What's not to like about his 5.60 FIP?

http://bayarea.comcastsportsnet.com/category/sports-blogs/amy-gs-blog/

Hennessey does not pitch as smooth as the cognac but he gets out of the top of the first, no score.

10 - Is he not ahead of Greg Miller?

I would think Greg Miller has more value than Orenduff as well considering he is still a power lefty (albeit with horrible control thus far) and he is younger. Yes, he is out of options but the chances of him being DFA'd next spring if he is atrocious is pretty minimal. Is he worth an invite to Spring Training? Yes. Will Jason Johnson be here then? No.

If you DFA'd Miller now, he would be claimed because he wouldn't have to be designated until the end of next spring by the claiming team and would be their property at that point. Who wouldn't pick up Miller and try to fix him over the off-season while HOPING he fine tunes his mechanics into something he can repeatedly deliver? Basically, the answer is NO, Jason Johnson is not ahead of Greg Miller....yet.

C;mon Giants, score some runs!

5 But she wears glasses, she has to be smart!

I'm just talking about some votes, not a serious challenge to Pujols. Albert is the best player in the world and probably should have 3-4 awards, but i do think Manny should receive some votes. Albert should win the award unanimously, but I do think Manny should be in the top 5 on some ballots.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the MLB playoff schedule?

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps_07.jsp

First games will be Wed, Oct 1, probably 3 on that day.

SportsNation Ben Badler: (2:38 PM ET ) Scouts like him, but more as a bullpen arm than as a starter.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=22370

Billingsley and Lowe are guaranteed to start Games 1 and 2 in Wrigley; Kuroda will start Game 3 at Dodger Stadium.

Without knowing how the off days will break down, I wonder who is the 4th starter (if needed)? Maddux has been unreliable; Kershaw will pass his innings limit and has command issues. Hopefully there's a way to get Chad/Lowe two starts.

ALCS start date: Thu, Oct 9

NLCS start date: Fri, Oct 10

World Series start date: Wed, Oct 22

Looks like the WS is Wed-Thu-Sat-Sun-Mon-Wed-Thu

And Dunn showed his outfield style just now with a double given up.

Somehow Manny is holding left field fairly well, but Dunn at either first base or Right Field is an adventure to watch.

The team with the best record in the National League will be able to choose whether to start on Wednesday, October 1 or Thursday, October 2, 2008. Both series will be telecast on TBS. If Game 5 from any of the two series is played, it will be played on Wednesday, October 7, 2008.

Looks like this will follow the AL 2007 format. Both NL series will have Saturday off, and the earlier starting one will have Thursday off.

In Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers is laughing his butt off.

Fri, Oct 10
Sat, Oct 11
Mon, Oct 13
Tue, Oct 14
Thu, Oct 16
Sat, Oct 18
Sun, Oct 19

Sabathia probably deserves votes for MVP but for which league. He had a better chance when only one award was made.

Yet.

Anyway, I think its important every once in a while to feel what it feels like to root for the Giants. It doesn't feel good. (Go Hennessey!)

Hennessey in a little trouble now but he gets out of it, 1-0, D-Backs.

Besides after today we will be asking the help of the Cincinnati Reds.

CC will not lose.

OK, now I'll stop...

Friday Cueto vs Webb
Saturday Volquez vs Johnson
Sunday Harang vs Scherzer

People in Ohio State gear.

In solidarity with Eric Stephen and the other USC fans on the board, I beat up the couple (they looked to be in their early 70s), stole their wallets and used the credit cards to buy myself a new watch.

The Dodgers are my team, no doubt about it, but the Cubs were my dad's team, and (as some of you know) he passed earlier this year. During spring training, in fact. So its not just the 100 years, or the fact that they spent all year looking like this was their year.

I'm sure people in Chicago are gripping right now, but it was weird being there a month ago. People were confident and giddy. That's just not how you should approach rooting for the Cubs. History and the fates are nothing to trifle with. Still, I think they are the class of the NL, and if the Dodgers beat them, with my rooting help, I'd feel really bad.

But the D'Backs aren't very good right now.

1st was Manny.

2nd was Adam Dunn.

Count me on that one, too. I dont get why Conor Jackson and Dunn just dont flip flop positions.

(Sorry, underdog.)

97 If you bat me higher in the lineup you will get just that. Free Lexinthedena!

Haren has thrown 76 pitches in 3 innings.

I hate to say this, but do you want me to post your slash stats from last season? I know that was wrong.

Actually, you are batting 6th tonight. When you get past the first half of the lineup, order does not necessarily equal ability. I need to space out certain hitters to avoid a rally killing.

Perhaps Lima Time will live again!

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/dodgers/

Nebraskans travel in very large numbers.

Around New Year's, the out of towners tend to show up in Downtown as well.

Or the always pleasing "How do you do?" will suffice.

Hey, I did move you up, so show me what you got. Tonight I want everyone to take until they get a strike (just for the first time through the lineup) Their pitcher has walked 27 people in 2 games.

That is debatable

Speaking of worthless humans, as I was walking into Petco Park last night, I cross paths with a man heading for one of the back entrances, and I didn't realize until he was about 10 feet past me that it was T.J. Simers. To my regret, I said nothing.

Jay Jaffe: Ethier has been tearing it up, no doubt, and I've been seeing quite a lot of his exploits lately. .390/.455/.820 over the past month, and .500/.582/.957 over the past two-ish weeks batting in front of Manny Ramirez. You had to know that the only way the whole Juan Pierre debacle could be put to rest was if Ethier went white-hot, and luckily, Little Peanuthead has one start since August 20.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=521

I once got into an argument with my dad over my hypothetically spitting in Plaschke's face if I ever ran into him in public. But I probably wouldn't.

Next time.

Yeah, but I heard he paid a woman to spit on him that night. People are into different things.

Angels 4, Yankees 2 (fifth inning)
Mariners 3, Rangers 0 (third inning)

Jackson must have a Pierre-quality arm to not be able to displace Dunn in RF.

I just beat them up in my heart.

Not really, but it makes me think of the dialogue from Airplane! where "Unger is over Dunn."

That was the pinnacle of my power.

It's almost like taunting the Yankees.

...there's a non-zero chance that you'll have your choice of home and away feeds starting as soon as this weekend.

This isn't 100% a done deal yet, so don't lynch me if it doesn't happen. But it sounds pretty likely.

Neyer writes about NL closers and how bad they are. He does like the Dodgers closers this year, Saito and Broxton. Also thinks that Lidge should get MVP and Cy Young considerations if Lidge can finish without a blown save or a loss.

Okay, I'm just gonna keep a list here. And if the Dodgers don't make the playoffs, let alone the WS, people on that list will be officially blamed. Sort of like Bob's obelisk, but only temporary.

Anybody else updating the game already?

I guess we'll have to have a party in SF when we win our first WS since 1988!

:(

Mariners and Rangers are tied at 4 in the fifth.

Of course, the SnakePit already declared their season over -- but that could be their ingenious little way of keeping it going, in that extreme reverse jinxing kind of way.

Or not. Oh! I don't care anymore! {throws up hands}

"I am no expert but what I believe the whole point of the philosophy is seeing what areas are not being valued and then trying to find them at lower cost. OBP on its own is not a "Moneyball" stat but it is a better indicator on what leads to scoring runs which is getting men on base."

The only thing I would add to this is that so-called "Moneyball" GMs look for undervalued factors that lead to scoring runs that they can acquire cheaply. In that sense, OBP is related to Moneyball ideas (because as others have pointed out it wasn't being valued properly), but in and of itself it is not one. It would make no sense to cheaply acquire talents that do not lead to more runs (like JP, for example).

Brady hurt!
Vince Young leaves the house for awhile!
Favre still awesome!

Mariners 5 Rangers 4 Bottom 5

Manny - a house in Echo Park so he can walk to work

The best line I've seen here in a long time.

If the A's weren't paying Hudson, Mulder, Zito, Chavez and Tejada less than eight million combined, they would have gone no where. The Moneyball A's were built out of the draft, not free agency.

The only thing I really see out there as an inefficiency is that there are too many teams that go out and make too big of a commitment to mediocre free agents. Other than that, there's really nothing out there, which is why I think scouting is way more important than stats right now.

Next, someone will ask who Billy "White Shoes" Johnson was.

"Manager Bruce Bochy wouldn't rule out using a Sept. 22 day off to skip a starting pitcher and give the ball to Lincecum on his regular turn the following day. By pushing him up, Lincecum would be able to start on normal rest in the Sept. 28 season finale against the Dodgers at AT&T Park."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_10423866

"Metcalf was exchanged along with two first round & one second round draft picks by San Diego Chargers to Arizona Cardinals for moving one spot in the 1998 NFL Draft to pick quarterback Ryan Leaf."

And he was always on a really bad team.

"Washington's most memorable performance was in the September 18 Monday Night Football game between the Colts and the Patriots, which featured a record 41 points scored between the two teams in the fourth quarter, 27 by the Colts. Washington scored or helping score his teams' final three touchdowns. His catch of a touchdown pass tied the game at 20-20, and then he threw an option pass to Roger Carr to put the Colts ahead 27-20. After the Patriots tied it late, Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the winning touchdown."

6-6 in the sixth in Seattle.

You kids stay off my lawn!

What I remember about DeBerg is they said he was a master of the play fake. I was never all that impressed.

This poor kid's arm is going to fall off next year.

hajsgdkgqwhegqwoiufadshfakjsfhasfa...

And yeah, he played a long while.

I always liked him for some reason though.

A friend of mine once asked if I was talking about the guy who sang "Lady in Red." That dates me even more.

What is Love indeed.

Behold....
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q107/autographsttm/DeBerg.jpg

Brian Wilson is the scum that grows on scum.

They employ Bill James & Theo.

Doesnt get much more sabermetric than that.

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

DeWitt, 2B

Berroa, SS

Lowe, P

I cannot believe I'm cheering on a SF Giant that I don't own on my fantasy team.

Anyway, good lineup overall.

I don't know if Nomar can play 3 innings; he only played SS in the 7th last night.

BALLGAME OVER!

AND THE DIAMONDBACKS...LOSE!!!

Huzzah!

I almost feel sorry for the Dbacks there. Really.

Almost.

I think I just violated a few rules.

That's going to be a very quiet plane ride to Arizona.

Go Dodgers!

RATS

Woohoo!

Cheer because the D Backs lost!

We really need Clayton to pitch in the playoffs. At the least as a four inning sub for Maddux and hope we can score more then 4 runs.

Cheer because it helps the Dodgers!

/fixed

Arizona swept by the Padres on the road.

Arizona swept by the Dodgers on the road.

Arizona swept by the Giants on the road.

I wish they all could be dbacks losses
I wish they all could be dbacks losses
I wish they all could be dbacks losses, giiiiiiiiirrrrl!

This definitely takes some of the sting out of out 2 horrendous losses up in the bay...

If so, it's a triple. Rowand was on first when the play started.

via http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/

Just
Another
Walk
For
Aybar

It's back from the days when DT was in its infancy and Jon would invited Martha Quinn to be the blog host at times.

That would be really frustrating

Giants fans are going a bit crazy for Fred Lewis right now. Just looked up his stats, and he's having a similar year to Kemp. But at LF, and he's 4 years older than Kemp. And Lewis is Dr. Strange Glove reincarnated.

http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2008/9/10/611857/post-game-fun-chatter#

Sure, give him his lumps, but give them to him im June or July, not when the team is up 2 1/2 with 15 games left. There are lumps, and then there are bruises, welts, and sores.

Dodgers moving Martin to 3rd.

And... a 3 year deal for Veritek.

throws up hands

You should take off 'hands' at the end of your post.

Wow. Chin-Feng Chen will be turning 31 this year. Time sure does fly when you're holding out hope for Dodger prospects.

Wow. Chin-Feng Chen will be turning 31 this year. Time sure does fly when you're holding out hope for Dodger prospects.

The way I look at it, in the midst of a pennant race, the question is simple: is Kershaw the best pitcher available to start that day for the Dodgers?

If the answer is yes, and it should be yes because Lowe and Billingsly would have just thrown, then I say run Kershaw out there.

Like everyone else, I want to see him have a long and prosperous career with the Blue. But I'm not a big fan of an artificial innings or pitch count. I'm not saying go old school 300 pitches, but I also think that if he's the best available it would be malpractice to not run him out.