And I am extremely grateful to the Braves for hammering Arizona this series.

Ethier's ball that may have hit the line as well is something to think about.

Also, Ethier vs. Matt Cain: 11 for 19.

I'm excited to see Phelps v. Park in the 200 free, though I'm rather certain Phelps will dominate like he does in every race he's in. I bet he could probably race in every single swimming event that doesn't require synchronization, but the man has only so many hours in the day, I suppose.

https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1088554.html

Three old friends involved in that play.

Brian McCann on the other hand has been a beast. The conversation about who the best catcher in the NL is should be a short one this winter. I don't know if this is a faulty memory but the Russel Martin playing defense these days does not remind me of the Russel Martin who was playing defense in 2006. Good thing he can still take a walk because that is the only part of his game these days that is above average at the moment. Hopefully he collects a 2nd wind otherwise we are in trouble if continues to pull a LaDuca.

The basketball game was remotely close. The Jones fight was a joke.

Either way, I guess.

About the smog: people were really worried about it affecting the health of athletes, but today's road race - which is one of, if not the most, grueling outdoor endurance events - went off without a hitch. I don't doubt that the air quality is terrible in Beijing, but perhaps the story, in regards to it effecting the health of athletes, was overblown? L.A. in '84 had terrible smog problems too (what with kids not being able to go out and play during recess when the smog level was 'orange' or worse), but that didn't result in any health crisis...

Team handball looks like it would have been a gas to play.

I'd like to see Yao take out the redeem team.

Manny didn't get to at least two balls that Pierre/Ethier would've gotten too.

Torre should have pulled Kuroda and put in Kuo for the 8th, even though the move worked out. Kuroda was getting hit noticeably harder in the 6th and 7th and the leadoff hitter (Roberts) was left-handed.

Wasn't Ethier's ball in the 9th fair? I thought it was and so did every other Dodger fan near me. Seemed obvious to me, but there was no replay.

Ultimately, tough loss. One play goes differently and we could've won. Still, if we can win tommorow we should be very happy taking 2 out of 3 on the road, even if it is the Giants.

A few really nice things tonight, Kuroda's performance-he gave the Dodgers a great chance to win, the Ethier at bat in the 9th was really amazing and it almost made it certain that we got Tyler Walker in the 10th, which gave us a chance to win.

Will no longer go to Giant Dodger games on Saturday, I am 0-2 this year-but a great game and hopefully we get a win tomorrow.

38, Yeah I agree the the Giants would have kept Wilson in if Ethier had gotten out quickly. But if they had gotten the call right we could have won in the 9th. That one really hurt.

Yes, the tournament and its closing seconds were incompetently mismanaged. But that happens in sports. It happens in life. Sometime in life, you will get screwed out of something you deserve.

And most people... move on....

So sayeth the man with the 40 foot grudge obelisk.

The USA could have avoided a lot of problems if:
1) The Powers That Be weren't so enamored of Hank Iba as a coach after his success in 1968. The team didn't need to run an offense out of "Hoosiers."
2) They actually picked the best players in the country to play on the team. The team was split between the NCAA and AAU. AAU players of the time weren't all that good. It didn't help that the Olympic folks had pissed off John Wooden, who cut off UCLA players from participating.
3) Perhaps Hank Iba should have brushed up on the rules.

The final score of the game was, I believe, 51-50. There's no way the USA team should have scored so few points.

Losing that game is akin to blaming a baseball team's closer for blowing a 1-0 lead after a bad call on a walk and then surrendering a home run that was likely foul. You shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.

There 39 minutes and 37 seconds to avoid catastrophe and the US men just plunged headlong into it like Doug Collins hitting the basket support near the end of the game.

There are a lot of awful decisions in Olympic and other sports history (five downs Colorado? Five downs!).

Unless someone shows me a payoff from the Soviets to the Britsh head of the Basketball Federation, I'm still chalking up 1972 as unfortunate and wrong, but not the end of the world.

It's a battle that is both quixotic and unpopular. It's like tilting at a windmill that fights back!

There was nothing "clear" or "square" about the replay.

It APPEARED that POSSIBLY the ball may have hit the line. But it also APPEARED that POSSIBLY it may have been a fraction to the left of the line. It was fuzzy. And if you're talking centimeters, you can't go on fuzzy.

That's why they put umpires on the field. In this case I'll defer to him since he was there, and the replay was NOT conclusive.

Besides, instead of fouling 15 pitches, maybe Ethier could have HIT one of them. I can't stand chronic foulers. Total buzzkills.

Assuming that a human can easily control and train an animal as large as a horse is a dangerous assumption.

The USA struggling to put away the Chinese, who went 8-for-16 from the 3-point line. Meanwhile team USA is having trouble with its outside shot, going only 1-for-12 from beyond the arc. It's mainly relying on its athleticism.

Best case scenerio in my opinion: he's going through a "dead" arm phase.
Worst case? He's got a sore arm, which he is hiding from the team because of Saito's absence.

Unfortunately, I bet it's the latter

Speaking of Olympic soccer, I'm off to my own not-quite-Olympic-level game.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/tv.html

So has the game aired already?

They're letting you guys watch in prison?

It's my ringtone. It gets me so many chicks.

So, do you have someone call you when you're standing next to one you like?

Sometimes. Mostly I have fate take over. Tesh knows when to make himself heard.

The infielder is most likely going home on a play anyway. Not throwing to second because if Rowand beats it out on the throw to first the game is over. So you pick your poison and it didn't work out.

The result is the issue. We know now playing the infield back would've probably resulted in a 4-6-3 DP. But, I wasn't exactly upset at the time until the ball got by. Just as I would've been upset if we were playing back and Rowand hit a slowly hit ball to short/second. Remember, Dave Roberts was at third.

"SAN FRANCISCO -- Having pitched in three consecutive games, Jonathan Broxton might not even be available to bounce back Sunday from his blown save Saturday night."

From Joe Torre via. dodgers.com about last night==

"There's not a lot we did that we'd do different."

Hoping not to repeat too many points about last night nor wallow in it, but is Torre showing that HE's the ultimate PVL on the Dodgers?

Get that team personnel formula down and then don't vary from it, period. Your closer must pitch the last inning in a save situation, and don't EVER vary from that.

No matter that Torre said not long ago that he didn't think someone who throws as hard as Brox could pitch every day....and then runs him out there three straight. As usual, watch what Torre does, not what he says.

Probably the most puzzling thing about not leaving Kuo in last night is that Torre has said he doesn't want to overuse him and risk blowing out his arm again. And Torre has been good about actually using Kuo about every time he has warmed up.

Which leads to a question: if Kuo has coasted thru the 9th on very few pitches, and the Giants are showing no signs of solving him, and as Jon pointed out the first Giant in the next inning is a lefty, and if you're trying to avoid using Kuo in back-to-back games, why does it seem to be a no-brainer to leave him in and probably accomplish these things--

1) win the game
2) maximize Kuo's usage
3) give Broxton a break
4) prove to Joe that Kuo has an assassin's mentality about pitching...doesn't seem to matter to him what the game situation is, he just treats hitters as dead meat--which they most often are--so, yes, he actually can be trusted in save situations
5) fill in the blanks with anything I may have missed

I'm going to try to refrain from commenting about Torre's by-the-book formula managing any more. Try.

And, here, on "Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers and baseball." I'm going to go:

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Kemp, CF
Ethier, RF
Kent, 2B
Ramirez, LF
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
Blake, 3B
Berroa, SS
Billingsley, P

New game? New game now please?

He could win the AL East for the Rays.

Saramago's take on this is probably more appropriate for DTers.

Roberts
Ochoa
Winn
Rowand
Bowker
Castillo
Burriss
Holm
Cain

2008 OBP

Ross: .381
Bako: .289