Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
With time and a few victories giving us some distance from the Dodgers' 13-16 August, I wanted to see what the month looked like in the rear-view mirror.
Look at this comparison:
OBP SLG OPS Runs Team
.340 .442 .783 115 Dodgers
.324 .407 .731 131 Opponents
The Dodgers' OPS in August was .052 better than their opponents. The splendid Tampa Bay Rays, by comparison, have out-OPSed its opponents by .056 this season; the Angels are only at .008. At a minimum, the Dodgers should have had a winning record in August - and with a winning record, of course, the team would be in first place right now, unless you believe in the Butterfly Effect.
So what happened? The main thing was that in one-run games, the Dodgers went 2-7. (In fact, the Dodgers have lost nine of their past 11 one-run games since July 28.) Included in that time is a rather remarkable stretch in which the Dodgers played six one-run games in 11 days that were decided in the ninth or 10th innings: the two late losses in San Francisco, the two rallies at home to defeat Philadelphia, a home loss to Milwaukee in the 10th and a home loss to Colorado in the ninth.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers dominated their opponents from August 1-21, with an OPS more than 100 points higher than they allowed. They went 11-8 (.579) in those games. While that's nothing to sneeze at, they could have built a cushion to lessen the impact of the ensuing season-worst eight-game losing streak, in which the Dodgers were not only outcored 54-15, they were out OPSed .823 to .687. It wasn't just a lack of clutch hitting; it was a team-wide collapse, but as endless as it seemed, it did end.
The Dodgers concluded the month with a sharp couple of victories at Arizona against Dan Haren and Brandon Webb. Those two games, surprising as they might have been, were more representative of the team's ability in August than the losing streak was.
This might not mean anything going forward. The Dodgers' could easily avoid the late-inning losses of August, but Manny Ramirez just as easily go into an untimely slump. There's no doubt that the sweeps at Philadelphia and Washington were embarrassing, but if nothing else, I'd like to minimize questions about the Dodgers' competitive ability or character. They had some big losses - too many - but they also had some big wins. Playing a schedule that included playoff contenders Arizona, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Milwaukee, the Dodgers either won, or lost by only one run, 20 of the 29 games. That might not spell pennant winner, but it might give you a reason to keep watching during these final four weeks.
That, and four wins in a row...
He sent Kershaw out in the eighth at 84 pitches with a reliever warming up, ready to insert at a moment's notice. This was not a big deal.
Oh, and no offense, but I'm already sick of talking about Kershaw's innings tonight and Torre. The win was great. That is all.
All tonight needs to top it off is a good ol' Ribs and Fashion Show.
I realize this is tepid nerd news, but it has got me oddly excited.
Since resolving to be happy with the team even as losers (which I still contend is not on par with giving up), they've only won. I can deal with that.
I just think that there were so many circumstances in confluence tonight which made it a really bad choice. You've got:
- A big lead
- A young pitcher already into uncharted waters in terms of innings pitched
- Expanded rosters giving you plenty of pitching options
Why push your luck with wasting Kershaw's bullets in a game like that?
And I just wanted to use the word akimbo after being in the LAT Xword, so I shall stand down to avoid belaboring it.
Hopefully good Hiro shows up tomorrow for hopefully my last internet-stand-in game scored.
What I wanted was Kershaw out after 6, and McDonald getting a chance to taste the bigs in a low-pressure situation with a big lead against a lousy team.
I could have lived with Johnson, Stults, or Proctor too.
vr, Xei
I was more perplexed at letting Biemiel pitch two innings since Torre been using him as a semi-LOOGY for this year, but that worked out too.
Two cheap runs added to his ERA.
vr, Xei
http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/dodgers/
Good stuff, I never would have realized it without you pointing it out.
I was surprised that Torre let Clayton pitch the 8th but these decisions are not made in a vacuum. They knew his pitch count, I'm sure they talked to Russ about his stuff and to Clayton about how he felt. He's not a baby, he's a major league pitcher and the pitch count and how hard he had worked was negligible.
Sucks to see Pierre get hurt when he was finally showing some value by being an excellent speed asset off the bench.
T.J Simers: Are you actually playing Juan Pierre today?
Joe Torre: I am.
T.J Simers: What? What? What possessed you? What moved you? What...what are you thinking?
Joe Torre: Well. Um, I'm just thinking I wanted to get Matt Kemp out of there for a day. He's forcing it a little bit so I just thought I'd put Juan in there.
T.J Simers: He's still better right.
Joe Torre: I understand.
T.J Simers: Anybody else you're thinking about resting the next few days?
Torre: I was hoping you would volunteer.
Furcal is what this team is missing from being a real playoff mover and shaker.
Furcal
Loney
Manny
Kemp
Ethier
Blake
Martin
DeWitt
You look at a pitcher's pitch count on a given start. You look at his innings count to see if he's been pitching over a period of time. The big thing is that this is Torre's first time letting Kershaw go over the innings limit, and he did it when Kershaw had a low pitching count and was cruising for the most part.
Yankees says they're going to put Joba in the bullpen again to start '09.
Wasn't a big fan of the last album, and I think Castaways gets untouched, but I'm also a tad more...eclectic in my music tastes, so I often squash my feelings on this particular forum.
Still, glad to see that the Decemberists were able to dig themself out of the early "Pirates + Neutral Milk Hotel*" typecast they got early on.
* - Also authors of the most moving piece of art, personally, of my life.
Cubs may have lost Carlos Zambrano.
http://tinyurl.com/6x6h3u
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of my favorite melodramatic indie rock records ever.
http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=405
http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=405
Torre: We talked about it. And his pitch count was so good. And we sort of wanted him to get past the seventh just for a psychological thing. He was anxious to go back out there. And the fact that the second hitter was left handed we were basically going to leave him out there for the two hitters.
More...
Torre: The big part of it was pitch count and the fact that he really didn't have to labor tonight. You know where there were men on every inning. That stuff wasn't the case."
Question: Is he (Kershaw) basically pitching without restrictions?
Torre: To save one inning at this juncture it doesn't really matter.
Torre was asked about the set 170 innings pitched limit.
Torre: It's still something to look at and if it's something we need to address later on we'll do it but right now we're trying to win to get to where we need to go.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go
Songs: Ohia - mi sei apparso come un fantasma
Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
Panda Bear - Young Prayer
Wilco - YHF
The Wrens - Meadowlands
Spiritualized - ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
Iron & Wine - Creek Drank the Cradle
Various honorable mentions to Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, and Sufjan Stevens songs.
http://tinyurl.com/6jjghh
TODAY'S LAST word comes from Sara Baron-Recalde: "I was an athlete at Berkeley playing field hockey. When I was a sophomore my coach called me to her office. She said this may sound a little weird, but you are getting a scholarship from Jeff Kent. Up until that point in time the only scholarship a field hockey player was getting was for books, but from that point on half of my tuition was paid for by Kent. He paid for others as well. I graduated and have my parents and Jeff Kent to thank for not having to repay any student loans. He gave me a break, maybe you all should give him one."
And tick off Kent -- are you crazy?
(I just graduated from Cal btw. I wish Kent could've helped me out with my tuition; should have taken up women's field hockey.)
(Also, my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel song is "Candy Coated Dreams". Love that song.)
.256/.322/.356 That is non-terrible for a SS.
And in fact, it's way better than Nomar
.222/.247/.395
Both in ~90 plate appearances. Hu is unlikely to do better than that, so say hello to our best offensive option at shortstop.
Am I reading Jon's chart correctly that the Dodgers out-OPS'd their opponents by .050 in August yet scored 16 fewer runs? That seems hard to do.
Nice thread overall, excellent late morning coffee read.
I was at Berkeley around the time Kent was. It was the Reagan Era. Even Berkeley's counterculture had gone underground a bit then.
Rule 5!
And regarding the D's "bad" luck in August; I prefer to look at the good luck side. The Dodgers were really bad the second part of August and still had the fortune to be within relatively easy striking distance of the Snakes. Besides, isn't the hard part of our remaining schedule over, so that the D's have an easier schedule than the Snakes from here out?
I'm still not happy that Torre ran him out there for the 8th inning, but I guess I'm ok with that move if it was for psychological reasons. That's what they pay Joe the big bucks for.
Francisco Rodriguez meet Steve Green. Mr. Green meet Mr. Rodriguez.
http://tinyurl.com/5595rb
Just a lot of garbage.
I'm here! Agree with most everything you said besides resigning Furcal.
It's a nice day for some Syd Barrett, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBgr3da2yDM&feature=related
Gene Wojciechowski talks about Joe Torre.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3565316
Jerry Crasnick grades several FA signings from 2007 including Kuroda, and Jones.
Seems Andre Gigante sees things a little bit differently than
Hippie Jeff Kent.
Hippie Jeff Kent
The idea of Kent hitchhiking across country as a longhair in a VW Bus delights me.
I wonder if the Dodger players in Midland (Great Lakes), Michigan get dropped off in nearby Saginaw.
Then it takes them four days to hitchhike from there.
82 Wait, no, wasn't Jeff Kent in "Two Lane Blacktop"?
http://jockbio.com/Bios/Kent/Kent_numbers.html
In 1998, Jeff and Dana launched Women Driven, a scholarship program for female athletes at his alma mater, the University of California
http://tinyurl.com/6cqf3x
87 Why does Hu/Rafa sound like a kibbutz in Israel?
Because pitchers don't get angry throwing to A.J. Ellis?
He says George Brett was the toughest guy for him to get out.
And that Michigan will win 8 games this year.
http://tinyurl.com/6ge3f8
Michigan's basketball team will win more than 8 games.
The football team, um... no.
Keith Law has a list of the top 60 prospects for the draft in 2009. Stephen Strasburg is number one.
http://ballhype.com/video/fernando_perez_fakes_out_catcher/
It is just good blogging etiquette for the Dodgers to oblige them then.
If "So Weird" ever wanted to come back, there's at least one episode storyline!
Eric: Hey Rob, here's a million dollars.
Rob: Oh great, now I have to pay taxes on it.
If there were no one else on base, the catcher could just sit down on HP and wait for the runner to try to get back, but if there were other runners (and less than 2 outs), doing so would probably cost some bases, so it seems like the runner ought to be obliged to head directly for the plate.
Them's fightin' words.
#58 says hello!
(Niese was born on my Mom's 50th birthday though, as well as Game 7 of the last Mets WS win)
The runner will be called out on that play if he goes back to the dugout.
The part about leaving the dirt circle applies to players who abandoned their effort to reach on a dropped third strike.
Jim Callis: (2:37 PM ET ) Yes. Lambo might be the best unhyped young hitter in the minors.
Jim Callis: Yes.
Basically yes, but, I shall add this caveat:
Would you put your entire trust into the Brewers bullpen? The Mets Bullpen? The DBACKs' bullpen? The Cubs bullpen, even?
All four of those teams are close to a playoff spot, but I'd be hard pressed to think any of the above can hold leads with their middle relief.
I have to disagree with this one...
Matt (LA, CA): Scott Elbert or Homer Bailey?
Jim Callis: Bailey.
Billingsley and Niese are the only two major leaguers to come out of Defiance Senior High School.
And then there's all those players they had to unload to get Manny/Blake. The million dollars analogy is flawed; it's more like, here's a million dollars, but only if you give up your firstborn. And you still have to pay taxes on it.
The trades already happened; we can't change the past. Are you actually saying you don't care if the Dodgers make the playoffs, because they aren't going to advance anyway?
I want the Dodgers to succeed long term too -- the Pete Carroll "win forever" mantra comes to mind -- but what's the point of being a fan if you can't enjoy the pleasures of a playoff experience?
We don't have the type of budget Pete Carroll does though.
Couldn't resist.
Zing! I deserved that for my soft AFC West stances over the last week. :)
I think that kind of creativity is beyond Ned Colletti's pay grade.
Something like that. For me, the difference is between Lucy pulling the ball away before Charlie Brown can kick it, and holding it down for a change -- but punching him square in the nose instead.
Why can't a best of 5 happen? That is the format of the first round.
Ding Ding Ding
Maybe covering the Angels and Dodgers has split Rob into two negatives.
129 Wow.
Ah, I misunderstood your point. My bad.
All the Cub fans out here in Illinois have gotten really into the NL West race - pulling for the Dodgers like crazy b/c they don't want Webb/Haren and don't think we'd win 1 game even if it was a best of 15 game series.
Oh yeah, and lets not have every ball hit past the infield caught by a Brewer somehow.
I think they are disjoint sets.
85% of the world works. 50% of those people post on blogs while at work.
Draft is tonight at 7:15.
Yeah.
Andy Marte says hi. I do have kind memories of Josh Phelps as he won me some nice coin because of his debut season when he qualified at catcher.
But yes, the new update is incredible--even if its what it should have been from the start. Glad to see they seem to have a pretty good ObjC development team over there.
http://tinyurl.com/5qfeld
2-0 STL
Maybe Ned won't feel like talking to people at a team function and it will change everything.
Don't get me started on the Philly fans though.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=pedrodu01
On fire, 124 OPS+ for a defensive whiz 2nd baseman.
Overall, he has finally pushed me to say that he has progressed this year. I thought he was stuck at the level he was at (which was alright) but he has definitely shown more power this year than in previous years, while keeping the rest of his game similar.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.