringeworthy. The longer the season goes on, the more evidence mounts that Torre is either disingenuous, or a fool. I'm hoping for disingenuous.

Also, in that article Torre says they're going to look at Pierre in center.

He'll look. He'll see. He'll sit him down.

He's done it [leading off] longer than Matt. He's willing to take pitches.

So Torre never watches Pierre bat, then. Okay.

I am so excited. I gots Manny Fever! (and a touch of Either stomach flu) {sigh}

262

My first DT trademark! When do the royalties start coming in?

P/PA in 2008

Pierre: 3.76
Kemp: 3.76

Ken Tremendous would have a field day with Torre's comments in 256.

256 Ethier seems to be taking his demotion in stride better than Nomar.

Torre has drunk the Pierre Kool-Aid. Lots of people do.

270 Then let's make sure it gets e-mailed to him.

256 Y'all have to stop dissecting and analyzing every bit of manager-speak that comes out of Torre's mouth as if it were Zapruder footage from the Kennedy assassination. They all say these things to placate their players and ramble on about this and that, some of it means something, some of it only means something in the moment, some of it means nothing. I don't care what Logan White says in a few seconds of off the cuff interviewing, and don't care much what Torre says, either. What I do care about it is who gets the majority of the PT over the next two months. If his line-ups are consistently stupid, especially now that he has three good outfielders (well, hitting-wise) and two overpaid guys, one of whom (Pierre) is not worthless but isn't as valuable as the top 3, and another who is a huge disappointment, a bust, basically, then that's on him. But what he says? Pfffft. In one ear and out the other.

Just repeat to yourself it's only a show, I should breathe and just relax.

If he looks and sees that Pierre has a good week, what will he do then? Give Ethier a shot after? And then when he has a bad week, give Jones a shot? After that, back to Pierre? There is no need to juggle those three around, Ethier is the right choice.

271 - He ought to be used to it by now. It happens to Ethier every other day: benched to give more time to lesser players, for no apparent reason.

Kemp and JP have an identical 3.76 pitches per PA

I imagine Manny is going to get a huge ovation when he is first announced. Lets hope the AB ends with a curtain call.

For Pierre, how about vertigo caused by allergies? My friend had that once. I can be cured -- with medicine that makes you kind of sleepy. And eventually it goes away.

256.

Is it really so difficult to see what the obvious line-up should be? I don't understand...are fans really smarter than major league managers?

Heck, even school children know to choose the best players when picking teams...

11,000 seats moved for tonight's game after the Manny announcement.

273 - Have you? If not, I shall.

Well, the curve seems to be working to start.

256 yep: what Torre says is calculated not to describe reality or present a future plan, but to soothe the ears of old-school baseball men...that it doesn't soothe new-school fans is arguably evidence of its success, imo....

Well, that was two quick outs.

279 - Better. I like it. Maybe just a daily dose of Benadryl about an hour before game time.

Is that the picture of Manny that SI had up on its website? Because that is an awful picture.

Blake! nice D!

Nice start!

Nice play Casey. Efficient Kershaw.

And here we...go!

Three outs! ...For five pitches? Apparently, Ariz. needs a crash course on working the pitcher.

Great play by Casey. Hudson looked like he pulled up lame, too.

Funny how Blake and Berroa have been pretty darn good defensively thus far.

So where's this sucky defense I was told to expect from Blake? 'cause I haven't seen it all week.

Heh. Just noticed that Blake is in the MLBTV commercial, dressed in his old Cleveland uniform, telling us to keep watching.

293 [et al] So far I've been pretty impressed.

I think I'm gonna go on a litterbox strike. For every game the Dodgers don't win, I'm going to refuse to clean up the litterbox.

292 I know. I've seen nothing but stellar D from Berroa.

293 - Post-trade, what I was hearing about Blake's defense didn't jibe with the numbers (more DPs than Es - a sign of quality).

274 - I think that you are generally right on not listening to Torre, but in this particular case there is a lot of evidence that he drank the Kool Aide.

6 pitch 1st inning.
Dbax are hacking tonight, which bodes well for Kershaw.

294 - But no one's as exciting in those commercials as his former teammate. "Hello. This is. Victor. Martinez...zzzzzzz...."

The radar gun is slower than Gameday (about 2 MPH). So don't expect Kershaw to hit more than 94 MPH tonight.

293 Only play I seen that Blake couldn't catch was a liner across the 3rd base line that Blake couldn't catch up to. But I figure it was more of a problem of placement, since Blake was almost where the shortstop would be when the liner was hit.

302 I sorta like Martinez' blurb. He seems like a shy little kid.

300 Maybe there was actually acid in that Kool-Aid.

That happened to me once.

Er, no, to a friend of mine. I heard about it.

Matt Kemp, Mr. Snappy.
Mr. Snappy, Matt Kemp.

300 Which is why Jones is starting today? Torre just says one thing and does something else.

What I've learned this year: you can't believe what Torre says.

Wow...That, er, was not a strike.

Okay. Hope that wide strike zone applies to Kershaw, too.

309 - I think Ethier has learned that too.

Just saw the line-up. I would say the Dodgers are done for this year.
And the Dynasty I once evisioned 2010-2012 is melting a bit too.

Dammit - go to start the sprinklers and miss Manny's first fly ball.

What I've learned:

44 year old Cy Young vet gets the 'corner'

20 year old rookie does not

But, that's the norm.

In the replay, looks like he hustled.

Martin saved the hell out of that pitch.

Kershaw not looking good in this inning.

314 and it was Jones'

308 - Yes, underdog is right, there must have been an addititive.

I'm starting to think Pellam might be right. It's not entirely out of the question that Jones could hit three home runs tonight.

308 - because Torre Has His Favorites!

302

I want to know why they replay countless ads for mlb.tv when I am already watching the game on mlb.tv

Eww. FSN just ran a "Manny leads off next inning" note across the screen. That better be a one time only deal.

Just about the only thing I believed from Joe's lips is when he said that he had not be fair to Andy.

324 - if they were smart, they'd get that on other channels as well.

Sigh.

323- Nobody else wants to pay for the ad space, I assume. If they run a blank screen, in between innings, people will call customer service and gripe that their feed is out.

313 - I wouldn't go that far. If Jones and/or Pierre end up playing more than Ethier in the next week, I'll agree with you. But I still can't believe that Torre would be that stubborn.

325 - ???

323 - They keep encouraging us to "keep watching", but I think they get to keep my money, even if I don't.

323 Isn't it obvious? They want you to keep watching. Keep watching. Keep watching.

Gameday has Kershaw at 94-96 MPH on every fastball.

I hate that they jipped Kershaw's velocity on TV.

329 - Torre+moron = Torron.

I like that they are calling a lot of fastballs from Kershaw today.

Nope. Not getting that corner. Some pitchers are more equal than others.

332 - can't sleep, clown will eat me?

The strike zone is um...well....different for the two pitchers.

You may be great, but you still look like Sam the Eagle, Brandon Webb.

329 - Two words: the Solution.

does anyone know how to make that free trial for mlb tv work...i must see mannys first AB!

328 It's better than that creepy tune they played last year. I kept waiting for the pile of memorabilia to stand up and wield a knife.

So I sent the stupid quote from our manager to Ken Tremendous. I did not notice (until now) that I accidentally sent it from my wife's e-mail account, which begins:

torre@...

(Yeah, her parents were big Cardinal fans back in the day.)

Not too long ago, Chris Snyder suffered the most horrific-sounding injury EVAR.

this ump is killing me with the strike zone for Randy and not for Clayton

This ump is squeezing Kershaw.

According to my roll sheet here, which is different than the two Pierre Injury Watch sign-up sheets, according to that there are still five or six DT commenters who have not yet chimed in about either the line-up or Torre's obtuse comments.

We've decided to keep the polls open for another thirty minutes or until Manny's second at bat, whichever comes first.

However, discussions about the umpire will be continuing into the wee hours.

Brandon Webb looks like he should be smoking a corn cob pipe.

Kick your dog, Blue.

330 - Right before actually starting him in consecutive games in Colorado.

342 - Earlier this season, MLB.tv was using Radiohead's "The National Anthem."

347 - did my comment in 329 count? or do you want something more formal?

Ok, now is a good time for public enemy #1

The crowd sounds appropriately aggravated by the ump's strike zone.

341 You gotta pay for it and cancel within 5 days to get your money back.

NICE!

Awesome.

Kershaw was pumped!

Great pitch. Great call by Russ with Johnson on deck. If its a strike, K looking. If not, Randy is up.

Kershaw got that call. Thank you very much. FILTHY!

Public Enemy Number One finally makes it into the strike zone for the last out looking against Burke.

apparently, Kershaw just has to throw that pretty curve on the outside corner.

352 It definitely counts. Though next time you should probably show your work in the margins.

---

THERE'S public enemy #1. Yesssss. Even the myopic ump can't miss that one.

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE

Man, it's a ride watching Kershaw pitch. I love it.

Any chance Kershaw was getting squeezed because Martin gave the umpire a little guff over ringing him up on a ball six inches outside? If so, Kershaw's fiery exit may not have helped.

Yow! Nice bender!

353 Give credit where it is due folks.

A 28-pitch inning.
Ugh.

Public Enemy Number 1!

355
You can whine a lot to MLB.com too and get your money back even after five days.

That was ball 4 but the Dodgers will take it.

Has Vin used "Public Enemy Number One" since he named Clayton's curve in spring training? Or was that a one time turn of phrase?

347

I could make a comment if you want, but I promised myself to just enjoy this game

Vin saw Streisand?

It's as if his entire career has been for nothing!

Btw, for those of you who are guest lurkers on Dodger Thoughts tonight, welcome, and please note that we're not usually so complainy about an ump's strike zone. Personally, I hate being like that -- but this ump's strike zone is hypocritical and tight on Kershaw. So far.

And here's Manny!

Vin went to see Barbara Stristand in Vegas? That must have been an interesting evening

Anti-climactic.

Boooooooooooooooooo!

This is hilarious. His first AB and he's got a first-pitch swinging 6-3 groundout.

Was Vin really just reminded of Barbra Streisand with Manny's first appearance?

Least he was hustling on that.

Oh man. Manny Ramirez. I still can't believe he's in a Dodger uniform.

28 pitches that inning for Clayton. I agree with the squeeze ... wait IT'S MANNY!!!!

367 - Nice call.

The trade was an unmitigated disaster.

CY Sno-Coned that one.

So when does Manny get the lecture on taking pitches the Torre Way?

Nobody can make the pitcher work today!

347 That's okay. I've read your mind. Good enough. ;-) Enjoy!

Man, Manny, work the count a little at least... The crowd sure got excited on that ground out!

:( I hate how behind the MLBTV feed is. The only thing more anti-climactic than Manny's first AB is finding out the outcome in comments before hand.

Mmmmh...Torre will have to work on that patience thing.

That was way too quick of an inning.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!! MANNY'S MANHOOD IS BEING SUCKED DRY BY SITTING NEXT TO ANDRUW!!!!! ONOOOOOOSSSSS!!!!!

Drew Sno-Coned that, too.

Yesssh

Is Juan wearing a wig and #99?

my wife hung around for that first at bat before she went out to run an errand. She was disappointed

389 - making Randy Johnson work generally means "falling behind 0-2". Plus, they are getting pitches to hit on the first or second pitches, nothing wrong with swinging at good pitches early in the count.

Oops, that was for 373 obviously.

I love Vin, remembering Barbra and Turk Wendell in the same inning.

Well at least all the hitters were equally bad about working the count. For shame!

C'MON

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-manny2-2008aug02,0,6329565.story

THE MOST FRIGHTENING IMAGE EVER.

I think RJ likes working at sea level in humid air. You?

Jeez, Weird Game already picking up bad habits from his Manniness.

391 I know, ditto. I've learned to not refresh DT quite as often because of that.

Kershaw should bean Randy Johnson just to stick it to him. :(

If I have to watch Coco Crisp give that annoying smirk seven more times this game, I'm going to go beserk. I hate that little jerk.

okay, I just realized the tv feed is faster than the internet. I kept refreshing and you guys would have a comment already down while I was seeing the play happen.

I thought you all were just crazy fast typers

402 - No thanks for blasting out my retinas.

403 - could you imagine him getting half his starts in San Diego?

Vin just called it a ten-inch strike zone for Kershaw.

Coulda done without that story, Vin.

TMI, man.

Hey! He can catch fly balls!
The Boston media told me he was more prone to fall on them,

402 Dude, NSFW!

402 C'mon, that needs a not-SFW warning attached to it. It burns, it burns!

--

Hey, Manny caught it!

So if the Dodgers are all getting assigned Muppet character equivalents, which Muppet is Manny? Snuffelapagus?

that would have been cooler if he'd have flipped it from the glove to Loney, or bare hand it. Still nice play

412 - What, the Babs story?

Slick play by Kershaw!

ok, gents, i'm out for the evening... don't do anything I wouldn't do.

402 - BOOM!

Kershaw's pitches, by inning: 6, 28, 8.

99, I've been waiting so long
Oh 99, Where did we go wrong
Oh 99, I love you

Gee whillikers. This game could be over by 9.

417 I heard something about lube. I tuned out mentally after that.

Plaschke, that's one guy I don't mind rooting for an injury to occur to is Plaschke. Maybe a severe sprain of his pinky finger from excessive use of the 'enter' button.

Here comes number one!

ANDRUW JONES IS AT BAT.

This strike zone is trash.

I've been listening to the buzz about the "big trade" and it initially said the Dodgers got a good deal. But as it progresses, it seems that it gets combined with the Blake aquisition, and its beginning to feel like the Dodgers have given up alot of good player-years, and get nothing beyond this year, unless they do well with draft picks. I admit BP is a part of this analysis, and they have an auto negative D's slant.

425 - "Ouch.
Ouch.
My finger hurts.
Really hurts."

I hate this ump.

Absolutely HORRIBLE strike zone.

This umpire stinks. That cant be a strike.

Sit down Jones. You can't hit three home runs if you get thrown out!

I could stand there while RJ throws strikes.

I'm just saying.

429 - More like, an auto-negative Ned slant.
Read their entry for the Dodgers in BPro 2008 - the contempt drips off the pages.

I kinda feel for Andruw there. That was two borderline calls.

I could stand there while RJ throws strikes

But could you make $18 million/year doing so...?

402 all that made me want to do is punch plaschke in his smug, self-righteous, one-line-paragraph writing face. really really hard.

429 - I admit BP is a part of this analysis, and they have an auto negative D's slant.

That is because Ned Colletti is a first-rate moron. Bad moves are still bad moves.

I can't believe andruw struck out. When was the last time?

439 i forgot to include self-congratulatory and self-important as well. god i hate that man so much.

That was awesome. Randy johnson isnt exactly Greg Maddux out there.

438 - My point exactly.

That's hilaripus. Infield single!

Not that it wasn't a bad at bat for Druw but that was just a horrible strike 3 call.

Wow, Berroa sure hit that one! :)

Is playing Sweet Child O' Mine when the 20 year old comes up supposed to be funny?

415
Snuffelapagus wasn't a Muppet. He was on Sesame Street.

Manny is Animal (Manimal?). Kent is one of the two dudes on the balcony.

Excellent bunt, young man.

That's your punishment for getting a bunch of balls called as strikes, RJ. That's the exchange with the devil.

Kemp will get a chance to score a run for us.

Randy Johnson is 13 days older than me.

It's not quite the same thing as comparing yourself to Mozart. But.

442
I hope you are allowed punches by the paragraph!

He looked like he was falling out of a plane catching that one.

Freaking D'Backs with their frigging good defense.

Man, that was just a spinning, hanging slider. Must make him pay on that, Matt.

What is with the first pitch swinging? Did mickey hatcher come along with Manny in the trade?

447 - Oh right! I was thinking of Sweetums! The big ol lumbering monster. He was on the Muppet Show I believe. But Animal totally works.

And yeah, Kent I think we'd already ID'd him as Statler (or Waldorf).

FSN has finally corrected the Magic baby sky hook reference in the commercial. It used to say 1984 Finals instead of 1987 Finals.

Do the Angels intend to lose again?

456
All our patience went to Pittsburgh.

If every pitch is going to be strike one, might as well hack.

454 That really wasn't the great play he made it seem. It required a jogging catch, not easy, but he totally lost it in the lights or the stands or something.

Kemp should've hammered that pitch, though.

THAT HIT THE GROUND

or maybe I'm just a homer.

That story Vin told about Randy almost makes me like the big guy. But then I imagine him as a sad giraffe and I giggle. Nice yarn by Vin anyways.

Oh no, FSN prime lost its feed.

Uh oh.

461 - Can't argue with that.

Well, this is teh suck. What happened to the Prime Ticket feed?

456

Its not like he swung at a ball. That was a really hittable pitch and he just missed it. Why take strike one if it might be the best thing you'll see all at bat?

That's the second time O-Dog has hit the first base bag weird, and looked hurt.

Eric S:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sweetums

MEMO
TO: Red Army Security, Olympic Village, Beijing
FROM: A Friend
RE: William Plaschke

This man is an enemy of the people. Please detain.

I like how Sweetums is speaking at Barnes & Noble in that picture, too. Heh.

No TV!!!

We need play by play for those who have a feed.

Can't give up 0-2 hits, Clayton.

In play, no out.

470
Sweet! I guess that's Andruw.

474 - Gameday is your friend.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_08_01_arimlb_lanmlb_1&mode=gameday

Thank God for Gameday Audio.

ARGH. THEY LOST THE FEED AGAIN.

If I miss the second Manny at-bat, I'll be most flummoxed!

Oh okay -- with two quick outs, Reynolds lined a single to right on an 0-2 count. He's at first with Clark up. 1-0.

So far...

- O. Hudson grounded out to third
- C. Jackson flied out to right
- M. Reynolds singled to right

Great, they can figure out how to get some ads in, but no game.

480 - Is LA having more quakes or something?

feed back

Cruel twist of fate, EI!!!

AHH. It's FSN ARIZONA!

Daron Sutton time!

Now we're getting the Ariz feed. ..No more Vin? :(

>|

Mark Grace isnt Vin Scully

as opposed to feedback

The Diamondbacks' audio feed! Well, that's something new!

Tony Clark fooled badly and it's now 1-2.
Now it's 2-2 on a fastball away.

No idea if this is real, but, wow:
http://dodgersblueheaven.blogspot.com/2008/08/laundry-guerrilla-marketing.html

Man, I hate everything right now.

2nd inning ending PE#1.

Strike three called! Clark was fooled in that whole at bat.

Going to the bottom of the inning scoreless.

Smart decision actually and I'll sync it to KABC if Prime's feed doesn't come back.

I have the radio on too, but the chuckster is on there, not vin.

497
I hate that you hate everything.

People are getting the Arizona feed? That's an atrocity! It's a toss up who I'd less rather have announce the game I'm watching: Bill Plaschke or the god awful Arizona broadcasting team.

Wait, how come I'm getting the LA FSN feed just fine on MLBTV? Obviously it's not broken from the source. Must be a cable problem? Or is it broken in EI?

Vin's back!

Vin is back.

505 Your too-long local nightmare is over. Los Angeles can watch in peace.

This glove business won't end well. Someone's getting plunked.

I have a nominee!!!

503 - The Arizona radio team (Greg Schulte and old friend Tom Candiotti) is very good.
The TV team of Sutton the Younger and Gracie is passable IF - and it's a big if - they keep their focus on the game.

Joe Torre made Randy Johnson take a glove off to mess with his head.

Who's getting beaned for the glove? Shall we start a pool?

Randy Johnson was asked to remove a black glove he was wearing, saying it was a distraction so the umps made him take it off. Melvin is wondering why the 4th inning all of a sudden? Anyway... that's your update.

Haha, I like it when Torre's annoying the opposing team instead of Dodger fans.

I think it may have more impact when you are on the east coast and do something like walk 3 or 4 miles to stay up for the game that starts at 10:40 ET. Then you find out the Dodgers aren't trying to win. IE. Either is not playing. I don't care who is left handed. This is depressing.

Hudson is amazing over there.

Man, Blake's not exactly a speedster.

422 -

Hast Du etwas Zeit für mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt

Russell looked like Andruw on that swing.

Blake's not exactly a speedster

Course not: he's a Gamer.

I would overpay for Orlando Hudson.

That was a HORRIBLE call.

MANNY part 2.

Manny's at bat again!

Anyone recognize Manny's at-bat music?

Yay!

You've gotta be kidding me, ump.

517 - That's my favorite song about balloons setting off air-defense radars.
Kind of like how Paul Hardcastle's "Nineteen" is my favorite song about America's failed involvement in Indochina.

WOOO! Go MANNY!

Cue the official scorer!

Manny hustled again!

That was a rope.

A ROCKET SHOT!

Looked like an E6, from here.

My First Hit As A Dodger!

Yay! At least that makes the inning last another few seconds!

533 - By Fisher-Price!

Okay ump, the game has started now. No more practicing your stikeout call one half inning and then working on improving your plate discipline the next.

First hit for Manny as a Dodger!!!

Now Manny needs to steal 2nd.

So, I rarely post, but I wanted to comment that here in Boston, all the Sox fans are despondent over Manny leaving. He is well loved, and everyone wonders whether management really couldn't work things out. I feel this is great because (1) this affirms that we got a great player, and (2) I'm happy to stick it to Boston in any way possible after our crushing defeat in the NBA finals.

527 - I just get a kick out of German-language songs that make the U.S. charts.

532 - yup.

Manny needs to punch Jeff Kent in the face.

539 - "Der Kommissar."

538 Hah hah. Welcome! And that's kind of reassuring, especially the 2nd point. ;-)

538 My high school years in New Hampshire and witnessing the non-stop bandwagon hopping of Sox fans have made me also happy to stick it to Boston.

grabbed a bat and a glove, now they call Manny 99....

Randy Johnson now has a white glove on his hand.

Kershaw's getting some high strikes.

Kershaw isn't getting nearly enough strikes.

546 grabbed a bat and a glove, now they call him Manny 999

(weak enough in the first place--sheesh!)

Berroa has looked better than I expected him to in the field. Anyone know what the advanced defensive metrics say about him so far?

549 I give up.

Ummmm...Manny being Manny?

Reading 547 & 548 back to back was funny.

That was really weak... Great hustle by Manny and Druw!!!

Well, that was horrible. It's almost like they know the left fielder is really bad or something.

That was absolutely disgusting.

Get used to that.

that was an Ack! If I ever seen one.

Don't like seeing triples to LCF.

Just I typed that, Berroa couldn't get a ball hit 3 feet to his left, but then again it was smoked.

That triple was sad. Hell, Pierre can do that!

Oh well, Life Goes On.

A ground ball triple to center field...?

that's a HR tommorrow night.

549 - which of course is 666 upside down.

Don't run too hard to cut that off, you overpaid slobs.

At least Manny ran faster than a 5.2 to first base both times tonight.

550 - All I see him doing is fielding routine groundballs. What are you seeing?

RJ not happy about that called third strike.

That didn't look like a swing, but I figure we're owed one.

Ump! You should have thrown out Randy Johnson for talking back at ya!

Hey Unit, I wouldn't chirp at the umpire if I was you.

He's been berry berry good to you this day.

567 - Well, he looks relatively smooth. I always thought he was horrible. He's been at charging slow hit balls.

568
It was swinging. But you're right, he wasn't happy.

JP looks so sad on the bench.

574
He looks even sadder on the field.

PE#1 ends all innings!

When the Dodgers come up, two will be Jones and Berroa----we are conceding this game

G3 to end the frame... nice!

577 - Will you knock it off?

Kershaw isn't going to win this game, if only because nobody is scoring on Kershaw or RJ. This is going to be a battle of the bullpens.

This feels like a game the Dodgers will win.

572 - Well, he does get style points.

580 - Then I like our chances.

575 - now imagine $49,182 going into his bank account for sitting on that bench.

577 You're repeating yourself.

Gosh I wish Jones would Morph back into Jones again.

All that defense matters stuff doesn't seem so crazy now, does it :)?

565 What about us braindead slobs?

(You'll be given cushy jobs!)

Woo Loney!

Here we go. Number one, coming up. For reals, this time.

Bunt Jones. Bunt.

I love when Manny points at something with both hands. It reminds me of this:

http://tinyurl.com/6bgg63

588 - Monorail!
Monorail!

Strike one to Jones called ball one.

587 Small sample size!

/Check and mate

Ball one to Jones called ball two.

As a fine substitute for rule 8 violations, I recommend our house wine, a nice Chardonnay from the Santa Ynez valley. Open up a bottle.

One bottle per inning.

2-0, guessing fastball, gun says 83, swing and miss.....

597
Would you recommend some cheese with that whine? :)

And Ethier sits for that pile of junk...

Maybe we should have just asked Jones to bat Loney over.

Pellam has led me astray for the last time. I renounce him.

Hitter's count. Now all we need is a hitter.

It is scary that the Dodgers don't know they could have been a good this year. However it is much worse that they don't realize they could have been a very good team the next few years.

I hope Andre Ethier is enjoying his ranch sunflower seeds.

No need for you to play, son. No need at all.

If Andre were allowed to have feelings, I would guess they'd be negative.

597 - I used to live in Lompoc, not too far from Sideways country.
Had I known the SYV would be so popular, I woulda bought a bunch of bottles and stowed them away.

Jones sucks and Torre conitnues to play this guy! GENIUS!

http://zip.4chan.org/sp/src/1217649267186.jpg The invasion of the Dodgers into enemy camp.

so far, this new, improved dodger offense is looking a lot like the one we had before :P

599 There's plenty of whine and cheese on this thread tonight as it is. We're trying to pace ourselves.

Oh man, I got excited about that foul flare by Berroa.

So it looks like we are bound and determined to negate positive effect that Manny will have. Regular OF will be Manny, Pierre, and Kemp.

http://tinyurl.com/5hrjbb

Sorry if this has already been discussed.

Wow. I wonder what Torre sees when Jones flails and misses like that ...

606 - I hear that he is sick to his stomach.

I personally am looking forward to RJ's acceptance speech at Cooperstown.

Sorry Burke, no web gem for you!

607 Yeah I grew up in SB and feel the same way. If only I'd known... Or thought to open a winery!

--

At least Berroa works some pitches from RJ, more than we can say about the hitter before him.

614 - "Hmm. He just needs a few more at-bats to get things straightened out."

613 - you surmise correctly. Nevertheless, a tragedy.

We conceded this game--there is no other way to view it.
With luck we could still win, but it probably didn't have to come to that.

613 Uh, yeah, it was discussed. :-)

I sense a weakness in Randy Johnson.
He's having trouble putting away Berroa.

Torre needs to be roasted if Jones gets more than one start per week.
vr, Xei

621 - We conceded this game--there is no other way to view it.
Yes, with Chad tossing up those gopher balls, we look like the 1919 Black Sox.
Again, G3B, STOP.

I hope Andre Ethier is enjoying his ranch sunflower seeds.

I always liked the BBQ when I experienced unjustified benchery in high school.

621 Seriously. A nice tall glass of wine, I highly recommend it.

Randy was a Trojan? Man, another reason to hate him.

(...go bears.)

WHAT HE WAS SAFE???? Is the ump blind????

Does anyone know if there's a rule or contract obligation that prevents or prohibits Jones from being sent down to "get things straightened out"?

Duncan took one for the team. FIRE THEM UP!

That was a terrible call.
No, wait, Loney pulled up short of the bag - after all, we've already conceded this game.

Come on Gramps, do that Cora thing.

Loney was out, but he is lucky he didn't get run for the helmet bounce. The 1B ump looked itching to eject someone.

Cue Mariano!

Duncan, the first baseman coach tossed for arguing against the DP.

Who had Duncan getting thrown out first?

Argh, and now the pitcher's gotta lead off the next inning. Bad baserunning, Loney.

Another crap call by an umpire. He was so safe.

Remember when umps avoided conflict?

Love me some Mariano Duncan

Good for you, Dunc!

Bad base running by Loney.
The play was right in front of him.

Wow, really questionable calls tonight and Mariano gets tossed ...

Whoa, there goes Duncan. The umps sure are raising the ire of both teams today.

579,589
Sorry, I tend to get too passionate.

632 - Hah hah. I caught that one. ;-)

I really want to see a replay of that one again. Maybe I'm missing something.

630
Like any player with his experience, Jones can't be sent down without his consent.

517 Er ... but that's a song about WWIII and the end of the world. Is that what Manny taking #99 signifies? Hmmm. Perhaps for the Ethier and LaRoche fans among us.

As poorly as Pierre hit last year, his OPS of .648 so far this year, would be the lowest of his career. And Joe Torre wants to start him and his weak arm in CF and move Ethier to the bench. Oh, great.
vr, Xei

Yeah, he was out. Duncan did the right thing otherwise Loney might have been thrown out.

Kershaw's last inning?
vr, Xei

That curveball was a strike.

Since I'm having trouble logging on, I assume that we've all discussed Jones' atrocious defense on Burke's "leg triple."

Seriously, Joe? Do you have to play him?

I realize this is an obscure topic that has probably never been raised here before, but why is Andruw Jones still a starter on this team?

Hmm. It looked like a tie or that the ball did get there just a hair before his hand. Very close call. But I like Duncan's passion there!

I also think that ball was lined so hard that I don't see how Loney could've been any farther back than he was.

649- He was worse at this point last year than he has been this year.

Kershaw might pitch the 7th.

648 - I had to look back to make sure the song wasn't Vera Lee's "We'll Meet Again."

This should be Kershaw's last inning.

Man that curve is looking good today.

We have pretty calm base coaches.

Wow, the crowd cheering on that.

647 Thanks for that, and it makes me wonder what Jones sees when he flails and misses like that. Why doesn't Kent get in Jones' face? Maybe he's afraid of getting mustard on it?

Love the derisive cheering for that foul tip.

Hey, the only guy on the team is due up fifth next inning.! Thanks Fox!

Dodger fans cheer the ump being hit by the ball. I concur.

Bill Plaschke.

Sometimes fans are funny. A nice loud cheer for the home plate ump getting nailed with that foul ball.

Is that a miami vice actor behind the ump?

654 Jones is making 18 million a year, and Don Matterley asked Torre to give him a couple of weeks to fix his swing.

D'oh.

Okay, cool. Well, that's everyone. I believe all DT posters on our roll call sheet have now chimed in on the line-up and Jones/Pierre. Cool. We're all set. Now we can move on. Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey.

And the crowd cheers the ump's getting beaned by the deflection, and for once I agree with their rudeness.

At least Ethier can get a hit off the bench -- unlike what Sweeney's shown us every night except last night.

Yeah, that's why Ethier's on the bench -- because he's a better pinchhitter than ole spaghetti arm. And he can be used as a late inning defensive replacement too! There's no end to his usefulness coming off the bench!

Grrr. Ethier on the bench makes me grumpy and sarcastic.

You know Jeff Kent, if you can't field, why are you playing?

Jeff Kent is old.

These umpires are not having a good night. Not at all.

658

I thought it went: "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remeber how she said that we would meet again some sunny day? Vera. Vera. What has become of you? Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?"

(I love Roger Waters).

Event though Kent couldnt have gotten the out, him not even touching the ball was pretty sad. Can it even be argued that we dont have the worst fielding team in baseball?

Gotta have that, James.

The Marlins' defense is pretty rough, too.

Damn, Loney really should've had that.

Yuck. Must make that play.

Possible DP broken up. Was that due to Kent's poor throw, or should Loney should have held the ball?

12 straight scoreless for Clay K.

Only cost Kershaw one pitch.

How the heck did we survive that inning without a D'back scoring?

678 - Florida's D is light-years worse than LA.

The O-Dog doing his slide tackle there on Kent.

Wasn't Torre talking about exactly that sort of play in regards to Loney's fielding a few days ago?

I don't think the DBacks are gonna score tonight.

On a related note, the Dodgers are not giving up many runs these days.

I say one more inning on a short leash. Give the guy some confidence.

683 - Kent was busy trying not to be crippled. Loney came up too quick on the bounce.

670 - I think his few weeks are just about up and nothing has changed. He is beyond help.

670
Don Matterley

Really? When Bluebleeder does it, its cool. Matterley?

680 But they hit bombs.

Anyways.....

How many pitches for Kershaw now?

Cool, this game might be over so early I can watch an entire movie tonight after it's done! If I can finish some work while I'm watching it.

polite golf clap

Nice job Clayton.

672 - Well, almost. I for one am glad that Ethier is on the bench... Just think about our depth with Kemp & Ethier to call upon late in games! ;-P

If we were up Kershaw probably goes back out there.

That crawled up O-Dog's arm.

Pierre makes things happen! And sees 2 pitches!

O-Dog, practicing his juggling again...

That was odd. Guess both teams don't care about fielding tonight.

About 90 pitches. That's about right. Well done Clayton, very well done.

I agree that's an error.

Here we go. Pierre got on.

That wasn't your fault, Orlando.

695- I was only addressing whether the Dodgers have the worst defense in baseball. I defintely wouldn't argue that their position player are on balance worse than the Dodgers' position players.

That was a nice trick, O-Dog. I saw a clown at Fisherman's Wharf do that once.

697 Vin says 89. Not bad, but Kershaw's still on the strict innings limit.

46 49 I knew Manny didn't get #34 because that's the number of the beloved Fernando Valenzuela, but #34 isn't officially retired by the Dodgers, is it? My question is: why not? Is there some semantic reason? Is Fernando still somehow playing and whiffing batters in some obscure league so he's not officially retired? What's the deal with that? We should lobby to hang that #34 across the pavilion overhangs because it certainly belongs there.

And our left-handed pinchhitter, benched in favor of Jones, gets on base against RJ ... oh, the irony.

There are no right-handed pinchhitters available tonight at all, are they? Colletti doesn't even know how to give Torre a bench to use.

Oh. My.

2nd error!

Giants bullpen blows another Lincecum start.

A 20-year-old with a 4.00 ERA in the big leagues is pretty impressive.

Making things happen by being stupid.

Kershaw's ERA: 4.02
ERA+: ~113
FIP: 4.05

And all the AZsnakepit goes, "WHERE'S TRACY???"

The rabbit escapes the stew pot.

Jar de har har. Picked off turns into a stolen base.

Big breaks for the Dodgers.

710

Was that before or after the Bush Man made you jump out of your shoes?

716
Bob's fantasy team weeps.

720 - Yep. This was their fear: Clark gets a start a week "to keep him sharp."

712 Manny knew the significance, and didn't push for it. Something along the lines of, "Its Fernando, man. He's the man!"

699 Hee. Sorry, didn't mean to exclude one of my favorite handles here. Duly noted (although Kemp isn't going to the bench). And of course my post was so thick with sarcasm that you could drizzle it on pancakes. ;-)

---

Pierre makes things happen! He's six levels of awesome!

712 I read somewhere that Fernando kept pitching in Mexico for years after he left the bigs, but I might be confused.

That said, I do wonder why more players haven't had their numbers retired. I guess it's a good policy to only do that for the special ones, but there are a few numbers I wouldn't mind seeing hanging from the rafters.

712 The Dodgers only officially retire the numbers of Hall-of-Famers. Garvey's #6 went unused for a long time as well.

712
You pretty much have to be in the HOF to get your number retired by the Dodgers. The only non-HOF retired # is 19 for Jim Gilliam, who was:

a) a very good player
b) a coach in the 1970s that died young
c) Walter O'Malley's favorite

When is Hu coming up?

YEAH!

Bison Brilliance! I love him...

Yesssssssssssss 19 game hit streak!!!

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Kershaw = Pitcher of Record©

Bison.

Atta boy Matt.

YES! Thank you Juan Pierre. Seriously. And thank you Matty Kemp!

Bison power!

712 That's exactly what I thought when I read Manny's quote.

732
September 1

Yay. Bison makes 'em pay!

Roam, Bison, Roam!

So here comes the man who should have been out, and not only do the Dodgers lead, but Matt Kemp has a standup double, and it is 1-0 Dodgers.

730 Except for Jim Gilliam.

MATT KEMP! And the beat goes on!

729

Fernando still hasn't officially retired. He still plays in the off season somewhere. Not at any high level league mind you, but he still plays pro ball last I heard.

Casey will have a professional at bat here.

744 - RMON makes 'em pay!

Qualls warming up!
Seriously, that's like Arizona conceding the game.

With that Torre will feel justified on giving Pierre CF all to himself.

Juan does what he does best. Comes off the bench in a late inning situation.
vr, Xei

748
If the Dodgers wanted to retire Fernando's number, I don't think they'd care whether or not he's still playing in the Mexican winter league.

Please advance the baserunner! Blake!

748 Wow, I knew he kept on pitching, but still? I say we take a DT trip down to wherever he's pitching.

752 - Better that than Jones seeing the light of day, or his name in the lineup, again.

752 Doesn't bode well for Jones.

I could go for a new post up top about now. Taking forever to load DT. :)
vr, Xei

Pierre will at least hustle his butt off even if he has no arm.

757 I suppose that is the silver lining, but I'd prefer to see Either out there.

752 Pierre will at least be an improvement over Jones.

Chased! Ugh!

Blake = K machine.

Very disappointing.

Filthy. Many men have K'd on that pitch.

How many walks does Casey Blake has? He seems to get a hit or Strike out. No in between.

756 - Hopefully, he's pitching for my favorite Mexican League team - the Cancun Langosteros (Lobstermen).
It was in Playa del Carmen, 50 clicks south of Cancun, where I first had lobster. One bite from the tail, and I thought, "Oh, this is why people eat it."

Randy looks like he's losing it a little.

Case in point strike 1 to Martin.

748 - Does a little pitching in the Mexican winter league for his old team.

Perhaps Torre is getting Dre and Druw mixed up. He means to be starting Dre, but Druw's name keeps making it onto the lineup card instead.

768 Right when I type that...

This game has not been officiated very well.

Damn, that slider is the one pitch still giving people fits. Just tire him out here guys so we can swap RJ for DJ Qualls.

That was a balk.

Now they have to walk Manny here.

ibb?

That first base coach is asking for it.

Manny is going to be walk.

Vin: "Johnson can still snap it off"

Manny's at bat!

Blake entered the night, as a Dodger, with 11 Ks and 2 BBs.
For the season, he's now 80 Ks, 35 BBs.

OK Manny. Here's where you show us why we traded for you.

According to Wikipedia, Fernando last pitched in the Mexican League in 2005-2006.

walk Manny?
vr, Xei

Mattingly has the worst soul patch ever.

That was weird.

DAMMIT!

766 - He's had two walks so far as a Dodger.

Manny is all hustle.

Goddamnit.

Oh what, the heck.

That play had it all!

3-5-2-6, I believe.

Kemp! why?

Damn. If Clark gives the ball to Randy, Matt scores.

Kemp totally blows what could have been a men on the corners situation. My, but that was disappointing.

730 731 Why isn't Fernando in the Hall then? And if there's anyone the Dodgers should make an exception for on that HOF rule, it should be him, in my opinion.

786- Walt Frasier says his beard is weird.

That was ridiculous. Two things that shouldn't have happened so I guess it evens out.

Did Bowa wave him in? Bowa waves everything and anything in!

Care to splain what happened?
vr, Xei

Mattingly looks like Chris Cooper

You know what's responsible for Kemp's out?
Randy Johnson's lack of hustle.

800

Doubt it. Inexcusable play, but I'm guessing Matt thought Clark was going to toss the ball to Johnson, and then he could score.

795 It was two outs anyway, doubt Kemp would have been able to score from 2nd.

"Can't Explain" by the Who to lead into the seventh. Perfect.

786 I held the previous record for Worst Soul Patch Ever, but fortunately came to my senses and shaved it off pretty quickly. I think it was about the time the Simpsons did their first satire of soul patches.

Great outing by the kid!

Oh noes.

Un-freaking-real.

Chan Ho-mer Park
vr, Xei

And there goes Kershaw's win.

Kershaw is no longer the pitcher of record.

So. That happened.

Wow.

Well, Kershaw can't win now.

Fertilizer.

Park lets Clark park one into dead center.

booooooooo.

801 Kemp went around third and went too wide on the Manny infield hit and got back-picked.

Stupid, stupid play by Kemp.

Great. Clark giveth, and Clark (and Park) taketh away.

sigh.

that was a buzzkill

Rule 1. Loud.

Speaking of inexplicable things...

Nice start for Clayton. Too bad the other boys can't give an equal effort.

that really illustrates though, how much easier it is to score runs when you hit homers.

One thing I don't enjoy, is seeing any sort of DBacks celebrations going on here at Dodger Stadium, so let's not see any more runs today, Dodgers.

Kershaw doesn't know how to win.

That was Clark's 6th extra base hit in over 110 ABs. Wow.

756 - Plays with his hometown team the Mayos de Navojoa. Ricky Henderson played there last year as well.

820 not having TV, is it possible that it was only an infield hit because kemp went so far? i have a hard time imagining manny legging one out.

Manny allows a "single". Nice.

Kemp being Kemp. Hope they leave Randy in one more inning. Looked about done.

Oh fickle BABIP gods -- are you now looking at Chan Ho unkindly?

Mark Grace is ripping Manny for not catching that, or coming close.
Didn't look playable to me, but I'm not MLB's leader in hits during the 1990s.

832- No. Nobody was covering first, Manny was safe no matter what.

Well, it's nice to dip into the DBacks pen at least.

Yes, please bunt.

832 - Manny hit a grounder to the first/second hole. Clark fielded it cleanly, but RJ was late getting off the mound. Clark looked to throw to first, realized there was no one covering (Manny was hustling), and then noticed Kemp was in no-man's land.

Mark Grace is just jealous of Manny's hair.

837 ah, that's a shame. we probably wouldn't have scored anyway though.

Is it possible to like a player too much? Me and my dad, whenever we watched Chan Ho, we rooted so hard for him that we couldn't enjoy his good starts because it was so nervewracking. My mother loudly celebrated when he signed with the Rangers, so glad was she to be rid of the moodiness he brought us every five days.

I learned this on the KABC radio pregame show yesterday:

Rodney McCray, he of the run through the OF wall play in the minors, is now a roving instructor for the Dodgers. The batter that hit the ball that send McCray through the wall in Portland 15 some odd years ago was Chip Hale, currently the D-Backs 3rd base coach.

829

How this has to do anything with Kershaw exactly?

This is why getting a great hitter doesn't guarantee anything,

I'm stunned Beimel wasn't up for this moment.

Chan Ho doesn't look like he has it today.

845 - It's sarcasm.
For an explanation, ask Bert Blyleven.

845 He was joking.

It doesn't matter who is in the outfield on a hit like Clark's.

Did anyone here go to tonight's Las Vegas game here in Oklahoma City? I met some Dodger fans and I'm just wondering if it was anyone who posts here.

850 comments, wowsers, this will probably go to 1000

852
Will you see Penny tomorrow night?

Well, FWIW Dodgers fans don't have a good humor lately, that's including me...

Figures that the stat nerds around here would defend Kershaw and his inability to get a job done.

Chan Ho's pulled.

854
Yes, that is the plan!

Lordy this is painful.

Here we go. It's Beimel Time. Alert Troy.

Ugh. Yeah, get on the phone, Honeycutt. This game is churning my stomach.

Park was due for a bad outing.

I was at Chan Ho's 1st major league start, in SD in 1995. Hard to believe it has been 13 years.

856 Your momma kiss you with that mouth? Cause she gave me a good one last night!

Who needs humor when you have JP and Andruw? Angst is the new humor. This is the post bubble SoCal, man!

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling blue
The things you've said, well, maybe they're true
I'm gettin' funny dreams again and again
I know what it means, but …

Can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I feel blue

Let's see a Beimel comebacker DP.

Clark, on the other hand, is a baller.

856 If I wasn't too busy playing "Doom" in my mom's basement I'd come over there and slug you one. But, you know, my slurpee's melting, too, and I have some sabermetric twitter updates to make.

NOT HAPPY.

UGH

I saw this game last night.

Well, this sucks.

Last night the Dodgers scored in the 6th to take a 1-0 lead.

D-Backs scored 2 in the 7th.

Deja vu.

Vin gives two reasons why Beimel shouldn't have been in this game.

Why are they showing a replay of yesterday's game?

Well, we all know that this just sets the stage for Manny to hit the walk-off HR.

Game. Bye kids.

Darnit! I don't think either Drew or Kemp thought that had a chance of landing fair. We're cursed I tells ya! Cursed!

867 Jinx.

Gary Wayne pitched for the Dodgers in Chan Ho Park's major league debut back on 4/8/1994.

Kent Mercker had a good night.

This is incredibly painful.

875 - And they are...?

875 Vin to replace Torre?

874 It's definitely deja vu all over again.

Sigh.

Maybe I should cue up that DVD now, just in case.

But unlike SOME people I'm not giving up on this game.

You're welcome, Vin's teleprompter! :)

DBacks = Cubs
Dodgers = Brewers

Sometimes Bob is evil. It gives me faith in humanity.

852.

Hey, I'm stationed out in Oklahoma City, gonna try and catch tomorrow's game. Wanted to make tonight's game, but work kept me out of town again tonight.

881
I was supposed to go to that game!

883 884 Lefties are batting .294 against Beimel, and while Beimel hasn't giving up a run during a day game, he has a over 3 ERA at night.

This has to be up there with all-time most negative DT threads...

I think I'm gonna open that bottle of wine now.

sadly this outing will compel colletti and torre to claim a crappy "veteran" reliever off waivers.

887
Bob just means the DBacks will go at least 100 years before winning, and the Dodgers previous owner was pure evil.

891 - Sample size, and sample size.

I don't think Mondesi, in his worst at bat, swung at a more terrible breaking pitch.

Just kidding...But that was terrible.

Don't give up. We still have one gamer left on the bench in Sweeney. The other guy isn't a gamer. He only hits the ball and fields well. What's that called?

890
I believe more people miss out on going to see a game that is a no-hitter than actually attend them.

Even if the stadium is more than half full.

Woo! Cory Wade contained the damage!

892

We didn't make reality. Reality made us.

Great job by Wade.

897 A game changer?

Wade has been freaking brilliant this year. Would be nice to score more than 1 run against this damn team.

I'm depressed.

First LaRoche is traded (albeit for Manny, so maybe I can live with it)

Then my favorite, Andre, is benched.

And now Dodger relief pitching is giving away a game beautifully pitched by Kershaw.

I'm depressed.

It's not easy being a Dodger fan. It's been a huge emotional roller coaster for us all over the last day and a half.

I'm depressed.

Wade'd!

898
It was a logistical nightmare for my friend's dad apparently. Remember we had to drive from Palm Springs.

This has to be up there with all-time most negative DT threads...

Not even close! We've been way worse than this.

Wow, that's the way to put out a fire, Wade! We got three solid innings to get back in this thing. The game's not over, no matter what people are saying.

888 - http://tinyurl.com/ctxph

Wade has been really impressive, especially of late.

Qualls is in.

We forgot that Jeff Kent is still in the game.

Unincorporated LA County in the house!

907
The Detroit series was worst.

At least from my perspective. I was ready to crawl through the wires and punch people in the face and tell 'em "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

907
No kidding. May I direct the author of the Icaros Plan™ to the year 2005.

913 - unincorporated OC in the house!

913
Lomita is incorporated.

915

What about 2005?

WE: 32%
vr, Xei

916 Bob, BH and I were just discussing the merits of Lomita, California at the game the other day.

Jim Thorpe died there, and...There you go.

889
Ah, It was a good one. 5-4 Las Vegas. Maybe I'll see you there tomorrow. I still need to buy tickets though.

918

Other than being the worst year of my life so far, for various reasons.

902 I heard someone say, "In LA players who can hit and field are called bench warmers."

How many pitches will Jones K on?
vr, Xei

The only Dodger I know of who hails from unincorporated LA County is Delwyn Young, the pride of Littlerock.

My boy Ivan DeJesus went 4-for-4 with a homer today.

YEAAAAAAAH!

924 2. That's how bad he is.

924

The rule is still 3 strikes, right?

907 That's true! I think I was guilty of a rule 6 violation.

And possibly a rule 1 violation in a second.

I just want Manny to be able to bat 9 times tonight. The game would be more fun that way at least.

922
I just seem to remember super-negative threads and anger over Choi-Phillips, Mike Edwards, etc.

But Bob's right, the Detroit series was a low point too.

DeJesus is my new LaRoche.

Can't believe he wasn't punched out on that checked swing.

Right now Manny would bat third in the ninth. We've got high hopes.

Torre, you got to end this. Please. Just please.

922
How was 2005 the worst year of your life, if you don't mind my asking a personal question?

This is where you double switch Jones for Ethier with him batting ninth.

I believe during the Detroit series someone asked for the abolition of Rule 8 and I was chided for demanding "happy talk."

gpellamjr talked me down off the roof.

937
Is there a clock tower near the library?

instead of searching through 800 comments, can someone tell me if Ethier is sick today?

930

The worst in 2005 was getting swept in Kansas City, climaxing with being shutout by Jose "Herpes Donor" Lima. But at least we had a GM I trusted then, until Tommy got him axed.

We're sure looking good now.

926 They'll probably trade him for a veteran firstbaseman tomorrow because, well, this time of the year, it's important to play as many veterans as possible.

FanGraphs says Jones was hit by a pitch and we are still batting with a man on first.
vr, Xei

The Dodgers are going to win this game.

Book it.

935
There was an incident at a Dodgers-Twins baseball game involving an oversized novelty foam finger, a serving of nachos, and six members of a secret CIA death squad.

Seriously, it kills me to say this - but the Dodgers field the most boring team in baseball...

A smash by Jones. Sorry, but what the HE-double-hockey-sticks is wrong with Dodger management that they can't see Jones cannot hit?

I'm depressed just watching it, but like the film Eraserhead I just can't stop watching it.

This Dodgers crowd loves Manny as much as they hate Jones.

935

I lost some very important things, so I packed my bags and moved away.

Nice play by Casey.

920 - there you go. My particular problems are that OC wants to force the unincorporated section where I live now (Rossmoor) to incorporate. About a third of the people who live here are quite old, but very active in local government, so it's difficult to get this across.

946 Did you miss any of the games vs. the Nationals? Their opponent in that series is the most boring team in baseball.

The Royals are pretty boring too. The A's frankly, are really boring, on offense. The Padres are ridiculously boring. Should I keep going?

944 Yeah! Book it!

946 I heartily disagree.

Back to watching the game.

937 - And I bet they asked for this repeatedly.

We were finally starting to score some runs with Kemp and Ethier batting next to each other, both at the 1 and 2 spots and 2 and 3, and Russ batting behind them. They were just starting to gel together. Far be it for Torre to stick with something that was starting to work. Now we're back to scoring 1 and 2 per game every night.

949
Sorry to hear it. But I like Bob's story better.

Hey, CHB is in the house!!!

945

And that.

Wade is looking good. Need us some runs.

Not that I am Icaros, but 2005 was the strangest year I've ever had in my life. There were so many ups and downs that by the end of the baseball season, I really didn't care anymore.

Wade's awesome. Was he a converted starter?

Does Wade have a nickname? He is quickly climbing up the charts of my favorite players.

Thats great--watching the dodgers play Jones and Pierre is almost exactly like watching Eraserhead. Depressing but fascinating.

Wade rocks.

My cat just killed and ate a moth, in what I hope is a special ritual that will help the Dodgers in this game.

Vinny: "And this is so much like last night...."