Sounds healthy.

to be honest, my mind can't even process that... that's just weird.

Home ERA: 2.18
Road ERA: 7.13

*-Well, weird to us, but I wasn't one of the Junction Boys.

http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/08/the-story-of-the-shake/

Imagine if a guy like Wakefield threw this pitch.

Expect? I'm thinking more along the lines of "hope for."

We might see McDonald tonight...

That's all he ever does. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

same 'ol story with the 'shake' if you don't keep it down it will be crushed.

I get the feeling that Manny could learn how to throw somebody out at the plate if he didn't do that silly overhand thing he does. Like he just flickers it back to the infield.

i'd love to have seen McDonald up here right now, but i can see why Ned did this PVL leanings & all.

that's pretty cool. any of you guys feel McDonald will get a start THIS season?

Oh well, good start still.

--

Oooooo, nifty catch, Bison!

And that's Antonelli's first ML hit.

Maddux isn't fooling many batters to start.

Now two nice gift runs. Maddux!

he's seen a total of 3 pitches in 2 AB's.

What happened with Maddux?

It's an out.

Jake Peavy must not be too thrilled that he signed that deal.

Man, he thought he had that 0-2 pitch to Giles.

What's the deal??

April - August: 17 HR in 891 PA
September/October: 13 HR in 153 PA

Ouch. Ack, pppttthhht.

At halftime, UCLA's defense gets an "A-" and their offense gets an "F-".

--

Okay, never mind, now that it;s closed to 4-2 I'll just hope for a win. Seeing the newbies will come later.

that at bat sweeney got should have went to a young player

ugh

where is forcier?

http://tinyurl.com/thebulldog

Kuo has 82 Ks as a reliever this season, and has an outside chance to join this 100-K club.

good 'ol Charley Hough made it also??

impressive.

{scratches top of head}

No interceptions for Craft on his first drive of 2nd half! He still looks bad, but not as awful!

http://tinyurl.com/5t9973

(I've been out of it for about a week now)

well gee, thanks for news.

It's the Dodgers way.

Out slumming it in Naperville and who appears at the table across from us but Mike Fontenot, the Cubs' starting SS. Kind of a fun moment.

3 in a row. I won't expect 5 more in a row to make up for the debacle of the last road trip, one step at a time, but I see good things happening this week.

I have to give the guy props for coming back so strong in the 2nd half. i would've curled up in the fetal position in the men's room after a first half like he had but he stormed back.

Wow, what a game. Their D kinda choked there on that tying Tenn. drive.

Yeah, and huge comeback for Craft. Have to give him his props.

Highlight of the game -- other than the fact it was my 2 year old's first Dodger game, and that my 5 year old caught a bag of peanuts from Roger and got his picture taken with Mr. Peanut -- was Maddox getting the standing O from fans behind 1st base after he slid hard into 2nd and prevented a double play in the 2nd.

Please forgive my run-on sentences tonight. Those of you with little boys, or who remember your boys when they were little, know how exhausting -- but rewarding -- it can be to take them to the park.

Btw, separated at birth?
ESPN's Mike Patrick
http://tinyurl.com/5jjlo6

and this guy from a Bugs Bunny cartoon:
http://www.kevinmccorrytv.com/hh2.jpg

Dodgers roster expansive all year

>> Kent is always a focal point of sorts, even when he's gone. Manager Joe Torre said that the dugout mood was especially loose during Sunday's win (Kent had returned to Los Angeles before Saturday night's game) and, responding to a question, acknowledged that Kent's serious demeanor might intimidate his younger teammates. <<

http://tinyurl.com/6mxy9o

Gammons has a new piece on the D'Backs and the Dodgers and the NL West. Gammons just praises the D'Backs, and then damn the Dodgers with faint praise. He repeats the rumor(that he started) that the Dodgers want to go with a Varitek or a pitcher-oriented catcher, Not Varitek himself. So I guess he changed his stance slightly. Also, he said Andre Ethier may be the best of the young Dodgers players.

But while the young Dodgers players went through a growing phase, compounded by what the coaching staff felt was too much hype as they got to the majors, they have begun to emerge. Matt Kemp still has his ups and downs, but they are the product of his growing up as a basketball player and being jumped to the majors with barely 1000 professional at-bats. Mattingly cites the constant improvement in the grind of his at-bats, and he's going to end up with 20 homers, 40 doubles and more than 80 RBIs despite being forced into the leadoff hole. James Loney keeps developing as a .300 hitter. Andre Ethier may well be the best of all the younger players, with intensity compared to Paul O'Neill.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers2-2008sep02,0,117123.column

The young players immediately gravitated to Ramirez, each one expressing their admiration for such a great hitter.

It bothered Kent, because as the team's resident veteran, he thought every one of them should be looking up to him, clueless when it came to understanding why they did not.

Or is "pitcher-oriented catcher" code for "all glove, no bat"?

I thought of you as the kids were coming through in a big way.

I put a more descriptive post up on BRO with my thoughts.

I wish we could play another game right now. Most excited I have been to watch this team in years.

I'm so done with the "West Coast" offense of the last few years that churned out unimaginative play calling (run-left, run-right, incomplete pass, then punt).

# of posters stating/implying they are giving up on the Dodgers' season on the Aug. 29 game chat thread (the loss to the D-Backs): about 8.

# of posters saying the same thing over the past three days combined: zero, as far as I can tell.

It's hard to give much credibility to the "giving up on the season" viewpoint when nobody is willing to say so during a winning streak.

227 231 Funny how even Kent's defenders start to criticize him as soon as he's not in the clubhouse. Torre better watch for trash cans outside of his office.

If you're still following the team and not rooting against them, you probably haven't really "given up".

I was explaining to my wife how overtime works and how it is the most exciting thing going on in college football and we are going to see a bunch of scoring, when Lincoln shanked the field goal. She dead panned to me "so when is all this scoring going to take place".

Only in the same sense the .500-ish Marlins (e.g.) belong in that list, too. The Cubs are on pace for a 100-win season.

251 - First place in the 2008 NL West doesn't strike me as a reasonable goal, though. The goal should be winning it all, and I just don't see how either of these trades get the Dodgers close enough to do that, especially given the cost.

The national media, or some of it, is now blaming the long road trip for Tennessee's loss. Oh please! How does that explain Fresno State dominating Rutgers or USC blowing out Virginia.

My guess is Tennessee isn't as good as we thought (big surprise) and UCLA is probably a lot better than we thought.

UCLA's defense is pretty darn good, as I might have been last year.

as it might have been last year...

I will be disappointed in Rick doesn't (already) have a spot on the obelisk.

That was nothing compared to 4+1 which was days later! I can never truly give up on the Dodgers.

It just isn't as much fun if the bandwagon takes a sudden turn and the lurch leaves you on the ground, gagging on the dust of the wheels as the wagon straightens out, and careens into a future you doubted.

I'd rather hang on hard just in case I won't miss something special.

He also grumbled aloud about how the Yankees are essentially out of it already with a better record than the Dodgers. I couldn't say much to placate him there other than "That's baseball" and "Teams are created to compete within their divisions so it's hard to compare" and other gobbledygook.

--

Off subject, but here's another athlete who should have considered a name change, the Gamecocks' QB:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3564901

Must have had fun growing up...

He hasn't given me a reason yet to feel this way but I can't help but get nervous anytime a ball is hit out there.

Awesome! I really look forward to those every year.

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.

Speaking of which, I was pleased to read in the newest entry that Joshua Lindblom "continued to show plus dominance and good command." I don't think I've heard dominance graded like that before. Can a player have average (or below average) dominance?

http://tinyurl.com/Lindblom

http://tinyurl.com/HurdleHatesDodgers

I wonder how Lindblom's velocity is as a starter now.

(K Allowed x 9 / IP)

Measures how many strikeouts a pitcher allows per game equivalent. BENCHMARK: The best pitchers will have k/9 levels of 5.6 or higher.
----------------------------------------------
So if a pitcher has dominance > 8 I consider that plus dominance. I was a bit over zealous since it is based on such a small sample size but you have to like what Josh is doing so far.

Remember that comment of moving Loney out for Nomar so Torre can load up on right handers? Never mind that now.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10358903

That is a surprisingly decent article. I don't really agree that the Dodgers should be "Yankees West." Original Flavor Yankees aren't doing so well with their own strategy are they?