I dont mean to exonerate Erickson here, but it seems to me the biggest problem the dodgers face is their poor defense behind a ground ball pitching staff. I think their fine at short, second, and ok at first when choi plays. But third base is more of a disaster defensively than offensively. Im not sure that antonio perez is going to change this. Should they consider promoting Willy Abyar from AAA, he's doing fine in Vegas right now and has great def numbers and def rep at both third and second? Is polanco really enough of an upgrade to consider trading good prospects.

How soon before we all start complaining that Erickson needs to be pulled?

The over/under is a 0 IP.

Random Dodger game callback

May 15, 1911

While they may be the loveable losers of baseball today, in 1911, the Chicago Cubs were coming off a stretch where they had just won four of the last five National League pennants and the 1911 Cubs were way too much for the Brooklyn Superbas to handle on this day at Washington Park, scoring three times in the first en route to a 6-2 win. Brooklyn was now 6-20 and firmly in last place, 14 ½ games behind first place Philadelphia.

The Cubs managed just five hits off of Brooklyn pitchers Nap Rucker and Pat Ragan, but Brooklyn committed four errors and the Cubs picked up seven walks. Brooklyn's only runs came in the 6th on a bloop single for an RBI by John (Tiny Figurine) Hummel and when Chicago third baseman Heinie Zimmerman booted a grounder by Larry (Camp) LeJeune. Brooklyn also started a Zimmerman at third that day. His name was Eddie and he was not related to Heinie, who would later be banned from baseball for involvement in game fixing.

Despite the bad start, Brooklyn didn't finish in last place. The Superbas managed to finish with a 64-86 record, good for seventh place, 33 ½ games behind the pennant-winning Giants. Boston, havivng one of baseball's worst seasons, finished 44-107 and had a pitching staff that managed to give up 1021 runs in a Deadball Era season.

1911 was the last season that Brooklyn manager Bill Dahlen played in the field, appearing in one game at shortstop on October 12, 1911. That concluded Dahlen's playing career that had started back in 1891. Dahlen managed Brooklyn for four dismal seasons from 1910 through 1913. Dahlen played on 2 pennant winners for Brooklyn back in 1899 and 1900 and also was the shortstop for the 1905 World Series champion Giants.

The best example of how baseball in the Deadball Era was different was that Brooklyn's best hitter in 1911, first baseman Jake Daubert, batting .307 with an OBP of .366, led the team in sacrifices with 26.

Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

I'd rather not trade Duaner for a short-term solution, mostly because I think right now our pitching staff needs all the help it can get. I'd rather see Aybar, even though it starts his 6 years. Guzman is the future anyway, right?

BTW Bob, I'm seriously thinking about taking the under.

Guzman is the future 3B along with LaRoche but Aybar is the future 2B. He had played 3B up until last year when they switched him to 2B since he doesnt hit for much power for a corner IF position. He is a decent switch-hitting prospect who projects more as a doubles hitter with occasional power.

BTW, I think Erickson goes 2 2/3 innings today and gives up 5 runs and 8 hits

So Schmoll goes down to make room for Gagne. I don't know about this decision...Schmoll's been iffy lately, but his ERA is still in the respectable neighborhood of 4. Houlton, on the other hand, is basically unusable at this point. Almost no lead is safe when he's on the mound.
I'm not one to come down harshly on a rookie without giving him a full chance, but I think in this case Schmoll offers a lot more to the club than Houlton does. The situation with Rule 5 shouldn't prevent us from doing what's best for the team in the here-and-now. I'd have kept Schmoll and wished Houlton happy trails.

I think Houlton will pick up a convenient groin pull or hamstring injury that will disable him for several months and allow Schmoll to come back up.

If you're interested in the Braves fan's perspective, a friend of mine runs this site:

http://www.bravesbeat.com/bravesjournal/

Been watching a littlre of the Angel this morning. Rex makes Rick Monday sound like Vin and Chick rolled into one.

2 - I'll take the under.

On break from a full-shift at the retail gig so this will be typed fast. Ignore the typos...

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

TODAY'S FACT OF CHOI, SB'S FAVORITE PLAYER, 2005:

Last anecdote from mystery source.

According to the mystery source, Choi has a terrific sense of humor. Off the field, he smiles a lot. He loves jokes and is not above self-deprecation.

Case in point? Choi in high school tried to give one of his teammates a hotfoot. That's where you light someone's shoelaces on fire. Our hero tried to do this while sitting right next to his intended victim. He lowered the match while pretending to gaze at the on-field action. When he started to smell something burning, he thought he had acheived success.

What he realized a second later was that he had set his own shoelaces on fire.

At-bat, in the field, or on the mound, his teammates spent the rest of the game giggling, so much so that the coach jumped on them about improving their focus. Which only made the players laugh that much harder.

According to the source, Choi tried to tie what was left of his laces. After hitting a homerun later in the game, he limped around the bases because he was worried his spikes were going to fly off.

If and when I do interview Choi, I plan on asking him if this really happened. My source swears by it, though.

Braves

Furcal
Giles
CJones
LaRoche
AJones
Estrada
Langerhans
Mondesi
Hudson

Dodgers

Izturis
Robles
Drew
Kent
Bradley
Ledee
Choi
Bako
Erickson

Arizona and Colorado tied 1-1 after 3.

Estes v. Jennings

Anybody else watching the Pre-grame show? Vin was asking Bradley about the origin of his switch-hiting. Then he had sort of an ambidextrousness checklist- Bradley eats with his right hand, but shoots basketballs with his left. Then Vin asked which hand he used to aim a rifle. Bradley laughed and said he hadn't ever thought about it. So, thank G-d for that.

Re: #11
SB, I hope your mystery source is reliable, because it's one of those stories you'd really like to be true. To paraphrase Comic Book Guy: Best Fact of Choi evarr!

OH MY LORD

Todd Helton just sacrifice bunted. At Coors Field.

Steve will be on the next flight to Denver to have Clint Hurdle and Todd Helton executed.

And after that sacrifice, the Colorado version of Luis Gonzalez couldn't score on a single to right field.

3 straight? ....

Todd Greene with an RBI single to give Colorado a COMMANDING 2-1 lead at Coors.

Easy first inning for Erickson. We've seen this before.

Any explanation for Robles in the 2-hole while Choi bats 7th?
My guess: JT is trying a desperate measure in trying to jump-start Robles' bat, hoping that he'll see better pitches in that slot.
But Choi before Bako? HSC may not see a fastball all game.

Ugh.

And it's 3-1 Colorado now.

Brian Lawrence taking on A.J. Burnett in San Diego.

Jeez, I hate the stolen base attempt.

Dodgers fans don't start to cheer much when Erickson gets to 2 strikes on a hitter. It's not like watching Ryan pitch.

But look a K.

K #6!

A strikeout! Wow.

Andruw Jones joins an elite club, the president of which is currently Adam Eaton.

I hope today isn't the day Erickson gets his random drug test.

Weird things are happening in baseball today.

1) The Orioles have a homer from Sal Fasano
2) Oakland has jumped out a 2-0 lead against Randy Johnson
3) The Royals are leading
4) Todd Helton is sacrificing

Thank goodness Tracy hasn't ruined Choi by hitting him against lefties...

HSC!

2 on, no outs in the top of the 6th at Coors for "old friend" Shawn Green.

Green went out 6-3 to move the runners up.
Cintron then grounded out to score a run to make it 3-2 Rockies.

I wonder what kind of leash Erickson has today. How soon do we see Wilson? (Excuse my pessimism).

Clayton has an RBI double to tie it up for Arizona 3-3.

Greene has an RBI double to put San Diego up 1-0.

Time for a pinch runner!

I don't like bunting, but w/Robles hitting as well as he is...

I would think Robles would be a likely candidate to bunt here however he would have to do a good job since it's unlikely Erickson is going to get to third in a hurry.

He can't even lay down a decent bunt.
NNNNEXT!

That wasn't Erickson's fault for being slow as much as Robles had a bad bunt.

Great play by Perky.

WHY IS ROBLES BATTING SECOND!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Bunting in that situation is a terrible move. Yeah, Robles is a mess, but still. That first out is precious.

it would be cool if they'd think outside the box and hit JD 1st or 2nd.

Not that it mattered on Drew's liner, but if a fielder intentionally drops a line drive in that situation, the umpire can rule the batter out automatically so you can't get a cheap DP.

Sworn enemy (but below the level of Russ Ortiz) Craig Counsell homered to put Arizona up 4-3.

It will be up to the DBacks bullpen to hold on to the lead.

The Marlins have put Cabrera over at third today and are resting the slumping Mike Lowell.

Why is Robles batting at all? I'd rather have Saenz weak glove over there then Robles.

Minnie Minoso is the AL guy.

Satchel Paige might be the NL guy.

I think Tracy is paying Erickson to try to hurt Choi.

I don't think scott likes Koreans.

The only good thing about Robles's bad bunt is that it got Erickson off the bases. He would not have made it to third after the Drew liner/grounder.

Paige.

Okay, time to get someone up in the 'pen.

Bring in Wilson.

4 pitch walk. a very bad sign.

How many more batters do you let Erickson face? This is what always happens to Erickson. Second time through...

Four Pitch Walk. He wasn't even close. Get someone up.

Uh oh. C'mon, Mr. Guerrero.

Whew.

Whew. Okay, let's get some insurance for Erickson.

Brilliant, Scott, brilliant!

I guess this means we'll see him again next inning.

I predict we have two or three on and Tracy will let Erickson nbat this inning.

Chipper is a butcher at third.

As the rule was when I was playing streetball: one base on an overthrow!

I was only 1/4 right on the trivia question. I had one name, but for the wrong league.

Minoso was an alleged 57 when he last played. Two years behind Paige's alleged 59.

O'Rourke played in his game when he was 52 because the Giants had a huge lead and already clinched the pennant and many of the players were already going home. McGraw had no intention of playing in a World Series in 1904.

Vin just made me laugh out loud with the 'I'm not going to tell you"

not today mondi

Geez, these guys are clowns in the field.

Glad you did the research, Bob...I only had Paige...but NL didn't sound right.

Attaboy, Ricky.

Not a good defensive inning for the Braves.

Choi should time a really late swing and line one into the dugout off of Tracy's bean

Okay, we got two runs now. Erickson oughtta be able to make that stand up.

Matt Treanor is catching today for Florida. He is married to beach volleyball star Misty May.

Do they have the greatest net disparity in the amount of equipment they need to wear to compete in their respective sports of any married couple?

Bat for Erickson!

This home-plate ump, Davis, has a weird strike zone.

Rockies don't score in the bottom of the 7th. Marlins don't score in the top of the 5th.

#73 um we're talking about scott erickson here

Do we send someone up to PH for Erickson here?

Quite a Bagwell stance by Bako, there.

Bob (#74): Though these two never married, I'd've nominated Cade McNown and Heather Kozar.

im willing to bet my life savings that tracy doesnt bat for erickson

I predicted it.

#63 has come to pass.

Will we ever learn?

0-for-2 on bunts.

Wow- that was ne of the ugliest bunts I've ever seen a pitcher put down. Yet another Dodger thrown out at 3rd on an attempted sacrifice.

It's Unproductive Out Day!

Can we stop giving away outs?

I don't think so.

I've got bad knees. That slide made me cringe.

If we waste two on and no out then I might do something stupid. Like break furniture.

aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh

Let's see if I'm on a rush...I now predict at least a 2-run homer on some floater Erickson tosses up this inning.

JSN, don't start now. I live amongst nothing but broken chairs and tv's with the screens shot out.

I came to the game late, and didn't realize that we also Sciosciaed ourselves out of the first inning. Idiot.

Do you think Phillips would have beat that out?

Cintron doubles in a run to make it 5-3 Arizona.

Arrrgh is not the sound of furniture breaking...

Another 4 pitch walk. Is anyone up in the pen?

Steve, It's too late. My roomates and I have broken 1) four wooden chairs, 2)A second hand recliner, 3)The entire end of a nice wraparound couh, 4) a homemade bar, 5)4 doors, 6) 6 screens, and 7) 2 bar stools. And some of you might think I'm joking. I'd say only about 50% of that relates to the Dodgers, however...

Wow, that was lucky! Nice play by Oscar.

We love you Raul!

Well, I'm glad to see I'm not that great a fortune teller :)

aaaarrrgh is the guttural sound made when heaving furniture.

Erickson's just messin' with our heads, right?

wooo, talk about smoke and mirrors. i hope this was erickson's last time through the braves lineup. 5 innings, no runs, in line for the win, thank you very much mr. erickson, now have a seat.

#100 group anger management might be a good idea...

I believe Erickson is in a position to succeed now.

Sounds like the makings for a cheery fire there, JSN...

"Sounds like the makings for a cheery fire there, JSN..."

See how it burns, Norwegian wood...

Actually, Bob, he's already succeeded.

He's now in a position to fail.

Just like Kit Keller, Milton couldn't lay off the high one.

#107 Milton could lead us.

Somewhere, Mike Scioscia sits and admires Milton's strikeout.

Ok just fricking yank him.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

GRABOWSKI PRINCIPLE! GRABOWSKI PRINCIPLE! YANK HIM! YANK HIM! RED ALERT!

ok, a single by the pitcher on a 1-2 pitch. There is absolutely no choice now but to get him out as soon as a reliever is ready.

Danger, Will Robinson.

OK.... Giving up a hit to the pitcher. Not a good hit, but still. Where's Wilson?

ATL could break out this inning...why is nobody in the 'pen?

And it begins . . .

This smells like the inning. Get ready to hate Jim Tracy yet more.

2 Ks in one game of non-pitchers!

Furcal now the 7th K victim for Erickson this year.

We might get sooooo lucky here. I seriously don't know how he is doing it. Deal with the devil...

A strikeout? Huh. Talk about the Bizarro world...

Conine with an RBI single and then Easley with a 2-run double and the Marlins lead the Padres 3-1.

There it is.

I HATE JIM TRACY

BOOM!

Oh man did I cause that one. I apologize to the entire Dodger fanbase....

Nevermind. This is the real world.

I was only an inning early with the prediction.

Errrrrrrrrrggggggggg...

Now here comes a walk.

4-1 Marlins now.

Rockies pull to within 5-4 on a double by Wilson.

Never mind.

It's uncanny. You have to figure that just by dumb luck, Erickson would get out of some of these innings and not do what everyone expects of him. And yet . . .

This is what you call bad asset management.

So Erickson blames Kent for the home run ball?

Vin is already giving Erickson ammo to blame the home run on the defense by saying that Robles and Kent should have turned the DP.

"...if that's turned into a double play, he's out of the inning, but Kent dropped it..."

Did Erikson promise Vin a night with his wife?

I believe Tracy has just redefined the term "pushing your luck".

(Although I guess he does that every second day.)

The Grabowski Principle is immutable.

Erickson due up fourth this inning. No reason to hit for him here I guess.

Wilson was stranded at second to end the inning.

5-4 DBacks going to the 9th.

Time for some pop, Hee-Seop.

And the first guy off of the bench will be Grabs. Maybe he can lay down a bunt if it gets that far...

Hot Foot Choi! Hot Foot Choi!

wow does choi ever have a bad at bat?

0-for-3 on sac bunts?

Lit up his shoelaces, he did.

Oh good, because that bunt's been so successful so far.

Grabowski is on deck?! You cannot be serious.

152: Soon to be

(at least against righties)

At least it wasn't a DP after he couldn't get the bunt down.

Erickson's Game Score: 58.

Grabowski shocks the world.

The ultimate good news/bad news scenario. Erickson is out but Grabowski is hitting for him.

Chip Caray on TBS after Bako failed to get a bunt down:

"There are outs, and there are productive outs."

Stop whining Grabowski. You just struck out. You suck. Your .133 avg. and .250 OBP just don't cut it in the Bigs let alone on our bench. Please just disappear.

Sure glad Robles is on deck just in case!

I'd just walk Cesar and face Robles.

How would a bunt have done any good? Nobody has invented the sacrifice strikeout yet.

1 on, 1 out for the Rox in the 9th.

I would really like to just watch a game like this with Depo. I would love to just hear what he has to say about everything. The non-interview versions, anyways.

Please pinch hit for Robles.

Will Robles get out of his rut here?

1st and 2nd, 1 out for the Rox in the 9th with Barmes up.

Will Robles get out of his rut here?

Barmes flies out. 2 on, 2 out.
Miles up for Colorado.

So glad Robles is in the second spot. It's Tracy's lineup making ability that keeps him in the manner to which he is accustomed.

Anyone else ever wonder whether Jim Tracy is a psychotic sadist who's just toying with us?

Good thing we saved Saenz for those extra innings (which are now much more likely), eh Tracy?

I guess Tracy is saving Edwards and Saenz for extra innings.

Tracy is draining the life out of me, one game at a time.

Miles flies out.

DBacks win 5-4.

We should have 7 runs with the stuff Hudson has today. Man, this is frustrating.

Hi - just ducking in. Posted a brief comment in the main post above.

Vin Scully appears to be a member of the Scott Erikson Marching and Chowder Society.

Maybe he wants company at the Denny's Early Bird Special.

You dropped your ice cream! You dropped your ice cream!
That footage was cute.

Poor kid.

Poor us.

Did the feed(s) just freak out for everyone?

picture just went out on fsn2, probably a good thing

Home runs by Andruw Jones make satellite uplinks cry.

186. Yes, and I'm actually happy about it.

Another hanging changeup nothing pitch. When will Jim Tracy realize that our pitching sucks, and therefore he has to actually do things that help score runs (see above)?

Maybe JSN and his roomies broke into the control truck.

Now it's just ads. Did we take Alvarez out, and if so, who's coming in?

Good point Jon. I had actually forgotten about Phillips.

Ironic...this series has been like a clinic on how slugging beats "smallball."

Now Gameday is stuck.

Both Scott Erickson and Randy Johnson threw six innings today.

Erickson had more Ks. Johnson has zero, although he could potentially pitch the 7th.

Padres with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 7th with the heart of the order due up.

Hudson's Game Score: 51.

Loretta walks with the bases loaded to cut the Marlins lead to 4-2 with no outs.

Presumably McKeon will pull Burnett now.

Please don't tell me we bought five more years of Shawn Green

I'll say it again: Chipper is a butcher at third.

Klesko walks with the bases loaded against Matt Perisho to make it 4-3 Marlins.

Exit Perisho, enter Jim Mecir to face Phil Nevin.

Still no one out.

Nevin singles in a run to tie the game at 4-4.

Bases still loaded no one out and Giles up.

If Ledee gets on, do I pitch hit for Choi? Well, do I want to mess up Choi's decent run against righties?

Giles singles in 2 and the Padres lead 6-4.

Third place beckons for the Dodgers.

7-4 Padres after an RBI single from Hernandez.

All 8 Padre batters have reached in the 7th.

So what does Bochy do after his first 8 guys all reach base?

He has Burroughs sacrifice. Because the Marlins were doing such a good job of getting people out.

Dave Roberts hit a 3-run homer and the Padres have scored 10 times in the 7th to lead 11-4.

I think the key to the Marlins series will be:

GET TO THE BULLPEN.

We like to give up dongs.

Sigh.
OK, that's a message I can stop watching and start on my laundry.

Man, we just stink. I'm starting to doubt whether this team can still be competitive by the All-Star Break. Hopefully we can do something to break out of this funk. I thought the Bradley GS would do it, but apparently not.

Don't despair, Nick. Good teams lose games. Kent is in a deep slump. Drew too, despite the double today. Ledee, Bradley, and Choi are hitting, but it's hard to score without HRs or long sequences. Dodgers have had 13 baserunners today (9 hits, 2 errors, BB, HBP), but 6 of them have been Ledee and Choi. I'm not worried, but then I've said since February that this is a division-winning lineup that won't challenge for the championship. Good, but not great.

Meanwhile, it's Atlanta's 3-4-5 hitters who are killing us. They're all hot at the right time.

RE 212: And for some reason, Choi was batting in the 7th spot. Only Jim Tracy knows why.

I'm hearing some furniture breaking....

What on Earth was Cesar doing?

Yeah, well, good teams can be undermined by dumb managing, too. But today, I just thing it was bad luck that the hits weren't bunched together. Lots of LOBs.

Tracy's lineup mismanagement is less excusable than his pitching decisions. Robles hitting second with Choi batting seventh was dart-board random.

It's true Kent and Drew are both in slumps. Tracy knows that too. So why not bunch the reasonably productive hitters in one part of the lineup, instead of sprinkling them around? Izturis-Choi-Bradley-Drew-Ledee-Kent-Phillips-Robles-pitcher, would at least get a little momentum going until the hitting returns to normal.

215: I prefer to vaccum my apartment. It's constructive and loud enough to cover my anguished screams.

The Padres polish off the Fish, 12-4 so the Dodgers are now in third place.

Two teams heading south playing each other M-W.

This is the kind of game I hate. A zillion chances and no results. If our guys get overpowered by good pitching I can live with it, but this...

I wonder if we could get Clemens to agree to pitch for us the rest of the year? I gather he wants out of Houston if the team ain't goin' nowhere.

re 221: I understand Linkmeister's take on the game, but oddly, I feel the opposite. If the Dodgers had been stifled, I'd feel more concern. As it was, plenty of chances, but too few "clutch" hits. Tells me that nothing is structurally wrong (or not much), and taht luck will change. The one worry is the relative power outage. With Drew and Kent in slumps, and Choi hitting in a position where he won't see many strikes, that leaves Bradley. Otherwise, it's a decent BA and OBP lineup (Izturis, Choi, Ledee, Phillips) but not much power in that group. For the first part of the season, at least one of the HR threats was hitting well. This week, they're all asleep other than Bradley some days). Games like today's leave me disappointed, but optimistic. It's a long season.

218: I was thinking the same thing only I would bat Izturis, Choi, Bradley, Drew, Kent, Ledee, Phillips, Edwards and not play Robles again for a lil while.

Also, why does Tracy continually give chances to Grabowski and not Saenz in that situation?? Would anyone really be opposed if we had this roster in a week?

SP: Lowe, Perez, Weaver, Penny, Erickson until Dessens comes back
RP: Gagne, Brazoban, Carrara, Sanchez, Wunsch, Alvarez

SS Izturis
1B Choi
CF Bradley
RF Drew
2B Kent
LF Werth
C Phillips
3B Antonio Perez

Bench: Ledee, Robles, Saenz, Bako, Edwards, Mike Rose (Switch hitting 3rd catcher/OF in AAA)

Outright Grabowski and Houlton
Send Repko to AAA when Werth comes up

I was at the game today. My head just about expoloded when Grabs came into the on deck circle. No one could figure out what I was yelling about. The Dodgers put up a graphic about how last year he broke the team record for pinch hitters in a season and this seems to justify that .128 avg. I don't get it. How many scoring opportunities does this guy have to cost us?

Could you tell on TV that the stadium lost electricity for 4 or 5 minutes. TJ will no doubt make a crack that the Parking Lot Attendant couldn't pay the bill. Maybe he is right, I noticed for the first time, even the rakes (or whatever you call the things the ground crew pulls behind them to clean the infield between innings) have advertisments on them.

"Could you tell on TV that the stadium lost electricity for 4 or 5 minutes."
The feed went out right after Andruw Jones' homer, but we thought someone was doing us a favor by knocking the game off the air.

My question on the mis-management of today's game, was why if they were going to bunt with Bako, why they didn't pinch hit with Repko who has more speed and probably a better bunter. If he gets it down, then you have second and third with one out, and then Sanez is the logical hitter or even Edwards. However, while it is easy to find critics of Tracy on this site, Depo bears some of the responsibility too. The DOdger bench is weak becasue many players who were going to be on the bench at the begining of the year have been playing, many not all that bad. However, their replacements are begining to show their weakness. In watching the game Friday night Robles seems to be completly over matched at the plate, just as Nakamura was, and Grabowski is. Edwards is doing far better than anyone can expect. I like Repko and would gladly replace Grabowski with him, but am the first to say that if the Dodgers want to make a substantial improvement for the bench, they will need much more. However, if Perez just becomes part of the platoon at 3rd, I think some of Tracy's late management options will not be good......Only good thing about today in baseball for me is that the Giants are losing 8-0 to Houston. The Giant annnouncers are loving it that the Dodgers lost

My day at the ballpark:

- Photo opps with Brad Penny and Hee Seop.

- TEAM DEPO gets 50,000 impressions on Diamond Vision in the 3rd inning. Any witnesses??

- To top it off I get my first look at Oscar Robles, in the two hole no less. You wouldn't want the 1.000 OPS lefty in that spot against Hudson. Choi reaches his first three trips but never scores. We score 2 of 14 runners.

9-14 since April 20th. 1-3 at games I've attended. I need a Dodger off day.

Make that 9-0 and it seems to me the Giants should be more concerned with how crappy they are, rather than the Dodgers.

BIG, Is that to say you were on Diamond Vision in the 3rd wearing your shirt. If so I missed it. Probably becasue I was too busy sacnning the crowd to find someone wearing one.

How come no one is talking about the big white elephant in the room: JD Drew.

LAT, I direct you to Comment #200, right before I shot yet another TV screen out.

Yeah- my son & I were on the Delta Smile Cam.

I also should have pointed out that Photo Day was pretty poorly done. It was the first time I've done it.

First off tickets were not taken or checked. Anyone paying $10 to park could get in and stab Gagne or whatever.

The other oddity was there were no specific lines, instructions, rules or anything. Just 100 feet of fence and a cord set 10 feet back to keep the players from getting anywhere near the fans! When the first players came out it became clear that you were only allowed to photograph them from 10 feet away as they strolled along like the white tigers at the Mirage. Of course the fans squirmed and begged to get up-close posed photos. The players themselves were confused about what was and wasn't allowed. Brad Penny strolled right up and took a few pictures at the fence while some guy with an earpiece called for backup or something. Choi held a few babies for pics but D-Lowe said he couldn't do that. Anyway-end of rant. I got a fantastic picture of me, my 1-year old kid and our new 7 place hitter with the 1.000 OPS.

Sorry Steve, only read as far back as 201. I am sure Drew will snap out of it but in the meantime this looks like as big a bust as Seattle and Beltre. Guess we don'y have to worry about him opting out in two years. Also I can't compare him to Green, daughter says its against the law to say anything bad about Shawn Green. When he does poorly we just don't discuss it. (I know that's a fat softball regarding all the silence in my house)

Big, sorry I missed it. Was the shot wide enough to show your shirt? As for photo day, you don't know the meaning of "poorly done" until you have tried autograph day. That is the worst. Though the beauty of autograph day is that it is sooo bad you will never try it a second time. You won't even be able to convinve yourself that it may be better next time. Instead, you will just kowingly smile as someone else tells you they are going to the next authograph day.

One last thing, in fairness to Frank autograph day sucked long before he bought the team.

The shirt was pretty visible. I had enough screen time to "pop it" like Milton.

I'm not sure if anyone brought this up, but it seems like the best thing about today's game was Tracy leaving Choi in against a lefty. He didn't get a hit, but he didn't look bad either. At least he swung at the ball. Maybe this could have been a sign of things to come.

I just had a thought. Let's get Billy Wagner AND Placido Polanco from the Phils.

Our farm system is teeming with talent. There are no stud starting pitcher free agents-to-be, except A.J. Burnett, whom the Marlins likely will not part with unless they fall far out of contention (unlikely). So let's do the next best thing and get a stud reliever. Can you imagine a postseason bullpen featuring both Wagner and Gagne (plus Yhency)?

And yes for now, I'm still assuming we get into the postseason.

Interesting article on the Times website about Choi. Especially since Tracy doesn't talk about Choi. But Choi does. And Penny as well.

We will all be able to talk about "han".

One of the reasons I was so eager to get a press pass for this series was because I had a feeling there would be feature articles about Choi on this homestand. I was not wrong but I am disappointed I couldn't be first.

Of course, to get a press pass, you actually have to be a representative of the press. So that kinda did me in.

I'll keep trying, though I think we'll have several feature articles on Choi as the season goes on.