--

I also wonder why Andre Ethier is being so private about the birth of his child - it's his right, I just hope everything went okay. Seems odd.

Although the Dodgers did have two series against Toronto in 2007.

It's not all that easy for someone with Ethier's status to maintain any privacy.

Bison needs a rest.

Kuo "will not even play catch for several days."

http://tinyurl.com/55njzb

(Actually I'm not that surprised or freaked out yet, but boy I hope he's okay by season's end; if they make the playoffs they'll need him.)

I'm just hoping the baby doesn't look like Derek Lowe...

http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2006/11/todays-birthdays_22.html

Leonard Smith was declared insane, spent a year or so in a state hospital and was released. The state of Indiana changed their rules regarding the insanity defense thereafter.

That same shortstop has passed Gehrig for most career hits at Yankee Stadium.

He's a pretty damn good player.

Not an easy play actually and 2nd was a lost cause. What a weak little rally to start for the Pirates.

I do remember the Lyman Bostock tragedy and his story and that he was a CSUN alum. First player to ever own up and offer to pay back on part of his contract when he started off hitting so poorly for the Angels.

I want to thank all the posters for making me laugh last night when I got home. I heard Juan Pierre's home run on the radio on my way to a church function. When I got home later, the first thing I wanted to do was to see the comments around the time he hit the home run. You had me in Stitches. You were all as funny as Tina Fey on SNL last Saturday night!

Regarding the last thread, Maury Wills should be in the hall for revolutionizing the game at that time but even to him it is a long shot. At the 60's luncheon this year when I told him he deserved to be there, he said "Well, maybe they will when I am six feet under"! So even Maury isn't holding his breath in anticipation.

Andre - I hope everything is okay but maybe he is one of those guys that keeps his private life private.

Let's go Dodgers! I hope Lowe is still on his game and the Pirates kill worms all night!

And he goes deep!

The Dodgers played the Astros in a one-game playoff in 1980 and the Astros in the 1981 NLDS. In the years prior to the current playoff format, they played the Pirates, Phillies, Expos, Cardinals and Mets in the NLCS.

I believe they have played the Reds, Braves, Cardinals and Mets in NLDS play after the Wild Card has been introduced.

I {heart} Pittsburgh!

I think it was L.A's own Freddy Sanchez who dropped it, covering 1st on the bunt. And it was a terrible call.

We would be able to rest our starters. Maybe see McDonald.

Dude, did Andy sleep with a girl you like, or something?

Well, that sounds scarier than I meant it -- you know what I mean.

And Pierre... back to the bench with ya soon.

He's just baiting.

Minnesota may not have anything to play for if they don't start playing better.

Old pal Odalis has shut down the Mets for 3 so far.

No score from Tampa.

(Idiocracy references, ON)

I hate MLB's arcane and antiquated blackout rules.

Ugh. How many times would Colletti and Plaschke go to the "Ned acquired the first Dodger to hit for the cycle since Gil Hodges...for nothing" well after that?

Okay, I'm outta here for the eve -- good luck to the Dodgers the rest o the way. Icaros, text me if Pierre hits another home run so I know to head for cover.

That's who I meant. Wrong first baseman.

To me, it's 'cheap' in the sense that it was the easiest thing he could do, and he that is what he did.

Wow. I was maybe at that point many years ago, but not now.

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

Comb the Sweet Tarts out of your beard and you're on.

232 BB & 120 IBB vs. 373 AB will do that for you.

That was a cheap hit.

And Berroa DP's. Figures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUgKb-5u6v4

1. Obvious one is if you can't get to a ball, usually it is not an error. So you could have very limited range, hardly get fielding opportunities, and still have few errors.

2. You never get an error for not converting a double play. So it is a really poor metric to measure anything by, because you could have 20 double play chances, convert only 3 of them, but the other 17 won't be an error as long as you get the one out.

3. The other problem with fielding errors are if you have an agile fielder with good range, then he will get to more balls and sometimes his good plays will also result in more errors.

All that being said, people will throw other defensive metrics at you and none of them are really complete. They can give you a conceptual idea about a fielder, for example range, but you still can't account for other stuff like arm strength and accuracy. FWIW, I like Blake as a defensive 3B from what I've seen. But I've seen metrics that tell me that he is worse than he's been with the Dodgers.

Erik Bedard will undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery,by Dr. Yocum to check things out and remove any "unhealthy particles" in his left shoulder. So much for The M's trying to get any return on trading him this off-season or next season if they find anything bad w/ the scope.

I just hope we can get him for a year, and if not can get something from our once vaunted farm system. ( I'm really beginning to like DeWitt as a 2nd baseman-he could be good.)

Bud Selig has two heads.

Let's just say you have to follow him into a bathroom stall, or possibly a locker room, to see it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3591397

Torre should make it then if they're combining his management and player years.

I give Pittsburgh two thumbs up.

I give Cleveland every appendage possible down.

That would break with precedents.

One sounds like Rick Monday...but Steiner's boisterous voice I know is not there.

Thanks, I'm an east coaster, so I'm not too familiar with dodgers radio. I wouldn't be listening to it if mlb.tv wasn't soooo slow right now

Again.

Could be Bison. And Loney is Master of Triples.

Or back to the hotel.

Don't mess around with a win staring you in the face.

Yes, irony would have been him not getting out in that situation.

Fernando Tatis gone for the season with a shoulder injury.

Also, Chris Snyder hits a HR.

1-0 AZ.

TBS has all four of the ALDS and NLDS.

And yet, he was almost the hero in the 4+1 game.

If there only hadn't been that +1.

Phillies lead the East by 1/2 game.

Also, happy 20th birthday to Tom Browning's perfecto against the soon to be champs.

Through 69 games, the 31-38 Dodgers are two games ahead of the pace of the worst team in Los Angeles history. The 1992 Dodgers started the season 29-40.

In 50 years, only one Los Angeles Dodger team (1995) has made the postseason with a record below .500 at this stage.

But division re-alignment helped the 1995 team make the playoffs just like it did this year. Hopefully the team can stay hot in the playoffs and do what St. Louis did a few years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/6fxkog

... but fails to note that Maglie came over May 15 and pitched 191 innings for the Dodgers.

Bad news: The identity of that cleanup hitter is Bengie Molina.

/I Love LA>

And they still have two starts (one from Mr.Tim) to not make it even better.

Not that it will do much to the Dodgers' lead, but I literally thought a 2-2 split would be enough in Pittsburgh. I still think so, but the G-Men will have to score more than 2 runs to ease the tension!

Get 1 of 3 in Colorado; got 2 of 3.
Get a split in Pittsburgh; got at least that.
Once they get back home, the Dodgers just have to avoid getting swept and things should play in their favor.

the yub nub celebration at the end was arguably my favorite part of the whole movie..

Some big time closers are blowing some big games. Nathan tonight, Papelbon earlier in the week.

In 2006, the Dodgers went 20 straight days without losing ground (their 17-1 stretch). I believe this is the club record, just because I can't find another such stretch.

In 1982, the amazing run included a day or two in which they lost ground. In 1955, the club started 22-2, but on the day of loss #2 they lost ground in the standings.

14 out of 16 so far.

I dont think the Dodgers are quite out of the woods yet bc its unlikely they can be hot the rest of the way, while the Dbax lose out the rest of the way. Could still come down to next week.

4 1/2 game lead.

Magic Number: 8

If the Dodgers go 6-5 in their remaining 11 games the Diamondbacks would have to go 11-1 in order to force a divisional tie breaker game at Dodger Stadium.

My understanding is that the Cubs (best record) would get the WC winner and the Dodgers would go vs. the East winner (Mets/Phillies). So how do we match up against the Mets/Phillies?

Cubs (if Brewers win wild card): Dodgers are 2-5 against them

Mets (if Mets in wild card): 3-4 against them

Phillies (if Phils in wild card): 4-2 against them

The Dodgers could only face Milwaukee if both make the NLCS, and they are 4-2 against the Brew Crew.

"After four surgeries, there's always going to be something," he said. "But it was good enough to pitch."

http://tinyurl.com/kuoelbow

"For whatever reason that helped," he said. "When you go through something like that as a team, you rely on each other more and you become closer."

-----------------------------------------

For Blake, the atmosphere rid him of any reservations he had about his move to Los Angeles.

Blake said he wants to listen to whatever the Indians have to tell him when he becomes a free agent this winter, but he said he would also consider re-signing with the Dodgers if they want him back.

"I like it here," Blake said. "I'm going to keep my options open. These guys have been great to me."

http://tinyurl.com/63fh8x

http://tinyurl.com/dodgermusic

The scenarios below are if the N.L West Champion finishes as the #3 seed:

If the Mets or Phillies win the wildcard the N.L West Champion will open on the road in the N.L East Champion's ballpark on October 1st.

If the Brewers or Astros win the wildcard the N.L West Champion will open on the road at Wrigley Field on October 1st.

If the season ended today and boy wouldn't that be nice:

Dodgers vs. Phillies
Mets vs. Cubs

http://tinyurl.com/59gqur

Manhattan Beach is most popular with hockey players. And not just members of the Kings. It's apparently quite the place for players from all over.

And then once some pro athletes moved in, more followed.

My favorite highlight..."Manny has made more friends in a week than Jeff Kent has in a year."

Reilly thinks that Manny will stay for $80 million over 4 years.

During the Laker season, Prime Ticket had these little films with Luke Walton, one day he ran errands (bank, dry cleaning, etc.), I knew exactly where in Manhattan Beach he was doing all this stuff.

At the local bar he would tell me how Nomar bought him shots then the next week he drank with Josh Shipp.

In reality, I hope the Angels do the dumbest thing possible and give him 15 million or more, because I hate the Angels.

Course, the more important realization is that saves are an irrelevant stat, but baby steps.

Saves are a particularly poor stat for measuring how well a pitcher has pitched. While it's probably true that pitchers with high save percentages pitched better on average than pitchers with low save percentages, there's just no reason to use the save stat instead of other more meaningful stats (e.g. Ks, BBs, HRs, etc.) that give us a more direct indication as to how the pitcher actually pitched.

Small sample size or a pitching staff that has found it's groove? Haren had a great start last night, Webb seems to have found his way, Johnson is pitching well.

These guys have dug a deep hole for themselves but let's not set our playoff rotation quite yet.

Because if they do, Arizona would have to go 10-2 to tie them.

That's a fairly big hole.

If the Dodgers only go 3-8, Arizona would only tie if they played no worse than 8-4.

I guess it could happen. But at this point, it would be called a "collapse."

Joe Torre can earn his money now by preventing such a collapse.

What can Joe do to prevent the collapse, and in what way can he do so that other (lower-paid) managers couldn't?

ERA 3.02
Strike outs 189
Wins 15

batting leaders
Andre Ethier

BA .301
HR 20
Runs 86
OPS 884

The division race is far from over, and all this talk of playoff matchups and postseasons starters churns my stomach a little bit. I may be overnervous here, but did the Lakers-Celtics series last June not teach us anything?

We have 11 games left and AZ has 12. Of those 23 games we need 8 to go our way to lock. 8 of 23 is 34.8%.

The DBacks have shown no resolve this season. They blew every chance they had to pull away, and it was pretty clear all along that they weren't good enough to run away. There's especially no reason to think they'll overtake the Dodgers now that we're playing our best ball of the season. The pitching is lights out and the offense is on fire.

In putting up a 14-2 record over the last 16 games, we've outscored our opponents 91-32, or 5.7 to 2.

The Dodgers have been facing some serious scrubs lately. Not that it necessarily matters, given how they systematically dismantled Webb and Haren.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster

Billingsley 4-1 49.1 IP, 2.92 ERA
Lowe 6-2, 57.1 IP, 2.67 ERA
Kuroda 4-2, 57.2 IP, 2.50 ERA
Kershaw 3-2, 48.1 IP, 4.28 ERA
Team 25-18, 3.53 ERA

http://www.dailynews.com/dodgers/ci_10474160

I think this was mentioned a few days ago, but does anyone have any idea why this is the case? Is Furcal still hurt? I would think that even an 80% Furcal is an upgrade over a 100% Berroa. Or is this just more Torre-speak that actually means very little?

for me (my opinion) I won't boo if you go 0-4 but if you lack hustle (as a teammate) I'd probably be a little upset.

Russ is still showing some nice IsoD, though.

Next good third base prospect that comes along should just stick with Andrew. Andy just sounds too wimpy. Andrew means business.

And Andruw is fat.

Dodgers OBP/SLG/OPS .366/.455/.821
Oppts OBP/SLG/OPS .264/.302/.567

A lot could happen in the next 11 games. God-forbid Manny or Andre break a bone, throw-out his shoulder, turn an ACL.....

Jon, you need to add a "Thank you for not predicting the outcome of a divisional championship that has yet to be won" on the side bar...

I tend to think it is, kind of a mini personal seat license.

We can start lining up our post-season and giving AJ Ellis, McDonald, Young starts in 6 or 7 days.

Eric, I can do you one better than that. I believe you can also get "upper" reserve tickets for 6 bucks each with the Promo Code "THINKBLUE". This makes me eligible for the pre-sale.

I picked up a pair for Fan Appreciation Day. Is fan appreciation day worth the trip? It sounds like fun, but otherwise it seems like a meaningless game (well not this year, but usually).

Baseball has never been the same since the Dodgers stopped driving the Hobie Cat around the warning track in between innings to promote Fan Appreciation Day.

Ahh, I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/

The Russian stock market (who knew?) lost 25% of its value in two days and trading has halted. The Shanghai index is down 2/3rds from its peak. The Dow is down 300 points today (it was up 140-something yesterday)... it's been a brutal week for anyone who believed that the financial crisis was anywhere near over. The amazing thing is how little cry there is over the idea of bailouts for the organizations responsible for making catastrophically bad decisions.

Yet the situation contains a few silver linings. For one thing, people finally understand what is at stake, and the necessity of a bloodletting. CR's post "Comment on Crisis: Necessary Steps" seems pretty reasonable.

How about those Berroa numbers for AM. Startling, simply startling.

Yes. Funny how it's easier to sell bailouts for wealthy folks than for non-wealthy.

A shocker, Steve Phillips think Pujols should be MVP.

Not all bad news.

I'd hope that those that will be retiring soon are putting their money into safe ventures like bonds. The markets now are across the board dynamic and volatility is crazy.

I believe in unfettered free market capitalism & am against the bailouts, but I can understand trying to save the people it would hurt (AIG was a huge company that offered many different services to all classes of people).

That's partly why wealthy folk bailouts are easier to sell. Sellers can always harken to some kind of trickle-down issue, acting as if they really care about the tricklees.

Oh, I like the hope involved in that one.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/files/1968_september_17_sports.jpg

Between greed and stupidity we shoot ourselves in the foot an awful lot but luckily it is a large economy and these expensive blips will fall from memory just like the Saving & Loan crises, only to rear their ugly head when the next generation of financiers try to do much instead of playing within the game.

Hate to be anyone playing on margin these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Night_Games_Pre-1970

They didn't play their first games until September 21.

Fans in Southern California are already thinking about a possible Dodgers-Angels World Series.

"It would be the greatest thing that ever happened," said former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who guided the Dodgers to two World Series crowns in four appearances during his Hall of Fame career.

-ESPN.com

*Vedder

Trust me, this is a big deal to some people.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do some shopping at Lucky Supermarket.

...and by the way, that would be FAR from "the greatest thing that ever happened."

Nothing would bore me more than the Anaheim Angels of Monrovia slap hitting their way into the Fall classic.

I highly doubt it will happen anyway. Anybody got their pythag record offhand?

Me? I'd much rather see the 150:1's, or even the Red Sox, if they lose.

You mean she wasn't for a while? Wow!

Hopefully I'll get to use the other tickets I bought - NLCS game 1.

Said online sales go to customer service, but Terry had no idea what to do. And she had no contact number for the Dodgers

"Channel 5 News - Without Hal Fishman."

"Today on KTLA - No Twilight Zone Marathon!"

"I hate them. These [expletives] deserve to be hurt. Hurt, I say!," the employee yells as he hits a sow with a metal rod. "Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! ... Take out your frustrations on 'em." He encourages the investigator to pretend that one of the pigs scared off a voluptuous and willing 17- or 18-year-old girl, and then beat the pig for it.

At one point in the video, workers are shown slamming piglets on the ground, a practice designed to instantly kill those baby pigs that aren't healthy enough. But on the video, the piglets are not killed instantly, and in a bloodied pile, some piglets can be seen wiggling vainly. The video also shows piglets being castrated, and having their tails cut off, without anesthesia.
- CNN.com

Gotta love humans.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/16/news/companies/aig_questions/index.htm

In related news, Suze Orman proves why I have absolutely no regard for anything she ever says:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/09/17/lkl.suze.orman/index.html

It starts way back when there was nobody overseeing and regulating. Nothing. It's how many times have I said on this program, what were they all thinking? Why were they lending money to people who shouldn't have been borrowing money? Why were they packaging these things? What about the rating agencies? Why weren't the rating agencies rating everything the way they should have been and now they're making matters worse? So whether it's fraud or not, was there deceit going on? I don't know if it was deceit as much as just total irresponsibility is what caused this.

Another word for "lie" is "deceit", Suze. That's just covering for her friends in the financial services biz, but it's still a lie and she's still part of that gang. It's hard to have anything but contempt for that sort of thing.

I think the answer is 4.

The Rockies also have the record they "deserve."

SportsNation Steve Phillips: No, I think the Yankees were flawed coming in. Not even Torre would have been able to salvage this team. I don't believe that Joe Girardi would have been able to get the Dodgers into the playoffs, however. That unique combination of old and young players really benefitted from Torre's experience, and it would have been a difficult roster for Girardi to manage.

If the Yankees had Bills, Kuo, Wade, Saito, Elbert, Manny, Ethier, Kemp, and Martin, I'm sure they'd be better too.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob

Interesting.

Bleh. Two things I couldn't care less about.

I was hoping Eric Stephen and fanerman were going to kick start Defunct Supermarket Thoughts.

478. scareduck
11-year-old boy in Compton killed after being struck in the chest by a baseball:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-baseballdeath18-2008sep18,0,4924523.story

But there are easy ways to figure out why teams are over and under performing their expected wins that aren't luck. for example, SF probably has something to do with having Lincecum.

2008: +10
2007: +4
2006: +5
2005: +2
2004: +1
2003: -3
2002: -2

The last 3 years have been very good in terms of overperforming, but are they really doing anything differently than the years since the championship team?

But Mutual Funds are likely taking a beating considering most funds try at the very least to "be the market", and DJIA is down to 10,800. As long as you are in the market for the long haul, I wouldnt be too worried. Its certainly been a down year (since last October's highs), but I dont see any prolonged trouble that the market cant fix on its own.

Boo....

I always thought teams with better luck had better bullpens and performed better than expected in close (1-run) games.

He complained about chest pain before being struck by the ball.

Tell my congressman what?

As I mentioned my first baseball game was at Yankee stadium in 1955 World Series. My father had just got his PhD from MIT and he took his family to New York as a reward.

We got to run around center field, I got the autographs of about 20 Dodgers, and Duke Snider carried me around on his shoulders. I can still smell the grass!

I always thought that the World Series had to have the Dodgers and Yankees in it.

Since this is the last year of Yankee Stadium I had hoped they would make it this year.

My father got a brick from the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field when they were torn down. Hopefully I will be able to add a brick from Yankee stadium.

I have a lot of great memories of family and friends however the memory of Center Field in Yankee Stadium is one of the best.