I like Reuss but I also felt Monday brought out the worst in him, encouraging him talk about his playing days at the expense of what was happening in the game.

How about Russ Langer for TV?

"Remember what you were wearing when you walked in on Jay Johnstone?"

[covering mic, laughter head in background]

"Here's the wind, and the 2-1 pitch. Low and outside, ball 3. Right back with a fastball, full count. Right back with an off speed pitch got him, to end the inning. We'll be back after this."

Producer [in Monday's ear]: "Um, Rick we don't have time for commercials now since the next inning is already starting."

Franklin Stubbs is actually 20th in hits by Dodgers that primarily played 1B. :)

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

On the other hand, there's gotta be a way to use examples from one's playing days as a way to highlight or explain the action in the current game. This is one of the few places where "I played the game" holds water for me.

In other words: Rick Monday is a terrible broadcaster.

Seriously, how about bringing Ross Porter back? Please?

I actually prefer Steiner on TV over radio. On radio he's always getting my hopes up with that "it's a homer, oops fooled me again" call - on TV I have a shot that my eyes have already told me something different.

Not only that, but Uecker is into his 70s. I've always enjoyed Uecker on pbp.

I think he is the worst baseball announcer in L.A MLB history., and I lived through Jerry Doggett's sad decline.
I abhor Ross Porter's announcing.

Ross Porter, the master of context-free and/or trivial stats.

By trivial I mean he loves to share things like, say, "...the Dodgers so far this season have a record of 2 and 13 in Tuesday night games--1 and 2 in Tuesday day games".
If your're not betting the games, what possible difference does it make?

By context free I mean he pompously announces things like, say, "..the Dodgers average one intentional walk every 5 1/3 innings."
Stats like that are meaningless without an accompanying mention of league average.
(And boring.)

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

What's that you say?

Oh, er, never mind.

So what other former Dodger players would make good announcers? Besides Fernando.

Monday: "Cain comes right back with a slow curve and Blake pokes it into right field."

Crowd noise.

Reuss: "On that play, Cain thought he could get a slow curve past Blake, but Blake just stuck his bat out there, poked it into right field, and now he's got a base hit."

I think the Dodgers are really going to miss Lowe if we end up with Garland. Just go with the starting pitching we've got (Billingsley, Kuroda, Kershaw, McDonald and Stults), bring in Trevor Hoffman, and assemble the strongest offense we can -- Furcal and Manny, or Furcal and an improved Jones if Manny is too much trouble. Furcal should be the top FA priority because he's anti-Pierre insurance. I have a feeling about Andruw. I think he's going to be good next year.

With Manny and Furcal, the Dodgers should score a lot of runs. The key, then, would be having a bullpen that can take over 75 percent of the games after 5-6 innings so we don't burn out the young pitchers. I really like the idea of Hoffman coming here for a year.

I think that once Scully retires, the single announcer in the TV booth will disappear.

Fortunately, Matt Vasgersian is safely away at the MLB Network, even though a Vasgersian/Arbogast pairing would make Eric Stephen giddy with joy.

I think the Dodgers should go off the board and get someone from the East Coast or Midwest.

The Dodgers need to get in on the Tex Sweepstakes. (I don't care that he wants to play on the left coast) Sign Tex - forget about Manny. Then convert Loney to LF.

Sign Furcal.

Work out a trade with SD for Peavy - we have the AAA playes they want/need.

Just DO IT!!!

Also about over-the-hill-Treavor - I laughed and drooled last year every time Hoff came in to releive against the Dodgers - he is just terrible and way over rated.

I nominate Chip Caray!

[runs away]

Of course it behooves us to get the most out of every player we have, but talk about a pickle. I wonder if Ethier can play short.

Joe Morgan-esque.

Too bad Joe Biemel is still playing, he is hilarious.

Re: Garland, everybody is forgetting one very crucial fact. Does he, or does he not, have A RING IN A BOX?

But what are the odds that Jones not only starts to hit, but hits better than Kemp or Ethier?

50 I'm going to miss Joe. I can see him in hanging in the broadcast booth wearing his awesome Dodger bathrobe and a cap pulled down over his eyes.

I think it's pretty obvious that Jones is enduring some kind of psychological issue, perhaps similar to Chuck Knoblauch's sudden inability to throw the ball to first base.

I wonder if Jones suffers from panic attacks or depression.

Does he, or does he not, have A RING IN A BOX?

Don't ask Justin Timberlake what's in his box.

I too am a huge fan of Spero Dedes. <-- also an East Coast guy.

Somebody alert Keith Olbermann's mom and tell her to stay away from Arizona during Spring Training.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present... your Oscar host and future Dodger broadcaster...

http://tinyurl.com/newhotness

The Mets, Cubs, Nationals and Angels also were interested in Ibanez

There isn't a similar market for Manny, not at the annual salary he's asking for. But, I do think LA eventually guarantees that 3rd year if/when other suitors enter the bidding. Ibanez is gone and Burrell may be going to the Reds. That leaves Manny, Tex, and Abreu as the "big bats" left.

Best case for LA re: Manny, I think, is for Tex to go to Anaheim and Abreu to go to the Mets. That would presumably leave only the Nats and LA bidding for Manny.

Of course, Manny could just retire too :-/

Hardly any movement at all.

I don't know what it is, but Wonder Years just doesn't do it for me anymore. I loved it when I was growing up, but Fred Savage and Danica McKellar bug me to no end on that show.

The acting in Freaks and Geeks is amazing, and I am now sad the show was canceled (yet again).

Wonder Years may be ruined for me by the way the whole thing ended, but it reminds me of how I used to think Outback Steakhouse made great steaks, until I had a great steak.

Tastes change, I know..so just my opinion.

Manny Ramirez is growing extremely upset about the lack of suitors for his services, so much so that he has told friends he would contemplate retirement if a suitable offer doesn't arrive soon, a person close to the situation told Newsday.

Has there been much discussion about Ben Sheets. I think he would be a really great signing.

All TV shows tend to suffer by how they age, however. Something like Freaks benefits in our memory by having such a short run.

What, that was in perfect theme with this place

Excellent point. I often wonder if I would like Arrested Development as much if it had gone on for say 3 or 4 more years.

I knew I would get in trouble for that.

Ummmm...I don't even have a favorite steak place.

Something made on the green pod!

As for the Dodgers, 28 completely nailed the Jerry Reuss style! I could literally hear those words being spoken in my head.

I think the upper-management plan is that Steiner + X will be Vin's successors. I could be wrong though, the last I heard this plan was a couple years ago.

I stopped watching at Season 10...I didn't realize it was at year 20 until Sporcle.

Seasons 4-7 are what do it for me.

I think part of the reason I enjoy Lost so much is that I know there is a planned ending point. It won't be going on and on to season 10

We need to have our championship BBQ at some point....

Maybe a day or two before next season starts.

Arroyo Chop House
Ruth's Chris
Spencers

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/roster?team=tam

Speaking of Arrested Development ... trouble with Jason Bateman's in-laws.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/12/12/paul-ankas-head-and-wife-busted/

Get yourself a ribeye. Marinade in just a little soy sauce, a little garlic. Rub some salt and pepper. Get your grill hot, hot, hot. Five minutes one side, flip, five minutes the other side. Eat.

Does anybody else remember the good old days, before he was traded four times, that Javy Vazquez was underrated?

I did a search, and I still didn't get the comment.

111

Exactly...but I would go with a Filet, rub it with olive oil, some sea salt and cracked pepper and fire the BGE up to 750 degrees.

The key ingredient in preparing the steak, in my opinion, is salt. No salt (or too little) and it leaves so much flavor of the steak untapped. Too much salt is also n.g. You have to get it just right...

Ah, but what's "just right?" That varies by person. Experiment to see what you like.

Our he-man salad is served in a punch bowl with 18 pounds of ranch dressing, pork-stuffed, deep-fried croutons, and what the hell a couple of corndogs.

At Outback, your name is Peaches.

http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=23173

I also haven't forgiven my friend who said she preferred the jingle to the actual song.

This is why I don't keep an obelisk. I don't like to keep track of all my petty grievances. I prefer to wait until something in the conversation sparks one of 'em, and then I say, "Oh yeah! I hate that."

Is that too oversimplified? I think he'll be a good signing for the Phils, especially since Werth and Victorino's fielding can make up for Ibanez (just as perhaps Kemp and Ethier can make up for Manny's, or Burrell, or Pierre, or whoever ends up in left, though Kemp and Ethier aren't quite = to W and V. Yet.)

Garland/Hendrickson careers:
ERA+ 104 / 89
WHIP 1.385 / 1.451

I would still worry that Garland's 2008 is a sign of things to come rather than an off-year.

One reason was that they only were on for about a month.

Perhaps it's frustration that he's been the team's best power hitter year-after-year, which doesn't say much for your power hitters.

Penny was an all-star pitcher but he's never seemed a very smart pitcher at all, and you add to that injury recovery and his me first attitude and I can't say I'll miss him all that much.

--

Garland is definitely better than Hendrickson, but I feel like if those are the choices maybe the wrong question is being asked.

I also like shifting it to make a nice grill pattern about halfway through each side but that's purely for looks. On the side I don't really believe in steak sauce but beurre rouge (mentioned above) and Luger's sauce are nice options.

Grilled shrimp?

Grilled shrimp made of tofu?

Of course it's all fun and laughs until you almost set your kitchen on fire, like I did two Christmases ago. A fire extinguisher is a good thing to have handy when preparing this dish.

This calls for a chicken burrito for lunch!

Then the Galleria came and removed all those businesses. I haven't been to the "new" Damons in over 20 years but it is good to know they are still in business. The salad dressing was the best I've ever had.

"Here's my Abreu question, if he's so good, why do Phillies fans dislike him so much? I'm not saying fan opinion is always or even usually right, but until Abreu's second half, it seemed like every single Phillies fan looked at him as a problem..."

and now that I think about it, doesn't Jamie Moyer also have a ring in a box...?

-- The Dodgers did not make an offer to CC Sabathia. They talked to the pitcher, and he wanted six or seven years and L.A. wouldn't go there.

-- The Dodgers made one offer -- two years, $45 million, with a third-year option that raised it to $60 million -- to Manny Ramirez at the GM meetings. Then they offered him arbitration and he turned it down. Colletti saw Manny's people in Las Vegas, and they were talking about five years.

-- Colletti says there is not cut-off date with Manny right now. "To push Scott [Boras] to a deadline is usually a useless endeavor," Colletti said. They plan to work on the rest of the team and wait.

-- Upgrading at shortstop is a huge priority for the Dodgers.

-- The Dodgers have not had talks about Robinson Cano. "He's a very good player," is all Colletti would say.

-- "I don't know if anyone can compete with the Yankees right now. The Red Sox are close. But the Yankees ... they're living in a different world," Colletti said. He said it's good for their market if they win, but it's not in line with what baseball was trying to do with the collective bargaining agreement.

-- The Dodgers and Derek Lowe are officially parted. He commented on some other pitchers -- Jon Garland and Andy Pettitte are possibilities. Ben Sheets is not a possibility.

-- "Nobody knows where the economy is going. And nobody knows where this industry is going," Colletti said. So he wants to stay flexible and not lock in the roster by Jan. 1. Colletti is even willing to reshape the team after Opening Day. All that matters is where they end up.

I make a great beer n the rear chicken

Apparently there are only four episodes to go. My son is outraged that it was canceled and, on the merits, I am too. However, I'm not sure how much more they could do with this particular concept, so it might be a blessing that it is ending soon.

As for Freaks & Geeks -- I never watched that til you all spurred me on to do so. Wonderful. And, as a result, I'm watching ER for the first time in what seems like 10 years, just to see Linda Cardellini.

If that's true that's really funny. Funny thing is T.O. has been targeted by Romo 105 times this year compared to Witten's 88.

http://ussmariner.com/2008/12/10/goodbye-jj-hello-defense/

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Faguilas.com.do%2F&sl=es&tl=en

Long and short, Jones asked for one more day to get ready to play and to find all the good places to eat ( I made up the part about good places to eat, Raffie is showing him around).

OK, then go all NY.

Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy in the booth, at least for one game to try it out. I read somewhere FOX is chopping the FOX pregame show, so she's available.

158 That makes me wonder whatever happened to Kelbo's (by Farmers Market). Cheesiest Hawaiian motif anywhere, but pretty cool when I was just a kid.

Then a year or so ago the Season 1 (of 2) DVD came out, so of course I bought it.

Wow, was I disappointed! Production is subpar at best, jokes and humor are all outdated.

My favorite joke ever on Sledgehammer is something like this:

A couple was at the police station, crying hysterically as they filed a report for their missing newborn that was stolen from the hospital. Sledgehammer asked for details about the newborn, and the parents said they hadn't even named him yet.

Sledgehammer's response was, "How about Rob?"

I think Police Squad! has held up much better, though it, too, has some datedness and clunkiness in parts that I didn't feel the first time, when I was much younger.

Or was there more than one.

Here's a site you can get lost in.

http://www.povonline.com/larestaurants/larestaurants01.htm

So I assume it was near Gilmore Field.

http://tinyurl.com/kelbosmenu

I second this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4hZmKj-CiM

http://tinyurl.com/6h79au

I'm only 26. I've heard him on a few ESPN Classic games and SB XIII. I think he's very good... but not as good as Mad Dog thinks. In fact, I'd bet that Vin Scully is/was much better.

Kinda goes back to "things that seemed better when you were a kid than now..." as Dog watched Gowdy back when he was a teen.

Oh, she also knows I'd leave for Kate Winslet and Romola Garai. We both know that's not happening either so she's safe.

He was not underrated. He was overrated. He droned on and on and added little insight into whatever you were watching.

And he WAS ALWAYS ON.

The Cubs, Rays, Dodgers and Angels are among teams that have expressed interest in star free-agent outfielder Bobby Abreu.<<

Okay, say we can't/don't bring back Manny. And that the team has given up on Jones as a starter and Pierre stays on bench or gets traded...but would you prefer Abreu, or Burrell?

Back in the days before Nantz and Musburger and Bender and Enberg, and even before Billy Packer, Curt Gowdy was the guy who called the Final Four for NBC.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................

In all seriousness, if Manny falls through I would be in favor of that move.

I think that's a win-win. I'd be delighted to have either guy on the Dodgers. I've had both on fantasy teams at one time. They're good.

In my personal opinion, I think Dick Enberg was (and is) much more enjoyable to listen to than Gowdy's more monotonous voice.

And how ironic was it that the greatest moment on Gowdy's watch was called by Dick Stockton?

Dunn has OPS'ed .899 or higher 4 or the last 5 years. Roberty and Patrick have done it once each the last 5 years.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/2kvn

Abreu needs 3 more seasons to match Barry Bonds' record of 14 straight 15 HR / 15 SB seasons.

http://tinyurl.com/6zvgfp

Curt Gowdy doing the Rose Bowl, Curt Gowdy doing the NFL playoffs, Curt Gowdy doing the Super Bowl, Curt Gowdy doing the Final Four, Curt Gowdy doing the MLB Game of the Week, All-Star Game, Playoffs and World Series. And then the occasional American Sportsman and other specials.

Chris Schenkel did auto racing and the PBA (Bowling) tournament with Nelson Burton, Jr.

Some think Strasburg is a truly Big Arm like Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander. Nobody is going to be the baseball Ovechkin [q was about how Ovie turned around the Caps and can Strasberg do the same for the Nationals]. But look at the RHers who struck out 200 last year in the NL: Billingsley, Haren, Lincecum, Volquez. That's the range of outcomes the Nats expect.

He makes Ibanez and Burrell look like Willie Mays out there.

"Fire Engine to the Rescue/Tiny Mighty MOOOS!"

God, why do I remember that?

Actually I think he probably has a couple of productive season left in him if he is serious about playing. My feeling is that he has relied too heavily on talent in the past and age is catching up to him so he is actually going to need a plan to remain competitive.

I am wondering if he is going to play in the WBC? I think it would be in his best interest to do so.

Oh sorry, I thought the questions was who would be the worst replacement announcer for any sporting event.

He later ran the `Lets Eat' restaurant in Bakersfield. Perfect pit stop on the way to Yosemite.

Granted, I could (probably?) be sorely disappointed, but at least I don't have to have conflicted interests.

At least Baker was only 27 at the time - so I think I would have been down but holding out hope. It's funny that my first year of truly hard-core attention to the Dodgers was 1977.

http://tinyurl.com/6gq6qv

Or perhaps I'm overthinking a dumb chat response. Wouldn't be the first time...

"Johnson's marriage had a profound effect on his youthful female fan base. A widely circulated joke at the time said that when Johnson's young female fans found out that he had gotten married, they wore their bobby socks at half-mast."

Rancho Cafe in Bakersfield? Drove by it >500 times without stopping in. I was on my way to nowhere.

242 Maybe Dusty Baker spent some time there in the winter of 1976 as he did some hunting in those parts in those days with some of my friends dads.

>>Raul Ibanez will turn 37 during the first year of his three-year deal with the Phillies and finish it at the age of 39. He's very similar to the player he's replacing, Pat Burrell. But Ibanez is four years older, a far worse defensive player, and outside of a blip in 2008 does not hit left-handed pitching. (His OPS against left-handers was .650 in 2007 and .661 in 2006.) <<

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=law_keith

Rob Neyer is also not a fan.

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

"Meanwhile, the people who run the Phillies have not been watching Raul Ibanez play every day. Sure, they've got their scouts. And outgoing Phillies GM Pat Gillick is certainly familiar with Ibanez, having worked for the Mariners as a part-time consultant in 2004 and '05 when Ibanez was playing (and playing well) for the M's. But unless the Phillies look at (and trust) the sophisticated fielding metrics, they probably don't know that Ibanez is just about as lousy in left field as Burrell."

Which is kind of what I was trying to say earlier but better.

According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox reached an agreement with 19 year-old Cuban third baseman Dayan Viciedo on a big league deal worth about $11MM. Alexei Ramirez and Jose Contreras should help Viciedo get comfortable when he joins the big league team. In June, it was reported that 14 teams expressed interest in Viciedo.

Of course, it never had the honor of a Pulp Fiction filmed in it, like Holly's in Hawthorne.

It was a strange deal in that two of my favorite players got traded but I'm fairly certain that I was a big fan of getting the young Baker and bewildered by his inability to produce in 76. He looked completely lost all year. Not sure if we would have our NL Champion flags in 77/78 if he hadn't bounced back.

Or there would if ESPN cared 1/100000000000000000 about Ibanez's defense like they do about Manny's.

262 Reservoir Dogs opening scene was filmed at a cafe on Figueroa in Eagle Rock called Pat & Lorraines.

Care to share you experience of the Phillies clubhouse?

Sounds interesting...;)

Both put up similar overall numbers despite different styles (118 OPS+ as a Dodger for Crawford, 117 OPS+ for Marshall).

Marshall was highly touted because of his huge seasons with the Dukes, and even though he was reasonably successful with the Dodgers I often wonder what might have been.

I don't know much about Crawford but hearing some fans talk about him it seems he was generally a disappointment as well. Such are the burdens of expectations when you debut at age 18.

But I do love Cole Hamels. Especially for telling the truth about the Mets when asked.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bre/sets/72157611077138836/

It's a good thing they have that rule. The Yankees could monopolize the market! They were actually a few players(3)accepting arbitration away from being limited to 2 picks.

Gone are Giambi, Abreu, Pavano, and possibly Pettitte. That's about $67M right there.

I'm curious why they aren't in the Teixeira sweepstakes. What's another $20M/year to them when he probably becomes their best baseball player overall.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/homeratbat.php

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8367

For instance, all this spending has to come out of somewhere. Anyone notice the new prices for tickets over at New Yankee Stadium? Ticket prices have jumped maybe 300% since '03.

In 2003, the "top ticket price" at Yankee Stadium was $72. For 2009, the same seat will cost $320!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3292799

286 I cannot stand listening to Cole Hamels talk, he sound like a litte 12 year old nerd. However, if he had sucked against the Dodgers in the LCS my opinion maybe different.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/92350-breaking-down-the-los-angeles-dodgers-for-2009

Takashi Miike movies. (impossible)

Corey Haim or Corey Feldman.

I wonder when was the last time he saw Paris?

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996957.html

He forgot to say: "book it."

Movies with apes.

http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2008/12/view-from-varietys-new-digs.html

Canadian or American.

343 More so than the one listing your Great Uncle Alfred's movies? ;-)

Type A, enter. Type B, enter. Done.

In the week that I have been here the day has always been better than the weatherman's threat.

http://beta.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3765928

http://tinyurl.com/6hjers

Another in the same boat is Jeremy Sowers.

How about that? But they ARE playing the Senators tonight. Bob or I could play goal against them.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20092ALLAAAAll&sort=avgGoalsPerGame&viewName=summary

http://www.sportsagentblog.com/2008/12/12/caa-vs-boras-corp/

Burrell is similiar to Ibanez but 4 years younger and wouldn't have cost the Phils their first round pick. Seems like an awful deal to me, I guess the Phillies don't understand the value of defense? But it dpes take one more possible (really unlikely though) suitor out of the Manny sweepstakes.

I'm rooting for:
-Yanks trade Melky for Cameron. With Matsui, Damon, Cameron, Swisher, and Nady, I think they'd have to be all but out of the run for Manny.
-Angels sign Tex. Then they wouldn't be able to afford Manny. But if the Red Sox sign Tex, I'm worried the Agels would go hard after Manny.
-Nats sign Dunn. They could go after Manny with the money they've offered Tex. If they sign Tex they'd be out of the running but then the Angels would likely be in, so I hope they don't get him.

I think if those three things happen, we'd be the only realistic suitors for Manny. Who else is left? The Red Sox are an obvious no, the Cubs have Soriano, the Mets don't have the money after getting K-rod/Putz, the White Sox have Quinten/Dye/Thome/Konerko taking up the corners. The only other teams I could see are extremely unlikely like the Giants or the Orioles. So that's my plan... since I'm sure you all wanted to know.

With regards to Abreu, I'll link to this article from Fangraphs. If you don't want to read it, it basically says that Abreu is a bad idea for any NL team because his atrocious defense cancels out his bat, making him only like a 1 WAR player. Needless to say, Abreu sounds like a big waste of money. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/they-call-him-abreu

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/11/SP2K14MROP.DTL

Pat Gillick retired from the GM post this October. Do you suppose he had any input on this signing, as an advisor?

Dang glad I duct taped my camper shell down...

Billingsley: 3.2-3.4
Kershaw: 2.9-3.1 (I really expect a breakout)
Kuroda: 3.5-3.7
McDonald: 4.3-4.5

Billingsley: 3.2
Kuroda:3.9
Kershaw:4.2
McDonald:5.0
Stults:4.9
Schmidt:4.3

I included more guys because... well its more fun! As you can see I'm not quite as optimistic as you. And arrgh I wish you could edit previous posts.

It has not been determined if he will call plays.

http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/2008/12/saito-playing-hardball-with-do.html

Heard some Presley updates, looking better for us now I think.

http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/mlb/dodgers/

Was it really a DFA?

Yeah, that's the ticket.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/baseball-insider/2008/12/nats_harris_agree.html

The Phillies gave him 30 MM for 3 years? He'll be 37 next year, and he's already terrible defensively.

I don't think that how you repeat.