Today's theme song for the S.F. Giants, courtesy of The Decemberists:

Oh great calamity,
Ditch of iniquity and tears
How I abhor this place
Its sweet and bitter taste
Has left me wretched, retching on all fours
Los Angeles, I'm yours

http://tinyurl.com/43zjj

Everyone needs to check out the above cartoon recap of the 2004 Dodgers if they haven't seen it already. I just finished laughing uncontrollably...

I'm feeling good about this matchup. If the Dodgers continue their 2 out of 3 start, I'll be pleased. You can't win 'em all.

Ha! That cartoon is hilarious! I love how Milton Bradley is going ballistic in the background of every frame.

It's going to be a beautiful day for a ballgame today in SoCal! (That's kind of like the song) I'm thinking about heading out to the stadium to scalp a ticket.

Here's something I would not have predicted: In my fantasy league, Jose Valentin is currently the most valuable undrafted free agent (based on this year's stats). Of course, I don't expect him to finish the year hitting .389 with 180 RBI, but what has been especially encouraging for the future is the walks. He has 6 in 6 games.

Fortunately, I picked up Jose for my team right before he went ballistic, as an injury replacement for Bobby Crosby. He's done well for me.

J.D. Drew, alas, has not.

I also have Werth, Penny, Brazoban, and Bradley on my squad.

Wish i was down there today. Rooting for the dodgers from the bay

Let me second bayarea's thought. Hopefully the Dodgers have as much success with SF today and tomorrow as they did last week up here.

My prediction for the year: The Dodgers will win the division if Valentin has more HRs than errors this year.

Comment Preview: April 12 Open Chat: Opening Day II

1. Posted by Suffering Bruin
Today's Fact of Choi, SB's favorite player, 2005:

As some of you may know, Choi attended Kwangju Jeil High School in Kwangju province, an area made famous for an uprising that changed South Korea forever.

It was May, 1980. Kwangju had long been a province that gave the authorities headaches, not least because the citizens had a real jones for democracy. One thing led to another, the powers that be closed the schools and the students demonstrated as students are wont to do. Troops were called in to "quell" the demonstration which they tried to do by beating the students over the head with batons.

What the troops perhaps did not count on was that the students would be joined by the ordinary citizens. Before they knew it, the troops were outgunned and they had to retreat.

It went on for nine days. The military sealed off the city from the rest of the country. After gathering their forces, they moved in on day nine. Retaking the city did not take long. Depending on who you believe, anywhere from 200 to 5000 citizens were killed.

The Korean government did everything it could to keep news of the uprising "in house", so to speak. Government controlled news outlets would broadcast diverting entertainments for the next several years while South Korea was run as a police state. One of the "diverting" entertainments came courtesy of the newly formed Korean Baseball Organization, born in 1981, a year after the uprising. It quickly developed a passionate following.

It took a while for democracy to take hold in South Korea and even longer to punish those responsible for the massacre but it did happen. The BBC has a retrospective here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/752055.stm).

As Americans, we learn many things about our nation's history, much of it concentrated in events that happened decades if not centuries ago. I wonder what impact it had on young Hee-Seop Choi to learn that an event of such scale occured within his lifetime, just a year after he was born. If I ever do interview him, that's one of the things I'll be curious about.

SB,
Just wanted to say keep up the good work on Choi... Fact of Choi is quickly becoming one of my favorite features of Dodger Thoughts.

Interesting that Korean immigration to the U.S.
really took off around the same time as S.B. mentions.

Really happy to see that the first big move young Drew makes is restoring Nancy Bea to her (hopefully) former prominence.

Hmmm, seems like a good time to petition Eric Enders to move `Jessica' up from #105 to his actual top 100...Eric, do it for the guitar!

JH,
What connection does Drew have to Nancy? I just read today that the Dodgers are planning on having Hefley play more (less loud rock music), but is that connected to Drew?

Uh, sorry, now I read that it's Drew McCourt that made the decision. Never mind. I was thinking J.D. Drew and saying, what the heck, did he demand Nancy play when he walks to the batter's box?

Talking about Drew McCourt, who replaced Lon Rosen, the man credited (disparaged) for the amped up decibel levels at DS.

why is Weaver starting today rather than Perez?? did Tracy just want to give Weaver the opening home start as a reward for his tremendous outing last week? fine by me since Perez throws tomorrow anyway...I was just curious what the rational was behind it.

opening pitch in approximately 45 minutes!!!!!

well, tracy said before the season started that weaver would be given the opening start.

Great quip in an article on Weaver at the Dodgers site:

"Kevin Brown is on the disabled list again, so how does that Jeff Weaver/Yhency Brazoban trade look now?"

Jim: You know, that's not a bad idea.

EE- Those Korean cartoons are amazing. Is there a site that has translated all of them?

At the Freeway series I saw a guy with a binder full of them looking for autographs. I wonder if you can buy the prints somewhere in LA.

I just found this story about the artist online... named Choi of course:
http://tinyurl.com/6bl5k

"why is Weaver starting today rather than Perez??"
-------

This was covered in another thread a day or so ago... it's a R-L-R thing.

Yes! Lowe's starting Friday!

bigcpa: There was a thread on them at BTF, a couple of posters translated most of them. Just a warning: some of the ones that look like they could be hilarious are in fact, simply serious ones. Still, they're very well done. And the recurring Milton Bradley is pretty funny.

Met Maury Wills about six years ago...looks better today.

Unrelated to today's game, I keep thinking about the idea that Barry Balco Bonds (and others) should swing at the first pitch or two when teams try to intentionally walk him. The idea being that if the defensive team thinks it's a good idea to walk him, why should the Giants agree that it's a good idea?

If he swings at the first pitch or two, the other team might reconsider, now that he's behind in the count 0-1 or 0-2.
In the last three years, Bonds's numbers after a 0-1 count are .326/.452/.708. I'd probably still walk him after 0-1, assuming I thought it was good to walk him at 0-0.
After an 0-2 count, he's still .296/.380/.648 -- this has got to be better than the hitter after Barry, so it seems like it would be in Bonds's interest to swing at two pitches and hope the other team pitches to him. And at 0-2 I'd have to think pretty hard about walking him.

When the #8 hitter gets the IW to get to the pitcher, they should definitely think about this too. 0-1 or 0-2 would really change things.

Baseball people just aren't creative enough.

You gotta love Tracy for keeping the lineup interesting everyday.

Is anyone in the stands holding a huge asterisk sign? That would be hilarious for when Bonds plays.

man you gotta love bonds' reaction to the crowd's reaction to bonds' introduction (hope you got that)

mcrawford: Most of the intentional walks Barry receives are, in fact, stupid plays, and benefit the Giants more than they benefit the team issuing the walk. Even moreso this year now that the Giants actually have another player or two who can hit.

About a year ago somebody did an analysis on this and reached the conclusion that the only situations in which it makes sense to walk Barry are the 2 outs, 1B open, RISP situations. The 10 percent chance he'll hit a homer is far less damaging than all the free baserunners.

Nakamura's starting. Alright!

It sounds like the crowd is actually cheering "who?" when they introduce some of the pitchers.

mcrawford, the only logical solution to the bonds problem is underhanded pitching.

Albert in Hong Kong, what was bonds' reaction?

TODAY'S PREDICTION:

The Weaves goes another strong 8, giving up a solo shot to Durham. Or... Weaves gets a CG while striking out and walking none. (Has that ever happened?)

Dodgers win 5-1.

I was saying Who-urns.

Terrible rendition.

waved at the crowd, you know, in his usual sarcastic way. he's gonna be booed in every other national league ballpark except SBC

Man, I really want to fly one of those!

charley steiner "in a word: "wow""... that's a pretty bad sum up of the opening intros

thats the way to start the game, weaver. hit a batter

I guess that means the fix is in.

nice catch repko

First two batters 0-2, and they both reach base. Not good.

Oh no!

Beachball in outfield, 1st inning. That must be a new MLB record.

Killing me softly with his gamecast.

"Beachball in outfield, 1st inning. That must be a new MLB record."

I don't think it's even a Dodger Stadium record.

What is this, a broken record?

Who's really pitching, Weaver or the guy from Puddle of Mudd?

Weaver needs a ganja break.

I now hate "in play, run scoring play" as much as Mets fans do.

EE, I agree that most walks to Bonds don't make sense. Still, I'm surprised that he doesn't swing because it's not as if the Giants have studied the issue and decided it's worth it for him to walk. If every other team is dumb enough to walk him, I would expect the Giants to be dumb enough to think it's a bad idea for him to walk. I hope that makes sense. And anyways, Bonds is Bonds, so if he's tired of walking, he should swing (and I doubt the manager is going to stop him).

Still, I know what you're saying. And in any case, people should definitely think about swinging when it's the #8 hitter.

Wow, this Weaver start is horrific.

I wonder if Weaver is tipping his pitches. This is too much.

It seems like he's lost velocity. I think he's injured.

Somebody stop the bleeding!

Jeebus!

I go to pick up the kid from school, I come back and the Giants are doing the Bugs Bunny conga line.

Whew.

Now it's Woody's turn to blank the Dodgers.

Hang DePodesta!

Plaschke and Simers have already finished their columns for tomorrow.

Buck Weaver would never go for the fix.

Hahaha, wow what the HELL is going on?

Is anyone watching the game? What's Weaves' problem?

Who's got worse ears, Rueter or Izturis?

Go Cesar!

Is there some reason the Dodgers have to have a Jason in left field for every game?

YES!!!

REPKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scareduck, that be the reason!!

EAT THAT, WOODY! BOOYA, JASON REPKO!

Finally a Dodger prospect since Gagne making something of himself.

"Is there some reason the Dodgers have to have a Jason in left field for every game?"

Someone better inform Jayson Werth. ;)

Did I say something the other day about Repko lacking power? What an idiot!

the patented Dodger comeback starts early today!

This is ugly...

NICE!!! This is like a Phillies game, take the early lead so that your starters can get right to work on blowing it.

REPKO! (Take your time Werth...)

By the way ESPN's gamecast shows Tucker on second and Izzy on first...

Great programmers over there...

J.D. == "Just Dreadful"

scareduck, your "==" betrays you as a programmer

Eric Enders,

Very belated thanks for your kind comment upthread.

SB

Baaaa ... Baaaaa....

Geeks of the world, unite!

Repko is my man! Anyway, it doesn't seem that anyone is talking about the year Izzy is having...Is this the same guy who was, arguably, the worst every day offensive player in the big leagues in '03? Incredible. If he can keep even half of this up, he's going to be right up there with all the best shortstops...

Funny what it's like watching a game through just the box score. Weaver was throwing nothing but strikes, but getting hit. Reuter throws nothing but balls, and sure he gave up one home run, but nothing as bad as Weaver.

Were the hits against Weaver hard or just bloops?

Mohican, I was on gamecast during the Arizona extra-inning affair. Steiner and Monday are doing the play-by-play in the top of the tenth and Gamecast is showing Arizona with a run in the bottom of the tenth.

How dim am I? I was on the phone ready to read the riot act to KFWB before I realized that just maybe the mistake wasn't theirs.

Were the Giants killing the ball in the first inning? Five straight singles -- hard hit or not?

SB,

I echo Eric's praise of the Daily Choi. I was going to post earlier, but couldn't think of anything better than, "That was nice."

I found today's entry educational and actually quite touching.

Could I please be more redundant (since we already had post #79) in my next post?

I only saw a couple of the hits before my kid's tutor showed up. They didn't look cheap...

Thanks, Icaros. Let me know if you and Naccarto are getting together for a ballgame. I still chuckle at your nuclear comments re: Choi. Very funny stuff.

or J.D. =~ Just Dreadful if you like perl

Well, Weaver is showing excellent control...

Fooey.

Whew.

Every hit so far has been solid.

Echoing the praise for S.B. Keep 'em comin'.

Okay, guys, do we take him out? He's due to bat fourth this inning...

Gracias, Senor Hitchcock...

Suffering Bruin, Tommy -- let me know if you're interested in getting together for a game.

There have already been two foul pops that went into the seats that would've been outs last year. Snow got a hit after his and I don't remember who hit the one in the first that almost got Saenz killed.

SB,

We've been discussing some possibilities, but it's certainly not anything exclusive between Tommy and I (that sounds kinda weird, huh?).

I think the best plan is to pick a Friday or Saturday night game to watch at a bar/restaurant somewhere. Anyone who wants to and can make it is free to show up. Casual, cost-effective: if it goes well, we can plan a bigger/more elaborate/expensive outing, or not, or whatever.

Or we could try to actually go to a game.

Nakamura is going to be a fan favorite. Period.

Im not sure if this is a general explanation for bad pitching or particular for Weaver but I remember reading an explanation of his first inning struggles. If I remember correctly, it was a matter of him being amped up and throwing his fastball harder which made his fastballs lose movement and consequently get hit harder. You can take that for what its worth for today considering its opening day and hes probably excited.

I second the appreciation for SB's Choi facts of the day, and I repeat them to my Korean friends who might or might not appreciate them as much as me.

"Nakamura knocks a double!"

JD := "Just Dreadful";

//You all forgot your ;

//programming and dodger jokes.. wow..
//REALLY inside

stupid weaver.

nakamura = the real thing

Fielding chance for Nakamura...and he didn't throw the ball away!

Did I mention I'm getting a man-crush on that goggle-wearin' fool?

Sure do love the bottom of the order.

I like Nakamura already and I haven't even seen him in person or on TV. Phillips has always been someone I liked.

What happened to vin?! I can't hear him.

Think about it.

Our opening day starter just got rocked by a team who has Snow Feliz Alfonzo in the 345. Jesus Christ.

http://static.espn.go.com/gamecast/mlb/images/players/6721.jpg

That man, is the MAN

A run an inning. That's all I ask.

yeah, wassup with the audio, vin was sounding like steiner there. weird.

When's Goggle Night at Dodger Stadium?

Anybody surprised Weaver is still in?

Honestly, I don't have a strong opinion. Probably why I'm not a manager...

I actually like it better. I wish turning off commentary was an option, like on DVDs.

its still messed up. this is the worst my mlb tv has been all year. i wonder whats wrong.

Our opening day starter just got rocked by a team who has Snow Feliz Alfonzo in the 345. Jesus Christ.

Well, Weaver kind of looks like him with that hair, but I think Christ's ability to pitch has been vastly overrated.

Walking on water does not always translate into good pitch location.

I smell the Dodgers stinky relief corps.

Jesus was terrible in the clutch anyway.

I am reminded of the Harry Carray broadcasting a game in biblical times radio skit. I'll try to find it, it's hilarious.

SB,

I'll let you know my opinion of Weaver staying in after the next three innings are complete.

It could be similar to Lasorda's opinion of Dave Kingman's performance.

I want to say they both got nailed, but I won't.

I smell the Dodgers stinky relief corps.

Quit smelling your finger, then.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

(rimshot)

ESPN's Gamecast now claims that M. Matheney is not only on second base, but also on first.

Reminds me of the last year Mondesi played for the Dodgers. He had switched to center from right. Vin claimed that - I guess he meant Sheff - "Mondy" fielded a ball in right. Understandable... he had been there for years. Next play, swear to god, "Mondy" catches a fly ball in left. Those were some tough years for Vin.

BTW, is Drew getting booed yet?

Really hate that screen compression when the bottom scroll comes on. But at least they don't do it as much as three seasons ago, when they used it with the top scroll.

Uh, I think those tough years are probably here to stay, sadly.

I meant in terms of Dodger expectations vs. Dodger results... maybe you knew that? Haha

Icaros -- pull my finger, pull my finger!

Huh Huh. You said pull.

FM,

I thought you were referring to senility.

Is that the third out this game that could have been caught in the old Dodger Stadium configuration?

Weaver is not helping my fantasy team's WHIP.

Weaver's goal today is to plunk as many Giants as possible, apparently.

Crapola

Weaver is not helping my Qi.

Icaros, I think we have our answer

Buh bye, ball, buh bye Jeffy.

Ugh, glad we have 12 pitchers! :-)

If Lo Duca were catching, this wouldn't be happening...

I guess Tracy should've taken him out. Instead, Feliz did.

Weaver's gotta be hurt.

Weaver had bad ka.

5 more innings, 5 runs are no problem.

I'm pretty sure Weaver is settling down now. They should leave him in.

>>Ugh, glad we have 12 pitchers! :-) <<

Yes, that way we can have six guys with a 12.03 ERA instead of just five.

Carlyle picks up where Weaver leaves off. Are the Giants stealing signs?

>>Weaver had bad ka. <<

You forgot the "rap" at the end of that sentence.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

I think the key with Weaver may be to downplay every game he pitches in as completetly meaningless.

He should wear a 51's shirt under his jersey.

Love that ground ball staff of ours!

>>Carlyle picks up where Weaver leaves off. Are the Giants stealing signs? <<

No, it's those mirror shoes they put on Phillips.

are there any Vin Scully only feeds from Gameday Audio?

Time for the bullpen to channel `Canned Heat'.

Weaver just had nothing today. His location was up on all his pitches. So much for resting the bullpen.

SB,

The groundball staff is too afraid to throw grounders now that Alex Cora and Adrian Beltre are gone.

Get with it.

Sorry, Icaros... I stand corrected.

Kragen Arg... Aaaa... Auto Parts...

Kill me. Kill me now.

On second thought, fire Steve Lyons.

The Aflac duck needs to figure out whether he's the roadruuner or the coyote.

If there was a pitcher that I have never been afraid to spot 5 runs, its Reuter.
Dunno, the guy just never scares me, I always believe we can and should light him up.
-Hopelessly Optimistic

How deep does a ball have to go to register as "Flied out to deep left" on Sportsline GameCenter?

Both Alfonzo and Tucker's outs were described as "deep".

Scareduck, I thougt Steiner handled that pretty well.

One batter too late as usual.

And it's hard to accuse the Giants of stealing signs when all Weaver was throwing was two pitches anyway -- slow curve and slower curve.

That's good, three straight balls and you swing at the next pitch.

Icaros,

They were pretty deep. :)

Agreed, Steve. I wasn't accusing so much as lamenting.

For you guys who are having problems with ESPN gamecast, I usually use Yahoo Game Channel and it doesn't seem to have the errors the ESPN one does.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/gamechannel?gid=250412119

Thanks, Steve. I'm officially enlightened.

Indeed.

One ball was to the wall. That's how deep.

Icaros, the MLB game cast shows where the balls were hit and caught.

MLB.com's Gameday seems to work pretty well, too.

Hey I don't care what you accuse the Giants of doing. I'm just saying that when you only throw one pitch, it's pretty easy for them to stand there and pick one they like.

I would think that Weaver was hurt, but it seems like you couldn't throw all that breaking stuff hurt. That Vizquel at-bat in the fourth was horrendous. Just him sitting sitting sitting on off speed pitches. More likely that the Giants studied a lot of film and adjusted to what Weaver was doing the other night, while Weaver made no adjustments and got caught.

Icaros, the MLB game cast shows where the balls were hit and caught.

For whatever reason, their software doesn't work on my work computer. Thanks, though.

I think #170 is right.

Alfonzo is looking a lot better this year.

Icaros -- do you have Flash installed?

Steve--do we have a name picked out yet?

I feel like I've seen this same game a million times over the past decade.

I mean, what's with Rueter, and why do the Dodgers always succumb to his garbage?

Shouldn't he at least be retiring at some point?

On the subject of MLB game cast/Gameday Audio... does anyone know if there is a way to get them "synchronized". The Gamecast is ahead of the audio, it's kind of annoying. Maybe Dodgers should get new unis with Beach balls instead of baseballs.

Rob,

I can't install Flash on my PC at work. I don't know why, but I've tried unsuccessfully more than once.

Fire Kirk Reuter.

Beat me to it, Icaros. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Mikey Mediocre go on a roll for 10-15 in a row.

#178 - :)

Since I apparently can't win, I'll now resort to childish namecalling:

I think the batters can't pick up the ball because of his Dumbo ears.

SB, Jerry and me have ideological differences about (sorry Jon, but if Tracy's not paying attention to the game, I'm not going to) the name. I want something that keeps with the bitter and angry roots with which it was started; Jerry wants something generally acceptable to the masses. We have to resolve it to buy the domain name, but who knows what strange compromise will result.

He also wants 50% of the profits. :)

Two runs an inning. That's all I ask.

... or you could resolve it in the same way Leone For Third ended up doing it: Chavez Landing?

Repko gets a gift from Vizquel, and Drew finally gets a hit. Hoo, boy, pinch me, I'm dreaming.

Cooking... coooking....

My hero, zero (outs).

Go Milton

Set the ball free, Milton.

let's go milton. let's get something going here.

not being able to see this Milton AB sucks.

we may miss a bo jackson bat snap or a GS fist pump or a Shawn Green picture perfect DP. whatever we see, Milton will be HOT

This is a save opp. for Eyre, right? Since the tying run is on deck?

How 'bout that Giants D? Ruled a fielders choice

Omar made that look routine ;-P

Here they come!!

I gotta get to a television. Later...

ByyBye CHoi

Olmedo will NOT get doubled up with his speed. 2B or Sac Fly... for sure

NO-RI, NO-RI!

show us what us asians are made of

As I was just writing how Saenz kills lefties, he crushes that pitch. Gotta love the bottom of our lineup.

Samurai bat!

"To Eyre is human"?

And to score on a pop fly, divine.

Nori, please be a hero.

or not...

Sigh.

Phillips' goggles will hit a game-typing HR

"2 runs an inning"

I'm no expert, but it seems like Nakamura's swing has a lot of parts.

I sure wish we had that fourth inning back.

Attempt at good karma...

Last night the Jacksonville Suns trailed 6-0 in the bottom of the 8th and had been outhit 15-2. Delwyn Young hit a tape-measure solo HR in the 8th. The Suns put up 5 to tie in the ninth on three singles, a walk and two wild pitches. In the 10th Russ Martin doubled in Joel Guzman to win it 7-6.

yea nakamura has a lot of movement. has as unique a swing as anybody

better than counsell?

he has so many movements in his swing, so many parts to it... cant really describe it, just shakes his arms and legs in a sorta synchronized set of motions... you gotta watch it for yourself

nice inning by DJ/dennis

Ah, Craig Counsell... the human exclamation point.

I haven't seen him yet. Dang, I have to go work. Silly company, what do they think they pay me for? :-) I can see an XM radio in my future.... I've got the feeling that I have to be paying attention to Dodgers all year long. Make it happen guys!

D.J. Houlton, future replacement for Scott Erickson? Choose your own adventure.

Choi! Choi! Hee's our man! If he can't get hit, no one can!

You want us to get you fired, Sushirabbit?

Hooray, Hee Seop!

Craig Counsell is a hell of a lot bigger in person.

NICE we got something going here!

Izturis might get 400 hits this season, but keep an OBP of around .340.

Not that its fair to harp on him when he actually did reach base, but when would be a good time to start having doubts about Choi ever being all that he was supposed to be?

Now's the time, J.D.

cmon, david jonathan

Can I think of a better time for Drew to hit his first Dodger HR?

nothing in baseball bothers me more than a strikeout with less than 2 outs and RISP.

I think Choi is Korean for AAAA

we're LOADED.

good at-bat, JD. now it's kent's turn

Who would you rather see up (hey, it worked the other day with bases loaded)?

if kent goes slam, im going home for the day. Im calling it now in case my computer is being monitored here at work

Got your rally caps on?!

i've got mine on!

Alex Cora would have dove into that first pitch.

Apparently a Kent-miss moment.

you think finley would have grandslammed that... =p

Somebody way back there asked why Gamecast and the audio feed couldn't be synchronized. Indulge me for a moment....

Technically, they could be sychronized, but you'd have to slow down the Gamecast to do it. You would need to synchronize the data feed and the audio feed using timestamps and then play them back at the same time. A protocol called RTCP could do that (it's part of the RTP spec).

The reason why the audio is slower is because it has to use buffering to cope with the variable delay as packets are sent over the Internet. You adjust the amount of buffering based on observed delays so that playback is smooth. Data, on the other hand, doesn't care -- it can be bursty and this doesn't affect the user's experience. In fact, you WANT to see changes as fast as they occur.

This is probably more than you wanted to know ...

Man, Kent could teach that slide to Willie Mays Hayes.

Looks like Superman just turned back into Jeff Kent.

Boy, and if you wanted to give Jeff Kent a pitch to hit -- that was it.

Who can I blame for that dp?

Aha, jasonungar05, you jinxed us by saying slam!

Sorry, someone has to be a patsy, now get back to work!

Icaros -- if DJ Houlton takes the place of Erickson, who will sub for his Truly Hot Wife (tm)?

Jo Lasorda.

Truly sick, Icaros.

What, you tryin' to give me bulemia?

That's ageism, guys. She was probably a hot number back in '44.

Zappala, that makes perfect sense. I'm a tech, I used to know all that layer stuff, and octet stuff, and then I realized I NEVER need it. My priorities are filling out red-tape change control forms, sending tickets on the who-gets-this merry-go-round, and filling out a "timesheet" with budget codes that would make even a lawyer cringe. Oh, and I forgot, making sure that the admins of executives can PRINT out the execs emails. Anyways, someone needs to make that timestamp stuff happen. Ha. I still have faith we can pull it out. I'm gone.

Yeah... man that emperor Claudius... what? You mean 1944?

... and all this without Bonds and Alou.

Think the Giants will be better with those two?

You didn't think the Lasordas were actually from Rome, did you?

I got out of the car in the 7th when we had the bases loaded. How the heck did we not score any runs? Bueller?

Linkmeister,
Never get out of your car with the bases loaded, otherwise, we hit into dps.

Link,

Imagine the fastest way to make two outs and Jeff Kent.

Well, I guess Jeff Kent's parents know the best way to make him, but you get my drift.

wkk, Icaros, I promise I'll never do it again. Thanks for the heads-up.

Oh no! The Giants brought in Benitez! Game over! (end sarcasm)

All off-season, all of my Giants friends up here have been telling me about how many more games the Giants will win this year now that they have Benitez. Give me a break.

How amazing would it be if our high-priced acquisitions (Drew and Kent) could win it against the Giant's high priced acquisition (Benitez, who is no joke btw)?

Valentin == GIDP.

Is Ledee made of doubles, or what?

Here we go again!

C'mon Izzy, if you get a hit, I promise U.S.-Venezuela relations will improve...

C'mon Izzy, if you get a hit, I promise U.S.-Venezuela relations will improve...

I can't deliver on that promise, but thanks anyways Izzy.

At least he didn't GIDP. Drew either grounds out or strikes out.

Okay, Benitez has been good, even great some years. But I hear people saying that the Giants will win a dozen more games this year, since the sucky "closers" the Giants had last year blew a dozen saves. Uh, yeah...I guess Benitez doesn't also blow half-a-dozen saves a year.

I'm calling it. Kent with the game winning slam.

Umpire with the robbery.

They are toying with us.

Thanks for jinxing us, Mohican.

walk in a run- let Bradley get the salami. I want to see THAT hr trot.

I called Olmedo's double ; )

If Kent hits a slam, I'll start growing a mustache.

Let him swing 3-0.

Talk about down the middle...

Benitez hits the next two batters, gets ejected; Dodgers win the game off of T. Walker. I'm calling it.

3 1/2 runs an inning...that's all I ask.

All I ask for is a double in the gap...

Benitez walks Bradley too, gets enraged, tears off his shirt, gets ejected, goes to the dugout, throws a bag of balls on the field. I'm calling it.

Oh man oh man oh man oh man!

YESYESYEYSYESYESYESYESYESYESYES

GOTTA LOVE SF LEFTFIELDER

OH MY GOD!!!!!!

i don't believe it

GO AHEAD PLASCHKE!! GET TO REWRITING!! YOU TOOL!!

I am loving this!!

What happened?????? My Yahoo box score is slow.

FYI, that was San Francisco's Defensive Replacement.

The Ghost of Kirk Gibson returns!

Can anyone who was watching please describe Bradley's reaction??? =)

great chemistry.. i knew beltre and lo duca would come through

Plaschke will just put it out anyway. Why does it matter?

Wow! I'm not sure I can do this for another 155 games.

Think we all should pitch in and buy Bob T. season tickets.

UNBELIEVABLE!

Yes! Take that, Benitez! I was so close to calling it. (I hope no one who was actually calling stuff thought that I was making fun of them...I was having fun myself trying to come up with fantastic finishes. And trying to avoid "jinxing.")

"M Bradley singled to deep left, C Izturis and J Drew scored, J Kent to second, J Kent scored on error by left fielder J Ellison."

another comeback. wow. another giant defensive replacement works in our favor...

Now, am I mistaken here, or can this lineup score runs? If it keeps up at this rate by the end of the year they're going to be calling him Paul DeRickey.

Oh sweet Mary! This team is charmed.

Now I believe this is our year.

Classic... on KFWB

Monday: "The entire Dodger bench is waiting as Kent crosses the plate. I never understood why, when the winning run comes in, they beat the heck out of him?"

Steiner: "Same reason I am going to beat you up after we get off the air."

That is freakin' hilarious.

Indeed.

LA Media: "Terrible bullpen and weak offense, this team will struggle all year"

Not so far.

I am staring at my Gameday in giddy, dumbfounded disbelief. I can't believe how quickly I have fallen in love with this "new" team. Can someone who was watching PLEASE describe the last play, and the consequence of the error. THANKS!!! WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no way in a rational world we should have won that game. This game goes up there with those impossible games we won last year. I dont even know what else to say.

I was monitoring the game on ESPN gamecast and there was this agonizingly long delay after Drew's walk. I'm staring at the screen for what seems like an hour. Suddenly the screen changes to "Los Angeles 9, San Francisco 8". WTF? The long run-on sentence tells me that Bradley singled home the tying runs and Kent scored the winner on a throwing error. Dodgers put up four in the bottom of the ninth against the SF closer, just like Game #161 last year. Wow!

The Dodgers didn't deserve to win a game in which they allowed 16 hits, but I'm glad they did anyway.

Wow... classic home opener for sure...

Did I mention that Bill Shaikin can stick it too? Where's Robby Thompson when the Giants need him?

I don't know what Bradley's reaction was, but one of my favorite moments of all time is when Jason Ellison goes all the way to get the ball at the wall, and all he can do is angrily spike it. Loving...every...second...

Once again, I left...my glove...in San...Francisco...

Bradley singles to left, Ellison gets crossed up on the path of the ball once it hit the ground and it goes right past him to the wall, everyone scores...Bradley might have scored too if the game hadn't ended.

I just watched it on TIVO again, Bradley's reaction was one of jubiliation. He didn't punch out the center fielder or anything. :)

http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/story/2005/4/12/114057/785

YES!!!!!!

Hitting refresh again and again on Yahoo has never been so rewarding!

I just gave the law library an earful!

I am so pumped!!!!!

#305... HahAHhA!!

Last year their defensive SS or 3B bobbled it in the Finley Slam game...

Couple years ago their GG Cruz Jr. dropped one.

Wow... talk about a cursed team.

And I love Vin Scully, after recapping the last inning, he sets up tomorrow's matchup by saying in his best disbelieving voice -- "and where are you gonna be tomorrow, everybody?"

Right here with you, Vinny.

Bradley singles to left, and the left fielder just took his eye off, or something, and the ball rolled all the way to wall. When the left fielder got to it, he realized he lost the game and was so mad he spiked the ball in anger, which was somewhat ironic because it looked just like how Milton spiked that bottle in the stands last year.

It's a wonderful day when my fantasy league ballplayer is a Dodger that collects the RBIs to beat the Giants.

These day games are killing me...

I think that game-winner entitles Bradley to a "One free Hulk-outrage" ticket that he can cash in at any time.

I don't care how ugly that was. Coolest opening
day I can remember.

Mohican -- it was "defensive replacement" SS Cody Ransom, now a Cub IIRC.

Re: # 297

I'm pretty sure you have the announcers mixed up. (Not that it makes much difference.)

Thank goodness I took my Walkman to work today.

by Jim Hitchcock
Once again, I left...my glove...in San...Francisco...

Best one liner yet !!

Awesome. I have got to make sure to watch the highlights.

But knowing the stupid TV stations up here in SF, all they will show is SF putting up a bunch of runs.

On reflection: I think Choi is doomed. He needs to compete with Saenz, and potentially Nakamura, and even potentially Repko or Werth. My guess is that he'll be a pinch hitter, and defensive replacement at best.

Milton Bradley on the post-game show: "Don't worry about Beltre and LoDuca--I wish them well, but the bunch we've got here is just fine."

Woohoo!!! I was listening in my car, I almost got in a wreck!!! I don't care!!!

Okay (deep breath) description of last play.

Outside pitch to Bradley who goes the other way and hits it sharply; halfway between line-drive and very sharp grounder. Probably will score two unless Ellison comes up with hit quickly and gets off a good throw.

Ellison has to backhand the ball as he's charging and it looked like he was thinking throw before catch because the ball took off under his glove and went all the way to the wall.

By the time he got to it, Kent was three yards from home plate.

Hossanah on the highest!

How weird is this? The Dodgers have the highest average runs per game in the major leagues (7.3), per SCSR or whatever that post-game thing is called.

That was amazing.

Bradley after the game sounding suprisingly calm, "y'know I don't feel any pressure. There's a lot of people out there just trying to get by. I did it for those people."

In a naive way, I love this guy. I agree with Mark, hes entitled to one free freak out.

I'm stuck in San Jose & i forgot to TIVO, but i have to say gameday + lurking on this thread = a pretty satisfying way to experience a dodger win. I read a real sympathetic article by Henson in LAT about Bradley; here's hoping he continues to avoid meltdowns.

I don't think I can take this for another 157 games.

But for now, I can't wait to get home and watch the game on my TIVO and watch the last play in super slow motion.

Vinny's call of the last play...that, my friends, is what unites us all.

Great at bats by Drew, Kent and especially Bradley. Milton wasn't swinging for the fence. All he needed was a single to tie the game. He took the pitch the other way beautifully. There is obviously a curse on any Giant playing left field. I wonder if Ellison will blame the media.
Major props to our bullpen today!

"How weird is this? The Dodgers have the highest average runs per game in the major leagues (7.3), per SCSR or whatever that post-game thing is called."

It's a damn good thing, or they might be 1-6.

Vinnie says, "And it gets by Ellison! Drew scores! Dodgers win!"

And then a whole lot of silence. He's a master at just shutting his trap and letting the sound and picture do the work.

#328: "I wonder if Ellison will blame the media."

Nice.

ESPN can't belittle this victory. Dodgers scored 4 runs with two outs in the bottom of arguably last years' best closer.

i just don't know how to feel. i've been reading the comments and checking out espn all day...at work.

i had a ticket to the game and i gave them away to my friend....

because i had work.

i can't describe how sucky i feel to miss this game. somehow i know that watching the highlights on espn when i get home won't be the same.

I hesitate to make too much of one April game, but after all that's what blogs are for, right?

Anyone else wonder if Benitez has reverted to his Mets form? It would be an, er, shame, if he didnt' pitch like last year....

RE: http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/story/2005/4/12/114057/785

"Oh, the tears of unfathomable sadness! My-ymmuy." -- Eric Cartman

WOW. Just wow. Vaunted Giants defense!

Even McCourt was pumped after the game. Nice to see.

Can't remember a start of a season quite like this. Amazing.

RE: http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/story/2005/4/12/114057/785

"Interesting Alou puts Ellison in LF instead of CF. Has anyone questioned that before?
Living on a prayer.
by slcgiant on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:06:31 PM EST"

"No good reason exists to use Benitez in this game. In fact closers should never come in to protect 3 run leads unless they need the work.
by kenshin1 on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:17:48 PM EST"

So after 7 games that puts the tally at 3 Instant Classics. In all three games the Dodgers scored FOUR in their final at-bat. And all the while Plaschke is on vacation. Anyone have his voicemail number?

Too bad half the crowd was gone by the time of Bradley's hit. Maybe this'll teach people to stay for the entire game.

I've never lived in a metropolitan area as large as L.A., so maybe there are traffic issues I can't entirely comprehend, but I can't think of anything that would make me leave a game early, particularly a day game on OPENING DAY.

The only opening day game I've ever attended was Fernando losing to the Padres 1-0. Took three hours to get out of the parking lot. Still wouldn't have left early.

Until an hour ago I had April 5, 1999 as the best home opener in my lifetime. Unit vs Brown in Brown's LA debut. Bigcpa leaves the game in the 8th down 6-2. Mondesi 3-run shot in the 9th to tie it, Mondesi 2-run shot in the 11th to win it.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B04050LAN1999.htm

Am I missing any?

Eric, it's traffic issues plain and simple. I never leave unless I absolutely have to but that said, getting to Dodger Stadium on game day is not easy. Getting out is very difficult although Timmerman has great tips on where to park.

A buddy of mine said, "No matter where you are, your at least a half-hour away." He lived less than a mile from the stadium. And he was right.

How much cooler would it have been if it were Baybo instead of Ellison? :)

In defense of those who leave early, the traffic flow outside of the stadium is horrible, or at least was for the last few years. When not parking in my season ticket lot I've been stuck in the parking lot for 45 minutes or so.

Re: #340

Now you tell me Eric! Truth is I wanted to stay but my buddy insisted on leaving. Now Aug 21, 1990 I plead guilty. But even you would have left at 11-1 in the 8th no?

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B08210LAN1990.htm

Live near the Bay Area and heard the game on KNBR 680 San Francisco (the notorious Giants propanganda machine) . When the Milton hit and the LF error happened the airwaves went silent and in that silence I did cartwheels in my driveway. Oh yeah, and I danced in my living room which frightened my son...Great game...Can you feel it?!

Most game days I usually get to Dodger stadium in 20 minutes, from Burbank. The key is to avoid Stadium Way. And if I sprint from my seats the moment the last out is recorded I can make it home in roughly the same time. It seems like every minute I wait it costs me about 3-5 minutes getting out of the stadium. But that's only from the lot I regularly use. Any other lot and I'm screwed.

Eric, to give you an idea, on your average Tuesday at 5pm (ostensibly the time most people could have gotten out of the parking lot), it takes roughly one hour of freeway driving to get from Chavez Ravine to Santa Monica. That's about 15 miles.

The AP reports posted on the LAT and ESPN are stressing the Giants gave this game away.

Among many keys to this wonderful win, let's not forget two scoreless innings of relief each by Wunsch, Houlton and Carrara.

Final post re: parking (sorry to be boring those who are basking in the glory of beating the hated ones with 4 in our final AB) - I'm naively hoping that since Mr. McCourt raised my parking to $16/game that the traffic issues will be improved this year. But I'm not holding my breath.

Everyone's comments about leaving Dodger stadium reminds me of a time about 10 years ago when my college roommate and I were leaving a game. The traffic was bad and he need to use the restroom and since we were still in the parking lot we decided to see if we get back into the ballpark. We were able to get back in and decided to wait around until the traffic died down a bit. We ended up sitting in lower reserve seats for about an hour just shooting the breeze. I was amazed nobody ever asked us to leave. It was a beautiful sight just sitting there in the darkened stadium with nobody else around. The only thing that would have been better, if I was there with a lovely young lady and we were making out. :-)

"let's not forget two scoreless innings of relief each by Wunsch, Houlton and Carrara.
Wunsch"

I must have already forgotten the ones by Wunsch...

Clearly Carrara (1-0) is a guy who knows how to win.

Excellent point SB. The Dodger bullpen often maligned on this board (myself included) went 6 scoreless innings today. Great job!

Great photo of Lowe and friends at home plate... http://tinyurl.com/4m74q

It was Carlyle, that's why you forgot Wunsch, Eric. ;)

RE: # 334

When the Dodgers win the division by 2 games, you can look back on this one as one of the W's that propelled us into the postseason.

I believe it was Tony LaRussa (could be wrong, so don't crucify me) who theorized: a team will win 50 games [in spite of the opponent's best efforts] and lose 50 games [in spite of your team's best efforts] a season; it's your record in the other 62 that matters.

I think today's game and last Friday's game make us 2-0 in the "other 62" games.

It's also nice to see so much heart out of the 2005 squad so early in the season.

re: #356
Thanks for the photo. It is nice to see Lowe back in a Dodger jersey.

Just dawned on me- sounds like Weisman went to the game. If he left early I propose a weeklong boycott of DT.

He did say he'd see us after the game, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

But if he did, maybe we should move over to McCoveyChronicles for a week. Them boys need some stirrin' up.

More sweet photos from Yahoo...

http://tinyurl.com/3zyw9
http://tinyurl.com/42k6v
http://tinyurl.com/6gs49

This Bradley guy is some kind of clubhouse cancer.

Ok, so I've just seen the game's ending. (I taped the game, knowing I would be leaving my living room early to attend a co-wokrer's birthday dinner at an Irish pub.)
All I can say is, Wow. And, Whoa.
What an amazing comeback.

uh... carlyle. dang, reserchin' is tuff...

you guys couldn't bring yourselves to boycott DT for the whole weekend even if the only post was an open chat between Bill Plashke, John Kruk, and the Sheriff.

Anyhow, just shook free at work -- I gather there was some sort of a ballgame played today?

As an aside, happy 33rd birthday to Paulie LoDuca. What a way to celebrate your birthday, by getting a 2 run blast to left.

Sam, you wouldn't believe it if we told ya...you just wouldn't.

And, checking the box scores, our other favorite catcher, Diamond Dave Ross, has 2 hits and an RBI today. I do believe that signifies the world is ending.

Sam, you are right but you are pushing it. Throw in Simers and you'd have yourself a boycott.

How bad do the Giants fans feel? I just scrolled through McCovey Cove and it's seems reasonable... but check this out. I don't know the etiquette of pinching posts from other sites but I thought this was funny...

-------------------------------------------
a three-run lead, fresh-start inning, against the effin' Dodgers. This is no Francisco-Cordero-giving-up-a-solo-shot blown save; this is waking up from a night of drunken revelry and spirited celebration to find out that somebody wrote "i (heart) dick" on your forehead in permanent marker.

by lyricalkiller on Tue Apr 12, 2005 at 07:58:16 PM EST

ooops -- Plaschke (#366).

BTW -- Did I see that he has a book? Steve, are you gonna take one for the team and read/review?

Re #342 -- That was a heck of a game - there's a bunch of discussion of it in the Mondesi joins the Braves post from a while back (including my misremembering the # of runs scored by homerun #2 and being roundly corrected). The day I lost my wife to Raaaauuuuulllll . . .

"you guys couldn't bring yourselves to boycott DT for the whole weekend even if the only post was an open chat between Bill Plashke, John Kruk, and the Sheriff."

Heck, I'd pay money to see that.

Yeah, it was a fun day. Finally back home. Good thing that those slick fielding Giants were able to pull that one out.

When the game ended, my friend thought the game was still tied. She tells me "Why are we leaving? Are you sick?"

Well, we're happy you were there, Bob...pretty hard to top, eh?

Plaschke's book is currently 255,270th on Amazon's list. When I read the other 255,269, I think it will be time to die.

I have an idea... let's greet Plaschke at LAX when he gets back from his vacation. Someone get his flight info.

does anyone have a link to timmerman's info about parking at dodger stadium? it was pretty brutal getting out today.

For those boycotting ESPN, you didn't miss anything. Baseball Tonight's into did not even mention the Dodgers, and the analysis focused on the cemantics of ruling Bradley's 7th inning at bat a "sacrifice fly".

And yes, Ross went 3for4 with a HR today.

BTW, the official scorer did blow that call big time. The proper call is fielder's choice, and an error allowing the runners to advance from second to third and third to home. Calling it a sac fly assumes that the runner would have attempted to score from third had the ball been caught, which is ludicrous. Down by five runs, bases loaded and nobody out, fly ball to very shallow right field -- there isn't a third base coach in the world who would send the runner in that situation.

What did the ESPN dorks say about it?

Rave on, Dave Ross

Who says Plaschke's on vacation? Wasn't he keeping score today?

great game. went with a friend. he had to leave in the eigth... oh well. anyhow, there's no reason people should park in the stadium, period. great game. one of the best i've been to.

my friend left and i didn't, to clear up my last post. i wouldn't ever admit it if i'd left.

When I saw that play in the park (the one with Tucker) I wrote it in initially as a SF-Error.

Remember that it was Repko on third. He would have been safe easily.

That was the second time I've been to a game with a SF-E9. I saw Roger Cedeno of the Astros end a 16-inning game in Milwaukee once when he dropped a fly ball from Henry Blanco.

Funny thing in the 9th inning. There was a guy, who was pretty drunk (well, that was a significant portion of the crowd). But he was yelling (from way up in the blue) at Ellison about how much he sucked, etc. Except he kept saying "Yeah, I'm talking to you 58. Yeah, you 58!"

But Ellison wears 56. But his heckling fit. Now that guy is going to think that he can scream like an idiot for long periods of time and think it works. However, he was pretty drunk so he may not remember anything.

Just got back from the game....got hooked up big time with tickets from a studio exec, so I was an earshot from the likes of McCourt and Duke Snider. Kim Ng sat next to me for an inning.

Great game...the pen looked great. I really like Houlton. Stadium looked really nice, too.

Also, Nakamura has no shot at hitting flame throwers in the bigs. He looks very overpowered by anyone nearing 90 MPH.

Some other highlights of the game:
1) The Giants were retired in order just once all game. By Houlton in the 5th and it was 8-9-1.
2) Durham and Grissom both stranded six runners on base
3) Alfonso went from being the star of the game (4 for 5 and starting a key DP) to a footnote.
4) Alou must have little faith in relievers not named Eyre, Brower or Benitez. Eyre faced 8 batters. 3 reached base safely and a fourth on an error. And he gave up no runs.
5) Kent is going to bug me a lot by sliding into first base. I hate players doing that.

I think that is correct, Joe. I doubt he has the bat speed to make up for all of those moving parts in his swing (unlike say, Sheffield). I would be happy to be proven wrong, but in any event I think he will be effective against the Estes and Reuters of the world, pitchers that we have admittedly had problems with in the past.

Wow, can't believe how late it is. I'll have a post late tonight ... though I'm excited/afraid to ask, is Dodger Thoughts at the point where it runs on its own?

Jon,

Dodger Thoughts needs a good captain to steer the ship.

Enders -

I can't blame people for leaving early on opening day. I left last year, but that was because I had my grandma with me and the sun was taking a toll on her. I didn't leave this year though...

Opening day traffic sucks because the game is a sellout (obviously). At least during the week, once you get out of the stadium, there isn't that much traffic to deal with. On opening day, you the game lets out during rush hour.

Oh, and in case I didn't imply it.. you are the good captain steering the ship.

If you live in the Pasadena area, you can get home from Dodger Stadium fairly quickly. The problem is sometimes getting out of the stadium, but it's just a matter of shrewd parking.

Park near the 76 station (to the EAST of it) for quicker getaways on to either the 110 North or South.

If you're headed to West L.A. or the Valley, you're doomed anyway.

Fortunately there was a little less traffic today because Irving Zeiger didn't show up!

#393 - LOL!!!

Speaking of Irving, did any of you guys see the folks protesting McCourt and DePo near the Stadium Way entrance? All 4 of them seemed to be pretty into it.

What were they saying exactly?

I was at the game and keeping score like I usually do, and that scoring in right field made no sense at all. At first they didnt put anything up, so I said, "To heck with it, Im the official scorer of my book." and I gave it an "E9, FC 9-6". Once the clarification by the scorers was made and it was put up on Diamondvision, it was too late.

I miss the old scoreboard. It was always so easy to keep score with. You had the batters/positions of each team. The batting order (to help with any double switches), and the At bat/Strikes/Balls/outs plus a little box for errors. The scoreboard that they replaced it with is not clear at all when it comes to scoring disputes.

Bob, I saw that guy in the reserve also. My Dad was laughing at him and saying that its amazing how much more people can get away at a sports venue than on a street corner.

Had something to do with the Bostonians mispronouncing `wash' as `warsh'...

Jerry -

I think they spent a little bit too much time reading Plaschke and Simers during the offseason. It wasn't a big thing, but they had signs up saying Boycott McCourt and DePo (or something to that effect).

The comments may continue to run, fearless leader, but we still like to get prompted.

What an amazing game. It's great to hear feedback from people who were there.

Well, Simers' piece for tomorrow is still the same old garbage.

One part of the scoreboard had problems. The auxiliary scoreboards couldn't keep track of a pitcher's ball-strike totals and percentages correctly. The total for balls was always wrong. But the percentage of strikes was always correct. Some sort of software problem.

Also the auxiliary scoreboards can't display ERA that are over 9.99 correctly. At one point Scott Eyre had an ERA of 0.10.

If you think about the math, it's really hard to have an ERA of 0.10.

I wonder if Jon will eventually grow to fear the monster he has created.

You go to the game, you have a good time, you're probably out right now eating dinner with your family or something, and yet you cannot get out of your mind the fact that hundreds of people like us are sitting in front of their computers, drooling, waiting for you to stop by and impart some Yodaesque words of wisdom.

But hey, no pressure, Jon. ;)

By the way, Bob, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the SF call. Regardless of Repko's speed, I think there's no way he would be sent in that situation.

You didn't happen to see what Hoffman was doing, did you? They didn't show on TV.

The guy sitting next to me, whom I estimated to be in his early 20s, was dressed in Dodgers uniform and cap.

One graphic on DiamondVision mentioned that Cesar Izturis tied a record held by Bill Russell.

The guy, in all seriousness, turns to his friend next to him and says, "But Bill Russell was a basketball player..."

I was watching Repko and not Tucker, so I was surprised when he dropped it.

It looked like Hoffman wanted to challenge Tucker's arm.
I assume that the official scorer must have called down to the Dodgers dugout to ask about that.

Or maybe the guy just guessed.

Or he has Milton Bradley in his fantasy league and wanted to boost his BA.

Hmmm... if that's the case, it's not the scorer who's the idiot, but Hoffman. I guess we'll never know.

The most surprising part of #105, BTW, is that there was a record held by Bill Russell in the first place. Other than, of course, worst career winning percentage by an LA manager, which Izturis isn't ready to challenge yet.

And while I'm on that topic, a random prediction: Alex Cora will someday manage the Dodgers.

Actually, going back and fact checking #407, it's actually Tommy Lasorda who holds that record, which is quite shocking to me.

I just read Simers column and I think everybody here takes him way too seriously. There was a lot of sarcasm in there. Especially his remarks about Doug Krikorian.

There were some comments by fans about the renovations. But the writers (Wharton and Bolch) also had a quote from a sports marketing person who said that any changes to a traditional park are disliked at first and the key is to see if the fans keep coming and if people still dislike the changes at the end of the season.

I still think the recorded music was a bit too loud. And we need more Nancy Bea!

Geez.. early 20s and didn't know about Billy Russell?

Even if the guy was a little young to remember him as a player, it wasn't that long ago that Billy was the manager.

Last year, Izturis tied Bill Russell's LA Dodgers record for most doubles in a season by a shortstop.

It was a touching moment when he tied the mark.

Does anyone ever take into account that even though there are seats in front of what used to be the "front row", the old seats are still the same distance away from the field?

This from a BTF Brewer fan. Thoughts?

"I doubt that the Brewers have the money to sign Sheets long term. He has been a solid pitcher, and Brewer ace, since 2001, and had a monster season last year. I think the Brewers will trade him for prospects this eason or next. I am hoping they take a pakage of James Loney, Edwin Jackson, and Joel Hanrahan."

The irony of T.J. Simers criticizing Doug Krikorian was...palpable. Is that a good word for it?

Um, do it now?

Eric,

Me too.

Let's throw in Chen if that's what it takes to get Sheets.

Heck, they can have Choi if they want him too (and I'm a Hee Sop apologist).

But Simers wasn't really criticizing Krikorian. He was just making fun of him. It's quite likely that Simers and Krikorian are good friends. Krikorian is very well-respected by other L.A. sportswriters.

Will the Dodgers be facing Sheets next week? Will that also be our first taste of Steiner and Lyons on TV?

Even worse.

The announcers confuse me. I keep thinking I'm going to hear them for part of the game on TV. Then I don't. The non-Scully teams do home radio and away TV?

The non-Scully guys (Steiner and Lyons) do the TV for the games outside of the NL West.

Which is why Vinny was doing the games in FRISCO! (Ha, they hate that.) There were a lot of complaints about Steiner in ST; I just haven't heard him yet.

Did anyone else notice that the Pirates tonight got a homerun from Daryle Ward, besides Ross going three for four (with a homer)?

If the Pirates can sign Tyler Houston and James Baldwin, they'll become the Dan Evans All Stars.

I thought Simers' column tonight was rather excellent, BTW. Maybe the best one I've read.

Yeah, the Simers column made me chuckle a couple of times. I don't mind him as much as the other guy, cause I know the "insults" are usually tongue-in-cheek most of the time.

Buster Olney has knocked him out of the number 2 spot for columnists I loathe.

I'm betting Plaschke writes about Lowe wearing the Sox jersey yesterday. It'll serve as some sort of metaphor for the concept of the Dodgers being a group of individuals instead of a real team.

Actually, I don't really mind Olney. He's wrong about most everything, but at least he's open-minded enough to allow for the possibility he might be proven wrong. And he's got a much better way with words than a certain unnamed columnist currently on vacation.

Agreed with Bob... Plaschke takes himself seriously and really does believe that Lo Duca's leadership added to the win column. But who knows what Simers really thinks. He makes fun of everything and doesn't take himself so seriously. I'm inclined to think he honestly doesn't like the personnel changes DePo made, but his complaints against the Dodgers are not remotely as serious as Plaschke's charges of crimes against humanity.

The DHL tape on the bullpen was shocking if not appalling, but the removal of the murals on the outfield wall to make way for advertising definitely stinks. I don't mind finding new revenue streams, but not at the expense of something I thought was really cool. Never saw anything like that in other ballparks. Oh well. It ain't like it's going to stop me from going out to the ballpark, but it's irksome nonetheless.

Shockingly, Plaschke's column is about 50% positive.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Love how Plaschke slips in "front-office favorites Jose Valentin and Hee-Seop Choi." And nice reference to Izturis "losing his double play partner" without a single mention of Kent's week 1 performance. This winning stuff is going to be very problematic for Mr. Bill.

Plaschke's piece thick with anti-DePo rhetoric. Evans deserves a bow for bringing in Izturis and Weaver (the guy who got shelled, by the way), but DePo gets no mention in the piece for acquiring Bradley, Kent, and Werth? Oh wait, Kent's not mentioned in the article. I'll be watching to see if this pro-Tracy rhetoric from Plaschke continues, I think it's merely veiled contempt for DePodesta.

Hey Jon,

You ever feel like Ted Knight in that scene from "Caddyshack" when he comes into the country club and sees the men playing cards and says "Don't you have homes?"

As Norm might answer on Cheers, "Yes, and it's here!"

If there was only a way to have a collective "Bob" every time Timmerman logs in.

Suffering Bruin resembles Cliff with his daily Hee Seop Choi facts, although SB isn't a blowhard and we actually like him.

lol!

"Actually, I don't really mind Olney. He's wrong about most everything, but at least he's open-minded enough to allow for the possibility he might be proven wrong. And he's got a much better way with words than a certain unnamed columnist currently on vacation."

Thanks, Frazier.

i was at the game... there's too much to respond to, but man, what a great game.

1st off: eric enders, props for the decemberists ref. also, i second the props to SB for his fact of choi. i'm also a choi apologist, so it's nice to have some good company.

i don't really understand leaving the game early unless you're really in a hurry; but if you're going to be in a hurry, why go to a baseball game in the first place? instead of sitting in my car for 45 minutes waiting to get out, i'd rather hang out a little longer in lovely dodger stadium. the traffic going there is horrible though. is there a good way to get to the stadium from the south? the 101 is horrible, the 5 is horrible, the 110 is horrible. i ended up getting off downtown and making my way through echo park, and i still couldn't get in until the we were already down a run.

Okay okay, can I be Woody?

I didn't want to bring this up, but Duke Snider left after the 7th inning...

one more thing:

how on EARTH did it happen that the most hopeless of castoffs such as dave ross and daryle ward, both (apparently) magically learned how to hit once they donned pirate uniforms?! how??

this phenomenon must somehow also be related to kirk rueter and russ ortiz.

Frickin' DePodesta!!!!

Fortunately, I weigh a lot less than George Wendt.

Since I almost always go to Dodger Stadium from the Pasadena Freeway traffic usually isn't a problem.

The traffic along Academy Road tends to be the least intense. It's just hard to find.

Bob!

"Fortunately, I weigh a lot less than George Wendt."
----

I don't -- maybe we should switch places. Enders the beer-swilling slob, Timmermann the master of arcane knowledge.

Would that make Bob a mark?

Entering and exiting on Sunset is by far the quickest way in and out of Dodger Stadium. You enter and park behind home plate (you have to walk a bit up to the stadium). when you leave, you drive through the parking lot back to Sunset Blvd. Out in five minutes every time.

I know one thing -- Icaros, Timmermann and Weisman are three people who have never been in my kitchen.

enders,

where was the decemberists reference? i looked for it, couldn't find it. picaresque is amazing.

From this morning's Daily News injury report:

"Injuries
- *Outfielder Milton Bradley (soreness) played in Tuesday's game against San Francisco."

Yeah, I should say so.

#448--Uh, post #1. :)

Smirk, start from the top of the thread, work your way down, and you'll find it pretty quickly.

Oh, you mean the one that says Decemberists? I'm an idiot.

"Soreness", aka Mike Marshall Disease.

I think this makes me Nick Tortelli.

I don't know, Steve. You're vicious enough to be Carla.