Funny pregame interview with Jason Johnson. The host talked about his "wife" and he sheepishly said "ex-wife."

JJ just gave a great interview. I haven't laughed like that in a while.

I have the greatest assignment in the history of sportswriting on Friday: I get to go to Wrigley and Comerica Park with the Top Chef winner and sample all the food in each stadium.

This is right up there with writing about the Dodgers in the 2008 World Series, obvi.

I am SOOOO jealous, Molly. Let us know when the story is ready!

3
You are so lucky.

Be even better if it were with Padma, but I digress.

3
That's right up there with George Plimpton playing for the Lions or Paul Gallico sparring with Jack Dempsey.

3. Wow, that's great! I've only been to Wrigley twice, and I ate as much as I could both times.

Evidently "knee cap" has fallen out of favor among FSN staffers.

Does anyone else enjoy watching the troyfromwestvirginia videos on youtube? I cant get enough of 'em.

Dodger doings dash doubts

>> Even as the future Hall of Famers came to town, the prospects-over-cash transactions have fed speculation McCourt is running short of dollars for players or trust in Colletti. Or both. Neither appears to be true. <<

## Sources who ought to know don't seem to believe Colletti, who is under contract through next season, is in imminent danger of losing his job. ##

http://tinyurl.com/5w3h5o

Note that ALR has been dropped down to 7th in the Pirates lineup, after mostly being 5th. He is now being protected by Wilson.

3-run homer for Dunn.

3 Season four winner? That's awesome! The only way that would be a poor assignment if you had to hang out with the winner of season two, Ilan.

Of course, I have to write some actual baseball stuff tomorrow on the Cubs. And the downer is my flight is at 6 am because their locker room opens at 9:50 (!) It's incredible how much earlier the Cubs have to get up than most teams. (Reporting at 9:50 is later than most folks in the world, but baseball players typically stay up late.)

The food day is just a bonus. I wonder how much $$$ going hogwild in two stadiums will cost.

Now that's a band name. (honestly not sure whether it's safe for work, or not)

http://tinyurl.com/5jvg5u

Also of note (don't know if this has been posted yet or not): MLB and umpires approve implementation of replay (from AP).

The End is Near.

What happened to the pitching duel in Arizona?

A lovely lady named Stephanie. She seems very nice. I've seen the show a few times and I've always liked it, but for some reason I've never DVR'd it.

Adam Dunn is making me look bad for badmouthing him a couple of times.

18 Steph's the best. She was the Chad Billingsley of season four, and she had to beat the most experience, nationally known chef out of the whole show's history, Richard Blais.(Blais was a guest chef on Iron Chef America back in 2005).

18 She was the most likable contestant in all four seasons. Have fun!

On a related note, I saw Hung once. He's tiny.

20
I like Tre the best and he got jobbed.

I know this is kind of off-topic at the moment, but how can any discussion of cheesy 80's music on a Dodger blog not include "Baseball Boogie?"

Stephanie was a baller on Top Chef. Too bad you dont get to eat her food, Molly!

D'backs-Padres tied 4-4 on a Chris Synder HR.

Bad Peavy!

22 Dale on season 4 got jobbed even worse than Tre did from Season 3.

Wow. They are playing without Loney or Ethier.

Woah, they are playing Ardoin without resting Martin.

I hope Joe knows something I don't, because our best line-up at home should be unbeatable--last night aside.

Post 21 is just a recipe for rule breaking disaster.

Arizona with 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. What in the world is going on with Peavy?

Tre won Elimination Challenge three times!

I only started watching Top Chef midway through season 2, but Stephanie was by far the most likable contestant that I've seen.

I also liked Richard, so last seasons finale was pretty cool.

27

Totally agree. Dale was a beast and shouldnt have gone home so early.

Yup, Bills is thinking about someone at first when he should be thinking about the guy at the plate, who he might walk if he doesn't concentrate

Peavy has given up as many runs in 2 innings as he gave up in his 4 previous starts.

That works, too, I guess.

After going 0 for 5 yesterday, Dewitt has 2 HR and a double today.

Plus, Tre got jobbed on the Christmas special.

A Pierre scorned...

She said she would be cooking all day tomorrow, and I wanted to be like..um, can I come over for dinner?

So good. Not just the hit. Going the other way in that situation. He special.

40

Just keep mentioning that the whole time you're with her. Maybe she'll get so fed up she will invite you to make you stop!

15
That blog is hilarious.

How is it zero out when its Kemp on base at first, and Kent batting?

Kemp is damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Damn you, Holliday.

Oh, that's why Pierre wasn't out. I didn't even noticed that he scored.

Give Russell Martin a TRUE rest day (gawd!!) I don't buy into the 3rd base thing.

That felt much longer than 13 pitches.

45

Thats why i hate the straight steal with 2 strikes. Matt doesnt pick the ball up well when he stealing second (so hard to do so), and with 2 strikes against Francis, odds are the ball will be put in play.

I can't help seeing this as losing through stupidity, whereas last night was losing through bad luck.

Juan Pierre, your center fielder. You know, the guy with no arm.

And thats why Juan Pierre cannot play center.

Wet noodle.

51
The Dodgers are winning, and Pierre has scored the lone run of the game. Maybe we can wait to whine about the loss until after we actually lose.

Now that Martin guy has an arm.

It's pretty cool watching Martin throw bee'bees at 3rd though. :o)

55 51

I like G3B's optimistic ways...

YES!!! MATTY!!!!

WOW!

oh yes!

great throw by Kemp.

Not even close! It looked like Ardoin craved some contact on that play. Awesome.

One hell of a play at the plate and not close, either.

Gorgeous throw.

THERE OUR CENTER RIGHT FIELDER.

Wet blanket (for the Rocks).

I knew he'd get him when he got that perfect hop.

I have to admit that it's pretty different seeing Tulo at a big league stadium. I remember last year's postseason, and hearing 40,000+ chanting "Tulo!". It makes the 2,000 or so at Blair Field feel pretty small.

I'm sorry, but I think that is more of a hit than you can allow on Ardour. Thank god it wasn't Martin.

Vin <3's Kemp.

Hahahahaha. Adroin just tackled that Rockies player on the play.

69 - Ardoin.

I don't think anybody asked Matt Luke what he thought of Kemp.

68

Yeah, but did you come to my Long Beach Adult League game at Blair Field in 1998? Nope, you didn't.

Only a couple feet over Ian Stewart's glove. Nice hit, Nomar.

70
I love how he called Kemp "a superb major league ballplayer."

74 - where was my invitation, huh? :-)

Just wondering, who was in the proposed trade for C.C.?

Matt Kemp, Carlos Santana, James Meloan, and who else?

77

The intertubes were just getting going then. You didn't exist.

Bad at bat for Casey right there.

78

Ned Colletti scares me sometimes.

WHO NEEDS ANY STINKING REST?

78 - Robothal was the source of that rumor, and no particulars were offered.

http://tinyurl.com/6ff6mm

Can't believe they stopped Nomar. It almost makes me wish for the windmill days, because he had it beat by a mile.

Break for Dodgers.

I hate to see Tulo get jacked up like that, but... WOO HOO!

84 - agreed. Not that it would have mattered.

Just maybe we're playing our best lineup tonight. Well, except Juan Pierre for Andre Ethier.

that play seemed like an Ardoin(ary) play but Tulo made an error...

Speaking of opportunities, I've been wanting to shout this to the world:

My Dad called me at work today. I was on the phone with a client so I had to ask if I could call him back. In the gravest of voices he told me it was very urgent and extracted a promise to call as quickly as possible. With frightening visions in my head I apologized to my client and immediately called my Dad back. I think my first words to him were "What's wrong?" Still very subdued he replied, "I need to know if you can get out here (to California from my home in Utah) on September the 4th."

I was pretty worried at this point. My parents are getting older and are not in the best of health. My brother is gravely ill. My grandmother was in the hospital just a couple days ago.

Way too slowly he continued, "At noon on Sept. 4th we uh.... have a tee time at Pebble Beach!"

It was a torturous conversation but what a payoff. I've been playing golf since I was a little kid 30 years ago and never thought I'd get this chance. I'm sure I can forgive my dad for stringing me along.

83 Yeah, but Tony Jackson confirmed later that Matt Kemp was part of the proposed C.C. trade after it was nixed.

And here comes JP with a runner on base.

lol, Ardoin with a SB.

92. now with RISP!

90 - assuming this is a very big deal. Congratulations!

91 This post.

http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/2008/07/more-on-the-abo.html

This is what Tony Jackson said in his blog re the aborted Sabthia trade:

"That one was CC Sabathia, Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll for (I believe) Santana, Matt Kemp, James McDonald, Cory Wade and Andy LaRoche".

http://www.insidesocal.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?search=sabathia&IncludeBlogs=42

Here's hoping that Billz has a low pitch count effort this inning. Already at 40-odd.

90 I got to play Pebble about 10 years ago. It was worth every penny.

I sure would not have given Tulo an error on that play. He was playing in to stop the runner on 3rd from scoring, and the ball was hit hard and to his right. Yes, a healthy Tulo would have stopped it, and so would a handful of other major league shortstops.

97

Mention of a proposed trade that horrible should be banned from DT.

Apropos of nothing, Let's do the time warp again.

Nice little rinkle for the strike out to Holliday.

The Umps officially consider Bills a veteran pitcher due to the calls going his way.

anybody know if there is a proposed pitching day for Maddux? I heard friday but want to make sure.

104

I thought he was getting squeezed in the first.

105 Friday in Philly.

105 I read Friday moving Kershaw back a day.

6-5 snakes now.

Man, Kent's been hot.

105
From today's LA Times:

"[Maddux] will start for the Dodgers on Friday in Philadelphia, pushing back Kershaw's next turn in the rotation by a day."

101 - Unofficially, it is. Certainly it's strongly discouraged ...

Kent sometimes runs like a rook...

110 Don't tell Kent that. He'll stick a fork in your eye as soon as you say Manny's been great hitting behind him.

Jeff Francis is not 23.....

It looks like Martin's heating up, but doesn't he need rest more than Loney?

116 - Martin can't take a break, then there will be no one to challenge Ripken's record.

115

Vin has a weird fountain of youth issue with Francis.

Haren v Peavy, so of course it's 6-4 after two innings...

117

He already sat down for a full game a couple of weeks ago

Ripken's record will never be broke. I know "never say never" but I feel pretty good about this one.

I wonder what Adkins has against UC Irvine, I mean, he grew up there it makes sense to go to school there.

Damn it Bills.

Tu-lo.

Well, the Dodgers still have a lead.

wow, Tulo got ahold of that one.

122 - academic eligibility? I know Long Beach has gotten at least one player who had trouble keeping his grades up at Berkeley.

122 UC Irvine is boring as heck?

Heck, I go to UCI, and I know its boring as it can be.

122 - have you ever been to Irvine? There are plenty of reasons to choose UCLA over UCI

Seeing eye single!

127 - is it just me, or is there a prototypical UCI student?

1) VERY bright.
2) Extremely quiet.
3) Unemotional to the extreme.

I have never met anyone who went to UCI who failed to meet those requirements.

Yep, that Martin hit was on the 3rd pitch.

Danny rules!

The Cajun gets an infield single. Nice!

90 That's very cool news, but I couldn't help but feel angry at your dad after reading that. Dads can be such mean teases sometimes.

--

Danny Ardoin, making things happen!

it will look like a wizzling line drive in the score book tomorrow...

Nice bunt! you better deliver Pierre!

130 You haven't met any drama students I assume. I had a roommate that would walk around in his underwear inside, outside the apartment area. And would act gay at parties just to get near with chicks. He would act like Terry from Reno 911.

Okay, Irvine the city is boring. Some of the people there are cool.

I'm predicting a three run homer from Pierre. Followed by world peace.

134 - you know, whatever my dad has been over the years, he has always played it straight with me.

126 - both are UC schools, same academic requirements

It's getting hard to steer away from those D being J jokes.

Wizzling? I like it.

You know, danny Ardoin is cool and all, but I still think the Dodgers need Gary Bennett to come back if they're to make a run for the playoffs.

When's the last time Pierre had a multi-hit game?

You suck Pierre!

Jeff Francis looks like one of the young ad men on Mad Men.

140 Not really, each school has it own individual requirements for each major.

Pierre's lack of playing time showing. Not that I'm advocating more.

138 - War. What is it good for?

140 - CSULB is most assuredly not in the UC system.

That 3-1 pitch that Slappy fouled off sure looked high. No wonder he almost never walks.

130 I don't meet the first requirement

145- He looks like the priest.

That was annoying. I think I'll go play some tennis with the wife now.

Wow, Matt just got fooled.

Not one stinking run.

yup.

You gotta swing at anything close Kemp! (with 2 strikes & all)

Gary Bennett and the Magic Lollipops - anybody want to start that internet band with me.

Pierre had two hits July 31st, against the D'backs. The Dodgers lost that game.

152

I think he looks like Pete Campbell.

157 - if I could play anything, I'm right there with ya.

152 That's what it is! Colin Hanks, yep. Hopefully he won't commit a major violation of the priesthood before the game is over.

--

Yah, Kemp may have thought that was a ball but it's too close to take, you have to fight those off.

I like Irvine and the friends that went to UCI do not fit scareduck's description at all.

149 - I was referring to UCI and UCLA. Though Long Beach is now impacted, from what I understand, so it has higher standards than the rest of the CSU system.

146 - I was talking admission standards

160 Can you keep time? Write lyrics? You're in. I'm serious. Who's on board?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberband

Pierre's SLG has been below his OBP since April 25th.

To a pitcher Bills?

122 I don't think UCI brought back their baseball program until either '99 or '00.. Atkins was at UCLA already.

Jeez, Francis is a better leadoff hitter than the two guys after him.

148
Just so you don't get left hanging...

Absolutely nuthin'! Uh huh.

165 - that wouldn't be a problem if his OBP was .800 or so.

There was a huge Simers thread on BBTF, and none of the Primates over here said a peep. I'm shocked.

Shocked, I tell you.

Uh oh, Chad's really fighting it. This seems like one of those games the Dodgers are going to have to grit it out and then hang on for dear life to win.

what the???

This isn't good

great timing too. uh man, come on Kent.

164 - seriously, my wife has a kick-ass studio here. I'm down with whatever.

170 It wouldn't be a problem if it was .370 - 375.

Cue Juan Castro.

{{Gulp}}

Pierre swung at ball four twice in his last at-bat. Too bad, it should have been bases-loaded, one out.

Aaand, this inning is getting ugly, Billz can't walk Quintanilla and get no one on a bunt. Those mistakes are inexcusable.

This is probably it for Chad. Get out of this inning without too much damage, please.

Glen Alan Hill is a big tough dude I'm surprised he took it on his own to wear a helmet.

Bills is not going to make out of this inning alive.

Did you guys see this from BTF?

http://tinyurl.com/6pxf26

Despite all their problems, the Dodgers are doing the pitching rotation thing the right way.

your the man Russell!

182
A big tough dude who's afraid of spiders!! :)

176 The Dodger online community needs a good snarky internet band. If it started here - all the better. We must get more people on board.

Nice play, Russ!

D'oh!

That looked awkward.

Oh the defense.... so awful.

I kind of don't blame Blake on that play HE DOESN'T play that position all that often.

Blake lost that in his beard.

He sure picks the worst moments to make errors.

Ugh. More HUGE mistakes. I can't believe we didn't even get one out there.

I propose that, from now on, Blake be called Andrew Grant.

And thats why you dont royally screw up the defensive alignment.

That was goofy. And not in a Disney-esque way.

Dont ask us to attend cos were not all there
Oh dont pretend cos I dont care
I dont believe illusions cos too much is real
So stop your cheap comment
Cos we know what we feel

We're pretty pretty vacant

184
I would have counted Kuroda as a free agent, but that's a nice article.

Thanks.

196 Andrew wishes he could grow that beard. Dude is like twelve.

we may get out of it yet...

Wow! DP!

oh yes.

Catcher to catcher.

nice play Russ!

Roll me up Chad Billingsley! Yes. Sir!

184 - They don't count Kuroda as a free agent?

5-2-3 DP?

Wow, and Chad can still get the win after all of that.

Yessssssss!

That was some real mettle shown by Chad there. That could've been a disaster.

I think poor MonkeyBlue needs to meditate for awhile.

2-2-3! :)

201

Blake kind of looks like the actor you said would play me in the DT film, but I hope I don't look like Blake.

Wow, that worked out well.

207 - apparently!

Well, at least they only got 1 run out of that!! The actual pitching by Billz was good. No ball left the infield except for Francis' dribbler down the line.

211
Or 2-2-5.

Martin at 3rd for defensive purposes!

Can someone explain to me why that error on Blake resulted in an earned run for Billingley?

Great job by Billz.. he induced 3 groundballs that should've gotten him out of the inning unharmed.

Kent.

boo!

218

I think you can only assume that Blake would get the out at first, so the run scores anyway.

molly, I think the scorekeeper can't assume Blake was going to get the runner out at home. With only one out, the error cost an out, but the run was going to score anyways.

212 Well, I've since met you, and as you are a dashing lad, I'd have to recast.

I definitely have to recast BH.

Casey Blake would be played by Daniel Stern.

Ardoin has been nails lately.

How about not standing and staring at your warning-track flyball, Nomar?

Time for a critically acclaimed movie. For Blake, that is.

So if that play happens with two outs, it's an unearned run, yes?

223

You're soothing a bruised ego today. Thanks.

225 - with a runner on first, there's really not far he could go

Bills last inning was a valiant effort but I'd keep my eye on him in this inning.

227

I believe so.

Who the hell gets fries at a fancy restaurant?

It is amazing that the Dodgers got Ramirez, Greg Maddux and Casey Blake without having to pay any of their salaries. Of course, one GM says he thinks Carlos Santana -- the catcher they sent to Cleveland -- "is one of the 20 best prospects in the minor leagues right now." And soon lefty reliever Scott Elbert will be in the Dodgers' bullpen.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=gammons_peter

Okay, that one hurts.

199 I was in a band a few years ago that played that in a set at a British bike rally. It's pretty easy. Should be the first song. First songs should always be covers.

229

It's not about that. He stood there like he knew it was gone or something.

232 You can get Fries or Frites at Buchon, at the Las Vegas, or Napa Valley locations.

Fine Dining is very big on turning peasant food into expensive food like a $89 dollar burger.

BTW, I had my MRI today. Thank God I didn't need the high contrast version... one of the worker bees in the doctor's office told me they inject a iodine solution in you that burns for that. Blecch. As it was, it was a rather tedious buzzing and thumping in a fairly small cylinder. 1.5 Tesla magnet I'm told, so no metal anywhere in the room, and TEMPEST shielding everywhere. All very high-tech.

0 (from the previous thread),

I don't think Kyle Blair wanted to sign Jon. It was the same type of situation the Yankess had with Gerrit Cole this year. You can be sure the Yankees threw heaps of money at him, but he just preferred college. For this reason, its not really fair to say the Dodgers spending money on Andruw and the like had anything to do with Kyle Blair.

235 Seems like Dodger Stadium does that too you sometimes. Nomar should disguise his ego better though.

Wow, Kuo is definitely off leash. He's warming up again.

So, will Kuo be able to put off arm surgery until the offseason, you think?

232 There's a great french restaurant in SF called Jeanty at Jack's, and their steak tartare comes with the best fries I've ever tasted.

Another bad defensive play...

233

Sort of going off that, but i finally read Rosenthal's article. The article was actually good, but the comments are just hilarious. My gosh these people havent a clue what they are talking about.

Kuo? Really? The guy hasnt worked enough lately? I know he's the best and has been one of the top relievers in the game, but his arm will freakin fall off.

And again, why you dont mess with your defense.

the hook, please...

From mopup man to Everyday Hong-Chih Kuo.

E5. Torre, Torre, Torre.

I hope Torre doesn't push Bills luck & makes this his [Billingsley] last inning.

Why the heck is Blake's hands of stone coming out tonight!?!

232

they probably did it as a goof...

I'm gonna have to do it now.

232 I try the fries almost anywhere I go. Trans fats and complex carbohydrates be damned.

I really don't like the kid in the all-you-can-eat commercial.

Mix in some incisors, meat.

252 - really? I think she makes the ad.

Francis has a nice change working today.

They appear to be healthy but the lack of concern the Dodgers are beginning to show in terms of durability and fatigue for Martin and Kuo and their performance is frustrating. It took me too long to write that last sentence.

253

Me too.

we seriously need to score more runs.

228 Uh oh. Those kickball chicks giving you a hard time, amigo?

--

And Mark Sweeney, like Family Circus, continues to suck.

253 Children bother me.

Man, Francis has really regressed this year. I guess it's the injuries, but he doesn't even look like the same pitcher.

251 - are you sure you're a girl? :-)

When I saw Francis in the Futures Game, I thought he'd win three Cy Young awards.

Just painting it up at 93 from the left side.

234 - probably my fave Sex Pistols song after "EMI" and "God Save the Queen".

260 I don't like burgers, so yes, yes I am.

Does anyone know who that guy in the suit is sitting behind home plate every night? Just to the left of the plate. Seems to know everyone. He had Rob Dibble sitting with him last night.

259

Greg Brock showing off his marriage material status.

The tracking camera that follows at field level the hurdles runners in the Olympics is pretty awesome.

Why does Torre keep throwing Sweeney out there? The guy has a season five RBI's for the season! For a pinch hitter this is inexcusible.

Joe Torre needs to have his head examined. This is stupid. russell is NOT 3rd baseman right now and Blake is NOT a 1st baseman.

238
The argument some of us have with guys like Blair, Alex White, David Price, and such is that yeah, they'll tell you they want to go to college. That means the million or so dollars that a first rounder might expect won't get it done, even though these guys were picked well after the first round, but everyone most certainly has a price.

If White was as impressed with David Price out of high school as we've been told, hell, offer him 3 million dollars. Would Alex White have signed if we offered him something like 3.5 million? If he still says no, fine. As was pointed out, we picked up Loaiza's tab with no real justifiable benefit at all. We pay Gary Bennett a million dollars when he is below the level of our own internal replacement players. Who cares if we draw the ire of Selig? What harm comes from that? We get the AS game in 2020 rather than 2018?

On the other hand, the "race-walk" in the rain is not the most scintillating televised event. In fact, it stinks.

--

Okay, Russ, time to go back behind the plate.

now it's kinda funny. next time give up 3 inches and stick Martin at 1B.

A double Play would look really well right now.

Ugh. Umm, lets let Martin play catcher or rest Joe. These plays are gonna cost us the game!!!

On the bright side, Loney might not have gotten a glove on that one.

E5 for the second time in the game. This playing-out-of-position thing, maybe not working so well.

Martin may not feel tired according to Torre, but he's seems burnt out. His head is not in the game, and now he's going Chuck Knoblauch.

258

Even better, the kickball league has been cancelled after two weeks due to not enough people.

They must've heard I signed up.

264

If its the guy in the front row, its a big time lawyer who has those first 8 seats. My best friend's dad knows him so they actually got to go and sit there next to him a few days ago.

267 Why is Sweeney on the team is a better question. Outside of Ethier tonight (and usually he's not on the bench), the rest of the bench is just as bad. They really need to add some depth there soon.

And the Dbacks win. Stupid, worthless, helpless Padres.

yay DBacks win again!
Dunn a 3-run bomb. Good times!

270 They really need to bring back cross country. Just imagine Cross Country in China. You could have had the race on the Great Wall of China!

265 My kids would rock the socks. It's everybody else's that need to pipe down and sit in a corner for 20 years.

Hey is the CW that the Rockies are going to shop Holliday in the offseason? I assume they're not planning on signing him long term, and his value will be less at the deadline. Thoughts?

Adam Dunn continues to hate baseball quite unsuccessfully.

277 D'oh. Sorry. Might be tougher in the summertime. It's hard to find soccer players in the summer, too, especially women. Keep trying!

Thanks Russ.

boo!

277 Exact thing is happening with my kickball league. Makes the 40 bucks I paid for what essentially amounts to a T-shirt and a negligible discount at a terrible bar seem like a pretty foolish expenditure.

I have no words.

Pierre can't even scare anyone with his arm.

Unbelievable. Awful defense single-handedly costing us this game.

Sigh. Figures.

Beimel's not hurt, right? kinda weird with the Kuo, Kuo, Kuo, Kuoness.

258 - did you ever see the Dysfunctional Family Circus when it was a going concern?

http://dfc.furr.org/

Tie game, and that is teh suck.

283 Any harder to find Soccer moms?

Somewhere, Andrew Grant is crying in his Nestle's Quick strawberry milk.

Good God.

Garret Atkins has had a terrible night at the plate.

291 Hah hah, yeah, loved it.

I was thinking of one of the last lines in the movie "Go" though.

288

Not just bad defense, but bad defense that you cant blame on the players. When you put players at positions basically foreign to them, you are playing with fire. It might work once or twice, but sooner or later you will get burned. The Dodgers have been burned tonight big time.

288

Not just bad defense, but bad defense that you cant blame on the players. When you put players at positions basically foreign to them, you are playing with fire. It might work once or twice, but sooner or later you will get burned. The Dodgers have been burned tonight big time.

3 errors for he Dodgers. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

we've dodged a couple of bullets here. I'm blaming Torre on 2 of those runs.

294 - how about softball lesbians?

I missed the beginning of the game, so I didn't hear any explanation of the position players tonight. Was it just that Loney needed a day off so they put Blake at 1st and Martin at 3rd? Could they just have put Nomar at 1st?

286

At least you got a t-shirt. I tried to play coed softball with this same group and was bounced due to not enough spaces.

I knew my original plan of not trying to have a social life was the better choice.

294 That's probably never a problem in the bay area, no, though I personally have to spend more time looking for women players for a co-ed team.

269, Well I don't know about Blair. I've had conversations with the guy and know lots of people who know him well, and even in his junior year of HS it was well known he wanted to go to college. The thing is, his family is ridiculously rich. They don't need money at all. Now maybe if we gave him A LOT of money he would have signed, but I don't think 3 million would have done it, no.

Kirk Gibson had awesome stirrups.

303 Loney probably needed a day off anyway but it was also trying to get more right-handed bats in the line-up to face Francis who is normally very tough vs. lefties. I mean, look, Russell had looked fine in his previous stints at third base, so I can understand expecting him to look fine again tonight. He's just had a bad day. I'd rather have Loney's defense at first though. Pierre was in there because he hits Francis very well. Of course, that doesn't counteract his noodle arm.

I mostly skipped the 2007 Dodgers season, but Juan Pierre is dead to me. I rather play Manny in center and watch the hilarity than see JP's noodle arm again.

Look, I'm getting a little tired of having to enforce rule 1 as much as I have been lately. If you want to curse, shout at your computer like I do. Do not type anything here that even implies cursing. Thank you.

I won't tell you what CD I just added to my iTunes, except to say the wheel in my CD-ROM drive kept on turning.

Pierre must have a Groundhog Day experience once in a while jogging back from 1st after a 4-3 gb.

311 Its either Tina Turner (boo) or Creedence (yay)

299,

Yeah but Blake's error was an easy play no matter what position you play. A HS'er could have made that play. And Martin's errors were somewhat hard, but they were still both throwing errors. You have to expect a catcher to make an accurate throw at least most of the team. Also, Billz' failure to get Tavares out on the bunt was not on Torre.

Finally, we should be scoring some runs. It seems to me we just keep swinging at bad pitches. Like Kemp right now, that was an awful at bat.

311 , 313 - what are you talking about? Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" rocks.

311 Ugh.

He means "Wheel in the Sky" by Journey.

Jeff Kent needs to take steroids.

So many flyballs.

Darn that warning track power. Good thing I was listening to Vin there and not Charlie.

Pretty sure he meant this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFC8sDTXlng

And disliking Tina Turner (especially from the Ike and Tina years--it's okay now that he's dead) is like disliking freedom, justice, and snickers bars.

262 It's probably the only one besides 'Anarchy' & 'God Save' that I remember. I like the Sex Pistols but I've spent a greater amount of time listening to the more "southern" AC/DC myself.

A computer art rock version of Pretty Vacant by a band made up of Dodger fans that pokes fun at a d-list Major League backup catcher is just the kind of thing that I get into. I'm clearly very focused.

We gotta get some more people to join Gary B. & the Pops. I'm building a studio in East Nashville. I play lots of instruments, some better than most others.. I could contribute decently to the final product as well but it doesn't require much of a commitment. Bang on a garbage can near the built in mic on your laptop. It's all in the name and the story anyway... and the amount of fun you have with it... play. what. ever.

318,
I concur... Bad feeling about this game...

OT, but does anyone else besides me find that Southwest Airlines commercial that just played hilariously funny? (The one where the guy tries to impress the girl by dancing and proceeds to knock over the whole DJ set/whatever it is?)

277
That's funny, because I am joining my friend's kickball team in the fall. We could have competed against one another.

Just because Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey could pull off jacket with no shirt doesn't mean that every goofy faced SOB needed to try it.

Steve Perry with no shirt/jacket combo is a disgrace to rock.

Did anybody notice that Chad's groundout-flyout ratio tonight was 11-0? He was really never a groundball guy in the minors, and Dayn Perry used to warn about his "flyball tendencies."

And it is not true that Kyle Blair wouldn't have signed even for $3 million. He was absolutely signable for $1.5 million. The Dodgers just wouldn't pay it.

325

Where, in SF?

315, 322
Perhaps booing Tina was a bit harsh. I'm not a big fan of Snickers, though.

321 - oh, so wrong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWnQPrrWpk

Walking number 8 hitters: bad. (And throw Quintanilla in there too. He's the Rockies Juan Pierre.

304 Ha, yeah, my participation in my kickball league was part of my failed attempt to meet people in DC. Said failure is a large part of the reason why I'm moving back to SF in a few weeks.

328
I know he plays in somewhere like Danville, but not sure where else.

Willy Taveras or Juan Pierre?

Nice job Chan Ho, and that was a nice grab by The Beard at least.

I am surprised with how many people are in kickball leagues.

I laughed at him the first time he told me.

327,

Well I don't know. All I know is what I heard from him and people who knew him. The unanimous opinion was that he wanted to go to college. He certainly doesn't need any money.

I think whodat, trainwreck and Icaros should form a new kickball team and then recruit on Craigslist for kick-chicks. Er, female teammates.

326
Steve Perry with no shirt/jacket combo is a disgrace to rock

On this we can agree.

333

Yeah, we probably weren't a traveling team, though that would be funny.

336 It's one of the rare hipster activities that is actually pretty awesome.

311 What about "Steeler's Wheel" by Steely Dan?

I think you can all hear the background music. It's a phenomenon bigger than Manny himself!

Time for Manny to wake the crowd up.

I dunno what will happen in the games but I have a feeling Manny is gonna mash on the East Coast swing.

Whoa, did I just hear Don't Stop Believing playing at the Stadium? I'm pretty sure I did.

My friend already has a bunch of female teammates. Mostly Asian too.

Am I making you jealous yet, Icaros?

I still haven't played an actual game, but we had "batting practice" last week and it was a lot of fun. I'm still sore from it, too.

334,
Tavares, because of the defense.

336,
Yeah, who knew? I didn't even know there were kickball leagues. Unless we're talking like grade-school. :)

My nephew is already (a) taller than his father, (b) not yet 20, and (c) has a harem of miniature Asian girls.

Journey is killing Manny Ramirez.

I hope you're happy, Eric Stephen.

I hope it's worth it.

Dodgers don't seem to want to win this game.

Darnit. 10 straight without a hit for the Dodgers, too.

excitement!

feels like i'm waiting for the inevitable.

350
It's kind of worth it just for the comedy.

346

It's as if you are Montresor or the Jigsaw Killer.

Can I play? Or at least come watch?

Holliday, Hawpe and Atkins.

349 - Miniature? Are they from Oz?

334,
That's why you take Tavares.

This is setting up real well for an Andre Ethier walk off hit.

7-8-9 in the 9th. better not let them score here.

So Kuo warmed up twice, according to Scully, but wasn't brought in.

Manny's MoJo is indeed being killed by Journey and/or the loss of a few of his dreads.

Way to make Bucholz work Nomar & Casey..

Yeah, anyone who doesn't feel nervous about the top of the 9th raise your hand.

Yep, just what I thought.

Come on wheels, take this boy away.

At least Broxton is in there.
I still feel confident as long as either he or Kuo is in the game.

Loney is in and will bat 9th, or 3rd in the bottom of the 9th, which is a good move.

I bear no personal grudge toward Steve Perry. Dude's got an amazing voice. It's Journey, man. Journey is the problem here.

It's like putting Marcel Marceau in a Chuck E. Cheese costume. Just a total waste. And lots of cheese.

362 - <raises hand>

'Course, I'm halfway through a bottle of Coppola Diamond chardonnay.

350
Although I will never stop believing in Journey, here are alternatives for inspiration at the stadium:

1) Adrian waking up from her coma in Rocky II ("There's only one thing I want you to do...win." Cut to Mickey, "well what are we waiting for??!!!")

2) The "We Will Rock You" beer mugs on the bar scene from Cheers

3) The baseball blooper reel from Naked Gun

355
If you can catch a big rubber ball, then you pretty much meet my friend's criteria.

366

But cheese is a staple of a healthy diet.

Whoops. Well that's one way to make sure Holliday doesn't hit a dinger - ding him.

Holiday was just hit with a 97 MPH fastball.
Thats gotta sting.

Someone kill me now.

we don't deserve this one boys.

Maybe there's a bet going to see how often we can let their lead-off men on...

And what a suprise! Defense costs us again...

This is unreal.

Crap, Ardoin suddenly became Bennett. What is up with this game? Sheesh.

Regarding the McCourt money and strange cut off of ANY new funds...

Lets check the business section.

Last Sept add Loaiza for $7mil. Sign Jones for $36mil in December. Come July, Colletti can't add any payroll. We took the payroll from $75mil to $115mil in 3 years and expanded,renovated Dodger Stadium. Now, no $$?

We're in the midst of the worst credit crisis since the 1930s. Banks and Big Brokers are teetering on insolvency. RE prices down 20-30%. New credit is not being extended.

Connect the dots. McCourt bought the Dodgers with Boston RE assets. I'm not saying he's broke at all. He's got assets and equity. I just think his bankers have forced this rigid payroll on him and/or took away his credit cards so to speak.

It really doesn't help us to discuss it much. We gotta a pennant to win. But paying prospects in lieu of cash is a terrible price to pay.

walking lead there by Holliday. Game over.

367 I sense some rule 11 violations are coming.

Were this a baseball field and not DT, I would call this game something related to reproductive rights.

Has anyone seen a worse defensive line-up for the Dodgers than the one Joe put together tonight?? Let's see, a 2nd string catcher, a 3rd baseman playing 1st, an aging 2nd baseman that can't go very deep in the hole anymore, the catcher playing 3rd base, and Mr. D.L. playing ss., maybe the weakest defensive leftfielders in the league in left, and a centerfielder who could not throw-out his mother if his life depended on it. If the Dodgers pull this one off, I will start referring to Mr.Torre as Mr. Houdini!

Thats one cheap way to give up the lead.

Yeah, I agree, the Dodgers haven't played like a team wanting to win today at all. They almost need Bowa to come down and yell at them or something.

So anyway, back to Asian girls...

381
Maybe we would have had Rox v. Wade earlier if our reliever wasn't on the DL.

367 - ethanol talking.

Torre really fielded terribly today. He's the goat. Send him down!

381

Are you an Ignatius J. Reilly disciple?

What kind of pitches do you guys take in kickball?

It is baby bouncies for me.

Hawpe's depth perception must be a little off.

That's more like it, Ardoin.

At least Ardoin got it right the second time.

391
Kent does look like the Yankees' 2nd baseman in Major League, too. Waving the runner closer.

That tag stopped Hawpe dead.

382 Don't forget Manny in LF and Slappy in CF. Lots of defensive weakness out there.

Nice D old man.

389 Isn't everybody?

Suddenly they're playing defense.

390 Bounces are weak sauce. Hit it off the ground like a man.

390

Yeah, baby bouncies usually. Slow rollies now and then. In the SF league, you don't get to make requests.

Kent's pretty good at making that throw over his shoulder.

Mr. Bolt is fast.

398

Word.

390 Over in DC, we kick whatever pitches we get. I prefer fast rollers, myself.

400
Bounces let you hit home runs. Are you advocating playing like Juan Pierre?

Bison makes it look easy.

Look, Martin was just fine at third when he'd played there previously, he was bad tonight. Loney has been bad vs. Francis. Pierre was good vs. Francis. I agree, the defensive look wasn't great tonight, but they also played worse than anyone would have predicted. And should he have benched Manny tonight? Ardoin has in some ways been better defensively than Martin behind the plate. As I said earlier, I still would've had Loney in there rather than Blake (Loney's in there now) and I never like seeing Pierre in center, but other than that I don't think on paper this should have been as bad a game defensively as it ended up. And for that matter the guys looked lost at the plate on offense, too.

BBroxton again. Thppt.

403
Somewhere in Alameda Al Davis is drooling.

Well, more than usual.

BBroxton again. Thppt.

There are cute women in my co-ed soccer league, Icaros, though it does require that you, you know, play soccer.

Fuentes vs Martin/Ethier/Loney.

Martin needs to do something bc Fuentes is very tough on lefties.

Fuentes always seems to be nails vs. the Dodgers.

You won't know who to thank
You won't know who to blame
It's just a part of the Murdering Game
'Cos down in the fleshpots
Where they pay you in pounds
They're laughing like drains
And baying like bloodhounds
For the Jack of all parades

405 You aren't the guy from DC kickball that we mocked on Deadspin a couple of weeks ago, are you? The one in the hot pants and cape?

406 Lean back and hit it with your instep. John Wayne didn't need "baby bounces."

I'm tired of that albino guy who sells TVs. No one cares that you're a physics professor, buddy.

When did scareduck become Bill the Cat?

Damn, this is a tough loss.

412
He could become a ref.

Hmm... I wonder what Torre's longest winning streaks have been. I know the Yanks had some. Did they have any recently?

Damn you Willy!

I really dislike Willy Taveras

412

I played a few years organized when I was a kid. And in PE. I can hold my own, unless it's a super good league or something.

So close, but if this were the Milwaukee series that would have only been like the 20th best play.

416 Of course not. I prefer playing kickball in a unitard.

418 - ack.

hgabajsdkadadadq;;;;

when I was like 7 our teachers assistant use to roll the ball really hard, I was really skinny back then.

419
...says an out-of-uniform Keith Hernandez, downing a beer at his locker.

ardoir is a better option than Ethier? being lefty means death to Torre here?

Willy Taveras has a knack for making impressive plays against the Dodgers, it seems.

Is Joe Torre asleep at the wheel or is he really allowing Ardoin to hit with Ethier and Loney on the bench.

Tavares has got silly range.

418 Scareduck. Hrm. Bill the Cat? Must investigate.

433 Loney is already in. Ethier, I got nothing.

I think the idea is to have Loney hit for the pitcher and Ethier for Pierre.

At least, that's what I hope

436
Loney already came in last inning.

oh yeah, Holliday, that's a keeper

Oh well, one more out and I get to watch the Bob Saget roast.

I know I'll get blasted for this, but Broxton IMO is not helping, at least this month.

396 I didn't forget "Manny & Slappy"; re-read my post. How could I forget those two while talking about defensive liabilities. Joe really rolled the dice tonight. He should have at least given Martin a true night off. Speaking of Martin, it seems to me that ever since the All-Star game he has been swinging somewhat for the fences and trying to pull everything. Did those other All-Stars have an adverse affect on Martin??Lately he reminds me a little of A.Beltre prior to his break-out year with the Dodgers.

2 games back is is what we're looking at...

415 If you like Elvis Coltello and math rock I got a band for you.

this also means Torre valued Sweeney over Ethier a few innings ago.

439 - it's pretty good.

434 - http://thppt.ytmnd.com/

g'ah

Does the Mac have a special character for a backwards K? I can't find one on my PC.

Boo.

I'm sorry fellas but I'm actually very disappointed at the blue tonight.

I hate this game. Can we go to a regular lineup tomorrow? Forget lefties/righties, or whatever. Just play your best players, please Torre?

Nothing like staying up til 1 to watch the Dodgers lose to send me off to bed in a bad mood.

443 - oh, I'm wholly predictable. I totally heart Elvis, Elvis is King, etc.

there is something in the water in Jamaica.

and not just the yoda

Disgusting game on so many levels.

452 - I'm so with you. It almost makes losses doubly worse.

Doesn't matter who's batting vs. Fuentes, the Dodgers are generally helpless. This game was lost innings ago when the defense stopped defending and the offense stopped hitting (after the 5th). They didn't deserve to win.

I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper Dodgers. Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called "Baseball Team," you and all your silly K-nig-hts.

454
Yoda is not water soluble anyways.

453 http://www.apolloup.com/

Brock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_the_Cat

Okay, night all. At least we don't have long to wait for the game that will hopefully erase the taste of this one. It better. Go yell at them Bowa. Thppt.

448 - haven't found one.

Tomorrow's a big game bc the Dbax are pitching Brandon Webb so they'll likely win.

Dodgers really do not need to be 3 games behind and having to play 4 games in Philly.

Good news is that De La Rosa (ERA 6.16) is pitching for the Rox, & Lowe is going for the Dodgers. Tomorrow's a must win.

I figured we fall behind a bit with the schedule here, but tonight's loss was bad. Gotta win tomorrow to stay 2 back.

460 Oh, I'm familiar with Bloom County and all the wacky gang. I was simply returning a non-word with a Watchmen non-word. Rorschach's "Hrm."

Ack.

462 - exactly. Thats why tonights loss was such a killer.

Macs have backward scripts to download. But they self-correct when you paste them on The Toaster.

I've tried a million times.

Its very possible that the Nationals will be on a 16 game losing streak when they host the Dodgers next Tuesday.

Nationals have lost 12 in a row, and have to play the Phillies tomorrow, and the Cubs over the weekend.

Kevin Kennedy, why don't you say that people are running on Juan Pierre?

459 - those guys have some pretty cool licks. Plus, a squirrel in a canoe! What could be cooler than that? I mean, just this morning my dog treed a squirrel! And like, I'm pretty sure one of my neighbors has a canoe!

We're 0-2 with the opposing lineup posted with the Dodgers lineup. I know it doesn't really mean anything, but that opposing lineup is cursed.

470

So is the boysenberry yogurt I bought.

Haunted yogurt?

You can call it Hogurt.

Or Boogurt

472
Nope. Hogurt is yogurt endorsed by Paris Hilton.

So who needs Santana when we've got scrappy vets like Danny Ardoin.

417

The annoying thing about that commercial is that he introduces himself as a physicist that can help me choose a flat screen tv. But, he offers no information that relates to his field as to why sharp is the best choice; he just gives me a history of what they have done. Why do I need a physicist to tell me that?

You can't give them the outs that we gave them, but there was no problem with Blake at first, Martin at third, some random person who I do not know in CF, and Danny Ardoin behind the dish.

Cognitive dissonance is a real pain sometimes.

470 Wait. I thought that the Maddux acquisition was the source of the curse.

477 Yeah, that was a pain. Torre just didn't want to admit that this current lineup screwed the game. There wasn't a point of playing Casey Blake at first today, we could have sat him down, and allowed somebody like Nomar to play there instead.

477 Also no problem w/Sweeney as the #1 option off the bench, Jones hitting .160 in over 200 AB's, Pierre taking AB's away from Ethier and giving up extra bases in CF, Falkenborg throwing high-leverage innings, etc.

I know how to turn those frowns upside down.

Watch an episode of Freaks and Geeks.

Why do beach volleyball teams have a short player and a tall one? Why not just have two tall ones?

481 I've watched ten episodes so far on my vacation! I've fulfilled my quota!

Cindy Sanders isn't even that hot. I don't know why Sam thinks she's all that.

483
You should check out Trailer Park Boys.

483
Because he wants his kids to be basketball players?

SHIA LEBOUF MAKES ME SAD.

I just checked Natasha Melnick out on IMDB and we were born only a few days apart and she looks incredibly weird now.

486
Disturbia angers me.

What kind of gall does it take to rip off Alfred Hitchcock so blatantly.

482
Beach volleyball players were all indoor players and they come from the background where you have a shorter player as a setter and a taller player as a blocker/hitter.

The indoor players are usually a lot taller than the beach players. There's a 6'7" woman on the USA indoor team.

487 Nick Andopolis's girlfriend Sara has aged the best, by far, of all the ladies on that show.

And I realize how hot Linda Cardellini is. Lizzy Caplan is ridiculous.

484 -- Trainwreck, how did you like the Trailer Park Boys black & white movie? I guess you won't be needing a copy of that now?

491
I loved how much greasier they are. The scenes with the animals were hilarious.

I would still like a copy to show friends, but if it is hassle then forget about it.

490
I am only 8 episodes in, but I did notice Lizzy Caplan in one episode and she looked really good.

Hmm. I think that I would not like to go through Chinese customs if I were carrying Misty May's mother's ashes.

492 -- It shouldn't be a hassle, but I would only ask my friend to duplicate it if you really wanted it.

The whole pet-assassins-for-hire angle was hilarious. Not exactly something PETA would endorse.

494
It looks like she carries the ashes in a prescription drug bottle. So the customs people likely won't search those.

495
I do really want it, so would love it if you could.

I thought the exact same thing. PETA would go insane if they saw this.

This beach volleyball match is outstanding!

Andrea Kraemer induces tears from kids.

I like where we stand. One of two things happens. Either we make the playoffs or we don't and Ned gets fired. Kevin Kennedy gets hired. I cancel my season tickets and save thousands of dollars. Its a win win.

Seriously, I don't think I can continue to hand over my hard earned money to Frank and the clowns.

Those are some happy women.

I would like to think I'd play better Ping Pong on an Olympic table, but I know that's not the case.

I miss Cory Wade and I never thought I'd say that. We have serious depth issues in the bullpen. Tonight's defensive alignment was a disaster but it was one bad game. It's tough enough with this Rockies offense but to give them 30 outs (at least) is asking to lose.

Derek Lowe is in big trouble tomorrow:

Matt Holliday vs. Derek Lowe:

17 for 30 with 1 HR 1.381 OPS

Brad Hawpe vs. Lowe:

11 for 28 with 3 HR's 1.290 OPS

Tough game coming our way tomorrow afternoon. Lowe faced Colorado earlier this season at Dodger Stadium, but that Colorado lineup did NOT have Holliday or Hawpe in it.

Tonight was just ugly across the board -- felt (IMO) more like a managerial loss than anything else.

I hate sports.

Lowe against the Rockies in a Dodger Stadium day game has an excellent chance of being very depressing. Just keep the ball down, please, Derek.

Beginning from the beginning (of this season),Jones, hired to be our masher, turns into a pumpkin, we lose Furcal, our real masher, we lose Saito, our closer, we lose Penny, a solid starter. No wonder we have games like this, a bunch of guys playing out of their normal positions making not-very-forced errors, and pitchers failing in situations they're not completely suited or used to being in. I'm a little surprised the Dodgers have been hanging as tight as they have. Oh, then I remember the division they play in. It's my impression (other's, as well, I'm sure) that the staff's showing signs of wear in several spots. Ned definitely made a couple of solid repairs, of late, but I think that those who have questioned whether they were worth the cost have a point. Too little, too late?

Thus far, I cannot describe how disappointed I am in Joe Torre.. Not because he is worse than most managers but because he is no better. His in game decisions are formulaic and unimaginative. A short bus monkey could follow Torre's slave like dedication to the righty-lefty thing. His refusal to play the best players is mind numbing. If he were a banker he would still be writing subprime loans. Torre's line-ups are no better and usually worse than Grady's. Frankly, Tracy managed his pitchers/bullpen better. I have not seen one thing from Joe Torre that demonstrates he earns his $4M salary.

deja vu all over again

It's as if you are Montresor or the Jigsaw Killer

Just a little further, into the catacombs. You'll love the Amontillado: I promise.

But back to 80s music.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Johnny Hates Jazz's "Shattered Dreams." But I'm guessing you probably haven't heard many of their other songs.

If you haven't heard their "Turn Back the Clock", you really should check it out. It's extremely catchy, and also somewhat poignant at times.

508 Some contrast, although I'm not particularly enamored with him. Torre does at least handle things with class. (gary bennett's arm, manny's hair, etc.) He doesn't seem to stick with bad decisions for very long. I really am into his idea of quality at bats. Going deep into counts is a good thing. He sometimes misses the forest for the trees but the idea is good. Overall, I don't think he's hurting the team in the long run, anymore than anyone else anyway...

512. He doesn't seem to stick with bad decisions for very long

He let Jones, Sweeny, Pierre and Dewitt all play way too long. My problem with Torre is that he sticks with bad decisions too long.

I'm disappointed with his use of Beimel, who I think deserves better than LOOGY status. Joe was the 7th inning guy last year and did a great job in that role.

I was surprised to wake up to find that the US women lost the softball gold medal game to Japan 3-1.

The US women lost the water polo final to the Netherlands in the final.

And in soccer, the US women are in a scoreless draw with Brazil.

Since these were all shown live, I feel I'm not spoiling anything.

I was sorry to see the way the game turned out. When I let myself go to sleep at about the sixth inning, I thought we might win it.
Actually 4-3 is not bad at all for the B team and several players out of position.
What is most worrying is Colorado( and to some extent the Snakes), echoing last years
late season drives after looking pretty vulnerable most of the year.

If he were a banker he would still be writing subprime loans.

I kind of see Torre as a guy who is rather traditional and sticks to the old school way of thinking. I kind of think that Torre the banker would have refused to write a subprime loan in the first place.

Though the subprime loan stuff is a mess, it did take a bit of imagination to cook up the whole process. A guy who relies on lefty/righty match-ups probably would have also relied on the tried and true asset/income verification and FICO scores when lending money.

RIP, Gene Upshaw.

522
In a weird twist, the NFL Players Union just got much, much stronger.

BTW, nice article on CI at Baseball Analysts!

513 I'll give you Pierre and probably Dewitt (the LaRoche situation is still an unknown). Sweeney is negligible even though Young is preferable... and at the time, I would have probably continued to make the mistake of playing Jones myself. He's got to lose that weight somehow :) Ethier and Kemp have had the majority of the playing time throughout the season. It may look like that is accidental but I'm not so sure it is.

Considering how stubborn most other managers are too - and I'm not saying it's right - Torre's upside negates his downside on most levels, last night not withstanding. I get down on Torre as well but overall, he seems like he's heading in the right direction.

Oh man, pancreatic cancer. My dad died of that. It's not pretty. Not that any cancer is a walk in the park, but pancreatic cancer is especially bad.

523
Thanks, and I'd like to thank Ivan Ochoa and Paul Lo Duca too.

526
They made your piece quite the topical article. That Timmermann, always on the pulse of baseball news!

525
We didn't know my dad had pancreatic cancer until they did an autopsy on him.

508

I can't help but concur with you LAT especially your thoughts on Jim Tracy, I always felt he managed plenty better than Little & now Torre.

I thought I was the only one that felt that way.

Thus far, I cannot describe how disappointed I am in Joe Torre.. Not because he is worse than most managers but because he is no better

I got in trouble for trying to make that point.

530

at the beginning of the season, I was hopeful you were wrong. Now I am convinced you were right.

I coach Pony baseball, Pinto Division. I am just as qualified as Torre, if not more, because, although I do play ALL my players, I play the best players at the key positions when the game is on the line. When the game is out of reach, I jumble it up and get the less experienced players nmore time in the key positions. If only Torre shared that philosophy. It may not be the best, but it's better than what I have been seeing this year.

531
Enabler!

530 - No, you didn't. And I really have to believe you understand that. After all, I've made the same point too.

You got in trouble for having made the point and then continuing to make it over and over and over and over again.

Manny with the Dodgers: 1.204 OPS
Dunn with the Diamondbacks: 1.129 OPS

Who will win in the end?

Who will win in the end?

If I were to guess, I'd give the DBacks a 64.03141% chance and the Dodgers a 35.37686% chance.

Related more to to the last thread than anything going on here, would you rather sign CC or Manny if the budget only allowed for one of them?

I lean toward CC.

537 CC, if for no reason except he'll be 28 and Manny will be 37.

538
On the flip side, not signing Manny probably means starting at least one of Pierre and Jones everyday.

It's like there's a stone on one side, and a firm location on the other.

532

That is how I coached our softball game last night. In the fifth inning we were winning 28-0. I'm sorry, but I don't think any team should be shut out in slow-pitch softball. So, for the 4th and 5th inning I benched myself and asked people if they were dying to play certain positions. We won 28-6, and I feel good about it.

539

What if you dfa Jones, unload Pierre with cash, and have a platoon of Young/Repko?

If Jason Repko is an answer, I don't want to play this version of "Jeopardy!"

I love the rollercoaster of baseball fandom. Reading the comments from last week up through Sunday (I was gone for much of that) things were pretty bright and cheery over here, understandably, as the Dodgers had some big wins and a bit of winning streak against some good teams. They've now lost two in a row and Torre's back to being a fool and the Dodgers have little shot and there's a big dark cloud over the team. Wheeeee! I forgot to take my Dramamine this morning.

Btw, if the Dodgers lose today I think I may take myself back to the mountains. They seemed to be doing better when I was there, so I'll blame me and go back into hiding.

Btw, I miss Cory Wade, too. What's the prognosis on when he returns?

539 Not signing CC means we get to see 25 starts from whatever terrible starter Ned decides to grab off the scrapheap. What's Rick Helling up to these days?

Hope NedCo will bust out his "go to contract" with CC...

542

"I'll take 'the rapist' for two hundred"

I wish we could resign Furcal, Manny and CC but I don't see that happening unless they can miraculously unload some other contracts.

Are there any other free agent outfielders we could sign, assuming we could unload Pierre and Jones? I am all for signing C.C. if we can, but I don't know how Frank will walk away from Manny after the love he has had this month.

543

Guilty. I think the biggest test will be what we do again AZ. That is where we can really take control.

Can anyone list the NL West standings prior to the Rockies crazy run last year? Man, that was nuts, right?

I don't know how Frank will walk away from Manny after the love he has had this month

The honeymoon won't last forever. If the Dodgers don't win the division (and Manny stops OPSing 1.2 or whatever), some of the love will dissipate.

Not signing CC means we get to see 25 starts from whatever terrible starter Ned decides to grab off the scrapheap.

But it may mean Manny for 150 games instead of Juan Pierre.

I can deal with watchign 25 crappy 5th starter Dodger games.

Its the 150+ of Juan Pierre that I cant deal with it.

550--No doubt. Dodgers fans will turn on Manny if the team drops to 5 or so games back and Manny OPS's only .860 or so.

Manny's hot start has probably heightend fan expecations and now they'll be disappointed if he doesnt hit .400 the rest of the year.

Whats the percentage chance that Manny gets boo'ed at some point the rest of the year? I'd give it 80+ percent.

Is Russ Martin the only Dodger player that has never been boo'ed?

549 - Not sure offhand; will look at the list on MLBTR for FA outfielders. But I'd be nervous, and I'm sure McCourt would be, if NedCo is still in charge, or whoever is in charge, of the Dodgers bringing in yet another expensive FA outfielder. Basically we've got Kemp and Ethier and everyone seems to agree now that they're the future. So with the Jones/Pierre/Manny (who would have to be re-signed) nexus, they'll have to make a choice on one of those, I'd imagine, and try to get rid of the other(s).

Maybe if there was someone solid and relatively cheap, they'll do it. I'd rather put the money into CC and re-signing Raffy, personally.

And yes, the AZ series(plural) will be crucial. As long as the Dodgers are within a game or 2 (or even 3 - there'll still be a month left after the first one coming up) they'll have a good shot.

551 Assuming Manny is a 60 or so run player offensively, CC is probably a better bet once Manny gives back his annual 20-25 runs with his glove.

540 On my softball team, if we're playing a team we know we'll beat easily, we draw numbers for batting and positions. Then every inning, everyone rotates one position to the right. It usually makes games interesting. If the other team makes it close, then we go back to our original positions.

555

Oh man, that would make it really interesting. I think it would make for a much closer game.

554 Yeah, but the Brewers are screwing with C.C.'s arm. What if he suffers an injury due to the overwork he's getting with the Brewers, and we have to pay for it?

Is Russ Martin the only Dodger player that has never been boo'ed?

That's funny. The fans at Dodger Stadium will boo anyone for any reason.

Y'know, it doesn't mean anything, but I like that the finale of Baseball Tonight's 'best three franchise players ever' series features the Dodgers.

557 What if James Loney shoots someone and gets life in prison?

CC has been healthy his whole career, and the screwing with his arm really only came in that last start, his pitch counts have been reasonable the rest of the time. If you're scared of signing him because he'll get hurt, you should just not bother going the free agent route at all.

560
Would it be life without parole?

Would it be so crazy to move Martin to 3b and bring up May?

Loney once shot a baserunner in Reno just to watch him die.

The fans at Dodger Stadium will boo anyone for any reason

Such as, for example, any of those ones being really bad at what they get paid a lot of money to do.

562 Not sure what the point of that would be.

And judging by the panic attacks Martin's defense at third last night caused people here, I wouldn't recommend more of that. (Though personally I think he's more than capable at third.) But Casey Blake's offense is much > than anything Lucas May would bring to the table right now.

562 Only if May was such a good hitter that he was better than any of the options available at third. Otherwise, what's the point?

Let's just hope we have a decent backup C and a manager who's smart enough to let Martin rest on the bench instead of 3B more than once a blue moon.

May is really close to becoming a non prospect.

We have a decent backup catcher in Danny Ardoin. Next!

567

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Do we have a good catcher in the farm system?

569 oh no....

569 Not that I know of.

569 My psychic senses predict that this comment will elicit much grumbling.

569 AJ Ellis, is interesting too old to be considered a prospect, great plate dicsipline though.

We've already traded our best guitarist/catcher prospect. Next!

I have been wondering, though, if anyone else is a candidate for conversion to catcher, as was the case with Martin and Santana. Bet they can do that with someone else if they get started soon.

Do we have a good catcher in the farm system?

Does Casey Blake count...?

That was an honest question...not trying to elicit a weeping fest over Santana.

573 Your backup catcher doesn't need to be a prospect.

Ellis, as I mentioned last night, seems like he'll make a solid backup catcher. Maybe the Dodgers will give him a shot to be that next season. If they get over their "the backup has to be a veteran!" mentality.

575 made me scratch my head and reach for my coffee and vitamins.

My prediction for the 2009 Dodgers:

C Martin (bench: Ardoin/May)
1B Loney
2B One of DeJesus/DeWitt/Hu
SS One of DeJesus/Furcal (1 yr/cheap)/Hu
3B DeWitt/some over-the-hill free agent
OF Manny/Kemp/Ethier (bench: Jones)
SP Bills/Kershaw/Kuroda/McDonald/Stults

In other words, a payroll stripped as bare as possible to pay Manny. No money for Penny, much less CC.

Underdog have you been watching too much MTV lately?

575 D. Young's he emergency catcher.

580

hmmmm

http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=4363

Looking at A.J. Ellis stats, he probably would have been given a shot as our starting catcher if Russell Martin wasn't here. He's caught in a numbers game.

579

I have a whole ritual for my vitamin intake.

581 - No, not at all. I was just confused by D4P. Thought maybe it was the lack of coffee or oxygen. Ah well, time to do some work so I can take a lil break to watch the Dodgers.

Has there been any word from Flanders regarding not grabbing Dunn before the D Backs?

587 He was asked but said he couldn't talk about other teams' players.

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

Dodgers lineup from the L.A. Times Dodgers blog.

A lineup full of sanity today.

Manny is a great short term fix, but to sign him over CC would be incredibly stupid.

543 - Rollercoasters are pretty common this time of year where individual games take on way more importance. Within two games, some extremely stupid decision-making has thrown us 2 games back in the Division. Yes, they played well over the past couple of weeks, but it just goes to show that with the Diamondbacks taking care of their business, we don't have the luxury of throwing out bizarre lineups and seeing how everything sticks. Torre needs to use some baseline intelligence at this point; the rest of the season is going to be a rollercoaster, methinks.

590 And incredibly typical from the folks who brought you Schmidt, Pierre, Jones.

575 - Berroa threw on a mask yesterday evening and kept Billingsley warm during the middle of an inning. God forbid that's Torre's supremely intelligent precursor to giving Martin AND Ardoin a breather one of these days. Unfortunately, with some of Torre's lineup decisions lately, I wish I was joking even to some marginal extent.

590 There was an article someone posted the other day that showed spending money on free agent pitchers almost never works. The 10 best staffs this year are all built primarily from within or via trade.

It's fairly routine for bench players to go warm up the pitchers. Sweeney does it as well.

594 I'm willing to make an exception for a lefty who throws 97 MPH and will give you 9 innings every start.

I don't know what McCourt's financial situation is, but I would sign Manny and CC, take the short term hit in payroll but smooth it out over the long term (even factoring in arb raises for the kids).

Right now, 2009 is roughly $95m with no moves (and includes Penny). Adding Manny ($20), CC ($20), and let's say one season of Furcal ($10), would add about $50m, making the payroll about $145m for next season.

2010 is sitting at roughly $65-$70m, so the Manny/CC duo pushes it to a more manageable $110m or so.

I'm assuming a lot, such as McCourt's limit is roughly $120m, but averaging that over a few years could work too. Plus, hopefully any additional playoff money will help ease the financial burden.

The competition is over: Ryan Dempster wins.

The guy is one of the few athletes I've ever met who would be allowed to come to my birthday party, if I had birthday parties.

Heck, he'd probably come to the next DT picnic and do balloon animals if we asked nicely.

For those who care about this sort of thing, he's performing next month with Second City.

597

I could live with this :)

I think signing CC over Manny (assuming we only have the money for one of them) would be smarter for many of the same reasons that have already been mentioned but also because of the volatile nature of a starting pitcher.

I am thinking especially of Brad Penny, the opening day starter coming off a great season and now at the end of the season he might be a middle reliever if we are lucky. Hypothetically we have a pretty good starting rotation without CC but that is assuming that no one gets injured, which is highly unlikely.

551 Also the fact that CC would only start 25 times versus 150+ starts of Manny is a little deceiving because when CC starts he touches the ball every single play. So if you do the math, which I won't, my guess is that their actual impact in terms of plays altered probably leans more towards CC.

598
he's performing next month with Second City

That's really cool. I would love to see James Loney do some work with The Groundlings.

we need to somen (sp?) our DT mojo powers today peepz!

602 I believe "summon" is the sp? you are looking for.

Over his last 29 games, Matt Holliday is only hitting .391/.489/.736. Yikes.

594 Has there ever been a time when signing a guy as good as CC actually didn't work out?

605 Roger Clemens in his last year with the Yankees? ~_~

606 He was like 50 at the time...

Brad Hawpe is like the mirror image of Pat Burrell. One provides horrible defense in RF; the other in LF.

2006-2008
Hawpe: 127 OPS+, -56 in plus/minus (ranked 24th, 29th, and 34th)
Burrell: 129 OPS+, -62 in plus/minus (ranked 29th, 31st, and 23rd)

I feel pretty sure CC will be a Yankee next year.

CC's professed a preference for coming to his home state of California next year if possible, and I doubt the Giants could take on his salary (nor is pitching what they really need). The Padres don't seem to want to pay much for anything, nor the A's (who are loaded with young pitchers anyway), and the Angels probably don't need him. They'd be our main competition for him here, though. So while he could still end up in NY or somewhere, if money is his only priority, his desire to return here could work in the Dodgers favor.

605
I was going to say Mike Hampton, but I still think CC is better.

Through Age 27 (just before FA)
Hampton: 121 ERA+, 3.5 BB/9, 6.1 K/9
CC: 118 ERA+, 2.9 BB/9, 7.5 K/9

As long as CC can avoid Coors, he should be fine. :)

605 Barry Zito wasn't as good as CC, but he wasn't chopped liver, and he tanked pretty spectacularly.

Mike Hampton is the other guy who I was thinking of.

605 Kevin Brown may count, but it depends on your definition of "work out". Admittedly, he was much older. So was Schmidt. Carl Pavano and Matt Clement were not as good as CC is. It's hard to find too many pitchers as good as CC. I would love it if the Dodgers find a way to add him this offseason. CC, Bills and Clayton are an awesome trio.

After signed by the Angels, Bartolo Colon mixed in a great year here and there with some pretty bad years.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, CC is great, but it doesn't always work out.

NPUT

612 Yeah, but his walk year with the A's wasn't a great year either.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zitoba01.shtml

He only had a 116 ERA+ in his walk year and a 113+ in the year before that. Which makes all the more surprising that the Giants gave him a $127 million dollar contract.