http://tinyurl.com/3pg8xy

"We suspect that the cruelty in every can of Spam will infuriate Shane more than a high Hiroki Kuroda fastball," says Shannon. "If Shane likes Spam a lot, he should buy tickets to the Broadway play but leave it off his dinner plate."

I don't expect to be using my seat much tonight.

51. Kevin Lewis
36

You're correct! It is almost not fair for me to attend tonight's game. Get ready for your comeuppance Phillies.

Side note: I never knew "comeuppance" was one word until now.

---

Btw, regarding the Steve Phillips drivel mentioned in earlier thread, about Martin, specifically about that Park wild pitch. Even Tim McCarver and Joe Buck said Martin had been incredible all game, even all series, blocking other pitches, that it was hard to be perfect continually behind the plate and that was a tough pitch to stop. So separate even from the issue of "disappointment," that play was a particularly unfair one to pick on, imho.

--

Ah well. Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

Shane Victorino will be rather enormous if he keeps eating Spam musubi past his playing days.

Saying Victorino likes it is just enforcing stereotypes.

I went after it with a broom. I won. They I sent the bug back down the sink as a warning to his mates.

And remember, always fry your spam for the musubi.

I still believe we can do it. I have to. I need to. And I know I'm not alone.

At least Nomar swung at the ball. But for the final pitch of the final game...ouch.

A few people have mentioned the Dodgers' injury plagued season. I'm not sure I agree. Losing Furcal was huge. Losing Penny was big, but ultimately Kershaw and Park (!) compensated. Losing Saito wasn't that big a deal. All of the other injuries, to my mind, HELPED the team. Pierre, Nomar, Kent, Jones - the team was better without 'em than with 'em, and since Torre wasn't going to bench them (with the exception of Nomar, I guess), the injuries were GOOD luck. I suppose the LaRoche injury changed the season a bit, but probably didn't change the WL record. All of the kids stayed healthy and thrived, pitchers and hitters alike. If I had to bet, I'd bet that next year will be worse for injuries, because the chances are that one or more of those guys will miss some time.

7/2/06: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4/3 BB/K, loss (4th ML start)
7/28/06: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5/5 BB/K, win
7/1/07: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0/9 BB/K, win
4/30/08: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4/8 BB/K, win
7/13/08: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1/13 BB/K, win
9/23/08: 6 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 2/5 BB/K, win

Totals: 39 IP, 28 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 16/43 BB/K, 5-1, 1.15 ERA

Howard Johnson gets no respect. At lease he has his hotel chain fortune to fall back on. :)

HoJo was the man! At least until I drafted him in my first fantasy baseball season of 1992.

Plus, Jessica Alba could be more prominently involved with the team!

I am meeting someone at the game, and I have his ticket. Can I hand it to him through the exit gate, or do I need to wait outside until he arrives?

Three in a row is entirely possible. If we beat Hamels tonight, we have weak starters of Myers and Moyer for G's 6 & 7. Let's do it Blue!

This is from Jayson Stark's latest column:

"ESPN research guru Mark Simon reports that only three players in history have ever played fewer games for any team than Stairs had played for the Phillies before hitting a postseason home run. They're Marv Rickert (three games) of the 1948 Braves, Tom Wilson (nine games) of the 2004 Dodgers and Turner Ward (10) of the 1999 Diamondbacks"

We haven't won in Philly all year...I know I'm getting ahead of myself in saying this....we're due!

Let's get tonights game and take this back to Philly!

Manny is 7 for 8 with RISP this postseason.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html

"No thanks to Hiroki Kuroda vs. Brett Myers in Game 6. Myers is still suspect, even though he's rocked at home, and the Phils haven't solved Kuroda. No thanks to Derek Lowe on normal rest vs. TBA in Game 7. Jamie Moyer is still a big-game pitcher despite his struggles lately, but Lowe is still a better bet than Moyer or Joe Blanton, despite a third look against the Phils. ..."

August 12-14: The Dodgers (at home) beat Hamels-Blanton-Myers

Andre Eithier – Dollish. Soft features, olive skin, dark eyes. Hard to read expression ads mystery to countenance, which women find alluring. As a teenager he said he'd respect your daughter, and you believed him. He did not disappoint.

Nomar Garciaparra – Manly conquistador face with proud nose. If a more rugged look equates to greater handsomeness, then he should take the #1 spot from Eithier. And if it were purely up to me he would.

Rafael Furcal – Laser focus stare, coupled with compact, lapidary facial structure makes for an intense animatronic impression. A face as Spartan and efficiently arranged as his play.

Russel Martin – Boyish go-getter look and quick smile make up for common, everyday face. Eyes are a bit narrow.

Chad Billingsly – Just shy of good-lookin'. Excellent skin. Dirth of expression and character puts this "good on paper" face just back of Martin.

Blake Dewitt – Well proportioned features. Baseball cap and longer hair ads rough flare to an otherwise nondescript face.

Joe Beimel – Tough call. I'm into the gypsy look.

[From here the team experiences a pronounced dip in appearance, to VERY average, to quite below average]

Jonathon Broxton – Southern lumpen, or sturdy and dignified?

Casey Blake – Long, dignified face. Looks quite good clean shaven. But with a beard takes on the solemn look of an overly serious plodding bore.

Jeff Kent – At certain BRIEF angles he looks like a handsome leading man. His implacable expression reflects an always-on the-verge-of-perturbed demeanor. Unloveable. The very definition of average looking. From California, though one suspects Indiana. His baseball card should accompany all deep jungle expeditions as a quick reference to show the natives what an American looks like.

James Loney – A sweet, unassuming countenance nearly puts this amusingly unorthodox face higher on the list.

Clayton Kershaw – An awkwardly boyish face banishes any trace of sex appeal to at least his 30s. At which time he may become very, VERY handsome.

Brad Penny – Brutish. You are surprised it can smile. But when it does it is disarmingly expressive.

Andruw Jones – A cute malfunctioning toy that keeps smiling no matter how much you bang it in anger.

Matt Kemp – Towering jock face.

Greg Maddux – Looks OK. (Personal bias against frigid, self-assured faces.)

Frip – Not so bad as to frighten dogs, but nothing a girl would look twice at without me forcing the issue.

Manny Ramirez – fleshy

Ned Colletti – Not my type. No one's type.

Joe Torre – Just a mess. Can't even begin to sort it all out.

Hiroki Kuroda – Perhaps he should be higher on the list, but this cold draft of a face makes me not want to bother.

Juan Pierre – Earnest look on globular head is usually endearing and imparts trust. But after his late season comments, I can only see it as a grand deception now.

Frank McCort – The facial equivalent of an icepick.

Derrek Lowe – Proportions all askew and ill arranged. A clay sculpture of his face as attempted by an 8 year old, that somehow became his face.

Should I have the ticket in an envelope with his name, or will they do it?

If we lose, it's 4 months until the next Dodger game in Arizona.

Is that true?

With the season opening a week later in April, certainly seems possible.

I won't be able to watch Nomar anymore without thinking of this! I will be even thinking of his manly conquistador face as he's rounding the bases after his pinch HR Friday night.

Japan doesn't start its final playoff series until November 1 this year.

By the way Cargill06 I remember when you first started posting this year and took some hits in the beginning. As the year has gone on you have been a great asset to Dodger Thoughts.

For me, at least, baseball and Dodger fandom peaked at that moment. They've been mostly downhill since.

Division Series: Oct 7-14 (Wed-Wed)
LCS: Oct 15-25 (Thu-Sun)
World Series: Oct 28-Nov 5 (Wed-Thu)

Game 3 of the WS would be Halloween, followed by four potential November games.

http://tinyurl.com/3mxphz

1. Pure excitment and acting like a 12 year old if it happens
2. Put 10 on the Dodgers winning the NL at 15-1
3. I want Pierre to have a chance to redeem himself from, "We went to Wrigley Field, we got that wiggly feel."

The last time the Dodgers lost a playoff game despite getting a quality start was Game 2 of the 1996 NLDS (Maddux outdueled Ismael Valdez).

And the in one inning, Valdes (he had an S then) gave up three solo homers.

Good times....

Wow...oh man, just...wow.

I was in the RF pavilion during that game. In fact, I tossed Jermaine Dye's home run in the seventh inning back onto the field. Of course, he hit his shot into the LF pavilion ...

Apparently not as hot as Evan Longoria or Manny Ramirez, at least according to ESPN.com.

Thanks, Toy. That is what I was hoping to do, but I didn't know if security would freak out. Then again, what security?

Gibson: "We had a scout, Mel Didier, and he had watched Dennis Eckersley for many years. He came up to me (before the Series) in his southern drawl, and said, 'Pardnuh, as sure as I'm standin' here breathin', you're goin' to see a 3-2 backdoor slider.'

"You can watch it (on the video). As soon as he comes set at 3-2, I called timeout and I step out of the box and I'm looking at him and hearing, 'Pardnuh, as sure as I'm standin' here breathin', you're goin' to see a 3-2 backdoor slider.'"

Eckersley: "First of all, I didn't get to 3-2 on too many hitters, so if (Gibson) wants to give the credit to the scout, that's OK. I'm the idiot who threw the crappy slider."

--
Come on Chad. No Crappy sliders.

That reminds me of a game where Vin referred to the RFer as "Mondesi" while Raul was playing CF, which was understandable considering the years he spent in right. Later that game he referred to the LFer as "Mondesi" as well, and I thought for a second Vin was maybe getting old. Well, 10 or so years after that, he still blows any other in the biz out of the water IMHO.

Our young pitching is electric, but Kemp, Loney, and Martin need to step up their games in 2009 if they want to be a part of the future. Using their age as an excuse only works for so long. All of them took a step back this year. I have high hopes for all of them but I was unimpressed this year.

I completely agree

It's a combination of Vin, Drysdale and Jack Buck.

http://webpages.charter.net/steveandjannan/Gibson!.wav

http://tinyurl.com/4zaqrw

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/10/peta-wants-big.html

http://deadspin.com/5063908/la-sports-bar-bans-dodgers-gear--phillies-gear-ok-though

2 tickets in the RF pavilion and 1 ticket in the Loge

Best offer...come on guys there has to be a Dodger fan that wants them out there...anyone?

Email me at jbraden@vsrlogistics.com

BEST OFFER

Overpay for Hudson, short-term contracts for Sheets and Furcal. Let Manny go, and leave us with a Kemp, Ethier, Jones/Pierre OF.

http://tinyurl.com/4frw8v

Put me in the "I'd like to see Loney improve significantly next year" camp.

Is it the real first pitch, or is it the third of three "first pitch" ceremonies?

He's not busy

Then they finally showed Gibson hitting off Eckersley, but after Gibson hit the ball they spliced footage with a regular flyout to Canseco, followed by footage of Eck celebrating and shaking hands with teammates (in what looked like a game from Fenway). Anyway, it was pretty funny.

I doubt Koufax would come out here unless Fred Wilpon gave him the thumbs up.

I'm picturing Bruce Dern giving a thumbs down in Diggstown.

http://thebiglead.com/?p=8405

The best line: "Longoria? Get this. He's not a free agent until 2017. 2017! We'll have flying cars by then!"

"When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you're getting your ass hammered by guys — there's no better feeling than to have that done."

http://tinyurl.com/Phillies-are-a-close-group

If Martin ends up being a Jason Kendall clone, thats ok I guess. And if anything, his "average" years currently should keep his arbitration raises low. The power outage & inability to throw out base stealers changed my perception of Russ at least.

Kemp - As long he stays in CF, he's a regular for as long as the Dodgers can afford him.

Loney, Dewitt, Ethier should be placeholders until better replacements are available.

If I was to rank most valuable to the future (2010 & beyond) Dodgers:
#1. Billingsley
#2. Kershaw
#3. Kemp
#4. Martin
#5. DeJesus
#6. Lambo
#7. Broxton
#8. Ethier
#9. Dewitt
#10.Loney

Burke, Va.: Hi Dave, Starting to shape up to be Phillies/Rays WS. . . . . What's the deal with the Sawx? . . .

Dave Sheinin: I'm actually tackling this very question for tomorrow's paper. The short answer: While the Red Sox have built a tremendous young core (Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, Papelbon, Lowrie, et al.), they are still very reliant upon aging players who have let them down. Two of their three losses have been charged to 42-year-old pitchers (Timlin, Wakefield). Varitek looks washed-up. Lowell is out. Ortiz has nagging injuries all over his body, particularly his wrist. You can even throw Curt Schilling in there, because they're paying him $8 million and he hasn't thrown a pitch. They need to make some changes, in line with the Manny Ramirez/Jason Bay trade, which made them six years younger in left field.

Blake a hard fly ball and a solo home run. Given the amount of runners he's left on base I think he owed us the solo home run.

His comment after "I'm a Fool to Want You," by Frank Sinatra: "This man was a famous Italian singer." And on Van Morrison: "This is this new up and comer, he's going to be big."

Here's my PSA for those around Nashville. Apparently AM 560 in Nashville is playing the Dodgers feed! If only I'd ponied up for the good antenna for my receiver. I forsee a night in the garage with the transistor not even missing the goons on FOX.

I plan on taking advantage of this leniency on October 27.

As you know, the game progressed from exhilarating to dispiriting in fairly short order, but soon my disappointment gave way to thankfulness with the phone call from a friend and neighbor who defied the evacuation orders until about 10:00 P.M. and said that his and our homes were still fine when he left. Judging from the news reports, we felt the worst has passed for our neighborhood, and it had.

Not so good for someone else around a couple corners from me (whom I've never seen), but about three to four hundred yards away as the crow/embers fly, who lost one of two residences in my area that looked like complete losses.

My deepest sympathies to all those affected by the fires more severely than I am, my thanks to the fire departments and emergency crews for outstanding work, and thank goodness for no more shake roofs and for mandatory brush clearance.

My irrational ire is actually directed much more so at Kemp. He's better than this, and I want him to show it.

154 - There was some regression by Martin this year and did you really expect Loney and Kemp to hit .330 or .340 for a full year? The fact they hovered around the .300 mark most of the year when they are still in the learning curve was okay with me. Remember peak years are supposed to be 26-29. Ethier showed once he got to be an every day player, that he can be a rock solid player for your team, not a superstar type, but you can't have or afford a team of all superstars. You do need a solid everyday player you can depend on that can hit .280-.290 and hit 18-25 HR and drive in 85-95 runs consistently and play good defense. Those guys have great value on a team as well.

My memories of that game - sitting in the 2nd row of the right field bleachers, even then yelling steroids at Canseco in the pregame warmups. Watching Mickey Hatcher hit the 2 run HR in the first to get the Dodgers started and leading 2-0. My wife had dropped her nachos during the National Anthem, an omen or sign? Earlier in the year, she had sat in her nachos after the anthem was played and that was the game Gibson eventually won scoring from 2nd on a wild pitch against the Expos. Then we watched in amazed horror as Canseco dented the centerfield camera with his Grand Salami to put the A's ahead 4-2 and you start thinking, "maybe we are overmatched". The game progresses and our bullpen holds the A's and the Dodgers bunch 3 singles in the 6th for one run to edge closer 4-3. Drunk Dodger fan in the 7th that had been vulgarly insulting Dave Henderson gets into fight and gets escorted by security from the stands. I whisper to my wife, "I hope the Dodgers come back and win to teach him a lesson." After 8 innings, we see about 20-30 fans leave to go home, I yell out "C'mon it's the World Series, one run game, it's a Saturday night, why are you leaving now? One of them says "Eckersley is coming in, Game over." I say "Maybe, but you never knowin baseball, if something wonderful happens, you'll kick yourself forever." With two out and no one on, I must admit it looked bleak, until Mike Davis ran the count to 3-1 and then seeing him take ball 4 and then the stadium exploding as we saw Gibson lumbering out of the dugout and with a gimp, walking toward the plate. You know the rest! The feeling watching the ball as it left the infield and seeing the trajectory that it had the muscle to leave the yard and looking at Canseco briefly for confirmation and seeing him shake his head and then just a blur of ABSOLUTE EUPHORIA!! My wife and I were among the last 5 or 10 cars to leave the parking lot that night, not wanting the feeling to end! Nothing will ever touch that night as far as being witness to a livesporting event in my lifetime.

Tim McCarver will say, "I once knew a guy named Connor McLeod in the minors who did that a lot, even Bob Gibson was afraid of him."

DENNIS ECKERSLEY:
Looking back, we didn't spend a lot of time on Kirk in the pre-game meetings. I mean, no one expected him to play in that game.

The one thing I remember is one of the coaches says to me, "Listen, if he does get up, do not throw him anything soft. He'll hit it." I remember thinking, "Yea, but he's not playing."

Now it's like "OOOOOOK…nothing soft."

I have one more ticket left.

I am leaving around 3pm from Pasadena, but that includes a stop at Chipotle.

But he's just barely 24....

Furcal, SS
Ethier, RF
Manny, LF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
Kemp, CF
DeWitt, 2B
Billingsley, P

That should be safe for me to put in my scorebook ahead of time, right?

The exciting games are even harder - after Game 4 I did not go to sleep for 2 more hours, reducing myself to zombie status the next day at work.

Lambo took a bit of a step back this year in terms of his bb/ks, but he did hit 18 HRs playing in a couple of tough places to hit in (Great Lakes & Jax).

That reminds me I need to get gas in case the parking lot is crazy after the game. Don't want to run out on the way home

But I work at an electronics store, so I will be watching the game on 40+ big screen HDTV's. =]

No, I did rent it recently though; while it's dated it's still pretty great.

Wow.

It is a condo complex in Pasadena.

Nope, south of the 210

This doesn't work if said spouse is a Cubs fan.

Oh, I will

210
Remember that the players only lineup on the foul lines for the first home game in each park in each series.

Question: over MLB history, there has been a cycle every X games (I don't know the value of X).

Does X exceed the number of post-season games in MLB history?

Sheesh...

Who's with me?