Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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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
Fox and TBS (among others) probably don't want to jinx it, but they must be salivating:
Division leaders
NL West: Los Angeles
NL Central: Chicago
NL East: New York
AL West: Los Angeles
AL Central: Chicago
AL East: Well, five out of six ain't bad. Anyway, Tampa Bay might be the most interesting team of all - a worst-to-first candidate.
* * *
Among his 90 pitches Saturday, according to MLB Gameday, Clayton Kershaw threw 25 curveballs (along with two changeups): 30 percent offspeed. That seems like a pretty good mix, doesn't it?
* * *
I thought it was interesting to look at this post-mortem on the New York Yankees by Joel Sherman of the New York Post because several of the philosophical points relate to the Dodgers. I don't agree entirely with Sherman's take on the issues, but I think he discusses many of the issues the Dodgers have been and will be preoccupied with.
* * *
Pierre, CF
Kemp, RF
Ramirez, LF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Berroa, SS
Ardoin, C
Maddux, P
http://insidethedodgers.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/09/viva_los_dodgers.html
The Raiders do get shown because of their LA popularity. It's only been this way for about 15 years now. You haven't noticed?
The Rams were on a lot when they were a dominant team a few years ago, but that was about it.
Good to know our season will be over already.
I'm not arguing that. But the Raiders sell a lot of merchandise, and are still the closest to LA's default team.
Even if they win today?
Al should fire himself, instead.
If this were Shakespeare, Kiffin would get someone to poison Al's bran flakes over night.
--
Btw, those of you who don't like Peyton Manning should thank me -- by picking him for my fantasy team I've assured everyone that he'll have his worst season ever.
I would bet there are still more Raiders fans in LA than Chargers fans by a wide margin. At least LA buys a lot more Raiders merchandise, whether or not they really care about football.
The 49ers are second, but that's really a product of their being a great team 20 years ago.
It's the defending Super Bowl champs, from New York.
Deal, make sure it's HD.
I am sure we did at some point, but it has been awhile.
Imagine how uninteresting it feels to have the Raider game as your lone football viewing option right now. I have energy to burn!
Again.
The rain might let up tonight, so if they can get in one game, the Tigers and White Sox would still be able to make up the final two games with a doubleheader on the Monday after the final day.
Yankees 6, 150:1s 3
I guess that's efficient.
From what I remember Cook is a pretty darn good pitcher (this is baseball so you COULD BE RIGHT) but i'm expecting a well pitched game by him & a coin toss of a start from Maddux...
I'm diggin that too. You know what man, we already have the series so I'm cool with a Rox W, but it sure will be sweet if we can sweep them after what they did to us last year no.
He still has trouble throwing strikes early in the count. When he pitches well, he does that often. When you really can only throw 1 pitch consistently for strikes, you need to be 0-1, 1-2 or create some early count outs. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded in the offseason because of the glut of pitchers the Rays have, but he needs to work on some things in the offseason if he wants to reach another level as a pitcher. Mostly throwing strikes with his offspeed, improving his change up or developing another out pitch (splitter wlould complement his fastball nicely), and just consistency. we shall see.
With that, I hope the Lambs never win another game again and the Raiders should have never moved from Oakland in the first place.
I also hope they never build anything on that beautiful vacant land in Walnut/Diamond Bar. We need pro football like we need a hole in the head.
With John Shaw, anything is possible. Sort of like Scott Boros and the J.D. Drew contract
The Rams coming back would be a very, very strange thing to me.
It seems unrealistic for the Dodgers to be able to keep Manny and get Sabathia. If that is the case, I think Manny is more important and I am begining to think it might be worth it to try and keep Lowe. Realize logic says you keep Penny and let Lowe go, but Penny's injury history makes me nervous. Also wonder what it would take to get Beltre 12 million at 3rd base now seems cheap and he is under 30. What prospects would we have to give up?
Carl Pavano leaves game in New York with an injury.
54 I have a friend that works for the Superdome and he has told me in the past that the Saints leaving New Orleans is a possibility. I was also fortunate to see some of the pictures form the aftermath of the Dome after Katrina. From the looks of it, Hell on earth during that harrowing week with little regard for humanity.
It was a possibility, but I think it would be a PR nightmare now.
To me that is sort of a sad state of affairs, really.
Maddux looks like he's walking into a death Sentence. His.
Maddux might as well grab a blade and some armor and challenge Cook to a "Honor Duelllll."
I got MLBTV. I can see the team.
If John Facenda were calling the game, it would be really creepy.
Blustering out to sea
With a rollicking song
He goes along
Swaggering boisterously
But, how Ironic to name a piece to a trade (Ownings) and then have that person, a pitcher no less, pay you back the next day.
The wheels are definitely falling off the bus for AZ.
Burrell drives in one and Victorino hits a 3-run homer.
4-3 Brewers in the 8th. Until the Flying Hawaiian homers at it is now 7-3.
How can a team with a great return game and 250 rushing yards only be ahead 16-8? You'd think they could at least get some good play-action going.
Yes, that Merkin Valdez.
But the bases are empty and two outs.
3-run pinch homer gives the Braves a 5-4 lead in the ninth.
Meanwhile, the Dodger game looks like one of those games that makes so many of my (usually female) friends ask how I can like baseball.
I figure he might as well cut the charade and personally man the horrible team he personally created.
Maddox doesn't look too bad for being dead does he?
Broken replay machine turns a catch for San Diego into a fumble recovery by Denver.
Because Juan Pierre's tips aren't generous enough.
http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/dodgers/
Ardoin is also out, and Marting PH for him and presumably will replace him as catcher.
Perhaps somebody can alert me to the difference between tightness and stiffness.
It's pretty cool when the players bust there dancing moves when they clinch.
If they ever start playing.
Wow, I really thought that one was gone, and then suddenly Pierre was standing under it.
especially cause it's Coors Field.
unbelievable.
I'd say 1:4.
Bengals vs. Pale Hose.
The Northsiders are playing in Miller (Minute Maid) Park tonight against the Astros. And it's a single game up there despite what Vin just said.
0-0 after 2 from Chase.
This isn't going to end well for the Rockies...
"Al Davis coached the Raiders from 1963-65. They were 23-16-3."
If I was Al Davis, I would have fired Al Davis....
Davis replaced himself with Jon Rauch (the coach, not the pitcher on Arizona), who did a lot better, 33-8-1, and an AFL championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.
The winning play?
Flyball: LF; Atkins Scores/Safe on E2 (catch)/unER/No RBI
Ouch.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200806110.shtml
Pio Pico was the last Mexican governor of California & was a resident of Whittier back in the day & also from what I remember former President Nixon attended Whittier College.
WHAT!!
It was just a real estate scam to get unsuspecting Quakers to move out there. Little did they know they would be living in a city with really bad freeway access.
I'm pretty sure it is.
Who is the backup's backup?
Is Doug Flutie available?
BLASPHEMY!!
...just so everyone knows hehe
1-1 going to the 7th, a battle of the pens.
"Andre Ethier communicated to a Dodgers official that he's expecting to be able rejoin the team tomorrow, and it will be Tuesday at the latest."
HR was off Rauch.
2-1!!!1
OSU is overrated ---> USC hasn't played anybody this year ---> USC crushes OSU ---> OSU really was overrated, and USC still hasn't played anybody this year, and they don't play in the Big 12 or SEC.
In other words, until USC beats everyone, there's still going to be naysayers.
Ballgame over!
And the Diamondbacks...LOSE!
Magic number: 10
It was just a real estate scam to get unsuspecting Quakers to move out there. Little did they know they would be living in a city with really bad freeway access."
Which they willed on to neighbor La Habra. It takes me about 15-18 minutes to get to a freeway.
I believe the magic number is now 13, correct?
Dodgers:
4 @ Pittsburgh
3 vs. S.F
3 vs. S.D
3 @ S.F
Diamondbacks:
4 vs. S.F
3 @ Colorado
4 @ St. Louis
3 vs. Colorado
Magic Number: 10
If we go 6-7 the rest of the way the Diamondbacks would have to go 11-3 to force a tie breaker game at Dodger Stadium.
To have Maddox have an incredable low pitch shutout, and then to be totally shutdown by Cook(even Manny couldn't get an RBI) should be negative. But the snakes manage to lose to the Reds?????? Let the good times roll!!!
Mrs. D4P got her picture taken with Allison Fisher and got to shake hands with Jeanette Lee. The players are very friendly and accessible, and it's fun to watch them play. The champion of the event was the young Austrian, Jasmin Ouschan.
Torre - Dodgers
Manuel - Phillies
Manuel - Mets
Pinella - Cubs
Yost - Brewers
Cooper - Astros
Melvin - D'Backs
It'll be a battle of the oooooooold school, and the just plain odd in Melvin. Talk about a guy who has absolute misplaced confidence in his bullpen mates such as Lyon and Rauch.
Then I'd just think they were a .500 team.
So now the Astros fall further in D4P's eyes.
Lot to be sorted out in the last two and a half weeks.
yes, you read that right, they are saying wind gusts will get up to 60 mph.
You're referring to whom the Dodgers would play if the playoffs started NOW.
If the Phillies hold on to their lead, they'd be tied with the Brewers for the wild card.
Was Shanelle Lorraine there?
I want no part of Roy Oswalt right now. Go Phillies and give us the Mets. Their pen is almost DBacks bad.
No, but this young lass was:
http://www.wpba.com/cms/?pid=1007391
True, but with the way Oswalt is going and with him getting 2 starts in a 5 game series, I'd rather play somebody else, even Johan. And its not like Randy Wolf is a complete scrub. He's decent and can dominate on occasion if he has the good curveball.
She's cute. I like her three goals: 1) To be happy, 2) To be grounded & 3) To be the best in pool
I've been watching way too much TV today...
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her in person, as she had lost prior to the semi-finals. I did get to see Ga Young Kim (another earlier round loser) walking around, who is also cute, though not quite as cut IMO as Xiaoting.
And totally forgot about Wandy. If he can come back healthy and be close to his early season form, thats not a bad 1,2,3. Moehler and Backe would at most get 1 start.
You've opened a door for me today I never knew existed
The crowd needless to say is packed and cheering hard for the Cubs.
They seem like nice girls. How do you know they are perverted?
I discovered the world maybe 4-5 years or so ago on ESPN2. It's a tough sport to follow very closely, as the events don't air on TV for a few months or so after they take place.
Plus, there's only 8 tournaments or so a year.
The tour does a very good job of making sure the players are accessible for talking and autographs and such. Even some of the players who lost earlier in the week hung around to watch and meet with fans. They were all very friendly and willing to spend time with anyone who wanted to.
Not that I really care, but still, the question stands.
A pox upon me for a clumsy lout.
So why is there a rule forbidden teams from the same division from playing each other in the first round? Is it because of the unbalanced schedule and the fact teams play 18/19 times against each other? If this is such a crime, they should just go back to an balanced schedule and either allow more inter league games, or multiple trips to other NL cities. I'm sure the Dodgers would like to see Chicago more than once.
And why is Bill Gates and Sinefield trying to play the Odd Couple?
I think it's intended to maximize the chance that the Red Sox and Yankees play each other in the Final Four, rather than the Elite Eight.
Of course Colletti gambled on Manny -- you're getting fired if you do nothing, so you might as well pay the price in talent (no one the greater Los Angeles area seemed to place any value on the next six or whatever years of Andy LaRoche) to acquire a rent-a-player in a desperate Hail Mary attempt to save your job. And hey. Look. It worked. That was easy.
I'd disagree a bit because as Junior notes that nobody in L.A. could place the proper context of LaRoche's six year of cost control, which I say implies that Andy wouldn't get first shot at 3rd base next year even if he stayed with L.A., and if he still couldn't win the job outright by next year, what value did he really had? We didn't exactly sold high on LaRoche, but we didn't sell low on him either. For a rental, Manny ani't bad.
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/
cynics.
In the NBA, neutral site games have been the site of many notable events. Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in Hershey, PA and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt's all-time scoring record in a game in Las Vegas.
Great job, Carlos.
Yep. It was our beloved 1988 Dodgers, in fact! The Reds no hit the '88 Dodgers that year.
Metrolink has a public service commercial with a jovial Huell Howser telling you how wonderful it is ride to Metrolink and what a wondrous experience it is.
I've seen it before. I'm sure the cable system just dropped it in to its computer sometime and this was the time for it to come up.
Tom Browning, correct?
Unbelievable.
There were plans to play the games in Round Rock, but MLB wanted to have the games played in a dome to make sure that two of them were played.
Miller Field had an edge because it was also available on Monday.
Toronto was available too, but I would think that would have been logistically more difficult.
Dodgers @ Pirates
Hiroki Kuroda (R) v. Ross Ohlendorf (R) 4:05 p.m.
Derek Lowe (R) v. Jeff Karstens (R) 4:05 p.m.
Chad Billingsley (R) v. Zach Duke (L) 4:05 p.m.
Clayton Kershaw (L) v. Paul Maholm (L) 9:35 a.m.
Giants @ Diamondbacks
Brad Hennessey (R) v. Doug Davis (L) 6:40 p.m.
Matt Cain (R) v. Dan Haren (R) 6:40 p.m.
Jonathan Sanchez (L) v. Brandon Webb (R) 6:40 p.m.
Tim Lincecum (R) v. Randy Johnson (L) 6:40 p.m.
384 - given the nature of baseball, I don't think it's wise to take a year off from the draft. It's not like the NBA where you get two picks for 15 total spots. Baseball franchises have 7 rosters to fill out. The odds of anyone drafted in any particular year to make the ML roster are not good, but that doesn't mean you don't find a guy who can put it together while in Ogden or Vero Beach or Jacksonville.
Grady Little, trying to suck the fun out of Dodgerville until his terrible reign was deposed.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080914&content_id=3473639&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la&partnerId=rss_la
Saw the end of the Dodger game just in the live box score on my phone while out and about, then came back to watch the insane Broncos-Chargers game on delay via Tivo (my heart is now out of my throat). Then saw what happened with Zambrano. Loony!
Btw, that was indeed a bad call in the Broncs game, they caught a break there though at first I'm sure it looked like his arm was in motion and then they blew it by blowing the whistle. So they got a break, but the Chargers also gave up nearly 500 yard and 39 points, and had several chances to stop them at the end. Shanahan rolled the dice, partially showing confidence in the offense and to go for the kill, partially also because he had little confidence in his D's ability to stop the Chargers if it went to OT. So what the heck. Crazy but it worked. I'd feel more sorry for the Chargers if I didn't loathe them with the white heat of a thousand suns.
And Jacob, did you really not start Marshall today? Oh man, I, uh... sorry, man. Don't do that again.
18 catches!
Anyway, thanks to the Dbacks for flailing about. Let's take care of business in Pittsburgh, Blue.
The biggest advantage of picking in the first round is the relative high success of first rounders making it to the big leagues and becoming productive major leagues. In a weakened draft, one can assume that the percentage of said players picked will have a lesser chance of making to the top level, but they're still going to command similar or even more money to sign.
Of course, one should only sign an Type-A FA, and give up a draft pick if he's actually worth it, say C.C. ...
Ned Yost is riding CC's arm like Bochy is to Tim Lincecum. This is scarier for Lincecum, who hasn't made as much money, is about half the size, and hasn't been pitching as long.
But still, one has to think that in a 6 year deal for Sabathia, at least a couple months will be lost to injury.
9/8 - 9/14
NL East
NY 3-2
Phil 5-2
NL Central
Chi 3-1
Milw 1-6
Houston 4-1
NL West
LA 4-2
AZ 1-5
AL East
TB 3-3
Bos 4-3
AL Central
Chi 3-3
MN 4-2
AL West
LAA 6-1 (Clinched division title)
NL Wild Card
Milw 1-6
Phil 5-2
Hou 4-1
StL 1-5
AL Wild Card
Bos 4-3
Minn 4-2
What do you think was in that woman's stomach?
got this one in my head...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj_rAcygKsk&feature=related
I save that for special occasions.
wasn't it a perfect game? anyways, my next door cubicle mate just told me he heard they were placing a Dodger on the DL but didn't hear who it was, could it be Casey Blake?
I can imagine... I think Grady Little probably did the right thing by banning music in the clubhouse when you think about it.
Nomar Garciaparra - Giants
Rafael Furcal - Dodgers
Casey Blake - Astros
Joe Crede - Dodgers
Manny Ramirez - Phillies
And I think there is zero chance that McCourt doesn't sign Manny. He would have to be literally broke to give him up after what he's done here.
Rafael Furcal makes sense (2 years only though) Joe Crede makes no sense to me & if NedCo likes 'em forget it, even worse.
:o)
UVa Please say it ain't so! But it may be.
That breaks at least two of the suggested no-nos for the Yankees in the Post article Jon mentioned in this post:
Don't give a long term contract to someone past their prime and don't give a long term contract to someone who may not care about every game.
Ty Wiggington has been awesome(138 OPS+) for Houston, why would they want Casey Blake?
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