20 years ago, I dated a woman who was medieval English literature expert. She knows the Canterbury Tales back and forth. She has a t-shirt for her baby daughter that reads, "Mommy teaches Medieval Lit, Because That's Where the Money Is."

Chaucer was probably my favorite English class. Not only was it fun to "learn" Old English, but some of the stories were naughty.

The Canterbury Tales are in Middle English, not Old.

I was corrected about that a lot. It was the 1988 version of Mark/Mike Sweeney.

I wonder if I was told that it was Old, or if I just forgot. I'm guessing the latter.

I was expecting some Old English from Jon today. Instead we get this low-brow stuff.

So who's the corrupt Priest that sells indulgences? Angel Berroa?

4 If it were Old English, you would actually have had to "learn" it. It has a beautiful and very different grammar from modern or middle English. It is a lovely language.

7
I took Chaucer back in 95, so I'm guessing I was told it was Middle English and that I since forgot.

Today is a kind of day I hate Fantasy Baseball: to start or not to start Max Scherzer?

Today is a kind of day I hate Fantasy Baseball

You mean, the kind that ends in "y"...?

If you were trying "Beowulf," then you would be getting some Old English.

Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum,

I didn't take any class that required me to read "Beowulf." Or "The Canterbury Tales."

No wonder that woman broke up with me 20 years ago. We couldn't communicate!

I read "Beowulf" in high school, but I don't remember it being in an unreadable language. It must have been translated into modern tongue.

All I really remember about Beowulf is the funny names, like "Ulfgar" and "Wolfgar".

And there might have been a "Hrothgar" in there too.

has there been any talk lately of expansion? I ask because I would suspect that an AL West team in Vegas would be one of the places MLB would look to expand. This might be a reason why the Dodgers are considering not keeping their AAA team in Vegas. Though the facilities issue is probably most likely.

Look at Jon goin all medeivel on us.

15 - I believe there has been little to no talk lately of expansion.

17 - yeah, i didn't think so.

In fact, there was talk of contraction just a few years ago.

The Pats best QB Matt Cassel just threw a TD.

Lineups:

Diamondbacks:
Drew, SS
Eckstein, 2B
Dunn, 1B
Jackson, LF
Young, CF
Reynolds, 3B
Upton, RF
Snyder, C
Scherzer, P

Dodgers:
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Ramirez, LF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
Kemp, CF
DeWitt, 2B
Berroa, SS
Kershaw, P

Isn't it a little early to be looking forward to next season (April)? And an inopportune moment, just as we push ahead in the division? This verse would have been more appropriate if we had continued the losing streak and were just waiting 'til next year. I'm sure some Chaucer expert here could find us a more timely excerpt from the Tales, if less familiar than the Opening Day.

(It must be hard to keep coming up with these Kershawesque puns. Did you figure when you started I and II you might be dredging for XVIII with a few more still to go?)

That's a good lineup for the D-backs.

20 - grrrr, I've got Brady starting in one league. At least I have Moss in the other league.

The Padres starting lineup today has two position players batting under .100 and another guy batting .120.

The leadoff hitter is batting .077 and the #2 hitter is at .120.

4 You can console yourself with the fact that while Middle English isn't Old, it is, y'know, old.

You were just an errant shift key away from being slightly more correct!

25

Ouch.

25 - hopefully they'll have such a line up the next three days as well.

Also, why is there a picture of Vader on the Dodgers' schedule for the 16th? Clone Wars?

NFL finally gets around to using Morrissey's "Everyday is Like Sunday" for a commercial. Surprised it took so long.

22 - Why do you look at it as looking ahead to next April instead of looking back to last April?

22 - As for the headlines, it helps that my standards have been low.

How about this:
In th'olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour,
Of which that Britons speken greet honour,
All was this land fulfild of fayerye.
The elf-queene, with hir joly compaignye,
Daunced ful ofte in many a grene mede.
This was the olde opinion, as I rede;
I speke of manye hundred yeres ago.
But now kan no man se none elves mo,
For now the grete charitee and prayeres
Of lymytours and othere hooly freres,
That serchen every lond and every streem,
As thikke as motes in the sonne-beem,
Blessynge halles, chambres, kichenes, boures,
Citees, burghes, castels, hye toures,
Thropes, bernes, shipnes, dayeryes,
This maketh that ther been no fayeryes.
For ther as wont to walken was an elf,

28 A Clone Wars related give-away perhaps.
Although, not sure Vader will be in the series at all, as the Clone War predates him. The series doesn't start 'till the 3rd though. Did you see the movie? I heard it was not very good.

Underdog hath holpen the Dodgers seeke winneth and maken melodye.

So you mean "A Knight's Tale" wasn't historically accurate?

Boy, there are some ugly NFL games today.

And why did the New York Favres just go for a two point conversion when they were up 13-7 in the 2nd quarter?

28 It's an ad for the video game, "Star Wars: the Force Unleashed."

33 - I saw the Clone Wars minisodes that ran on Spike (I think) a few years back. My understanding is that the movie is basically the same as those minisodes.

36

It's the New York Bretts.

15. There has been talk of contraction more recently than expansion and rightfully so. This year is going to make it clear that something has to be done about Tampa. Miami ain't winning any All-Star game hosting either.

From the press notes:

Most Strikeouts vs. LA Dodgers in a Season

(since 1958) Source: STATS, LLC

AB K

Pancho Herrera, 1960 Phi 74 33
Bobby Bonds, 1969 SF 71 31
Chris Young, 2008 Ari 68 27
Pancho Herrera, 1961 Phi 65 27
Preston Wilson, 2003 Col 71 24
Mike Cameron, 2007 SD 75 24

36
Apparently their kicker got hurt. The TD was scored on a 4th down play in FG territory because they have no kicker to attempt the FG.

Apparently their kicker (Mike Nugent) is no Craig Hentrich.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/09/07/the-brief-wondrous-life-of-angel-berroa/

Joe Posnanski on Angel Berroa.

41
Pancho Herrera had a 118 OPS+ in 1960 (.281/.348/.455).

Against LA he was .176/.262/.243
Against the rest: .299/.363/.491

He was like the Hee Seop Choi of his day. He had two seasons of 118 & 103 OPS+, and was out of baseball after his age 27 season.

40 Relocation, over contraction. A team in Las Vegas, Portland, or a second team in a major city like Dallas, or Houston. Or baseball near Tenn. There's a bunch of good options for the Rays and Marlins.

From reading some mainstream copy about today's game, I don't get the sense a lot of people realize that Scherzer has better numbers than Kershaw, admittedly most of it coming in relief.

B-R-E-T-T-S! BRETTS! BRETTS! BRETTS!

Today at the game I will be on the edge of my seat.
Another Kershaw win is what I seek.

43 - Nice article.

The other day I asked here if the Dodgers' LOB numbers are much higher than average. With their offensive struggles most of the year, I'd think so. But no one replied, for whatever reasons.

What is the MLB average? I noticed that even yesterday, while scoring seven runs, the team still had 22 LOB.

Thanks.

http://tinyurl.com/5vcf6s

Wow. The payroll landscape is entertaining enough to take a peek. The Yankees payroll is nearly TEN times the Marlins! And the Marlins have a better record. And the Rays payroll (29th) is more than twice the Marlins (30th).
Also didn't realize the Dodger payroll is nearly twice the D-Backs.

team still had 22 LOB

The Team LOB was only 8, which I'm guessing means that scoring 7 runs was pretty good.

50 - 1) I recall someone did reply.

2) You're misreading the stats - you're looking at the total of the individual players' LOB, which involves redundancy.

Per Bill James Online:

The hottest hitters in baseball at this moment are:

Andre Ethier 106°
Shin-Soo Choo 104°
Manny Ramirez 99°
Kelly Johnson 99°
Magglio Ordonez 98°

The Cardinals lead the majors in LOB at 1080. The Braves and Red Sox are second at 1070.

The Dodgers have 965.

The Angels have the fewest at 898.

I would guess that OBP is a good predictor of LOB.

What about LOB%?

55 Where is that stat?

52, 53. Thanks.

53. 1) The LOB question was one of a two-parter. Underdog, I think, answered the other part, which was about RISP.

46 - which was why I elected to look at his splits as a starter/reliever. He's got a 3.00 ERA as a starter.

The Padres score five times in the third at Milwaukee thanks to errors by Hardy and Hall.

Tall Chris Young, a really bad hitter, had a double.

30 That's a good point. OK, historical restrospect. The dawing of hope last spring, recent sightings of a minotaur in spring training and upper Florida, now all coming to fruition in today's game, with Kershaw XVIII in the chance to solidify the team at the top of the standings. I'll buy it.

32 Well, OK. I like the dayeryes, anyway.

Apologize if this has been mentioned before, but Scherzer himself mentioned that he doesn't know if he'll be able to throw 50 or 100 pitches today, based on his fatigued shoulder.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080906&content_id=3428283&vkey=news_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10401233

Dilbeck on Billingsley.

Is this the youngest matchup of starting pitchers in some time?

65
That question doesn't lend itself to being answered very meaningfully...

65 Didn't Kershaw face Hamels this year?

65 Hmm... I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that Randy Johnson will be turning 45 in a matter of three days.

Meanwhile, Kershaw and Scherzer have only 44 years between them.

The most interesting game of all being pitched by Tall Chris Young in Milwaukee.

65 Johnny Cueto(22) lost at LA against Chad Billingsley (23) in June.

Wikipedia has Kershaw as the youngest player in the majors at the moment. I think Scherzer's younger than Hamels, so this would be the youngest pitching duel this year.

65
Thursday, the Nats-Braves game features these starters:

Shairon Martis (21 years, 158 days)
James Parr (22 years, 190)

For a total of 43 years, 348 days

A combined 44 years, 228 days

Today's matchup is a total of 44 years, 214 days, with Kershaw (20.172) and Max Scherzer (24.042).

The August 3 Nats-Reds was close, at 44.228, with Collin Balester (22.058) and Johnny Cueto (22.170).

Casey Blake will be in high demand this offseason. As a third basemen, his only real competition is the fragile Joe Crede. Blake can play 1B, 3B, RF and LF. He's a good fit for the Dodgers to resign but, according to Rosenthal, he may want to go closer to his Iowa home.

From mlb trade rumors.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

69 Milwaukee is one of the last teams I'd expect to be interestinged this year. I'm expecting Braun to de-interesting it this inning though.

Steve Quis, the Vasgersian replacement for the Padres, just noted Chris Young doesn't have a complete game in his career.

74 R. Braun grounds out to 3rd.

The New York Bretts win on an interception play in the Dolphins end zone.

Maybe the stars are lining up for the Dodgers.

It took an assist from the postponement of whatever other TV game yesterday, but for the first time I can recall, the Dodgers were on TV twice in a row here in TN, Friday night and yesterday afternoon. Usually the team is on just a handful of times here, if that.

An added bonus was that they outclassed the Snakes both times. How about making it 3?

I think a bigger surprise in Milwaukee is that the Padres have scored 10 runs with the lineup that they are using today.

Maybe the Brewers are a bad team.

Yeah, today's game is not starting at 1:10 PM due to a ceremony at Dodgers Stadium.

Or not. I didn't realize the ceremony wasn't live.

El Presidente and his 5 K are on alert.

I've got Vin again! What a week, as well as winning, I've been able to see and enjoy almost every one.

Drew singles.

Forceout! HECK YEAH!

Loney channeling Keith Hernandez.

Eckstein not exactly "leading" the DBacks to the postseason yet.

Gape Kapler retires Tall CY's perfecto.

Nothing more to see in Milwaukee.

Move along.

That's not good Kershaw. That's not good at all.

Too bad that sweet 3-1 curve was ruined by the walk.

Crowd does not like this ump at all.

I get the feeling we'll see James McDonald today.

Cual Chris Young es mas overrated:

1. Tall
2. Short

Can't expect Kershaw to last past six innings today. Six if we're lucky.

exhale!!

Nice job Clayton! The crowd really willed him through that one.

very tough first inning.good job kershaw

And Kershaw escapes the jam. Awesome.

well that was about as dreadful an inning one can have and not give up a run.

95 Alto o bajo?

Whew. That was big.

Kershaw is not going to be able to go deep today. Just due to the importance of the game, I'd make sure McDonald or Stults was ready to come in at any time. Kershaw skirted out of that 1st inning, but if he doesn't show better control fast I would take him out sooner rather than later.

Only Vin would explain heterochronia to us in the first inning.

If you can put yourself in the place of D'back fans watching this series, they must be really disgusted. Probably some have already kicked in their TV screens.

Most of Clayton's fastballs were 96 MPH, and the last couple were 97, so I think he is over-throwing a bit, sacrificing control and command. He knows it is a big game, so he is feeling the pressure.

I can't see Joe using McDonald, unless there is a blow-out.

Free baseball in ATL.

After Mike Hinckley beat Chipper Jones with the game on the line.

106 "Probably some have already kicked in their TV screens"

A neighbor of mine in high school put a hole in his screen shooting a BB gun at a German soldier sneaking up on Vic Morrow during an episode of "Combat."

There's no rule against talking about Joe McDonald?

They are hitting the ball hard off this guy.

Manny is an amazing hitter.

107 The Prime Ticket gun has him at 94/95 for most of his fastballs, but even that is faster than he normally throws his fastball so I still agree with you.

LUCKY LONEY.

Arizona's defense hoses them again.

Scherzer is an extremely fast pitcher. Don't konow how long he can throw in the upper 90's though.

114 Gameday had them 96/97.

Wow, I didn't realize Kemp was struggling. OPS below .800

116 Your handle should be changed to have something to do with defense. Maybe channel Falling Down and go with D-Fens.

Good start. AZ comes up empty, the Dodgers come up full. And, yeah, I don't expect Kershaw to go very deep in this game - not with the number of good pitchers they have in the pen right now.

Eckstein trying to kill Upton but fails in the attempt.

116 Are you saying that Orlando Hudson makes that play?

Oh ye con uva.

123 Ojeda maybe?

119 His OBP is .338 and his SLUG is .462 so how is his OPS .799? You've got some 'splainin to do Yahoo.

123 More of the watching Conor Jackson lumber his way out to catch Manny's ball.

Jackson does play deeper, has more range and is taller, so maybe he does.

okay at bat for Kemp?

well, luckily Scherzer had a terrible inning too. Unluckily, we have 3 auto-outs next inning to give him a break. But the damage is done.

126.
Well now its below 800 for sure.
Just glad Ethier is hitting and not exposing Kemp so much.

127 Yeah but that ball hit the wall in the gap in left center on a line, unless you think he should have held Manny to a long single, I'm not sure what else he could have done.

119 Kemp hates to walk. He won't have a decent OPS unless/until that changes.

129 No faith in the only back to back HR hitters this year for the Dodgers?

131 I thought it would have been catchable if there was someone with even decent range out there.

I saw story that called Kershaw "skinny." Nonsense. Billingsly is chunky. Kershaw is not built like him. But he is definitely not skinny. He's a big guy. Played center on his freshman football team in high school.

126 Most likely rounding. They probably round AFTER the addition for OPS, but round at 3 digits for OBP and SLG.

Jeff Kent will disagree but maybe if Kemp was batting 2nd he'd be faring better? Who knows.

134 Okay but I think that one was a double all the way.

Kershaw doesn't have it today. Torre should consider an early hook.

128 Not in my book. It was nice that he took 6 pitches to record the out, but he swung at 5 of them and they were not exactly in similar locations. Kemp is still mostly hacking, but his bat speed and power let him get away with a lot.

Is there a reason why Conor Jackson is playing left field? Dunn in left and Jackson in 1st would be better defensively for the D'Backs.

Oops. That was weird.

Okay, nice K-Kershaw.

142 Nice K? He nearly walked the pitcher.

Kuo should see some action today.

129 Auto-out my foot!

143 Someone's a Negative Nelly today

129 Indeed.

144 Shouldn't you be cooking?

146 I prefer to think of it as honest.

149 You must love LA.

Recently, about the Mike/Mark Sweeney bit, Bob H said--

"It's our fault for not giving M. Sweeney a nickname. How about Robot Made of Snails?"

I suggested "Sofor" Sweeney a while back--as in "Struck Out For" whomever. Highly appropriate then, tho at least he's making some contact now.

Maybe the best nickname would be DFA Sweeney. That's highly unlikely. Lindsey, Tiffee, Griffin, or Jones from Vegas probably would do as well, no matter Sweeney's PVL history.

I hope not to see Sweeney at bat with the Dodger season on the line.

143 My net connection is apparently running at Middle English speed at the moment, that was supposed to be a post from the previous K! So slooowwww.....

Russell Martin. Time to get a hit.

The Dodgers got another break on that one. Let's take advantage Russ!

Francisco Rodriguez: He can save ...
FIFTY-FIVE

141 Dunn does not look good in LF, from what I recall.

149 Calling DeWitt and Berroa auto-outs with how well they've been doing lately is pretty Negative Nellyish

is Paul channeling I Love LA today?

158 Maybe they're one and the same.

157 Only if you believe in the concept that how a guy did in his last 15 PAs is more relevant to how he will likely do in a current PA than his "true talent". Since "hot streaks" (and "cold streaks") have been shown to completely lack predictive value, I guess I don't see the relevance of your comment.

Manny is a defensive player.

Phillies move to within one game of the Mets with a chance to tie tonight.

Hamels vs. Santana on ESPN.

160 I'm sending you a box of puppies ASAP

159 I have never posted under any name other than this one on this board. On any other board it has either been this "nick" or "aaeamdar".

160 I'll give you Berroa, but this is DeWitt's first year in the majors. Its going to take him a while to reach his peak and potentiality, its not as if we're seeing the best of DeWitt and he's never going to improve. Why just look at Manny, he just made a web gem. ~_~

I see an ad with a fellow with three arrows sticking out of his back. Jeez.

Crap.

Vin is so on his game today.

Note to Kershaw: Walk Adam Dunn.

163 I love puppies!

Kershaw is not on his game today

Stop that.

ouch. Is now a good time to note how stupid we were to NOT block Dunn from going to AZ, or would that be a continuation of my apparently new-found negativity. ;)

So was Manny defensive stats warped by playing in Fenway? Manny seems to do an okay job manning left field... for the most part.

173 Rule 8 violation!

175 Isn't there an exception to that when talking about Ned's brain?

173 We can only put so many people in left field, or Dunn would have taken Ethier's spot in Right. Or we'd sit Loney.

Or Cincy just doesn't trade. But that ship has sailed a long time ago.

Paul's comment reminds me that we really haven't been throwing the black hole concept around here lately. I guess its all relative to what we had to put up with for most of the season.

Actually, this just means the Dodgers need to score more than 2 runs which is okay by me since they never win when scoring only 2 runs.

We have our best part of the lineup right now.

177 Firstly, sitting Loney to play Dunn would be a huge upgrade to the Dodgers. Secondly, Blocking Dunn did not actually require taking him, just claiming him and offering nothing to the Reds in return.

Kershaw making a few mistakes today....

Ethier just missed it.

170 Now let's build on that emotion...

Kershaw is not long for this game. I'd have a quick hook starting next inning, give Chan Ho a couple innings, Kuo for two more, then finish it up with Broxton. This game is too important to have any other relievers come into the game unless it's Beimel to face Dunn (Wade would normally be in the discussion but he threw 1 2/3 yesterday).

Dunn seems to have figured out Kershaw, so yeah, just walk him.

I wouldn't expect to see McDonald make his debut today in this big game, but I would on this upcoming road trip. But today we'll probably see Stults and Kuo, and maybe some Wade. I definitely wouldn't expect to see Kershaw go more than 5 even if it's still 2-2.

179 I wish my brain thought like that.

181 Yeah, yeah. We already heard all the arguments, and if we did that, we'd basically be destroying Loney's confidence and potentially screwing up his relationship with the Dodgers. He's only 24, its not as if he can't improve.

And as for just blocking Dunn, this is Ned we're talking about. He's not the brightest guy around.

Scherzer is filthy.

The Adam Dunn waiver deal is well on its way to surpassing Hee Seop Choi in terms of dead horse beating.

But Cody Ross and Jayson Werth are still in contention to be the most beaten dead horse as well.

I've been looking up the Beyer Dead Horse Speed Ratings in the Daily Dead Racing Form.

Scherzer seemed has to figured out the Dodgers. Time for BoMel to shake Scherzer's hand and bring in his bullpen. What? He's not going to do that? Well, nuts.

I'd just like to see Clayton get gritty.

We need to see Kershaw grow a mullet.

I wouldn't expect Scherzer to go more than 5 either, for that matter. So this game will likely be won and lost via the pens.

And not shaving (does he shave yet?).

Manny wasn't hustling. :(

There's the downside of Manny being Manny

Eh, can't blame the guy for something everyone does.

Crap we will be losing 3-2 soon

Juanny Pierrez out there in left on that play.

Kershaw has pitched 61+ innings in JAX and 86+ in LA. If the Dodgers are serious about protecting his arm today's game should be his last game of 2008.

Tron Tron sighting.

Yeah can't really blame Manny on that one...we knew the guy doesn't always hustle.

Eh, I guess Tron-Tron is acceptable this early in the game, but that's it!

Any puppies left over for I Love LA?

Another 3 ball count

This is going to come as a shock but that's another 3-ball count for Kershaw.

Time to pull Kershaw

Snyder and Dunn have Kershaw's number

Time to yank Kershaw.

205 He's getting kittens

Just get the Scherzer out.

208 ,210
I think it's OK if Kershaw faces the pitcher.

Ah well, Clayton didn't have it today. And pulling him now is good, as the game is still winnable if the pen can stabilize things.

This should be Kershaw's last batter no matter what (whether he's pulled this inning or going into next inning)

213 - I think there's a decent chance he walks him though.

If it keeps I Love off the ledge, I say pull him. What the heck is already around 80 pitches, no?

wow impressive...he actually got out of it. Too bad we are losing now.

Pinch hit for Kershaw when his spot comes up...and it will come up this inning.

Just checked, over 90!

Whew. That could've been worse. Okay, now he's done.

I'm glad he got out of that inning without giving up more runs, but I'm afraid it will encourage Torre to leave him in there for next inning with Dunn coming up

219 - M. Sweeney?

Now to see if our offense will come through...not holding my breath though.

BH & I were having trouble saying the snakes pitchers name yesterday.

I may be a dweeb, but Maddux+Martin+Kershaw is still an awesome picture to me.

225
Its Max. Sounds just like its spelled. :)

224 7 game winning streaks aren't enough for ya, eh? Here, have another kitten to hug.

Kittens have fleas.

Lets for 8, so the Phillies and Nats series don't matter.

228 - Maybe you are content..good for you. Settle for 2nd best for the rest of your life. The way I see it, we lose today's game we lose all our momentum that we built the last week. SD swept Arizona so it isnt a given that we will do well down there.

76GAS for free gas and $16 reserved seats!

Proctor...

Proctor was not on my list of approved relievers for today's game

231 We just went 4-1 against the D'Backs the last two series. Going 4-2 isn't that bad.

And Procter's in the game. I wanted TronTron darn it.

Looks like Torre just threw in the towel for this game. Proctor to donate more runs for the Snakes.

231 What on earth are you talking about? Whose settling for 2nd best? I just don't expect them t o finish second solely based on a loss today. I'm still pretty optimistic about their chances, and in fact I'm still optimistic they have a shot in this game, for that matter. Who's settling? Nothing's a given, I'm cautiously optimistic but don't plan on giving up the ghost based on the results of today's game either.

Anybody else find Eckstein's choking up on the bat schtick really annoying?

235 - You are right...its not bad at all. I guess I am just greedy.

231 The Pessimism thing is cute and all, but try not to let it spill accusatory and inflammatory language to others.

EDSP. This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Proctor's keeping up with the Kershaw tradition of throwing balls for balls.

Sigh. I'm going to take a break from DT for awhile. Later folks!

231 That is insane. How is it possible for you to look at an 8-1 run and say that "all we built last week" is gone because of one game. You need to stick to football if you like to see win/loss records that approach 100%.

This ump's zone is tiny today

242 Oy. Same here.

I will gladly settle for second best. Proof of that is my A- GPA in college.

Getting an A was too much work for me. I was an early adopter of the wild card spot of grades, the A-.

242 245 Me, too. Ta ta.

Did Vin just say that Eckstein's parents named their sons after the kids in Ozzie and Harriet? Somehow I'm not surprised.

243 - I didn't know being competitive and wanting to win is a bad thing.

FYI I do watch football too.

The A-, in college gets me. A 92% isn't an A- minus darn it.

237 - I don't think you get it. The idea is to set unrealistic standards and then be pessimistic about the Bums achieving them.

That was lucky. Usually if you can't throw strikes to Dunn, you're the one who's done.

246 - Dude that is amazing..A- average? You should be very proud and I am sure you are. can't say the same about myself..where did you go?

253
where did you go?

I'll give you a hint: you love it.

Proctor actually threw well. He got in his inning of work.

Well whaddya know, Proctor came through after all

I remember checking my transcripts once and noting that I got an A- in a class on 15 different occasions.

Unfortunately, UCLA doesn't have a Play Index feature similar to B-R for people's grades to see what the record is.

I think it was harder to get that many A- grades. It's like hitting a lot of triples, but not a lot of home runs.

I see that EWSP fared just fine in that inning. Guess his appearance wasn't the four horseman of the apocalypse after all.

I'm off to get ready for an annoyingly schedule late afternoon soccer game now (getting ready = espresso drink + stretching). Later folks.

254 Cal State L.A.?

A D. Young sighting.

PeeWee!

Loney's groundout is beginning to look more impressive.

I actually don't like UCLA or Cal State LA...but UCLA is a great school.

Pee Wee time!

Dang.

Max Scherzer is very good at throwing a baseball.

Now here is a hot young pitcher---but I bet if Clay stays healthy he will be able to do this in 3-4 years when he is Shertzers age.

I'm one twelve pager away from matching the UCLA Wild Card feet set by Bob. It's hard not knowing what the division win would be.

This Max feller is plenty good. This division is going to be pitching-fun for a long time.

where did you go?

I though the answer was straight to his parent's basement.

Good news: Ethier and Manny are due up next inning.

We need to get Scherzer out of the game. Out of the game NOW.

I don't have the heart to tell Vin Beltre only hit 48 HR in 2004.

Ugh, that was an ugly hanging curve by Chan Ho there

Well, at least it wasn't a homer. Is Kuo hurt? When's the last time we seen him?

Chan Ho is becoming the master of the 2-strike hanger.

Nice 0-2 pitch.

271 I would rather see the Big Unit than this version of Max. Maybe we can work his pitch count up with all these strikeouts!

Did Park pitch last night, or two nights ago?

Scherzer has more velocity than any starter I've seen this year. 98-99 MPH on almost every fastball.

You've gotta think that was Scherzer's last inning. His only two appearances since being recalled were of 1 and 2 innings so he's already pushing it by throwing 87 pitches.

Can't image that he can go much further. 87 pitches and been working out of the pen. Wishful thinking I guess. DBacks up in the pen.

278
Park last pitched Friday.

Ouch!
Pablo Sandoval of the Giants hit a bases clearing double off the face of Nate McLouth.

What a jump by Reynolds there. 10 for 10 in SB.

That one was on Casey Blake, he didn't drop his hand to even attempt a tag on Reynolds until it was too late.

Hard to believe that Reynolds is 10 for 10 stealing bases this year. I hope that one doesn't hurt.

Squee!

Great break!

BIG PLAY!!!!

eeeeee

Sweet call Melvin - have the guy who's 2-2 with a double and a homer and doesn't strike out that much try to squeeze the runner home. If Torre ever did that there would be 100 comments lambasting him for that decision.

Why is Reyonlds high fiving his teammates? He didn't make the play!

10/11 now.

Squee(ze)!

285 How so? The throw wasn't nearly in time and Reynolds never came off the bag.

Strange how the SB actually hurt the D-backs chances of scoring after the busted squeeze play.

295 We seen lousy umps make bad calls before. Making it close can confuse a person.

Does this mean we're going to get more of Max :(?

293
Ichiro can rest easy.

I smell 4-3.

Arizona is really taking a chance with Scherzer's health by letting him throw this many pitches without being stretched out

0 Jon, which English teacher made you memorize that intro, with pronounciation in Old English?

I think that is the closest to the right field line I've ever seen a RFer play

Manny is unreal. He continues to just punish the D-Backs.

Here we go, Dodgers, here we go! Clap! Clap!

302 That is Middle English. You wouldn't be able to read Old English.

You are the student, young Scherzer, but I am the master.

This is great. We get 4 full innings of the shaky D-back bullpen.

Let's go WGJ!

There have only been 14 pitchers to strike out 11 or more LA Dodgers in a loss. The last was Randy Johnson in July 1999.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/EaGM

Chad Qualls is now my favorite pitcher ever.

woohoo!!

Tie game!

Good job James. All 3 RBI today.

As of 3:04, there have been 249,992 HR in MLB history (per Baseball-Reference.com).

Arizona fans have to feel deflated. They throw out that ace of a performance and they get...a tie game.

[Rick Moranis voice] "Lone Star."

"Droopy drawers" Ramirez.

"Drupy Drawers" vin is on today

274 Kuo seems to have become the setup guy for Broxtpn and (very) occasional closer. Don't expect to see him before the 7th inning at the earliest, more likely 8th.

Either had 5 on Friday. Manny had 5 last night. Loney with 3 today. Has there even been a team to have 3 different players record 5 rbi in 3 consective games?

316 Arizona fans deserve to feel a bit deflated. They have been living a charmed life this season. Enjoying first place all year with a team that plays .500 ball.

Jeez Matt, what are you looking for there?

315

a few of those hit by the immortal Tripp Cromer

Nomar is alive!

320 Hehe.

Nomar's playing at 3rd, Blake's out. Kuo's in the game also.

Romero is burned due to being called and sent back to the bench.

Bison over the last week: 4 hits/.210/.286.

Late to the conversation, but I think I saw Kershaw throw maybe two changeups. He really needs to throw a third pitch with more regularity. Home runs both came on hitters' count fastballs.

I have the urge for Miller Lite now for some reason.

if I read the story correctly on Dodgers Dot Com, Saito will be coming back sometime this week.

Burke didn't even drop his bat, running into ball one, what the heck was he doing?

Although I admit I am against signing Manny, this line-up everyday would be very hard on any opposition. Add a healthy Furcal and it would be unfair in this division.

That's the Kuo we love.

it was pretty cool yesterday when BH & i were making educated guesses (correctly) on what pitch Billingsley would throw on each particular batter...

That was a horrible pickoff throw.

Bad throw, but come on James.

Hong-Chih is Kuotomatich against lefties.

Blake DeWitt is a hitting machine.

Way to start it, Solution!

DeStroyed that pitch!

That's an Automatic out right there.

Blake can DeWitt with the bat as well....

Does anyone notice how the cameramen for FSN always focus on the attractive women during the 7th inning stretch? Not that I'm complaining. Nice hit DeWitt!

Wow, Blake has been great since his return.

He's not Casey Blake.

With Nomar in the on-deck circle I'd be inclined to let Angel hit away right here

DeHitt!!!

love saying that.

Look at that leftfielder at first!

That's why we didn't block Adam Dunn on the wavier trades.

The Dunnster!! woo!

2 very big men, a very tiny result.

And that is what it's like when giants collide!

I like having Dunn in the opposing infield. If they'd DH for him it would be perfect.

344
I think that's the final test before getting a cameraman's license.

Rauch has not been the same dominant pitcher since the trade to AZ. What a disaster play between Rauch and Dunn!

DeWitt over the last week: .250/.360, 2 HRs.

Dunn with a kick save.

344

it's funnier when they do it on Vinnie's off days to me...

355 You need a special "Find Kids with Ice Cream" test to man a camera for Vinny.

Anyone else think Rauch's Gameday photo makes him look like Gary Sinese?

i don't feel bad for the D-Backs.

321
It took a little while, but 3 different Cubs had 5 RBI in 3 straight games in September 2004:

9/15: Sosa
9/16: Ramirez
9/17: Lee

Upton! yeah!

Why did DeWitt hesitate after the drop? That is bad baserunning.

302 - Mr. West/ninth grade/Odyssey

Mr. Holmes/10th grade/Chaucer

Upton did not caught that ball.

Upton must hate Dodger Stadium.

Not the best series defensively for Upton.

Yeah what was DeWitt doing? Why did he stop after a drop ball? Was he confused?

Melvin needs to get in the dugout, he's lucky they got one out. Upton must be in some competition with his brother for who's worse at baseball fundamentals.

357 Could you please adhere to the standard BA/OBP/SLUG when doing slash stats? I have no idea what those two numbers are.

369 A ML player should not be confused on that play. You break on contact with the glove. A "baseball rat" like DeWitt should know that.

362

Thanks.

Can someone explain, please, what happened on Garciaparra's at bat?

So wait, they ruled that Upton caught that ball? Then DeWitt should have tagged back at 3rd, and then try to go home, but he never did. In that sense, we caught a break and DeWitt's run shouldn't have scored.

But Upton didn't even caught that ball so the D'Backs are lucky they got an out on the play.

370
It's like he's Barely Breathing out there.

375 - DeWitt tagged, I think the person who didn't was Berroa.

375
On a sac fly, runners are allowed to tag as soon as the ball hits the OF glove, regardless of whether or not the ball is caught.

I love the D'backs bad defense. I just love it.

367 I remember Upton dropping a fly ball last year at Dodger Stadium and Vinny really got on him for one-handing it.

375

The replay showed that DeWitt clearly tagged on the play. Why he stopped when Upton dropped the ball is unclear.

375
Upton caught it, and dropped it on the throw.

That one was oddly similar to the one Loney hit the other day except this time they gave Drew the error

Self-destruction. Incredible.

They need to replace Drew on the field, not Eckstein.

376

I was Barely Breathing when I saw DeWitt hit the brakes for no reason.

Bad News Bears starring Adam Dunn, Justin Upton and Stephen Drew.

You have to like Ethier's hustle on that play. He ran hard all the way even though the ball was hit right at Drew and it paid off.

381 That's why what confused me--without that far-view replay, it's sort of easy to figure Blake was leading off in case of a drop, then didn't know if it was ruled caught or not, so didn't know to tag. But when you watch that far view, its pretty clear he leaves the base on contact with the glove. Confusing, but ah well.

Wow, Ethier's numbers are now tainted! No way that was a hit.

Scully even tells us that "hit" by Ethier was labeled "too hot to handle". Sounds so official.

I'm following online and didn't see the disputed Upton play. Is it something that Melvin could protest (e.g. Berroa leaving early)?

Time for Loney to join the 5 RBI club.

389 Those plays (Hard hit grounders to IF and plays where a soft grounder never gets safely grabbed (See: LaRoche, Andy) always seem to get called for hits a lot more often than I always think they should. I wonder why.

Loney's shot for 5 RBI!

DeWitt's run was legit. He left after upton touched it, whether he stopped/hesitated is irrelevant. The person who never appeared to tag up was Berroa, if they called that a catch he would have needed to return to the base and touch it, which he clearly never did. I agree it wasn't a catch, but since they said it was, the umps botched it.

Remember when everyone around here was saying that they would take Upton over Kemp in a heartbeat?

389

Just making up for his earlier BABIP issues.

395 You're still going to find a lot of people saying that, shaky defense or not.

394 So if Berroa failed to tag up and he were to have been put out on the play (for the third out) would DeWitt's run have counted?

398 Yes. The run was scored before and independent of the third out.

now hopefully our bullpen doesn't blow it. Who is playing setup role today?

398
Berroa's out would have only been the 2nd out of the inning.

Panthers need to beat the Chargers here so the Raiders can have the pleasure of being the only undefeated AFC West team after tomorrow night, allowing them to be in 1st place wire-to-wire this season.

For those of us in the dark, what transpired on the Garciaparra at bat? Sounds quite confusing.

Upon further review, it looks like DeWitt and Berroa both left their respective bases at the same time, when the ball hit Upton's glove.

401 ...But in theory! If there was two outs...

Quiet you.

403 Fly ball to upton which just hits his glove and bounces out. At the touch of the glove, Berroa and Dewitt jet for their respective bases. For some reason, DeWitt stalls on his way to third, but scores anyways. Melvin makes a big fuss out of anything, and it's questionable whether it should have been ruled Error on the Act of Throwing + Out.

395 In a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if Kemp is a superstar and people still feel that way. Upton's got a crazy high ceiling.

403
Berroa on 1st, DeWitt on 3rd, 1 out.

Nomar flew out to Upton in RF. As Upton caught it, both DeWitt and Berroa tagged up. Upton dropped the ball as he reached in his glove, and DeWitt for some reason froze in between 3rd and home. But he still scored easily. Berroa was also able to advance to 2nd.

400 Man, even when you're trying to be positive you still come off negatively. You could have easily just said "alright bullpen, let's hold 'em!" instead of putting "blow it" anywhere in the sentence.

401 Oh, my bad. Following online and all. Martin was the second out, not Nomar.

From a hypothetical viewpoint, I still wonder about the following: We know that if the third out is a "force out" on the basepaths, a runner crossing home on the play does not score even if he crosses before the third out. Would a failure-to-tag-up scenario count as a force play in that context and negate a sac fly run?

410
Yes, in that case the run would not have counted.

395 I like Kemp and Justin Upton. Most baseball scouts still like Upton's ceiling over Kemp's. Both are outstanding young players.

Come on Kuo don't let me down.

5 out save!

409 - Is Kuo not struggling? There is some truth to my "negativity."

Really going to bring in Broxton this early? Nomar defensive replacement????

This is some over managing of the infield.

415 No... No there isn't. Wait until somebody does something bad before you go all negative?

411 Huh, learn something everyday.

KuoKuoKuo

Why JB and not Biemel or Wade?

i really don't like it when Torre makes all these changes.

Broxton, with two runners on. I don't like this.

And Hu gets to lead off the 8th.

Come on Panthers! Come on Broxton!

411 Thanks. That was my intuition, but I couldn't really back it up.

418 - Get off my back man

Why is Nomar replacing Loney at first?

Time for the five out save for Broxton!

I think the reason Dewitt froze on that flyball was because he wasn't going to try and score. It was a shallow fly ball, and Dewitt took about 5 running steps at home and then stopped, which is the norm when just trying to draw a throw.

415 I give up

426.
Get off the Dodgers back man.

Need the DP right now

426 I'm not on your back, I'm just requesting that you cut down on the negative posting. All I'm asking that you post your doom and gloom until after we give up some runs.

I would have brought in Wade. It's not like JB is Mariano!

433 - Next time I want your advice I will ask you. Thanks.

415
Since allowing runs in back to back appearances, ending way back on August 19, Kuo has pitched 4 times and 6.2 IP with 0 runs and 11 Ks. So no, there is no truth to your negativity.

Huge strike out for Broxton!

Good strikeout.

411 I'm pretty sure it would. Failing to get back to a base is not a force out in the same way.

Good strikeout

Also reminder that Broxton does fairly well inheriting runners, as a long-ago Jon post reminded us. It's a high leverage situation and I have no problem bringing the Ox in.

We are on our way to being 1.5 game up and some people refuse to enjoy it. Sucks.

427
Why is Nomar replacing Loney at first?

So Broxton doesn't have to bat next inning.

it was very surprising when little Eck stroke out 2 times yesterday.

How many times have we thrown 3 balls today?

443

Broxton has pop man, I really hope he gets a hold of one one of these days.

446
He did get on base against Milwaukee! :)

Carolina with some of the worst clock management ever

I want to see Broxton and Dunn at first base. It'll have the same gravity of Broxton and Fielder.

443 Personally I would have just taken Nomar out of the game since if we get to the 9th spot in the line-up we're already in pretty good shape anyway. That way we get the best defense out there while letting Broxton pitch multiple innings.

NICE!

Broxton!

WooHooHoooo!!
Broxton delivers yet again!!

yes! triple digits!

Broxton bringing the heat.

Touchdown Carolina!!!!!!

I refuse to believe that was 100mph

it was more like 98mph.

Melvin over-mismanages Torre by pulling Snyder with homer and double

Only 7 of (now) 30 inherited runners have scored on Broxton this year. It's not 2003 Tom Martin, but still. :)

Yay Panthers!!! Raiders are now in 1st place!!!!!!!

Of course, I really meant to say, bring in JB!

And Broxton with the K - I love split screen!!!!

Hopefully he can carry that over in the closing role. Broxton has proven that he can excel in the setup.

457
I think it was more like 128

Wow, what an ending at Qualcomm Stadium

Man on 1st & 2nd?

Nothing a 100 MPH Fast ball wouldn't cure!

427 So Broxton will not lead off the 8th.

Maybe Torre knows what he's doing.

That'll work!

Upton has no idea where the ball is.

Owls? lol Vinny.

468 Let's not go crazy.

Time to shed the sombrero.

I just found out about pandora.com this weekend.

I'm always the last guy on things that cool. i.e., the ipod, myspace.

Time to put Kemp in front of Manny so he can get hot

Down 5 points with 2 seconds left in the game, and without Steve Smith, Jake Delhomme absolutely threaded a game-winning TD pass in the back of the end zone to his backup tight end between 2 well positioned defenders. Ball seemed to go above, around, and through those 4 flailing hands.

474 Pandora's pretty cool although from all the time I've listened to it I've only discovered a couple bands that I liked

Blake comes from the land of ice and snow
Little place called Sikeston Mo...

475

All day I dream about what my high school career would have been like if I could've hit in front of Manny.

I'd be sitting in a hot tub right now with my soulmate.

Bison speed!

That was almost 96 feet worth of SB.

474.
Well looks like I just got in line right behind you. I had actually heard of it, I just never bothered to check it out. Already I like it,lol.

I wouldn't mind one bit if the Dodgers took all the excitement out of the 9th with a big 8th.

Yahoo is claiming Brady = out for year.

Thanks for the tip on Pandora. I had never heard of it, until you mentioned it and was mostly using Last FM which sort of changed to a much slower gear recently when they stopped allowing you to play full albums on your PC.

484
It's Matt Cassel time. Believe it.

Tom Brady can't be out for the year. His eyes are too dreamy...

482

Just beware that you can't skip too many songs within the hour before it freezes the function due to copyright rules. With my ADD i tend to wanna go to a new song within seconds...

486 - I love the fact our back ups (Cassel, T Will) get drafted, good for recruiting. Come on Brox!!!

487

On the bright side, he'll have more time to update the content on his hotline.

488
You too?

My ex-girlfriend just accused me last Sunday night of having A.D.D.. I think she couldn't be more then correct. That just drove her more crazy when I told her that!

1 out to go.

Any Cowboys fans here by any chance?

Broxton is starting to look more and more like some guy named Gagne...

Oh I remember, Vin.

So far so good for Broxton.

guys this is potentially huge**no jinxs

1 strike to go

493
Oklahoma State? (aka the real OSU)

Come on one more strike....

about a million fantasy football players just cried.

Somewhere in this country, someone with Brady on their team will be sitting 2nd in the waiver wire process, and will watch the guy sitting 1st pick up Brady even though that guy doesn't need him.

Let's go Mongo!

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~Huge Redskins fan

Its only fitting that we have yet another 3 ball count

I don't want to see a Dunn showdown.

oh no

Dang it! Broxton seriously cannot do the job easily.

I think I'd walk Dunn here.

Uh-oh

Vin with the jinx?..

lets go JB

Walk him.

Big Broxton is trying to give me a heart attack.

I'm starting to hate the ninth inning.

Tell you the truth, I would rather have Wade here, which is kind of wierd.

FSN says that Broxton threw a 100MPH ball.

most guys can't, I Love LA

So glad Vin is here and not Sutton. I could be alot more anxious than I am now if Sutton were calling.

If Dunn sticks it to us Ned should/will get fired this winter.

499 It's funny. When I hear somebody say OSU I immediately think Oregon State first.

Relax everyone, Dunn's thinking about football.

Broxton is a bit wild this inning.

Another 100 MPH ball.

Vin, with Dunn one is at scoring position on first, let alone second.

Yeah I was unnerved by Vin pronouncing the victory early, but that is one of very few fault.

3 ball again..this is getting ridiculous

Aw, that was a strike!

Argh.

Yeah I was unnerved by Vin pronouncing the victory early, but that is one of very few fault.

Not the worst thing in the world, but now we can get beat.

come on Broxton don't make it difficult.

Torre needs to convince Broxton that this is the 8th inning.

Has Broxton ever had a 123 inning for the save?

agonizing ballgame!

The dancing kid officially cheered me up.

Just put the ball in play Broxton. Trust your infielders.

Bdee-aah b-dee-ahh----thats all folks.

I actually don't mind taking the bat out of Dunns hands there

No way that was 100.

Broxton giving my heart a good exercise so far.

just throw strikes Brox, the shadows are your friend!!

100 MPH and no location.

532
Now you're just being ridiculous.

Another 100 MPH. this time for a strike.

Then he threw another 100 MPH for a ball.

Of course, the radar gun for FSN could just be fast.

THAN YOU NOMAR!

Nomar!!!!!

NOMAR!!!!!!

Nomar!!!!!

Un. Be. Lievable.

Well then.

Nomar?!

OMG Nomar saved us...not Broxton

Holy hell.

427
THAT'S WHY!!! :)

that's for all those BLEEDERS that dropped in against Broxton the last few months.

thank gawd for those reflexes by Nomar, he truly is quick.

NOMAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

That's why they put him in the game! Lol - "defensive replacement."

Good thing Loney wasn't there.

Nomar OMG!!!!! Holy crap!

Boy, that Broxton really dominates sometimes.

6 games. 9 days.

554 - Exactly!

{538] - Mongo throw gas!

/cheer

9 in a row and 5-1 in the AZ series to end the season.

ssshhhhhhhheeesssh

I'm sorry I doubted Nomar defensive skills.

NOMAR WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF WALK OFF!

Nomar, I loves you!

my goodness nomah!!

That's why Nomar went to first.

SQUEEEPPP!!! SWEEEE!!

Woohoo! Great play by Nomar! Torre is a genius.

First place!

Great game, great series.

i don't know what to say... i guess Torre is genius after all.

Isn't it 8 in a row?

I just woke up so I have no idea why Nomar was in there, but Torre is a genius.

"Here's your overmanaging the infield," Torre says.

572 Eight indeed.

565

i'm surprised he didn't pull some thing.

Dodgers lead by 1.5 games.

572 - Yes it is 8 in a row. I guess it negates our other 8 in a row.

406 , 408 Thanks for the expanation....1.5 games up!

576 - that was the reason for my question mark in 550.

576 . Just wait until tomorrow.

I simply cannot imagine how it must have felt for a D-backs fan to see that last play....oh wait...i...am a dodgers...fan. I DO KNOW HOW IT FEELS! HAHAHAHA

We're undefeated in Sept. Lets keep that up.

554 I second that. Broxton's had a lot of bad luck this year, nice to see some payback.

Ok, odds of New York and Philly passing the Brewers?

It's a strange feeling, being able to look at the standings in the other divisions.

I keep on forgetting that FSN doesn't do a post game show on Sundays. Sorry horse racing, but I'm not interested in you.

not sure how the Dbacks recover from this series. Honestly, the Rockies might be our biggest threat at this point. Man, what a difference a week makes. Course, this time next week things could be reversed.

586 If the Colts didn't have a game, I'd be listening to the radio after show. I've come to really like those guys, and they should have a blast with this game.

587 How did the Dodgers recover from last week?

587 - True, but remember the NL West is unpredictable...just when you think you got it all figured out and something creepy happens i.e Manny coming to LA, Dunn going to ARI, LA loses 8 games in a row, falls 4.5 back and now we are up 1.5. Nothing is over until the last game is played.

587 The Dodgers recovered from an 8 game losing streak. The D'backs very well could turn things around.

589 By having six games with the D'backs?

Olbermann doing sports sounds so natural, as opposed to when he violates Rule 5

590

I think we're all very aware of the negative aspects of the game

it feels pretty cool being in 1st place by a game & a half.

591 The problem with that is that the D'backs has no more games with the Dodgers. Unless the Dodgers go into a tailspin, (which could happen.) There's only 22 games left, and they're running out of games to play.

596 Dodgers remaining schedule: 13 road games, 6 home games.

That game was certainly better than the Wyffe of Bathe.

I have never posted under any name other than this one on this board. On any other board it has either been this "nick" or "aaeamdar".

Holy snikes Paul Scott is aaemadar!??!?! THAT, just blew my mind.

596 We certainly have a better shot at it. They won't be out until tomorrow, of course, but I will guess our division win probability at close to 70% now.

We have an easier schedule remaining where the teams are concerned, but we do have more games on the road.

599 Not sure how to take that. :)

Awesome finish.

BTW, how did the Dodgers end up with one of the best outfields in the majors? In OPS ranking Manny is #1, Ethier is top 20, and Kemp is top 40.

Hong Chih-Kuo (5-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings of relief for the victory and Jonathan Broxton got four outs for his 13th save.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=280907119

602 Try and try again. Who knows, maybe we can pick up a prospect or two if we trade JP and Andruw Jones in the offseason.

They are not giving Broxton that last out, I guess.

589 I understand what you are saying, and as I said things might be reversed again next week. The difference is that The Dodgers, after losing 8 in a row and facing the team in 1st place and saying and feeling like the next two against the Dbacks were must wins, did win. The Dbacks acknowledged today was a must win and their coach essentialy boiled the season down to todays game, did not come thru. The Dbacks also have one less week to play with than the Dodgers did. Also, the Dbacks best two pitchers are not good right now. Throw in RJ hurting and I'd say that AZ is in a much much worse spot than the Dodgers were a week ago.

The dodgers also looked better in their loses, for whatever that's worth.

So is our magic number under 20? I have it at 19, but my memory is fuzzy.

Yahoo Sports' Michael Silver says Tom Brady is expected to miss the rest of the season with ligament damage in his knee.

admittedly, I had written the Dodgers off after losing the 1st game last week to the Dbacks. Still, I think things are much more dire in Dback land than they were in Dodgerland a week ago.

606 - I would say that Arizona being three games closer in the standings than the Dodgers were a week ago counts for a lot.

New post up top.

Is it too early to dub Ethier "Mr. September"?

.650 BA/1.941 OPS so far this month.

For those scoping out fourth place in the NL East, Washington has moved to within six games of Atlanta!

i know the snakes play the Cards but I just don't trust the Cardinal bullpen these days.

Hey, Jon, you just got a nice shout-out on the postgame/Sunday night radio show!

(in reference to your post on Kent's stats)