Giving yourself props? But you typed it so good for you.

What's tomorrow match up?

1 - I won't claim it as a prediction or anything. Just showing that wishes sometimes come true.

Good for Ethier! a true pro.

That was a classic Ethier at bat.

C'mon Andre - Time to win!

J.C. Romero has unbelievable splits this year.

vs RHB: .279 .441 .442
vs LHB: .078 .155 .143

on one of the replays, you can see Larry Bowa celebrate with an EMPHATIC jumping helmet slam.

And both times in games that Kershaw started. Interesting.

Ethier with the game winning hit off a pitcher who has now only given up SEVEN hits all season to lefties.

I'm officially burned out on swimming events. Just thought I'd announce that.

Thanks for sending me off for the evening with a smile on my face, though, Andre.

2 - Penny vs. Blanton who look very much like each other.

Steve Lyons just called Matt Kemp "Bison".

BISON reference!

Jon, you know I am just joshing.

Yes, wishes do come through.

10
You can watch China vs. Canada in Olympic baseball live online!

Canada AAA and AA guys versus a Chinese team that has had one guy who has played A ball and a bunch of other guys who would have trouble cracking a U.S. college lineup.

Did anyone mention James McDonald's 10 strikeouts in 6 innings tonight? If not, there you go.

Also, Xavier Paul hit two home runs. Wonder if he could sneak in a september call-up, too?

i love seeing guys swim in the olympics without swim caps, too bad none of them do it with long hair.

GREAT win, GREAT performance from McDonald. What a night.

Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say/
But nothin comes out when they move they lips/
Just a buncha gibberish/
And Joe Torres act like they forgot about 'Dre

15 - where are you watching live online? and do i have to install something to do it?

15 Thanks, good to know. I lost the battle for the remote with my girlfriend.

16 We're already calling up Jones, and Young. We're going to carry 7 outfielders with Paul Xavier?

Andre Ethier is a pretty cool guy. Eh gets walkoff hits and doesn't afraid of anything.

Neal Pollack was probably torn when Pierre scored a run but was then incensed when Pierre made out in the top of the 7th.

But then he got to see Ethier drive in the winner.

it's hard to believe that 47.05 is the world record in the 100 m freestyle. that really doesn't seem all that fast.

Rivera's first BS of the season keeps Mussina from winning 16th tonight.

20
NBCOlympics.com

You will have to install the dreaded Silverlight application.

It seems to work OK on my Mac. However, the feed has no announcers. Which is both good and bad.

When you're watching something you're not familiar with or you don't know the competitors, it's a bit weird.

Kershaw eight strikeouts tonight - So much fun to watch this guy.
Beimel
Kuo-Guo-Closer.

Great pitching by the Dodgers tonight.

19

They don't play that when he bats anymore! Or Dre Day.

Torre and the coaching staff are now working on growing the dreds

15 But China have flames on their jerseys. You don't mess with a team with flames on their jerseys.

Holland were wearing an homage to the Giants making their suffering all the more enjoyable.

27 - ok, i broke down and downloaded silverlight, and now i can watch women's water polo. if anyone needs an explanation of the game, i can provide it.

Andre Ethier won the battle of the #16's!

Phelps is up on NBC.

Not Dre Day. Still D.R.E., i meant.

Apparently, Chairman Mao did not teach the Chinese enough patience to work the count.

34 Thank you.

Change will come from the barrel of a bat. The revolution will not be walked in.

31 I usually support all things Holland, but that's appalling.

Should be a good day of footie tomorrow for Arsenal and Liverpool fans, it's Champions League qualifying time. Looking for both teams to advance fairly easily.

Hahahahha. Manny didn't know who Kershaw was.

Here was my thought process during the Ethier at bat (summarize):
-Wow, he's throwing Ethier a lot of sliders on the black and Ethier is pulling all of them.
-Ethier is a disciplined hitter who knows how to adjust. I expect him to go the other way (as I'm thinking this, I get a mental image of Luis Gonzalez hitting the blooper in the WS).

14 - Oh, no - I didn't take it in a bad way.

A walk off hit by Andre Ethier and a third straight 3-hit game by Matt Kemp. We shouldn't see Juan Pierre in the starting lineup the rest of the week.

I like Kershaw post game hair do.

Manny's hair is dividing the postgame show!

39 And to bring it round full circle, Arsenal are playing a Dutch side. Conflict of interest or are the tides turning? :)

10 By the second day of the Olympics, I'd had enough of the Phelps hype. The guy is good, OK, but I am really tired of this omnipresent 24/7 Phelps talk.

I log online, I see Phelps. I turn on the TV, I see Phelps. I turn on the radio, they're talking about Phelps. I look at the newspaper, guess what, they're talking about Phelps!

Stop!

OK, that was my rant for today.

A very Nuke LaLoosh interview by Kershaw.

*Well no matter what happens here, here is a perfect example of sound managing.
The upcoming batters after Loney (Ethier and a pinch-hitter) both struggle mightily against lefthanded pitching, so Torre will let Loney swing away regardless of the consequences, hoping for a big hit. This is EXACTLY what we are all clamoring for Charlie to do - not to waste an out with two automatic outs to come following the current hitter..*

http://www.beerleaguer.com/beerleaguer/2008/08/game-chat-young.html#comment-126231700

Hhahahahahahahahahaha. Proving that the other side is not always greener.

Dodgers looking for bullpen help

>> Colletti said that James McDonald, recently promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas and scheduled to start Tuesday night at Tacoma, is an option to join the bullpen before rosters expand on Sept. 1. <<

http://tinyurl.com/6665no

Las Vegas
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
McDonald 6.0 4 2 2 1 10 1 2.25

Anyone know what the tattoo on James Loney's right forearm says?

Did Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker know that someday teen age girls (or in Olympic terms women) would be doing high fives.

Sweeney is valuable because he can high five and smile. Got it Lyons.

51 "Crazy"

47 - "I log online, I see Phelps."

Solution: Make Dodger Thoughts your home page!

When you are dwarfed by other female gymasts, you are freaking tiny.

52 I'm hoping that was the thought process behind the chest bump.

Does Australian softball pitcher Tanya Harding count among "former UCLA stars in the Olympics?"

Australia has really bad uniforms.

USA has PVLs on their side.

Rookie Cory Wade, an unexpected workhorse, has pitched in only one of the last six games, because he's still tender from pitching two long innings a week ago in St. Louis.

That doesn't sound good.

58 Yes, I saw her listed on a press release from UCLA Athletic Department.

To avoid finding out what happens the rest of the night, I am staying on DT until the show is over.

ok, where can i find the indoor women's volleyball game? must watch an old friend

I believe tomorrow starts Bob's unprecedented 4 game homestand.

I will be in my usual seats with Marty.

And Bob, I have my new Bob Carpenter scorebook but I have the fan sized version.

60

Chew em up. Spit em out.

The indoor women's volleyball tournament is already underway.

63 I would channel surf CNBC, USA, Oxygen or MSNBC.

Or online.

66 - i know, i'm trying to find a feed. there does not seem to be one.

64 But who will keep Marty company for the first two innings?

69 Bob can.

54- please tell me you're joking....

71 I'm kidding.

Checking out another Phillies blog. They really hate Charlie Manuel, they wished they picked up Joe Torre last year, and they think the Dodgers are a fun team to watch, and their offense is clicking.

Phans are phickle

Shouldn't Team USA uniforms have some blue in them?

Thousands of little girls are not staying up to watch this competition.

Al Trautwig = Rick Monday

why'd they change the scoring system in gymnastics?

Thousand of little girls watched it live on the net while micro-blogging on twitter. It's a whole new world out there.

79 That's true. Forgive me technology gods.

79 That's true. Forgive me technology gods.

Apparently they are angry at me.

The technology gods mock your insolence. :)

no way these three chinese girls on the uneven bars are 16, maybe combined age

From the live commentary feed for Canada v China, "I have to think it's been an awfully long time since someone fell down swinging at a Rheal Cormier pitch. Has to make the old guy feel pretty good."

Seems like its going to take a while for a legit Chinese baseball prospect to come out. I hope he's 7'5", and able to dunk.

Well, this relay is a joke.

wow I'm happy i went tonight...awesome game, great atmosphere, good crowd, after seeing manny for the second time in two games I can seriously say he has energized this city..

and Dre was a stud, lets ope he's right back in Joe's good graces after tonight

I hope I don't get another phone call from my mom tonight.

88 - Yeah, Torre said in his pregame it was just a game for Pierre. Ethier will be back in there tomorrow. Also, Torre debated the lineup for a while with his coaches. He had Ethier in, then out. Ardoin in, Loney out. Until, settling on what we saw tonight.

Yes, yes. Fall, little child. Fall.

24--Yes, I paid my money and went to the game tonight and bitched about Pierre the whole time, even when he got on base. Then I was vindicated with the game-winner. I really think that Torre reads the LA City Beat.

That was really fun tonight. I love high-fiving strangers in the corridors.

Manny Ramirez vs. Joe Blanton:

13 for 21 (12 singles and a double with 2 BB's)

.619/.625/.667/1.292

Casey Blake vs. Joe Blanton

1 for 16 with 2 BB's

.063/.167/.063/.229

Go figure.

92 Didn't mean to taunt you but I knew you would be conflicted.

I'm sure Joe has that site as one of his favorites.

Hey, has anyone seen these "Mannywood" T-shirts that they are selling at Dodger Stadium? They sound awesome, and I am salivating over the thought of parading around Boston in this!

Matt Kemp now has an .825 OPS, which is good for 8th best for all major league CF's (at least according to ESPN). He is at least 3 years younger than all 7 in front of him. Scary.

If Manny signs elsewhere, all Manny gear will be high comedy come next season.

I also love high fiving random fans in the corridors...I also credit manny for the TWO random high fives i got walking down larchmont about 3 hours before game time just because I already had my hat on..

Damnit.

random side night, at monday's game I saw a guy in an authentic andruw jones home jersey...very embarrassing

I would think the little people have the edge on the balance beam.

43 "A walk off hit by Andre Ethier and a third straight 3-hit game by Matt Kemp. We shouldn't see Juan Pierre in the starting lineup the rest of the season."

Fixed.

This gymnast will self destruct in ten seconds.

I know it's kind of a mundane thing, but I'm wondering how long it's been since the Dodgers had three left-handers be the only pitchers in a game.

I would've said left-handers pitching the whole game, but I'm sure it hasn't been that long since Odalis threw a CG and I'm guessing Tom Martin finished up some of his games as well (to rule out the two or more lefties thing). What we haven't had in a while are two reliable lefties in the pen who would pitch in the same game.

I wonder if AP or anyone got a picture of Ethier and Kemp semi-chest bumping each other after the game. Such a Kodak moment.

105 They do that after every win (well the ones Etheir gets to play in that is). Here is a picture of a Kemp, Ethier shoulder bump from a win against the Nationals on 7/27.

http://tinyurl.com/5akr62

in hine sight you gotta love how the Dodgers bounced back from those heartbreaking losses over the weekend, great job man.

Oh boy. Anybody watch the Korea-US baseball game? The US was down 6-4 going into the top of the ninth and scored 3 runs to take the lead, only to choke it away in the bottom of the ninth with a ill advised and wild throw home to allow the tying run. Then the US closer made a terrible pick off throw, advancing the runner on first to third, who scored on a sac fly. Just awful.

The Dodgers are two blown saves away from being on a 6-game winning streak. Those two games last weekend are going to eat away at me the rest of the season. Games like last night sure help to ease the pain, though.

I want to take this moment to say my annual one positive thing about Juan Pierre: During the celebration on the field last night, JP was right in the middle of the scrum, cheering with all the guys and congratulating Ethier, the guy who Pierre's battling for a starting job. That was nice to see.

109 - Another good thing about Pierre: He was apparently the player who alerted Torre that Manny thought he'd been removed from the game the other night. Then Pierre went and got Manny and told him he was still in. If Pierre was still available to play, it would've been in his best interests to have kept his mouth shut, because he likely would've been inserted into the game to replace Manny had things gotten to that point.

It's good to have such veteran presence on one's bench.

(See? I had to get that snark in there. I'm a jerk.)

See? I had to get that snark in there. I'm a jerk

Why you gotta be that way...

Does anyone know what Greg Brock was watching last night? It had something to do with little girls, and I'm worried about him.

46 Ah, Twente is a Dutch side. I have no idea why I thought they were Danish. Here's to a big day from Dutch Gunner, Robin Van Persie.

109 Picturing Juan Pierre in a proper rugby scrum is pretty hilarious.

How come Jon gets toasters and mortgage assistance and Bob gets Vicky Barcelona?

Must be all the Ashley Saltalamacchia talk over there.

I haven't seen it mentioned here, but I'm sure a few of you saw the Manny interview after. To which he was asked, "What did you think of Kershaw's performance?" He responded with, "Who is that?"

I am assuming GB was watching the Olympic Women's Gymnastics.

Guilty of looking ahead... I'm fine with Manny now but I can't see getting him next year. He's going to want $25 to $30 mill for 3 or 4 years and he's not likely to be worth a package like that. I can't see DY as a starting left fielder, I'd like him as 4th outfielder and pinch hitter but not an everyday player. We know what Pierre is capable of and I'd rather see him in left than DY or Jones in center. So I'd rather eat $18 Mil to DFA Jones or better yet eat half his salary and trade him (We can wait till the start of the new season for that.) than to eat half of Pierre's salary to trade him. What I'd like to do is dump Jones, sign someone like Holliday or Adam Dunn (How much would they cost?), keep Pierre (or trade him) and DY as spare outfielders. It is possible we can sign Blake if we want and I think it would be a good idea. Hu should be played extensively in September (August too) to see if we have a shortstop next year. The "O" Dog would be nice if we could afford him too, otherwise it's DeWitt, Hu, Abreu, Osuna, or whatever we find as long as it's not Kent or Nomar. Ideas?

Greg Brock loves Hannah Montana.

The truth hurts.

117 - I support any grassroots movement to make Antonio Osuna our second baseman in 2009. That would be entertaining.

I just turned on Sportscenter and heard this before the ad break: "Coming up: Favre, Favre, and more Favre." (Other announcer: "Woo hoo!") The latter may have been facetious, but still, c'mon ESPN, this is what we say when we're making fun of your ridiculous, tiresome Favre overcoverage, you shouldn't take that way from us by saying it yourself.

{click}

Lots of people must like it (who??) or they wouldn't keep doing it.

115
Manny is infamous for not knowing the names of his teammates.

122
A Manny and Rickey combo would have been comedy gold!

Gold, Jerry! Gold!

Just like jokes about Ovaltine.

3
And sometimes our Dodger wishes are happily exceeded, when we don't dare dream what might happen, like by Nomar in the 4+1 game:

2006-09-18 23:03:49
699. Jon Weisman
Walk's as good as a hit, batter.

The Angels have done well with good pitching, speed, and defense.

In 2009, I would like to see the Dodgers follow suite next year by incorporating Hu, Abreu, Dejesus, DeWitt instead of guys like Nomar and Kent. If they can get another consistent power hitter to go along with Kemp, Pierre, Martin, and Ethier all the better.

117
We are playing for a world championship, auditioning a SS in Sept to see if he can be our SS in 2009 seems like a strange idea.

If Hu is our best SS option right now, then that is a different story. He is not exactly lighting up AAA but when your competition is Berroa it doesn't take much to be a better option. Hopefully Nomar can make it to the end, that was a sweet play he made on Rollins last night, and then Loney with the excellent dig to bail out his bad throw in the 9th.

123
Didn't Rickey have one name for all his teammates? I can't remember what it was.

125
You mean someone like 99

127 I thought he said things like "hey third baseman".

124 - Wow, impressive memory.

first post from work.....!!!!

112 Gymnastics, man! Gymnastics!

Nate is now a full fledged member of the working class.

I see it's true that Ethier can't hit lefties.

From this date in baseball, how times change dept.==

This day in 1906....Jack Taylor of the Cubs was chased by Brooklyn in the third, ending a string of 187 complete games and 15 relief games that Taylor had finished without help.

Nate Purcell shall now smash a copier with an Indian dude, and a huge dork that hasn't had a counseling visit in six months.

127 , 123 - Didn't he also say to John Olreud when they were both playing for the Mets, "I once played with a guy in Toronto that wore a helmet on defense."

first post from work.....!!!!

Chili's or Flingers...?

136

In due time...

138

I dont think they let their employees sit at computers at those places.

136 damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

130
In business meetings, I occasionally use that game as an example of outcomes far outside anyone's range of expectations. I've quoted you many times. Hope you don't mind.

140
Just as well. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day.

143

i know. this isn't going to last too long.

Mark Langill, the Dodgers team historian, is giving a talk at the Central Library in L.A. today at 12:15 pm in conjunction with the library's Dodgers photo exhibit.

143 You get a cubicle?

Every time I see a small, private plane flying nearby, I look up and think, "I wonder if that plane is going to crash." It seems like it happens all the time, but I've never seen one myself.

144
School all of a sudden becomes really attractive once you leave. Course, I always liked school even when I was in it, but a lot of people don't know what they got til it's gone.

137
That's a classic Rickey story, but I think its an urban legend. He's rumored to have done it to Olerud in both NY and Seattle! It would be awesome if it were true though.

One of my favorite Rickey stories was in the early 1980s he got a bonus check from the A's for I think $1 million (it may have been $100,000 but I don't remember). He framed the check, and didn't think to cash it until someone in the A's accounting department noticed a discrepancy in the books.

148

I definitely miss college.

150
You'll get over it.

For example, there's this thing called money. It can be used in exchange for goods and services.

You will become fond of it. You will miss it when you don't have it.

First the job, then the wife, then the house, then the kids, Kemp will retire, and Nate will be making plans to visit the HOF for his pilgrimage. He will look up and wonder why life is on fast forward.

Bah. Money is overrated.

Just use credit cards. It's like money, but you never have to actually pay for stuff.

When Nate has kids, he will adopt. That way he can scout the various babies in the nurseries throughout the country and evaluate which one has the highest potential.

He would be looking for a baby with good plate discipline first of all.

Then it would have to be really cute.

149 I've heard that story, compared to how the modern athlete blows through money, Rickey should be a financial advisor.

Nate, you're young. Save like hell for two years and go back to graduate school full time.

Just pretend this is a two year prison sentence in real people jail.

Great photo of the celebration last night from a fan:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/malingering/2759519194/

Men's Olympic Soccer QF-
3 teams from Africa; 3 from Europe and 2 from South America. No Asians or North Americans.

USA lost to Nigeria (2-1) this am which eliminated us.

Only Brazil and Argentina went thru the first round 3-0.

115 If the interviewer would have said "Opie" instead of Kershaw, maybe Manny would have known who he was talking about.

104 Did I finally ask a Dodger history question that no one even cares to answer? I never thought I'd see the day.

Perhaps the satisfaction of knowing my question was too irrelevant is better than knowing the actual answer.

A question inspired by Manny.

Would it be reasonable to assume that each marginal unit of effort allocated to defense has some greater-than-zero negative impact on a player's offensive potential?

If so, and if players can earn huge salaries based on their offensive performance despite horrendous defense, might it be in the best interest of a given player to ignore defense and allocate all effort to offense?

I think you'd have to be in amazingly bad shape for three seconds of hard running to hurt you offensively.

162
But you also have to consider the risk of injury, practice time put into defense, etc.

162 Tell that to Rocco Baldelli.

I guess that it does help a little since defense is way undervalued compared to offense.

NPUT

This really means nothing, just playing with numners.

If we win both those games in SF we're 62-57, and 31-19 in our last 50 games (.620), meaning in our last 43 games if we could play at a .651 clip we'd sneak into 90 wins. Which would mean we finished our last 93 games at 59-34, which would be a 103 win team for a full season.