Go ahead and connect the dots.

Connect away! We already did anyways :)

Who is our closer now? Giovanni?

Once again......

Its going to be a long, long, very long season.

If indeed he was favoring the albow in relation to the knee, then his mechanics are going to be equally as screwed-up, and the first if not worse thing for a reliever is mechanics. The muscle memory gets out-of-whack; velocity is non-existant; confidence falls--lost saves happen.

Dodgers 4th place

Yikes!

There's a funny typo in that story, though.

From the last sentence, "Gio Carrara is a veteran who I don't think would get rattled by the roll at all."

Er, Kaiser, cinnamon or hard?

Nothing like leaving out the "shake!"

But even I screw-up. Even with a edit feature!

E-L-B-O-W (Bob)

No whining Dodger fans. Giants are without Bonds, I would hope we can survive a few weeks without our closer. For every 15 games Bonds misses that is one win the Giants flush down the toilet. Gagne doesn't come close to having the same impact.

Hopefully THIS TIME he doesn't start pitching until he's 100% healthy...

I think Tommy must have Shawn Estes and Russ Ortiz on his family team.

[on the road to hell]
Gosh, people you're acting like the Pope died or something.

It's just Eric Gagne.

[/on the road to hell]

Now before I lay me down to sleep...

Someone has to say it: this is the greatest day in Dodger Thoughts history. Even without the Depo interview, it was a great day for posts, the conversations in the threads were outstanding... I'm sorry I was at work! With the interview, it's gotta be number one.

Said it before and it should be said again: marvelous stuff, JW. Simply marvelous.

Believe it or not Im actually relieved that gagne is going on the DL right now. Its the best thing that could have happened. Think of what would happen if Gagne tried to pitch through the knee and the elbow, really ripped up his knee/elbow and was out for the year. Not something I enjoy thinking about.

But SB, how can it be the greatest DT day ever w/o our Choi fact o' the day?

Here's mine. Hee Seop Choi is a very tough bame for anagrams:

See Choi hope
He chose Opie
Hoop Cheese I (you know, the ship . . .)
epic shoe hoe
see pooch hie

Uh, as with Tommy, I guess the auto-edit feature still isn't quite enough to get my posts clean. "Name," not "bame."

Anyhow, looking forward to better anagrams than mine . . . .

My favorite Dodger anagrams are Cesar "Crazier Suits" Izturis and Odalis "I Plead Zeros" Perez.

Any idea on how long Gagne will be out? Reading the following in the AP story doesn't sound too promising.

"It's going to be a long, long time for me. It's going to feel like a year off."

I would agree with Daniel B that at least stint on the DL will hopefully mean that Gagne will be more completely healed before pitching again this season.

Sam DC, thanks for the mention in #12.

Today's fact of Choi, SB's favorite player, 2005:

3/24 was a particularly bad day for baseball's Korean contingent. Choi went hitless against Cleveland, a couple of the pitchers got roughed up, including Park Chan-ho (yes, it's Choi Hee-seop in the Korea Times). The headline in the KT:

"Park Gets a Royal Hiding in Tough Day for MLB Koreans"

Bad enough when you get a hiding. You don't want a "royal" hiding...

The headline highlights the fact that Park Chan-ho has enjoyed much more fame than Choi Hee-seop. But that's changing thanks to the combination of Choi's fine spring, the Dodgers' large Korean following and Park's continued slide.

I just hope that if Brazoban gets the closer job until Gagne gets back, the scoreboard will flash:

GHAME OVER!

Dante was right.

What's Steve Schmoll's chances of making the team out of spring training.Everywhere he pitched last year he got people out.It might be worth a shot.

anagrams: what about duaner "she, a crazed nun" sanchez, or scott "cockiness trot" erickson? jayson "wars, then joy" werth? hah.

None of this would have happened if that in over his head kid GM hadn't panicked and traded Mota and LoDuca!
Very Truly Yours,

The LA Sports Media

Meanwhile, Axl Rose is frantically working on Yhency Brazoban's theme, "Welcome to the Underbrush."

Rinse and repeat:

It's not McCourt's fault that they didn't sign Vladimir Guerrero.
The Dodgers didn't try to force Fernando Valenzuela to fly coach.
Every possible effort was made to sign Adrian Beltre.
Changes in mechanics had nothing to do with Gagne's injury . . .

It is just as hard to argue that the four events listed above are not connected as it would be to say that they are connected.

Re: #23 -- I understand that the first three incidents suggest McCourt is cheap. But what about the fourth? Gagne got injured because he changed his mechanics and he changed his mechanics because ... McCourt is cheap? I don't see the connection.

Or is the suggestion just that the entire Dodger organization is teeming with liars, from the coaching and training staffs all the way up through DePo and McCourt? Why would the Dodgers lie about how Gagne got injured? Seems like it was Gagne himself who decided to change his delivery, not McCourt or DePodesta.

Not as clever as I think I am, I guess. These are four assurances we have gotten from Dodgers management that do not seem to be 100% credible, is what I meant by that.

I think maybe 1 and 3 could be chalked up to thinking that McCourt is cheap. #2 is more a case of somebody new in the organization not recognizing the importance of a particular person.

And Gagne could have hurt his elbow just as easily with Fox or the O'Malleys owning the team.

Rinse and repeat these four items:
Dodgers don't install drinking fountains in stadium right away.
Sandy Koufax hurts arm.
Pitching prospects in late 1960s don't pan out.
Drysdale/Koufax joint holdout hurts team morale.

I agree with Bob. Since the Dodgers have been here, only one ownership group was spendy, and that was Fox. Walter O'Malley and son gave Alston a one year contract every year, instead of a multi year deal. So the McCourts aren't nearly as cheap. That said I still think Frank is satan.

OK, so Robert is trying to say that the current regime is dishonest, not necessarily cheap. Which is interesting because most people consider McCourt and his group incompetent, but not dishonest.

Obviously I missed something. What's the deal with Fernando?

The Fernando thing dates was two years ago I think.
Valenzuela called the Dodgers office and said he wanted to go to Vero Beach. Probably to give some coaching, meet the players, schmooze, etc.
So somebody from the Dodgers sent him a ticket. But it was coach. Derek Hall, who was in charge of all the media stuff at the time, heard about it and got the ticket switched to first class. Hall didn't stick around too long after spring training of last year did he? He left of his own volition though.

Actually, the story about Fernando and his coach ticket was brought up in a column from ... Plaschke... March 17, 2004

"And, now, this latest postcard from McCourtmania ...
Fernando Valenzuela recently was flying to Vero Beach to resume work on the Dodger broadcast team.
The club issued him an economy-class ticket.
Derrick Hall, the vice president who brought Valenzuela back to the organization last season, upgraded it to a first-class ticket.
The next day, he was scolded for spending the money."

Ahh, memories.

Bob,
I may be down on the Dodger front office administration from the main guy to the GM, but I'm not down on the team. Never. I will forever bleed Dodger Blue.

So...........

Any Giant is a bad Giant, hence not part of my domain which I'm still the master of....I think! :)

First pitch in Bum Stadium in 1 hour, 5 minutes.....

Bob,
I'm have also been told on the sly that was one of the main reasons why Hall left. Is this true?

Is it also true that they will be charging for the use of toilet paper in the restrooms this year? The McCourt's figure they can both save and earn by charging for toilet paper. Especially when everyone is starting to cry in early to mid May.

What I'm hoping for is hot dog upgrades to the steamed variety. Mmmm,mmm. Good eating!

If they can figure a way how to do it, they'll probably charge for the extra steaming too!

Robert Fiore,
About the knee, whether Gagne wants to admit it or not, I don't think its humanly possible not to change it whether he actually knows it or not.(which he claims that it was no relation to the knee injury.)

I just don't believe it no matter what he says, and what they are writing.

In the Plaschke column cited above, Hall denied that he left because of the Valenzuela incident. That may have just been a symbol of the problems he was having with the new ownership. He likely just wasn't comfortable with the McCourts and he had worked closely with guys like Daly and Graziano.

I'm glad somebody else here thinks that steamed hot dogs taste better than grilled. Grilled ones invariably leave you with a burnt exterior and an undercooked interior. Steaming will cook the dog all the way through.

I've heard that with the Pope's death, the Cardinals all have to fly to Rome to help choose the new Pope.

This absence should make the Cubs a favorite to win the AL Central.

Dang nabbit, typo ruins the joke.

NL CENTRAL!!!

Would that be dagnabbit, or dang rabbit?

You guys are nuts! I'll take grilled everytime....Without the bun! :)

Thanks for the refresher there Bob. I do find it ironic that he announced he was leaving almost immediately after that incident.

Our centerfielder is in center tonight for the Angles. (no typo)

Izturis looks great which means that he too will either be traded or let go at the end of the season.

You built up a very close connection with a guy who was just on the Dodgers for a couple of months.

I suppose that if you grill the hot dogs, the burnt parts cover up the taste of the cow lips, but I want full flavor in my hot dogs!

I'll go on record as saying that the only way steamed dogs might be palatable is if they were
steamed in Gordon Biercsh.

The new seats look pretty cool...

Hope Gordo misses my mispelling of his name.

Magnet day tomorrow...should could use Ishii for display purposes.

Tommy,
I'm going to make some phone calls and get Walter O'Malley's corpse reanimated for you and he can buy out McCourt and then we can bring in Buzzie Bavasi (who is still with us) and we can rebuild the Dodgers into the 1960s version.

But then you will complain about Maury Wills getting traded after the 1966 season.

beltre would've made the play on that slow roller.

haha sorry, someone had to say it.

does anyone else see the irony in the string of LA TIMES logos on the electronic scoreboard at dodger stadium?

I witnessed that too. Beltre's glove will be missed.

Ledee do.

Man. What kind of bozo would boo Finley?

For all we know, the fans could have been booing an usher taking away a beach ball. Don't forget that there also a sizeable number of idiots in the stands who might have been booing Bradley because he didn't track down Finley's hit (since he is not 20 feet tall).

And then there are the people who think pitchers are supposed to throw shutouts all the time.

I posted as he was being announced...

As far as the beachballs are concerned, I'm all for snipers on the light standards.

The best response to beachballs is to go to the beach and bring a fungo bat and start hitting baseballs at people.

In my entire life, I never once have used a beach ball at the beach. Of course, I go to the beach about once a year and rarely do more than walk around.

Society has dictated that I avoid places where I take off my shirt.

the look on lackey's face after weaver struck him out with the sidearm curve was priceless.

How 'bout the the look on Weaver's face after Guerrero went yard. Still believe that Vlad would look great in Dodger blue, but we missed the boat on that one...

Nice catch, blue seater!

Like the color of the outfield wall...better contrast.

How many pop foul outs have been foiled by the new seats so far?

Changing the subject for the moment, can anyone send me to a site that would tell me all the Dodgers who have ever worn the number 27?

I don't know if there have been any. Both offenses have been pretty quiet outside of a couple of flurries capped off by homers.

JW, what's the chance of getting the estimated Dodger payroll schedule (right border area) updated for opening day? It's been three months, so I think another third of the team has turned over.

I don't think there's a website where you can search by number on one team. There is a book that does it.

www.baseball-almanac.com lets you see Dodger rosters with numbers year-by-year from 1932 through 2004. Presumbaly 1932 was when the Dodgers started using numbers.

The first #27 apparently was pitcher Dutch Leonard.

Apparently Frankie Rodriguez is not scary to guys from Japan and Mexico.

Based on the next three, maybe K-Rod wasn't warmed up.

Especially with the level of turnover, I'd rather have the player names on the backs.

Especially with the level of turnover, I'd rather have the player names on the backs.

Second night in a row after the sixth inning the Dodgers can't catch a cold.

Who besides me is impressed with Nakamura? Guy looks like he can field, seems to know what he's doing out there. Frankly, I like him better than Valentin.

Strike 4 would like you all to know that especially with the level of turnover, he'd rather have the player names on the backs. :)

I agree, by the way. I miss the names.

Nakamura made the first dumb mistake in the nightmare inning, yesterday. Didn't notice that the runner on third stopped running, so his throw home let an extra man on. Doesn't prove anything, and I'm not sure I even disagree with your point: he may well be better than Valentin.

Was there ever a reason given for ditching the names on the uniforms?

I miss the names too--blame that one on the entire front office and staff. :)

"Society has dictated that I avoid places where I take off my shirt. "

Bob, me too! :)

I forgot to mention this dream I had the other night:

I awoke and Walter O'Malley was at the foot of my bed and he said, "What have they done with my team? What have they done with my team?"

I got up not saying a thing and went directly to the dining room table and sat down, where Walter joined me. He proceeded to tell me how the grilled was always his favorite and that he made sure it was in his will that Dodger Stadium always saved the best dogs for the grill and the ones filled with rotted old pig intestines for the steamer.

Walter looked good, or at least good for a guy 101 years old and dead for over 25 years.

I think it was because of the grilled dogs.

Can fans in the field boxes get into the new section of seats, or is there no more getting autographs from the dugout? I miss Lima and his patient signing before games; he's probably already signed balls for half the KC fan base.

Yeah, Lima signed those four baseballs.

Ishii, Nomo, and Bradley are jokes in Korea, too.

Ishii says to Nomo: I could do better with my eyes closed.

Nomo to Ishii: As if you ever pitched any other way.

Bradley is in the background, swearing.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/04/02/opinion/20050403_opinion_art.html

I'm with SB on Nakamura.

Watching Guzman play shortstop, I never thought I would say this, but the Angels were stealing because of the middle infielder. Not because of the pitcher and catcher.

i think the angels were stealing because they're the angels and they run a lot. i also like nakamura. repko too.

Anybody else about to lose their mind waiting for the season to start?

Are you kidding? I've could hardly bear it when
last season ended. Found Dodger Thoughts the right about then. Therefore, a belated thanks to Jon and all the wise and witty commenters on
this site is in order. Having to rely on the Times for all
my info would have been...let's just say it wouldn't have been the same.

Three more days!

They always say in spring training every team thinks it can win the World Series.

I'm getting the feeling that every team in the NL West feels that there is no way it can win the World Series.

I have been gone the last few days. Did Howard get his tickets before tonight's game? Also Howard, if you were one of the "communication probelms" that contibuted to Lon Rosen's firing, then thanks and it was worth it.

He got his Freeway Series tickets and was promised his RS tickets the next few days.

Want to say chin up, Bob...but I know how you feel.

I awoke and Walter O'Malley was at the foot of my bed and he said, "What have they done with my team? What have they done with my team?"

Maybe he was repeating something he heard or read from the scores of Brooklyn fans?

I was at the game tonight, and heard complaints about the numbers and McCourt being broke on the way out. I said to my friend (loud enough so the dude who was doing the complaining could hear)..

"I sure hope one day that I am broke enough to spend $90 million on payroll"

McCourt was walking around the Reserved level last night greeting fans -- it was pretty cool.

Just read that Nokumura didn't make the team and is balking at going to AAA. Seems like a big mistake to me for the Dodgers to keep Saenz (who can't field any position) and 12 pitchers if he decides to take his bat and go back to Japan.

Sorry, "Nakamura".

People in DC are also having trouble with their season tickets to the Nationals.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21740-2005Apr2.html

I think Nakamura will hang around the U.S. for all of this season. He wants to give it a try here and it's not unlikely to think that he will get called up during the season.

"McCourt was walking around the Reserved level last night greeting fans -- it was pretty cool."

Did he have a cup begging for more money?

How do you get the bold text?

Tommy,
We won't tell you about the bold text unless we see an attitude adjustment.

Or you read the earlier threads that explained how to do it.

Tommy
We will just taunt you with our use of bold.

Bold

Im guessing Depos stats on Kents defense didnt include his ability to make a tag. Man, people are going to have a field day stealing on us this year.

Speedster Alex Sanchez becomes a Trivial Pursuit answer: he just got suspended for violating the steroids policy.

Tommy's just gonna have to look to the stars for the answer...

kind of bold in your mockery of tommy, aren't you bob?

as for the attitude adjustment, i'm with you, but i guess tommy's just not bold over by the new management.

heyoooooo!

Maybe Bradley could cover second on SB attempts.

What teams in the NL try a lot of steals?

The Brewers led the NL with 178 attempts.

In the NL West last year
Giants: 66 attempts
San Diego: 77
Colorado: 77
Arizona: 85

The Dodgers had the most in the NL West with 143 and 34 of those were by Dave Roberts.

Removing Roberts from the equation, the Dodgers stole 69 bases and were caught 40 times.

I'd just like to underline the point that I was kidding about Bradley covering second.

Deja vu.

Listen, I don't like my attitude either. What a let-down from last seasons uppitty-uppitty attitude that was a major source for inspiration for some of you who were declaring the team dead when they went into a slump before the break! :)

(Yes, that was a bold statement in non-bold text)

No, I look at losing to the Angels AGAIN today, getting swept in the Freeway Series and my optimism is at a all-time low. I have to go to my best friend's house for a BBQ in less then a half-hour and I'm going to have to listen to it all (him being a life-long devout Angel fan) I'm not looking forward to it one bit!

But my Randy Quaid-MLII/Fan-pushed-over-the-edge attitude comes from all of this.

Hopefully you guys will be able to say, "I told you so" but I just don't think that's going to be happening.

I'll try to get a new tude soon. I really will. Maybe a come-from-behind victory here today? No loss to the Angels-pre-season or regular season is good. Especially when one of the teams is taking the others fan base--which is in fact happening.

I think I just figured it out! Now to figure out how to do that underline! What about italicizing?

Test

Can Guzman step any further away and to the back of the plate?

At 6'6", I don't have any doubts about how much reach he has, but it looks like he just sits there looking at outside pitches...

Now that TC knows, no point keeping it a secret. Surround whatever you want bolded in asterisks, as in *bold*. Underscores "_", for underlining.

TN, rather. Sorry.

Hmph. If Tommy can have an attitude about the team, I'm gonna have one about faux html. What's wrong with the real thing?

ESPN's Baseball tonight crew just weighed in on who they think will win the NL West. The Giants were picked by Peter Gammons and Harold Reyonlds while John Kruk picked the Padres. Host Karl Ravech then piped up with this: "Nobody's picking the team that won it all last year, the Dodgers. Probably because none of us can figure out what it is the Dodgers are doing."

We shall see, fellas. We shall see.

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

Today's fact of Choi, SB's favorite player, 2005:

Y'all remember a guy who posted here briefly under the moniker "Archipelago"? He's called that because he does research in archipelagos. Seriously.

He's in Palau and I just heard from him. He askede about the blog, I told him about my fact of Choi stuff and he relates the following...

Archipelago works with a few people, one of whom claims to have gone to school with Hee-Seop Choi. As you know, Choi grew up in Kwang-Ju where, like most of South Korea, they have a growing gang problem in the schools. According to this guy, Choi was known as incredibly docile except when it came to school bullies. He just didn't tolerate it. This guy claimed he was being bullied and he told Hee-Seop about it. Choi told him the next time the bullies come around tell him he said they should stop bothering him.

Sure enough, the next time this guy gets cornered, he says, "Before you start with me, I know Hee-Seop Choi." And they backed off.

"Is this true??", I asked Archipelago.

"That's what he told me," he said.

Heckuva story, no?

https://fairpole.baseballtoaster.com/archives/156721.html#comments

The parser is too primative for regular html. I'd explain that too, but, um. . .

test; please ignore.

Just got back from the game and while I realize it was a AAA game, I'm concerned. We are going to have a lot of 1 run HR. We just don't have the bats for sustained rallies. This will be like 2003 all over again. Also it looks like we went from the best bullpen two years running to average. Our 4th game starter looked especially bad. On a brighter note, Ericson looked good and A Perez made some nice defensive plays. I just worry about manufacturing runs.

As for the staudium, its not the new seats which are the problem, its all the outfield ads. Far too many. The low point is the cheezy yellow crime scene tape (DHL ad.) on the bullpen gates. Looks bad and you can't see who is warming up. The lack of numbers on the unis has to be reconsidered. It looks very minor leaugish. Who do we call about this? The 23 yr old marketing phenom.

I'm not worried about the team I'm worried about the fans. Booing AAA players or pitchers getting rocked during a preseason game is inexcusable. The crowd this weekend seemed very negative. Sure we played like crap. So what, until we play like crap with our starting unit in the game for 9 innings I couldn't care less what is happening by our free agent and minor league fodder.
Let's focus on the good things that happened with players who will actually be on the opening day roster.
* Choi hit his 1st Dodger Stadium home run
* Repko hit his 1st Dodger Stadium home run and continues to impress
* Erickson some how continues to pitch like a 5 starter. I'm in shock by this most of all. My brother says he implodes by the 3rd game, I say he may get 5 starts in before the devil takes his due
* Steve Schmoll continues to impress and looks like he could be very tough on RHB
* DJ Houlton looks like he could contribute this season and not just take up a spot on the roster

I met a lady in front of me at the game who writes for a Dominican newspaper and did some reports for Fox Sports. We had a great conversation as she gave me the rundown on all our Dominican players. Not only was she well versed in baseball but she was cute to boot. For some reason the game went very quickly until she left and then it just dragged on.

On the bright side, at least the fans were paying attention.

In my opinion, Dodger Stadium crowds have been a lot more hostile toward the team in the past 10 years. But I've long stated why I think that is and I won't bring up that issue again since I was told that I was way off base.

Hooliganism?

"The lack of numbers on the unis has to be reconsidered. It looks very minor leaugish. Who do we call about this? The 23 yr old marketing phenom."

When did the numbers get removed?

Great story, SB. I'm amused by the image of punk bullies backing off when threatened with the wrath of nuclear-powered, glow-in-the-dark, 7-foot-tall, meat-eating Hee Seop Choi.

He's my new favorite player, too, at least until Jayson Werth (the man made of glass) comes back.

Damn Bob, now I have to know your opinion, especially since it seems so controversial.

Molokai, where did this cute Dominican lady sit.....not that I'd be so desperate as to hang out there or anything.
Please be as specific as possible.
:)

I just thought the fans drank too much and also showed up drunk too. Enough that it causes trouble.

The numbers were taken off the uniforms early in the offseason well before the Dodgers broke camp.

I think they would look better if they used a larger font for the numbers. The numbers are too thin. Other teams that don't use names have much more visible numbers.

Don't see how that's off base. There's just a certain percentage of idjits that beer makes stupid, as opposed to hoppy...er, happy.

I contended that the Dodgers allow fans to get way too drunk and out of hand and let those drunk people stay in the park too long.

I guess I shouldn't have brought up my admiration for the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act.

The only time in my life I was ever spit on by a stranger was at Dodger Stadium. After he did it, he apologized and said he hadn't meant to hit me. I asked: What were you aiming for? Then he sort of slumped down and didn't move for half an inning.

I've only ever sat in the cheap seats; are the fancy seat dwellers overly soused too?

We all have stories of overbearing, obnoxious and probably soused fans. I've been involved in altercations twice and both times I was thankful for my uncanny ability to defuse a situation by killing it with kindness and humor. I think it's because an actual punch from me couldn't break paper but never mind...

Like Bob, I realize this is ground already trodden but I'll echo what I said last time--and what Bill James wrote in one of his books. Baseball had a real problem with obnoxious fans in the 70's and took some deceptively simple steps to clean it up. Most of what they did had to do with awareness: we are aware of you, we want you to be aware of what you do, etc. There were PA announcments, limits on drinking... and it worked, IMHO. We could do that again.

"I think it's because an actual punch from me couldn't break paper but never mind..."

I read "paper" as "wind" the first time through.